MMM. . . apples

Welcome to the private blog everyone! Thanks for letting me know you're still interested.

This weekend, it was rain-y. Therefore, my kids were going nuts, wanting to be outside. We did manage to make it outside to pick apples Saturday morning. I LOVE picking apples. It is a family tradition in the fall. I tried picking apples once in Colorado, but it just wasn't quite the same. The trees here are loaded, and the apples are big, delicious, and perfect. My kids loved it.

We also bought apple cider at the orchard. Later, we made apple crisp and apple sauce. Please, does anyone know if there are delicious apples in Texas?

Dottie was definitely in a posing mood that day . . .

I like to call the next few pictures "Renaissance Dottie" because she's posing like a girl in a Renaissance painting.

This is Elliot when we first came to the apple orchard. He was saying, "Ball? Ball?" continuously.

Grandma and Dottie. Let's be honest . . . Grandma picked most of the apples herself while the kids ran a muck.

It was very wet from the previous night's rain. Elliot kept on falling on the wet grass, so by the time we left, he was soaking. Both kids had a bath when we got home.

Elliot "picked" these two apples off of the ground and carried them around. They weren't very savory looking. I guess I should mention that he kept putting his mouth on them . . . oops. My bad.

Painting with Puddin'

As you may know, I'm trying to get a little more creative with my parenting, particularly Dottie. I use this website, sugardoodle.net, to help me with songs for Primary. This is an excellent source for anything church-related, if you need help. I discovered they have a section on how to beat boredom for your kids. I've heard of this idea before, but the website reminded me. Take vanilla pudding, dye it a variety of colors, and voila! You have edible fingerpaint. My kids loved it. Elliot mostly ate it, but Dottie painted the sky, the grass, and the sun with her "paints."

Dottie Ballerina!

I again apologize for there being no chronological order to these photos. I got a new camera, though! I'm pretty happy about that.

Dottie started dance lessons this week! Like school, I'm not able to get a lot of details out of her, but I'm pretty sure she likes it. She told me she wants to go to dance every day. As you'll see in the photos, Dottie is a natural. As soon as she got in her little outfit, she started posing in what she thinks are ballet positions.
Sorry about the flash. We were in a bathroom.

Italian Festival

The weekend past, we went down to Scranton (home of The Office, if you watch that show) for an Italian Festival. It was mostly food, but that is what I really care about anyway. Let's face it, I'm a piggy. We ate superb pizza, gelato, and cannolis. Happy? Yes. Dottie was also pleased to discover a jumpy castle. I think we know how much she loves those things.

Cue The Office theme music . . .
Dottie in the jumpy castle.

What's the deal? Both of them are looking down.

That's a better picture. It was a surprisingly hot day, so the kids enjoyed wading in this fountain.

I'm a Sew-er!

Note that I'm a sew-er, not a sewer. I sew; I don't keep underground waste. For Relief Society, our church's women organization, we were asked to make a square representing ourselves for a joint effort quilt. Interestingly enough, I was the one put in charge of this project. I'm not much of a sew-er, but my mom sure is. So, I organized get togethers for the women to work on embroidering their squares, and tried to help if I could (which wasn't much help, believe me).

Now if you know anything about me, you'll know that I did not get the crafty gene. My mom is great at sewing, my sisters are very meticulous people, and it seems I have been surrounded by women who scrapbook my whole life. I really don't do any of these things. So I really surprised myself this week when I made it my goal to finish this square. I actually enjoyed it! In fact, I was just going to make a book without any decoration for my quilt square. But the more I did it, the more confident I got, and the more I elaborated my little design.

Now if you are a good embroiderer, please don't look closely. You will see many flaws. But for a first time effort for a sworn noncrafter, I think I did okay.

Slumber Party!

Well, she made it! After a hard effort, Dottie got 10 marbles. I can't say that there was a dramatic transformation in her behavior with the slumber party bribe. But, I do think it made a difference. She had a reason for being good to her brother besides me just saying: "Be nice to your brother and he'll be nice to you."

We went to the store and picked out whatever treats she desired. We got pretzels, 7 up, cherry ice cream, and kissables. Then, we put on a Disney CD and had ourselves a party. I've never seen such a happy little girl. I must say that once she knew she had one marble to go, she really did pour on the kindness to Elliot. We're going to have another go with the marbles. This time, we're going to watch "Hercules." Ever since she saw it at Aunt Mary's house last summer, she's been obsessed with that movie.

Right before bedtime, Elliot was pretending to go to sleep on this pillow, and Dottie was gently rubbing his back. She really wanted that last marble.

We made a float with the soda and ice cream. Grandma's helping, because Dottie is a messy eater.

The snacks . . .


Dottie's kissable sandwiches . . .
MMM!

Dottie's first day of school!

I enrolled Dottie in K-4 in the school district here. It's free, 2.5 hours a day, and she needs the social outlet. It's been really nice to have only one kid for this amount of time every day. So far, she seems very well-adjusted. It's hard to get a lot out of a four-year-old, but this is the data I've gathered on her experience: She plays with little girls named Gracie and Jocelyn, her favorite thing about school is snack time, she likes to play with the castle, and she sings at school. That's about all I know so far.

This is Dottie at the school . . .

Dottie and her teacher . . .

In her new outfit . . .

And her outfit on the second day (which we really count as the first day, since the first day was just orientation).

And this picture has nothing to do with this post. It was taken on Sunday. Amanda came for a visit, and she gave her panda stickers from Japan. If you look closely, you'll see that Dottie's fingers are covered in panda stickers.