garden bounty

We are picking veggies from our garden by the pounds!  

The girls have carrots coming in - even the small ones are rejoiced over and gobbled up!  :) 

reading :)

Reading is really starting to click for Meredith.  It's been such a fun year to see her work at it and for the elements to begin to make sense.  Lately she's been making leaps and bounds in her progress!

I love this moment! I suggested we take a stack of books outside to read during our afternoon quiet time.  While I put some groceries away, Meredith got all the supplies, and settled down with her sisters to begin....and they added some extra snuggles and giggles for good measure. :)

Monday Ballet

Both girls are now taking dance classes from the Glenside Dance Academy!

This is Eliza Wren's first time and she is pretty thrilled.  Her first day of class she bounded in and said, "Hi, I'm Eliza Wren!" ...and then went skipping off around the room. :)

Meredith started taking dance classes here 2 years ago - can't believe it's been that long!  She is excited to learn more advanced positions now and loves her teacher, Miss Jenn!

More photos to come of their final class performance in a few weeks!

new chicks!

We are raising a new batch of laying hens.  These little beauties arrived a few weeks ago and we are enjoying having wee ones again.  Hopefully by this autumn they will begin laying for us.  Until then, they are getting some snuggles and have a neighborhood fan club. :)

Now We Are Six

Meredith turned six years old today!  Can't quite believe the time has flown by so quickly, and yet this age fits her so well.   She is learning to read by leaps and bounds although our special reading aloud time each day is what she loves the most.  She is a sucker for any audio book we have on hand and listens for hours to the Laura Ingalls Wilder books, A.A. Milne,  Mr. Poppers Penguins, Charlotte's Web, and recently the All-of-a-Kind-Family series. 

She is currently fascinated with monarch butterflies - so her chosen theme for her celebration was monarchs.  The celebration began this morning and carried on throughout the day (and will continue the rest of this month in various forms!). Granna and Grandaddy sent two new books with stories about monarchs which were a huge hit!

Her favorite toy gift was a covered wagon playmobil set (my old set from when I was her age!)

We had fun trying out the monarch butterfly craft punch from Granna and Grandaddy - I'm looking forward to making some sweet decorations with it!

Chocolate cake with strawberry frosting has been her request for several years now - fun spring treat!

Happy, happy day sweet Mer Mer!  We love you oodles and oodles!

Reading snuggles

A fun way for Meredith to practice reading lately is to read board books to Cassie Lou.

Love these winter afternoons at home surrounded by books.  

curls!

Meredith was inspired by the Little House on the Prairie stories (her favorites!) when Grace Ingalls had her hair rolled in rag curlers after her bath on Saturday evening.  So, we tried it!

I was very impressed by how well they held - all day long the next day!  It's now part of a sweet after-shower routine for Meredith and me.  Believe it or not, it's a quick 5 minute do! :)

February weekend

A lovely warm weekend in February means getting outside!  We went for a neighborhood walk / bike ride.  Mama with Eliza Wren in the stroller and Cassie Lou on the front pack, and Daddy with Meredith on the bike. 

Meredith loves the new set-up with Daddy!

At the end of a restful Sunday, I took the girls over to Vernon park in Germantown for some more outside time.

first snow

Last Sunday we had a dusting of snow.  It got us all excited, and out in it immediately.

Eliza Wren was the first one to explore.

Cassie Lou wasn't sure what to think....so she soon snuggled down for a nap.

Meredith made a wee snow blob, which became her snow cone!

Then we all set off for a neighborhood walk!

Eliza Wren is TWO!

On Sunday, November 30th, our spunky Eliza Wren turned two! 

We started celebrating early - on Friday evening while visiting friends in Michigan over Thanksgiving.  I made Eliza Wren a chocolate pie.

Traveling back home, on her actual birthday, we stopped at a charming diner around Harrisburg for a birthday lunch.  Eliza Wren was thrilled with her mickey mouse pancake.

Later that day, we met dear friends for our annual Christmas tree hunt at the sweet Lenhart Christmas Tree farm.  Here we are with our happy little tree!

Happy day, little Wren!  We love you and your sparkling personality!

sisters

In the midst of long days training these two wee ones, we have sweet moments like these.  This is what makes it all worth it and gives me light at the end of the training/disciplining tunnel!

scrunchy noses and squinting eyes = love!

oops...I've been caught interrupting Meredith teaching Eliza Wren her daily alphabet lesson

autumn harvest

Our garden has been bountiful this season.  Harvest has continued late into the autumn and is just now ending.  We've had plenty of kale, arugula, tomatillos, hot peppers, broccoli and a few slow tomatoes.

Erik made a boatload of hot sauce!

We had our annual applesaucing over a few days in October.  

Apples from our farm up north of Philly - beautiful red cortlands!  

Both girls were sweet helpers - washing apples and helping turn the hand crank on the processor.  

I canned a few dozen quarts, froze some and we are enjoying a lot of it right now.

Erik's made two delicious 2 gallon batches of saurekraut in our new-to-us crock.  We are becoming addicted - so yummy!  Recently Eliza Wren and I had a hankering for a late afternoon snack, so we settled down on the kitchen floor to enjoy some together.  It hit the spot. :)

Halloween 2014

Meredith chose to be a "kitty-cat" for Halloween this year.  She was thrilled to receive kitty ears in the mail from Auntie Jane, and to have the treat of getting her face painted for the occasion. :)  Here she is showing off her tail on the cat costume I made for her.

Eliza Wren was a monkey - complete with a banana in the pocket!  I found this outfit at a thrift store, and since I wasn't sure she'd even wear it, though the $4 was worth the chance. :)  She loved it!

 We went around 2 blocks in our neighborhood with these local kiddos.  So much fun and cuteness!

1/2 off frappucinos

Cousin time + 1/2 off frappucinos = doesn't get much better than this ;)