It's Jake's Birthday! It's unseasonably warm here so we are planning on grilling some steaks, eating birthday cake and opening presents. Sophie plans on getting some gift opening practice in tonight.
Happy Birthday Sweetheart, hope this next year is the best ever.
Last weekend we took Sophie & Josie to see the Ringling Brothers circus at The Broome County Arena. Aunt Sarah, Uncle Anthony, Jessica, Julia, Pop-Pop & Naga came with us too. We drove separately in case either girl got overwhelmed and needed to leave early, and ended up leaving on a high note at the intermission.
Sophie has since been talking non-stop about the horses, dogs and lady who went "up in the air" (on one of those spinning rings). She was most impressed however with the National Anthem: the size of the flag ("the flag was wery, wery big") and the fact that everyone was singing really made an impact on her. We weren't sure how she'd react to the noise and darkness, but she quickly compared it to the Wiggles concerts that they show sometimes on The Wiggles and seemed ok.
We were a little disappointed at the size of the circus (only a single ring, and not a big cat to be seen unless you count the PETA demonstrator in the Tigger costume picketing out front), but it seemed just right for the girls' first circus.
One of our favorite local places, The Cider Mill in Endicott, is closing for the season soon.
The Cider Mill opens in mid-August and closes December 1st, to accomodate the New York State apple harvest. It sells apples, cider, donuts and pies, and produce through a small farmstand up til Halloween. Somehow it has resisted the temptation to add items like coffee or Christmas ornaments, keeping its menu simple.
Cider Mill donuts are the best in the area, a basic cake donut that's crispy on the edges and very moist in the middle. On weekends they sell plain, powder and cinnamon; on weekdays they also offer maple, maple walnut, chocolate, chocolate peanut, vanilla and vanilla coconut-covered.
We only got to visit once last year before they closed, but this season we definitely had our fill. Thanks Cider Mill, we'll see you next August!
This morning my dad & I got up at 4:30am to take advantage of the "early bird" Black Friday shopping sales. Sam's Club only had about 20 people out front when we arrived at 4:55am, and they offered free coffee, bagels, bananas and danishes. I don't know that we really saved much money, but it was fun all the same.
I never imagined myself doing it before, but I'd compare it to getting up early to go hunting: a good feeling of comraderie with the other early birds, plus it shakes up your routine, gets you seeing things differently. I could definitely see myself making it a tradition.
Earlier this year we discovered most of our favorite local specialities (including spiedies and Joey's cheese pizza, but thankfully not Cider Mill donuts) made Josie miserable; last night we found something in the Thanksgiving lineup did the same. She's slept through the night since she was a month and a half, but last night she was up every hour on the half-hour. It made getting up at 4:30 that much harder, but sleeping in is no way to start a new tradition.
The pumpkin pie and rest of the food were fantastic: a 24lb. roasted turkey, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, stuffing (which Sophie helped make this morning with Naga), homemade applesauce, cranberry orange nut bread, cauliflower and broccoli.
For desserts we also had an apple sour cream walnut pie from The Little Pie Company (compliments of Aunt Wendy) and a chiffon cake with sour cream and berry topping from Great Grandma Elise. My personal favorite though was the cranberry sauce, Brandie really perfected it this year. I can't wait to have some turkey sandwiches with stuffing and cranberry sauce on top!
We had an ice storm this morning that coated all the trees and hung little icicles from the fence. It was very pretty, even moreso since we didn't have go out in it! Eliot was very pleased to have some giblets, and Eula didn't mind staying inside with the weather so yucky. It's also hunting season here so she hasn't been able to roam as freely.
We hope you're all enjoying family, friends & food on one of our favorite holidays!
Daniel came home from college yesterday, and Lauren & Andrew drove up late last night; Grandpa Moe, Grandma Elise and Aunt Wendy are all arriving today. The table is all laid out and the turkey is probably already in the oven. Sophie's watching a little of Charlie Brown's Thanksgiving special before we go upstairs for breakfast.
Brandie baked a beautiful pumpkin pie last night, the Williams-Sonoma "classic" with a twist based on her favorite pumpkin pie recipe: substituting molasses for some of the milk: I'll check back in later to let you know how it was!
Last night Sophie opened the first birthday present for her upcoming birthday: a Disney princess tiara, wand and shoes from Aunt Sarah, Uncle Anthony, Christine, Jessica & Julia. She was very excited, and took the tiara and wand out to dinner at Tony's. The tiara went on again first thing this morning for breakfast. The shoes are a little big and hard to walk in, but she still wants to wear them all the time.
Thank you Aunt Sarah, Uncle Anthony, Christine, Jessica & Julia!
It dawned on me the other day why kids have such a hard time learning to chew their food properly: their parents set a horrible example for them.
Dazed in the aftermath of trying to feed The Juice (quite a challenge these days) and still starving, I finished wolfing down my grilled cheese and had a few handfuls of potato chips. Sophie had eaten enough of her sandwich that we deemed it ok for her to have three chips of her own. Still watching me intently, she grabbed all three and tried to stuff them into her mouth at once.
Realizing she was copying me, I tried to explain it was better to chew the chips slowly and well so they didn't get stuck in our throats. Then Juice started raging for her bottle, so I grabbed another handful, shoved it in my mouth and jumped up to get her bottle.
Josie must have some of the Weaver genes in her because yesterday at the doctors office when the nurse discovered that she hadn't rolled over yet, she called her lazy. Well Josie wondered who she was calling lazy? This morning, just to prove that nurse wrong, Josie rolled from her tummy to her back and was quite chuffed.
I hope we can break her of this pride thing. I have quite a few embarrassing moments that were caused by my pride. Funny how your pride causes you to be embarrassed.
And welcome Joseph Patrick!
He actually arrived sometime last week, but we just heard the good news this morning. Sheesh, you'd think they were busy or something!
"And in this corner, weighing in at a solid 15lbs 9 oz, standing (laying) 26 1/8 inches with a head circumference of 16 1/2 inches....that six month old everyone loves...The Juice!"
The Juice is 6 months old already! My how time flies!
Some of her new developments include eating solid foods (so far oatmeal and rice cereal), screeching if you aren't feeding her fast enough, sleeping at the same time her sister does for her afternoon nap (hooray!), passing things from hand to hand and chewing on anything that is close enough for her to reach. She loves laughing at her big sister especially when Sophie jumps for her. She has a Jumperoo which she enjoys bouncing in while her dad and sister jump in front of her.
She has started to have a bit of stranger anxiety, something her sister never had due to being in daycare. The other day our friend Dave "Varsity" came over and touched her cheek. She started bawling as though he had pinched her. She did the same to the Nurse today at the doctors office.
She loves blowing raspberries and sticks her tongue out curled upward. She sings and talks a bit. I am trying really hard to get her to say "Momma" and she is working on it. She'll put her lips together and say "mmmmmmm" for about 30 seconds at a time. Not bad. I'll take it for sure.
We did her six month physical today and she was right in line with where she should be. 75th percentile for height and 50th percentile for weight and head. She was the lucky recipient of three shots today (her sister also got a shot at the same time) and let me know that she didn't really like that by screaming.
Lots of fun to come in the next few months with Josie celebrating many of her "first" holidays.
Just finished a big update to our photo collection, along with a little housekeeping. I put up the pics from our recent Philadelphia trip to see Ryan and Bridgette's new baby, and moved Sophie and Josie's pictures into their respective month folders. There are also a bunch of new photos of the girls, including their Halloween costumes. Enjoy!
Regrettably, we don't have any pictures from John's recent visit but we (Eula especially) really enjoyed seeing him! Thanks for making time to see us with all the other stuff (mulching, reorganizing the barn, etc.) you had to do.
Speaking of Eula, she's really had a thing for rolling in woodchuck dung lately. Let's hope the weather gets colder soon so it's less wearable.
