Fosterfields

This past May we went to Fosterfields, a historical farm in Morristown.  It is a very low-key kind of place; it's perfect for kids to run around and check out the various animals on the farm!

                    Before we checked out the farm, we had birthday cake for Juliet's 7 birthday.

                                   Holding up the pajamas Nana in Canada sewed for her...

 When we arrived at the farm, they were having horse and cart rides so off we went.  I thought I was in Amish country for a second!

                                           Making cream into butter - a tedious process

                                                                  Juliet and Annika

Juliet is 7!

Juliet celebrated her birthday last month and is now a proud 7 year old!  I can't believe she really is 7!    Here are a few pictures from her party with family.

 This year's balloon that Juliet picked out was a dog (we think it just might be "Hank the Cowdog, head of ranch security"!)

                                                      Checking out one of her presents...

                                  A doll dress from Nana for her new American Girl doll!

One of Juliet's presents was a bathing suit from her aunt.  Next thing you know, Jules and her cousins disappeared for about 5 minutes then reappeared all wearing bathing suits.  True girls!

This year, instead of Juliet having a birthday party at our house with all of her classmates, we instead celebrated by having a picnic in NYC!  Juliet picked her friend Helena to come with, and boy, did those two have fun!  Here they are waiting for the fun to begin.  Helena has a map of Central Park so she's ready to tell us where to go.

                                                    First stop: The merry-go-round!

                                       Next up: Picnic time on a rock with two silly girls....

 Then it was off to the giant toy store F.A.O Schwarz where each of them could spend ten dollars (which doesn't go too far in a store like this, but the girls had fun picking something out).  What did they buy? Cheesy, plastic figurines!

                                                               Watch out, NYC!

                                                     And to end it all, Rita's Italian Ice!

Mini Get-Away Down the Shore

Mike and I actually managed to have a mini get-away Down the Shore this past weekend!  Juliet had a sleep over at her cousins, so it was just the three of us: Mike, me and Henry. We started off by going to Chester.  The plan was to walk around the town, check out the quaint shops, and spend some time in a tea house, but as we drove there, it started to DOWNPOUR!  Plan B: Spend an hour in the tea shop and then go the the shore a little later in the day.  So that's what we did.

                                                              How cute is that?

                                                                      I love tea rooms!

                                                         Even Henry enjoyed it...

                                         Lots of good stuff, including the best scone I ever had!

                                                             Selfies at the ocean....

                                                  Henry's first bike ride - he loved it!

                                                           Cuddle time with Mommy

Henry and I with similar "Granny-grunt" expressions!

Memorial Day 2015

  To start off Memorial day, I sang a rousing rendition of "O Canada" just to make sure Jules and Henry don't forget their GREAT Canadian heritage.  I love the expression on Juliet's and Henry's faces as they wonder what in the world I'm up to.  Seriously, I do love what Memorial Day is all about; I am so grateful for the sacrifice of many men and women so that we can live in a free (and GREAT!) country today!

Jules and Henry at the pool later on in the day. 

Vanity of Vanities

Having a little girl by the name of Juliet around the house is a guarantee that I will never be lacking in humility.  This was our conversation last night before she climbed into her bed (all said in a serious, earnest voice).
Jules - "Mom, PLEASE, please, could you not wear your robe tomorrow morning?"
Me - "Why not?"
Jules - "Mom, really, you look so awful in it.  Please, mom!  When you get up in the morning, just brush your hair, and put normal clothes on.  I mean, your hair looks so awful down, and your robe..."
By this time I was slightly miffed, ha ha!  I have been told that the first thing a person ought to do when they get out of bed is to dress themselves (in "normal" clothes)!  In theory that sounds great but the reality for me is that that rarely happens.  Most mornings you will find me in my beloved whitish grey robe getting Jules ready for school, making breakfast, etc.  Then I finally become so disgusted with myself, it's off to our bedroom to get some normal clothes on...  How about you?

Lemonade Stands

Jules must be in the kitchen for I hear the sound of kitchen cupboard doors being slammed and I wonder, "What is she up to now?"  Do I really want to know?"  Probably not!  I am often amazed at the creative juices this little girl of ours possesses.  When things get a little stale, she'll come up with some idea to liven things up.  The other day she watched an episode of Curious George and there must have been a scene in it where George has a lemonade stand for lo and behold, after completing the episode, she was all set to have a lemonade stand set up.  I caught her man-handling the little white table she has in her playroom.  There was a heroic attempt to get the thing out the playroom, through the kitchen to the front door.
"Jules, what are you doing?"
"It's a lemonade stand."
"Jules, it's the middle of winter.  No one will buy lemonade in the middle of winter.  In fact, I don't have lemonade in the house."
"Well, can't I sell something???"
This was a problem.  Did I really want Jules selling "something/anything" at the end of our driveway in the middle of winter?  No, not really.  So I got busy selling her on the idea of having a little stand in our own house.  She could "sell" stuff to her mom and dad.  That settled it.  A sign had to be made, the table set up along with a chair, a tea towel to cover the table, and the last little detail of what to sell.  After some thought, it became "Juliet's Coffee Stand".  Later she made a new sign to switch at night for when Mike came home from work..."Get your free, juicy, tasty beer here!!!" (Jules's idea, not mine!).  Don't you just love what kids come up with?
p.s.  she was a little offended that I pretended to pay her for the cookies I "bought" from her stand - cookies I had baked the day before!  "What, no real money, Mom?!!!

Christmas Cards

Here are a two family pictures we had done this past autumn.  One of them made it to my Christmas card this year, but just in case you missed it, here's the picture.  I think I make the same mistake every year of not printing enough Christmas cards.  Then as we get closer and closer to Christmas and I keep receiving cards in the mail, ACK! I realize I've only one card left!!!  Then it's off to dig around in my card box to look for some blank Christmas cards.  Come on, I'm not the only one who does that, right?  All I know is, next year I have to print more than 55 cards!