Ballerinas and bags

Lucy started ballet lessons this month. She has an afternoon class with two of her friends, and then we have a pizza night with them afterwards. Lots of pink everywhere.

And here's a photo of my latest sewing project, Julia's diaper bag. It's reversible and has six pockets inside. It was a super easy project so send me a yard each of two fabrics you like and I'll make you a custom tote!

And Isabel's request to take a picture of her.

And finally...peace. She's just fallen asleep while I was formatting all these pictures. I better take advantage of the down time. I'm cooking and freezing casseroles this month for Julia's imminent arrival. Please send me any easy, freezable recipes that will appeal to the whole family. Thanks.

Just 5 more weeks...

Boo!

Sorry for the delay, but here's Princess Fiona. Lucy had a long day of Halloween celebration and candy binging that started at 8 am at school. They had a parade and then treated us to a muscial performance in the auditorium. Very cute.

Isabel refused to wear her costume but decided the candy was alright. What a long day! Now I know why Halloween only happens once a year.

Happy Birthday Auntie!!!

We hope you have a fabulous weekend! The girls adore the ground you walk on and wish you a happy, happy birthday!

Leaf Hunt 2008

I took the girl out on a leaf hunt this morning with some friends. They had a blast and did some leaf identification and rubbings. Here are some fun pics.

Before:


The official leaf hunting crew:

Great shot of Lucy:

And last but not least, Isabel:

Favorite new fall recipe

This has been a huge hit around here lately. It's not too sweet and perfect with coffee. The girls love it. We made some whipped cream with cinnamon and vanilla to go with it. Yum!

Pumpkin Buttermilk Bundt Cake

2 sticks unsalted butter, softened, plus additional for greasing bundt pan
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour plus additional for dusting pan
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground allspice
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 cups canned solid-pack pumpkin (from a 15-oz can; not pie filling)
3/4 cup well-shaken buttermilk
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
3 large eggs

For glaze:
2 T butter
1 cup powdered sugar
1-3 T cream or milk

Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter and flour bundt pan. Combine together flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, allspice, and salt in a bowl. Whisk together pumpkin, buttermilk and vanilla in another bowl.

Beat butter and granulated sugar in a large bowl with an electric mixer at medium-high speed until pale and fluffy, 3 to 5 minutes, then add eggs and beat 1 minute. Reduce speed to low and add flour and pumpkin mixtures alternately in batches, beginning and ending with flour mixture and mixing until batter is just smooth.

Spoon batter into pan. Shake a few times to be sure to remove any bumps then bake until a wooden pick or skewer inserted in center of cake comes out clean, 45 to 50 minutes. Cool cake in pan on a rack 15 minutes, then invert rack over cake and reinvert cake onto rack. Cool 10 minutes more.

To make glaze, heat butter until melted. Stir in sifted powdered sugar. Mix in cream or milk 1 Tablespoon at a time until desired consistency. Drizzle over cake while it is on a wire rack so excess falls through.

Enjoy!

Where has September gone?

September has come and gone in the blink of an eye. We've started and settled into the school routine. Lucy is lovin' school, Mrs. Stevens and Mrs. Medley and all her all chums. Here are pics from her first day.

This one cracks me up because it's shades of her teenage years to come.

We packed the kids up and headed to the cape for a long weekend in the middle of September. We. love. the. cape. We spent most of the afternoons out exploring the tidal flats looking for hermit crabs, fish, snails and shells. The girls thoroughly enoyed the flats and kept asking to "go walk in the mud" again.


Here's Isabel showing us her hermit crab. She was the fastest hermit crab catcher in the family. She has no fear. Lucy wouldn't touch them.

Here's an enormous horseshoe crab that Todd spotted.






We packed in a round of putt-putt golf before we left.





And here's what ultimately happens when you take a 2 yo to play putt-putt:



We stopped by my favorite lighthouse on the drive out. Lucy was asleep in the back, so Todd snapped some pictures of Isabel at the lighthouse. She's about the same age Lucy was when we took pictures of her at this light house.



And last weekend we planted mums and cabbages around the house. Here's Lucy showing off her freshly transplanted mums.

Isabel has been adamant about dressing herself lately with some interesting results.

The last hoo-rah

Good-bye, August. Helllllllloooooo, September. The leaves are already showing hints of color changes here. Fall is in the air. I love this time of year. We had a beautiful Labor day. Low 80s, breezy and not a cloud in the sky. We took the girls to the park this morning. Here are some end of summer pictures of them.

Thursday Lucy starts school and Isabel is starting her first gymnastics class.