Pickin' a Pumpkin

We had another wonderful day in Minnesota.  Our goal for today was to acquire some pumpkins and we certainly accomplished it! We went to a place in Jordan, Minnesota (about 35 minutes away) called Minnesota Harvest.  I really wanted Logan to pick his own pumpkin this year and this was the perfect place.  The weather was a gorgeous 65 degrees and we arrived around 11am.  The first thing we did was ride the pony...Logan couldn't have been more excited and the woman leading the pony said he was a pro!!

Then we had to ride the tracker to the apple orchard. We didn't realize we would have the chance to get off the trailer and pick apples, but we did!! They were growing three different types of apples in the orchard and we picked one of each.

Logan also got to jump in a huge haystack...it was probably one of his favorite parts!

After we petted the donkey and talked to the goat:

We went into the pumpkin patch and picked our pumpkins...this was supposed to be the best part, but of course all the other things took the cake and Logan was less than amused by this activity.

Then we finished the afternoon off with some lunch and gelato...

I realize most of these pictures are of Logan, but Emmett was there too.  He loved being outside and watching Logan do all kinds of activities.  

We're going to carve our pumpkins this week!! Can't wait for that!

It's dinner time, so time to go!!

Have a good weekend!

Diana

Stop, Drop & Roll

We have finally made it to Minnesota to visit my in-laws! It took us two days to get here but the kids were pleasant and the trip went right along.  We have a busy vacation planned and our first stop was to the Bloomington Fire Department to see the fire trucks.  Logan had fire safety week at school last week and since my father-in-law, Russ, was a volunteer fireman for twenty years we knew it was the perfect time to take the kids to the fire station.

Here's Grandpa Russ showing Logan his name plaque on the wall...

Then we went in to the garage to see the fire trucks...they had so many and Logan thought it was so cool.  Logan had fire safety week at school a few weeks ago and it was fun for him to continue exploring the subject of Fire Trucks and Fire Safety. 

The Captain even let Logan try on his Hat and Coat...

And shoot water out of the water hose:

Have you ever seen a happier kid?! I think not!!

 Emmett was there too...

It was a proud day for Grandpa Russ to share his love of his past job with Logan and Emmett.  And Logan learned a lot too! 

Thanks Bloomington Fire Station 1!! We had a blast!!

More to come on our trip in Minnesota...

Diana

5772

Happy New Year!! I cannot believe another year has come to a close, in the Jewish calendar that is.  Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year has come and gone and the year 5772 has begun.  Though I didn't celebrate in the traditional way this year, I did enjoy a delicious helping of apples and honey with my family and we took some time to reflect on what has come and what lies in our future for the upcoming year.  So much has happened this past year and so much has yet to come.  After Rosh Hashanah there is a week of reflection before Yom Kippur, when we repent for our sins and ask G-d to inscribe us in the book of life and grant us a happy and healthy year.  Yom Kippur was this past weekend and again, although I didn't celebrate in the traditional way, I still took the time and am still taking the time to reflect on what has passed, apologize to those I have wronged and look ahead to new adventures.

Tonight I want to focus on thinking ahead while remembering what an incredible year I've just had.  This year two life changing things happened to me:  My paternal grandfather passed away and Emmett was born.  I think it's quite symbolic that a life was taken away from us and a life was given.  I also think that Emmett looking like me is symbolic of my family and my grandfather who is no longer with us.  My grandfather was such an amazing person and did so many incredible things during his lifetime and I only hope (and I know Brennan does to) that Emmett can be an extension of my Poppi and all the goodness he brought to this world.    As Emmett's Mommy I have no doubt my little peanut will make Poppi very proud one day.

This past year brought many challenges to my life as I learned to be a mom to two amazing and different little boys.  Logan and Emmett are so different in so many ways - it's been a huge lesson.  I know I'm always comparing Logan and Emmett but since Logan is my only reference I can't help it.  But Emmett is definitely his own little person and I think I've really tried to learn his personality.  As he gets older it's easier to tell what he likes and doesn't like and I will continue to learn about both little men as times goes on.  One thing that is the same about them is they both have incredibly sweet and happy spirits.  They both wake up with smiles on their faces and love to laugh!! It's been hard learning to accomplish everything I need to accomplish in a day with both kids, especially when Brennan is gone for a few days at a time, and they both bring such joy to my life it's hard to stay frustrated for long.  I mean look at these sweet faces (obviously made more sweet by the fact that they're both sleeping)

Anyway...as I've said this year brought good things and some hard things but all make us stronger in the end.  And I have to say I feel stronger. I feel stronger in body and in spirit and I look forward to what 5772 has in store for us.  Here are some things I get to look forward to this year:

Work - yes you read this correctly!! I will be covering for a teacher at Logan's school while she is on maternity leave for December and January.  I've already started working half days and I love it!! It's great to get out of the house for me and it's good for the boys.  They're both at school with me, in different classes of course, and are doing great! I know it's going to be hard working all day, everyday, especially when Brennan is gone, but knowing that it's temporary makes it fun and exciting.  And I know it's going to be great for all of us! Yay work.

Visits from Family - I love having visitors to our small little town and I've got visits from my mom & sister, brother and in-laws already planned for December and January and am SO excited!! I'm sure my Dad & Deb will make it out here too...hint hint.

Finding out where we will be moving and the actual move!!  We're hoping to find out next month and then we'll start planning a trip out "there" to visit and set up our living situation.  I'm so excited to be starting a new adventure somewhere else and can't believe that wherever we move is where Logan will go to Kindergarten!! Man how time flies!!

Celebrating my 5 Year Wedding Anniversary - CRAZY TOWN!! I know it's still months away but wow...I cannot believe I'll have been married 5 years this January.  Besides having two kids which really puts time into perspective it doesn't feel like it's been that long.  Guess I married the right guy...feelin' pretty lucky right about now.  

I hate to say that I only have four things on my list but they're pretty big things so I don't feel so bad.  Also happening this year - Logan turns 3, which hopefully means we'll be done with diapers by the move and Emmett turns 1, which means we've got lots of growing/changing/moving to do between now and then.  Wow 5772 is already looking good and we're only a few weeks in.  

So with that I say 

שנה טובה ומבורכת

which means "Happy New Year".

May it bring you Health, Happiness and Love and may you be inscribed in the Book of Life. 

Amen.

Say Cheese

One of my favorite things to do with the kids is have pictures made.  Well I hadn't had pictures done of Emmett until my trip to Charlotte, but I've had Logan's done a couple of times and always love the photos.  I usually go to Sears Portrait Studio because they do a military discount of 20%, which, when you're buying photos for three sets of parents, one set of grandparents and yourself it can become expensive rather quickly.  Plus I always like to purchase the CD of the images.  It's super important to me to be able to keep my photos and print them whenever I want.  The CD's are usually the expensive part of the package, but totally worth it.  Anyway, so far I've had portraits done of Logan at 3 months and family portraits taken when Logan turned 1 year old.  So it was definitely time to have some pictures taken of Emmett and of Logan and Emmett together.  

I decided to complete this "goal" while in Charlotte because I could have the Sears portraits taken along with having an outdoor photo shoot done by one of my step-sister's friends.  We planned the outdoor photo shoot first.  Timing is everything with kids photos...they need to be well rested and have full tummies and it helps to have other people there to help get them to smile, complete outfit and diaper changes and be there for morale support.  

So for our outdoor session at Freedom Park I brought my Mom and Step-Sister, made sure I had plenty of bottles on hand for Emmett and decided against doing an outfit change unless someone (Logan) got really dirty.  We decided to have the pictures taken at 11:30am which would be in-between Emmett's naps. The woman (Licy) taking the photos even brought her two year old daughter along to play with Logan!!  

The best thing about outdoor photos is that they can really show what kind of kid Logan is.  Emmett of course isn't really old enough to do anything "Emmett" like, besides smile.  Here are some of Logan's pics:

LOVE the pictures!! And here are some of Logan with Emmett:

How cute right?! You can really see just how much Logan loves his little brother!!

And here's my favorite of Emmett:

Now I must discuss our Sears experience.  It was AWESOME!! The best we've ever had!! We scheduled these photos for noon one day and planned three outfit changes.  I brought my mother along to assist.  The woman who took these photos was incredible.  She really listened to what I wanted and really captured the boys attention!! We were done in like 45 minutes, which I would call a record considering the amazing shots she took!! Here are my favorites:

I was so surprised with how well Logan did at the photo session.  He listened and smiled on cue and was so helpful with Emmett!! What a proud Mommy I am!! 

A special Thank You to Safta for helping us accomplish these tasks!! I couldn't have done it without you and I know the pictures wouldn't have been nearly as good!! I'm so glad that I decided to have both types of photos taken of the kids.  They're all so different and beautiful.  

I'm in the process of collecting pictures frames so that I can create a gallery wall in our next apartment/house. Brennan would kill me if I made him hang one more frame in our current apartment so I'm waiting until we move next summer to our new location before attempting this project. So for now I've filled all the frames in my house with pictures of the boys and I absolutely love looking at them!!

Until next time...

Diana