Aftyn's Haircut

Reed hasn't seen it yet.

 I'll update later to see if I give him some sort of heart attack. :)

UPDATE: In Reed's own words "I really REALLY like it!".   :D

It's Time

Hey all you people who wondered why I seem to have fallen off the edge of the blogosphere!

We have been having so much fun lately now that we've committed to doing/going to one new place to us a week.  Last week we went to Kimball Farms and took no pictures but ate some incredibly delicious ice cream. I'm trying to talk Reed into going one last time before they close for the season in October.

(I've been evading the blog writing because chronologically my next post would be about a visit we had a few weeks back to visit Reed's brother and wife and kids in New York. Except, see, I'm not ready to publish those pictures and think about the inevitability of them moving in approximately 10 days. Back to the Other Side of this great continent. Leaving us, sadly, with no fun family to visit and no more planned trips into NYC with people who are veterans of driving there and who know personally the fun attractions to be seen.)

Instead, here's a little update about our family!

Let's start with our main man. Reed has been back in school for about a month now and in his usual fashion took a pretty laid back approach to his classes until last week when it suddenly hit him he's a little behind in his classes and has to catch up or else it'll be pretty crazy until the end of the semester.  So we've been seeing less of him lately but I'm pretty used to this already thanks to last semester. This semester feels like a breeze compared to last semester. We're not just moving in, and starting school and finding our way around this crazy town. We're pretty well settled into a routine and know our way around. We went to a school sponsored get together last Friday night and really enjoyed ourselves. They had lots of free food, live music and it was fun to walk around campus with the girls and show them more about "Daddy's school". Aftyn loved it! I'm sure the cotton candy will only make her MORE excited to visit Daddy's school in the future, in the hopes of having more. :) On the calling front, have I mentioned Reed is now the Elders Quorum President? This can make for a pretty hectic week depending on how many people are moving within the ward. Thankfully, it's been quiet on that front for a couple of weeks.

I wonder if a paper Reed would be as good as the man himself? :D

As for me, I am trying to do my usual juggle of cleaning, cooking, parenting and trying to do something I find to be fun like sewing. I haven't been able to find much time for sewing lately but that would be because I'm working on losing those last pounds of baby weight, so I've been expending my energy in working out when the girls go to bed. That usually wipes me out. :)  I'm still the 1st counselor in the primary presidency here and I have really learned to love that job. This last week at church I had to fill in at the last minute for the primary chorister. That was interesting, and I've decided since it could happen again that I need a fun "schtick" that makes me stand out and makes it fun for me to substitute for that calling. Any primary choristers have any good ideas of what my thing could be? I am certainly accepting any and all ideas.

Aftyn. Recently instead of saying "yes" to everything she has started responding with "yeah" and a sullen sort of head shake that reminds me of a teenager. I don't know what to make of her lately. Seems like she's suddenly having a hard time in certain areas of life. Hopefully it will pass soon, but if not we'll keep on hugging her and having fun family times that seem to bring back the sparkle in  her eyes and the smile on her face. I'm also trying to come up with ways that we can get together with friends at least once or twice a week as I really think that would help too. I love this girl and want to help her to be happy, I just think lately that she's feeling sad and I'm trying to figure out how to help her out of this funk.

Bronwyn is our little star shining brightly. She makes everybody laugh, and if we're not laughing then we're probably trying to chase her down and stop her from being naughty. She has so much personality. She likes to nod her head when appropriate and says "a-huh". She loves to give hugs and lately even kisses. She has the hardest head, and usually without knowing it will bonk me in the head quite hard while trying to snuggle into me. She loves to dance, and play with Aftyn. She loves books and generally anything Aftyn likes Bronwyn likes. She finally had a significant growth spurt this last month and grew 1 3/4 inches! :) Because of that growth spurt, she has finally started to fit into 18 month clothes, and has started to feel like more of a toddler when I pick her up. We sure love her infectious smile and her giggles. Especially when her giggles and Aftyn's giggles are combined. What a sweet sweet sound.

Evidently, Bronwyn does not care for mustaches. :)

A Recipe For Fun

The ingredients to make a great day?

   Take a nice holiday. How about Labor Day!

Add in a nice trip to the coast to see a few schooners, 

A 1/2 pound of freshly made chocolates,

lots of lovely ocean air,

warm but not too hot temperatures,

some sand,

a little dip in the ocean, 

lots and lots of walking,

a healthy curiosity of new places to see and a love of adventure,

2 very patient girls who loved being outdoors all day

and a whole day to play and relax as a family !

It was a perfectly perfect day.

Oh My Little Babies!

                                It's easy to forget sometimes that even when they're not tiny,

                                                 they can certainly still be little.

                                                 Oh my sweet little Aftyn girl.

                                Want some proof? Look here
                                                                                  here
                                                                                         here
                                                                                              and here

An Afternoon in Hartford

This is New England - everywhere you drive is trees, trees and more beautiful green trees!

Yes, that IS the state capital!

A look up at the center ceiling. Gorgeous and stunning.

This place looked and felt like a grand home or castle. Gorgeous!

We toured this beautiful capital with our own New England cousins! We all had a blast!

Here we are about to have some lunch in beautiful Bushnell Park!

Reunited cousins!!

This was just before we embarked on our carousel ride. Which I unfortunately got no pictures of because I was using both hands to steady an uncertain Bronwyn. And I didn't bring my bulky camera on the ride. But it was SO much fun!

Okay, so here's how it all went down.  By the way, these pictures are completely out of order of how things happened, but oh well. They are grouped accordingly. :)

 We got to Hartford around 12 pm. I was late. My sister-in-law Kamber and kiddos got there early and so were able to do a little preview run of the inside of the capital building. Once we found each other, we decided it was time for some lunch and we went to the little playground that Kamber and her kids had already scouted out for us. The kids had such a blast there. They had this neat little stream that ran through the entire playground with a faucet spout on one end and a little misty sprinkler area at the other end. It was perfect for such a nice sunny day. The kids had lunch and then ran and played and got nice and wet.

Aftyn was infatuated with the carousel from the first time she heard it playing and wanted so very badly to go and ride it. (She was probably still remembering her first carousel ride which had been in Central Park a few months before. They have such lovely old carousels out here! And they are all indoors.) So after the kids played, off to the carousel we went. Everyone enjoyed it except for Bronwyn who was very uncertain anytime the carousel would pick up speed. Kamber managed to catch a picture of her face during one of those moments luckily. I was mostly laughing my head off and doing my best to help her feel secure.

After that we went and toured the capital building that looked like a castle. It was gorgeous. The best part of the day was definitely getting to discover new places with family. Thanks for an awesome and unforgettable day Kamber and kids!

Oatmeal Drums

Poor Bronwyn. She is teething like crazy and normally walks around with two fingers in her mouth, constantly chewing on them. Evidently my shoelace works well also.

And this little ditty, by Aftyn.  Sorry it's sideways. :(

What a Difference a Semester Makes

First day of classes here!
Here's what I accomplished:

Washed the dishes after breakfast.
Kids dressed before 11 am!
2 loaves of bread made from scratch before noon
dentist appointment made
Peanut butter cookies made
Dinner made and ready by 5!
Upbeat attitude had all day long!!

What a difference it makes to be settled in our apartment, to have a support system in place here,
to know the ins and outs of the city we live in.
This semester already feels more stable and slower paced and happier than last.

Aftyn was keenly aware that Daddy was nowhere to be found today, except for maybe 15 minutes at dinner before he rushed off to class straight after getting home from work.
I tried to make her feel better by telling her that by her birthday Daddy would be all done with school!
She was SO excited! But she doesn't really understand the length of time that involves.

I also asked her tonight what she thought would be nicer to live in, an apartment or a house?
She very adamantly declared, "a house!".  So there you have the honest truth, a house is much preferred to our boxed in state of affairs over here aka our apartment.


It'll be interesting to see how I feel on the last day of this semester and the beginning of the next.