Luli's First Race

On Saturday October 18, Luli ran her very first race!

Oscar had registered to run the Stone Ridge 5k Race for Education and we thought it would be great to register Luli for the 1k Fun Run. She got her very own race packet with tee-shirt and bib number! South Riding Pediatrics also gave a baseball cap, which she insisted on wearing for the race.It was really adorable and she was so excited.

Nahnah and Pahpah were even in town to watch the big event. They were returning home from vacation and stayed with us for the weekend. The morning of the race Nahnah could hear Luli in her bed, wake up and say, "Fiona today I'm going to run a race!" How adorable! It was a beautiful day and It was pretty cold in the morning and the sun wasn't shining on our course yet, so it felt even colder. While we waited to line up Luli and Fiona sat in the stroller with coats and blankets. Prior to lining up Luli and Oscar stretched their limbs, to avoid any injury from this grueling 1k race! Time came to line up and Luli and I took off our coats and hopped in line. The race started and we were off, she did so great! We ran the entire way and had a lot of fun holding hands, but sometimes letting go to run like a real runner (this is fists clenched, bent at the elbow, and slightly held out from the body - think John McCain in debates). It was an out and back course and on the return the wind was in our faces and Luli kept repeating "I'm so cold Mommy." But her smiled never faded. When we crossed the finish line we held up our arms Rocky style and screamed in victory. Then she received a very cherished prize, the gold medal. The gold medal has been shown off to anyone around, slept with and brought to school. It was very exciting! Nahnah took great pictures of Luli and I running I just have to get them from her.

Oh and Oscar ran a great race too!

Luli Sings...

Do you remember the song "This Old Man?" Well this is how Luli is currently singing it and it CRACKS ME UP!
Miss old man
Miss old man
He played nine
He played knick knack on my tongue
With a knick knack patty pack give a dog a phone
Miss old man went rolling home

Hiking in Sky Meadows

It has certainly been unseasonably hot these past few days! We took advantage and went on a hike, it turned out to be a beautiful fun day for all of us. We set out for Sky Meadows State Park on Sunday and did a hike that we did last November with the girls. This year the girls did considerably more hiking. Luli did super, she hiked at least 80% of the hike, and Fiona did pretty well for her age. When the hike was too steep (up or down) Oscar and I carried the girls. Luli chose to go with me in the Ergo (and remarkably she and I were very comfortable) and Fiona in the Sherpani. Fiona took a nice nap on the downward hike but that was it for the sleep that would be had - more on that later!

We enjoyed a lovely picnic on the hillside. It was beautiful to watch the leaves float down from the trees and be surrounded by the beautiful golden hues of Autumn. We did a family photo, which I think came out great and could possibly be our holiday card this year...ironically, it's the same place we took last year's picture! Just a beautiful surrounding.

At the end of the hike we were rewarded with several treats. A local winery had a free wine tasting, very yummy! And they gave away some winery coupons...which we plan to use very soon. A second lovely treat was homemade ice cream! Luli chose chocolate, Fiona chose orange cream, I chose pumpkin and Oscar had fresh peach. All of it was so yummy! I loved the pumpkin and Fiona's peach was pretty awesome. While we enjoyed all of our edible treats we laid on our picnic blanket and listened to some fiddle and guitar music. Luli unfortunately missed when the played the Bumble Bee song! Oscar also took the girls into the hay and barrel play area, it started to get rowdy in there so their playtime wasn't super long. While they were playing I indulged in something I NEVER get to do...RELAXATION! I laid down on our picnic blanket which was under this beautiful tree with yellow leaves, I watched the yellow leaves with the amazing blue sky behind and listened to the music. It was an amazing feeling to just lay there and enjoy the beauty.

The girls really had lovely attitudes the entire day which made it an even more enjoyable experience. Like I said earlier there was no napping and while Luli dealt pretty well with that, Fiona did not. Her socks were really annoying her in the car and she went into a lovely tantrum about it. Oscar and I had had enough so he took the remaining sock off, figuring removal of annoying object will stop the situation (or at least tame it). Clearly this was the wrong move, because it has the opposite effect. Fiona went into the possessed by the devil tantrum which then led to the inevitable vomit...lovely! The girls got home, ate dinner and went to bed 2 hrs early (but slept until 7:15am!). Oscar and I enjoyed a quiet dinner and went to bed early also!

This picture is pretty much how cooperative the girls were at taking a nice picture together. The rest of the pictures came out really beautiful, so I will get around to adding them into an album and linking them up on the side...all these things to do!

Halloween Preview

Ok, I couldn't resist putting this up now!

Making Gifts for Friends

My dear friend Monsio just added adorable twins to her family. Luli, Fiona and I went to visit Monsio, Tony, Toni Sahai, Michael, Laila and Lathan yesterday and shower them with love and gifts. I took the opportunity to learn more about my sewing machine and branch out with a few more projects. For the twins I made matching boy/girl bibs and burp cloth/lovey's. I used chenille for the burpy/lovey and let Monsio decide whether or not she'll use for burping or for something the twins can attach to. I used the Bend the Rules pattern for the bib, my first time adding snaps! But I designed the burpy/lovey myself. I'm pretty happy with how each came out.

For Toni Sahai I made her a smock/apron that she can wear while helping her Mommy make yummy Liberian food (so good!). I again made this from the Bend the Rules book, the same as the ones I made for my girls. I like the way this one came out better, mainly because of the pockets. This fabric really reminded me of Toni Sahai also, it's bright and cheery just like her.

With my limited knowledge of boys and boy stuff I was a wee bit stumped on what to make for Michael, so I decided on making the turtle from Bend the Rules. It was my first time making a stuffed animal and frankly it was tough! I had to cut up the body once and re-do it. It almost sent me to the loony bin! In the end I was pretty happy with the outcome and I learned a lot from that project.

To sweeten the deal and bring something for the very busy momma! I made her, her favorite cake...the pumpkin cake (it is one of my best). I didn't photo it but frankly tis the season for this cake and it'll get made again and again! I also made a yummy breakfast apple bread using the apples from our apple picking trip. We had a lovely visit with lots of baby holding and swing set playing! I can't wait to see those babies (and big kids of course) again soon! But wouldn't you know I forgot my camera that day! GRRR!

Busy Saturday

This Saturday was a very busy day for us, but LOTS of fun! In the morning we went apple picking at Hartland Orchards with our friends. The weather was absolutely perfect for apple picking.The girls loved running through the trees, climbing the trees and picking apples. We enjoyed a nice picnic lunch in the orchard and then Luli and Hannah were climbing the trees. They both got rather daring and tried to climb as high as they could. It was really adorable to watch them! Fiona really wanted to climb too and we helped her into a few branches.

After we picked enough we ventured to the hayride. I didn't expect to actually ride it because when Luli rode on a hayride at camp this summer she apparently freaked out the entire time. This time both girls loved it. When the hayride was over we filled up our apple bag with a few Fuji apples (we couldn't find those trees). The orchard was also making their cider right then so we watched the process, and then saw they were also starting the process of making apple butter...YUM!

We bought some cider and regrettably did not buy any apple butter.

We got home for naptime, and then immediately Oscar and I started work on the apple cake we were bringing to dinner at our friends Jeanine and Keshav's house. The cake was a lot of work but it was well worth it, not only did it look great, it tasted great too! We played on the playground with Abhi and wore all the kids out so they ate dinner pretty well. Poor Abhi didn't have an afternoon nap so he was very sleepy. Our girls did well staying up until 9:30pm, they were pj'd and toothbrushed before we left and fell asleep before we were out of the neighborhood.

It was a busy day, but so much fun!

Tiny Tots

Fiona and I have started taking Tiny Tots at the farm, just like I did with Luli back when she was just two years old. It's a great class for 2-3 yr olds and their moms (or dads or caretakers). Fiona's really enjoying it and especially fond of having her own "school" time. Our first class made me think that Fiona needed some work in getting more assertive. She didn't want to take out a puppet without me by her side, or go up to Miss Blair without me holding her hand. Our second and subsequent classes she's done much better.

We start the class doing fine motor activities, these pics from this week's class are painting shaving cream on a laminated picture (which Fiona was very focused on) and playing with a magnet and a tin of magnetic objects. Another activity was sorting objects but we didn't get to that table because Fiona was really loving her painting.

After fine motor skills we do circle time with the "Hello" song, and some other songs that correlate to the theme of the week (this week was squirrels). Then off to craft time! This week we painted a squirrel with watercolors, and attached a furry tail. Fiona again LOVED the painting. After craft we go for gross motor skill activities, this week we played with tents and tunnels and picked up "acorns" or balls. We finish off with a snack and the goodbye song. On the way out all the kids get a sticker on their hand.

Fiona was especially happy because this week the weather was nice enough to play outside for the 15 minutes we had in between our class ending and Luli's class ending. I think it's another successful experience with Tiny Tots...hopefully meaning another successful transition to preschool in the Fall!