Apple Picking!

It's that time of the year again!  Apple picking! This is probably my most favorite time of the year!  I love being able to go outside, in jeans & long sleeve shirt and being absolutlely comfortable!  After school this past Wednesday we took Emma apple picking at our favorite orchard.  We have been taking her there every year since she was born.  Love it there!  Not only do they have apples, but they have pumpkins as well.  And a great little farm store with fresh veggies and homemade apple cider.  Super yummy!  We picked what they call a "Bushel" of apples.  Which is basically a very large shopping bag full of apples.  So far i've made apple crisp with it...and as soon as i'm on days off from work i'm going to get going on homemade applesauce =)  Here are some photos from our adventure =)

Totally loving this time of the year.  I wish that we could have about 6 months out of the year with weather like this.  I'm not ready at all for winter.  Hopefully fall sticks around for a while =)

5 Years Old & Zebras!

Well Miss Emma turned 5 years old this past week!  Friday was her actual birthday.  I packed a special cupcake in her lunchbox for school and put a Birthday card in her lunchbox as well.  That evening we went out for Pizza with some family & friends.  The kids had soooo much fun and were so good.  After that we spent the evening at our house in the backyard having a campfire and toasting marshmallows.  It was the best evening we have had in a long time.  All the kids got along perfectly  And us adults had some great adult talk! 

Saturday we had Emma's Birthday party!  When I asked what kind of Birthday she wanted she immediately said, "I want a Zebra Party!"  Well that worked for me!  I love to decorate for parties and getting ready!  Here are some birthday photos =)

Happy 5th Birthday to my little princess Emma!!! =)

September 11th -Ten Years

It is hard to believe that today marks the 10th Anniversary of the September 11th, 2001 attacks on our country.  I remember the day vividly.  I was 19 years old, and working at a coffee shop.  I was out back in the kitchen and I remember someone running through the doors of the coffee shop saying that a plane had hit the World Trade Center.  My first thought was that this was just a small plane.  I ran over to the TV and there was the images of the Towers.  I immediately knew from the damage that it obviously was not some small plane.  We then witnessed the second plane hit the tower.  I was in complete shock and remember just being silent.  Then we learned of the Pentagon attack, and then the plane that went down in Pennsylvania.  I pray for the families, victims and everyone else effected by these attacks, and will never forget. 

I am now a mother to a little girl who will soon by 5.  How do you explain to them what happened on that day?  The past week images and videos of that day have been all over the television and magazines.  I have done the best I can to explain to Emma what happened.  This morning I asked Emma to draw me a picture of America and how she felt.  She saw a flag on a magazine and she began to draw it.  Here is her photo. 

First Day Of Kindergarten!

We survived the first day of Kindergarten!!!  As I said in my last post I had a mix of emotions about this day.  We woke up at about 6:50 this morning, showered, packed Emma's lunch and got her dressed for her very first day!  Brian and I took her to school, i'm way too much of a worry wort to let her take the bus just yet! HA!  The first 4 days of school she is only going a 1/2 day, at the start of next week she will start going full days!  We picked her up at noon today, and she told us she had a blast!  She was so excited that she got to eat her lunch in the cafeteria today!  Here are a few pictures from the first day =)

She was so cute walking into the school!  Here is something that I came across on another blog.  A gift for the teacher!  Emma thought it would be a good idea to get something for her teacher so here is what we put together!

It was a really cute idea that we found!  And Emma's teacher enjoyed it as well! 

Well we start another day of school tomorrow, so I have clothes to lay out and a lunch to pack! =)

Mix of Emotions....

So tonight I have mixed emotions.  My little princess is officially starting Kindergarten tomorrow!  I am extremely happy for her, she will be meeting all kinds of new friends and will have a blast.  But there is a part of me that is completely sad.  I'm sure these emotions are completely normal.  But I go from one minute laughing with Emma to the next minute crying because she is growing up so fast.  It seems like just yesterday she was my little 3 pound baby, and now tomorrow she starts school and next week she turns 5!  Since having her life has compltely flown by.  I cherish every minute I have with my family and we have made some of the best memories ever. 

I remember the day she was born.  2 months premature and weighing 3 pounds 2 ozs.  I was so scared to hold a baby that size, but I quickly grew acustomed to it.  She was my tiny miracle that's for sure.  This picture of her she was less than an hour old =)

This photo reminds me of a little baby bird in her nest =)  She was born completely healthy, but due to my really really high blood pressure I had to have an emergency c-section.  She spent a month in the neonantal intensive care unit learning to take a bottle and then we were able to bring her home =)

Last year at this time Emma was starting Pre-K.  I was nervous about that too.  But she only went for 3 hours a day.  She had the most amazing teacher last year and learned so much.  Here is a picture of Em last year on her first day of Pre-K

Tomorrow sure will be a day of lots of emotions.  But I know in my heart that my little princess will be completely fine.  She will have so much meeting new friends and getting to know her new teacher.  Time sure does go by quickly!  

Swimming & Bar Harbor!

So Emma has become a fish this summer!  We started her with swimming lessons this past spring and she did so well!  I was a little afraid because of a gap between her lessons and when summer arrived that she may forget some of the basics of swimming.  Boy was I wrong!!!  She remembered everything!  She was very timid about going underwater, but this past weekend something told her to just do it and she did!  She jumped off the ladder of my parents pool, went under and swam right back up!  I was super duper proud of her! =)

See!  Total fish, completely underwater! 

She came up from underwater at one point and it looked to me like her eyes were open.  I asked her when she swims underwater if she closes her eyes, and she said "Nope!  I need to see where i'm going!"  Totally made me laugh! =)

On Monday, Brian and I decided we wanted to take a day trip to Bar Harbor.  Beautiful town, but super busy this time of the year.  We decided to stop a little lobster pound for lobster....it was yummmy!!

They were serving Blueberry lemonade, and it was really good!

The two loves of my life =)

After lunch we took a drive up to the top of Cadillac Mountain.  If you have ever been there it is beautiful...however...if you have a fear of heights like I do, then the drive up could be interesting!! Brian laughed at me the entire drive up because I disliked it *very* much!  I really don't care to look out the window of the passenger seat and see a cliff that goes straight down.  But once at the top of the mountain it was beautiful and I was fine!! =) 

The clouds were below us and it was beautiful!!

My movie star =)

After we headed downtown Bar Harbor to do some shopping, but the crowds were huge!  We went into a couple of shops and then decided to start heading back and stop for ice-cream =)  The place we stopped for ice-cream had a tire swing that swung out over a little pond, and Emma loved it!!  I did stop at LL Bean and got Emma a new lunchbox for school =)

I'm back to work tomorrow night for 4 nights.  Ugghh.  I'm already ready for days off again!  I'm loving the summer weather with my family =)

Lovin' Summer =)

We are absolutely loving summer this year!  The weather has been HOT HOT HOT!  Some days it has actually been too hot, but all in all it's been nice!  Last Monday we took a ride to my hubby's parents new camp.  What a ride to get there!  It's like 30 miles down a long dirt road, and then you have to get on another road and another road...and well you get the point!  Once there you have to park your car and walk about an 1/8th of a mile in the woods......and then you are finally there!!  And once you are there the view is amazing!  There are very few camps on this lake and it's great!  Emma had such a blast splashing in the water and swimming!

We got her this new chair with an umbrella and she loves it! 

I love spending days like this with my family!  We had a picnic lunch there and just enjoyed spending time on the beach and in the water!  Can't wait to go back again!!

Every once in a while Emma and I take a ride to the University of Maine gardens.  There flowers there are always so beautiful.  Of course I love going there to take photos.  And Miss Emma is my model =)

I really can't believe how she is growing and that she will be starting kindergarten very very soon!

So tonight for dinner I wanted to try a new recipe that I found on another blog!  It's called Cheeseburger Macaroni.  It was super yummy!  It reminded me a lot of hamburger helper...but completely homemade and much much better! 

You start with these ingredients:

Brown 1 lb of lean hamburg and then drain.  Then add these following ingredients:

1 pkg of Taco Seasoning Mix.  2 cups of beef broth.  1 can of Ro*Tel tomatoes with green chils.  And 1 cup of elbow macaroni.  Mix all of those ingredients with the hamburg.  Bring to a boil and then let simmer for about 15 minutes.  While that is simmering gather these ingredients to make the sauce:

In a saucepan melt 2 tbsp of butter.  Then add 2 tbsp of flour.  Whisk in the flour and cook while whisking for about 5 minutes until fragrant and light brown in color.

Then add 3/4 cup of milk.  Whisk the milk and bring it to a boil.  Whisk until smooth and thickened.  Remove from the heat and add 1 cup of cheddar cheese.  And then add salt and pepper to taste.  Then pour it over the hamburg mixture!!

And there you have it!  It was really yummy!  The Ro*Tel tomatoes add quite a bit of spice so if your not into spicy foods I'm sure you could substitute it with just regular canned tomatoes! 

I hope everyone had a really great weekend!!! =)