It's Fall, Ya'll!

I'm officially back! Being that it has been well over a month since my last post I figured it would be both way too time consuming and absolutely unbearable to attempt to catch everyone up on my life. So, I am going to start fresh, right now. Those of you who don't already know, Fall is my absolute favorite season. I love the color change, the smell, the baking, the crisp air and so on. Well, when you combine my girls, Fall, and Blowing Rock that makes for one very happy mama!!! Last weekend my mom, the girls and I took a day trip to the mountains! It was quite an adventure! We did some hiking, eating, shopping and a lot of laughing!!

                                                 After our hike around Bass Lake/ Manor House

                                              mid-hike in the mountains.....

                This picture speaks volumes! Let me just tell ya, pushing a "ride-on" stroller( jenna in the front, Isabella sitting in the back) is no easy task! So, my mom and I joined forces and came up with a pully system! I pushed the back end and she helped pull the front end, as we were trotting along I told her I had to get a pic of this momumental teamwork so I ran ahead and snapped away! We were laughing like we had never laughed before!!

                                                             Love, love, love this picture! Although we only went for the day, we had an absolute blast! But fear not, we  will be back... for Thanksgving!!!
We booked our condo and are spending the holiday in the mountains! We are hopping for snow so we can spend the day sledding, I can't think of a better way to work up our thanksgiving appetites! We will end our stay with cutting down our own Christmas trees then hauling them back to Charlotte! Can you tell I'm a bit excited!?! I nlove the holidays!!!!

"Cheese"

My girls are no strangers to the camera, believe me, and with that said Jenna has found quite a comfort in smiling for the camera. No matter what she is doing, If she sees mommy enter the room, camera in hand, she immediately yells "cheese!" The pictures speak for themselves!

                                                                Bless her little heart!

First's

Last week was a week full of firsts. Isabella and Jenna had their first day of school... both on different days. I previously posted Isabella's pics from her first day of school however Jenna's were delayed because she was sick on her first day and was unable to attend. So, when both girls were temporarily healthy enough to make it school together, I took some more pictures....

                                                           Jenna's "first" day of school...

                                                    So excited to go to school!

                       not sure why Isabella has such a sour face on, but Jenna sure was happy and ready to go!
       Isabella visited the Dentist for the first time! She was a bit skeptical at first but eventually, with the help of her cool shades, she was able to relax!

             Unfortunately one of our other firsts this week was the fact that BOTH girls were sick at the same time. The school year was not off to a very healthy start.... but, i think everyone is on the mend and the sickies are finally gone.... for now. ;)

Hi ho, hi ho, it's off to school we go!

Today was officially our first day of the new school year, all three of us! Unfortunately my little Jenna bug got sick over the weekend consisting of a fever and various other symptoms resulting in a raspy little voice. So, she did not attend her first day of school; Isabella, on the other hand, made it with nothing but smiles!!She was soooo excited! Overall, we had a fantastic start to the new year!

                                           She was saying" happy first day of school" in this picture...

                                         She was sooooo excited to play with all of her new friends!

                                   modeling her "zebra dress" as she calls it with her new lunch box!

Let the good times roll...

My oh my summer 2011 is quickly coming to an end. In fact, for me, it has already ended. I began my introduction back into the work world this past week returning to my job as a preschool teacher. It has surely been an adjustment.I am very familiar with schedules and routines , as I do have two adorable daughters, however now there are MANY different routines and schedules to coordinate between work, my girls, my house, my hubby and lastly...me. This summer may be ending , but we sure wrapped it up with good times!

                                                               Wow! Summer is ending!!!

                                                                       awww.....bummer.

                                              The fun will still continue, no matter the season!

                  In honor of the new school year and returning to work, I made this "back to school" wreath!

Double Glazed Doughnut Muffins

It has been way too long since I have done a recipe post. I have been trying loads of new recipes, some have been wonderful, some not so much. I found this recipe on the blog, Goddess of Baking. They came out pretty good, according to my favorite little tester! so here it is:

Double Glazed Doughnut Muffins
¼ cup butter, unsalted
¼ cup vegetable oil
½ c sugar
1/3 c brown sugar
2 eggs
1 ½ tsp baking powder
¼ tsp baking soda
¾ tsp ground nutmeg
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp vanilla
2 ½ c flour
1 c milk
Glaze:
3 tbsp unsalted butter, melted
1 c powder sugar
1 tsp vanilla
2 tbsp hot water
1) preheat oven to 425. Mix together butter, vegetable oil, and sugars until smooth. Add the eggs. stir in baking powder, baking soda, nutmeg, cinnamon and vanilla. Stir in the flour into the butter mixture alternating with milk, beginning and ending with the flour. Spoon the batter evenly into pan. Bake for 14-16 minutes, or untl they are golden brown. In a medium bowl prepare the glaxe by mixing butter, powdered sugar, vanilla and water. Whisk until smooth. When muffins have cooled slightly dip the muffin crown into the glaze and allow to harden.
　
　

Creative Creatures

This week thus far has been full of creativity, whether it be playing dress-up or coloring, the girls creativity has been busting at the seams.


There has been a lot of dressing up.......

         

    

Finger painting....

                                                                       Coloring.....

               And no matter what, my girls are full of happiness and manage to enjoy life in every angle possible....

                                                        Our glasses are ALWAYS half full!

There's no such thing as a lazy summer day in this house!

This week has been very, very busy thus far! We have had continued swim lessons, craft projects, errands and play dates galore! We took the last two day off our "summer slips," due to the increase of craziness around here.;) One of our errands yesterday included picking up the girls new lunchboxes for this school year... I'm obsessed, they came out so cute!

                                                               aren't they adorable!?
Anyway, I digress. The last two days have included a lot of time with our favorite little men... "the boys."  Isabella and Jenna love playing with the boys and I must say their little minds thrive of each others creativity.

                        Jenna was waiting patiently for her dinner date last night....

                                   and...... here he is! He was giving Jenna his best "come hither" face!

                                      Isabella was also very happy to see her little prince charming....

                                     One of the highlights of their night last night was their "stage" performance... like I said, very creative!  Today we met up with "the boys," again! We just can't get enough!!! It happens to be Juliane's birthday today so of course we celebrated HER birthday by entertaining the kids, lol.  We ventured off to good ol' Sports Connection for a morning full of games. We started with bowling...

         

Then we moved on to the carousel.....

                    After the carousel we played several games....

                                         Jenna was so excited she did not know what to do first....

Although overall, I think they all enjoyed rocking out with the guitar the most!

 We had a great time playing games with the boys! We left sports connection and moved on to our next fun activity of the morning.... Isabella's manicure!

                                         I think My little girls had a very happy and fun filled morning!

Don't ya just love them!!!!

Some where over the rainbow......

After two days/nights of much needed rain... we celebrated the day yesterday with "rainbow day!" We started by decorating beautiful rainbow crowns with rainbow letter stickers and rainbow stickers.... Isabella made one for mommy and one for herself...

                                                   

                                                  We also made rainbow pipe-cleaner jewelry!!
Our last rainbow project was a cooking project.... we made sugar cookies with frosting and rainbow sprinkles!

                                                                     It was simply colorful!