Art and Hospitals

2 quick school happenings:

Andrew got a letter in the mail from the Superintendent letting him know that a piece of his artwork was selected to be on display for the month at the Board of Ed office.  Obviously we had a to take a trip to see it.  It's his self portrait.

Way to go Andrew!!!

Whit had her kindergarten field trip to the hospital and I got to be a parent helper.  It was great watching her with her friends and seeing her in the classroom and on the trip.

They got to try out a lot of hospital-ly things like blood pressure, stethescopes, hospital beds, wheel chairs and crutches.  A happy happy day.

Rita and Clem visit--Avery's ,Danbury and Sleepy Hollow

My parents left town on a Tuesday morning and Rita and Clem arrived the same night.  They got to experience tons of real life with us--soccer, activity days, preschool, gymnastics, doctor's appointments, Halloween costume making, etc, etc.  On Saturday we filled the day up with a lot of fun.

After Andrew's soccer game we headed out.  First stop, Avery's Beverages in New Britain--one of the oldest soda bottling companies in New England.  It was fun touring the barn and choosing our soda flavors.

Crates of soda everywhere and tons of flavors to choose from.

Whit always makes the best faces!!

From there, we headed on west and stopped in Danbury.  Clem went to college for 1 1/2 years at what is now Western Connecticut State University (before he moved on to Brooklyn College and BYU).  He hadn't been back in 46ish years.

 A lot of campus had changed but "Old Main" was still the same.  It was a lot of fun watching him reminisce.

  

He even found the house where he rented out a room from an old Irish couple.  His room was the one right behind him on the right.  So cool!

From Danbury, we continued west toward the Hudson River Valley.  Our main destination was the big pumpkin Blaze but we got there a few hours early and headed first to the Sleepy Hollow Cemetery.

Scary!

The cemetery was huge and beautiful and had probaby 8 or 9 letterboxes hidden throughout.  It was only open for 1 more hour when we arrived, so we only managed to find 3.  Plus we learned how many famous people are buried there--who knew?  I only think of the headless horseman when I think of Sleepy Hollow.

  

Here's the bridge that goes with the tale of the headless horseman and Ichabod Crane. (not original to the cemetary of course but still fun).

After dinner, we headed to the Great Jack 'O Lantern BLAZE.  So cool.  Thousands of pumpins carved with many many different displays.  We walked through and it took over an hour.  Unfortunately something with our dinner must have been cooked in peanut oil or something and Mary felt sick to her stomach from the end of dinner til about 20 minutes into our tour.  Lucky for her, she got it out of her system--unlucky for me, I got to walk through our tour carrying a bag of puke--good times. 

All pumpkins--some real, some fake, all awesome.

Again, all pumpkins

I love these 2 shots below.  The flash went off on the first and it just looks stupid.  The 2nd is the same shot with no flash.  Suddenly it looks amazing.

Happy!

A tiger in the zoo section.  Check out the cute little monkey pumpkins--there were probably 50-100 of them.

There was a dinosaur section, a spider web, an under the sea section, and many more

What a great and full day!  We got home around 10:30 pm and were wiped out.

I failed miserably in taking any pictures the rest of Rita and Clem's trip but rest assured, we had a great time.

Shirk Company--a race, some apples, a steam train and a riverboat!

We got lucky enough to have Mom and Dad come visit which meant we got a bonus of Megan and Nate coming too.

It was Hartford Marathon weekend but since my knee started giving me grief during training, I decided not to run.  Megan and Nate ended up running the 5K.  It was great going down and cheering them on.

Hartford Marathon Saturday also always means Singer apple picking Saturday.  It's our 4th year in a row. 

Our annual family apple picking photo.  I'll never tire of that view.

Megan and Nate decided to roll down the HUGE hill at the apple orchard.  We ended up with lots of hill-rollers and Whit and Annie ended up with lots of scratches. :(

The Primary Program happened the same weekend everyone was here.  Talk about great timing!

On Monday, we headed down to Essex, CT to ride the Essex steam train.  It was a great day.

We rode the train about 30 minutes and then got off and boarded a riverboat for a riverboat ride that lasted just over an hour.  It was relaxing and beautiful.

Then it was a train ride back to the station!

We ended our day with a trip to Stew Leonard's grocery store--an experience of its own.

Mom and Dad headed out the next day.

So glad they could come!!!

Early October Happenings...

My creative juices continue to deplete over time so this post is nothing short of boring.  Mainly my way of documenting life.  Here are a few early October happenings from the Singer home.

Whit at her Kindergarten Open House.  She's off to a great start and enjoyed showing us around her classroom.

A day off school gave us a chance to go on a letterbox hike.  The foliage is just beautiful around here these days.  We can't get enough.

General Conference at church happens twice a year.  There are 2 church sessions on Saturday and 2 on  Sunday.  We watch from home on the computer but it's asking a lot of the kids to listen.  Mary and Andrew constructed this lego temple during the Sunday afternoon session.  Must admit, I was impressed!

Road Racin'

There is a big race by our house every fall and this year we decided to be a part of it.  They have a kids run, a family fun mile run, and a 5K.  Mary, Andrew and I did the family fun mile run.

They were loving their bibs and new t-shirts!

The elementary school gym teachers led us all in some warm-ups.  Even Whit got in on the action (though I don't recall them having us do the splits)

Here we go!! (I don't think we are visible)

Here's Andrew heading to the finish line.

And here come Mary and me

Perfect time for a family photo.

Happy day!!  Now we have times to beat for next year. 

Happy Birthday Annie Girl!!!

How could this little gal be 4 already?  What a fun birthday week of excitement it was.  She had the countdown chain going and lots of plans for her party, her first ever birthday party.

She decided on a tea party with make up and nail painting.  We went with purse cakes b/c I thought they'd be easier than make up cakes like she originally wanted.  Each girl got their own personal cake--so fun!

We used our fancy china (thank you dear Aunt Ginna) and the girls ate their fancy food. 

Check out this make up mania room--one mom doing fingernails, one mom doing toenails and 2 moms doing make up.  They each got some perfume and lotion too and the girls were set.  You really can't go wrong with a group of 4 and 5 year olds and the word 'make up'.

Oh so pretty!

A great party and great birthday in general.   

The party was Friday and the actual birthday was Saturday.  We went mini-golfing Saturday with a gift card that has been burning a hole in Andrew's pocket all summer.  Then it was out for ice cream cones afterwards--can't beat that for a birthday.

The night before her birthday, I was holding Annie on my lap and telling her that she couldn't get older b/c I love three year olds and would miss not ever getting to have another one.  I told her I love 3 year olds b/c they are so funny.  Annie said, "Don't worry mom, I promise I'll still be funny when I'm 4."

I'm sure she will.

Annie in a nutshell---

happy, funny, easy going, messy (see above picture), make-up lover, bubble gum lover, gets along with everyone, a delightful part of our family.

Happy Birthday Annie.  We love you!!!

September Happenings....

Since the month is almost over and I've made NO blog posts, thought I'd hit some September highlights.

Whit figured out how to ride a two wheeler.  She's done really well.  She has amazing balance and very quickly figured out how to start up on her own without my help.  Go Whit!!!

(Annie keeps wanting her turn with no training wheels.  Everytime she tries, she goes like 5 full pedals all by herself, then stops herself and says, "I'm done trying."  She's scared but is totally doing it--probably in the spring....) 

Whit and Annie have started gymnastics.  They love Thursdays!!  Whit has class for an hour and then Annie has class right after for 45 minutes.  It's fun to watch them learn some new skills.

Here's Whit swinging on the bar.

Annie getting some backbend help.

And soccer has begun as well.  We're noticing big improvements with Andrew this year.  He's having a lot of fun.

September is lacking in Mary pictures.  Piano has resumed and she's also planning on taking a theater class in a couple of months.

Below, Annie is posing with my latest project.  I built a headboard for Andrew.  I saw some ideas online using shutters and then found some shutter doors on the side of the road.  Sweet!!!  So happy with how it turned out.  Looking for more handyman opportunities now...it was so fun.  Just got it up to his room tonight but forgot to take pictures.  Glad he's finally getting a nicer look to his room. :)