Friday Five in the Fall

Fall in Maryland is absolutely magical.  The weather is perfect, the trees are magnificent, and I'll take many many more weeks like this one please because I know we'll shortly be staring down a long, cold winter.

ONE | My family came to visit last weekend!  We had a great time with them at Weber's Farm and then met Katie and Neal for dinner. 

TWO | Jilly started ballet again.  I realized at the last minute that she needed new ballet shoes so it was a mad scramble the morning of her first class to find some (ballet shoes were sold out everywhere!) but we did and she was ready to go with time to spare.

THREE | After reading Room on the Broom I let the girls watch the movie but apparently it was too scary for my little fraidy cats (am I a terrible mom for taking this picture?)  Luckily the story ends happily.

FOUR | Jilly's preschool class had a field trip this week.  We learned about the farm from Farmer Wayne, fed the baby goats, got lost in the corn maze, had relay races, and got to pick a pumpkin.  It was so much fun, and preschoolers are hilarious.

FIVE | We went apple picking for the second time this season.  It was my friend Jenni's birthday so I made muffins that the kids enjoyed on my front porch before we left.  The drive up to Pennsylvania was incredible and the orchard was so beautiful.  We picked (and ate!) lots and lots of apples and Jilly convinced all the kids to play her favorite game Family and I convinced my friends to take a jumping picture, and I was super grateful to have a van to fill up with friends.

A good day

If there's one thing I've learned as a mother it's that there are good days and bad days (and good moments and bad moments.)  We need the bad to appreciate the good, but sometimes it's nice to just forget the bad and only think about the good.  Today was a day that turned out quite good.

Some highlights:

+ Jilly reading Mattie princess stories while I got ready this morning

+ Reading almost all of a Magic Tree House book to Jilly (she wanted to save the last chapter for tomorrow.)

+ Surviving a quick trip to Walmart

+ Dropping off and picking up Jilly from preschool on time (on Friday I was 2 minutes late to pick her up and she was the very last kid in the room and a little teary-eyed.  #momfail)

+ Washing and folding all the laundry

+ Being able to help a friend who needed a babysitter at the last minute

+ Taking a scooter ride to the park and enjoying the most gorgeous weather

+ Making dinner even though Bryan was working late (he worked late Thursday and Friday so I didn't make real dinners, we went out on Saturday, and were invited to a friend's house for dinner Sunday, so it was about time I turned on my oven.)

+ The girls turning a box into a rocket while I made dinner

+ Playing a game and having pudding for family night

+ Putting the girls to bed and watching You've Got Mail (a tiny perk of Bryan working late is getting full control of the tv)

Nearly perfect days like this don't come often so I'm going to hold on tight to this one.

five on friday

ONE | General Conference last weekend was so, so great.  I started this week feeling inspired and invigorated.  I especially loved Elder Nelson's message to women (found here.)  I also loved having a relaxing, cozy weekend as a family.  

^ Bryan is meditating, not sleeping ;)

TWO | It wasn't my favorite way to spend a week, but I decided to potty train Mattie and she's rocking it.   Nothing makes a two-year-old seem bigger than wearing a little pair of undies.

THREE | Jilly and Mattie are way into I Spy books lately which is fantastic because they can "read" them all by themselves.

FOUR |  I've wanted to make a family tree for years.  I've been collecting ideas on pinterest and finally this week I finished ours and I seriously love it.

FIVE | Remember how I said Mattie's nursery teachers were the cutest, sweetest humans alive?  Now I have proof.  They're the older couple in this video.  Love them!

"I wish you could stay a thousand days"

We were so, so lucky to have a visit from Nana and Papa last week.  The weather was terribly uncooperative with all our outdoor plans but we still managed to have a great time.  When she was saying goodbye Jilly said, "I wish you could stay for a thousand days!" and we all agreed.

We picked them up Tuesday afternoon and gave them a taste of Baltimore rush hour traffic coming home from the airport.  We ate dinner and the girls loved giving them a tour of our new house.

On Wednesday Jilly and Nana went on a special date to the mall then Mattie got to stay home with Nana and Papa while I helped at Jilly's preschool.  That afternoon it stopped raining for a bit so we headed over to Weber's Farm.  Everything was super wet and soggy so the best parts of the farm were closed (the slides and hayride) but on the plus side they let us do all the other activities for free.  And we got a gallon of the most delicious apple cider there ever was.  

^ This was the funniest way to feed the goats.  They would all crowd around the chute and fight each other for a snack. 

^ Mattie LOVED the hay maze.  She ran and ran and giggled like crazy.  

Thursday was all about food.  We met Bryan for lunch at the Pennsylvania Dutch Market and got a taste of pretty much all they had to offer (stuffed pretzels, chicken pot pie, beef sandwiches and, of course, our favorite donuts.)  In the afternoon we baked sugar cookies and Papa taught Jilly a tricky way to fold a shirt.  And for dinner we feasted on Chesapeake blue crabs and crab cakes.  It was a delicious, fun, and very messy meal.

On Friday morning we decorated our Halloween sugar cookies while Bryan worked in the morning.  He came home at lunch then we all went downtown.  It was a miserably cold, windy, and rainy day so we didn't get to walk around the harbor at all but we went to the National Aquarium, which was amazing!  We bought a membership and I'm so glad we'll get to go back again and again this year.  And of course no trip downtown would be complete without Shake Shack (this is actually what Jilly was most excited to do with Nana and Papa.)

^ It took every ounce of bravery she could muster but Jilly touched a jelly! 

On Saturday morning we took the girls to Target to get some wiggles out while Bryan and his dad worked on some projects at home.  We spent the rest of the afternoon eating snacks and watching General Conference and were so lucky that there was a break in the rain between sessions so we could go for a walk around Loch Raven reservoir.  

That night during dinner the girls put on a show with their funniest faces.  Nana and Papa left early early Sunday morning and were missed immediately.  Come back soon!