Fall Fun

Well, we had plans to go to the Queens farm to do the whole pumpkin picking, hayride, apples and cider thing....but it was a crummy day....so we cancelled. But, we did go to the local fruit market and grabbed a few pumpkins! Carved one, painted another, and did Mrs Potato head princess to the third. made some pumpkin seeds in the oven (one batch salted, the other cinnamon/sugar).

Then, I went on a field trip with Liv's class to a nursery on Staten Island where they got to pick out a small pumpkin to paint, go in some bounce houses, eat lunch, and browse the nursery and gift shop. It was a gorgeous day! So fun. On the bus ride back to school, Liv asked me if she would be staying at school when we got back, or if she'd be going home. I told her I wasn't sure how much time there would be left in the school day, so we'd have to see. She said "Mom, if it's OK for me to stay, can I please stay at school for the rest of the day?" Sure enough, we arrived at the school about an hour before dismissal. Her teacher said that she could be dismissed if we wanted, but Liv said "No, please Mom! Can't I please stay at school?" Wow, she LOVES school so much and she LOVES her teacher so much. One tiny piece of me wishes she wanted to come home with me, but overall, I could not be more thrilled that she loves school SO MUCH!

How'd I get so lucky?

Seriously, how did I get so lucky?

My man is so good to me. He works his butt off all week, when he gets home, he takes care of all the stupid crap I can't do, and then he arranges for babysitters so we can go out. And if that weren't enough, he always remembers to build me up and encourage me and tell me how great I am. I know, eat your heart out.

At church, they passed a hat around and asked people to throw in a request for something you could use help with. Then, if you put in a request, you pull one out. So, just a little exercise in helping each other out as a community. Timm put in a request for a babysitter so he could take his wife out on a date. :)

Of course, becuase God works in such amazing ways, the person who drew the request was really excited and said that she was hoping to offer us a night out anyways because she thought it would be fun to have the girls over for a sleepover!

So, on Saturday night, the girls had an exciting sleepover, and we went out. We walked around downtown Brooklyn, found a quaint little place with candle light, parked our butts there for a few hours having a glass of wine and some Tai food. THen, we got coffee, walked around some more, and headed home.

When we got home, Timm said he had a wonderful night and I said "If you think listening to me talk non stop for four hours is fun!" ANd he replied with a smile "I guess I do, cuz that was really fun".

LBI

About five years ago, our friend Jim invited us to tag along with him to Long Beach Island (LBI) NJ. He explained that his brother and his brother's in-laws have a beach house. Well, of course, we took him up on the offer. And, we were blown away. It was a huge, gorgeous home a block from the Atlantic ocean and a perfectly beautiful beach!!!! And they were so welcoming to us and included us like family. So nice!

Since then, we had decided that it would be a good trip for Timm to take annually with Jim. So, they have gone out for a long weekend each August for the past 4 years. This year, it was a short trip, but Timm was able to meet Jim out there, as his commute decreased dramatically. Well, the beach house is actually two huge houses that are connected. And, the one house is rented out, while the other is shared by the family.

Once October rolls around, the rental season dies down. So, this dear family invited our family out to enjoy the rental side of this great beach house.....no charge. And, they said to just let them know when we need to get out of the city, and as long as they don't have anyone renting, we can come there to have a get-away!

COME ON!

So, since we had Monday off for Columbus day, Timm planned a trip for us to head out there after church Sunday, and stay the night. Sunday ended up being really nice, and the girls even went in the ocean! YES, ON OCTOBER 11th. We had some great family time, and we ended up getting the chance to visit with our gracious hosts. They came out for the night too. It is only 30 minutes from their home. They are just ridiculously generous and just genuinely sweet people. It was great.

party time.

So, Alli had her "friend party" out here in our new home. Much smaller home, and I wasn't entirely sure how to be creative with a kid party like we have in the past. But, we just came up with some ideas for fun games, food and activities, and the girls had a wonderful time. She had 5 girls from school, plus her and Liv. It brought me joy to see her partying with her new friends, and including her sister as well.

Born to be a freegan

A while back, I saw an Oprah show about "freegans" and I might have even posted about it. I found that I am not alone in my desire to find and use other peoples' discarded items. I find a thrill in the fact that I can use an item that might have otherwise been wasted or added to a landfill. And, I love to save money, so free things make me happy. You could try to determine if it is nature or nurture that led to this freegan tendency....good luck. I believe it is both. So it's a pretty strongly imbredded tendency.

I'd like to share a few of my recent "finds" since moving to my new neighborhood. Most recently, while walking with Grandma, we found some shoes for Timm

But, backing up...one day on the way home from school, the girls and I came across someone who was moving and getting rid of a few items. We picked up a little computer table and a decoration for the girls' room. Yes, that is a scene of the Brooklyn bridge and Manhattan skyline at night, fully lit up and accompanied by swooshing sounds of water from the river....how could someone part with such a treasure? (Note-the light can be turned off, and the volume turned down).

Last, but certainly not least, Alli and I have enjoyed many evening walks to get fresh air, check out the neighborhood, and chat. It just so happened that several times we came across treasures put out for trash. We found a great wooden box that we now use to hold the hats and scarfs. Also, we found a set of little stackable shelves. I use one in each bathroom to increase use of space under the sink. I'm sure I'm forgetting some. We did find some great clothes one day. Some fit Alli, and some pretty dresses we passed along to a petite friend of ours. Ahh, it's fun being a freegan

Oh, how could I forget my latest find? Timm wasn't thrilled with me grabbing this cart and excitedly pushing it home! He thought it should stay in the trash! But, he is not the one lugging grocieries by hand from the store several times a week. So, we comprimised. I will leave it outside. It is pretty much brand new! Price tags still on it! To be honest, there is one small problem with one of the font wheels...it's broken. But I used it already once and it worked just fine!

Oops...who needs two front wheels anyways? :)

Oh my gosh....one more...and I swear that's it for now....our neighbor moved out and LOOK what he gave us for FREE!!! What a great guy! We now have outdoor storage for helmets, scooters, skateboard, roller blades, etc. FREEEEEE.

OK, I lied, we have also found quite a few books....now I'm done :)

The big one-oh

That's right, someone in this family hit the big one-oh this week! Guess who!?

I am going to pile on the pics here, because there has been much celebrating. Grandma, aunt KT and Izzy surprised the girls last Saturday and showed up at our apartment from MI!!!!!

We had such a great time! Sight seeing, showing them around the new hood, visiting, going out to dinner, going to our very first Sunday morning public gathering for Communitas!

I like food. Slash that. I love food. And, we enjoyed a TON of it this weekend. Alli was treated like a princess! We had dinner AND dessert every night!!! And, due to my love of food, I have been known to take pictures of food fairly often. This is no exception. Here is a display of the desserts we ordered Monday night after enjoying dinner at Alli's restaurant of choice, Tai Tony's. YUM! Wasn't a favorite for our visitors, but they didn't say anything negative, but let Alli bask in her glory!

Then, Alli opened a handful of cards from family. They generously sent her gifts of money. She has been saving up to buy an ipod nano. Last night, she went online with Daddy and ordered a bright purple metallic ipod with the the inscription "Allison Isabel Kelly....Brooklyn's dancing queen"

And, the party isn't over yet.

Alli invited some friends over for Saturday evening. Games, junk food, and a movie. Happy 10th to our sweet little girl!

It's October

October is here!

The girls are having fun making some birthday cards for all of the October birthdays we have in our family. Also, they are creating some invitations for Alli to give her friends, as she turns 10 next week and will be having a little party. She experienced just a little bit of drama in the issuing of the invites to her selected 5th grade girl friends. Oh boy, let the drama of being a "tween" begin. She didn't want to make anyone feel left out, but of course it is inevitable at times, and she was feeling a little grief and confusion about the whole thing. Life lessons.

As I have been walking in our neighborhood, it is so refreshing to see people putting out their Fall decor. You know, brightly colored mums in big pots, scarecrows, pumpkins, red, orange and yellow leafs made into a garland. Of course, then there has to always be the few who would rather turn their space into a nasty cemetery with bloody hands poking out of the ground and spider webs everywhere....not as refreshing for me to see....but to each their own. Anyways, I felt inspired to maybe get something to decorate the front of our new home. We have plans to get pumpkins later in the month. But, maybe a mum or something? But, someone beat me to it! YAY! I'm liking this "renter" status. Our landlord came by, and put a few fall items out front, and some scented pine cones in the entry so that when we come in out of the cool fall air, into the warm entry way, it has the smell of cloves. October is here....ahhh.