Grace And Emma Go To A Baby Shower

This past Sunday evening, a baby shower was held at Meadowbrook Farm for the girls beloved art teacher, Miss Emily.  It was an absolutely perfect September evening for such a special gathering.  There were so many families there to shower the soon-to-be new mama and papa with lots of love and good wishes in these their final weeks of waiting to meet their little one. 

 

After many games were played, conversations had and delicious food enjoyed it was time to open the gifts.  I absolutely loved how the gift opening was done!  Each child was invited to bring Emily and Eric the gift that their family had brought and then Emily and Eric would open the gift with the child standing right there with him.  What a perfectly special way to open gifts!  A little bit of one on one time for each family and the guests of honor.  And I couldn't help but feel that all gift opening at showers should happen this way (whether littles are in attendance or not).  How special would it be for each guest to get to spend a moment with the bride or mama-to-be while she opens that specially selected gift brought for her by each person?  Usually at events like this you feel like you barely got to talk to the guest of honor (or the guests if you are the one the shower is for) but that was not the case here. It was absolutely delightful and truly special and something that I will keep with me forever.

 

Thank you Emily and Eric for including us in such a special day.  We look forward to hearing that your little one has arrived and getting to meet him/her soon!  Enjoy these last few weeks of this pregnancy.  Your baby will be here before you know it!



Our Butterfly Adventure

On Saturday we went to Wachusett Meadow Wildlife Sanctuary in Princeton to participate in their Monarch tagging event. It was a lovely September day, though it was a wee bit chilly due to the breeze.

As you can see, the girls were super excited to be there!

There was a chat about the butterfly life cycle (which the girls were well versed in thanks to many books we've read and the Wild Kratt's episode about it).

And then there was a demonstration on how to tag a butterfly once you catch one.

"Mama, I am just so happy to be here with the beautiful butterflies!"

And then it was time for each of us to grab a net and head out into the meadow to catch and tag some Monarchs.  Our leaders told us that there was a good chance that we'd have a tricky time finding them since the winds were so high. 

We headed out in search of Monarchs.

And although we were unable to find any Monarchs we still had an absolutely wonderful time.  We all agreed that we'd surely head back next year (and yes, mom, of course you can come along)!  As we were saying our good-byes our leaders told us that they felt terrible that the conditions were not right for us to be able to find any Monarchs that day.  Apparently, the day before there were hundreds of Monarchs flying all over the sanctuary.  What a sight that must have been!  Bon Voyage, lovely Monarchs!  Have a safe flight to Mexico!





Monday Evening



Just as we were gathering for dinner this lovely-almost-autumn evening I noticed that Grace had climbed into her seat and was still reading one of the books she took out from the library today.  So, of course I did what any good bloggin' mama does and I made a beeline for the camera.  And while I am not entirely sure of how much she's actually reading and how much of it is simply looking at the pages, we are over the moon to see how often lately she is found curled up with a good book.  Each night after Em falls alseep she gets out her flashlight and reads in bed.  And not a day goes by that she's not spotted in several locations around our house reading.  I love that there's a strong foundation being built for her when it comes to reading and I love that it's all happening at her own pace.  I have a feeling it won't be long before she is reliably reading and I have a feeling that once that happens she'll be devouring books quicker than we know what to do with!



Saturday

Waffles (made by Dave) to start our day followed by a butterfly adventure this afternoon.  Sounds like a good way to spend a Saturday to me!



{This Moment}

{This Moment} - A SouleMama Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments for all to find and see. We wish you a wonderful weekend!

Growing Up

Last weekend the girls came to us to let us know that they were ready for a little bit of a change in their room.  Turns out that they wanted just a wee bit of room between their beds.  And so we headed up to that lovely space of theirs (which is easily one of my most favorite rooms in our house) to see what kind of rearranging we could do   After a few combinations that didn't quite work they decided on the configuration you see above.  It allowed them to have the bit of space that they had requested, but also allowed them to still be close enough to each other that they could reach out and touch each other too.  For two little girls who have pretty much always slept together this was huge.  We were surprised as this was so not on our radar, and one of us (who shall remain nameless) was a wee bit choked up upon tucking those sweet girls in that night.  I can't even imagine what it would do to me should the day ever come where they each want their own room!  Time surely has flown by and if truth be known I really would be happy if it slowed down just a little.  Since that is clearly not going to be happening I will continue to bask in the amazingness of these two sweet girls (for which it is truly an honor to be their mama), their wonderful papa and the life we have all made together.