Rachel turns 6

Rachel wanted an art birthday this year. She woke up to the house all decorated. This is something I've seen my sisters-in-law do and I thought it would be fun with this art theme.It was the "best birthday ever" and the fun was only beginning...
Tommy hears me in the kitchen that morning and he comes confidently walking in, "you need my help?" You bet bud!
Opening presents, an event that requires too much patience for a six year old.
Thanks Dylan! I love it.
Her highly anticipated scooter. She's loving it and has recently celebrated a "scooter day" with her friends in the circle.
This cake was fun to make. I take no credit for the idea. I stole it from my dear friend Rachel from NY (although she did much better). It didn't take long at all...at least in the beginning. Dividing and dying the batter and then baking 10 minutes each, piece of cake. It was the stacking and frosting where it all turned to catastrophe. The layers were a little too beveled and the frosting a little too soft...and I had a cake that reminded me of this (no exaggeration):
With trimming it, freezing it and a quick run to the store for LOTS of frosting I was able to save it, sort of. The top did crack and it fell apart as the week went on, but I was still able to use it for her party.

Rachel loved all her presents...and what a lucky girl to wake up the next morning with a nasty cough so that she could play with all of them.

Easy bake oven
Fancy tea set (what a great brother, huh?)

Play dough
So, for her birthday she really wanted a friend party. It was hard to decide what to do. It sometimes hard to be new. We had the same problem last year. I kept asking who her friends were at school, but different names came up each time. So I had planned to take her to the Crayola Factory and decided to invite some of her friends from NYC to come join us. When RSVP's kept coming back with no I had to plan a second party. But in the end we had a great turn out at the Factory and an absolute blast. We kept the whole thing a surprise and this is her out front with her friend Lucy finding out...aren't they cute.
It was fun for her to see her old friends. Oh how we miss them too.
She loved watching crayons being made and then doing all kinds of different arts and crafts. This art theme could not be more perfect for my girl.




It was fun to have the families that did come because we all have the same family. 6 year old girls, 3 year old boys.
We could have spent all day at the factory and even another day in the town of Easton, Pennsylvania. It was such a beautiful drive too with all the fall leaves and even a little bit of elevation (certainly doesn't qualify as mountains). We rushed back home for her second party with a few neighborhood girls. It was small and simple and perfect.


You think a full day of doing art is enough? Nope, she keeps going.

I love my artistic, creative, thoughtful, inquisitive, playful, sweet little, or should I say "big" girl

Visitors

An old mission friend of Jake's had a business trip in Canada. He worked it out to have a layover in Newark on his way back home to England. We all really enjoyed having Jeremy stay with us.

Rachel liked getting to eat her "birthday present" for breakfast and Tommy liked how Jeremy called his Mater, "Mayta" and that he called Tommy "mate"
Jake took him on a tour of downtown and the University. Jeremy was really impressed and after all was said and done he claimed that Princeton was his favorite place he's visited in the US. He says we should definitely be proud to live here.
Little wedding outside the chapel
We went canoeing with Jeremy on the canal that goes right along our backyard. It was lovely :)
Thanks for making the effort Jeremy. It's our turn to come back and visit you :)

Last weekend we had a family we met through Jake's work in New York come stay with us for a night. We have kids all the same ages. It was great to have them in town! Tonight, my dad flies in for the Halloween weekend. We are LOVING all our visitors!!!!

Family Vacation

It's been a loooooong time since our little family did a vacation all on our own. It was a quick one (Friday night-Sun) last weekend to Lancaster, PA also known as Amish country. It's just a couple hours away but we thought we'd make a trip out of it to have moments like these:
What is it about hotel rooms? My kids would have been happy if we never even left this place...and it really wasn't that great, trust me!
But it did have a pool! This girl is just SO fun. I honestly can't get enough of her!
We packed it in on Saturday with half a day at an amusement park called Dutch Wonderland. Jake's boss had some extra discounted tickets that we were able to use on the last weekend before it closed for the season.
This thing was a highlight for my children, believe it or not. After a couple rides they were asking if they could milk the cow again. I read online somewhere that there's a farm here where they let you milk real cows and bottle feed goats and such...next time :)
We were told to go straight to the cars. Not much to them but I remember these things being my favorite when I was a kid.
You may not be able to tell, but Kate LOVED this!
Story time with Princess Brooke and Prince Cheesy. If you ask Tommy what his favorite part of our vacation was...seeing Princess Brooke. And anytime we mention her, he inserts in a quiet voice, "she's pretty." Oh man, it's too funny, I love it!
Just a cool shot at the Thomas the train show. Thomas had nothin' on Brooke!
Amusement parks aren't my favorite thing but it's all so worth it when you see faces like this. Rachel is definitely getting so big! She wanted to go on the big roller coaster and LOVED it, and she did these swings all by herself without hesitation.
The second half of the day we went to the craziest farm. It's called Cherry Crest Adventure Farm. It's huge (including a 5 acre corn maze) and has at least 50 different activities.
On this trip we learned how much Kate LOVES animals. We've always known she's never been scared of them, but she would get so lively, animated, and excited when she got close to and touched the animals.
This train came through a few times. I guess on select dates throughout the year they dress it up as Thomas. I hear it's a pretty crazy event, and is not on my "must do when we come back" list.
Ah! Parents can sit and relax, while the kids do the jumping.
This was "Popcorn Picking!" Did you know there was even such a thing? We picked these things right off the stock. We're suppose to let them dry out for a few weeks, then we put it in a paper bag, put it in the microwave and VOILA popcorn! I hear it's really tasty. I'll update you all after we pop it ;)
Pumpkin picking...right off the vine! So fun!
Sadly 2 of our 3 pumpkins have rotted. It has rained a lot here in NJ this fall and this crop has really suffered from it. Me too! Just kidding.
On Sunday after church we took a drive through Amish countryside. The covered bridges were lovely!
We definitely missed the best shot that will have to be tucked away in our memories forever. On our way to the farm the day before we saw a lone house with laundry hanging out in the backyard, lady in a dress pushing an old lawnmower (probably one of the first lawn mowers ever made) Classic!
Gotta love the road signs
What we were hoping to take more advantage of is the homemade bakery items. We went to a fun little shopping place called Kitchen Kettle Village that is definitely a "must do when we come back" because it was closed. On our way out of town we had to eat and had to settle for something like this. Sorry Jake, nothin special!
There's just so much to see and do nearby here in the north east. I'm so excited to explore it all. I'm already itching for another vacation.

Our contrasted life

So Rachel wasn't thrilled to go to another farm, especially one that didn't have fruit "picking" but I think she liked it in the end. She's been wondering why we're always doing "nature stuff." But we just got to fit it in while the weather's good and they have amazing festivals going on right now!

A couple weekends ago we visited the Howell Living History Farm and they were having a celebration of wheat. I thought it was the coolest thing in the world. We learned the whole process of seed to bread...The machine used to plant the seeds
They harvest the wheat using this "reaper-binder" machine that cuts it and ties it into bundles.
This is a wheat thresher powered by a steam tractor. Threshing is the process of removing the wheat grain from the stem.
Not sure about this machine they jumped on but it looks similar to the one they use to plant the seeds.
In action...plowing the fields
Grinding the wheat

Cool shot
And baking whole wheat bread with the farm eggs, milk, churned butter, honey, and of course the whole wheat flour...it was quite delicious!
Rachel tells me she's coming here on a field trip with her class. I guess she'll have to put up with going again. She's really adjusted quite well here. We've been here 6 weeks now. She's still loving school and making lots of friends. Here she is in her classroom having lunch after field day.
We picked up this piano for FREE through a website my friend told me about (thanks Maria!!!) We've signed Rachel up for lessons and she's loving it. Of course, she's only been in it for 2 weeks. But she'll be having a recital at Halloween that we're all looking forward to.
Tommy has definitely had the hardest time adjusting. In the beginning he often told me how he didn't like the townhouse and how he wanted to go back to New York City and his apartment. It's his home right? The only thing he knows and is comfortable with. Poor kid. Even still every time we head out the door to go on an errand he asks if he can walk or ride his bike. Oh how I wish! He is enjoying everything well enough though. We all got excited when we saw one of these shopping carts. We walked the aisles of the grocery store just for the pure enjoyment of it.Katelyn is enjoying having a room of her own now...sleeping in until 8:30 and taking 2 great naps. I rarely have to wake her nowadays, (so I guess the bus has some nice perks) which I think is pretty amazing for a third child. She's a happy girl, waves to every stranger, and is liking her new talent of standing.
We have 3 bathrooms now, but I guess the kids are used to being crammed.
I'm starting to figure out my way around. I didn't think you could get any more confusing than Charlotte...but no left or U-turns and this whole jug handle thing can be crazy. You make a wrong turn, or you miss a turn, and it really costs you!

The other thing I'm getting used to is all the BUGS. I never saw any all last year...especially not in my apartment. I've had the worst time trying to get rid of ants in my kitchen!

Jake is really enjoying his work and doing a great job at it. He's starting to travel more and more, which is something else we're going to have to get use to. But that's what life is all about, right?

If you know Jake...

...then this won't surprise you



He's the one up front in the pink shirt...he helped organized and initiated this flash mob on the last day of his training.