Hiatus

I have decided to take a small break from blogging. I hope to be back in 2010. For now, I need to take one thing off of my "to do" list. I am sure many of you know how that feels.

Post Family Farm

We have been so busy lately that I can't think straight most of the time, but we are having so much fun. Some day I'll post a few pictures from Carrie's baby shower, but for now, here are a few of my favorite pictures from our trip to the pumpkin farm yesterday. Holland Junior Welfare League families joined together at Post Family Farm for a hayride. We had fun weaving through the corn maze and picking our pumpkin out of the hundreds in the field.

Of course, we all know who my favorite pumpkin-head is. And yes, I knit the hat :)


How big is Charlotte?


Teaching her where Mommy's yarn comes from.




Now, I must go so I can eat a caramel apple!

That's my boy!

Jacqueline actually showed me the link to this - she's a proud SIL.

As of Wednesday, Charlotte has figured out how to truly crawl. Her dad and I are her biggest cheerleaders. I don't think she understands what we're so excited about.

Art Prize

For those who live under a rock, perhaps you haven't heard about the $250,000 Art Prize in Grand Rapids, 9/23 - 10/10. I wanted to tour the various art works, but wasn't quite sure when I'd make it down town. Brian talked me into heading out there with him today since he needed to do some PR work. We raced out of the house by 9:30 to get there (and yes, when you have a baby, 9:30 is racing). I barely ate breakfast, which later came to be a colossal mistake.

While Brian worked, Charlotte and I strolled about town. We found this maze of recyclable plastics.


Aah, just like home. A beautiful portrait of a windmill made out of black dots.


We hung around waiting for this guy to jump off of his 75' foot easel, but apparently he "wasn't granted permission by the city." Also known as, "I chickened out."


Apparently the Lochness Monster wanted to check out the art too.


Charlotte and I held our very own tea party on this massive table and chairs.






Charlotte got to hang with Kaomi Getz, formerly of Michigan Radio. She thought Charlotte should be a model, but maybe she changed her mind after she saw her in this photo.


Then we waited amidst the crowds for the release of the 100,000 paper airplanes from 5 rooftops (done by the same artist who orchestrated the Pillow Fight and Zombie Walk). It was as though we were all watching a space ship land. The crowd was at a standstill. The airplane release was choreographed with an orchestra playing some Scandinavian song, apparently one of the artist's favorites. The planes were tossed out in clumps from large sheets. It was a nice effect, but many just fell quickly to the ground. If he could've figured out a way to slowly sprinkle them to the streets, I would've enjoyed it much more.



Once the demonstration ended, it was so difficult to get out of the pack. Then we failed over and over trying to find somewhere to eat. Anyone who knows me well enough knows I can get awfully irritable if I don't get to eat on schedule. Finally we just ended up getting in the car and trying to get out of dodge so that we could find food with less than a 30 minute wait. Amidst all of the shuffle, Charlotte lost one of her shoes. And I'm quite sure she didn't kick it off in a fit of joy.

All in all, I enjoyed the day, exhausting as it was. Lesson learned: If Brian ever tries to take me on a last minute day trip, pack a lot of snacks. He doesn't plan for such trivial things as eating.

I don't want to make all the other mother's out there feel bad, but I just have to show you this evidence that Charlotte is already reading at 8 months old! Yes, see she can't talk yet so she wouldn't tell me what the paper said, but it seemed quite obvious that she comprehends the text. ;)



But seriously, Charlotte has learned some new tricks over the past few weeks. She's taken to moving all over her crib at night. Now I awaken to her cry at night because she's dorked herself into some position that she can't get out of. She usually has her legs stuck in the crib bars or lying on her stomach. My favorite was when I walked in to find her seated in the corner of the crib, crying, but still pretty much asleep. As if she was saying "Help mom, I have no idea how to sleep sitting up!" We need to drop the mattress down a notch before she learns how to pull up.

I am trying my best to catch a video of her dancing. She has the cutest wiggle/head bop that she'll do for just about anything, the radio, her toys, or an off pitch song that I sing. Too funny.

Our friend Linda

Many of you know how much I adore Linda. I would go as far as saying I idolize her because she does everything that is cool in crafting, and on top of that, is just generally awesome to be around!
I miss working with her, but we try to make time to see each other throughout the year. So, when she invited Charlotte and I up to her cottage in Traverse City, I did all I could to rearrange my work schedule so we could go. We were there just over 24 hours, so time just flew by. My favorite parts of the trip were sitting, drinking tea and knitting while watching the bay Friday afternoon, enjoying cheese and wine at the mercardo, and watching Charlotte bond with Linda. Some day I am sure Charlotte will love her as much as I do.

View from the deck

I love applesauce

Today was the perfect day to pick apples. After we finished our "chores" for the day, we headed to Crane's orchard in Fennville and picked 54 pounds of apples, including Gala, Honeycrisp and a new version of Golden Supreme called Blondey. The Blondeys were pretty well picked over, so I had to sit on Brian's shoulders to get to the top limbs. (I knew my middle school cheerleading experience would come in handy some day.) I've already peeled most of the Gala and have them softening on the stove top right now for applesauce.