Stitched, Bothered And Bewildered

... and not necessarily in that order! This post is a real "Whoopsie Daisy" (and I'm sure there will be many more).
Remember that great park that I mentioned in the previous post? On Monday, we began another beautiful, relaxing day there. Grandmom (my Mom) met us at the park. Much to Sydney and Sophia's delight, she brought her dog, Peanut. Peanut is an harmless old dog, who is deaf. My girls love him. For almost an hour, they were taking turns walking the dog.

During Sophia's turn to walk the dog, she had a spill... instead of letting go of the leash to catch her balance or break the fall with her hands, she kept hold of the leash and fell hard! Normally, I wouldn't worry too much when she falls, but she was crying LOUD and did not get up. I ran to pick her up and saw the gash by her eye (I am thankful to God that it was not her eye)... that's when I started to panic. [she hit a metal clamp that was mounted on a post in the playground, right where it's bolted together. OUCH!]

I packed up the car so fast (practically threw Peanut in my Mom's car... POOR SWEET DOG) and we were off to the hospital.

Once we were in the car and heading to the hospital, Sophia seemed fine. Turning on the CASPER THE FRIENDLY GHOST DVD was like magic.... it seemed to take all of her pain away (and Mommy's panic).  The ER took her right away. They were awesome... the best BOO BOO doctor (so I was told) was on call that day (YEAH!). They had to use a Papoose Board to restrain her which made a lot of sense because of the laceration location (I voluntarily left the room during numbing and stitching so not to cause any extra trouble). It only took them 10 minutes to clean, numb & stitch and SOPHIA WAS A HAPPY GIRL AGAIN.

She loved all of the ATTENTION, but did not like the Doctor or the Papoose. She asked if she could go back to the park and walk Peanut. THAT'S MY GIRL :)

 Sydney running up to greet and hug Grandmom in the parking lot:

 Sophia walking Peanut:

Sydney with Peanut in photo below: 

You are the best big sister EVER!!!

Sophia's before photo below... all smiles with Peanut:

Exhibit A below:

photo below was taken LAST WEEK at the park... the "clamp culprit" (click on photo to enlarge... still little blurry... but you get the idea.)

Photos taken with the iPhone at Hospital:

She definitely played it up for the camera because in the hospital waiting room she was all smiles:

The nurse holding Sophia... she is all done and ready to be un-papoosed:

All stitched up!... Watching Casper (again) on the ride home. She did not want to go home... 
She kept on saying "I'm all better can I go to Grandmom's? I want Sydney." 
I did what all Mom's do when their child goes through a similar situation.. you spoil them! So I took her to Grandmom's to pick up Sydney.

Today (the morning after) Sophia was ready to go to dance class!!

 One Tough Cookie!! Boy do I love her! xo

Swing, Slide, Run and Hide...

On Thursday, we spent most of our day at the park. It is an extremely relaxing way for us to spend time together. Plus, it gets us out of the house for some fresh air!! Fall is the best time to go to a community playground. The big kids are back in school and the parks are peaceful and quiet.

Other great things about parks...
They're free!
The girls get great exercise and improve their gross motor skills... they are good at jumping, climbing and balancing! At times, Sydney still has a fear of falling, but will keep on practicing until she masters each skill.

They have so much fun together (sometimes with friends or cousins or they make new friends).

I like soaking in the suns rays because everyone needs some Vitamin D to keep them healthy!

.... AND THE BONUS!? The HOUSE is still CLEAN when we get home and they go to BED EARLY because we missed nap-time!

There are some great parks where we live. The closest park to where we live won Best of Philly for our county a few years ago. [probably the only year that Philly Mag had this category?]. The problem with this popular playground, it's crowded! The other park that we frequent is next to the library that we visit weekly near my Mom's house. It a nice little playground with a pavilion for picnic lunch and it's in a convenient location.  We recently tried another park near my Mom's house. It may be our favorite park yet! It has lots of walking/bike-riding paths, sports fields and picnic pavilions as well as a nice size playground. The girls had a blast climbing, sliding, balancing, running and riding their bikes. We pretty much had the place to ourselves so I took a few pictures.

Sophia climbing with no fear:

Sydney (white shorts):                        Sophia (flowered shorts):

balancing act:

Sophia:

The girls took some time to collect a few Fall leaves... they did not find many, but will have a bunch to choose from in a couple weeks:

IT IS SO CUTE HOW SOPHIA LIKES TO COPY EVERYTHING HER BIG SISTER DOES:

Sydney (pictured below) carrying her Fall leaves. Our tender, sweet little girl. Who loves nature.... bug, birds, leaves, trees. She loves everything about it.

It was a warm September day... and with all that climbing Sophia's shirt made her TOO HOT! 

(or so she said)... YOU ARE OUR FEARLESS little climber :)

I am having a SWINGING good time SLIDING into SAHM-hood (it's now 4 months and counting). I'm ENJOYING EACH and EVERY moment with my girls!
xo
Susan

One of My Husbands "Bucket List" Dreams Came True Last Week

My husband has TWO THREE* favorite pass-times:
1.) Hunting with a Bow
2.) Fishing
[*his family is at the top of this list!]

 
Archery Hunting for a Bull Elk has always been a dream hunt for him. [Where we live in Pennsylvania is usually limited to white-tailed deer.] I personally cannot relate to a dream that includes watching a rutting bull elk make his way bugling into your bow sights, BUT I'm happy that it makes my husband happy. I will admit that the bull elks bugling sound is amazing and love the stunning scenery.

My husband finally spoiled himself by scheduling an Archery Elk Hunt with Cody Carr in Plains Montana. He loved every single minute of his dream hunt!! It was a 8 night, 7 day hunt. He could not contain his excitement during his (limited and brief) calls letting us know that he was having an awesome, exhausting time in Montana. He got his "Trophy" Elk on Day 6 (cutting it close!). He is now asking me, "Where are we going to hang it?"! My answer, "Huh?" We already have a few deer in his "trophy" room, but an Elk mount will not fit in his "favorite" room. I am posting some photos from his trip because it is such a HUGE deal and BIG NEWS in our household and with his family and friends.
 

First, I will start with photos of the beautiful Montana scenery that he captured with his tiny point & shoot pocket camera. I admit, I wouldn't mind a trip to Montana or maybe even living in Montana. The scenery is breathtaking! 

What a place and a way to see the beauty of God's creation!!

My husband rode Banjo, the brown horse in the above photo.

The above photo was taking during his afternoon nap/perch while drying out his socks. He slept an average of 3 hours at night (12am to 3am) and then 2 hours during the day. 
Hiking 15 miles or riding a horse 15 miles was an average day.

The above photo is his horse, Banjo, with another horse at the Forestry Lookout. 
Now... onto the hunt photos:

One Happy Hubby in the photo above!! This photo was taking at sunrise.

The horse above is Chester. The thought of my husband riding a horse for many miles cracks me up. I grew up riding horses... Bob is afraid  use to be afraid of horses. He rode once before on our honeymoon in Australia... on the beach, NOT IN THE MOUNTAINS!

After 6 days of LITTLE sleep and LOTS of hiking & horseback riding.... SUCCESS!

My husband is comfortable in his manhood ;)... he had no problem kissing his guide, Cody Carr (the owner of the outfit in the photo below), as a BIG THANK YOU for the successful guidance. He had so many good things to say about this outfit and wants to go back!

PS - Bob said that Cody tried his best to get away!

Now for all you hunters wives out there, I'm looking for some good Elk Recipes :).

xo

Susan

Welcome Home Daddy!!

The girls could not wait for Daddy to arrive home today!! They made him a Lemon Bundt Cake and homemade welcome home cards.

iphone photo of Sydney & Sophia waiting for Daddy in the airport:

[Sophia's crochet hat is by Karenisa on Etsy. Thanks Kristine for the recommendation! We love it :)!]

Surprise! They wanted to yell Happy Birthday when they saw him walk through security. I guess because we made him a cake :).

Lemon cake with lemon icing for their #1 Daddy!courtesy of Sydney & Sophia

Welcome home Honey. We missed you so much!
xoxoxo
Susan

Tiny "Two" Dancer

The Fall Dance Class Schedule started this past week! It's tu tu cute watching the little ones dance!!

Sophia, our tiny two-year old dancer, had a trial ~8 week summer session (click here if you missed the previous post in July). Since she's only 2 years old, the instructor wanted to make sure that she has the ability to pay attention and follow along before registering her (and paying) for a full year. The summer session was a success and so much fun to watch!

I was in complete amazement!  Sophia definitely loves dancing and loves going to class!! She POPS out of bed when she hears me say "Time to wake up. it's dance class today!". I watched her through the peep window for most of the summer session. She pays attention the entire 1-hour class, she does everything that she's asked to do and she knows to wait in-line for her turn. The only thing lacking is her form which may take years to perfect... assuming she sticks with it. Who knows, her Dad may talk her into soccer. HA! For the fall session, she is in the General Class I for 3 & 4 year olds. The class includes tap & ballet. Below are a couple shots from her last class during the summer session:

Sydney is doing well in dance class. She started in February and participated in the June recital. Her form is awesome for a 3 year old, but she is not as aggressive as her little sister :).  If you missed it back in June, click here for Sydney's 1st Dance Recital photos.

Below are so photos from Sydney's summer session... she was in a combined class with Sophia. With the start of the Fall session, they are now in separate classes. Sydney is in the General II class.

 

Why walk when you can dance!


xo
Susan

Sweet Niece crowned "Little Miss Riverfest"

My niece Rose lives in a little town at the very top of the Chesapeake Bay in Maryland. The town has a River Festival each year. Rose was crowned Little Miss Riverfest this year. [I think] It was her third year competing in the contest. Be sure to watch the entire video... the end will make you cry.

Rose is the sweetest and brightest girl EVER! A wonderful daughter and a helpful niece/cousin to my two girls. My girls LOVE her so much! A couple weeks ago, we took Rose school clothes shopping at the King of Prussia Mall. It was so much fun for me! While shopping, she picked out the dress that she wore for the Riverfest contest. She tried on around 20 dresses in Nordstroms. She had such a hard time making up her mind that she tried on her top 5 AGAIN for Sydney & Sophia which cracked me up! (that's how sweet she... she involved her 2 & 3 year old cousins in her final decision!!). The dress she chose was perfectly girly, fun, colorful and a great choice for the Riverfest contest.

This past Saturday, we drove down to Maryland to see her in the parade. We had a wonderful day with my sister's family and some of their close friends. Rose was the star of the day.

Below is the video that Rose's father [my brother-in-law, Nathan] took the night of the competition. I edited the video and added a few photos at the end of Rose in the parade.



On the audio at the end of the video, you will hear Lacie, Rose's best friend, saying "I told you she was going to cry". Lacie is also seen hugging Rose at the end of the video :). Sooo cute!

We love you Rose!
xo

Daddy's Duo

Daddy is leaving early tomorrow morning for a hunting trip out West. It will be his first time away from his girls overnight. He's excited about the trip, but is having a hard time leaving his girls. He spent most of the evening playing with them and putting them to bed. I could hear them asking him for big hugs after he finished reading them a book.

We Love You, Honey! We hope you have a SAFE and FUN trip!

Remembering... September 11th

Best Bedside Manner

Best Time of Day?

When they are FRESH and CLEAN and SMELLING SWEET!

After a day at the Philadelphia Zoo, they really needed one of these....

Sydney-

Sophia-


Looking forward to another lovely day tomorrow!
xo
Susan

Tired, Retired - same difference?

Sydney and I were just having a conversation about her Pop Pop in Florida. She misses him. I told her "we will see Pop Pop when we go to Florida in December". Sydney looked at me with concern "but he's TIRED"?

Sand-Tastic Time

Earlier in the week, we were in Avalon NJ with my sister and brother-in-law. We had a great time boating, fishing, eating and going to the beach. Our energetic girls could not get enough of the sand and surf! The temps were in the mid-70's, but it felt like the 60's with the wind.  Shivers and goosebumps did not keep our little mermaids from rolling in the waves!

They have no fear of sand or surf!

Sydney... extremely content sitting in the water looking for shells in the wet sand:

Sophia & Sydney getting use to the water at the beginning of the day:

Sophia was running o the beach (almost) the entire time:

SWEET SISTERS:

Sydney loves being at the beach... it makes her dance & sing:

Sydney "the poser" (I have a few more of these that I may share on a future post):

Sophia trying to copy her "poser" sister:

Sydney:

Sophia sitting in the waves taking it all in:

 

Thank you for having us Linda and John. We had a WHALE OF A TIME!

Above is a photo taken at the best breakfast spot on the Jersey Shore... Uncle Bill's Pancake house.

xo
Susan