Feztival of Trees

After all sorts of ever-expected chaos, we finally made it to Concord to see the Bektash Shriners Fez-tival of Trees! Here's a little sample for your enjoyment ;)

My pick for favorite tree. You can't tell from the picture but all the balls on 

this tree are made with beach sand and sea shells. 

Its just what I want for Christmas......tropical weather ;)

 The Spinning Tree....4th of July on one part, butterflies on another.

I can't remember now if there was another themed side but these 2 were beautiful anyway ;)

 The mini trees

 Just one of the many beautiful wreathes 

OH MY GOODNESS I FOUND SANTA CLAUS!!!!

And if that weren't exciting enough Santa then blew their minds by telling them how he saw them over the summer in Vermont and gave just enough detail so they knew it was true but didn't give away where exactly he saw them. Way too cute! 

 And of course, I snap a frowning faced Tayt who not only doesn't want to leave Santa's side, she's also had more than enough of me shoving the camera in their faces this past week :(

 

 Oh the man tree. Well, I want this one too! Who wouldn't want a ton of new tools!

 I just love the purple tree

 And the itty-bitty hand knit stocking tree

 Keeping the Clown in Christmas.... LOVE IT!

 Tayt's pick for the winner! 

 "Look, its Rudolph!"

 Another awesome and favorite tree. Drier vent and bubble foil insulation palm tree!

 Rubber Duckie Tree!!!

 Tayt had to run and hug her two favorite trees Goodbye. 

Goodnight Bektash. Happy Holidays!

Here's my Christmas Card.....

.....this is it. I'm not mailing any :(
I'm officially out of time.....big shocker there, right?!

Santa Claus is comin' to town

Today was Get-ready-for-Christmas day at our house. Ashtyn went to the salon this morning with Grammy and Grampa to get her hair and nails done....something Mommy would never ever do......and then Jeremy and I took the girls to get our Christmas tree at Bishop's Farm in Springfield, VT, which is where we've been going since Ashtyn's first Christmas. After that we went to visit with the Claus's. Ashtyn obviously loved the visit but Taylor had other thoughts about it. Santa and the Mrs. thought maybe it was a little too chaotic at their visiting venue, so they made a special surprise visit to our house after their other visit was over......Taylor still wasn't happy.....


...but we did finally get her to come out to the kitchen for a minute...


and Miss Ashtyn got to tell Santa 8,000 more things she wanted for Christmas and even show off dancing for him and Mrs Claus.....


....but she still doesn't want her picture taken.



And now its time for music and tree trimming.

Halloween Galore

Wednesday was the Halloween party at FMELC, Thursday Ashtyn and her classmates went trick or treating through Walpole and of course Halloween was Saturday...the girls trick or treated 2 houses and then we went to Candy Land at a church down near my Dad's house.....the whole place was done up like the game but life sized. Ashtyn had a blast, Jeremy fell in love with Princess Frostine and Taylor was a bit freaked out by the crazy grown ups in costume everywhere around her, King Kandy's beard freaked her out the most...poor guy.



MISS PRINCESS, Ashtyn's other outfit.....complete with high heels and makeup.


She decided to wear the Giraffe trick or treating.....Thanks Aunt Kathy!


First trick or treat experience...skipping all the way to the door.




CANDY LAND

Happy Mother's Day Mom

Better late than never, I guess....Happy Easter

RockYou.com and I were not seeing eye to eye Sunday....or Monday. For whatever reason every time my pictures finished uploading, I'd click SAVE and it would then say I had no pictures..... AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Well finally it worked, at least it uploaded my stuff but it's still not working right for me. The captions and stuff apparently don't want to work and it won't delete the pics I uploaded that have nothing to do with easter...... I give up. Maybe I'll just switch to flikr or something...maybe another program will do what I want accurately.

Taylor's 4 months old today

"Grammy" (my MIL), Crystal and I took the girls down to Deerfield today. We went to Yankee Candle and then over to Magic Wings to see the zillions of butterflies. Ashtyn was a lot like me today and wanted no part of any bug touching her..... she had no idea there was one in her hair. I had to ask one of the employees to get it off her before she realized since it was likely she would accidently kill it. Ashtyn was psyched to see Christmas was still being celebrated. She wouldn't leave the christmas tree rooms. Or the toy shop either for that matter.

Goodbye 2008

As 2008 comes to an end...

1) Where did you begin 2008?

At home, on my couch with Jeremy and Ashtyn.....missing the ball drop because NBC messed up the NYEve programming

2) What was your status by Valentine' Day.

married

3) Were you in school (anytime this year)?

no

4) How did you earn your money?

watching kids, cleaning, plowing, mowing, etc

5) Did you have to go to the hospital?

Yes, Twice. 4 days after Ashtyn's 2nd birthday, Ashtyn had her first ER adventure after she fell and stuck a straw in her eye!!! Luckily there was no severe damage, she just shaved part of her cornea which healed up very quickly. I found out quick how much kids don't like it when you put medicine in their eyes..... and then in September, I got to have my happy stay at Valley Regional to deliver our newest family member, Taylor.

6) Did you have any encounters with the police?

Yes, several. There was a string of thefts in town this summer as some of you may recall me cursing about. The first hit to my house they stole all the gas out of tractor, atv's and jeep, the second time they stole my f-ing car!!!! and the third time they didn't get a damn thing!!!! Jerks.

7) Where did you go on vacation?

Orleans, Vermont.....to our camp

8) What did you purchase that was over $1000?

2002 Ford Explorer for Valentine's Day and a 2008 Yamaha Grizzley 700 for my birthday

9) Did you know anybody who got married?

My baby sister Julie on FRIDAY!!!!! February 8....Why on a Friday???? Because she's a pain :) I love you Julie.

10) Did you have any new additions to your family?

2, My daughter Taylor and my cousin Bailey

11) Did you know anybody who passed away?

Unfortunatly. RIP Boomer

12) Did you move anywhere?

no

13) What concerts/shows did you go to?

none :(

14) Are you registered to vote?

yes. And for the first time, I actually voted.

15) Who did you want to win Big Brother?

I don't watch it

16) Where do you live now?

New Hampshire....still

17) Describe your birthday?

Sadly, I don't remember. Being 2 days after Ashtyn's, mine just kind of comes and goes. I know I got a new Grizzley though!!!

18) What's one thing you thought you'd never do but did in 2008?

Manage to not have a nervous breakdown. 2008 was a very bad/crazy year. It seems like bad news was around every corner. In April, my step brother was in a very bad car accident, he actually just recently ended his never-ending stay at one hospital after the other, but that was not a good time to say the least. Then in June, I went for my ultrasound to "find out the gender" of my little munchkin, just to find out she didn't have a left hand and then hear that I needed a battery of other tests to make sure she was actually OK in all other aspects. When I got home from that appointment, I recieved a 2 week notice from 2 of the 3 kids I was providing daycare for, then that night had to tell my husband "hey, I lost 2 kids today, so we have no money coming in on my end and oh, by the way, we're having a girl (ha ha I win) and she only has one hand" that was a rough week. so we eventually told the family and everyone had their initial tears but was totally fine. Once we finally found out Taylor was fine and going to be a perfectly healthy, normal little girl, the fog seemed to disipate for a while. Then, two days after Taylor was born, my sister and her husband were in a terrible crash..... one of the passengers died..... a few bumps and bruises to Julie and Ryan, Rachel, a friend of ours, got the worst of the "boo-boo's", she broke her nose and had to get a zillion stitches and whatnot to fix her poor nose.... but so now Ryan is going to court for this and that's just making stuff all sorts of crazy. That's just the icing on the cake. I won't bore you with the rest.

19) What has been your favorite moment?

When Taylor was born and Ashtyn was so proud and excited to have a baby sister.

20) What's something you learned about yourself?

I CAN NOT AND WILL NOT DELIVER WITHOUT AN EPIDURAL!!!!!!

21) What was your best month?

February..... I looked hot at Julie's wedding (and I had just found out I was pregnant)

22) What music will you remember 2008 by?

none

23) Who has been your best drinking buddy?

Ashtyn and Taylor.....we get to be sober together...yippee

24) Made new friends?

The computer

25) New or old best friend?

I have no idea what I am supposed to say to that...

26) Favorite Night out?

Ummmmm When I have one, I'll let you know.