In search of the perfect tree...

Every year we have an artificial tree that we put in the family room with the mishmash of family ornaments on it.  Then we have a live tree we put up in the living room that has a more decorative theme.  We try to cut our own trees for the family room, but occasionally resort to getting it from a tree lot, but not this year!  

The first weekend in December when we normally cut a tree was raining and bleak and while the weather was predicting a little snow for the following Tuesday it looked like just enough to freeze the ground and make for a good Christmas Tree hunting day the next Saturday.  

Well...a snow day and about 8 inches (!) of snow later we decided it was now or never for hunting down a tree.  So we headed up into the hill country to our favorite Tree Farm, Van Etten's.  To our surprise, the snow was about twice as deep as at our house.  Luckily we came prepared with proper snow attire (with the exception of Bryson's pajama pants, but they seem to have universal use for every occasion).

First they take you out to the tree stand on a trailer hooked to a tractor.

Luckily for us, they had cut some paths around the trees with snow mobiles so the snow wasn't so deep to walk on if you stayed on the trails.  Since all the trees were covered with more than a foot of snow, it was hard to tell what they looked like.  We spotted one right off that looked pretty good.

We brushed off some of the snow being careful not to break any branches because under the snow was a thick layer of ice on all the branches.  David and Bryson took a walk around the lot to see if they could spot any better trees while the twins and I staked out this one.  While we waited Kadence worked on liberating all the small trees of their snow by brushing them off.

Austin, on the other hand, liberated the snow from the trees one tongueful at a time.

 

 I just love those little brown eyes!

 Austin is now licking the tree we picked out.

 When Bryson and David returned, Austin and Bryson licked trees while David cut our tree down.

 Now to haul it back to the road so the tractor can pick us up.

 We threw the tree onto the trailer, and were headed back.

 Where the Van Etten's had hot chocolate and cookies waiting for us.

 And some bunnies for Kadence and Austin to pet (and hold) and some goats to feed.

David got the tree strapped onto the top of the van and we headed home.  It was kind of a crazy day to pick out a tree, but it was well worth it.

I Love Fall in New York

Falls in the north east are really spectacular.  The leaves, the cool air, apples, cider, cider donuts, and pumpkin patches.  And we are taking advantage of all of them.  Today it was time to clean up the yard and play in the leaves.

Kadence used soccer cones to make a leaf cream cone.

And to be the Statue of Leaf Liberty.

I love pictures of kids jumping into leaves!

 

We are enjoying every minute of this beautiful weather.

Rosh Hashanah Day off from Preschool

Thanks to their Jewish Preschool, the twins ended up with a day off from the grueling work of playing with play dough, listening to stories, and playing on the playground.  So what to do with a free morning on a nice day?  We opted for a fall bike ride on our favorite trail along the Hudson River.

At our mandatory snack break, the twins spent most of the time spreading dandelion seeds.  

Kadence asked me a few days ago if we could plant some dandelions in our yard.  I told her that nobody needed to plant dandelions because they were really good at planting themselves.

One time we went on this trail, we needed to kill some time while David was in a meeting downtown and we went the other direction into Albany.  We found a little park and now every time we go on this trail we have to end with a stop at the park.  There were crocodiles swimming all around the equipment, so they had to try to stay up on it or run really fast along the ground so the crocodiles wouldn't get them.

Then Austin and Kadence got a little silly.

We spent the afternoon moving the rest of the new mulch from he driveway to around the bushes in front of the house.  Kadence decided that she needed to redecorate the wagon.  Everything is better when it's pink (in her world)!

We rounded out the evening with our typical Friday night pizza and a movie (Up).

Jewish facts of the day:  Rosh Hashanah - New Year.  Celebrate with family and friends, and share apples and honey for a sweet new year.  Ring in the new year with a call from the Shofar (ram's horn that is blown into).  For the 10 days between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur (Day of Forgiveness),  think about the year that has passed and the year that is to come.  On Yom Kippur, fast and pray for forgiveness for the things we have done wrong.  The Shofar sounds again at the end of Yom Kippur to mark a new beginning.

Hangin' around the pumpkin patch

Since autumns are really spectacular in the northeast, we try to take advantage of it all.  While Hannah's in town, we went pumpkin picking.

This is Austin's new cheesy photo smile.

He's big enough to carry his own pumpkin!

 

She finally found one she liked...

...but it's a little big to carry.

Sisters!

Bring it on fall!

C is for Cookies

 Since Kadence could climb up onto a stool she has loved to help me cook EVERYTHING.  She loves cooking!  As soon as I walk into the kitchen I hear the stool scooting over and a little voice asking "What are you making?"  Today Hannah is visiting (just 2 days doing recruitment at a local university) and we thought it was a good opportunity to refill our chocolate chip cookie dough ball container in the freezer.  David loves chocolate chip cookies.  Even better when they are hot out of the oven.  To allow him this luxury as often as possible we make a big batch of cookie dough and freeze it into balls using a cookie scoop.  That way we can have warm cookies within 15 minutes of the urge and only have to cook 2 or 4 on a small piece of foil instead of having a whole batch cooked and tempting us to devour them before they get dry and old.

Kadence made most of the batch herself, but Austin had to help a little. 

 I have happy little helpers.

Got hair?

From the time Kadence was born, I have been hoping she would grow hair faster than I did at her age.  It was not to be.  I had very little hair by the time I was 2, and still had baby fine hair at 4.  Kadence appears to be following in my tracks.  While Austin has nice thick hair and has been getting regular haircuts since before his first birthday, Kadence has struggled to get this much hair.  At least it's getting long enough to be able to do some real styles with it.  We still have not touched the sides of her hair with scissors to get it this long, but the back and top needed some cleaning up.  So it was time for a double hair cut, because that's how we do it around here.