Girl Scout horseback riding.

 We had a super fun weekend at the Taller house.  Two soccer games, two parties (one with swimming!) and the Girl Scouts went horseback riding.  The two family members who didn't qualify for Girl Scouts went on a date to the candy store.  Guess what color of candy Annalise had....

Out at the State Park, the girls had a long wait.  But when it was our turn, we learned about horse safety and grooming on this kind horse named Turtle.

The members of our group listened closely to all instruction.

They curried the horse to remove the dusty and dirt from his hair.

 And they brushed his tail.  He was a great horse.  We were probably the 5th group who groomed him that day.  Very patient with the girls. 

Then we saddled up for our ride!  Evie was excited to be riding a horse named Dan. 

And we are off!  Our trail ride was about 30 minutes long.  The color in the woods was beautiful.  We went up and down lots of hills and even crossed a stream twice.  The horses knew exactly what to do and all we had to do was sit back and enjoy the ride.   We are not cowboys though, because we all had aches and pains when we got off. 

International Walk to School Day

So today was the day kids around the world skipped riding the bus and walked to school.  Evie asked me if the kids in China walked to school also.  I replied that they probably walk to school every day.

 I didn't think Annalise could make the 2 mile round trip without some serious whining so I sent her over to the neighbor's house with her packet of instant oatmeal.  Don't feel too sorry for her.  She got to play with 1 year old twin babies.  Fun for everyone.

 I thought it was funny that Evie was in a head wrap and gloves and the neighbor girls were dressed for summer.  Yes, it warmed up later in the day, but it was 51 degrees when we left.  A little too cold for flip flops in my opinion.

 And then they started the sprint to school with the parents lagging behind.  I didn't see Evie until she reached the dangerous to cross round about.

 It was a beautiful fall morning to walk.  A lovely sunrise over our little suburb.

We parents caught up with the kids at the round about.  I played crossing guard so no grumpy businessman in his shiny BMW would run them over.  And that was the last we saw of the kids. By the time the parents made it to school driveway, the kids were inside already.  Evie reports that so many kids walked to school, the PTO ran out of "prize bags" (an apple and water and eraser).  That was great to see and hear!  It was fun and we hope they do it again soon!

Another edition of Friday cooking with Annalise--this time, entirely free of snakes

Last friday was cold and rainy here.  I did get up for an early morning run, but the 20 mph wind and drizzle in my face sent me right back into my jammies and back to bed.  Annalise and I decided to just stay in our jammies all day and get caught up on some housework and of course, catch up on playing.

 First we made a new batch of granola in the crock pot.  Works like a charm every time as long as I remember to stir it so it doesn't burn on the bottom.

 Happy to be stuck at home all day

 Then her choice of the day was to make an apple pie.  This is a pretty easy thing to do with the help of this deluxe apple pealer corer slicer gadget.  Annalise did it all herself.

 Then we used our secret recipe pie crust straight out of the refridgerated section at Meijer

The floating head and finished pie.  It was delicous

Welcome Cecelia Ann Seibert

 Aunt Elizabeth and Uncle Kevin welcomed a new bundle of joy yesterday at 1:45 pm.  Cecelia Ann weighed in at a tiny 5 lb 6 oz.  That's like holding a sack of flour!

What a sweet thing.  Here's hoping that she sleeps like this when they get her home.  We'd come and see her this weekend, but Uncle Kevin said we couldn't stay with them.

Congratulations Aunt Elizabeth and Uncle Kevin.  You have successfully filled all the seats in the mini van. 

My sock

I am not a person who is squimish about animals eating other animals.  After all, if I learned anything from the Lion King, it's the circle of life.  Anyway, just couldn't look at that as the opening picture of the blog anymore.Instead, check out this sock that I made!  This is from the class that I have attended the last 3 Sundays.  We finished the toe today.  I'm pretty pleased with it, but don't look too closely as you may see some of my mistakes.  I plan to start the other one when I get wood or bamboo needles as the aluminum ones that I used were too slippery and the stitches would fall off if I wasn't careful.  In the mean time, on to the next project.

Friday cooking with Annalise

 On Fridays, Annalise doesn't go to preschool so we stay home and cook.  We made this nice frozen mouse for a snake at the nature center.  He ate it up!  Just kidding.  Blogger changed and all my pics are uploaded backwards.  I'm too lazy to change them so all you snake haters out there better hope that we update the blog soon or you will be seeing this grizzly sight for a while.  We did witness this snake having his weekly meal at the nature center.  The girls were not grossed out at all.

 Spirit week was last week here in the school district for Homecoming.  It was 80's day and all we could come up with was the side pony tail.  I really wish I still had that sweatshirt that had the rainbow going up one sleeve and down the other.

 Evie spotted this cloud outside of her window.  She thought it looked like a volcano.

Here's wacky day during spirit week.  So loud you could hear her coming. 

And finally, cooking with Annalise.  Like I said, she is home and we try to do something fun each Friday.  Last week was zucchini muffins.  This week was apple turnovers (by her request).  They were super easy to make and very tasty.  Click Here for the recipe

Annalise cut up the apples, sprinkled the cinnamon and sugar and crimped the edges of the pastry dough shut.   They tasted great!

Annalise is 5!

After what seemed like months of waiting and asking, Annalise's birthday finally arrived. You couldn't find a happier five year old if you tried. But we parents made her wait until AFTER church to open presents (we had to go early to set up donuts so Grandma and Grandpa got them up and ready for church). After donuts, we got down to business.
Annalise received this nice new gymnastics outfit from Grandma and Grandpa. This will come in handy very soon!

And the much asked for Pucci Puppy arrived complete with 4 outfits. Outfits for a stuffed dog. And this dog hasn't even been changed once. She is happy with it and plays with it a lot so that is all we can ask for.

So I mentioned that I'm taking this sock knitting class. It started on Annalise's birthday. While I was at class, all the Tallers went apple picking. Look at those trees and the apples everywhere!

Probably the best part was riding the wagon out to the orchard. Who doesn't love a tractor ride?

And day 2 of cake and ice cream. I'm happy to say, that with the help of the neighbors, we polished off the cake that very night. Happy birthday to our sweet girl. Stop growing up so quickly.

Annalise's Birthday party

Hi Readers. Sorry for the delay in posts. I started a "Socks on Sundays" knitting class on Annalise's birthday. Since starting this class, every minute of my free time has been taken up on knitting my first sock. It would have gone faster if I didn't choose teeny tiny needles and teeny tiny gauge yarn. But it is going to look fantastic. And, I've already completed my "homework" for next Sunday so I can get caught up on all my blogs (and watch all the season premires this week)

Back to the blog. Annalise's birthday was last week. For about 3 weeks leading up to her birthday, she kept asking how many more days. What she was really looking forward to was her birthday party with all of her neighbor buddies. Evie made a game of "pin the wand on the fairy". She drew the fairy to look like Annalise. We think she did a great job.
At the party, she showed the rest of the girls how to play.


They all had a chance to pin the wand on the fairy--some with very humorous results.


Evie and Grandma Taller set up a treasure hunt for all the guests. They each had to follow clues all around the yard to get the final prize. This is Annalise and her buddy Stella looking for a clue.

After the treasure hunt, the girls each had a pillowcase to decorate and take home. And there was a fairy on it.

Our big Five year old with her pretty cake that Stella's mom made. Stella's mom is now the offical cake baker of our family. She did a great job making a Rainbow Fairy, Scarlett.

All the ladies at the party enjoyed pink (of course) lemonade with their pink ice cream and pink cake. Girls.

Annalise got to open lots of fun presents that she really enjoys playing with including "homemaker Barbie". Check it out, it really exists.

Annalise's SECOND day of preschool

Well, someone must have got a better night's sleep and the weather report because she was all ready to go to school on the second day. I think all the fun she had on the first day really helped her get excited. And she is eating lunch at school everyday and that is pretty exciting too. We managed to get the socks, shoes and jacket on and even upgraded to pants! Thanks for the new outfit Grandma and Grandpa Seibert.
Later, the neighborhood troop decided to recreate some still life portait of some children having tea. If it weren't for the bar fridge, you would probably recognize this for fine art!

Warning, this video is not for the squimish. Evie's tooth had become so loose that she could wiggle it just by breathing!

Annalise's First day of preschool

It was a rough morning on the first day of preschool. First, the weather went from 90 degrees on Saturday to 48 degrees on Tuesday morning. Annalise didn't get the memo and was all set on wearing a t shirt, skort and sandals on the first day of school. Imagine her horror when she discovered that I planned to make her wear shoes, socks and a jacket.Needless to say, she was less than excited about getting extra clothes on and didn't want to have her picture taken.
At one point, I thought she might walk to preschool. That would have saved me some time in the drop off line.

I did eventually get her in the car and strapped in. She cried all the way to school. But when it was her turn to get out, she was all smiles and excited. Once she went inside, she had a great day and lots of fun.

The Super Fun Meyer Labor Day Birthday party

Our final stop on our Labor Day northwest Ohio tour was to the Meyer Labor Day Cookout. We still hadn't time to have Georgie and Annalise's Birthday party so we took the party to to cookout. We celebrated Annalise's 5th birthday, Georgie's 1st Birthday and the Anniversary of Nick's 21th birthday.
Georgie enjoyed her slice of cookie cake topless in a wagon

Natalie must have been thinking about how much fun she had playing in the school bus back there in the background. all the kids took turns opening the door and honking the horn.

Grandma catches a squeeze with the indecent baby. Not a baby anymore! She can walk.

We gave JoJo a name puzzle. She has a lot of letters to learn.

Oliver took his own money and gave annalise a gift of Legos. She was pretty excited to have her very own set and managed to put all the models together.

We all got to go on the tractor ride through the woods. Our kids are still talking Nick's crazy stories and the "Wild" Natalie in the woods.

We were even treated to a sunset tour. It was wonderful and the kids had a great time. Finish it all off with a fire and you get some tired, dirty kids. Thanks for hosting, Jeff and Jane!