halloween part deux

cricket, because she was MIA in the farm photos and she just looks so darn cute.

a rare photograph of the elusive "swampy" the swamp creature. can you spot him?

girls just wanna have fun.
our decorated "trunk" (hatchback?). we literally did this in about 10 seconds by grabbing stuff we had out as decorations at home.

and we won a prize for "bootiful" decor! i'm so cheezin' it here.

family portrait a'la halloween.
lady liberty givin me some sass.
aren't we a charming couple? a litte pale maybe. guess we should get out more. notice the eyebrows on alan. monobrow works great for angry eyebrows. so do you get the connection here? alan is a butler, and i'm a maid. (can you name the particular maid that i am? maybe i should say "a domestic" instead.) i actually purchased a tray and white gloves for alan, which he left at home on accident. oh well.

the cutie pies. liberty and swampy. i think i might change their names permanently.

ooh, the angry eyebrows are really working well here!

everybody get swampy

hey everybody, do the swamp-thing boogie! we went to a combined ward trunk-or-treat on saturday night and we all had a blast! there was dinner followed by games for the kids and wrapping up with trunk or treat and a fun couple from first ward who had disco music blaring. we danced and danced. my video of hadley dancing didn't turn out, but here is alexander, which is just as entertaining. we literally had to drag hadley away from the dance party.

sorry it's sideways! amy, did you figure out how to rotate these? it's upright when i view it at the source. hmmmm.

oh the places you'll go

i've given up on trying to put blogger images in order. i can't figure it out unless i upload them one at a time, which, frankly, i'm not willing to do. consequently, these are all mixed up. deal with it and i will too.


hadley at the farm with the chickens. she wants to get some. thanks grandma and grandpa s. luckily, townhouse living will not accomidate chickens.

family portrait on liberty island. no, really. we're on liberty island, i swear.

the lovely lady herself. it is worth noting that hadley was so taken with lady liberty, that she wanted to be her for halloween. luckily, we procured a costume for a mere $12, plus torch. i will include photos in the next posting.

more at the farm. hadley's preschool class took a trip there. for those that don't know. her preschool class consists of herself and 4 other kids from the ward. the moms each decided to brave one 9-week term. mine begins in january (GULP). from left to right: joshua, buster (litte brother to cricket, who was not there that day), hazel, hadley, warren (little brother to hazel), and brianna.

"miss liz" and students.
shelley, this is for you: hadley frolics in the autumn mist. (okay, leaves, but still...)

oh, look, hadley got a big girl bed! yes, it IS a queen-size! all the better to serve as a guest room, my dears! doesn't that make you want to come and visit? just look at the luxurious pinkness of it all!

t-rex and friend. the natural history museum is amazing. we have been twice for a few hours each time and still have only seen about 1/3 of it. (but have seen the dinosaurs both times)

alexander compares his arm bone to the arm bone of a dinosaur.

the kids on the liberty ferry. ah, new york! what a view!

and once more...the grand lady herself. if you click to enlarge, you can just make out the itty, tiny people on the observation deck below her platform. we have not been able to get a time pass to enter the statue either time that we have been. maybe next time. alan says he only has one more liberty trip in him, so we had better make it a good one.

i've been a bad, bad, blogger; part 1

once school started, things got crazy around here! i was subbing 2 yoga classes a week at the gym, teaching 2 of my own, and teaching 2 private sessions per week as well. between being at the gym tuesday through friday and shuttling hadley back and forth to preschool and trying to stay on top of the housework, blogging fell by the wayside. but i'm back, with updates going way back and keeping all 4 of my loyal readers up to date on the latest adventures in jersey. first, some highlights from our summer:

have you ever seen a more literal interpretation of "kiddie pool" -- there are 6 in or around the pool, one very tired girl in the foreground and 3 babies in their own pool off to the side. i love this picture, they are just having so much fun!

one of the cutie babies.
and another. for some reason, liam was MIA for this photoshoot.

here is hadley striking her best pirate pose for the treasure hunt grandpa and grandma put together for their scurvy gang of pirates. note the squinky eye. i guess her eye patch was in the shop that day.

aaaargh!
love the determined face in this picture. by gum, she's on a treasure-seeking mission!

ditto on sheer pirate determination. love the sliding down with swords. so un-PC.

this should have come first, but i was too lazy to change it around. i love my daddy's cute face in this photo. he's reading the first clue, thus initiating the treasure hunt. they actually had to DIG UP the treasure from an area near the garden. too funny!

we had so much fun with the cousins this summer and love an miss you all! not to mention grandmas and grandpas! love you!

i've been a bad, bad blogger; part 2

more from our summer:

kids watching a spectacular fireworks display

aforementioned kids rapt faces

two beautiful twin princesses. their faces are priceless!

sophie looks so tickled to be dressed the same.
holding hands. careful, the cuteness is infectious!

alexander in salt lake.
hadley with great grandma. i think she popped in to visit grandma at least once a day. i love this photo. :)

soundtrack of my life?

stolen from lindsey:
turn on your ipod (or itunes)...hit shuffle. list the songs in order of the following descriptions. kinda fun and interesting.

Opening Credits: In Between Days – The Cure ("In Between Days is the best Cure song ever and Capricorn doesn't want to hear otherwise" -- from a horoscope several years ago)

Waking Up: Rip Her to Shreds -- Blondie

First Day of School: Wake Up – Alanis Morissette

Falling in Love: Asleep – The Smiths (what are the odds? wake up and asleep? come ON!)

Fight Song: -- Baby Fratelli – The Fratellis

Breaking Up: -- Casual Match – Suzanne Vega

Prom: All Hail Me – Veruca Salt (I guess this in AFTER the breakup and I’m really bitter!? Maybe I came back to him and caught him with another woman. Hussy.)

Life: Bare -- The Cure “If you’ve got something left to say, you’ve got to say it now – anything but ‘stay’….” sounds more like breaking up to me. L

Mental Breakdown: The Last Day of Summer – The Cure (more sadness. no wonder i’m having a mental breakdown!)

Driving: London – The Smiths “Smoke lingers round your fingers, train, heave on to Euston…do you think you’ve made the right decision this time?” (with a driving, train-rhythm)

Flashback: The Kiss – The Cure (must be an angry flashback to prom)

Getting Back Together: Lonely -- Frente “I can’t get enough of your love, babe”

Wedding: Lolita – Suzanne Vega LOL! (can’t believe the hussy tried to ruin my wedding)

Birth of A Child: The Same Deep Water As You – The Cure (i actually listened to this album when x was born…but still, not the happiest birth song.)

Final Battle: Honest With Me – Bob Dylan “I’m stranded in the city that never sleeps…some of these women just give me the creeps” (more hussies, apparently)

End Credits: +810+ Clare Quilty (nice! it seems that though the movie is at an end, it seems that life holds much more in store)

travelling down
down the road
i see your face
in the mirror
and i see your face
in my mind
i feel your heart
it is beating
it beats with mine
travelling down the road

back to school

so we are FINALLY getting back into the swing of things and we FINALLY started school last thursday (september 6), so i can FINALLY do some updates. i get overwhelmed at the thought, so i'm striving for short and sweet updates, but more frequently. we'll see how that goes...

hadley is so excited to be starting preschool! since it's so expensive around here, we opted for a co-op with a few other women from the ward. we are each taking a 9-week stint as teacher, so hopefully i can get through that come late january!

here is hadley, so excited on her first day of school. she's got her backpack on and is ready to go! she also will proudly tell you how to spell her name. she loves to trace "dotted" letters that mom draws and is working on writing it all by herself.


and here's alexander, beginning FIRST GRADE! can you believe it? alan and i can't. we think he's growing up much too quickly! just look at how big this kid is! he was a little apprehensive about starting 1st grade, because he loved kindergarten so much and couldn't imagine that 1st grade could compare. he also confided that he was worried about "all the quizzes" in first grade (what? lol!) but after a few days, he told me "i LOVE first grade!", so i guess things are going well. he is required to read every night and is really doing great with that. he amazes us!


and for the close-ups:


we are looking forward to a visit from g'ma and g'pa peck in early october and are still begging for thanksgiving visitors! anyone at all! we'll take you! we also added some fish, snails, and crayfish to our family via an aquarium, but i will post more about that soon.

we love and miss all our family and friends "back in utah". xoxox

The Hadley Show

Star in Your Own JibJab! It's Free!

Those kids can DANCE!

Star in Your Own JibJab! It's Free!

Jersey Fresh

check it out! not only am i FINALLY back from utah, but i got all of the lovely food you see above for under $25! i've made a new discovery, and i have to say, i LOVE the trenton farmer's market. cheap delicious produce all right next to halo farms dairy. a half-gallon of milk there is $1.11 and bread (yes, even the yummy homemade sourdough you see above) is 99 cents! see, groceries CAN be exciting!

so, here's my loot (clockwise from top left): 1 loaf wheat bread, 2 loaves sourdough, 6 ears of corn, 2 pints of ice cream (chocolate with chocolate almonds and pistachio), 3 gallons of milk, 4 zucchini, 3 yellow squash, 2 tomatoes, a bunch of potatoes, 1/2 pound deli-sliced black forest ham (in the paper wrapping) 2 red and 2 yellow onions, a grundle of green beans, and a head of garlic.

not too shabby. the farmer's market makes shopping fun again. and, like their sign says, they're open all year! woot! come visit and i'll take you there. you'll love it. and if that doesn't float your boat, the window in halo farms that lets you watch the cartons being filled with milk and various juices whilst traveling on a conveyor belt will. that of the fact that ice cream is 2 for $4. it works for my kids every time.

i have downloaded all my utah photos and will be posting about my adventures in the beehive state soon. it was so good to see so many to you!
smooches and hugs and a boot to the head (you know if you deserve it)

girl talk

this is just too funny not to post... hadley and lucy-- chillin at the block party. making a few phone calls, chatting it up, applying some sunscreen. they moved the chairs like this all on their own. i love these photos. caption contest! the winner will be declared to be the wittiest of them all and possibly win a sweet prize. :) oh, i highly recommend clicking on each image to see it larger.








there's more below folks, scroll down!

Random Stuff from the Garden State

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY to all you awesome dads out there!
check it out! a blog for no apparent reason...no birthdays or guilt-inducing hate mail...just me, on a sunday, blogging! let's get into the pics!

this is a pic snapped at x's school carnival. check out h's cute pink seersucker jacket. shout out to jenn m for handing it down. :) avast mateys!

alexander and mrs. moss -- only 2 days of school left! hooray! but seriously, we will miss mrs. moss. look at what a cute kindergarten teacher she is! so adorable.

hadley at the kensington court block party. she actually shouted "no pictures" as she did this. who does she think she is anyway!? i feel like the papparazzi!

alexander playing a game at the kindergarten end-of-school party. check out the concentration. toungue out means he's really focused.

marisa, mitch (MITCHELL!), and lucy all tuckered out at the k-court block party. lucy looks just like her daddy. :)

alan got something in the mail in a huge box filled with packing peanuts. so naturally, the kids climbed right in:x actually got his boats from the upstairs tub and played away..

h used it as a human jack-in-the-box.

they were having a blast! look how cute they are, hadley is so excited!

more kids in a box...
here is alexander (with walking partner and hadley) on the "hawk walk" -- his school does this every year...it's a one-mile walk to raise money for various charities. this year it was for ronald mcdonald house in new brunswick. some of the ladies from alan's work sponsored him and he raised $25. go litte man! (and thanks, ladies!) hadley couldn't bear to just wave as he walked by...she had to join in the walking. it's really funny because she thinks she is part of his kindergarten class. and the kids and the teacher all love her. she cried when she couldn't go on the whole walk.

THIS is just cute and funny.

peace out, y'all! we'll catch you in utah beginning july 3rd! woot! xoxox