Apple Picking at Wellwood Orchards, 10/11/09

I love apple picking.

My Dad used to take me every year when I was younger, and it's always been a tradition I knew I would continue with my own children. Autumn is my favorite time of year, and being out in nature, with the crisp, cool air uniquely smelling of fall and the gorgeous views... Well, it's just incredible.

Watching the leaves turn around you as mother nature begins her preparations for the deep freeze puts things into perspective and reminds you that the old adage "This, too, shall pass" is not just a silly phrase.... And yet, while life continues to move along, with so many things changing, and my little bend continues to grow "bigger and bigger each day" (as she would say!) , some things will be the same, year after year.

We went to Wellwood Orchards last year and absolutely loved it. With all they had to offer- the u-pick apples, pumpkins, the petting zoo, wonderful views, hayrides, freshly made cider doughnuts and various other goodies... It was a no-brainer that we go back there again this year.

It was a chilly, overcast day, but through our whole vacation last week, this was the first day that seemed to have promising weather (read: no rain). We decided to tough it out and figured we could warm ourselves up with hot cider if needed :)

We were struck by the old look of this barn against the clouds when we pulled up, so Will took a couple of shots of it. I'm pretty sure he's going to enhance this one in photoshop, but I already like it.

There was a pretty hefty breeze right when we arrived... luckily it warmed up soon after, but in this picture the poor Bend was freezing her little bum off. Hence the funny face. We decided to go into the store to warm up, grab our apple bag, and get some fresh doughnuts and hot cider to warm our bones :)

She thought this was the funniest thing!

She actually wanted to be a honeybee for Halloween originally... I had decided we would go with an Old Navy costume again this year because last year the one we got was really good quality, really warm, really cute and a really good price... So I had her go onto the website with me and try to pick one she liked. Well, of course she picked the honeybee, which was the ONLY one not on sale! You know me, can't pay full price for something when I could get it cheaper... So I had her pick her next best fave, which was the spider. And since her two middle names mean "spider fairy" I told her she could wear fairy wings and bring her wand, and be the only little spider fairy trick-or-treating! So it worked out in the end... But she definitely got a kick out of being a bee for a minute here!

She was trying to look down to see how her body changed into a bee... lol!

Going to say "hello" to one of the chickens that escaped from the petting zoo! And some random lady's butt. Sorry about that, but there wasn't really a way to crop it without cutting off Bend or the chicken. *sigh*

Pumpkins and squash and tractors, OH MY!

Ilyana hanging out with Daddio, waiting for the "hay"ride. They didn't actually use hay on this one... They opted for the more high-tech option... Benches!

Ilyana and I... on her first hayride :D She had a blast, absolutely loved it! She kept asking all day if we could go back on the hayride...

For posterity! This is what your first hayride looked like, Bendy Rugg :)

And this is the view, looking back down onto the store, from the hayride up into the orchard.

Ilyana and Daddy, scoping the trees for the best apples left! Turned out, this was the second to last weekend of u-Pick apples this season, so most of the types had already passed. Good thing we made it!

Taste test... Result? Semi-bitter but yummy! We grabbed a couple of those for baking...

I absolutely love this picture of Ills and her Dad. It's a little dark, I need to have Will touch it up still since I'm not as good in photoshop as him... But still, one of my faves from the day. Can't you just feel the love?!

Through the leaves shot of me and the Bendy. I like this one :)

She was getting frustrated that she couldn't get the apples down, so I was showing her how to twist them off.

The best apples are always up high, where they get lots of sun... So we find creative ways of getting at them! Here's Bendy sitting on my head trying to reach one...

And here she is getting a lift from her Dada.

For about half the time that Will and I were picking apples, Ilyana was busy playing "Where's Ruggle?" She thought it was awesome to keep running away from us and hiding between the trees. Ahh, sweet freedom!!

Bendy hider...

There she is!

"I finally caught you, you crazy little bean!"

Or maybe not... She went limp like a rag doll and didn't want me to pick her up. Apparently "Where's Ruggle?" was far too fun a game to give up so easily.

But then I told her Daddy needed her help. And since she LOVES to help with anything grown-up, she rushed right over. She was standing next to him. He would grab the apples, hand them to her, and she would drop them in the bag. Now that's some good teamwork. :D

Whoops, dropped one!

Gorgeous views of the mountains. Here we're looking down on the store- on the bottom left- from up in the strawberry patch area.

More views... And my handsome hubby :)

She was a little crabby here... Something about not wanting to share something that wasn't hers with another little boy there. Yes, we're working on sharing... lol

"What's that?"

Pretty girl. Finally has enough hair for it to blow in the breeze! :)

Dada and the Rugg

Watching the hayride head back down...

We were sort of trying to do a new version of last year's apple bin photos with this next series... But with the bad lighting on this overcast day, we didn't have as much luck. These came out good, but not as good as the ones from last year... Those are still some of my all-time favorites of her :)

Why are you taking so many pictures of me??

*Peek*

Nom nom nom...

And here she is trying to pet chickens that escaped from the petting zoo... Those tricky chickens are masters of evasion, though!

And this is just a bunch of bins full of apples, stacked up together. I thought it looked cool.

We had so much fun at Wellwood this year, and we'll definitely be returning again! Hopefully next year with some family and/or friends... It's an experience for sure, and those cider doughnuts are DELICIOUS!

Filling Daddy's Shoes!

Sometimes, you just want to be a grown-up, so you try and imitate the things we do.

It's pretty funny to watch you piece things together in your head sometimes... like- "Hmm, how can I be just like my Daddy? I know! I'll wear his SHOES!"

"I'll sit on the floor and put them on, no matter how long it takes me... You know what they say! If at first you don't succeed, try, try again..."



It's a little bit of a task to walk when your shoes are many MANY sizes too big. But you, my princess- you are nothing if not determined and headstrong.


So you just stood for a minute, thought about your next move...


Did a little stretch...


And got on with it.

I think that's a lesson you'll be able to pass on to many people in life... When faced with an obstacle, don't give up. Pause, think, reflect, stretch, then plow ahead with reckless abandon :)

Three Generations of Spunk

Pictures taken on Saturday, September 26th, 2009 at Cey-Cey and Grumps' house.

Three generations of spunky, wonderful, loving women (not to toot my own horn or anything! hehe)-- Cey-Cey, Me, and the Bend Ruggle herself!

You are my two favorite *girls* in the world :)

What She Says... About TV & More

Pictures of Illy playing in Cey-Cey's garden, 9/12/09

* * * * *

One day after work last week, I was doing the dishes and Will was doing some work on his computer, so Ilyana was playing in the living room with some kind of a cartoon on the TV in there...

She called out to Will and said: "Dada, can you turn on the news?"

He kind of looked at her baffled, and then said, "Okay, honey, bring me the remote and I'll turn the news on."

She carried in the remote to him, he changed it while she watched, and once the "news" (it was Daily Show, so not *news* news, but still...) came on, she said: "Okay, I'm just gonna go watch the news now."

And she did.

My girl is such a character. Although I am glad she's showing some interest in current events. Ha!

* * * * *

A couple nights later, we were all eating dinner in the living room with the TV on... **As an aside: Yes, I know we should really try to eat at the kitchen table (and without the TV) more, but when your kitchen table is small and doubles as a mail station/ computer desk, it makes it hard. I am just happy we manage to all eat together every night.**

Ilyana had been watching her show while I was getting our plates ready, but when we came out to eat, Will grabbed the remote and started looking for something we might all enjoy. Well, Illy wasn't having that. As he flicked through the channels, she goes:

"Dada, I want to watch my show."

"Dada, I want my show on...."

"Dada..."

He finally picked something, and as soon as he clicked "enter" to go to that channel, she shouts:

"DADA! That's not VERY NICE!!"

* * * * *

Last night, she was drying off with her towel after a shower, and I told her to come in her room to get in her diaper and pjs... She did, and after that was done, she looked at me, looked at her towel and said, "Let's have a picnic!"

She proceeded to lay the towel out flat on the ground and said "See, it's a picnic!" And then grabbed a bunch of her kitchen setting toys and had a mini-picnic with us right before bed... She made us some "SCUN" to eat (I have no idea what kind of food that's supposed to be, but I told her it was delicious!) and we had to pour the "tea" into our mouths because we couldn't locate any of her cups... And yet, it was still one of the best picnics I've ever been to :) She makes me smile every day... I love you Bendy Ruggle!

Crabby Girl In a New Coat...

I bought Ilyana an awesome jacket for fall from Old Navy this past spring when all the winter stuff was on sale... Now I can't remember whether or not it was when they had their "additional 50% off all clearance" sale or not, but either way, the tag, when I took it off this morning, said $4.99. So I either paid $4.99 for this gem, OR a ridiculously amazing $2.50. I think it is SO cute! I want one for myself! It's fleece-ey feeling on the inside, super comfy, and perfect for this sweater weather we've been having! This morning, when Will saw her, he couldn't resist getting a few snapshots (ok, ok, I MIGHT have suggested that I could use a couple new pics for the blog, but still... he had already grabbed the camera). She was in a little bit of a crabby mood- you can see it in the pics, I'm sure. But here she is, this morning, all dressed to go to daycare in her brand-spankin'-new jacket!

He did manage to get one big smile and a "CHEEEEEESEEE!" out of her before we went outside...

But it was all downhill from there...


"Dada, I'm very cold." That's what she said here... Kind of made me feel bad... But, I mean... She was wearing a fleece jacket. It was almost 50 degrees outside. It's not like she was out in a blizzard in a bikini! Sheesh. If she's already cold, I guess I better bust out the mittens, cuz' it's only getting colder! lol. We live in New England, baby! Time to toughen up! ;)


And this one. I just love it. My handsome husband and beautiful daughter, looking sweet, with the fallen leaves from the tree in our front yard in the background.

*sigh* I love the fall. It's my favorite season.

First Attempt At Fondant!

I know it's been a while. At least I feel like I'm not alone in this bloggy funk... As I've been surfing the blogosphere these past few months (yes, yes, I am still reading everyone! lol) I've noticed the theme of lost mojo kind of floating throughout posts, a strand tying many of us together this summer in our absence.

There was one day in particular that TWO of the people I regularly read- Issa and Mammatalk, if you wanted to know- both posted about this phenomenon. I feel semi-guilty for not posting as much as I had hoped... But then I start to think again on who this blog is really for, and I cut myself some slack. If it's been a slow two months, then it has... I'm not going to force my own hand at keeping our memories recorded. When something exciting happens, I know I'll get it in here :) In the meantime, I've decided that everyone's mojo must be off on a tropical vacation together... Speaking for myself, I know my mojo is probably in Hawaii, a place I've always wanted to go, sipping Pina Coladas and getting the tan I can never achieve on a much more gorgeous beach than we have here in New England. I've come to terms with that... I'm just hoping it's considerate enough to bring me back some kind of a tchochke or at the very least "My mojo went to Hawaii and all I got was this lousy t-shirt"...

Now then. Onwards with today's post, I suppose!

Yesterday I was watching Cake Boss- which I actually don't like as much as Ace of Cakes, but you know, that's what was on- and I decided to FINALLY try and make some fondant. I've been wanting to for a while- I love watching these types of shows and have always been amazed at how beautiful the cakes come out- but I've been a little intimidated. It just looks daunting. Rolling it out big enough? Not ripping? Getting the color right? Eeeeeek!

Last night, though, I decided to go for it! I made marshmallow fondant- for two reasons... (1) I had heard it was easier to make, and I had the ingredients on hand; and (2) I have also heard that regular fondant tastes like CRAP. This fondant tastes SUPER sweet, but at least it tastes ok.

We decided on making a strawberry shaped cake (hubby helped me with this! I can't take ALL the credit) since the cake mix I had was strawberry flavored. Yes, I used mix... I wanted to focus my energy on dealing with the fondant, not making cake from scratch. Next time perhaps :)

Here's how it ended up:

Pretty cute for a first try, I think! Will had the great idea of using the mini chocolate chips for the "seeds" on the strawberry. I learned quite a bit from this one time, and I think maybe for Illy's next birthday I'll try something with fondant now that I have attempted it once... I won't be as scared of it as I was anymore!

So, what did I learn, you ask?

(1) Fondant kneading is a WORKOUT. Eep, it took forever to mix those colors in! I think next time instead of mixing the color into the fondant after making the batch, I'll make smaller batches and drop the food coloring in while I'm mixing the batch originally. That way I don't have to mix twice... Although I'm sure it's good for your biceps, if that's what you're going for!

(2) Fondant does NOT like to be red. This color? On my strawberry? Yeah. That was about 3 different doses of the "Super Red" color, which I assume is supposed to look like a firetruck. At least, that's what it looks like on the cap. And then some brown, too, to see if that would darken the color. It didn't. I finally gave up adding color and decided I'd have a pink strawberry and live with it. In the future... Avoid reds. lol!

(3) Don't use frosting as your glue to hold things together. Or, if you do... Use very small brushes, and very small amounts. I ended up with white frosting "glue" coming out at my seams and on the top of the cake, which totally stunk! Grrr...

(4) I also had some issues with ripping- so next time, I'll keep the rolling surface very well powdered (with powdered sugar)... and also cut the fondant bigger than I need it to be. I had a couple areas that didn't look so neat on the edges because the fondant wasn't big enough to "wrap" around the bottom of the cake.

That's all. I have to say, I am proud of myself! It's not perfect, but for a first try... At least it's recognizable as a strawberry! :D

Things You Love... Part 1?

Illy bear-

I don't know if you've noticed a trend, looking back at these photos from whatever age you are now (at least I hope you're doing that... that was the whole purpose of this blog :D). There is one item that can be found in many, many photos of you... And many days on your body, as well. Can you guess from the picture below?

It's your rainbow necklace. The very first thing that you EVER picked out on your own, unprompted by either your Dad or I. Your very first fashion choice, the very first thing you felt a NEED to own.

You and I were shopping in Wal-Mart one day, walking through the toddler section to check if there were any clothes on super-clearance, when you looked up at me with this sweet little smile and pointed to the rack with all the hair thingamabobbers, gloves, hats, and other random accessories on it and said "Mama, I want THAT."

So I stopped, because we weren't even looking at that rack. It must have just caught your eye. I thought about it, and you had been very well-behaved that day, so I figured I would get you what you wanted. I picked up a headband and said "Oh, you mean this?"

"No, Mama. THAT." *points at the rack again*

I picked up a package of elastics: "This, you mean?"

"NO, Mama. THAT." *points*

I picked up a cute little baseball cap: "This?"

"NO, Momma. I want THAT." *points*

Finally, I came to the rainbow-colored necklace and bracelet set- "This?"

*Big grin cracks across your face* "Yeah. That." And you took it from me, immediately started playing with it, and remained content the rest of the way through the store.

Ever since that day, you've loved your necklace. It's your big statement. You wear it with anything- which is perfectly fine with me, since being multi-colored, it always matches :) You usually don't wear the bracelet- opting instead to let your Dora doll wear it as HER necklace.

When we got home the other day, you walked in the door and the first thing you said was "It's so nice to see you, necklace!" since you had forgotten it at home that morning. Now THAT's love. :D And (aside from your Mommy and Daddy- and of course, the rest of our awesome family), it's one of the first things you've developed an attachment to.

Graphic courtesy of Tonya! :)

I'm sort of cheating on this week's Friday Fill-Ins, because this is actually yesterday's fill-in. They apparently do a new one every day now... But since I have been in such a rut, and not posting as much as I should, I am getting a jump start and doing this on Thursday ;) If you would like to check out everyone else's fill-ins, or just see what today's fill-in actually is, check out their SITE.

And now, on to the fill-ins!

1. Being set back is not the end of the world.

2. Sitting here, listening to the sound of rain falling, I appreciate all that I have, especially my wonderful family.

3. Ben and Jerry's Strawberry Cheesecake ice cream tastes so good!

4. Sometimes, putting others first is necessary.

5. Watching a storm roll in is breathtaking, really.

6. Well, maybe there is something waiting on the horizon.

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to gotta clean up before my parents come tomorrow (not looking forward to it, but it has to be done!), tomorrow my plans include snuggling the girl before we head out to New York to try and win a car(!!) and Sunday, I want to get home, do any shopping I have to do, and prep for the week! My Sunday one is always the same... lol... Guess I am a little boring, but I love my simple life :)

What She Says... The Third :)

She's getting so big! I love this picture... taken 7/8/09 at Fort Constitution Park in New Castle, NH

(1) Illy's been calling wax beans (which I make a lot for our veggie with dinner) WHACK BEANS! It makes me smile every time she says it, and I've taken to calling her my little whack bean when she starts acting crazy...

(2) She is definitely getting into that terrible two phase! I had thought for a while we would somehow avoid it... but no such luck.The past few weeks, her little attitude has been creeping out at random intervals.

She told Will not too long ago, when we were in the car and he was teasing her and said something she didn't like- "Don't talk to me!"

Yesterday was a rough day for her (at home... either her sitter is a big liar or she flips a switch when she goes there, because I always get good reports when we pick her up...). In the morning, she refused to get dressed (turned into a floppy little rag doll wiggle-worm who refused to cooperate with the whole clothing thing), laid on the floor and screamed all morning. Everything we said to her was met with a screech or a whine... Not the best way to start your day! I tried talking to her to see what was wrong and she said "Leave me alone! Don't touch me, Mama!" UGH.

(3) She thinks she is a big girl now, and she tells us. All. The. Time. It breaks my heart when I ask her if she wants me to hold her hand on the way down the stairs, or if she needs help with something, and she says "No, I a big girl." *sigh* Where did my little baby girl go??!

(4) There's a new baby at her daycare, and she absolutely adores him. She sings to him a lot, and her sitter tells me she likes to sit near him, too. She has been telling me lately that she has a baby sister... When I asked her what her sister's name was, at first she told me "Orange"... but the past few times the name has been "Triangle". LOL! I wonder if this *sister* is an orange triangle... Or if she had a name change ;)

(5) I was out shopping last weekend, and I called Will to let him know I was on my way home. Will told Ilyana "Momma's going to be home soon!" and she got all excited, ran downstairs, and peered out the window saying "Mommy! Mommy!"... He realized that she hadn't fully understood what he said and so he told her again- "No, honey... Mommy's not home yet, she's going to be home SOON. She's on her way."

She looked at him with big eyes and a pouty little lip and said... "OH... You lied to me??" I know... AWWW, right?!

(6) We went to Portsmouth this past Saturday to see the play "Grease" in the park. It went late, and she was very tired by the end... Although she was a good sport through the whole thing (and by that I mean that she didn't scream and cry... she did sing VERY loudly during it, but I figured that was fine since we were in an open space) at the end she just kept saying "Momma, I tired. I want to go home and sleep in my bed."... "Mommy, I want to go home."... "Momma, I want to see Dada"... (he didn't go with us.) etc, etc.

On the way out of the park, I was pushing her in her stroller and wearing her glow-necklace (my stepmom had brought some for my brothers and her- smart move!) because she hadn't wanted to wear it. She looked up at me and said "Momma, where's my necklace?" So I took it off and handed it to her and said- "It's right here, honey. Here you go." And she looked at me with her tired little face and said "Momma, I like sharing with you." And then I melted. But not before telling her "Thank you, baby. I like sharing with you, too."

Exciting News... and a Moral.

My phone has been dead since last Saturday.

This weekend, we were away for two birthday parties- brother and nephew- and I forgot to bring my charger. Then, when I got home, I just kept forgetting to charge it. Finally, last night, I remembered to plug it in. Got up this morning, and I had three messages. The first two were just from my Mom and brother on Saturday, wondering when I would be arriving. The last one was from...

A guy at Price Chopper. I almost don't want to write this out, because I'm worried in some weird superstitious way I'll jinx it... BUT... he was calling to tell me I was chosen as a semi-finalist in their Fuel Advantedge Win A Car sweepstakes! The message was left on Monday at around 12:30 PM.


The only problem was that he said I had to call him back within 24 hours (he said by around 1 PM on Tuesday) to participate, and I didn't get the message until this morning! ACKKK!

I immediately called his number back and explained on a message that my phone had been dead, I just got his message, and that while I knew I had probably already been disqualified, if there was ANY chance of me still participating, I would love to! All the way to work I was kicking myself silly... Nobody ever calls me except my hubby and Mom, and here I was, one of the first times in months I hadn't had my phone for a few days, and THIS happens! What are the odds??! I asked my hubby that very question and he said "Low. So low, in fact, that nothing like this will probably ever happen to you again." Yeah, thanks buddy, I realized that! *smacks forehead*

Anyway, I got to work this morning, and the guy called me back. He said "You'll be happy to know I hadn't called anyone else in your place yet, so you're in!" And then he went through the whole shebang of info, asked me the necessary questions (yes, I'm over 18; no, none of my friends or family work for Price Chopper) and sent me a packet to fill out and sign.

I nearly peed my pants when I found out that there are only 10 semi-finalists and they will pick one more out of the crowd- so 11 total. Seems like pretty good odds!

The way it works is we are all invited to a Tri-City ValleyCats minor league baseball game on August 1. Every semi-finalist is going to get a gas card and a gift basket with a bunch of Central Market products in it- which is Price Chopper's awesome store brand. So essentially, my drive down will be paid for with the gas card I'll get there... And then they give you 4 tickets to the game (I can bring three guests) and also provide food and (non-alcoholic) beverages for while you're there. After the ninth inning, they'll randomly hand out keys to the 11 of us... And whoever has the key that starts the car, wins!

I am trying not to get my hopes up too high for this, and instead to just think of it as an all-expense paid day of fun. In the end, even if I don't win, I still got to see a new place in New York, my gas was paid for, I got a gift basket, got to watch a baseball game and was fed. So all in all, no matter what, it's a win-win for me. But man, could we ever use that car right now! Winning that would just be an amazing, over-the-top blessing. Our Jeep has been broken down since last year, so we always commute together and right now are relying on our one vehicle to be everything as far as transportation goes. It would be nice to have the peace of mind that if something happens with our car, we have another option! Plus it would also be really nice to know that if we need to be in two places at once, or if we both have something to do at the same time, we can! Fingers crossed.... squeee! :)

The moral of the story???


ALWAYS, ALWAYS, always keep your phone charged. All it takes is one missed call for you to regret something for life. lol.