Auntie time

Well, this auntie was lucky enough to keep her auntie hat on for a whole day last week!  Kevin had a training in the great state of Jersey and Holly had to work, so the boys drove to our house the night before Kevin's training.  The next morning, Kevin and Mike went to work and I got to hang out with Orion ALL day.   This auntie did a whole lot of singing, coloring, and puzzle making.  It was a special day! xox

Embracing new

We just unpacked our last box in our new home this weekend!! We actually got to enjoy dinner in our dining room.  It is actually our dining room/record collection area/sewing corner, and it is a work in progress (the fun with living in apartments - rooms are sometimes multipurpose).  However, it is organized just enough to be able to eat at a clean table!! We have also been enjoying the new neighorhood around us.  We get a nice feel, when we are walking the dog, just a lot of nice people around and it is always active and alive.  We walked to a few antique stores nearby yesterday for fun, and our favorite Italian restaurant is just an 8 minute walk away! The best bagels I have ever had are dangeroulsy close too...

It's been about 5 weeks and we are nicely settled into our new home.  It is nice to be on the other side of moving.

Mike, selecting the dinner music.

Bon Iver

Mike scored some serious tickets - Bon Iver - Radio City Music Hall - Early Autumn.  As Holly said, I think this show made it to my top 3 shows ever.  Kevin and Holly drove down from RI minutes before jumping a train to Manhattan.  The four of us got to Radio City Music Hall with a few minutes to explore and take in the beauty of the venue.  Oh and to get some band t-shirts, of course.  It was a fabulous night, the performance was spectacular.  I had tears in my eyes a few times, Bon Iver has that effect on me sometimes.

AP magic

A brief and belated mention of a little escape time in Asbury Park in early autumn, the best time of year to be at the beach.  Donna and Laura experienced their first visit to AP!!  We got to listen to the waves, walk on the boardwalk a lot, ate some yummy food by the sea, and even took a paddle boat ride in a black swam.  These paddle boats existed in the same spot about 50 years ago and even longer ago, in some reports I have read.  This link has some great vintage shots of Asbury Park and you can see a few with the old swan boats!

taken by laura

taken by laura

Finished!!

I finally finished a quilt for our living room!  This is my second quilt (baby quilt class was my first one).  I love love love this fabric by Denyse Schmidt.  As soon as I saw it, I knew I needed it in a quilt for movie and tv night watching.  I got a little creative on the back of the quilt too.  I used a bunch of leftover for the binding.  It was so fun to make.  The hand stitching for the binding took a little longer than necessary.  I prefer the machine to needle/threading...

Feeling like fall out there!

All of a sudden, it is gorgeous out the last few days!  Not sure if it will stay, but I will take this little piece of autumn!  Chilly, sunny, pretty days...Bought a mum and made a pot of steel cut oats for the week.  Thinking about pumpkins, sweatshirts, soups, and applesauce...

Oatmeal with peach perserves and rasberries

Moving our home

The last few weeks have been exhausting.  Packing, lifting, moving, unpacking, heating pad, ice packs, advil...we are getting close, though, to being completely settled into our new home.  And today, I had enough room to actually use my kitchen!  And use some of the million peaches I just picked up at my CSA this week. We still have a few more spots and corners to work on, but we made some real progress.  We had some serious moving helpers these last 2 weeks and we are so grateful for the help.  I will share some photos of our new rooms soon,

Early grey Peach Perserves

Peach pie in the making!