Getting Ready for Winter

We have the wood stove moved to the basement at last and are hoping to hook it up this week. In preparation Duane had a load of wood delivered. The girls actually think it is a special treat to help Daddy stack wood! We'll see how long that lasts! They wanted to know why I wasn't 'so excited' to go help daddy!

FINALLY!

Duane has spent a lot of time and effort in getting our hot tub up and working. After getting it on the deck, wiring it up (thanks espo), and cleaning it out, we discovered a pipe had cracked in the moving process. So after fixing the pipe (and attempting to remove his finger in the process) we were able to fill it up Sunday. Last night after the kiddos went to bed we were able to finally enjoy our first 'dip' in our hot tub!

It was very relaxing!

One for the Fam

This post is Kokko family specific...

Wednesday night I was making dinner and Lily was running in circles through the kitchen and living room yelling and shaking her arms and head. After about 10 mins of this I realize Calista is nowhere to be found so I call her. She answers and I ask "what are you doing?" She replies "my hair." Holy déjà vu.

This was the end result. I let her wear her hair to meeting because she was so proud of herself. Lily, well I did her hair, and put her clothes back on as they got all untucked in the running around. :-)

Calista and Her Bike

I should have posted this a long time ago... Two weekends ago on Sunday Calista told Daddy that she wanted to learn how to ride her bike without training wheels. So Duane came in and got me outside to help. It wasn't unsuccessful, but I wouldn't call it successful either. She kept tipping over the minute we let go of her, but I'll give her this: she was a determined little bugger. The minute I picked her up from school on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday she said "Mom when I get home I'm practicing how to ride my bike." And she did - every night until I called her inside for supper. This is her on Thursday:

She was so proud of herself, she came running in the house yelling "I can do it, I can do it!" Daddy was screening loam for our yard at the farm so we packed up the bikes and went down to show him. He was truly amazed. She rode around the dirt piles and over the bumps like she'd been doing it for years.

We're so proud of our big girl on her big girl bike!

After last week ( ladies night out, the tea party, and hosting the Engine 2 Party) I vowed this week would be filled with nothing to do. The week started out really well with apple picking on Sunday and a little hectic Monday with gymnastics; once in the morning for lily and then again in the afternoon for Cali, (and they don't heat the place I think so Shilo and I freeze!) and Duane had rescue drill so he didn't come home until 10:30pm. Tuesday work was not as good a day as I had hoped for and I can admit I was pretty cranky all evening, but we did get good news that Tom had got his first deer, and that was exciting. By Tuesday evening I was already feeling run down and not as stress-free as I had planned. On Wednesday Lily, Shilo, and I paid Shelley a visit in the morning and ended up staying until the girls got out of school. It was a wonderful day of coffee, pumpkin muffins, salad with feta cheese (which my family won't let me make!), and a roaring new woodstove! In that time Shelley and I hashed out the world's problem...ie: everyone should get over that Palin took her family on business trips....laughed a lot, and looked at our dream homes on the internet. Thanks, Shelley, for a such a relaxing day! Today Lily asked if she could have a play date with Shelby so Shelby came to our house instead of visiting Georgia. Right now the girls are in Lily's bedroom dressed as Pocahontas, headdress and all (lily) and Cinderella with a pink cowgirl hat (shelby) coloring on the floor in the Princess book. I plan to make something nice for dinner as my husband has promised me he won't be going hunting tonight and he has nothing planned for the first time this week!

Could life get any better?

~a

Tom Willette's First Deer!

(thanks for posting this on facebook Tom!)

Congrats to Tom! He finally got his first deer!

Tom shot this doe in his backyard with his bow on Tuesday night. Duane was so happy for him he could barely finish his dinner before running out the door to go see it.

Duane got some awesome shots of Tom with the deer, but he either covered up the flash or turned it off by accident because they are all black. This photo is from Duane's cell phone.

Apple Picking

On Sunday we went apple picking. Duane fought it big time at first... but he came around! It was actually his idea to check out Paradise Farm in Lyndeborough. Many years ago Chappell Farms cleared the hill for the owners and since then, they have planted more apple trees as well as cleared the land for other uses. This was the first year the farm opened for pick your own apples. We had a blast and we had the whole orchard to ourselves which was awesome! We had more fun chasing each other around and taking pictures than we did picking apples!

Pushing, Pulling and Dragging the apple cart up the hill!

Shilo enoying her apple!

Shilo after she dropped her apple!

Cali and Lily with their baby apples

All of Daddy's Girls!

The girls ran ahead of Duane and I and were swinging on the swing when we finally caught up!

Daddy and his girls

Calista, Shilo, and Daddy racing back to the carriage
Lily running down the big hill

To finish off the whole day turkeys were crossing the road just before Fitch's corner. It was perfect!

Girl Afternoon Tea

So the girls and I wanted to start a play date that would be a monthly get together with their 'girlfriends' and would be tons of fun!

Tons of Fun = Tea Party!

This month's theme was Pretty in Pink!

All dressed up and ready for the girls to arrive!
The table all set for Tea!
Molly, Calista, Shelby, Kamryn, and Lily

Waiting for the rest of the girls!
Time for Tea!
1/2 the girls Lily and Shelby

Kamryn and Molly
Breanna and Ava
Ellie and Calista
the other 1/2 of the girls
Coloring in the Princess Book!

Ladies Night Out

This month was my turn to host Ladies Night Out. I made a supper with a Harvest Theme. It was a lot of fun and supper was yummy!

The Table

I stole this picture from Jody's blog because I didn't get one of my own!

I've posted the recipes below....

Hummas

Harvest Pumpkin Soup

Pork Tenderloin with Cider-Shallot Sauce

Acorn Squash With Apples

Twice Baked Mashed Potatoes

Sauteed Garlic Asparagas

Sweet Potato Pie

sorry ladies! You'll have to twist my arm to get this family recipe!

Pumpkin Chiffon Pie

Pumpkin Festival

Setting up. I like this picture because it has Great Grandpa Kokko, Grandpa Bob and Lily all in it.

Painting Pumpkins!

Calista wrote 'wich' on the back of her pumpkin

Posing with the Giant Pumpkins. This year there was a pumkin wieghing over 1200LBS!
Shilo staying warm with Yaya
By 8:30 Lily had had enough and crawled into Shilo's carriage and fell fast asleep. It was so cute!

We couldn't blow the balloons up fast enough before everyone bought them, it didn't help any that the wind picked up and started taking them from under the tent. Here are girls are saving the balloons from the wind.
Rachel and Shilo

My sister Rachel was able to make the trip from NYC to be with us this weekend. We sure had a lot of fun with her and it was nice to have her all to ourselves for a change! (no offense Kevin!)
Calista and Lily
Holding down the balloon!