Joy the Baker Blog

I discovered this blog while reading another. I love to cook and bake especially. This blog is really very good.....stay a while and enjoy it!

http://www.joythebaker.com/blog/

Photo Session

This morning Isabelle had her three-year photo session at Pixel Perfect (www.pxpkid.com). (BTW, she is on the website - go to Portrait Gallery and click on Cute Kids. She is the one with a close up and wearing a green apple outfit. This was taken last year!) Each time we go, the pictures are better and better. I do not mean by the photographer as she is *awesome*, but Isabelle gets more animated and has a lot of fun. One of the outfits Isabelle wore today was a Hanna Andersson Swedish winter dress (for a peak at the dress, click http://www.hannaandersson.com/style.asp?from=SC%7C4%7C2%7C24%7C25%7C1%7C%7C. Isabelle's dress is Ivory with black details.) Her hair was in braids and with her round face, she looked like she belonged on the cover of the catalogue. Once I have the pictures, I will be posting some here. This may be a few weeks, but so well worth it!

It is unusually warm today and yesterday was a perfect day - in the 60's and sunny. Hard to really think that in about a month the cold will be upon us! Needless to say, we are spending tons of time outside. Also, I will be posting some truly fun pictures of Isabelle with her newly loved fuzzy lamb slippers.

Enjoy the new order of the world! Here's hoping it will be as good as so many people believe and history does not repeat itself.

Dinner at Unum's

Last night Al and I had a delightful "adult" dinner at a great restaurant in Nashua - Unums (www.unums.com). As the last time I was there, the food was excellent. I had a grilled swordfish with garlic mashed potatoes, shrimp and a delightful sauce. Al has a sirloin steak satay with a shrimp and crab meat sauce over great steak fries. We started dinner with baked brie....I so love baked brie. it came with a brown sugar glazed baked banana (Al ate it), strawberries, blueberries and a pear with a raspberry sauce. Dessert was even better as I had a warm pumpkin bread pudding with fresh whipped cream. Al did the boring route with cheesecake with mixed berries. Over all, dinner was great. The only downside was we were so tired from the long night on Halloween (Isabelle did not go to bed until 11pm!) and the craziness of Saturday that by the evening we were beat. How pathetic is that?!

The coming week is going to action packed from Monday through Friday. Friday being the big day for Isabelle as her "big girl" bed will be arriving. Now, if I can only keep her in bed for the night, life will be wonderful. Have a feeling the next couple of weeks may be tough.

A great new blog

I located a fun blog - A Little Bit Funky - My Life as a Beautiful Mess (http://littlebitfunky.blogspot.com/). Very cute and fun. Plus there is a give-away for Lassie Girl on the blog...how wonderful is that?! (Lassie Girl has a shop on Etsy.com and sells great children's clothes. Isabelle has quite a few pinnies from Ashley!)

Happy Post Halloween

(One of the many carved pumpkins at Lull farm)

This Halloween has been the best one in a very long time. Now, it's not that past Halloween's have not been fun - just sort of boring. This year, Isabelle is almost three and she loved Halloween. We had a Halloween Boo-Bash on Thursday with her little friends. After the party, Isabelle crashed in a big way. A true sign of a great party ;-)

(My little Flower Fairy)

(Girls Just Wanna Have Fun)

(Driving Miss Isabelle....Rachel drove while Isabelle called Daddy on the "phone"....hmmmm, maybe I call Al too much from the car?!)

Halloween day itself was full of surprises. We started the day by running some boring errands, and were surprised at the vet's office. We arrived at the vet's just in time for the local preschool to arrive for some goodies (no candy goodies). Isabelle watched all the "older children" parade by her. The office was decorated for the festive holiday and Isabelle even received her very first Goody Bag. She was thrilled and played with everything all day. Apparently it was such a good deal that she needed to bring the goodies to all of the stores we visited.

Went to AC Moore (local craft store) and purchased a ton of fun craft stuff for Isabelle. Then the afternoon was spent on our dining room table gluing everything to colorful construction paper. She totally loves glue! Hey, who doesn't? It has so many functions and I expect I will be discovering them all over the coming winter ;-)

To end the day, we went to Lull Farm (the local farm stand down the road from us) and checked out all of the pumpkins. Lull hand carves all of the pumpkins they do not sell for Halloween night and light them. It is awesome and many people come to see them. As we live on a street that does not receive trick-or-treaters, this is our tradition with Isabelle. She was thrilled to stay up late and see all of the pumpkins. She did not want to leave....no one likes to have the good times end.


(Ready to go see pumpkins with my little pumpkin)





(At Lull Farm)

This morning we are heading off to ballet class. Isabelle *loves* her ballet class. This evening, Al & I will be going out to dinner. Our first dinner in NH w/o Isabelle. Amy will be babysitting Isabelle. Isabelle loves Amy too. I've been telling her all week that Amy will be coming, and her eyes light up and she starts telling me that Amy and Reilly live next door.....Reilly is Amy's family dog.

Happy November! Enjoy the extra hour of sleep tonight....I know I will.....

Been a while

Wow, where has the month gone?! In a couple more days it will be Halloween and then the big rush of holidays through the end of the year. I love this time of year, though I could do with less cold ;-)

Isabelle has been very busy this month, and she adores her ballet class! They had a "visiting day" last Saturday where parents and guests could watch the last fifteen minutes of the class in the classroom. Isabelle at first thought we were taking her out and cried and told us to go. Once she realized that we were just there to watch, she was okay. We took some great pictures and really wonderful videos...okay, so I am such a geeky Mom.....and I love digital cameras. I have really great Cannon camera - the real kind with various lens and speeds - that I never use since getting my digital camera. I loved my Cannon and it does take excellent pictures....some of my pictures include the parade in Boston when the Patriots first won the Super Bowl and Tall Ships in Boston - both having been taken from the 35th floor of Exchange Place. It is an awesome camera! But alas, waiting for the prints to develop is just too much for me now-a-days. Maybe one day I'll buy one of those really nice professional digital cameras that is similar to my Cannon but produces the digital pic instead of using film. Ahhhh...technology.....

(Isabelle at the dance studio before her class)

(In class)

Anyway, tomorrow is Isabelle's second ever Halloween Boo-Bash. Her baby friends will be coming and I hope the weather is okay. Snow is predicted. How scary is that one as it is not even November yet?! My good friend from college visited yesterday, and her parents live in Canada - just outside Montreal, and they have snow already. I'm not ready for snow!


Enjoy the cool brisk autumn day....and until next time.....ta ta

Monday joke of the day: Living in New England

The following is a simple sort of funny. Sorry for not posting in a while. It has been a whirlwind of excitment, and I promise to update everyone before the end of the week. Enjoy!

Forget Red necks ......here is what Jeff Foxworthy has to say about New Englanders...
*If your local Dairy Queen is closed from September through May, you live in New England.
*If someone in a Home Depot store offers you assistance and they don't work there, you live in New England.
*If you've worn shorts and a parka at the same time, you live in New England.
*If you've had a lengthy telephone conversation with someone who dialed a wrong number, you live in New England.
*If 'Vacation' means going anywhere south of New York City for the weekend, you live in New England.
*If you measure distance in hours, you live in New England.
*If you know several people who have hit a deer more than once, you live in New England.
*If you have switched from 'heat' to 'A/C' in the same day and back again, you live in New England.
*If you can drive 75 mph through 2 feet of snow during a raging blizzard without flinching, you live in New England.
*If you install security lights on your house and garage, but leave both unlocked, you live in New England.
*If you carry jumpers in your car and your wife knows how to use them, you live in New England.
*If the speed limit on the highway is 55 mph -- you're going 80 and everybody is passing you, you live in New England.
*If driving is better in the winter because the potholes are filled with snow, you live in New England.
*If you know all 4 seasons: almost winter, winter, still winter and road construction, you live in New England.
*If you have more miles on your snow blower than your car, you live in New England.
*If you find 10 degrees 'a little chilly', you live in New England.
*If there's a Dunkin Donuts on every corner, you live in New England.