Apple Picking

I love the Fall in New York for a few reasons, one of which is Apple fest! By mid October, the apple orchards open up their farms to the public to come in and pick apples,drink cider and really just explore this otherwise closed space. Its like being in another world, surrounded by apples and just leisurely picking and eating them. We went on a nice warm and sunny day and the kids probably ate as many apples while we walked around as we picked to take home. u was really intrigued since it was her first time..she tried really hard to pick up a pumpkin and eating the apples right of the trees. She eventually figured out you could pull them off..but not before she left little bits marks on many apples.

First day at Kindergarten

 I have been thinking about this day for a while, probably since the moment I noticed how much Arielle had grown up and how mature she became over the year since her sister was born and she started Montessori school. I was nervous, happy yet anxious and unsure I had chosen the best thing for my sweet girl but as the day approached the excitement built up and alas, Monday morning arrived and we ( me and her daddy) escorted her down to the bus for her first bus ride to school. Although she has been institutionalized ( in the nicest possible way..daycare, Montessori school etc) I have always dropped her off and picked her up ( beside a few time when my mother would get her) so it was a big step for me and for her to be so indepedent. I was sure she would cry because she was still crying at drop offs in May..but we held it together.

She had lots of friends at the bus stop and two of them would be riding the same bus as her everyday so I knew she would not feel alone. Then the bus came and she waved goodbye with a backpack that was almost as big s she is. She found a seat in the front and off she went. 

 We looked at each other and jumped in the car to follow the bus...

we arrived at the school and waited..and waited and waited...I started wondering if we had missed her. But finally her bus arrived at school and she jump off smiling then she saw us and ran to us for a last hug but calmly walked to the front door of the school and went in. We wondered for the next few hours how she was doing, what she was doing and if she made it to class. We the bus arrived at the house, me, her daddy, Aneta her nanny and Evalie were all there waiting to get her and she was very happy to see us. I was relieved and when I asked her what she wanted to do to celebrate, she said she just wanted to go home. I felt good, she did great, we were all proud of her and she missed us. She is excited about school, she likes her teacher, she's  making friends and its been great everyday since.

Last weekend

We are beginning to feel the chill in the air, so when the sun came out we decided to soak up the last few rays of warm sunlight here in New York...we went to the cheeseiest festival we could find! The Cheese festival celebrating the production of cheese in this area, famous for the goldish spreadable cheese used to make your favorite mac'n cheese in a box!

There were games, lots of food, local businesses selling their wares and services and of course cheese.

Although we only were able to stay for a short while before we had to rush of to a dinner, the kids enjoyed lots of snacks and I enjoyed the best sausage and peppers I've had in a while.

Our friends from Little Italy hae the best mozzarella cheese as well.!

The local kids from the dance schools put on shows and we ran into a lot of people we haven't really seen in a while and got to catch up on what everyones been up to..

Evalie had fun playing with ice.!

Cupcake topper DIY

I love making these quick and easy toppers for cupcakes for the kids birthday parties. It allows me to personalize things a bit more and they are so pretty on the cakes and lots of other things as well.  All you need are the following:

1. lollipop sticks
2. glue stick
3. liquid glue
4. Circle Paper Punch with scallop profile
5. Circle Paper Punch
6. 2-4 sheets 8.5"x11" colored card stock
7. 2-4 sheets 8.5"x11" plain card stock

I have had the paper punch for years since Arielle was born so it was a good investment since I use it quite a bit. 

In Adobe Illustrator, I made a sheet of the same repeated outline (dotted line)as a border then put in text of what would be printed on the white card stock. I made some the circles messages say "thank you", "Happy first birthday" whatever..really. Of course there are people who sell these templates on Etsy for people who don't feel the need to layout themselves...whichever works. 

I let my 4 year old punch out as many scalloped circles as she could from there shades of pink 8.5"x 11" card stock sheets (she got about 12 per sheet).  While she did that, I printed and cut out the white circles for the center. We glued the white circles into the pink ones varying the colors and the messages (with the glue stick not liquid glue..or it will wrinkle.)

 

Once they were dry, we flipped them a few at a time and using a drop of liquid glue affixed the sticks to the back. Because the stick has some weight, it needs some time to completely dry. For a finished look, we took plain white circles and glued them to the back of the sticks as well. Let them sit for about an hour to dry and the lift them up.

I also like to use stickers which match the theme of the party so I got these single candle stickers from Michael's and used those on some of the toppers. They actually became the logo for the party, so the were not only toppers but also on the favor bags, pinata candy bags and candy milk jars.

A few years back, Arielle had a carnival party and I made these for the party hats and cupcakes as well..With different paper, colors and stick on shapes, theses can be a really fun addition to your party.