Pumpkin Patchin' It

I'm working on "catching up" our blog posts. We've had such a fun fall and winter I can't not share. These are from or visit to a local pumpkin patch this year, Plumper Pumpkin Patch. We had so much fun!Had a great day out playing and picking our pumpkins!
Posed for a "girls" picture.
Had so much fun on some super speedy slides!
It was too bright to cooperate for this -- ahh, the sun! Aine is crazy tall for her age, though,
"off the charts (30 + inches at her 1 year appt)."
Found out I'm 3-feet-tall -- I'm just too determined to be cute to prove it ; ).
Searched...Picked the perfect pumpkin : )!

Conquered the haystack!
Led everyone through the maze, quickly and successfully.
Wasn't impressed by this giant pumpkin.
Thought: I can lift this if I try REALLY hard!
Hmmm...maybe not, is there something under there?

Okay, thanks Mom, like that's gonna make my job easier!
Loved ridin' my pony, "Fancy."

Mmmm, Cookies

Two sweet babies, pleased with the final product!
Decoratin'...
Waitin'...
...and the actual makin'.

We are really excited to get going on those Christmas cookies! Aoife also has plans to make banana and pumpkin bread for Santa and always reminds us that we must not forget carrots for the reindeer!

Halloween

More fun passing out candy than getting it, I think!

Well, maybe we like this (In reality, I think -- once they had them open -- they only had like 8 licks of these suckers each; we'll never know how many licks it actually takes.).

Cuteness with Daddy! Aoife, insisted on being the "Bee-Fairy" for another year. Not gonna fight with that.

Super cutness with Mommy.

Master Jack-O-Lantern carvers.

What a fun day -- already excited for next year!

Leaves, leaves, leaves!

The leaves fell in our front yard last week and oh, what fun we had!

Sweet sisters!

Aoife eventually couldn't contain herself, she had to take her shoes off and feel the leaves under her feet!

Action shots : )!

Wow, these are pretty cool, up close!

Aine discovered that the leaves made a fantastic noise when she extended her legs and bent her knees quickly. Sheer joy, she was so excited and she played and played and played! She was so pleased with herself.

This picture depicts so well where the girls are at in their various stages of discovery and expression. Aine is observing and learning so much about her world. The sights, sounds and smells were all fascinating to her. Aoife played and played and her exploration was more intense and taken to the next level (the two year old level ; ) ), she crunched and threw the leaves and had to feel them with more than just her hands and mouth. What a fun day!

We'll be posting more fall pictures soon. It's been a great season so far! : )

Besos,

The Stuhans

Aine Maeve = 1 year : )

This year went by way too quickly and now our baby is one!Some pre-party fun, the day before, balloons are always a big hit with our kids.
More pre-party fun. She still carries this balloon around the house with her over a week later.
So excited to open presents and to give each other some love!
Aoife was excited for some "half-birthday" presents.

Opening presents -- didn't have too much trouble with that. Aine knew more or less what to do, especially with big sister to show her the way.
Playing with presents and giving more love.
A friend and ex-student of James' (someone he met when he did the volunteer-English-teacher gig) made the cake for us. The cake was tres leches, Mexican style, too yummy -- dangerous yummy.

Should I just take a big bite? I'm really not sure what to do.
Oh NO! Cake overload!In the end I think she wore more cake than she ate.Aoife ate enough cake for both of them (although she moderates herself well, too).
Cleaning up all that frosting.
Post party fun...
...and more post party fun!


Happy birthday Aine Maeve! You are gorgeous! We love you!

Packages

A package arrived this week (more details after the pictures) and the girls each immediately homed in on a favorite item : ):

Streamer Girl -
Oh yeah, this is fun! Practicing.Getting some air.Ooh, air and arc. I just had to make big circles with my arm : )!

"I May Only Be 11 Months Old, but I'm Ready for My Own Shades" Girl:

I know what to do with these. Gettin' there...

How about now?Almost (we call this the Geordi La Forge)... Ha, success!Peeking out form under my shades ; )!

Such a girl!

I can hardly explain the intense excitment and sheer joy receiving packages elicits in our girls. Aoife gets absolutely giddy and Aine has really started getting in on the fun, bouncing up and down on her bottom in anticipation. They like getting the box, opening it up and the surprise of what's inside as much as what the contents actually are. We are super excited for the holiday season because we imagine these mail-ordered-delights will be arriving with greater frequency. In the meantime, though, grandmas and grandpas have been sending the occasional box full of goodies. The most recent arrived from Grandpa Sean and MaryHelen with some big hits inside. Thanks to everyone who thinks of our little girls, both during the holidays and at other times, we all really appreciate it!