Happy New Years

Christmas: Schwartz Style

"Ess tooo heeavy!"

Sophia playing with Mads new maple race cars from Little Sapling Toys.

Yummy cheddar spinach fritatas.

(8 eggs, 1/2 c. whole milk, 1 c cheese, 1.5 c. chopped spinach.
Wisk, scoop into mini muffin cups. 8-10 min at 350. ! Sooo easy)

The newest Schwartz.
A huge Jade plant from Ms. Ann. This piece fell off of a larger jade this summer. She planted it and...BOOM....like magic it took.
I love.love.love.love jade plants.
I have been drooling over her big babes for a long time!!!!

The Dadder sporting his newest pj's.

Sophia enjoying the Melissa and Doug treehouse that George spent the better part of Christmas Eve (evening) assembling.

The Water Colors Wooden family from Purple Lizard. We got each of the girls a set. They came in a great travel pouch with pockets.
I pack small toys and a teeny container of play clay for restless periods when we're out (restaurants especially). I'm hoping to add these travel families to our pack.

Foamy blocks for Mads. There are already baby teeth marks in the corners of the animals!

Kitty fun.

Sophia's infectious laughter and a face smattered with yogurt. She wrapped in Sarah's silk which, before the yogurt snack, was being used as a sling for Puppy and George (one on front and one on back....I'm so proud!)

We had a beautiful holiday. Filled with family and demands from our 2 year old.
"Open this! Gimme that!"
"NO, this one is next!"
"THIS IS MINE. MINE. MINE!"

I'm sure that my mother is laughing. She knows all too well what it is like to raise a daughter like Sophia. I'm afraid that she gets it naturally. My nickname was Queeny.

Happy Holidays

Now go have some fun!

Winter Wonderland

Holiday Cheer

My mother hates Christmas. Hates isn't even strong enough to describe the depths of her feelings towards the end of the year madness. It, no doubt, has to do with the fact that my father worked for the railroad and lived in a hotel more than our house, four crazy kids that required a crap-load of work and the Scrooge that lived downstairs.

September brought anniversaries and a break from kids as we marched single-file back to school, October birthdays, November gluttony and then the dread of holiday lunacy set in.......

I inherited this feeling but I'm working very hard to change it. Nurture over nature here.

Working.hard.on.it. Working very hard.

Step one: Acknowledge that the month of December will indeed come.
I did this last week. After 25% of the month had already slid by without me noticing.

Step two: Erect a tree.
Before getting married I had a beautiful tree. It was cheap and easy...just the way I liked it :) I took it out of the box and there it was. Done. My loving husband nearly spit his coffee through his nose when he first saw my "twig." He hated it. He gleefully unpacked his tree and I felt equal disdain for it's multi-colored LED lighty things. (UGH!) So....this year we bought a new tree. Fuller than my first and less colorful than Geo's. It was even prelit :) Bonus!

Step three: Decorate
The girls and I make a double batch of salt dough and cut out trees, reindeer and stars. Baked. Bought washable paint (brilliant invention. Who knew they had such a thing?) and brushes.
This was the most awesome holiday fun of my entire life. Honestly...things are looking up!

Sophia had so much fun painting. She's been begging to paint ever since she and Kristen mixed their first batch of homemade watercolors on the back porch back on The Farm. Step four: Light it up
I have been saving this step. I the tree only once to get this shot. Geo has been in Mississippi since we put the tree up and the girls barely noticed it in the morning. I wanted to keep it that way until I had another set of eyes home to help watch out for the falling tree.

Step five: Feel the warmth.

Maybe I'll enjoy this stuff afterall....

I am Somebody

A friend watched this and said "There was a time when SS was really for the kids who needed it - the disenfranchised, not the kids preparing to own their own Elmo franchise." I think that sums up my feelings perfectly.

Gobble Gobble!

Cuteness

In Honor.

Through Soph's Eyes

Soph has been experimenting with my camera. She loves taking pictures and, now that she's including heads and other important body parts in her photos, I can share her art with you.


(No, I was not sleeping while the kids played on the bed! I swear she caught me blinking on a bad hair day.)

Baby butts are very important to this artist. This shot is just one of several hundred that I found on my memory card.


Yum. Potato Leek Chard Soup about to be blended into a super yummy puree. After snapping this shot Soph dropped to the ground screaming like she was being eaten alive by a lion because I had "pushed da buttin" on the blender when she wanted to do it. Oh joy.


I didn't think that my face was going to actually be in the shot. Lol. She showed me.

Latest and Greatest

Here are some of the latest and greatest photos for your viewing pleasure! It has been a whirlwind of activities since Maddy's birth. So many things going on and soooo little time to update everyone on them. I hardly find time to download all the pictures. Whew.


The Schwartz girls enjoyed the Second Annual Craftapalooza. This year was a little less intense and we had a chance to soak up some good eats and even better company. In addition to knitting, sewing and cooking there was also some hair cutting. Kate was brave enough to trim Soph's bangs (which had grown down over her eyes).



After arriving home I trimmed the rest of her baby locks. She's been bouncing around the house showing off her new haircut.

Mads is growing sooo quickly. She keeps us on our toes and c.r.a.z.y busy! The lack of blog posting is a testament to her firecracker personality (loud and breath taking). She's amazing. Simply amazing.

Our very first WHOLE family picture. The timer worked! It really worked! Aren't we cute?


Look how enthusiastic Geo is about parenting. :)

Growing Like a Weed

All the rain here in Central Pa has the grass a beautiful shade of green, the rivers full and the babies growing like a weed! It is simply amazing how quickly they change and evolve. Ms. Madeline is teaching us so much about life.

Team America Today

Today was our first annual Team America reunion. We dodged raindrops for the beginning part of the picnic but ended up laughing until the clouds parted. To say that it was great to see old friends would be an understatement.

And of course, Sophia walked away with another best friend. She even wanted to wear a pony tail all day to be like A. Sweet. So sweet.

CPM love.

Everything is Better in a Tutu

Letort Park and Playground

We found the most amazing park in Carlisle. It has a stream filled with quacking ducks, a well managed nature trail, and the largest wooden playground that I have ever seen. It is absolutely amazing.

Soph played Hide and Seek with Madeline for over an hour without getting bored (or lost!). There are so many neat areas that it was easy to run miles without realizing it.


Madeline was content tucked inside the ring sling. It is hard to get pictures of both kiddos during activities. (Who am I kidding??...it's hard when we're not doing anything at all too!) I think that you should grow an extra set of arms with ever child born.

Soph had to sit down and chat with the ducks before we left for the evening. She made friends with a few of them on our way in. She certainly has the waddle down!

Summer Fun

I haven't been doing a very good job keeping up with photo sharing, social media or other tasks that require several minutes worth of attention....but don't fret I'm getting there....