Sweet Pics

Nana and Papa came!

We had a great weekend with Nana and Papa here for a few days.  Claire was loving all of the time with her grandparents and Emma, who was recently super attached to Mama, was all smiles and cuddles with them both! 

Emma wants to do everything just like her big sister!  She was freaking out, grunting, pointing, etc.. when Claire was eating her dinner at the picnic table and I realized that she wanted to sit with her sister like a big girl.  She did a great job sitting at the table and using a plate and spoon! 

Walking with Nana

Someone is very proud of herself! ;)

Nana and Em

Emma with Papa

Claire with her Papa

Kisses for Nana!

They graciously watched the girls all day on Friday so I was able to sub.  Then on Saturday morning, they watched the girls while Justin and I did our long run (9 miles...yowza!) with our friends.  It was great to have some breaks from the norm!  We ate some yummy food and shared in some great conversation while the girls were in bed.  It's great having family in town!

More Yummy Recipes!

I have tried so many great new recipes lately, thanks to my Pinterest addiction.  If you need some cooking/baking inspiration, give one or all of these a try.  They are all DELISH!!!

This recipe for baked potato soup was just to die for!  Perfect for these cooler fall days.  And you can't go wrong with crock-pot cooking!

I've made this recipe for beer bread twice in two weeks.  Justin is happy that I've actually been buying beer! ;)  **The recipe calls for a stick of butter which, in my opinion, was way too much.  I reduced it to 1/2 stick the second time I made it and that was better, although I think even less would be fine. 

These chocolate chip cookie dough cheesecake bars are a-ma-zing!  I've made them three times since finding the recipe!

One last one... this recipe for pumpkin muffins has two ingredients.  I mean seriously.. it doesn't get easier than that!

Enjoy! :)  ...and pass along any good recipes you've discovered lately!

Sisterly Love

Meet Lish

Blog readers, meet Lish.  Claire is holding her in the picture above.  Yes, that's right... Claire has her first imaginary friend.  The other day, she just randomly started talking about Lish and telling me where she was sitting, what she was doing, etc...  I definitely gave her points on name creativity!!  I have no idea where she got that from.  Loving this little girl's imagination!

Preschool Co-op

Today marked the first day of 'preschool' for our soon-to-be-3-year-old.  Some of my closest friends and I decided to start a preschool co-op for our kids this school year.  Since they are all November babies, they won't start official preschool until next year but we all felt like they were ready for a little more structure than the usual playgroups we attend.  We are starting off doing it once a month this semester and then next semester we'll do it more often.. either every week or every other week.  We rotate who is hosting and teaching.  On our weeks off, we all get two hours at home with just our babes, which is a nice change from the norm!

Claire Grace all ready for her first day! (notice the little sister peeking out of the window)

When did this girl get so big?!

Posing. :)

The kids learned about apples today!

Claire and Elise hard at work.

Emily with the students... Maddie, Claire, Elise, and Liam.

Claire was beaming when I asked about her first day at school.  They all had a blast and Emily did a great job starting us off with a fun morning of organized games, stories, snacks, and play time. 

Here's to a great school year!! ;) 

She's a walker!

For Dads of Daughters

I saw this link a friend posted on Facebook.  Let's just say it  had my in tears in about 2 seconds.  If you have daughters, you and your baby daddy MUST read this.

Dancin' Girl

The girls have really been into Shaun the Sheep lately... great kids' videos with some catchy tunes!  Probably the least annoying of any kids' movies/shows I have ever seen.  Emma has quickly become a fan. She LOVES the beginning of each episode and starts dancing as soon as she hears the music start. See evidence below. Oh, and this was during the week that she had a high fever so don't mind the fact that she's shirtless. :) 

In other news, Emma has been doing TONS of walking today and I think it's safe to say she's officially a walker! We got lots of video evidence today. Justin is putting together a little video to show off her skills.. stay tuned for that one!

Time for the Orchard!

It's September.. that means FALL, apples, pumpkins, football, sweatshirts, pumpkin spice lattes... yay!!!  I love it all! 

We took a family field trip with the Baumhovers today to the apple orchard.  Last time we were there, Emma was just a couple weeks old! 

Ready to pick some apples!

So thankful for cooler temps and fun fall activities!

Tooth, IOWA, and Haircut

Totally random blog post, but here's the latest from the Shoe Fam...

After a couple month break, Emma finally has another tooth!  Her top left tooth just poked through today.. #3.. finally!

First IOWA game of the season.. YAY!!  Even though it rained and we didn't get to watch the game because we don't have cable (boo!), we still displayed our proud support!!

Annnd... I got 5 inches cut off of my hair this week!  Feels so much lighter!!

Here are a few pics of littlest Hawkeye in her new outfit from Nana and Papa.