Meet the newest five year old in our family!

Savannah turned 5 yesterday! This is her new birthday outfit from Grandpa Stahr. The quote for the day? "Mom, it's a bummer being sick on my birthday."

Savannah had a fever and a nasty cough for her birthday. Her birthday dinner consisted of 2 teaspoons full of yogurt and half a dill pickle chip. We've decided to postpone the birthday dinner until Tuesday or Wednesday of next week. On the menu? Grilled cheese sandwiches with ham and tomatoes, broccoli, corn, and pickles. Oh, and we're drinking milk.

If it looks like Savannah's hair is shorter, she had a hair cut just after Halloween. It was looking really stringy, and now she can brush it all by herself! She's growing out her bangs, going to pre-school, and I'm not sure if I'm ready for her to grow up, but as far as I know, I can't stop time, so I may as well enjoy the things that she can do as she gets older! 

Have you seen my sheep???

Meet Little Bo Peep. She has been looking for her 10 sheep all over. If anyone has seen them, please let her know. 

I'm watching you...

I'm not sure if this little mouth is ready for apples quite this size yet, but there's no harm in trying. Especially when you try the small end first.

In the meantime, this little one wants to be a photographer like Mom. She ran to get her "digital" camera and was proudly showing dad the pictures that she took of Margaret in the apples. Even more incentive for me to be careful that I'm a good example for Savannah and Margaret...

In the next picture, she's following my lead and snapping photos as fast as she can! 

Apple?

This is the "I've been caught" look... we put her in these apples to keep her in one spot while we worked in the barn for a few minutes... And she became our official taste tester.
"Here. You try this one."
"but before you do, let me slobber all over it for you." 

Meet... Charlie

Charlie is our new puppy. He's a German Shorthair, and is destined to become the best hunting dog the world has ever known! But of course, we're biased. He's a good dog... Savannah loves him, and Margaret is still trying to figure out what we're doing with another little thing around. She's not really fond of him yet, but she loves to watch him to see what he'll do next! 

Margaret's first sippy cup...

Mom bought me this cup when she went to the store last... I LOVE IT! I love that I can have new flavors, and that I can get a drink any time I want to... Plus, it's fun to chew on.
Sometimes I get juice on my chin...
But I go right back to getting a drink! 

I can eat my own Cheerios!

did you say that I can eat these Cheerios??? They sure are fun to eat when you put them at my level!

Margaret has learned to pull herself up onto things, and the buckets are at just the right height for her to use them as a table. This keeps her out of trouble when I'm in the kitchen trying to cook or do dishes...
And in they go, one after the other!
Can you tell I love this new found freedom??? 

Hanging out with Mom...

Margaret... deep in thought - trying to figure out what she's going to get into next...
This trying to get over Mom is sure hard!!!
But if I want to get to the other side, it looks like I"ll have to either go around or go over Mom, and right now, going over is so much fun! The only problem is that I get a little high centered... 

The Month in Review...

It has been a busy month. From new learning experiences, to becoming more mobile and Mom and Dad having new learning experiences with regard to Margaret and her new-found mobility... to Savannah and Halloween.

Andrew spent a couple of days working in Pocatello, and the girls and I were left to our own resources - always more fun when Dad is home, but Savannah made her own fun...

We've aquired a new dog (Charlie, he's a fun one) had snow (you won't see pictures of that - I didn't go out when there was snow on the ground), had a pumpkin festival that was well attended, and we've had a wonderful month. I hope the pictures help you feel as if you have been here with us!

Row, Row, Row.... your toy box?

Andrew was out of town, and Savannah was playing by herself. The next thing I heard was the water in the bathtub going on... and this is what I found.
When the tote with holes in it didn't work, she moved to something without holes. Neither one went very far in the bathtub... but, it was fun for her. 

Our Punkin' patch

Out in our little pumpkin patch with two of the cutest little punkin's you've ever seen!
Margaret Elizabeth - growing like a weed, and lovin' it!
Savannah - cute, sassy, and loving the fact that she's in the middle of the pumpkins. The pumpkin with white is the one that she made... almost all by herself! 

did I hear you say that I had cookie all over my face???

Well... for your information, I'm saving it for later. Even if it does make me look rather clown-like, this is a good cookie, and later, it will go well with my rice cereal! 

It's my cookie, and I love it!

Dad gave me a cookie so that he could work and i would be quiet... it put me to sleep.
Then, he tried to take my cookie away from me.
i think i need to hold it a little tighter next time. especially if I'm going to fall asleep!!! Little does he know, I'm sleeping with one eye open... he is NOT going to take my cookie away from me again! 

Sunset in the valley

This is the view from our back porch. We were watching the neighbor cut our hay. This is just a small portion of our property - as soon as I get a chance, I'll take a picture towards the house of the entire back yard. It's gorgeous... 

First solid foods...

Now that I'm six months old, Mom and Dad think it's time for me to start on some big people food. I LOVE the cookies. I've had my first yogurt sample from Sam's club, and some rice cereal, and some of those biter cookies. They're delicious, and I love to make a mess with them. Can you tell???
 

Still small enough for rubbermaid...

We do have a crib ordered, but in the meantime, we've discovered that Margaret fits nicely into a rubbermaid tote... 

Sunday before church...

They handed out energizer ears to all the kids (and there weren't very many of them) at the festival... I'm assuming that most of the kids were home asleep, which is where we WOULD have been on any other day...), and knowing the level of energy that Savannah has at ANY time of the day, these seemed especially appropriate. This is after the festival in the car on the way home.
At the park while someone looks at our house... Mom is holding Margaret up so she doesn't do the "slow fall" out of the swing like she did the other day...
Savannah has learned to pump her legs to swing higher and higher... it's a benefit that I'm grateful for!