HAPPY HALLOWEEN

photo from flickr

Happy Halloween to everyone!!!

Janet Kipp Tribus

Janet Kipp Tribus

Coffee Table Book
"Frelinghuysen Farm"
"Living in Frelinghuysen"

These pictures are by Janet Kipp Tribus, one of my all time favortie artists. I have always admired her work. My Aunt Kim has many of her masterpieces in her homes and as a little girl I was always attracted to the bright colors and happiness of the art. I love the subject matter and the unique portrayal of it. Then I had the opportunity to meet Janet herself and spend some time with her and I loved her as much as her paintings. She is very beautiful, happy person and so full of life. I guess this is what attracts me to her artwork.

Janet Kipp Tribus just got her website up and running (http://www.janetkipptribus.com/) and she is exhibiting many of her paintings at The Morris Museum beginning November 3rd thru May 18th. Also available this December will be a coffee table book of her paintings, pictured above, 96 full color pages for $47.50. You can be sure that I will be visitng The Morris Musem in November and ordering my own copy of the book too!!! I am so excited about this and cannot wait to introduce The Barefoot Princess to one of my favorite artists!! I think we will make a girl's day of it before The Barefoot Baby arrives.

"Tuesday"

"Living in Sergeantsville"

Pumpkin Carving Party

Yesterday we joined our friends and family for a pumkin carving party at The Paradise Inn. (That's the name of my friend Judy's blog. It is a work in progress. No pressure Judy!!) The Barefoot Princess' NaNa and Pop-Pop and Uncle Mack and Aunt Cole were also there. Each family carved a very detailed pumpkin and then we had a delicious dinner. Judy made ham, potatoes, turnips, and green beans. We were all stuffed and then the never ending desserts started to flow from the kitchen too - pumpkin pie, chocolate cream pie, monkey bread, and pumpkin creme brulee!! Yummy!! We took some great pictures of Judy's porch with our pumpkins lit up after dark. Thanks to Judy, Bob, Sammy, and Mona for hosting such a great Fall party. And thanks to Sammy for a one man costume parade that prepared BP for Halloween night and the spooky costumes, we hope!!

The Paradise Inn looked so festive yesterday I had to include a few more pictures of the decor. I loved the little pumpkin man, which Judy said she found at The Christmas Tree Shop and also check out her new sconces in the dining room. I have to ask her again where she found these. I had never heard of the company before. The inspiration for the porch decor came from Mary Engelbreit's Home Companion magazine and looked awesome!! Judy did an awesome job recreating the cover of this magazine. Oh, sorry Bob, I am sure you helped too.

The Barefoot Princess' Ice

The Barefoot Princess was very impressed with the ice skating rink at Rockefeller Center when we recently visitied the city on her birthday. She is still talking about it to this day (almost one month later). Isn't is amazing what will have an impact on a toddler? Sometimes right before she falls asleep at night she will look at me and say, "Mommy, I see ice in city?" and I tell her "yes sweetie, we will go back again and see it very soon." If she was so impressed in October...can you imagine her face when she sees the "ice" in December with the ginormous tree and all the lights???

Sesame Street Live

Here are a couple pictures from Sesame Street Live. The Barefoot Princess and her betrothed Dyl, as she calls him, had a date yesterday to see the show!! It has been a traditon for the past two years and they love it. They make one another belly laugh until they can barely breath!!! Thank you to Dyl and his mommy for a great day and hopefully we can do it again next year!! (Someday they will not want us tagging along)

Field Trip Friday

Today we joined some friends at a local farm and orchard for lots of outdoor fun!! The weather

finally felt like Fall for the first time as we enjoyed the horses, turkeys, peacocks, dogs, pumpkins, and most of all the little village. This farm has the most adorable little village for children to run and play in. I wish we could recreate it in our backyard. Oh, what fun we could have?? We have to go back during Christmas because they light all the little buildings!!! There was a school, stable, farmhouse, church, firehouse, jail, post office, farmhouse, ice cream shop and a cottage all nestled in a little grove next to a pond and surrounded by fruit trees. It was picture perfect and the views from this farm were to die for!!! Thanks to Allison for finding this place!! We spent at least three hours at the farm today and The Barefoot Princess is sound alseep in her bed right now. All the fun wiped her out! We came home with a big pumpkin and lots to tell Daddy. We will definitely be going back next month to search for a Christmas tree, see the village lit, and maybe even take a horse drawn sleigh ride!!

"DeeDee's Shoes"

While shopping at a nearby outlet center yesterday, The Barefoot Princess spotted these sparkly red shoes in Gymboree. She immediately said, "Mommy, look!! DeeDee's shoes!!!" I did not see them at first, but when I did I knew immediately what she was talking about. There is a song that DeeDee Doodle from The Doodlebops sings called "Tap, Tap, Tap" about dancing in magic red shoes and BP loves it. She listens to it in the car and thanks to "Uncle Mack" and "Aunt Cole" she also has it on DVD. Now, The Barefoot Princess is tapping around our house in her magic red shoes just like her favorite Doodlebop!! (Luckily they came in her size and were only $9.99)

Barefoot Baby

They say you gain a pound a week at the end of your pregnancy and I believe it! The Barefoot Baby is really growing and so am I! This post is for our friends and family who we do not get to see very often. I feel like there isn't much room left. Maybe The Barefoot Baby will be as big or bigger than The Barefoot Princess was at birth???

The Apple...

All I have to say about this is... "The Apple does not fall far from the tree" and I am not referring to myself!!

We Love Little People

We spend a lot of time playing with the Fisher Price Little People. The Barefoot Princess has the dollhouse, farm, schoolbus, and plane and the characters that go along with these sets. Last year I tried to get the Thanksgiving set, but it was impossible to find anywhere. This year we are ahead of the game and want to give any other Little People fans a heads up that the Thanksgiving and Christmas sets are hard to find, so start looking now and save them for later!!! You can buy them at fisherprice.com

Pictured above:

Thanksgiving Celebration $15.00

Mayflower Play Set $24.00

Deluxe Christmas Story $30.00

The Night Before Christmas Set $25.00

"My Truck"

The Barefoot Princess is very excited about Daddy's new truck!!! Can you tell by the first picture? This was taken when we showed it to BP for the first time. She could not contain her excitement and kept saying, "my truck" and "my reen truck" over and over again. We were not able to bring it home the first time she saw it because they had to add a few things to it and she was crushed!! The tears that poured out as we left the dealership were Oscar worthy!!! The "reen truck" is now at our house and BP is definitely in love!!

The Barefoot Princess and Friends at The Little Gym

Miss Denise pulled out the air track at The Little Gym today and The Barefoot Princess and her friends Gavin, Grace and Lillian could not get enough of it!!! It has been a while since they did this activity and today was the first time they did it on their own. They are growing up so fast!!!

A Visit with Great Oma and Great Opa

The Barefoot Princess is very fortunate to have four Great Grandparents. This past weekend we visted her Great Oma and Great Opa in the nursing home for Opa's 97th birthday. Yes, 97th!!!! Isn't that amazing? 97 and he is still sharp as a tack, a little frustrated because he cannot move like he used to, but still completely with it in every other way. BP brought all of her energy to the nursing home where they were so happy to see someone so young and full of life. She enjoyed an ice cream sundae with Oma and gave her lots of kisses. It was a good experience for The Barefoot Princess and definitely someting we need to do with her more often!

The Tractor Show

Here are some shots from the Tractor Show where we visited The Barefoot Princess' NaNa and Pop-Pop this past weekend. They camped there with friends and we stopped by for a few hours on Saturday. BP's Daddy cannot resist the colors green and yellow and the sound of the antique tractors. The Barefoot Princess herself is pretty into the tractors too and said, "I sit, I sit" many times that day. She watched the tractor pull with wide eyes, but particularly loved the John Deere bulldozer pictured above. Also above, is a picture of the front of an Oliver tractor. I took this for my friend Jenny who is considering this name for a baby boy??? We ate lots of yummy food and brought home the most adorable mini hay bales for BP to put in the back of her tractor. They are the perfect size for her to lift and move around.