Pumkin Patch 2010

On Saturday, Jake and I took Layla girl to Harvest Days in Kohler with the Grit fam (Greg, Kamie, Adella and Gabe). The day was filled with sunshine and 80 degree weather and almost too much fun to handle. By far, the tractor / trailer ride was Layla's favorite (a few times I thought mabye we were going to tip over... the driver really had no care in the world and was ripping through Kohler like he had a fire to put out). She was so pumped to get to pick her own pumpkin, and was not so amused / thrilled with the corn maze. I don't blame her - what's the big deal with corn mazes, anyway?

We ended the trip with some climbing on a gigantic castle made of hay. Della and Layla thought this castle was thre greatest thing since apple juice (or, in Della's case, chocloate milk). When the parents decided it was time to go home, we received a full blown meltdown from both girls. I guess that means they had fun though, right? :) Layla was passed out cold before we even got out of Kohler! Great time had by all!

Layla at the top of the hay castle! :)

Making her way back down...

"Nooooooo!!!!!!!!!! I don't want to go home! Ever! I want to stay here and live in this hay castle!!!"

"Bump it, Della! We made it to the top!"

Two peas in a pod - Layla and Della.

In the corn maze... "Daddy, eat your corn."

Havin' a blast!

Dare devil Della! She has no fear!

See... no fear.

Corn!

Della was crazy about the corn maze! Wherever there was a sign that said stay on the path, she took that as a sign to jump directly into the corn. Again, no fear. :)

Three pumpkins for the Sherman's - Daddy's is the biggin's, Layla's is the medium one and mom's is the small one. :)

Layla and Della waiting for the tractor to pick us up for our ride out to the pumpkim patch. They were so jazzed.

Check this sucker out!

Freddy the Frog... Oh Man!

Okay, so this video cracks me up. The other night, Layla and I were snuggling in her bed, having story time. Her latest thing is reading her books to me. It's adorable, because she makes up the story according to things she remembers from when we read to her, or, just from the pictures she sees. At this point, we were past her bed time and she was really tired. So tired that she just sort of gave up on telling the story... Click here to see Layla reading Freddy the Frog

Zoo Trip

Oh yeah, this zoo trip was over a month ago, but hey, I'm posting pics now so shut it (I say that with all the love and humor in the world).


This was Layla's last field trip for the summer, and man was it fun. They had enough chaperon es to let Layla and I be 1 on 1, so it was like we got our very own "Mommy and Layla day" at the zoo. We got to do our own thing, see whichever animals we wanted to, whenever we wanted, and we rode the carousel and choo choo train a couple of time too. We even stopped for a few snacks and on one occasion, Layla actually uttered the words, "How 'bout we take a quick rest?" Amazing, as I am quite certain I've never heard those words come out of her mouth.


The trip was a full day, so none of the kids had a nap. Let me tell you, by the afternoon, there were some dragging little ones. On the bus ride home, I had Layla sleeping on one side of me, and her tiny peanut friend Alanna (girl on the left in the picture below) sleeping on my other side.

All in all, this was by far one of my favorite mommy / Layla days I've had yet. It was so awesome to just hang out with Layla one on one and really interact with her and see what excites her. And watching her "lead the way" like a very confident little girl was the best. I can't wait for the next fun thing we get to do together... Here we come, pumpkin patch!!!

Chuggin' a lemonade on a warm late summer day!

Layla's favorite animal at the zoo is the zebra, so naturally, she picked the zebra for her carousel ride!

Cheeeeeeze!

Layla on the choo choo train.

Here's my ticket! All aboooaaaard!

Layla and her friend Jade being goofy at lunch time.

From left to right: Alanna, Layla and Jade. BFF's!

RRRRaaaaaar!!! Yes! This lion actually got right up in our grills! It was awesome!

So adorable... mommy lion and daddy lion, snuggling.

Layla w/ cheese popcorn on her face, standing in front of the lion. Not sure what they were looking at.

I think Layla was pointing out zebras in this one (her favorite).

Taking a snack break next to the pond. We also threw a few snacks in for the ducks.

My little flower child.

More snacks! I think was right after she asked to take a quick rest. :)

Shark tank!

Here, you can see Layla's zoo checklist - an awesome checklist with pictures and facts about the animals that my coworker made for her to take on our trip!

Baby Girl Turns 3 (on Sept 6th)

Gamma D, admiring Layla's new jewelry and purse from Auntie Tee.

Layla putting on her camo hat from Auntie Tee to model for the group.

Tired Bday girl, showing off her fancy Bday cupcake. Notice the blank stare. We were so beyond nap time here.

Grandpa Rog and Layla girl. Grandpa gave Layla this Tinker Bell princess outfit.

Nonnie and Layla. Awe.

Layla admiring her cupcake.

Layla girl, blowing out candles!

Cheeese!!!!

I'm baaaaack! ;) Oh yes ladies and gents, it's true. I'm blogging and I'm not dead. No siree! I won't bore you with reasons and excuses for my serious lag in posts ("lag", really? Is that even a real word?). Instead, I'll just give a brief "overview" of the latest haps in the Sherman house...

Jake started his new job at Plymouth and is loving it. The staff sounds amazing, community is great and students aren't complete idiots. ;)

Jake's commute has been a real challenge for the entire family - he leaves the house before Layla or I are even out of bed, and often isn't home until after Layla is in bed. We're managing, as best we can, and when we are all together as a family, we make the most of it because we know how precious the time really is.

Since Layla has turned 3, she's become quite the little miss "I'm all grown up and I know what I want". She's testing mommy's patience, especially in the recent months since daddy isn't always around to put an instant stop to her less than desirable listening skills. Last night we had a rough night, after Layla decided that instead of brushing her teeth and going potty, she instead would rather throw herself on the floor and have a tantrum about wanting to stay up and watch more of the movie we were watching (Glee). The night ended w/ me picking her up like a sack of potatoes and putting her in bed with the choice to sit there and cry w/out snuggles, or jump in my lap for some snuggles and to discuss the night's happenings so that we could learn something from what had happened. To that she answered, "I want my daaaaaaddy!" When I told her that daddy would provide the same options, she chose to snuggle and talk. My little lovely.

Let's see, what else... Work for me is INSANITY. But I won't get into the nitty gritty cuz I know no one cares about marketing in the world of finance. You're welcome.

There's more to come, but for now I'll cut this update short... Thanks for remaining fans - if there are any of you still out there!!!

Oh, and p.s. - the mansion on Foxtail will be up for sale soon. This is my test to see who really follows us on the blog. :)

Layla's new playset - custom made by the Ice Man

This weekend, we packed up the Envoy and trekked North for a visit to Crivitz. Over the past couple of weeks, Grandpa Ice has been working diligently on a fancy surprise for Princess Layla - per a recent request... Not too long ago, Layla asked Grandpa Ice for a swing. Well, obviously, he took that request to heart and went right to work. Not only did he build her a swing, he built her an entire play set! Now, every time we head to G'pa and G'ma's house for a visit, Layla has a full blown playground in the back yard!

Thank you Grandpa Ice and Grandma D... Layla is truly blessed to have you in her life!



The carpenter and his granddaughter... happy as can be.

The family... G'ma D, G'Pa Ice, and Little Miss Princess.

Rings! Layla is on her way to becoming an Olympic champ on the rings! She LOVED these things!

A perfect slide... Not too steep, not to sticky, not too slow. She loved it (and, for some reason, loved going down it with the bottle of bug spray).

Watch this! I'll jump up and grab the rings with one hand!!

First horseback ride!

On Saturday, our friends Greg and Kamie had us over to hang out and share their horses with Layla girl. Layla LOVES horses (not sure where she gets that, because mommy is scared to death of them), so she was SUPER excited to have this opportunity... thanks a bunch Grit family!

One of the most special parts of the day was getting to meet Nelly. Nelly is the baby horse (or "philly") that Dolly (the big mamma jamma that you'll see in the pictures) had about a week ago. Nelly was not an expected gift for the Grit family. They had no idea Dolly was pregnant (they bought her about 10 months ago, so she must have been pregnant then and the seller wasn't aware of it)... Last weekend, Greg went out to feed the horses and was shocked when he came upon Dolly's stable. There was Dolly, and her baby, who they named Nelly (maybe because when they saw her they said, "Whoa Nelly!"

Layla had a blast getting to pet the horses and loved her first horseback ride with daddy! What an exciting thing for her... When we drove up to Greg's house, there he was, having a Summer Shandy, sitting next to the world's biggest horse and her new baby. And, to top it off, Greg and Kamie have two German Shorthairs, so Hudson was also in Heaven! And, two kittens, so Layla was pretty excited about that (and, Hudson thought they were rabbits that needed to be destroyed so we had a few high blood pressure moments around that but all is good).


Layla and Adella, waiting for their rides! :)

The three muskateers - Hudson in front, then Keela, then Gretta

Adella riding Dolly, with Nelly following close behind. Check out how LONG Nelly's legs are!

Brand new baby Nelly.

Sleeeepin.

Daddy and Layla, out for a ride!

Getty-up!

Awe! Too cute!!!

Layla's First Dance Recital

I know many of you have already seen most of Layla's first dance recital pictures, but there are a few that I know don't have access to Facebook and I'm long overdue with updating the blog. Below are a few of my favorite Layla Bean pictures from her first dance recital, back in July.

And, here's a link to her tap routine, which I posted on YouTube (I'll update the posting later so that you don't have to navigate away from blogger): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y9lZEqlXjoQ


Here's Layla, already in her designated "spot", just waiting for her teacher to put down her star place marker.
I love this picture... Sitting with perfect posture back stage, waiting for her moment to shine.

I think this was the part of the routine where the girls were supposed to be pretending to play trumpets.

Waiting for the music to start... and, perhaps, picking her nose.

Rosy red cheeks. Excited to perform, and proud to be back stage with all the big girl dancers!

Although this one is pretty blurry, I dig it. You can tell Layla has just spotted us sitting in the front row and is so jazzed to be up on stage!!!

Scratching her head, waiting for the music to start.