pictures to share

I found Gretchen doing this in the bathroom the other day, and she said "Mama, LOOK, I'm just like Grandad! She's been watching Grandad and his crazy hair combing skills, I guess.

Gregg and a coworker found this on a mushroom hunt. Chicken of the Woods, and it actually tastes like chicken! It's awesome!


Our little mushroom hunter. We have been on many mushroom forays this season. So far we have found (as far as edibles go): honey mushrooms, chicken of the woods, puffballs, and I think there is more, but you would have to ask Gregg.


Our carrots were beautiful this year! Photograph by Hannah.


Squirrel Moon Dance and Music Weekend at Folklore Village. SO fun! music and dancing non-stop all weekend, with wonderful people, in a beautiful place. what could be better?

obligatory first day of school pictures

Wow. I have a Kindergartener! Hannah is loving it, and we love her school (Emerson Elementary) and her teacher. We have officially entered the world of school: lunch boxes, PTO meetings, bake sales, early bedtimes. Hannah already has her first crush (what!?!?) My jaw dropped the floor when she told me that "I think I kind of love Aiden!" We in for trouble, I think.
Gretchen started 1/2 day preschool, 3 days a week, at Lakeview Cooperative Preschool. She feels pretty cool having her own school. Her teachers are always telling me she had a happy day, which is probably why she melts down as soon as we get home. release.......

Fall has been so beautiful this year. a little rainy. As i look out the window right this moment, I actually see tiny snowflakes! unbelievable. I had to scrape the windshield for the first time this morning.

Erik 1979-2009

To the memory of our dear friend Erik: someone who truly knew how to love and live, he believed in the goodness of people and the world and infected everyone he met with it. You will be greatly missed and always alive in our life. Thank you for the memories and adventures.



Erik always had some crazy skills. here he is showing us how to build a fire out of a stick and a piece of grass.

Hunting the buffalo in the wild wild west on a road trip our freshman year of college.

For what is it to die but to stand naked in the wind and to melt into the sun?

And what is it to cease breathing but to free the breath from its restless tides that it may rise and expand and seek God unencumbered?

Only when you drink from the river of silence shall you indeed sing.

And when you have reached the mountaintop, then you shall begin to climb.

And when the earth shall claim your limbs, then shall you truly dance.

-Kahlil Gibran, on death from The Prophet

Outdoor Sculpture "The Awakening" at the National Harbor.

Hot sweaty girls. This was after our long run to catch the ferry boat.
One of the many highlights of our trip to visit the grandparents in DC. The slip and slide! It had a sharks mouth that you slid through!
This is at Grandma Sanfords in Viola, WI. pickin' and grinnin' on the front porch with Gregg's cousin Cody.
Just wanted to share some pictures, I will write more later when 2 girls are not clinging onto me begging me to do their "letters" on the computer. Anyone with kids: starfall.com. My kids love it. I do too.

We're Back!

So, I took a 6 month break from this blog, but here I am, trying again. Life happens, and blogs get forgotten. Life goes on.
Muffin really likes markers that smell good. She received a pack of smelly markers a while ago, and for weeks the tip of her nose was a collage of multi color smears. She enjoys telling me what they smell like... grape, cherry, etc. This morning I was doing dishes and she came to the kitchen while I was doing dishes and asked me to smell the marker she was coloring with. It was a peachy colored marker, and a non-smelly one by the way. I smelled it and told her I thought it smelled kind of yucky. She chuckled and very matter of factly told me "It smells like diaper. I have alot that smell like diaper." Hee hee. Shes so cute.

We just got back from our vacation to D.C. to visit Papa's folks. We had a fun-filled week. National Harbor and ferry ride, National Aquarium, Smithsonian Museums, slip and sliding, good time with family. We took pictures of the Obama's vegetable garden while everyone else was taking pictures of the White House. We went contra dancing at Glen Echo, in Maryland. Wow, what a dance. Papa played in the open band and made $20! I left my dancing shoes in Wisconsin but still danced my heiny off in my flip flops with at least 300 other people. My feet are still recovering.

Since we have been back, I am trying to convert our weed patch back into a vegetable garden. We harvested a nice crop of carrots today and a zucchini about as big as a canoe. We also found a baby (tiny tiny) mouse or vole in our hay bale, which was so exciting for the girls. When we left, they left the baby a mini carrot. I am also trying hard to find a job and to get on top of things before Bug starts Kindergarten in TWO weeks! How did this happen!?! I took her and her cousin to the fabric store yesterday to pick out fabric for a rest mat cover that I am going to sew for them. She chose sparkly disney princess fabric. Shes all set: markers, pencils, kleenex, glue, crayons, lunch box, princess backpack, princess rest mat (that I would be completely shocked if she laid and rested on, but maybe they work some sort of magic in Kindergarten that makes them rest)

In accordance to the goal I set before, I am hoping to update the blog at least once a month. We'll see! Its a fun way to share the Sanford family happenings and a few pictures. I just tried to add some new pictures, but I need to purchase some more storage capacity on my Picasa Web account, which means it will have to wait until next paycheck. But next month, I promise!

Dress Up Tea Party

Here's the birthday girl! I can't help but go all out for birthdays. My mom always made our birthday so special, and love doing that for my girls too. This year, for birthday number 3, we had a dress up tea party. The girls and I went to the local thrift store and for 15 dollars got 8 tea cups and saucers, 8 china plates, and a load of fake flowers for decorating. (Plus, a really groovy vintage dress for Mama to wear for the party)
The table looked so cute and all the kids were adorable. We had raspberry and blueberry tea with milk and sugar cubes (which were almost all gone at the end of the day... whoops! sorry parents!) I also made mini tea sandwiches, mini muffins, fruit, cheese cut out in cute shapes, raspberry brie tarts, and mini quiche.
Bug handled her little sister's special day like a champ. No fits of jealously. Even when Muffin got the mermaid doll that Bug has been asking for for weeks and weeks. She has been so desperate for this doll, she wrote a note to the flower fairies and hid it under a table. She is convinced they will bring one for her now. Its all i can do to not just go out and buy it for her.
the lovely Sanford ladies. never thought I could get so into this girly stuff. :)

My grandma used to make my cake every birthday, and since my girls don't have their grandma's nearby, I always make their cake too. I let them choose what kind of cake they want. It is always an unusual challenge every birthday. Bug has had ladybug cupcakes, a caterpillar cake, flower pots full of "dirt" and "bugs", and a mama spider cake with a bunch of baby spider cupcakes. This year will be the first non-insect cake... she is already requesting a mermaid cake. Muffin had a teddy bear cake, and last year was a Pig cake. I will never forget that one. It was red velvet cake, so when you cut into it, it was bright red. The whole time she was eating it she kept laughing and saying "Eat Pig! ha ha ha!" Well, this year she insisted on a princess cake. It was an interesting challenge... last minute I sent Papa to the store for a box of cake mix because it wasn't tall enough. She turned out pretty good though!

It was a really fun day.

December Fun

My parents and us out on Lake Monona after a fun time sledding with the girls. It's so neat to walk on a frozen lake! We made snow angels and wrote our names by them also.
Downtown Madison (the capitol building is in the background) is on an isthmus. The lakes are exciting places here, even in winter. They are full of people ice fishing, cross country skiing, wind sailing, flying kites, and snowshoeing. There is a big festival called Kites on Ice on the lake when the winter is cold enough. There are usually several ice skating rinks plowed out. Interesting artwork usually pops up on the lake during the winter months. This winter there is a grouping of dinosaur skeletons emerging from the lake. In past years, I have also seen the statue of liberty, dancing penguins, and a huge blue whale.

This is Bug and Grandad... right before they wiped out hard.
Granny at the beauty shop.
Papa working on his new hobby: bow making. These are logs (black walnut I believe) he harvested. He split them and they will cure for 6 months and then the carving begins!
Uncle E-Block. We always get him a gag gift. It is tradition (one of my favorite of the holidays, it always brings massive amounts of laughter.) This year was good: rap grillz, bling, and the shades, of course. Muffin is sucking her thumb there, probably very confused, and a little worried.