Spring Flowers with the Dolls

    Monster High Lego Venus McFlytrap

Spring flowers are so pretty. 

I'm not much of a gardener, but I did manage to plant a few bulbs to have something to look forward to in the spring!  

I love seeing such vibrant colors again after a long winter!
Winters where I live can feel like they take up almost half the year so spring is such a welcome sight!

 Monster High Vinyl Venus Figure  

The green colors in Spring are so vibrant and lovely! 

I thought Venus McFlytrap would be a perfect little character to take some photos of in the flower garden.  She's a crunchy, earthy gal-much like me in college!  Haha.

  DC Super Hero Girls Poison Ivy 12" Action Doll

Of course, we can't forget about Poison Ivy! 

Little Button was totally into this, and we had fun setting up poses. 

Tulips only last for a little while, but they are so pretty.
I think in the fall I want to try to plant some red ones.  I think large groups of red tulips are just gorgeous!

I love taking photos of dolls with flowers or in trees.  I think that may be my favorite setting.
Do you guys have spring flower beds where you are?

Since we're on the topic of flowers, does anyone have suggestions of some good shade loving perennials?

Oh June, What a Month :)

Happy last day of June, guys!
This month has been an absolute whirlwind of things to do, celebrations and a little travel throw in the mix.  We had birthdays, holidays and milestones met this month that I wanted to share with you all.
Of course, the first little bunch of photos is just of out and about the farm showing how the landscape has changed just since last month. 

Path towards the back hay fields. 

I love the smell of clover blossoms this time of year...devine! 

This is a pond built by the DEC last fall to promote wood duck habitation. I am just amazed by how much greenery has grown and how many frogs are here now!

The second creek behind the house.  Looking much warmer and greener now. 

Our first celebration was my oldest daughter's birthday. 

This month Pumpkin Pie turned 6! 

Here she is as a 1 year old. :)

Now as a big 6 year old! 

 I just can't believe it. Sweet as can be, this one.  She had a great day at Kindergarten wearing her birthday crown and being the "line leader" and sharing a sweet treat after lunch.  She's normally very shy, but she said she loved all of the birthday attention at school.  :)

Little Button snagged a cupcake from the top bin when we weren't looking! 

Minion cupcakes...kind of rough, haha, but I tried my best with what we had on hand. (Luckily 5 and 6 years are not that judgmental when it comes to cupcakes.) :) 

We took the girls to Build-A-Bear for the first time and they LOVED it.  We were the only people there as it was 3pm on a school day so they got lots of attention and the staff were so friendly. 

A million dollars later  (lol) we had dinner at Pumpkin Pie's restaurant of choice "The Chinese Buffet." :)  They both ended up eating pizza there!  

Towards the middle of June, the girls had a sleepover at my mom's house and I had the nicest morning walk.  I rarely have the morning to myself as I usually sleep until the last possible moment or the girls wake me up first.  I could take my time, enjoy the morning light and snap photos along the way.

The tomato plants were looking fab...they're about 4x this size now! 

Our beautiful, tiny little town. :) 

Later that day, we headed to Sturbridge, Massachusetts for my friend's wedding  We stayed in this quaint little place called the Old Sturbridge Inn and Reeder Family Lodges.  It was fabulous!  The owners were so nice, the inn was so cozy and quiet.  I definitely recommend it if you are ever in the area.

I'm excited about this little "fireplace". (Easily amused!) 

We didn't get to visit Old Sturbridge Village, but we hope to go back here with the kids for a weekend and check it out.  The actual wedding was held there, and the ceremony was inside the old church and it was so cool. 

My favorite tree.  

Next we celebrated Father's Day and the Summer Solstice, which I did a separate post here.

We also celebrated Pumpkin Pie's Kindergarten graduation and the beginning of summer vacation!

Getting so tall! 

Lastly, we celebrated Little Button's 3rd birthday. :)

Little Button 10 months old. :) 

Now as a 3 year old! 

 This is such a great age.  She had no expectations, just pure excitement.  She opened one present in the morning and played with it all day; she didn't ask for anything else!  We had a small family party and it was really laid back and fun.  After dinner she opened the rest of her gifts and said "Wow, just what I always wanted!!" after every single gift.  ADORABLE. :)

The girls decorated the cake. :) 

June was a busy month!  Thank you so much for letting me share with y'all what our family has been up to this month. I know you come here for the dolls, but I can't help and share a little personal stuff as well and I always appreciate you taking the time to have a look.

I love seeing snippets of everyone else's "real life" on your own blogs so I hope you all do the same once in a while!

I am going to try this new format of doing an "end of the month" summary for my own memories, but also to still be able to focus the majority of my blog on doll collecting and review.

I hope you're all having a great day and thanks again for stopping by!  xoxo
~Farrah

The Best May Ever

May was a great month.  We had 27 days over 70 degrees and sunshine almost daily!  Usually it's rain, rain and more rain and temps at least 10 degrees cooler. 

I wanted to do a post kind of summarizing the month so I can look back and remember some of the memories I've had with my kids on the farm. 

May truly marks the beginning of spring in my book as April can be either cold or "not as cold" here in the North East.  As you can see by the first few photos the grass is just starting to turn green again and there aren't really a ton of leaves on the trees. 

Remember our little friend Casper (now renamed Peppy)?  There she is enjoying the sun and grass with 2 other friends.

She kept trying to figure out how to come over to us :(  When we went back the next day, she was on the other side of the little creek so was able to trot right over and say hello. :)

We enjoyed lots of walks around the farm.  Piggie back rides were given and walking sticks were created.  Little legs were trying to keep up. :) 

Eating breakfast and drinking coffee on the porch was a fabulous treat.  I so adore sitting in the sun in the morning.  Little Button is so good at amusing herself while I crochet or read.  :) 

Getting kisses from her BFF! 

Suddenly blossoms were everywhere! 

During the middle of May we celebrated a delicious wedding rehearsal dinner at a cozy little spot in Saratoga, NY.

Being cheeky :) 

The following day we celebrated the marriage of my younger brother and his awesome girlfriend.  She is so funny and sweet and we're so happy to welcome her to the family.
It was a great time and since our babysitter fell through at the last minute, the girls stayed for the reception as well.
They did so well, they were so good and loved the dance floor!
Little Button wouldn't keep her shoes on!

This is my sister-in-law (married to my other brother!), my sister, me and the girls.  Little Button was starting to fade fast!  Pumpkin Pie was still holding strong.  :)

Last photo booth shot of the night. 

The girls were barely hanging on at this point, lol...we left shortly after..such little troopers!  Little Button fell asleep in my arms about 3 minutes after we took this. :)

The end of May proved more green and the appearance of the dandelion puffs.  I always love seeing the bright yellow of these fresh flowers, but seeing a field of this snowy white is pretty in it's own way.
Leaves were unfurled and bright within days it seemed.

This is the view of my daily walks during my lunch break at work.  I am so fortunate to work from home and am able to get outside each day.
After I cross the big hills out back, I go down this quiet little path that leads to more fields and a small pond.  Lots of great wildlife viewing!

This tree....omw.  If a tree can have energy, I feel like there is amazing energy here. 

Curious little guy. 

Enjoying the last of the fragrant spring blossoms.  I don't know if there is any more beautiful scent than the dainty little lily of the valleys.  I put this next to my bed at night and loved the smell as I fell asleep.  I will miss it!  Maybe I can find a nice candle to take it's place. :)

The cows are very happy to be back in their lush green pasture.  They are such a curious bunch and enjoying a drink at the stream.  Waiting for their turn.  Love them. :) 

Lastly, as we come to the end of the month, we got to enjoy the most recent bloom, the locust trees in the front yard  and their scent was amazing as well!  Short lived, but truly appreciated. 

This May was beautiful.  I just can't get over it.
It was the warmest and driest May our area has seen in decades!
I felt like we got a whole extra month of summer.  It's been amazing and hard to believe how fast it flew by.
I hope you all had a nice weekend as well as a wonderful month and see you soon.

xo Farrah