Preschool has begun!

Kaitlyn is officially in preschool!  She is so excited to finally be in school like her big brother and sister.  She is growing up too....going to school everyday for a half day.  We are lucky enough to have a preschool at our elementary school, so she feels right at home and comfortable there.  Even before she started she already knew the teacher, Ms Lynn, her classroom, and a few friends.  I am so proud of her!  She wasn't the least bit nervous on her first day.  Way to go Kaitlyn!  I love you!

The First Grade

Since everyone else has made posts about the first day of school, I thought I would be different and take a picture from the third day of school....or was it because I forgot to take a picture on the first day of school?  Either way, first grade has officially started for Alex and Anna.  I've been looking forward to a full day of school for a long time (six years in fact), but this year I surprised myself when I started feeling sentimental and anxious about it all. For some parents, preschool or kindergarten bring about these sorts of feelings, but for whatever reason, 1st grade did it for me.  I suppose it has something to do with them being gone all day, but I all of a sudden realized how much they have grown up.  My babies aren't babies anymore!  Alex and Anna have always been special to me, partly because they were my first, and partly because they are twins.  I love them so much and I am so lucky to be their mom!!  For them, this is an exciting year.  All they can talk about is how cool it is to eat lunch at school everyday, and see all their friends at recess.  They haven't been anxious one bit.  They love their teacher, Mrs Whitaker (as do I), and it is a comfort to me that they will always have each other in class.  I love you two!  First grade here we come!

Parties, Presents, and Cake

Birthdays, birthdays, and more birthdays.  Having three birthdays within a four day period makes for a hectic month for any mom, but I feel like I have been living and breathing birthdays for weeks.  Somehow not only did I make it through, but the kids had a lot of fun too. 

Anna and Alex turned 6 on August 20th.  We started the day early by opening presents, and ended the day with a trip to McDonalds.

Here are the kids sporting their new scooters!

Alex may not have nunchuck skills, but he  has serious Lego skills!

The Birthday Duo!

To prevent us from having multiple birthdays cakes in our house, I had to get creative.  So, this year I made an extremely yummy Cookie Pizza, and I decorated it to look like their pet turtle.  It was so good, I had to include the recipe.  Enjoy!

Cookie Pizza Recipe:

1/2c Butter

1/2c Brown Sugar

1/4c White Sugar

1t Vanilla

1 Egg

1 1/4c Flour

1/2t Baking Soda

1/4t Salt

1c Chocolate Chips

Frosting:

2c Powdered Sugar

1/2c Cream Cheese

1/4c Butter

1/2t Vanilla

Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes.  Frost when cool.

The following day Alex and Anna each had their individual parties.  Anna went with some girls to the movies to see Shrek 4, and Alex went with some boys to go bowling.

In lou of cake, they had a doughnut tree.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ANNA & ALEX!!!

Kaitlyn's birthday was on August 23rd.  This year she turned 4, which means she got to have her first birthday party with friends.  She had a princess party; everyone dressed up, and we did crafts, makeup/nails, and dancing.  The girls had a great time!

The Birthday Princess!

Kaitlyn and her cousin Whitney

Now, for the best part...the CASTLE CAKE!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY KAITLYN!!!

Washer Necklaces

I just wanted to post a quick picture of the cute necklaces we made at Bear Lake.  It's a great craft for kids ages 8 and up (adults included).  Thanks Julie for the great craft idea!  Here is the link for instructions: http://www.diynetwork.com/decorating/turn-washers-into-jewelry/index.html

Bear Lake Reunion 2010

For the last six summers, thanks to my parents, all of their kids and grandkids have met in Bear Lake (Garden City, UT) for a week of fun.  Each year is more fun than the last as the kids continue to get older.  While we are there, each family takes a turn making a meal for everyone.  My parents usually take breakfast one day, and this year my mom went all out and made scones with her amazing dough!  They were so good!!  My parents also took us all out to dinner one night, this year it was at the Pickleville Playhouse.  Ben and I (thanks to the wonderful family who watched our kids) were able to go to the play after the dinner and have an evening to ourselves.

While we are in Bear Lake, we stay at a resort that has lots of individually owned condos that are rented out.  We usually split up into three rooms, and we each pair up with another family or my parents.  This year, we stayed with my sister Julie and her family.  Julie is know for her crafts, and this year she had a number of good ones.  In particular, the washer necklaces we made were adorable!  My sister Lisa also did a fun craft where the kids got to make animals out of clay.  Oh, and of course there is annual pinata!

The resort has a number of amenities including: two different swimming pools, playground, tennis courts, mini-golf, boat/equipment rentals, a rock wall (this year only), volleyball nets, and beach access.  Obviously we do a lot of swimming.  This year we had a bit of a break through with Alex and Anna as they both finally got brave enough to let go of the pool wall and swim out into the  middle of the pool (with life vests of course).Happy day!  We also spent time on the beach.  All of the kids (Emily included) just loved the sand!  I suspect that it must have something to do with me (or Ben) not caring that they are getting dirty and making a mess!

One of the afternoons my Dad rented a boat and we took turns using it.  Anna and Alex were both brave and went out on the tube with Ben.  They both had so much fun (minus a few short moments of panic).  We then all went out to float in the middle of the lake.  It sure was cold!  But the water is so clear....I wish we could have stayed out longer.

My brother Stephen owns a four wheeler and a Rhino, which he of course brought on the trip.  He let us take the Rhino out for a bit of a ride.  Unfortunately, only a short distance away (and regardless of the fact that we weren't on any bumpy trails) Anna got scared and we had to turn around and take her and Alex back.  So instead, Katie and I road in the back together, and apparently it so so relaxing that it put her to sleep.

Ben as usual went golfing with some of the men.  Ben loves to golf!  The night before I jokingly suggested that he take Alex with....and he did!  Alex decided that real golf is a bit boring, and he much prefers mini-golf.  Anna also had a special adventure and got to go horseback riding.  Last year, she only road around the corral, but this year she did the full one hour trail.  At first, our guide had mentioned that Anna was a bit young to ride, but by the end of the trail the guide kept saying how impressed she was with Anna.  She wasn't even the slightest bit scared of the horse or the rough trail, and she also had really good balance (which apparently some children that young struggle with).  Way to go Anna!

Well, I believe that sums up our trip.  We had such a great time!  The kids are already looking forward to next year.  Thanks Mom & Dad (aka Grandma & Grandpa) for such a great vacation!

The Melting Birthday Cake

Three days ago we celebrated Ben's birthday.  To make his day special, Ben's parents came over for dinner.  I made Ben's favorite, beef ribs, and the dessert, while his mom made rolls, salad, beans, and potatoes.  I thought it would be fun to do something different for his birthday cake, so I decided to make an ice cream cake (part cake and part ice cream).  I hadn't ever done this before, so I kind of made it up as I went along....and as usual when I try to "make things up" they don't turn out at all like I envision.  I started by making two square chocolate cake layers, and after they had cooled I took out the ice cream to soften while I made the frosting.  When I was done with the frosting, I spread the soft ice cream between the two layers of cake.  Then, the idea was to quickly frost it to hold in the ice cream and then put it back in the freezer.  Well, since the ice cream was already soft, it had already started to melt by the time I started to frost it.  As hard as I tried to use the frosting to keep the melting ice cream in, it still seeped out.  And by the time it was frozen again, there were frozen puddles of ice cream on either side of the cake.  It wouldn't have been too bad, except the layer of ice cream left between the cake layers was extremely thin.  Oh well!  It's the thought that counts, right?!  Happy Birthday Ben!

Deer Creek with the Cousins

Last week the kids and I met up with their cousins to go swimming and play in the sand at a nearby lake.  This was Emily's first time in the sand and she really liked it!  Anna, Alex, and Katie all made sand castles and had lots of fun the water.  Here are a few pics compliments of my sister-in-law's cameras since I forgot mine...

Family Pictures

Over the last week, I have been taking the kids one by one to get their pictures taken.  Then on Monday we all went to get our family pictures done.  A stress only a mother can appreciate!  First of all, you have to keep all your kids injury free for at least a week ahead of time.  Then, there is finding coordinating clothes.  And of course, on the day of the pictures, you have to get everyone ready (more daughters means more hair to do) and keep everyone looking nice and happy.  Finally, there is the almost impossible task of getting the kids to all smile at once.  A good photographer can make a big difference...unfortunately we weren't so lucky.  Ben thought we should just go again another day....but there was no way I wanted to go through that all again.  Luckily we somehow got a few decent pictures.

Flip Flops and Noses

Emily is at the age where she is constantly discovering new tricks and ideas.  Aside from finally starting to walk around the furniture and climbing up the stairs, she loves to take any pair of flips flops that are laying around (usually Kaitlyn's) and puts them on her hands as she crawls around.  I guess she figured that since she can't walk yet, she might as well put the flip flops to good use on her hands until she has need of them for her feet.  She is so proud of herself when she does it too!  She has also discovered that her body has "holes"...she has been aware of her mouth for a while, but her ears and nose are new discoveries that she seems to find particularly interesting.  Funny baby!

Crazy Crimpy Hair

Here are some more pictures from the past.  Anna wishes she had curly hair.  So for Christmas she got a crimper.  Of course, we had to use it right away.  We ended up with two bushy haired girls...and as I recall I even got into it a bit.  Anna was particularly thrilled with how she looked.  The crazier she looks the more she likes it.  I guess she has a bit of Punky Brewster in her (my family would say she inherited that from me)!

Sweet Baby

I know these pictures are from a while ago, but I recently came across them and thought they would be fun to share.  Emily is such a sweet, loving, and mellow baby.  When she was younger she would hardly ever fuss.  I could put her in her bouncer and she would stay there for long periods of time.  This time she fell asleep before I could put her down for a nap.  Also, she liked to stick out her tongue and hold it there for the longest time.  It made us laugh.  We love her so much!