First Day

I always have mixed feelings about the beginning of the school year.  I love that the kids are growing and having new experiences and adventures.  I also love to have them here with me.  Jack and Isabella have been beyond helpful this summer.  They have prepared meals and cleaned and been great helpers with Sophie.  And having a baby at the beginning of summer makes it go even faster.  Not that summer is over mind you, it is supposed to be in the high nineties all week.  Anyway, here is my big sixth grader:

He totally needs a haircut.  He wants to hold out until October, I don't know.....

And here is our third grader:

She got a spiffy new backpack this year. I was glad she picked it out, sometimes we have the same taste in things. 

Sophie, Tessa, and I went to the Thanksgiving Point children's gardens today with some friends.  Poor Soph, part of her really wants to go off to school and part of her doesn't.  It makes for some funny rants on her part occasionally.  She has a late birthday, so she still has a few more falls at home. 

 

We are all anxious to get back into a regular schedule.  It will be interesting to see how it goes.  Nate got the kids alarm clocks so they can be responsible for getting their own selves up on time, or staying in bed until a certain time, depending on which kid.  I set the alarm on my phone so I will remember to pick up Jack everyday-new for me.  Wish us luck on a new year!

Ice Cream Cake

I don't always make my birthday cake, but I really wanted to try and make an ice cream cake this year.  I started with a spring form pan. I crushed some Oreos then mixed them with cream cheese to make a crust on the bottom of the pan and put the pan in the freezer.  While the bottom layer was getting cold, I put some vanilla ice cream in my kitchen aid stand mixer and used the paddle to mix it until it was smooth and creamy.  This made it easy to spread over the chilled Oreo crust.  I put that into the freezer to chill and crushed some more Oreos.  I mixed those Oreos with some chocolate syrup and spread it over the vanilla ice cream.  While that layer was chilling in the freezer I mixed some huckleberry ice cream in the kitchen aid again, then spread it over the top of the Oreo/chocolate syrup layer.  Then I topped that with some cool whip and caramel.

  Then I let the whole thing freeze for a few hours.  When I took it out of the freezer I ran a hot washcloth around the edge of the spring form pan, then released the edge and put the cake on a tray.  I want to get some smaller pans to try different things now, mix in candy bars, different ice cream flavors, and toppings.  Yum! 

Round-up parade

Our ward was tasked with creating a float in the Lehi Round up parade this year.  We missed out on much of the decorating because it all occurred around the time Tessa was born.  But the kids had the opportunity to ride on the float or walk in the parade.  Bella decided she wanted to watch the entire parade, so she was with us.  Sophie rode on a little bench on the float and got to blow bubbles while Jack pulled the float along with some other kids from the neighborhood.

After the float the kids were on got to the end, Jack ran back and walked with the Youth Football players.  He really was excited to see his friends from his team last year.  I can't believe football season is upon us again.  He is pretty excited about that!

Arrow of Light

When Jack turned eleven in April, we finished up his three year stint in cub scouts. He had so many great leaders and such a great three years. He finished up his Webelo and completed all the requirements for his Arrow of Light. He was awarded these at pack meeting in June.

The cubmaster has a man come who does a great job of making it into a nice ceremony.  They paint the boys faces to represent each of the ranks in scouting.  And they present a really nice arrow of light plaque.  Now Jack has moved on to regular boy scouts and loves it.

Pictures of my baby

I had Sanae take some pictures of Tessa when she was just over a week old.  I love how they turned out-she really captured her creamy newborn skin.  Tessa was fairly uncooperative so far as babies go.  She was awake almost the whole time we were there-she only slept for about a half an hour.  It's harder to pose a baby while they are awake.  And she is wiggly and didn't want us to put her in any positions.  She is pretty strong also and would keep pushing with her legs when we would pose her.  Nonetheless, I love the pictures and can't believe how much she has changed already.

 This is the quilt in full view-it's one I made and couldn't give up.

 So even though Sanae thinks she doesn't do newborn photos well-she totally does.  We love these and I am so glad to have images of Tessa captured while she is still so small.  She is such a good baby so far, I really keep waiting for the other shoe to drop.  I am tired, but not exhausted.  It's been a good four weeks.

Fun With Grandma

We are so grateful my mom came to stay when Tessa was born.  She was here for over two weeks and it wasn't enough! The kids keep asking for her to come back-she's way more fun than Nate and I!  She's more on the ball than either of us when it comes to dishes and laundry, Nate said every time he went to check the sink it was empty.  And she just jumps right into our schedule and keeps the kids getting to where they need to be.  She did something special with each of them and they love her so much!

 Grandma and her newest grandbaby.  Tessa yawns all the time, huge yawns.

 This is Sophie playing baseball in the front yard, I have no idea when this occurred, but my mom is way better at taking pictures than I am.  She takes them more often and I always download her memory cards before she goes to see what I missed.

 She took the kids to Boondocks and they had a fabulous time.  They all got soaking wet, played laser tag and mini golf and ate lunch.  I stayed home and slept-which was sooo nice!

 She always remembers to get a picture with her and all the kids, they love these.  She sometimes puts their adventures into albums, they love looking through those.  Sophie thinks they all belong to her and is confused as to why there are no pictures of her and small Jack and Bella together.

 She took pictures while I took video of Isabella's gymnastics exhibition.  Grandma is always interested in the kids activities and I was really glad she got to be here for Bella's meet, they only do it once a year, so it's a hard one to catch.

 And I had really forgotten how much my mom loves baseball.  I think she kind of wanted to stay to see the end of the season.  She got much better pics of Jack than I have.  I didn't make it to the games the week Tessa was born, but got a play by play.  Jack played catcher this year and did an amazing job.  He has such a good arm and really hustles behind the plate. 

She was here for Isabella's birthday and brought her some really fun presents.  The girls have played with Rapunzel's tower a lot since it arrived. She always finds amazing deals in her small town Walmart and the kids benefit greatly.

The kids had a great time!  We all did!  I know she was pretty tired when she got home but hopefully she will recover quickly and be back soon!

Baptism

Isabella was baptized on June 4th of this year.  It was a bit hazy as Tessa was so new, but I don't want to miss recording the event.  Tessa was also blessed right after the baptism.  It was a really good day.  Bella was really excited and was smiling all day long.

It will always be special that these sisters share this day!   Both of them looked so beautiful!  Vanella has some more pics on her blog as well.  Everyone was excited to see their aunts, uncles, cousins, and friends that attended.  After the baptism and blessing, Tessa and I went home and took a nap while everyone else went out to eat.  We missed those of you who weren't here!