Olivia's Cooking School

Olivia just had her birthday. The only idea she had for a party was Barbie Diamond Castle. She has had a couple Barbie parties already and I needed to do something different. So I asked her if she would like a cupcake cooking class party. She was so excited! So we made the invitations and got ready.

I made a bunch of chef's hats and made a little kit so everyone could make their own cook book (a spiral notebook that they decorated the cover.) My girls LOVE crafts and would do them ALL day if they could. So this was right up their alley.
When the girls got here I taught them how to make bread sticks and had them help. Then they got roll thiers out into whatever shape they wanted. While they cooked they made their cookbooks. Then we ate our breadsticks and then decortated our cupcakes. Brooklyn thought of 'freeze dance' to the songs 'icecream and cake' and 'peanutbutter and jelly time'. That was a hit.
If I do say so myself this was a great party! Either I'm getting better at this or the kids are growing up....











(The Diamond Castle poster Brooklyn made for Olivia for her birthday.)

Daisy Diva

Brooklyn outgrew her Barbie bike. (Her knees were practically hitting her chin when she pedaled.) We went back and forth on what bike to get her, then I found this. Daisy Diva! It has old fashioned fenders, a basket, and seat with springs. Plus it is baby blue! Sooo cute! I ordered it and the whole family was excited to watch Casey put it together. It took Brooklyn a couple tries to get used to a bigger bike (she got a little emotional and almost gave up.) but eventually got used to it. Olivia was excited too, because we added a basket to her bike also. (She just learned to ride without training wheels last month. Now everyday that it isn't raining she gets her bike out and rides around the back yard. She can often be found riding her bike, wearing her swim suit, suede winter boots up to her knees, and her helmet.)

We took the kids to "the jumps" on Monday. (an empty lot with a ditch about as deep as I am tall.) Casey kept telling Brooklyn that her bike couldn't do jumps because the handlebars are so big. But I thought that was what they were all like 20 years ago. So we went. Nathan can't go because he has training wheels. Then he runs in front of Olivia, so crashes and her handlebars come loose. Then before I can finish with her, Brooklyn crashes. So I'm helping her, and Olivia crashes again! (Casey couldn't help because he had Cody on his bike.) This was my first time at "the jumps". (Casey has taken them a few times, and they go on and on about what fun it is.) Let's just say it wasn't what I expected.

What's Not to Wear!

Around here everyday is dress up day! Especially if your sister is Olivia.
Last week when I got back from Enrichment Night I found this picture on my camera. It seems the girls and Casey had a little fun while I was gone! Then today,while fixing my hair, Olivia brought Cody to me looking like this. I think he would make a pretty cute girl, but I think we'll stick with the boy clothes.

Olivia enjoys getting her 2 1/2 year old cousin MaryLeigh dressed everyday also. Yesterday I went over to Callie's and saw what MaryLeigh was wearing and thought, "Wow she's starting to dress like Olivia." (which means a lot of pattern and alot of "bling"). Callie came in later and asked me if I liked what Olivia had dressed MaryLeigh in. Of course Olivia had dressed her!
That same day after watching "Nacho Libre" Porter showed up at my house in this outfit.

And later the girls, dressed in princess dresses, tried to camouflage themselves on a chair of bears.

Snow Days!

What a wild week! The news kept reporting an "Artic Blast" and I was getting so tired of hearing about it! We were just having little snow flurries, no big deal. They canceled our stake Christmas Devotional, and the kids didn't have school on Wednesday. I thought everyone was overreacting!

On Thursday I was able to go to Brooklyn's school and help with her Winterfest.

Then Brooklyn's school was canceled on Friday. Olivia's preschool was not. So, since Olivia goes to pm preschool we had time to head over to the neighborhood park and go tubing. I thought we had better take advantage of the snow because it would probably be gone the next day. And of course afterward we enjoyed a nice cup of hot chocolate with peppermint icecream!

After tubing Casey met me at Olivia's school to see her Christmas presentation. She was so excited to be the Shepherd girl. She got to wear the "rainbow" hat. She looked so cute.

Friday we celebrated Callie's Birthday at the restaurant Beaches. It was so fun! The snow was falling and the Christmas boats were going by on the Columbia river.


Saturday night there was freezing rain, which put a layer of ice on top of the snow. Brooklyn started picking it up so that she could get to the snow to build a snowman.



Saturday it snowed even more and so the whole family went tubing. It is so much more fun when you don't have to drive an hour just to get to the snow!

Sunday church was canceled. So we worked on our annual Christmas lip sync video over at my parents.

Today is Monday and it is continuing to snow. Casey went in to work anyway and took the suburban, so I am home bound...Then his office called and said they are closing today. So he tried to catch a bus home and they are running an hour late. He's been standing outside for an hour waiting. I called my parents to go get him, so now he's on his way home.

So, I was wrong. This really is an "Artic Blast"! Wild fun!

Olivia's Family Night

Olivia has always loved to to be in charge. And to be responsible for a stack of papers. As soon as she could talk she would be carrying around old receipts saying "my papers, my papers."

Well one day I gave her an old Friend magazine to color or do whatever with. She told me she would like to use it to prepare a family night lesson. I told her to go for it, and let her do what she wanted. I didn't know what to expect.

All week she was carrying around this bucket that had her "family night lesson" in it. I didn't think she was really going to remember, but when Monday came around she had it all ready to go before Casey even got home.

She then sat us all down and had us take turns picking a piece of paper out of the bucket. (She had picked out pictures that represented primary songs she knew, for example a picture of a little girl getting baptized for "When Jesus was baptized, down in the river Jordan..." her favorite song.) She had carefully colored and cut each picture and knew exactly what song went with it. Then she lead us in the song using a spoon to conduct. She was so excited. And I was so impressed.

It was a good night to be a mom!

Brooklyn followed her lead and prepared a lesson the next week. ( I don't think Casey or I will have to prepare a lesson for awhile.)

Thankful

I need to write this down before I forget.
The other night while getting ready for family prayers Casey was helping Olivia think of some things she is thankful for that she could say in her prayer. They named a few and Olivia said she will thank him for everything.
Casey thought she was going to repeat everything they said but she just said,
"Thank you for everything."
At the end of the prayer Casey told her that we need to name the things we are thankful for.
Then Brooklyn chimed in and said,
"Yeah, because if we were thankful for everything we would be thankful for cigarettes, and we are NOT thankful for those!"

Olivia's Last Game of the Season

Pumpkin Patch

It was Olivia's turn to go with her pre-school to the Pumpkin Patch. She was so excited! She remembered that when Brooklyn went we packed lunches and ate at the picnic tables. So she helped me pack everyone a lunch. At the end of the trip she got all settled at a table and was ready for a picnic. The problem was that nobody else was staying for lunch. I felt so bad. I told her we could go get frostys at Wendy's instead and she took it well.

Nathan came along with us. This is ALL he cared about. TRACTORS. He was very upset that we had to look at the animals first. Then he went from tractor to tractor and was so busy he wouldn't even look up when he said "cheese".

Olivia's Pumpkin Party

Olivia had here 5th Birthday party. I decided to let loose and let her invite anyone she wanted. She had so much fun, but it was a pretty big bunch of girls! She got to dress up and play some games with her friends. She loves being 5!

Brooklyn wanted to dress up as a pumpkin. This is what she came up with. She is so creative.

Soccer Pictures

For Olivia's team we decided to take our own team pictures. I'm trying out digital scrap booking so I used some of my stuff to do the page for the team. I think they are way cuter than the Professionals and way cheaper.

Soccer Witches

Another soccer practice. The girls were helping Casey put the cones away and found a better use for them! Olivia made sure I got a picture of her "silly face".

Soccer Season in Full Force

So the girls had their first games this weekend. And Casey says I'm an official "Soccer Mom" now.......oh no what have I done/become!? Brooklyn had her game first and is doing so great. Her team is getting pretty fun to watch. They actually have strategies and plays, instead of just chasing the ball, like last year. She was able to make 3 goals in this game. She was so stoked!

Then an hour and half later Olivia had her first game. She is a natural! I just hope she isn't too aggressive! She loves stopping the ball and taking it down the field by herself. She also made 3 goals. Both girls had a blast. I think one of their highlights were the snacks though! They loved comparing what each got. At the end of the day though, I think Casey and I were the most tired!

Getting Schooled

The day has finally arrived! School is in! Woo Hoo! School started on Sept. 3rd. Brooklyn started 1st grade and Olivia started pre-school.

The day started out smoothly. We were out the door right on time (quite a feat for me given my history of tardiness). We live close enough to school that we don't get a bus, but we are too far away for Brooklyn to just walk by herself. So all 5 of us headed out to Brooklyn's school. They wanted to ride bikes, but Brooklyn was in a dress, so I compromised and let the girls ride their scooters. I thought that would be safer... WRONG! About 50 yards from school Brooklyn takes a spill and cuts her hand open! She's screaming and everyone has to go around us to get to school. Luckily the playground aide had a "magic" band aid. The instant I put it on her she was better. All the while I'm having flashbacks of the first week of Kindergarten, when she crashed on her bike and missed school. I think Brooklyn is going to have to stick to her feet for awhile! A bus would be so much safer!!!

Anyway, she thought she was going to get a school lunch and was a little disappointed when I made her a sack lunch. But when she came home she told me that she's glad she had a sack lunch because she gets to choose what she wants and that at school she would just have to eat what they gave her. (I think she saw what the other kids got and didn't like the looks of it) Such a picky eater!

Olivia started pre-school with Miss Carolyn. She was so excited. She doesn't start until 1:00pm but got ready early in the morning with Brookie. She told me all about the "time out" chair and how she is never going to sit on that!

This is all exciting to me because for 3 days a week I am only going to have 2 kids at home for 3 hours! Prime errand running time, or sleeping, or cleaning, or blogging, or ... the possibilities are endless! And next year will be even better, when Nathan goes to pre-school! Although it is exciting, it is all happening soooo fast! I'm trying to still enjoy this time with the kids at home, because it'll be over before I know it.