The First Signs of Fall

I havent noticed the leaves changing (thats not to say that they aren't) but I did notice the caramels out at Walmart, so I figured it must be fall-- time for Caramel apples. We made them for Family Home Evening and they were delicious. Of course what else would we decorate with, other than some sort of Reese's product- Reece's pieces - which turns out to be a very fall appropriate candy with their orange, yellow, and brown colors. Aren't they cute (I meant the apples but the kids are cute too).


Interestingly enough, it was after eating these chewy treasures that we discovered Brayden's first loose tooth- I know it seems a bit early for that so I think it may have had something to do with the sticky chewy crunchy apple combination. Oh well- you got to lose those baby teeth sometime!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MAKENNA

I can hardly believe that my baby is three years old! When did that happen? I love to watch my kids grow up but it is always a bit sad too. Makenna had a grand birthday party today. She was so excited all day and had a really hard time waiting until 4 o clock. We spent most of the afternoon playing pretend party with her stuffed animals- so she was well prepared when the actual event arrived.

Here is Makenna with her Dora cake. I strongly tried to resist piping a cake- but when it came right down to it, I more strongly wanted to make sure she had the cake she wanted so here it is. I could tell quite a story about the disasters that occured in the making of the cake (some of them might be obvious just from looking at it), but I'll keep this post about the party.

Here are some happy cake eaters!

What's a party without a pinata (or piesta as Makenna called it). The kids did a really good job of waiting their turns.
Here is the whole crew- a wild bunch indeed! They were actually all really good kids and amazingly enough the party went really smoothly.

This is Makenna with her prized pig that Sammy gave her. She really loves this pig.

What a cheesy girl she can be- with her new necklace from Lizzie and her new pink Leapster from Grandma. What a lucky girl!

And as a terrific ending to a crazy day, we gave Makenna her last present- which contrary to what I thought- did not come preassembled. So Kevin being the terrific dad he is, stepped up and cheerfully devoted his evening to the project. (Do you like how in the picture he is trying to fool us into thinking he is unhappy about putting this together- ...ok ok he really wasnt happy about it but as you can see from the picture below it was all worth it for his happy little birthday girl!) Hooray for daddy!

A New Obsession

Top Ten Signs that My Kids are Obsessed with High School Musical
(and of course High School Musical 2)

10. A new threat has emerged at our dinner time..."no more talking about High School Musical until you are done eating"
9. Makenna is spotting "Gabella"(that is how she says Gabriella) look-a-likes whenever we go out
8. I overhear Makenna chanting in a whisper "summer, summer, summer"
7. When we first brought home the soundtrack from HSM2 Brayden layed by the CD player staring at the CD and did not move a muscle until he had heard all 11 tracks. (a definite record for him)
6. Every time we get in the car, the plea from the backseat is always "high school muscial music pleeeease"
5. Makenna tells me, while eating breakfast the other day and staring off in some sort of daze, "oh Troy, he's so funny, right mom?"
4. Playdates with Brayden's friends usually turn into wild dance parties
3. At the BYU football game a couple weeks back, Brayden couldn't help but let out a cheer or two for the Wildcats---much to his dad's dismay, of course.
2. If you ask the kids, "What time is it?" you are likely to get the answer "summer time" (and of course it will be in song form)
1. Makenna was overheard telling Brayden "you are the music in me"

Makenna Goes To Preschool...and other news

Today is yet another big day in our family's history. Makenna started preschool this morning. She has been role playing in preparation for this event all week and Brayden has gotten her quite pumped up with all he says about it. I was surprised that when I dropped her off she wasnt even hesitant to say good bye. I'm happy for her and I hope she has a great time! Oh and notice the heels she chose to wear. I couldnt talk her out of it!
Saturday was also a big day. We set out to go to the big BYU football- the first game of the season- and a winning game too, which makes it a lot more fun. We went early to get a good parking spot and enjoyed a picnic lunch out on the lawn of the Marriott center. So I guess you could say this was us tailgating. It was a lot of fun! Go Cougars!

Here's our little cheerleader- isn't she precious. It was a hot hot day and the kids were troopers to endure the heat. I think they had a good time- Brayden's face in the picture below is just a pose- not the way he truly felt!

This rainbow appeared Sunday night and Kevin got this great shot- no second coming yet!

The Big Day!

So today was the big day- our child's first day of Kindergarten. He was very excited and so were we. However, we were surprisingly nervous about all the dangers that could now befall him as he makes his way into the "real world." I actually feel sick to my stomach when I really think about it. I've watched enough Oprah to know its a scary place out there in those public schools and there are lots of bad things that can happen. On the flip side though, I cant overlook the fact that the time he is in preschool will be quite precious to me and entering that real world is an important part of growing up. So this is the way it must be. I'm just glad that he was happy to go.

This picture of him standing by the door is metaphorical in nature - just look at his face- aren't you sad to see him walk out that door.

And here he is walking into his classroom.

This picture is sort of out of place with the post. Brayden got new soccer cleats yesterday (and aren't they snazzy). They made him quite happy (as you can see from the picture) so I just had to share it with all of you.

Back to School and Back to BYU Sports

Truth be told, we aren't really back to school yet but we did attend our first ever "Back to School Night" at Brayden's new school. He starts officially next week and he is literally counting down the days. Makenna is excited about her preschool and Kevin and I are still in shock that we are actually going to have a kid in real school (we are so not old enough for that). The PTA, book fairs and field trips... here we come!

Getting into the swing of things around Provo means of course BYU sports. We attended some sort of BYU football kickoff party or something like that (ask Kevin) and on the way Brayden asked "Do you think Cosmo will remember me?" As you can see from the picture Makenna is getting a lot better around Cosmo though she still kept her distance and was a little uneasy about the whole thing- not Brayden though- he may have even been a little "too friendly" with the guy in the costume.

3 Weeks!

So for the past three weeks I have been husbandless. Kevin is now finally back from Hershey and we are so happy to have him home with us. He completed an extremely successful internship and returned with an abundance of chocolate and an offer from the company for him to return full time after graduation. Time will tell if that is the path we will take.
As for me, it was not easy being on my own but I must say I did fairly well- primarily due to an extended visit from my mom and a briefer visit from my dad. Yes I did have help so you cant feel too sorry for me. However, my biggest accomplishment was potty training Makenna, which I did on my own the first week. She is doing very very well and we are so happy about that, since she can now officially attend preschool in the fall.

Here in Utah it is peach season and we have enjoyed our share in this house. This picture is Makenna eating her first whole peach. It also explains why my kitchen floor is always so sticky these days.

Here is a "glimpse" of the candy Kevin brought home. It was just what we haven't put away yet but we have even more. I requested only the soft baked cookies and I got a whopping 72 of them. Stay tuned for the weight gain. I suppose you could say it's a job perk cause we didn't pay for any of it. Yes, we are going to have to get busy giving it away.

Makenna got her first hair cut a couple weeks back. It was more of a trim and you couldn't really see a difference when she was done. She was a good sport and even enjoyed it, I think.

And here is what I have really been up to. I made 48 jars of jam- some strawberry and some peach and canned 12 jars of peaches. It was both my first canning and jamming experience so it was a good for me to learn. I also was given some zucchini from a friend and produced 6 loaves to freeze and eat. Oh and I made two peach pies and froze three big bags of strawberries. Kevin says it means I am nesting but it is a bit early for that. I think I am just enjoying the delicious fruits of the seasons.