The Ice cream Klepto

That would be Miss Nicolette. Our little ice cream kleptomaniac. It happened a couple of weeks ago. We were all very unsuspecting of our dear baby, who loves everyone, especially her big sister Vivien. Unfortunately, for some odd reason, on this night of ice cream she chose to rip Vivien's ice cream right out of her hand. No one really knows why, all we know is Nicolette had two ice creams...Vivi had none.

Here she is, eating two icecream's no problem at all:)

I hope she is feeling a bit of guilt...

Although, in this shot she looks more sneaky than guilty.

Vivien tried...but all of her attempts failed and she was still left coneless:(
Yes, as the mother I felt an obligation to intervene. I did my best, but to no avail I couldn't rip the ice cream from the two year old's hands! (and, i did try!)

Poor Vivien. I finally decided, because of Nicolette's bizarre behavior to sneak Vivi another ice cream without Nicolette knowing. I have not seen this behavior in the two year old since and I have high hopes of not seeing it again anytime soon!

My Sweet Ava...and Cupcakes!

Ava informed me that, my blog is VERY boring because there is never anything new on it! I decided that I'd better get off this boring streak and start posting some of my stuff!

Here are some fun cupcakes that my friend Charisse and I did for a relief society gardening night. We had flowers and carrots on our cupcakes....really fun:)

These are some cupcakes I did with a friend to help her out with a family reunion. We made lots of different kinds. These were my favorites. Charisse gets the credit for the idea. The "sundae" cupcakes were so so easy and so stinkin cute!

We did lots of fish...
and, shark bitten life preservers:)

Of course, we had to do the dogs again. A few of the dogs looked like wolves but, they were still very cute.

We did over 100 this day...it was a bit insane, but very fun:)
* A big thank you to Patsy for taking my little girlies this day so i could focus on cupcakes:)

Charisse and I did these for a wedding. They were so fun...i could hardly believe how perfect they turned out! Right down to the wrapper. I have decided the wrapper is BIG. It does tons for the cute little cake!

We also did green. Green was one of the bride's colors. These were very fun. The flower on top was not too fun, but we made it through the trying experience. The flower on top is made from royal icing. They were a royal pain in the you know what:)

We did over 60 of these.

Patsy and I made these for the same wedding. They were so yummy I could eat these anytime and anyplace. Mini cupcakes with lemon-cream cheese frosting. There were none of these babies left!
So, I've been up to lots of cupcakes these days. The possibilities are endless with the cute little cakes, no wonder I am making them every chance I get:)

Dad's Day

We had a fun Father's Day! This picture shows a great example of how excited some people were to honor their dad:)

Doug and Ava after opening his presents.

Lilli bought Doug this shirt all by herself with her own money:)

Lexi was feeling a little silly and has seemed to have gone back to her days of not cooperating for pictures. I feel like we should be over this stage seeing she is almost a teenager any day now. I guess she's just not ready to give it up! ( Lexi has explained to me that she was just imitating her dad's funny smile.)

We had double the pleasure this year for Father's Day. My dad was in town, so we got to share dad's day, not only with our dad, but with both grandpas too:)

Doug and his mom at our yummy dinner.

the dinner was truly delicious. Now, for some reason I only have pictures of the desserts? I guess that's where my priority is these days;)

Grandpa reading Ava's Fathers Day card to him.

Grandpa opening his gift from Ava. It took a little while. Grandpa was bestowed many a treasure from Ava this Fathers Day.

Dad and Nicolette.

This is what we did for sharing time. We had a little dad questionnaire. Most of the kids tried really hard, some did not. Here are Vivi and Lilli's pages they did. I had a place for them to draw a picture at the bottom of the page.

Poppy, Mammy, and the "girls".

Dad with his bunch of little girls. They are definitely a bunch!
All of us girls at this house are grateful for a wonderful dad who sacrifices so many things for us.
We are glad to have a special day to honor our dad. We love you Dad!

Fourth Grade Fun!

Lilli and friends from the fourth grade. This school year was a great one for Lilli. Fourth grade at our school is filled with lots of fun, activities, field trips, and work:)

Night of Notables

This picture of Lilli is from her "Night of Notables". Each child in Mrs. Peter's class got to pick someone from our state that was "Notable". There was reports, research and lots of fun digging around to find out as much as they could about their person.

Dad and Lilli after the show.

Lilli and mom enjoying all of the hard work done for this night.

Lilli waiting for her turn to give her speech. Lilli was ready to perform as Minerva Teichert, famous artist.

Mrs. Peter's Pioneer Play

Mrs. Peter's class put on a wonderful Pioneer play.
Grandma, Nicolette, Vivi, and mom were all there. Dad and Ava were there at the first showing.

This was during the play. I love all the costumes:)

Lilli giving her part in the play.

There was also a very big entire fourth grade program. This is what Nicolette was doing during the program. She had a bit of a hard time.

She did find some distraction with my sunglasses and seeing where they would fit.

Here is the entire fourth grade during one of the last songs.

Lilli and one of her good friends from class.

The Mountain Man Rendezvous

The Mountain Man Rendezvous was a great time. I got to help and it was a ton of fun!
The kids were divided into groups and got to rotate through different stations doing different pioneer activities.

Look at the view of this mountain from the park! It was a gorgeous day.

The three legged race.

The girls showing me their sand art jars they had just made.

Each child got to "make their own butter" using whip cream. A really fun and tasty activity!
There was also, leather molding, dutch oven cooking, pioneer stories, and pie-eating contests.
Fourth grade was a good one...look out fifth grade here she comes:)

Our Graduate

Her dad and I are thrilled that Vivien has now completed two years of preschool! We had a few doubts way back when in her first year;). She has come along way. It is very exciting to know she can now: follow directions from her teacher, get along with her peers and try hard to learn her letters. She is ready for kindergarten, because of her amazing, patient teacher. Congratulations my Vivi J...you did it:)

The program for graduation was all patriotic songs and dress. Very enjoyable:)

Vivien is feeling a little overwhelmed with emotion while receiving her diploma.

Getting ready to throw her hat.

The hats in the air...woo hoo! I think it's only now at preschool graduation that throwing hats is permitted.


The proud graduate.

Grandma and Vivien after the festivities.

Mrs. Brooks, (the most patient preschool teacher around) and Vivi.

Vivien and her best buddies. She had a blast with these little girls all year. They are all sweet, darling girls.
I know preschool graduation is a small milestone, but for Vivi it was a big one.
Vivien has the most energy of anyone I have ever known. Her spirit is stronger than just about anyone I've ever known. She is an amazing girl. She does give me a run, or a marathon about once a day. It can be exhausting. I know with her energies directed in the right direction, that by high school graduation nothing and no one will be able to stop her. I do sometimes wish for those days when, (it took a village to raise a child). I could really use some help from the village most days.
Thank you Vivien for keeping me on my toes. I know I am blessed to have you as a daughter.