{A Tween}

Today was a celebration all about my 10 year old Hannah. Her school teacher, Mrs. Lewis introduced her to the "tween" term and ever since she's been anxious to become a tween. Her dad and I. . . not so much anxious to have a tween : ( This year wasn't a party year, but she got to invite her best friend, Morgan, over to help her celebrate. She took Krispy Kreme Donuts to her school class. We had her requested broccoli cheddar soup and home made bread for dinner. She wanted an ice cream cake with chocolate cake and mint chocolate chip ice cream layers, her favorite color white frosting and sour skittle polka dots. (FYI: ice cream does not frost easily) We finished off the night watching the movie Ice Princess.

She opened a few gifts, including art and a purse from Morgan, a scentsy warmer and yummy scents from Gma & Gpa Dredge, the always loved money from Gma & Gpa Reynolds, a necklace from Emma and hair bandies from Ben. When it came the gift from Jake and I, she was a little skeptical about it being only an envelope. I had been asking her for over a month for ideas and she couldn't really think of anything. I guess she either has too many things already or she's satisfied with what she has. Honestly, I'm grateful it's more the later. Anyway, back to the envelope. . . it contained tickets to go with me to a Taylor Swift concert in November. She was beyond excited!! And I might be just a little bit excited to go with her : )

In honor of Miss Hannah . . . A few of her favorite things

Favorite Color: White

Favorite Song: Break Your Heart by Taio Cruz

Favorite Number: 8

Favorite Books: Percy Jackson and Harry Potter

Favorite Foods: strawberries, watermelon, & pizza

Favorite Candy: sour skittles and sour patch

Favorite Dessert: mint chocolate chip ice cream

Favorite Flower: gerber daisy

Favorite Friends: Morgan, Maiya, Emily, & Alana

Favorite Activities:  piano, swimming, friend time, reading, trampoline

Favorite Subjects: science & history

Favorite Movie: Ice Castles (the new version)

Favorite Thing to Wear: heart canvas sneakers, capri's, & a bright colored tee shirt

Favorite Dislikes: getting her hair done, homework, chores

{Hannah's Piano Recital}

Today was Hannah's piano recital. She has worked so hard over that past few months, well truthfully the past 3 years. She really enjoys playing the piano and I'm grateful it's something she does without to much direction from me. She gets up, on her own, at 6 o' clock most mornings to practice for 30 minutes 6 days a week. But it's more than just that. She plays lots of other little bits at random times of the day. My favorite is when she plays the hymns or Primary songs on Sunday morning as we get ready for church. I'm also so very grateful for her wonderful piano teacher. She has really seen Hannah's potential and has challenged her at levels that continue to amaze me. I hope she continues to love developing this talent.

Beethoven's Fur Elise


Motzart's Fantasia in D minor

{Magical}

{Talent Show}

Hannah and Ben both auditioned and made into the school talent show. Last Monday was the big day and they both did such a great
job. I'm so proud of them! It takes a lot of courage to perform in front of your peers, but they rose to the challenge and had a fun time.

{It's a Tradition}

My mom did it for many years, I'm sure many of you do or did it every year, it's the traditional back to school photos.
We mark time and change in our children as they head off for a new adventure.

I'm not sure who is more stressed for back to school, me or my children. I always feel anxious as I'm inundated with information
about homework and expectations for the new year. How will they get all the homework done, keep up with activities, have time
to play with friends, do chores and more importantly still have time to spend with mom and dad as we try to teach them to be
amazing little people. It's overwhelming and I'm already longing for the easier pace of summer when they are all mine.

Just for fun, here are a couple of back to school photos when I was the ages of Hannah and Ben : )

{Dentistry At It's Finest}

This is what 4 years of dental school, 1 year of an advanced education in general dentistry and 2 years in an
endodontic residency will get you . . . Jake using his Leather-man's tool to fix a wire on Hannah's braces : )

{Flower Girls}

You've probably been wondering if I would ever post again. I've wondered myself at times. It's not that I haven't taken lots of pictures this spring, it's just been a stressful couple of months. It seems the longer I put off posting, the harder it's been to start again. So I decided tonight to finally get blogging off of my to-do list. Hopefully when I put it on my list again in a few days I'll actually do it : )

Anyway . . . I have a soft spot for lovely fields of flowers and I'm glad this one lasted through my procrastinating so I could get some pictures of my girlies. Sarah was by far the easiest. She is such a little smiler.

{Flashback Friday - Hannah's Ninth}

**In an attempt to blog the unblogged I'm going to do some flashback Friday posts.
When I post the next flashback the current one will be moved to it's chronological
date within the blog. I thought since Hannah's 10th birthday will be coming up in a
couple of months, I better get around to posting details from the 9th : )




Hannah and I decided to go with a cooking theme for her 9th birthday. She's done a little sewing and has wanted to do more so we decided we would make aprons for all her guests. We had fun going to JoAnn's together to choose the fabric and ribbon. One side was the turquoise with a striped section along the bottom, the other side was brown with polka dots. We used ribbon for the neck strap and ties. With guidance, Hannah did most of the cutting and sewing and ironing. I was really proud of all the time and effort she put into the project.

In the process of making chocolate chip cookies, we did a little staging for an invitation photo. Her chocolate cake was designed to match the aprons. We started things off by making dessert. The girls each frosted their cupcakes, sliced marshmallows for the petals, arranged them on the cupcake with a yellow mini marshmallow for the center, and added colored sugar as a finishing touch.

Next up, we let the girls make individual pizza's. They rolled the dough, spread the sauce and added the toppings. We had a little lesson on getting things in and out of the oven and then let the girls try it out with there pizza's. Some had done this before, but for others it was a first.

While the pizza baked, we started on smoothies. We had a few fruits for the girls to choose like strawberries, bananas, blueberries and pineapple. They followed a recipe to add the various ingredients and used the blender to mix the smoothies.

When everything was prepared, they had all sat down to enjoy what they had made. They laughed and talked and laughed. There was lots of 9 year old girl craziness and silliness and fun. After dessert and opening a few gifts, I sent them all out to jump on the trampoline while they waited for their parents. Each girl went home with their decorated cupcakes, an apron and a mini dessert cook book by Betty Crocker we had found in the dollar bins at Target.

After all of Hannah's friends had gone, we continued the celebration with a few family gifts. There were doll clothes for her American Girl doll, speakers for her MP3 player, nail polish, a brush and comb, and a NEW BIKE! What a fun birthday celebration for our wonderful girl.

Summer Faves

When we moved, I needed something for the walls in our office, so I found three pretty cute subjects and a lovely field and now I have these three portraits hanging were I can see them all the time. I probably should have shared these earlier, but they were taken during the summer when I was on a break from the blog. Anyway, we've had a lot of dark and dreary days lately (we haven't even gotten into winter and I'm already complaining about the weather : ) and looking at these pictures reminds me of summer. My only regret is that I don't have a matching one of Sarah. Hopefully I can get something similar of her in the spring when things are green again and she's sitting.

Back

Back to school (kids first day was Monday)

Back to having church responsibilities (Enrichment Leader)
Back to having an income (Jake finished his residency)
Back to getting settled in a new home & city (Fredericksburg, Virginia)
Back from a wonderful summer vacation (Idaho)
Back log of photos to share (still to be sorted and processed)
Back to blogging

Left back. . .

It's Great to be Eight!

We just celebrated Hannah's eighth birthday. What a fun and busy day! I took donuts (as we have every year, it's her favorite treat) for her class and we had lunch with her. After school she invited a friend to go to Kangaroo Jac's (think bounce house and slides.) We followed that up with a traditional birthday dinner at Texas Roadhouse. She and Jake love to eat there and since his birthday is 2 days before Hannah's we go every year on one of their birthdays. Her favorite part is sitting on the saddle and getting a birthday Yee Haw! We finally made it home for presents and cake and phone calls from loved ones.

When we finally got the kids to bed, it was nice to cuddle up with Hannah for a few quiet moments. We talked about what an important part she is in our family and how grateful I am to be her mother. We talked about her upcoming baptism and of how much she has grown and changed and learned since she came to our family 8 years ago. Finally, we talked about all that is coming up in the next few months and the wonderful things she has to look forward to in the future. Definitely my favorite part of the day : )

Hannah is an amazing girl, she's kind and helpful, smart and clever, strong and determined, precocious and fun. I've learned a lot from Hannah and I'm so grateful to be her mom.

I didn't do a slideshow for Hannah's birthday last year, so this is two years worth of pictures. You can really see how much she's changed : ( I'm so glad I have these pictures to remember all the little girl details.

Hannah's Slideshow

Hannah's Piano Recital

Hannah has been taking piano for a little over a year now, and last night she had her first recital. I'm so proud of all her hard work. Before she started lessons, I was worried the practicing might become a battle, but overall it's not been too bad : ) Often she'll sit down and play for 20-30 minutes at a time, just for fun. I'm grateful she truly enjoys developing this talent and I hope she stays with it for a few more years. I know I wish I had given a little more effort to developing this talent myself.

Unfortunately, Jake was out of town and missed the big event and Hannah was feeling pretty sad about that. Thankfully, our sweet neighbors, Mister Fred and Miss Jennifer, came with flowers to help make the evening special : )

Sleeping Queens

It's hard to get back to blogging after such a long break ; )

My mom and dad gave this game to the kids for Christmas. To say they've enjoyed it would be an understatement. They LOVE this game, and Jake and I have had a lot of fun playing with them. You can find it HERE.

Love This Girl

I'm so grateful this girl is mine. She tries hard to always do her best. Hannah's a good friend to me and I've learned a lot about myself from her. I just wish she wasn't growing up so quickly.
Anyway. . . I love taking photos of Hannah in the fall. Her hair always looks so beautiful with all the changing leaves. You can't even tell that we were both freezing ; )

Something's Missing

Any guesses?

You're getting closer.

Do you give up yet?



Alright, I guess I'll have to show you...

I guess we know what someone wants for Christmas : )

Twirly Skirts

I got the idea for these cute twirly skirts from my friend Sarah. You can find the instructions HERE. I definitely recommend the ribbon option for the tie. They were so easy, I made one for my niece as well. Too bad I couldn't get a better picture of my girlies. Emma was not in the mood, and Hannah wasn't being very patient with her. So, what's a mom to do . . . cut off their grouchy faces and show off the cute skirts : )

And She's Off...

After a busy week of playing, working and fun projects, the summer is officially over and it's back to school for Miss Hannah. She's been a little nervous, but mostly excited. One of her best friends is in her class and I have it on good authority that she's got the best teacher in the 2nd grade. I'm sure it will be a wonderful year for her. I'm sure proud of Hannah and all her efforts to learn and work hard. Love you girl!

Today's Fun

We went on a little photo field trip today to the botanical gardens. With a promise of ice cream for dessert, I had pretty good cooperation. Honestly, I was really hoping for one of all 3 together, but little miss Emma was having nothing to do with that. Bribes aren't very effective with the under 2 crowd : )

I'm usually more of a close up photographer, but these needed a little distance to really capture the scene. It was fun to try a something a different.

And what could be more perfect than a little boy and a big rock!!

Eyelashes

A little over a week ago, Carin posted a challenge to photograph wet lashes. I'm a little behind in getting this done, and they're not wet, but I'm glad for a reason to capture those lovely, luscious lashes. I think they mostly came from Jake, but mine aren't too bad either : )