bakerella wanna be...

that's me!!! i think that might make me a loser, but oh well.

after the success with the chick pops i did in april, i have tried a couple other recipes. about a month ago i made oreo cake balls.
they were yummy, but too sweet for me. olivia, my mom, and mark all liked them, so i will chalk that up as another success!

and for jack's birthday i attempted the cupcake pop.
i was pleased with the way they looked and this time i actually kind of liked the taste. still pretty sweet, but the chocolate cake was tasty!! i am counting this as a sucess too! :)

recently, bakerella posted a recipe for a cheesecake. mark has been asking for a cheesecake so maybe i will try her recipe, hopefully be 4 for 4, and continue my "wanna be" status.

olivia performs...

her preschool songs. during the last week of olivia's school the families were invited into the music classroom to watch a performance of favorite preschool songs. olivia was noticeably nervous, but did a fantastic job singing her heart out and doing some really cute motions.


after the "show" we went back to the classroom and had a little snack and a chance to take pictures. olivia's teachers passed out the memory books they made for each of the students. it is such a precious gift, a book filled with pictures of olivia and all the memories she made during her year in 2 year old preschool.

ms. anderson, olivia's wonderful teacher...
ms. lacey, olivia's other incredible teacher...
and of course, olivia's bff, kingsley...
what a special year it was. we are so thankful that olivia loves school, has had teachers that love and encourage her, and got to experience it all with precious friends.

jack's birthday bash...

we had lots of fun celebrating jack at his first birthday party. we decided to just have a family party in our backyard. it was super fun to celebrate jack!

the birthday boy was ready...

the table was set...

cake was enjoyed...

gifts were opened...

party favors for everyone (cupcake cake pops)...

our little family loved celebrating jack-jack...

and when the guests had all gone home, everything was put away, and jack was fast asleep, mark and i enjoyed the view of our backyard...
and talked about how blessed we are to have jack in our lives.

jack is ONE!!

and just so much FUN!


his birthday was may 21, so i am a few days late but i still wanted to honor or brag about our sweet little boy. jack is a constant source of joy! he is completely attached to his monkey lovey and a stuffed lion appropriately named “rrrrahhhhhh.” jack has 6 teeth that are impossible to miss when he gives one of his fames grins. he loves to wave hi and bye- so friendly. jack doesn’t talk much but he can scream really loud and usually gets what he wants. he does have a few words “la-la” (olivia), “mama” (that’s me- mommy), “dada” (daddy), and his most recent addition to his vocabulary “pop” (pop- mark’s dad). jack loves to eat. he does crawl, most of time he still scoots around on his belly, and there is NO interest in walking anytime soon. jack is incredibly ticklish and has the best belly laugh ever! he is such a blessing! what a gift to get to be his mommy. happy birthday jack-jack!

lake weekend in review...

this post is about a week late, but it was such a fun weekend that i wanted to blog about it. mark was still recovering from jetlag, but his parents bought a boat so we really wanted to be there for launch and first ride on the lake SOOOO we loaded up and headed to the lake. it was so great. sadly, sarah had the camera on the boat so i don't have any pictures of our first ride, but everyone loves the boat and was all smiles. mark spent the majority of his weekend getting aquainted with the boat and learning how to park it. there were a few scary moments and close calls, but for the most part he did a great job!! he LOVES the boat and has been making plans to get back soon.

i did manage to get a few cute pictures of the kids that i wanted to share...

christman was on duty saturday morning so he and the girls tried some fishing off the dock...

thanks abby for sharing your old fishing pole with olivia. she felt so special.

jack loves water, so i knew that he would love the lake. his first time "in" the lake...

and this was his reaction...

the BIG news from the weekend is that olivia rode the jet ski!!!!!! yes, if you will remember she would not go near the lake last year, but we somehow convinced her to give it a try and she agreed. she and mark went for a very SLOW and calm ride, but it is progress and we are sooooooo excited that she might actually enjoy the lake this summer not just stand on the dock and sweat!

she and mark making there way over to the jet ski and she is smiling not screaming!!

and they're off... (at about 8 mph)

it was just a great weekend away time to laugh, relax, and of course spend time with our special family. we are looking forward a fun summer with lots of of time at the lake.

nana and gramps, get the purple jet ski ready because that is what olivia wants to do next!! :)

daddy's home!!!!!

a day late, but he finally made it back from his 13 day adventure to papua new guinea. we are SOOOOOO glad that he is back. olivia has been super hyper and stuck like glue to him since the minute she saw him this afternoon. jack didn't forget daddy (mark was a afraid he would) and gave daddy's one of his famous smiles and wanted to be in daddy's arms. i am glad to have my best friend back at home. i have missed talking about anything and everything with him. i am also looking forward to a good night sleep tonight for the first time in days. it is not that i lay awake worrying about him, i just don't sleep when i am the lone adult in the house. we are excited about some fun family time over the next couple of days and i know in no time everything will be back to normal- the good and the bad of whatever "normal" is!!