Reason #1 and #2:
On August 7th we celebrated Ethan and Ella's 7th birthday. Our tradition is cake and presents for breakfast and then we continue to party all day long. Ethan got a DS....he is completely hooked on playing video games so we thought, "Let's get him another video game playing device!" He was excited about the Pokemon game and loved eating cake for breakfast.
Grandma came over with presents and gave Ethan Star Wars legos. She gave Ella a cupcake maker, a Peek-a-boo Barbie, and a Hello Kitty necklace. (which she made, by the way)
Ella is our dancing diva so we got her an I-pod and an I-home to play it on. Travis put a bunch of fun music on it. Ella's favorite pastime is dancing. She loves that thing!!
My sister, Jamie, made the cakes and they were fabulous! She did Tinker bell for Ella and a Bakugan ball for Ethan. She did such an amazing job......
Ethan and Ella celebrated at Bounce U with friends and family. It was such a great time!
Reason #3
Back to School!
Am I terrible? I love summer time but I love getting those kids back to school. There is something about having a schedule....it works for me.
Ethan and Ella started 1st grade. Ella was nervous and kept saying, "1st grade is going to be so hard!" She is doing incredibly well so far. She is a great student. Her writing is immaculate. Her teacher, Ms. Matthew, told me what wonderful kids Ethan and Ella are to have in her classroom. They listen and obey and do their work. I have to brag just a little bit.
Olivia is a big 6th grader now! She is happy about this and has been so much fun lately. She loves life and is enjoying school and her friends. She is really growing up and I'm so proud of her.
The one thing I don't love doing each morning is packing 3 lunches. It kind of stresses me out. I like them to be healthy yet fun and have variety. I also have 3 different taste buds to consider. I usually pack them a sandwich; either turkey or pb & j on homemade bread. (it's just my thing) It also includes a fruit or veggie (or both, sometimes). Then I add pretzels, baked chips or Goldfish. And of course, some kind of treat. ( I start out with homemade cookies, but by the 3rd week I resort to store bought a lot of the time!) I even made chocolate pudding last week and they loved that! They also get a 100% juice box. Sometimes they buy, about once a week. This gives me a break. Last night I had a nightmare that I forgot to make their lunches. This is how much I stress about those darn lunches!
Reason #4
My pup, Ruby is potty-trained!!!!!!
She is such a sweetheart and having her house trained makes her that much sweeter.
Max, the cat is her best bud and even likes her crate......of course I just washed the blankets.
Reason #5
Olivia's 11th birthday was on August 15th. Her Aunt Jamie made her a "Treasure Chest" coconut cream cake that went with her Hawaiian Luau party theme. She planned the whole bash on her own. She is quite the party planner.
Olivia wants to learn to sew and got her first sewing machine.
Olivia had 12 girls over to swim, eat, party and sip on tropical drinks. They were such a crazy, fun bunch!!!
Grandma is always so thoughtful and gave Olivia several homemade pieces of custom jewelry. Olivia loves them!
Reason #6
Travis celebrates his birthday on August 15th. (Yes, Olivia and Travis have the same birthday)
Poor Travis. As usual, we spent Travis' special day making preparations for Olivia's party. He is always such a great sport about it. I made his favorite cake......chocolate cake with raspberry filling and buttercream frosting.
We had family over to celebrate on Sunday night. Travis and his dad and brother are hilarious. I can never get a good picture of them together. They are way too goofy to be adults sometimes.
Olivia with Grandpa Williams.
My sister-in-law, Jodi, with my darling niece, Ivy.
Travis with his kids......Olivia gave him a plant for his office and he got a fishing rod for his next fishing trip in September.
Travis and I went up to Flagstaff over the weekend and hiked to Humphrey's Peak. It was a 9 mile hike round trip with a 5000 foot ascent. We had a great time but it was a super grueling day. Even though it was tough, I'm glad we did it.......what fun to be with Travis and the mountains were beautiful!
A few shots of my nieces from a recent photo shoot I did......
Miah and Maizy
Maizy
This is my sweetie niece, Paisley. (10 months old)
7 comments:
So fun to see your family. They are growing so fast. It doesn't feel like we have been gone that long. We miss being in the neighborhood. Happy birthday Ella and Olivia. Oh and Ethan too.
I think you need to stop posting all the fun things you do. I'm afraid my kids are going to jump ship and move in with you!
I agree that it's great to be back in school. One lunch stresses me out enough though. It's a good thing you're a super star and can handle the three. You'll have to teach me the ropes in a few years.
Wow, that is quite an August! I think you must have figured out the wider blog, bigger picture thing, but I'll call just to be sure.
I'm jealous of Lake Powell too. I LOVE that vacation!
What a fun August! My goodness, you guys stay busy!! :)
(And congrats on Ruby!!!) :D
fun to catch up on the Williams family!! August is a big month for us, lots of B-days too:) We are settling in great here. Miss you all!! Hey by the way how do you get your pictures so big on your blog. email me and enlighten me would you please???
luv ya! Kristin
Wow! That is some post! All of your pictures are so great! I went to the private blog thing, so email me your email and I will get you an invite. realtorssbbrooks@msn.com
such cute nieces and photos.
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