Funny Faces and a Domino Church

Troy and Leah have been ummm....borrowing the camera.  Here are some of their pictures.  These two have proven to be very good friends.  They get along best when the others are gone and they can play anything from Barbies, to preschool, and house to Legos.  They are fun to watch and listen to.  I will be sad when Leah goes to school and leaves Troy alone at home.  I guess I shouldn't be too sad because that situation will lend itself Troy and Millie playing together more.   I guess it's more of one stage passing on to another.   Is it sad to mourn the passing of a stage?  They seem to come and go so fast that just when you get used to one, another comes and takes it's place.  I guess these can be considered part of the Joys of Motherhood. 

I wanted to showcase one of our latest creations.  Can you guess what it is?  Jeremy made it with the kids.  Hint:  Yes, that's a pulpit and those are choir seats.

Seven Sam

My little Sam turned 7 this last week.  For some reason that seemed really old to me.  People tell me all the time to enjoy the time while they are young, and now I think I'm beginning to understand why.  Sam just needs to stay about 5 and that would work for me.  I guess, though, that I'll just add this on to the list of things I can't control while I try to soak up every moment of him being 7. 

Sam requested cupcakes for his class on his birthday.  I prefer not to buy cupcakes because, well, they are just too pricey to me, they taste gross,  and nobody really eats them anyway.  But since he insisted, I decided to steal an idea from my very creative sister-in-law.  She made an alligator cake out of cupcakes.  I looked online to make sure I got the details right and I went to work.  Here is how it turned out.  Sam was very excited to see me show up not just with cupcakes, but with ALLIGATOR cupcakes.  I felt like a good mom.  We handed them out as the kids lined up to go home (Sam almost went with them until I reminded him that he was coming with me) and Sam was practically walking on air. 

Later in the week we had a family birthday party for Sam at Grandma and Grandpa's house.  I made his "real" cake, we sang Happy Birthday and he opened presents.  I think he had a great birthday. 

He requested a Batman cake.  This is an ice cream cake with Oreo crumbs for decoration.  It is made out of ice cream sandwiches and was SO easy. Her is a link to the recipe.

Sam had wanted these for a while. 

Couldn't resist putting this in.  Troy, Ammon and Carson are so cute as they try to figure out the game.

We also got him this book about ocean animals.  It has fun 3D puzzles and lots of fun information.  Perfect for Sam.

This is another one I couldn't resist putting in.  Sam and his cousin Ani have a lot in common.  Here they are putting together the 3D puzzle of an octopus. 

Leah--the Graduate

I'm a few weeks late on this update, but at least it's getting out there.  Leah graduated from preschool and is now officially ready to enter Kindergarten.  She had a great graduation ceremony that showed off all she has learned this last year.  They sang songs, spouted off nursery rhymes, and showed off their alphabet and number recognition skills.  It was awesome!  She has really loved her teachers and I have appreciated the love they showed her.  Here are some pics of the event.  

 Leah's class.  You can see Leah's white cap in the middle of the back row.

The graduation procession. My beautiful Leah-Loo after she received her "degree".

Leah with her very loving teacher, Mrs. York.

 The children's creations were on display around the room.  Here is Leah's handiwork. This poster is now on display at our house.