Daddy's Day

Happy Father's Day!

The kids were all piled on top of Kyle and it was picture perfect because it was Father's Day! ha! Kyle's a good Dad and the kids get excited when he comes home, especially Lindsey. I'm grateful for all he does for me, the kids and our family. He's a hard worker, he makes us laugh and plays with them.

Kate helped me make him a giant candy bar card.

I made him Sticky Chicken for dinner and then this rich Chocolate Peanut Butter Mousse Cheesecake. I found it in Taste of Home magazine and it was a top winner for 2012 so I decided it's worth a try. Kyle loves cheesecake (I don't) but this isn't really cheesecake. It's more like a mousse cake. It was good and even better the next day. It's kind of time consuming because it has 4 different layers, but it's tasty. 

Chelsea's First Birthday!

Happy 1st Birthday Chelsea!!!

Her birthday was Sunday June 9th and since we have afternoon Church she got to open her present in the morning. She loved ripping the paper off.

My parents came over for the day to celebrate her birthday with us. Marci came too and they all came to Church with us. My Mom took this picture when they first got here and Chelsea was so happy to see them. Adorable! I love that she remembers them.

Opening Gpa & Gma's present, which was 3 new casual dresses that my Mom made and a pair of saltwater sandals. I love all the extra help she gets with opening her present. :)

Chelsea's Cake. I was debating what kind of cake to make her and once I saw the ruffle cake I loved it. It's girly, dainty and pink. It was tricky to make because those ruffles can look so many different ways depending on how you hold the tip or squeeze the frosting out. I had a couple layers and restarted a few times. I made the ruffles with a #125 cake tip and many thanks to my friend Allison for finding it for me at a hole-in-the-wall place in Seattle. It's a big tip so the normal stores didn't carry it. I was happy with how it turned out. I've seen the bunting on cakes before and thought it was cute so at midnight the night before I was making it and thank goodness I had coordinating paper from Stampin' up! 

She was trying to rip that headband off the whole time we were trying to get her picture taken. She succeeded. She refuses to keep anything on her head. 

Crawling away from her cake. She wasn't too interested in blowing out the candle. ha! But she LOVED her cake and ate pretty much the whole piece! Thanks to my Mom for all the cake pictures!

 Trying to share with me. :) 

She's such a fun girl. She's a good baby and I'm so grateful for that. I don't take it for granted! We are blessed to have her in our family. Like Kate says, "I'm so glad Chelsea's in our family." We are too. 

Preston's Preschool Graduation

Preston had his preschool graduation the first week of June. They sang songs, received their diplomas and then we ate lunch. They had pizza, chips, drinks and cake for everyone. So nice. His teachers are amazing. They are SO good with Preston and talk so highly of him. It makes me feel good to hear positive things about him. He really loved preschool. He was bummed when he didn't have school. He also loved riding on the school bus. The bus drivers this year were very nice to him. We've had others that weren't our favorites. The school bus picked him up in front our house and dropped him off in front of our house. Talk about spoiled! Next year, he goes to Kindergarten to the same school as Kate's and I won't be as spoiled. He won't have school all day and the bus won't pick him up. It will be an adjustment for me. :)

They sang "Bingo", "Firetruck" and another one I can't remember. Preston loves to sing. Marci calls him an iPod and it's so true! He will be playing and singing songs to himself. It's like he's in his own musical.

Getting his diploma from Ms Christine Buttelman (his teacher) who absolutely adored Preston. How could you not love a teacher that loves your kid?! Interesting story, but Preston was supposed to have her as his teacher when he first started developmental preschool back in 2010 but he was put in the afternoon class. He was still taking naps so I wanted a morning class. They got him in one at a different school with a different teacher. Well, the following summer of 2011, he qualified for summer preschool and guess who the teacher was? Ms Christine! Towards the end of the summer program Christine called and asked me if she could have Preston in her flex program that fall. She briefly told me about it, but thought Preston would be perfect for that class. The flex class had 4 typical kids from the community, 4 developmentally delayed kids and 4 autistic kids. At the time Preston was in the developmentally delayed category. I told her I'd think about it and talked it over with Kyle and others. Well, after coming to the realization that this teacher really wanted him in her class (good sign) and the teacher he had the year before was moving out of state (so another new teacher anyway) we decided to go for it. He switched schools and was put in Christine's class. It was meant to be. I know she's been a blessing in his life and I'm so glad it all worked out the way it did.

Kate was still in school so she couldn't come, but the other kids got to tag along. They were pretty good. One of Preston's classmates, Kevin, was sitting with us at the table and told his sister (who was 25 yrs old), "Preston knows everything." Then Preston proceeded to tell her he knows all the states. haha! Right on queue. 

His teacher aides were great. 

L-R: Miss Jane, Miss Laura and Miss Tonia

Ms Christine

She was very emotional when she was welcoming all of us there. She really likes the kids and is sad to see them go. What a great teacher she is! Onto Kindergarten for Preston next year in general ed! It should be exciting and a big adventure for him! I'm excited and nervous for him all at the same time.

Teacher Appreciation

Figuring out teacher gifts can be stressful. Today, is Preston's preschool graduation and I wanted to give his teachers something. Since he is going onto Kindergarten at a different school he won't ever have these teachers again. They have been such a big help to him these last 2 years he's been at that school. I'm very grateful for all they do for him and their class. I was just going to get Starbucks gift cards or Target gift cards (minimal amount), but decided to get these drink cups and do something cute with them. While in Walmart this morning buying these cups (only $2.72!), I googled "drink beverage gift for teacher" and found this. It was perfect. I love having a smart phone for times like this! So I bought everything, came home and did it. It was quick, easy and cheaper than the gift cards. It adds up quick when you're buying for 8 teachers! I included some chocolate because who doesn't like chocolate?!

Kate's Baptism

 Kate got baptized on June 1st 2013. It was a special day and filled with lots of family and friends. My Mom and Sara came over early to help prepare food for the dinner after the baptism. It was nice to have their help. 

My Mom made Kate an American Girl Doll dress to match the baptism dress my Mom made for her. Amazing!

My Mom has kept a journal since she was 8 years old so she gives a journal to the grandkids once they are baptized. 

Sara's baby boy, Zane, loved all our kid toys and had fun exploring. He liked this table top toy and this picture is awesome because it shows his amazing jowls and eyelashes. 

Before her baptism...She was nervous, but excited.

After her baptism. So happy and not nervous anymore.

Getting dressed in her baptism dress. It had layers of tulle which made it poofy and she loved it. I had picked some pictures of white dresses online and asked Kate which dress she liked the best. Then we asked my Mom to recreate it, which she did. Such a talent!

I thought these pictures of her surrounded by friends and family were cute.

With Grandma Dee Ann

With Grandpa and Grandma Sabin

With us ;)

With Aunt Marci

We had family and some friends join us after the baptism for a dinner. We had it at our ward building since our house is too small for everyone. I made tacos and fruit kabobs. My mom made some white cupcakes with green frosting and I made mini mud pies in cupcake liners. It turned out good. Since Kate's favorite color is green I went with green and white. I lucked out and found the green and white polka dot napkins at the Dollar Store. I kept the decorations simple. 

{Picture thanks to Marci}

These were the mud pies. They were delicious. This is Kate's favorite dessert. You take 1 pkg Oreos and crush them. Then add 6T of melted butter and stir until all coated with butter. Put some of these Oreo crumbles into the bottom of a cupcake liner. I used a glass to pat it down. Then put a big scoop of vanilla ice cream on top and push it down so it's smooth. Spoon hot fudge sauce over the ice cream. Sprinkle some more Oreo crumbles on top and freeze for several hours. Yum!

I made a collage of Kate through the years. It made me laugh to see all her different faces and things she would do. She has such a fun personality. She's very social, outgoing and likes to have fun.

In her beautiful baptism dress. Aunt Melanie did her hair and the braid was beautiful. 

With the Bushman cousins (Melanie's kids). L-R: Dane, Reed, Kate, Kathryn, Nathan and Owen.

Sara and Zane

We are grateful for all the family and friends that came to her baptism! For family we had: my Mom and Dad, Marci, Jeni & Kevin and their kids, Sara and Zane, Dee Ann, Melanie and her kids, Lynn (Kyle's Dad), Craig & Jill and Maddie.

Kate got new fancy scriptures, a green highlighter and a Book of Mormon puzzle pad for her baptism day.

Kate dressed her doll in the dress and it's so adorable they match. We are so proud of Kate for choosing to be baptized. We hope she always remembers this special day and how happy she felt after her baptism.