Visit from Mariani's

We had my sister and her family down for a visit.  It was their first visit to our new place, and to the pool!  The kids were so excited to swim with them.

Caitlyn and Tenley are only a month apart, you would think they would be friends, but they just want what the other has.  Maybe they'll grow out of it... probably not.

Here's the whole gang.  Maybe my brother and my other sister will get the hint and come see us soon!

Hello Kitty Cupcakes

We made these cupcakes for my daughter Kayla's 6th birthday.  I really like how they turned out, and they were a hit at the party.

There are Hello Kitty Shaped cookie cutters out here somewhere, but I couldn't find any locally.  I didn't have time to order one, so I ended up making my own.  I started with a circle shaped metal cookie cutter and just kept playing with it until it looked like Hello kitty's head.  Once I got the shape right I cut out white fondant, then piped on the eyes, bow, and whiskers.  I used an edible marking pen for the nose.

Trick-or-Treat 2012

Happy Halloween!  The girls got to dress up quite a few times this year.  They loved every minute of it.

Tenley was cowgirl Jessie from Toy Story 2.  She loved to 'dance' in the little tutu but she would never leave her hat on for too long.

 Haley was Mulan this year.  She loved it when I stuck chopsticks in her hair.  She felt very girly and loved all of the pretty fabrics.

 My little Indian Princess.  Kayla insisted that her Pocahontas dress should only cover one shoulder and that she needed Indian boots to match.

And we have Kittens!

The Cascades

We took the whole family out hiking to enjoy the beautiful fall weather today.  The girls really enjoyed the hike, and loved the waterfall at the end.

Tenley started off happy and perky, and really liked getting a ride on Daddy's back, but she was worn out before we got to the waterfall, and fell asleep.  I still got her picture at the falls, but she slept right through that part.

We are looking forward to trying some more hikes as the leaves turn colors, but had a great time today.

First Day of School!

Kayla had her very first day of kindergarten and Haley started 2nd grade today.  They were both so excited for today!

Kayla absolutely loves school.  She was so excited at the end of the day to tell me all about it.  She sang the cutest little songs, and did little dances to go along with them.

In the evening she asked for "homework."  She didn't really have any yet, but I let her do a paper from a workbook, and she read a book to me.

Of course, Tenley can't be left out of the action.

Beach Trip!

We headed to North Carolina this year for our family vacation.  We were fortunate to have great friends join us this year.  Here are my beach girls:

 

 

 

Kayla and Tenley loved playing in the sand.  We made a beach fort that Tenley enjoyed climbing over.

 

 

 

 Haley wanted to be in the ocean, she really enjoyed boogie-boarding this year.  Kayla liked it too, but she preferred to climb on mommy or daddy's back to do so.

 

 

This is what I spent most of my time doing at the beach, chasing Tenley.  She would just pick a direction and go.  Thank goodness it usually wasn't towards the water.

Pillowcase Dresses

Every once in a while I find some time to sew.  The girls love having matching dresses with their dolls.  I found a couple easy patterns.  Even though we used the pillowcase style dress, we used actual fabric that we had on hand.  With just a slight alteration to the patterns - doll and girls' dresses to match.  Haley even made one for her American Girl doll.

Here is Kayla(and her amazing, acrobatic doll Leah).  She is my action model, would not sit still.

And here's Haley with her dolls Kanani and Clair: 

I think they turned out great.