Extracurricular activities: Long Weekend Edition

No school at our house for the last two days which have made for a lovely long weekend. When I asked the kids what they would like to do to fill the extra time, the suggestions included 1. going to a movie 2. baking 3. setting up Halloween decorations 4. thrifting at the D.I. and 5. playing board games. I had to chuckle at my little girlie clones - their ideas matched up with mine just perfectly. Poor Max puts up with us mostly because he has to. (Luckily, Daddy rescued him midday and they built marble towers and then went to play soccer at the park.) We're happy to report that we've accomplished everything on our list and its not even Saturday! Here's a glance at the baking portion of our weekend thus far. We even put some of our prettier ones on display under a glass dome on our Halloween candy table. Happy Weekend.

Oh, and if you love cupcakes like we do - run - don't walk to your local Target to pick yourself up the Wilton cupcake decorator tube. It just doesn't get any better.

Tonight

I'm thinking of cozying up to a piping hot bowl of this.

The Loot

Don't you love to pick out that perfect little find to bring back to your kids from vacation? After countless shops and markets (oh you know I loved every minute of it) here is what I brought home for my little lovelies. Top to bottom - Kalli to Josie. Click to enlarge.

The Tube

This is my third trip to London and I finally feel as if I mastered the tube! (Don't mind me, I'm a bit slow...) The city really has opened up now that I feel there is no place I can't get to (and more importantly, get back home!) I learned this in Paris last year, and having said that this would be my (rather obvious) number one tip to anyone traveling to Europe. If you can digest the public transport, you'll be able to navigate the city so much more efficiently. Today, I don't even have Bryce to slow me down :) (meetings all day.) So I'm off to finish the trip with a day's outing to Fortnum and Mason, the London Transport museum, and the National Gallery - maybe Covent Garden if I can squeeze it in. Cheers to all back home. Love to my babies. See you tomorrow night.

Desprookjeskamer - The Fairytale and Polka Dot Shop

Amsterdam is shopping heaven. Yes, yes it is culturally and historically rich and the canals are fascinating and beautiful. Van Gogh, Anne Frank, and bicycles in every possible fashion. But oh I have found so many shops that are uniquely Dutch with style and dripping with sweet. Just one example is this sweet little shop I stumbled upon...little girl and mama heaven. And a few more to drool about...Didi, Hema (I got loads of party supplies here), and hoping to stop here tomorrow before we hop another flight. Oh how I wish the dollar were stronger and the bags had no weight limits. I'd bring back some more for myself and of course some more for you. Cheers.

Today I'm...

• digging up my passport
• gathering a stack of reading materials to take for over 17 hours of travel time. Do you think three books is enough?
  
• dotting the i's and crossing the t's of my three page instruction/schedule document for my dear dear mother-in-law who will be holding down the fort for the next week or so
• giving multiple pep talks to the offspring regarding following rules and being good for grammy
• giving good night and goodbye kisses...and wiping away a few tears.
• hoping I can buy whatever I forgot to pack

Rise and Shout

Going down to Cougar town for the first home game of the season...not at all excited.

Oh snap!

Isn't it fun to have a toddler in the house who's mind and mouth can be manipulated to say pretty much whatever the older sisters want her to say? We've been cracking up at this one - particularly when her timing is spot on. Imagine how funny this little sassy statement is right after I've chewed out (err...gently reprimanded) one of the children for less than appropriate behavior.

Right Around the Corner

In between making signs and cheering on B this weekend, the kids and I went to the library to stock up on Halloween goodies. You know - library goodies like books, dvds, and cds. Our library has a check out policy of three weeks so going early insured us a nice selection that will last us well into October. Many of our favorite story characters (the Berenstein Bears, Clifford, even Charlie and Lola) have a sweet Halloween story to share. So be sure to add the library to your "to do" list this week in order to not miss out on some spooky bedtime stories that will add to the Halloween spirit at your house this year.

My Favorite Lotoja Photo

image via Dave

To hear what Bryce has to say about his Lotoja experience, click here. To see a few more photos, click here.

For B

Today I am in awe of my husband.

Just a couple of days ago he found out about an open spot in the infamous Lotoja bike race and his mind was immediately set on competing. He didn't have to try hard to convince my brother Dave (an experienced racer himself) to be his support crew. They put their heads together, came up with a plan, multiple lists, a schedule and they were off. This was Bryce's first race. Ever. He has been a mountain biker ever since I've known him (one of our first dates in fact :) but only took up road biking this spring. He didn't officially train (though he rides 20-50 miles faithfully nearly every morning). He's never even done a century (100 miles). But today he slayed 206 miles, three states (UT, ID, WY) and a total elevation gain of 9738 feet in approximately 12 hours.

Since everything happened so fast - we weren't able to make arrangement for the family to come. But you can bet the kids and I were cheering him on from home all day. We followed the map and checked in at every feed zone stop and then made up signs depicting how many miles he had left. We are beyond proud of this determined, persistent, and strong man.

Her Loss, My Gain

We're about a week into Kindergarten and so much has happened for my little guy already. If you were dying to know, here's the latest dish: After finding a new girlfriend and then having his heart broken the next day - Max decides its best to keep me as his one and only true love. (His words.) Listen close - do you hear it? Yep, drip drop - that's my heart melting all over again. Happy Weekend.

One more thing

If I was going to give these as a little treat to my friends or neighbors, wouldn't I be so clever if I wrapped some twine around the jar and attached one of these sweet little wooden spoons on sale here?

Cake in a Jar

The kids are back in school and with my teensy amount of extra free time all I want to do is create. Somehow I had to let that side of my brain turn off when the summer camp counselor mom took its place for the last 3 months. It hasn't been but a couple of weeks since school began and I've already found myself up to my eyeballs in projects. I'm currently working on an art and photography collage wall in the family room, prepping the Halloween decos, having window seat cushions made, and of course cooking! I've been dying to try these cakes in a jar. Such a fun outdoor dinner party dessert or neighbor treat, don't you think? Just grab a spoon and eat it right out of the jar! Sadly, mine aren't nearly as adorable as Angry Chicken's, but I think next time I'll try the half pint jars simply for the cute effect. This one was poppyseed - but I imagine you could use any cake recipe you love. (Just don't fill it more than halfway. I learned this the hard way:)

We spent our laboring day...

...with a few of our favorite cousins by day.....
...and a few of our favorite rock stars by night...

A perfect finale to an absolutely awesome summer.

Spotted at bryc3

Trying to decide which is funnier: this video or watching my kids watch this video.

Be Still My Beating Heart

My baby boy just started Kindergarten.

The Rest of the Story

And being a brother isn't half bad either.