Nerf Guns = Dorm Necessity

The girls and I visited Northwestern College for a play. While we were there we stopped by the dorms and said hello to our babysitter, Alex G.  McKenna and Ella thoroughly enjoyed seeing what a dorm looked like and how a college student lives.  Alex has a hammock in her dorm which Ella loved. She also had a large drawer dedicated to artillery! Yup! Lot's of nerf gun varieties and ammo. The girls thought it was great. I think they may want some for Christmas.

Sawyer's First Day of School!

Sawyer and I are taking a weekly class together through our district's ECFE program. I did it with each of the girls, also. What's ECFE, you ask? Well, here's a link if you are curious. But, mostly its a really fun time designated for me and my little man. We do fun games and activities and he gets exposed to other babies as well. The ECFE program hasn't made it to all states just yet. I am so glad its in MN!! I tried not to get the other babies in the pictures, just incase their moms weren't happy about it. But, the baby here with Sawyer is the son of a friend and she didn't mind. You'll see he is mouthing a toy in the first picture. The general goal is to toss the toy into a specific bin once the toy has been in a baby's mouth. Hopefully, that happens more often than not.



He really liked this mirror! I thought these pics were pretty funny.




He was trying to kiss himself!



At the snack table.

Mmm....Mmmm......Monday!

So, McKenna made this! It isn't her recipe of course, but she enjoyed making and eating this yummy fall treat! Thanks Mom for the recipe.

 

Candy Corn Cheesecake Mousse

This recipe yields a sweet and fluffy, light cream cheese flavored dessert.

 

1 package (8 oz.) cream cheese

1/2 cup powdered sugar

1/4 cup milk or cream

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 small container (8 oz.) Cool Whip, thawed

orange and yellow food color

candy corn (for garnish)

Directions ~

Beat cream cheese in the bowl of an electric mixer until fully smooth. Slowly add powdered sugar, then milk (or cream). Add vanilla. Continue mixing. Beat about 1 minute on medium to medium-high speed. Fold cool whip into cream cheese mixture, and stir until fully combined.

 

Scoop about 1/3 of the Cheesecake Mousse into a bowl, and color orange. Color another third of the mixture yellow. Leave the remaining third white. One color at a time (starting with yellow), scoop mixture into a piping bag or large ziplock bag, and squeeze a layer of the Cheesecake Mousse into small dessert dishes of your choice. Repeat with orange and then white Mousse.

Refrigerate 30 minutes (or up to 1 day) before serving. Garnish with candy corn if desired.

 

Recipe yields 4 moderate servings or 6-8 mini servings.

If I were making it again, I'd use orange extract or almond extract over the vanilla. I'd also use a tad less cream cheese. The cream cheese was particularly strong for me. But everyone else LOVED it!

 

Bath Time for the Big Boy!

Isn't my guy such a cutie!? Nine months here (well a few days away from 9 months).

The First Day of School

On the first day of school this year I made blueberry pancakes for the girls. They loved it. Kinda! I think they expected the blueberries to be chocolate chips....but...

As always we posed by the Sugar Maple in our front yard. I think its funny how the backpacks are SO big. The girls each picked their outfits after putting on a few fashion shows to pretty much anyone who would watch. Thanks to all of the aunts and grandparents who got them new clothes for the school year.

Ella likes to pose! She's starting 1st grade. This means all day school. Lunch at school. She was nervous about memorizing her lunch PIN number. So, I recited it while doing a super crazy dance. She was embarrassed, but got it memorized. She plans to bring her lunch most days but looks forward to the all beef mini corn dogs.

McKenna going into 3rd grade!

McKenna and her teacher, Mrs. Tebelius.

Ella's locker. I never had a locker until Jr. High School. They get them in kindergarten.

It's My Party and I'll Cry if I Want To!

Apparently, I didn't get Sawyer up from his nap quick enough. This is the first real picture we have of him crying--at least I think.  (Almost 9 months here.)

Cioci and Uncle Good Shannon

Sara and Shannon were able to visit for a few days. Of course, we had to show Shannon Mall of America. We also hit up teh State Fair! We happened to go there on the HOTTEST of the 12 days. I think the high that day was 98 or 99 with a lot of humidity. I think Arthur and Shannon were over it a few minutes after we got there. Sara and I should have driven separately!

A random chicken that Shannon posed by in the MOA

waiting in line at Nickelodeon Universe

Ever wonder what Sara and Shannon would look like with kids? Wonder no more....





Look Mom, I've the Chicken Pox!

More Visitors!

This Summer our door has been revolving! We have loved every minute of it! With company almost every other month since last January, it's been busy! My mom drove up adn broght my grandparents with her! It was my grandfather's first time to visit us! What an honor!

While they were here we visited Mall of America and ate at Johnny Rockets in the food court! Yup, Pa did too. We also visited Stillwater and took a Trolley tour! Arthur's parents had us over for dinner. We kept busy. Of course Grandma couldn't sit still and she cleaned the house when we weren't busy sight seeing. Mom, as usual helped me out with cooking and ironing (man, do I hate to iron) and babysitting. I am blessed with a wonderful family.

All Smiles

Family Photos!

While the Millers were here, we captured a few memories professionally! Here are the results. I just pulled the images straight from Facebook as the photographer posted them. We had such a blast doing it....touring Stillwater and enjoying each other. The pics came out great to! Thanks to Images By Aimee!

I thought this was really funny....

....I'm sure a lot of you saw it on Facebook.....

Mmmm.....mmmm......Monday

Homemade Banana Ice Cream

(Recipe from Sara!)

Need:
Bananas
whole milk
topping of choice

1. Peel 4-5 bananas and chop into thick slices. Put in freezer bag and freeze for approximately 1 day.
2. Add frozen bananas to blender/processor. Add splashes of whoel milk until desired consistency is reached.
3. Serves 4
4. Add toppings.

.

The Minnesota Zoo meets the Millers

I'm sure you've all seen my many posts on the MN Zoo. We've been there lots of times. This was the first time the Millers went. And, the first time Arthur saw the bird show. He got to be a volunteer.

The grizzly bear exhibit is my favorite.

The camels choose to lay in this icky, murky water. Yuk!

I brought giant lollipops for all the kids. Unfortunately, Dave and Arthur ended up holding them half of the time.

Of course, we always have to check our wing spans!