First Day Back!

Caroline headed back to preschool this morning. She is very excited to be in the 4-year-old class. I didn't get to snap a ton of pics, but here are a few of what I did get...

We all know that Caroline might quite possibly be the biggest Olivia fan on the planet. Well, last spring when she discovered that Olivia's friend, Francine, takes a bento box lunch to school, Caroline decided she simply must get one, too. We found this pink one at Pottery Barn Kids back in July. The top left compartment has its own "door," so Caroline asked if I could put a "special, secret dessert" inside of it that will be a surprise for her when she finishes her main meal. You can see it's vanilla oreos, but she still has another hour before she gets to find out.

Is this girl excited to be headed back to school, or what? :o)

The one thing I was not prepared for this morning was Jackson's reaction to dropping Caroline off. During the 3 months of summer, the amount of time Jackson spends actually playing with Caroline (as opposed to separately but in the same room with her) has increased dramatically. He was so very, very upset that she walked into school leaving him in the mini-van.

Labor Day

We had a fabulous Labor Day this year! We packed a picnic lunch and headed to Celebration Park. The kids spent the morning playing soccer, running through the splash pad, and climbing all over the playground. Then while Jackson napped, Brian and Caroline hit the pool. We ended the evening by grilling turkey burgers. Yumm-o! Hope yours was wonderful as well.

Jackson chowing down on fried chicken, strawberries, kiwi, and pineapple.

The kids played soccer for quite awhile. At this moment, Caroline is actually saying, "Jackson, you're not supposed to use your hands when you play soccer."

Look at those sweet cheeks...

Splash pad time!

My fellas scoping things out

I love this one - it's just pure joy on his face

They don't come any sweeter than this.

7 days to go...

until ballet lessons begin!

Last week, Nana called to tell Caroline that she was sending money for her ballet shoes and ice cream. Well in true Nana style, she actually sent money for the leotard, skirt, tights, shoes, matching scrunchy for a bun, AND ice cream! Caroline was so proud to have her own big-girl cash to pay with.

Here she is decked out head-to-toe in her lavender and pink ballet ensemble. I was treated to a ballet performance after snapping this pic.

Isn't she the sweetest and prettiest ballerina ever?

Buns are required in the studio, and I think her little one is adorable.

Stay tuned for photos from her first day of class!

Savory Cheesecakes

During the weekends, Brian and I love to watch the cooking shows on PBS. This past Saturday, Brian was watching a Jacques Pepin show when he called me over to the TV. "These look awesome. I want to try these," he said. Pepin and his daughter were making mini cheesecakes with blue cheese. They looked delicious, so last night I whipped up a batch for us. Turns out, they are beyond yummy. BTW, the recipe can be found here.

Here are the cheesecakes ready to go into the oven. The recipe calls for a slice of bread processed into bread crumbs, but I actually used a baguette for the crumbs. I also substituted parmesan cheese in one of the cups, since blue cheese in on the do-not-eat list for preggos.

Fresh out of the oven, they look great...but will they stick to the cups? Pepin used 3/4 C souffle molds for his cheesecakes. I used 1C ramekins, so even though mine puffed nicely, they didn't puff over the top of the cups like his did.

Voila! It unmolded perfectly. This is a blue cheese one. In the 10 minutes of cool-down time, the cheesecakes pulled away from the sides of the ramekins completely. I didn't even need to loosen the sides with a butter knife. I simply inverted the cups and the cheesecakes came right out.

My parm cheesecake was delish, though I can't wait to devour one made with my favorite blue cheese.

Added bonus:

leftover baguette + leftover cream cheese + jam = scrumptious breakfast today

Yummy

Fresh pears from my aunt's tree... I'll definitely be coming up with a fun way to use these.

Family Pics

Here's a sneak peek from our Saturday photo session with Laura Beltran of Watermelon Photography. It was 107-degrees, and Jackson was less than thrilled about having to stay still for photos, but Laura was really patient and upbeat. I can't wait to see all of them.

www.watermelon-photography.com

Dad's 60th

Two weekends ago, we celebrated Dad's 60th birthday. He didn't want a big party, but we wanted to do something a little different than our standard birthday dinner at one of our houses, so we headed out to Lake Lavon and ate burgers and catfish at the Harbor House. Then we headed back to Mom and Dad's for chocolate pie and presents.

I must admit this photo does not do the fish justice. These were seriously monster fish that hang out by the restaurant...they are fed all day long by patrons of the burger joint.

Caroline tossing hot dog bun to the already gigantic fish.

Caroline and Grandmama

Um, let's hope that gift isn't breakable...

Oh phew...it's a tent.

Dad's new therma pad.

Three men, one tent.

The tent passed the grandkid test, so it must be a keeper!