School Supply Shopping

This morning, we went school supply shopping!  It's one of our favorite times of the year, and this was the first time that Jackson got to get school supplies too!  He was super excited!

 

Jackson picked out his lunchbox and backpack all by himself!  He chose Paw Patrol!

After Jackson picked out his goodies, Sarah got her new backpack!  And she made sure it could hold plenty of books!

As much as Sarah and I love shopping for school supplies, it made me a little sad today knowing that in less than a month, both my babies will be heading off to school!  My goodness, time sure flies by!

Pancake Tuesday

This morning for Pancake Tuesday, I made these sweet little pancakes especially for Sarah Bear and Jackson Bear!

 

English Fare

Sunday, we did theme night again!  This time, it was English fare!  It was one of our favorites thus far!

 

We made fish and chips, and were actually pretty impressed with how great our fried fish turned out since we'd never made it before!  Jackson even had two pieces!

 

We also had scones and jam!

And for dessert, Daddy and Jackson made banoffee pie!

 

And to wash down our traditional English meal--hot tea with sugar cubes!

Legos with Jackson

Jackson made this "tallest tower" a few days ago, and he was pretty smitten with himself!  Daddy and I thought it was awesome, so I really wanted to take his picture with it!

Date Night with Jackson

Friday night, Sarah didn't get home from church camp until about 10:00, so that evening, we took Jackson on a little date!  We went out for cheeseburgers and ice cream.  Jackson told us stories about Superman, and we laughed a lot.

 

This picture makes my heart smile! I love these two boys of mine.

Church Camp

On Wednesday afternoon, Sarah left for Church Camp.  She has been looking forward to going to this since we signed her up a few months ago!  One of her best friends was going to be rooming with her, and Sarah was just beside herself!

 

On Wednesday morning, (while Sissy was still sleeping!), Jackson and I made some brownies for Sarah to take with her.  J had to make sure they tasted good!

 

I got her a new journal to go with her Bible, and we also wrote her a card for each day she was going to be gone again!

She couldn't wait to leave!  And we can't wait to have her back home tonight and hear all about it! 

Legos with Jackson

The other day, I went up to J's room to play with him.  He was already building with his Legos, and he was so excited that I wanted to join!

 

We had such a sweet time together--laughing, building, singing, and talking!

Once we'd built a couple of structures, he used his huge dinosaur to destroy it!  Such a boy!

Brother's Day

Today, we celebrated Brother's Day!  Jackson was so "ecited!"

 

He requested toast with peanut butter and jelly and cereal.

He loved waiting for Sissy to bring him breakfast in bed!

I love that he sweetly created this little holiday!  And I love how much it has meant to both him and Sarah! 

Sister's Day

A few months ago, as Jackson was working on Mother's Day goodies at school, he asked me when "Sister's Day" and "Brother's Day" was.  I thought it was a great question!  So, we picked out two back-to-back days and declared them Sister's Day and Brother's Day!

 

Jackson made Sissy the sweetest card...all by himself!

He wrote "I love you" and his name!  Then, he added hearts and a drawing of each member of our family.  He gave Sarah and Mommy eyelashes, and I can't stand the cuteness! 

We planned the perfect breakfast for Sarah Bear--a chocolate croissant, her favorite granola, and iced coffee.  Then, we delivered it to her in bed.

Sarah loved it!  She is the best big sister, so it was so fun to celebrate her this morning!  And tomorrow, we'll celebrate Jackson!

Swimming with Daddy

Saturday evening, the two boys went swimming...the girls weren't feeling well, so we didn't join them.  I did, however, take a few pictures!

 

Jackson loves jumping to Daddy!

He's the cutest!

We bought the kiddos new goggles, and J loved them!

I love my boys...and their muscles!

South of the Border

Last night, we did one of our theme nights again!  This time, it was Mexican--one of our favorites!

 

I made chicken fajitas--which we have almost once a week anyway!

We had lots of cheese and homemade guacamole!

I made salsa too!

 

 And for dessert--fruit salsa with cinnamon-sugar chips!

 

I love making the food for these fun them nights, but what I love even more, is how much the kiddos love them!

Ice Cream Bread

This week, the kids and I made Ice Cream Bread--which is literally just ice cream and self-rising flour!  It was so fun to make!

 

We picked out cookies and cream ice cream, then added crushed Oreos to the batter as well!

The kids love being in the kitchen, and I sure do love having them there!

The bread was yummy on it's own, but it was really yummy with cookies and cream cookie butter spread on top too!

Pancake Tuesday

This morning, we celebrated Pancake Tuesday with pumpkin pancakes!

 

My favorite cuties helped whip up the batter...

...and then they stopped to hug each other...and I melted!

Date Day with Sarah

After church yesterday, we had a date day with our baby girl! We went to lunch and then to see Jurassic World!  It was so much fun going out just the three of us!  We talked and laughed the whole time!  Goodness, I just love these two!

Sarah's Band Camp

Friday morning, Jackson and I to pick Sarah up from Band Camp.  We were so excited to see her!  Bryan unfortunately couldn't get off to go, so Bryan's mom went with us.

 

On Sunday, Sarah auditioned for her band placement.  She'd been working on her two try-out pieces multiple times a day all summer, and she sounded great!  She made the top middle school band!  She was actually one of only two 7th grade trumpets to make that band!  We were so proud of her!  Sarah's band played four pieces and Debbie and I were blown away with how great they sounded!  I actually teared up during "Colors of the Wind" because I was so proud of our baby!

 

 

 

 

After the concert, we met Sarah in the foyer of the auditorium.  She scooped Jackson up and gave me the biggest hug!  We were so happy to finally see her after 6 days!  Sarah and J held hands on the way to her dorm room.

The concerts were held in the Jackson Auditorium on the Texas Lutheran campus, so we had to take J's picture in front of it--he thought it was too cool!

On the way home, Sarah told us all about her week at camp, and it was so fun to hear all of the stories!  She thanked me for the cookies and cards we sent with her.  She said that she looked forward to reading them each morning and that she would reread them if she was feeling homesick.  She even took Daddy's card to rehearsal with her to read again when she needed extra motivation.  That made my Mama heart so happy to hear!  We're proud of our baby girl for stepping out of her comfort zone and going to band camp, but we sure are glad to have her home!

Legos

One of Jackson's love languages is building Legos!

 

So today, we put together his new pirate set!

We had the best time together!  And he loved when "Good Captain Soldier" would defeat "Bad Pirate Grill"!  He cracks me up!

Pancake Tuesday

This morning, it was just me and J for Pancake Tuesday.

 

We made our buttermilk pancakes and used our animal pan to make these cute little faces!  Some turned out better than others!

J couldn't wait to eat the monkey!