The Case of the Missing.....

Tooth! Alexa lost her first tooth on August 22, and was super excited to put it under her pillow for the tooth fairy.  We cleaned up her room a bit first so that the tooth fairy could safely move around, and put the tooth in a plastic baggie to make sure it didn't get lost while Alexa was sleeping.  The tooth fairy was very nice and left 4 quarters in the baggie, taking the tooth with her. 

And now Alexa is eagerly looking forward to having more holes in her mouth!

The Last T-Ball Game

Alexa finished up T-Ball a couple of weeks ago.  She really ended up enjoying it, although I think that it probably hasn't been her favorite sport thus far.  There's a bit too much standing around and waiting in line to hit to really entertain a 5 year old, I think.  She did improve her skills a lot throughout the season, and by the end of the season, actually knew what was going on the whole time.

 Team pictures, minus a few.  This was actually the biggest turn out for pretty much the entire last month.  That's the problem with summer sports, I guess!

 We're really proud of her for trying new things and making new friends.  She's still pretty shy and hesitant to do new things, so every little bit helps!

The week after this was the first week of fall soccer- and I'm her coach! Wish me luck!

Kaelyn's Birthday

Warning: Major picture overload ahead.

Kaelyn turned 3 this month! I think she had a pretty good day.  It started with a room full of balloons, and a purple doughnut with sprinkles....

 and continued with scooter-ing to the playground...

 then scooter-ing (actually, I ended up carrying her most of the way because she was so tired) home and having popsicles out on the patio...

 followed by nap time.  During which, I undertook making her Jessie cake that she had literally been talking about for a month.  We made the mistake of mentioning her birthday back in July and asked what kind of cake she wanted- a purple Jessie cake- and then she asked me daily about it.  DAILY.

This was definitely the most time consuming cake I've done yet for them, but it was also the only way I could think of to make Jessie.  So, here's the table before.

 Aaaaand after.  Except I had actually cleaned up a bit already.

 In the end, though, it was totally worth it.

 Look at those faces!

 I think she was pleased!

 She was funny opening presents.  At this age, Alexa did not want help, she was tearing into the paper like no one's business, but Kaelyn insisted that Daddy help with every single present.  I think she really loved, and appreciated, that these things were just for her, and that Alexa had no prior claim to any of it!

 I was really proud of Alexa, too, because she bought Kaelyn presents with her own money for the first time.  We had a little money lesson one day during nap time and I explained how much presents would cost (from the dollar store) and then had to talk her down from using all her money at once.  I think she'll be glad around Christmas time, though!

 And then they enjoyed her spoils until bedtime!

Fourth of July

Since the face painting had gone over so well the day before, we grabbed some for our own while we grocery shopped, and did it again on the 4th.  This time, Alexa wanted it on her face (where it wouldn't rub off so easily) and got both cheeks done.

 She also had very patriotic nails, with matching fireworks on the thumbs.

 Kaelyn got bored half way through, so she had a firework on one side...

 ... and most of a flag on the other.

 And she also had patriotic nails.

 We did our normal 4th traditions: the flag cake, the red white and blue drinks, and watching fireworks at night, but this year we added something new- doing our own fireworks! It was Mike's idea, of course, so we got a small box, and then we had a couple of friends over and they brought a huge box.  The girls really like the sparklers and the little things that they could throw at the ground.

They really liked watching the bigger ones, too, although they wanted to help with that as well and were disappointed by Mommy's "NO!" We watched the fireworks on the hill behind our condo and had a view of the whole valley, and it was awesome.  Fireworks EVERYWHERE.  Seriously,  the whole valley looked like they were shooting fireworks off, including the neighborhoods next to and behind us.  It didn't matter where we looked, we could see some one's show.  And all without the hassle of driving somewhere!

Freedom Days

We went to the Provo Freedom Days  on the 3rd this year, and had a lot of fun! Mike and I had gone once when we were newly married, and again when Alexa was a baby, but not since. The girls were really excited to go!

 Kaelyn got her face painted, and I was really impressed with how well she sat still for the Sister missionary that did it. She thought it was pretty awesome.

 Alexa was being a shy bug, but after watching Kaelyn, she decided she'd be ok with it on her hand, and got a firework.

 We stopped and watched some dancers, and Kaelyn danced along almost the whole time, and made me get in on the action part of the time.

 Daddy and Alexa just watched.

 This was the first ride that either of them have been on, except for Ferris Wheels.  They both LOVED it, Kaelyn especially.  She was so funny to watch, because half the time she had this intense look on her face, hunched over the handle bars like she was really racing.

We walked a lot, got a couple of hair clips for the girls, a dream catcher for me, and the girls and I experienced our first shaved ice- so good, and much better than a regular snow cone!

Review: The Little Paris Bookshop

The Little Paris Bookshop by Nina George is a different kind of love story.  The main character, Jean Perdu, is a middle aged man that owns a bookstore, which also happens to be a barge.  The name of his bookstore is Literary Apothecary and has been moored on the Seine for decades.  Perdu considers books to be medicine for the soul, and prides himself in being able to read people so well that he can prescribe the exact book that will help heal their soul.  The problem is, his own soul is broken.  A love affair that happened twenty years prior still haunts him, and he decides to go chase his past hoping for closure.  On his way, he picks up stray people, all struggling with their own issues of love.  Max, who has never truly known love, Cuneo, whose idealized love had crashed and burned, and Samantha, who was letting her life go by waiting for love to just show up.  As they travel together, they all learn a lot about themselves, each other, and love.

I truly enjoyed the premise of this book.  I love the idea that a bookseller can talk to a person a little bit and tell them exactly what book would be perfect for them right then, what can help them heal and grow.  I loved the passion that Perdu had for books. I like the characters, and how George really dug deep with all of them.  They were definitely all a little quirky, but isn't everyone, in their own ways? I really enjoyed the growth that all the characters went through, and feel that it was realistically done.  The book is a bit slow moving, and I did skim through some chapters that just seemed a little unnecessary.  There were a couple of passages that were a little on the risque side of things, but it is a book about love and Parisians, so passion is rather expected.  Overall, I really liked the book, but I am not sure that I would pick it up to read again.  I would recommend it to other lovers of literature, because the idea of a Literary Apothecary would be most understood by them.

I received this book from Blogging for Books for this review.