Sacher torte

I got this in the mail this week. I was so excited! I wasn't expecting it, but knew right away what it was when I opened the package! It was a famous Sacher Torte made exclusively at the Sacher Hotel in Vienna, Austria. My parents are living in Vienna right now and sent me one for my upcoming birthday. It looked so cute in it's little wooden box I hated to take it our and eat it. That lasted about a minute and a half. I was dying to try it.

My first piece and it did not disappoint! It was very delicious! Worth every penny (and I know it was A LOT of them!) that my dad and mom spent on it!

Bangs

When my big girls were little I always cut bangs in their hair because I think little girls look so cute with bangs. But then eventually you have to grow them out. So with Mads I just decided to skip the bangs and keep her hair all one length. On Saturday she decided to cut her own her and give herself bangs. At first I didn't even notice. Then when I walked into the bathroom and saw hair all over the floor I discovered her new bangs. I'm not complaining. It could have been worse. Amanda at her age cut her own hair and sported a nice mullet for a few months until it all grew out. If all of our pictures were not packed away in boxes waiting to be moved I get one out of her and her awesome haircut so you all could see!

On Sunday I went to pick Connor up from his Primary class and he had convinced his teacher to let him glue his paper to his head and put yarn hair on it, so now he has bangs too! He told Sam as we walked through the halls, "Sam I did this so I could embarrass you." Sam's reply, "You're only embarrassing yourself dude." BTW, he kept this stuck to his head for the next 6 hours, and no, it didn't leave a mark.

Everybody loves a parade!

At least I do. I LOVE parades. This week was the annual Poway Days parade. We only go sporadically because we are always in the midst of soccer season, but this year two of the kids games were in the afternoon, so a couple of us did get to go. Amanda had a game and so Shaun and Connor went to that and represented. Mads and Sam and I got to go to the parade. I love Poway and I love living in such a great community, but the parade is just not really that good. They don't throw candy (lame), or hand out lots of annoying flyers (good) except for because of this there is not much interaction between parade walkers and parade watchers. We all just kind of sit there and watch classic car, after classic car, after classic car, with a scout troop or two thrown in for good measure, go by. The highlight for me was the little dog decked out in sunglasses and a leather vest riding a remote control motorcycle. Really Cute! I don't really care how lame it is I will continue to go every year that I can, because I really do love a parade!

Soccer has begun!

I don't know if saying "soccer has begun "is technically correct around this house, since it never really ends! A couple of the kids play in an indoor league which can go year round, but the outdoor rec games started this week. This may be Amanda's last year playing, and I hate to see it end. I really enjoy watching their soccer games, so much faster paced than softball. Here's Amanda playing some tough defense!

This kid loves playing soccer. He's been playing year round now for almost two years and can't get enough. He spends every waking moment with a soccer ball at his feet, kicking it up and down our hallway (to his credit he's only broken one lamp and I think that was with a football!) and sleeps with his ball at night.

My camera has not been working well lately and the only picture I snapped of Sam that turned out was after her game when she was relaxing on the couch! She deserved it! It was a hot afternoon game and she played hard!

Picture day

Last week was picture day at the elementary school. This is what Connor wore, his new favorite shirt. I REALLY hope this is not the face he made for pictures. I wonder when picture make-up day is? I better find out.

Grilling with my girl

Madison loves to help me cook. And the big kids love when she helps me because it gets her out of their hair, so she helps with dinner quite a but so that they can get their homework done. I also attempted to grill all by myself...well with Madison's help. Usually Shaun is the griller around here. I have attempted, once or twice before with not very good results. Remember our rare sliders Logan from our mini meal?! But as we are preparing to move into a home that we will be gutting the kitchen I'm concerned I will have to go with out some of my appliances for awhile and I'm trying to prepare my self. Going with out a stove or oven may force me out on the grill. This spicy honey chicken was a first attempt. I only burned a couple of pieces!

Here's the recipe for the chicken can be found here. It was delicious...at least the non-burned pieces were!

Shopping

I had the chance last week to meet my friend Denise and her adorable daughter at the mall for a little shopping. It was one of our first rips to the mall strollerless and I was a little concerned with how Madison would act. Her and Sophia did just fine entertaining each other while the mommies shopped!

The girls also entertained themselves, and I'm sure a few shoppers passing by, by playing around in the display window!

Those silly girls!

Volleyball

Last Saturday Amanda got to play in her Young Women's Stake volleyball tournament. She has never played volleyball before, so this was a whole new experience for her, but she really enjoyed it.

Getting a little coaching. Go #24!

It was a double elimination tournament and the girls won their first game. Technically, the other team forfeited because they only had two girls show up, but a win is a win and we got to advance! Unfortunately they lost their next two games, but they had a great time and got Popsicles for all their hard work!

The Help

Just finished reading this book. Best book I've read in a long time.

More firsts and lasts

Mads first preschool work. They worked on cutting and gluing. Did I mention it's also the last time one of my kids will bring home their first preschool work? Maybe I'm dwelling too much on so many lasts in my life right now. This is the LAST time I'll mention it...probably.