Cupcakes

Here's a little something just for me...

So I've discovered I really like making cupcakes, and what's even better than that is getting to decorate them! (Now if I could just figure out how to avoid the clean up!) I'm almost ok with not even eating them, it's just so fun to make them...and take their pictures :)

These cupcakes were for Travis's birthday.

Chocolate Mousse Crunch Cupcakes.

Pretty good if I do say so myself.

I was using a cake recipe and apparently when you adapt it to cupcakes, you need lots more chocolate topping...so half these mousse cupcakes got a strawberry topping. Still pretty good.

And these babies are pretty much amazing!

Chocolate, Peanut Butter Cookie Dough, Toasted Marshmallow Meringue Cupcakes.

I made a batch one Sunday and gave away all but three. I was so sugared out from licking bowls and spatulas that I didn't actually eat one myself until the following day. "Holy moly," I thought! I should've kept a few more for ourselves! Guess I'll just have to make them again...sooner than later too :)

Yes, just look at the cookie dough deliciousness!

(safe to eat, don't worry no raw eggs)

So this just might be my new favorite guilty pleasure to fill my free time...now if only I had more free time!

Almost a Missionary

It was fun to have my brother stay with us for a week before heading off on his mission. This is the second to last picture of us together that we will get for 2 years. Andrew was 10 when I got married, and now look at him at 19...tallest one of all (ok that's not hard to do, but you get where I'm going with this). It will be fun to read his letters and see how he grows and changes over the next 2 years. It will be interesting to see how the rest of the family will grow and change while he is gone too. For example, when he comes home Bergen will be twice his current age, crazy! I'm so glad we got in some quality time together!

But really?! Are you sure he's old enough to be a missionary? He's still just a kid at heart. Bet then again, I guess we all are :)

Pirate Splash Pool

I think the progress Bergen has made in the water this year is awesome. He loves jumping into the water and "simming" in the shallow water. One day Bergen was playing in chest high water, lost his footing, and went under. Travis and I both hopped over to him and I pulled him out of the water. We were expecting him to be choking, scared, or cry. Nope! Proud as could be with the biggest grin ever he exclaimed, "I simming!" Travis and I couldn't stop laughing.

This summer we've been going to a nearby city pool that has a big pirate themed splash pad! Bergen loves it and I love it. While Andrew was visiting we all got to go. There is also this small slide. Bergen had fun going down it on my lap. The water splashes up at the bottom so he would cover his face and tell me ready before we would go down. Travis goes with his this day and pushes him down on his own. I don't think he was happy about it, but after having gone down by himself the first time, Bergen was ok doing it by himself again. Way to go dad :)

The pool also has a nice diving board. Travis got one advanced dive in before they told him those kind of dives were not allowed. Bummer!

Andrew took a few turns on the diving board too. He was pretty excited about how much better he got...so much so he made sure I got a picture of it!

Bergen likes jumping into the water. He's so excited about jumping he would just jump, whether we were ready or not. We had to have lesson about waiting for mom or dad to be ready :)

Bergen playing in the splash pad. Climbing and sliding on the toys.

Mommy, Bergen, and Andrew having fun in the water.

Andrew making Bergen laugh. Love his happy face!

This is Bergen jumping into the water himself and swimming...well, his kind of swimming.

*Disclaimer: it's hard to take pictures at a pool and not get any "interesting" suits if you know what I mean. So sorry!

Six Flags with Andrew

Before my brother Andrew leaves for his mission, he got to come spend some time with us in Texas. One of the things he wanted to do was ride the rides at Six Flags. Bergen got to spend the day with a friend, and Travis, Andrew, and I got to run the park little kids.

It was super hot. Really hot. Did I mention it was crazy hot? We drank a ton of water that day!

Andrew and I waiting for a ride.

Andrew and Travis.

Travis and I being silly.

We took a break from the rides for a late lunch. We went to the car, cranked the AC, and rested up for the rest of the day. Travis even took a little nap. Guess all those rides were harder on us than we thought :)

Andrew barley hanging on.

And me having fun with the camera.

Round two on the rides. Travis and I were definitely feeling our age as some of these rides really rocked our brains. It was fun to hang out all day together. Andrew and Travis are the two in white shirts, with their arms up in the air.

Waiting to take the tallest drop the park has. I skipped this one this time, but I did ride Superman, and that was a big accomplishment for me!

Us just before leaving the park. Travis and Andrew were being super silly!

Happy 4th of July

We had a pretty quiet 4th of July this year. It started off very early with a trip to the airport to drop daddy off at work. Since we were up early, Bergen and I stopped at a nearby high school to eat the free breakfast and cheer on the 5K runners. We didn't know anyone, but it was fun to be outside and listen to the music. Bergen even had fun running the home stretch of the race.

There was an ice chest full of cold water bottles for runners as they crossed the finish line. Bergen was fascinated with this, and one of the workers was fascinated with Bergen. The worker was so nice to Bergen and let him help. People were surprised to have Bergen hand them the water and lots of people thought he was really cute.

After a quiet afternoon at home and a nap, Bergen and I headed back out for the Trophy Club city activities. It was fun to unexpectedly run into lots of friends that evening. There was bounce houses and free swimming. Since it was just me and we were planning on staying late for the fireworks, I didn't want to bother with all the swimming gear. Instead I figured we would just do the bounce houses. I paid the $3 for Bergen's wristband, and he spent all of about 4 minutes in the bounce houses, just enough time to snap two pictures.

After a little while he refused to even go back into the bounce houses (some lady said he couldn't wear the necklace he was wearing and I think she scared him). So we went to the pool area where I knew some friends were. It took all of about 5 seconds and Bergen was off in the water (I barely had time to pull his shirt off), happy as a clam to be swimming! Look at him! Clothes and all :) He didn't mind one bit that I didn't have his swimsuit, yet I sat on the side feeling like a horrible mom, almost in tears, because I had gotten it all wrong. I shouldn't have wasted the money and I should've just planned on swimming. I finally got over it and could enjoy watching him play...but next year we will just do the swimming!

Bergen with his friend Jordan, "simming." His regular diaper and shorts were barely hanging on so a friend let us borrow an extra swim diaper, and that's what he swam in the rest of the evening.

The pool stayed open till dark. After that we got dried off, found a piece of lawn, and enjoyed a great fireworks show. Bergen only had a dry shirt to wear, but he didn't seem to mind...although I still feel kind of bad about the whole thing. Oh well, next time!

Here's a fun picture of us watching the fireworks. I especially love my horns :) Bergen really liked the fireworks. He kept saying, "wooooow!"

Despite Daddy being gone, and me feeling bad about the swim stuff, we had a fun day. I always love the 4th of July.

Eggos Anyone?

One evening I was trying to finish a phone call, and just stood by while Bergen worked busy as a bee...on a package of eggos he pulled out of the freezer. Yes, he toasted almost every one of them, and some more than once :) Later as I was cleaning it up I thought, "this stack of eggos is really funny." So of course I had to take a picture to remember this funny moment.

Craft Day

The classic boy interests are definitely on the top of Bergen's list of loves, but every once and a while he like to do things I like to do. He likes to, "cut, cut, cut," and "goo." We worked really hard on these pictures. Bergen even tells me now we only need "lil bit goo" (same goes for syrup on pancakes and french toast). He's always been good with his hands and mechanical things, but even still I'm impressed that he holds the paper in one hand, the scissors in the other, and cuts like big kids and adults do.

The finished products. Kix cereal glued to the paper. Little pieces of paper Bergen cut himself, glued to the paper. And a colored on piece of paper topped with a healthy dose of "goo," of course.

Quiet Doesn't Always Mean Sleeping

Sometimes Bergen plays in his room before falling asleep for a nap. This particular day I hadn't heard him for a while so I thought he was asleep. I was surprised to suddenly hear him calling for me, sounding a little panicked. I decided to not ignore this one and cracked open the door. This is what I found! He had been quietly putting on lotion, about half a bottle in fact. He had so much excess it was no longer soaking in. It had gotten in his eyes and that's what was causing his panic. Thankfully I was in one of those good moods where I could say, "Don't move! I'll be right back!" And ran for the camera. Sometimes Bergen gets a little confused as to which products go on his body, and which ones go in his hair. Apparently this was one of those times, or he was just having so much fun he couldn't stop after his arms and legs. Turns out it was pretty easy to wash out of his hair, and wasn't even as bad as I thought it was going to be to soak it up out of the carpet.

Each day brings a new kind of unexpected mess that I will get to clean up. When I woke up that morning, I never would've guessed this would be that day's winner. As others have said, his skin does look very hydrated :) Seriously thought, even completely covered in lotion he's cute!