Summer Turns Six/ Cake Boss (or not)

To start off Summer's birthday we woke her up early before Philip left for work and gave her breakfast in bed. She was tired, but very grateful since she love breakfast in bed.

Later that day Philip planned to leave work early so we could take Summer out to dinner and spend time with her. Well, he did leave early only to get stuck on the train that broke down in between stations. So, Summer went outside and waited for him anxiously while playing on the playground.

Finally after waiting for two hours on the train Philip informed us that it was moving again and that we should meet him at the train station so he did not have to take a bus to get home.

After picking him up we went for a late dinner at Red Robin. Summer likes that place so she was happy. Philip explained to our waitress about the interesting experience on the train and on Summer's birthday.

Later they came out and sang happy birthday to her. As you can see she is very shy and doesn't like attention. She was looking away the whole time.

After they left this is the look on her face when she saw what they had brought her. A huge ice cream cake. She later explained to her grandma that it was as big as her head. She was in ice cream heaven.

Just before going to bed she finally got to open a few gifts. She has been wanting a gum ball machine for some time now so we finally got her one.

We also upgraded her to a bigger bike. Unfortunately it wasn't put together, however, she seemed pleased with it.

Since Summer's birthday was on a weeknight we decided to celebrate with the family on Saturday. Her favorite food is spaghetti and meatballs so that is what we served. This was her first birthday outside of Texas and outside of the US. The first one near family too.

Summer and Abby making a birds nest outside. They have a lot of fun together.

Everyone enjoying themselves.

Grandma Harvey enjoying her grandchildren.

On to the Cake!

About three years ago while I was pregnant and about to have Scott I tried to cover a cake in fondant for Summer's birthday. It was a nightmare and I decided that I would stick to cupcakes from then on. Well there must be something about being pregnant because this year I got ambitious and decided we should try making a Tangled cake. I love watching the Cake Boss and he makes everything look so easy. So I thought I would give it a whirl. Well it turned into a whirlwind. Here is my process.

First Summer and I went to the cake shop and picked out a bunch of candies and sprinkles for the cake. That was fun. I also bought two round pans that are super nice and I love. So, Friday I began by baking and baking cakes all day.

Well then I prepared the bottom of the cake, then the tower, and finally the top of the tower where Repunzel like to look out of the window. Each piece started taking shape and for a first timer I thought I had done fairly well.

Philip surprised me that night with tickets to see Wicked. I was so excited, but unfortunately the cake had to be put on hold.

The next morning is when I actually decorated the tower and the top tower. I was getting so excited to finally be done and to have a Cake Boss master piece.

I got about this far with the tower attached to the bottom of the cake. I then tried putting the top part on and right away realized it was not going to stay. I thought and thought of what to do. So I finally figured it out and put the top on. It stayed and I went to wash my hands off. I was so excited until I returned to the cake to find that the top and a huge chunk of the tower had fallen off. All that work! Well I salvaged the tower and tried to salvage the top by redoing the roof. It doesn't look nearly as good, but at this point I didn't care. Oh, and if you look below I made sure to give Repunzel some Utah hair nice and big.

So I set the top on a separate plate to display the cake part way finished. When it was time to sing we then put the top on and I held it in place while we got a few pictures and sang to Summer.

So, some lessons I have learned are:

1. I am not the Cake Boss nor do I think he would ever hire me.

2. I think I liked making the bottom round part so much I want to make my own birthday cake next month.

3. I love the cake pans I purchased.

4. Although it was time consuming and the cake never stood on its own longer than 3 minutes I will not give up and stick to cupcakes only.

5. Maybe I will take a cake class.

It was a good birthday and we are so proud to have Summer in our family. I can't believe she is six. It kind of makes me feel old. Now we can count down four more days to celebrate the birth of our new baby boy, and the day after that Scott's 3rd birthday.

Preparing for Baby

We have started the count down to the arrival of baby #3. We are all so excited. Here is a countdown chain that Summer made. The pink ones are the number of chains left until her 6th birthday. The seven extra ones at the end are the countdown until the baby will be born. If we would have added one more chain that would bring us to Scott's 3rd birthday. June is a busy month for us. So, I have a scheduled c-section on June 16th. The doctor wanted it to be on the 17th, but I explained that is Scott's special day. Anyhow, we are super excited, and now we get to celebrate all three birthdays very close together.

As Philip and I prepare for the baby to arrive we have gone shopping for some things. I set this little bouncer thing up and told Philip that I bet as soon as Summer sees it she will grab her dolls and put it in there. I was right. She noticed it the next day and I found her in the baby's room playing with it. She then noticed a bassinet in our room and ran to get her doll. She is so excited. Yesterday she even helped me put up the new crib. Our last crib was recalled and the company is out of business so we decided to play it safe and get a new one.
The other day she came in and said look at my baby in my belly. Of course the balloon inside her shirt made her fit right in.

She wanted to take a picture of my baby in my belly too. Yikes I am huge.

Anyhow, we are getting ready and looking forward to him finally coming. I told Philip that these last days are going to go by so slow because I just can't wait. He said I should be patient because once he is here I will be even more exhausted and want to hand the baby off to someone. I don't care, I just look forward to meeting him.

Well, I have also been busy making a bunch of things for the baby. Unfortunately I left it to the last couple months and now it is way harder to bend down on the floor if I need to. You can check out some of the things on my craft blog.

I will most likely be posting a few pictures of the baby on facebook since I can do it on my phone. The blog will have to wait until after I get home because I don't think Philip knows how to post on here.

Summer Enjoying Life in Canada

Summer has been enjoying life here in Canada. She really misses her friends in Houston and asks about them almost everyday. However, she has found plenty of things to do in order to keep busy and have fun.

The other day she came down and showed me how she put a leotard on her penguin. She thought it was so great that they could have matching dress ups.

A few minutes later I found her in the living room playing gymnastics with her stuffed animals. She was the coach of course. She taught them all the things she use to do in gymnastics back in Houston.

Moments like this make me smile, and grab the camera. She is creative and loves her animals.

She has also been spending time with her cousin who lives very close. They had fun yesterday enjoying the nice weather outside.

They found a dead lady bug so Summer asked her cousin if she wanted to put the lady bug in heaven. Summer made a sign and they went out to burry the bug. Translation of the sign, "Dead Lady bug be gentle."

Today Grandma Harvey came over with some flowers to plant with Summer. I was delighted because Summer had so much fun, we have lots of flowers, and I didn't have to bend over with my big prego belly to plant them. Summer wasn't too thrilled to see me taking pictures.

Summer relaxing while Grandma does all the work. Still making Grandma slave away.

Finally she gets in there and finishes off by watering the flowers. It will be fun to see them bloom. She also planted a flower my mom gave her last year for her birthday. Now she finally gets to watch it grow.

Anyways, there you have it some adventures from Summer.

Roaches!

You know you have lived in the South for a while when your five year old daughter mistakes a bin full of dates at the grocery store for a bin full of cockroaches.

That is one thing I don't miss about Houston. Thankfully we did not ever see as many as all of these dates, but we did see a few every summer. Anyhow, I thought it was really funny that she actually thought they were roaches. Thankfully they are not, but they do look a little unappetizing.

Unrelated to roaches is the picture below.

In the morning Summer likes to come in my room and watch some cartoons which is fine by be because it means I can sleep a little bit longer. For now anyways. I had to take a picture of this when I saw it because it was so cute. She has so much concern for her penguin and barbie that she shared her blanket with them while they all watch cartoons together.

I sure do love her.

Easter at Stanley Park

This year we started celebrating Easter with family home evening. First we had a lesson with a bunch of plastic eggs filled with things that represented certain things from the scriptures about the Atonement and the resurrection of our Savior Jesus Christ. It was great, and I think I will do it again next year.

For the activity we dyed eggs. I still don't know what to do with them because I don't think any of us are big on deviled eggs.

I guess Summer is not quite sure what to think of the color. Her face just cracks me up. I am not sure what she is thinking.

I searched and searched for a community Easter egg hunt. Maybe I didn't search good enough, but all the ones I could find were on Sunday and you had to pay a bunch to go to one. Thanks to my brother-in-law Andrew we were able to go to Easter on the train at Stanley Park. He sent me a link and it sounded great to me. So we decided to check it out. Summer loved seeing the Easter Bunny. Apparently the Easter Chick was suppose to be there too, she could not find the chick anywhere and was disappointed. She even wrote a letter to the Easter Bunny to tell the Easter Chick that she missed him today.

As part of the hunt she got to ride on the train. We all enjoyed it and saw many interesting things.
We saw our first Canadian moose. OK so its just a statue, but it was a moose in Canada.

I obviously need to learn how to operate my camera. Here is a very blurry picture of Summer hunting for the three empty plastic eggs she was allowed. After she found them she traded them in for a bag of candy.

After we left that area of the park we decided to walk around a little bit. The tide was low, so Philip, his dad, and Summer went down to search for baby crabs. I stayed up because the stairs were really steep and I had already fallen down the stairs in our house today. So, I decided to play it safe.

Here is one of the baby crabs the found. I just know if my sister's kids were here that they would love to do this.
Summer showing me a crab. She really did not want to hold it even though it was dead. She was just fine putting it down.
There were piles of purple starfish all over the place. I don't think I have seen so many before. We also saw a raccoon, but I couldn't get a good picture because it hid behind a rock.

The pictures don't really do the justice, but it really is so beautiful here. I thought I would have a picture of myself.
Philip, Me, Summer, and Grandpa Harvey.
Summer really enjoyed spending time with her grandpa. She loves him so much. We walked a long way and I was impressed how far she went.
Summer enjoying the sun and the break while we waited for dad to go get the car. I was the wimpy prego lady that insisted to wait for a ride.
We really had a lot of fun there. I would love to go there for a picnic, and a bike ride. Oh, and so many people still roller blade here. I haven't done that in years. Perhaps I will try it after I have this baby.

There are so many things I have yet to see here. Now that it is getting a little warmer I look forward to going out and having new adventures.

More on Easter after Easter.

High Heels

Back in Houston Summer had a few friends that had dress shoes with a small heel on them. Ever since she has always wanted some too. Finally I gave in after her Grandma Harvey bought her this cute Easter dress that she needed shoes to match. Of course we stumbled upon a pair of white shoes with heels on them.

Here she is so excited to finally be wearing her very own pair of high heels.

She is so proud of them and could not wait to show her dad. She is such a girly girl and I think Philip likes that. The first thing she wanted to do after she put them on was hear them click on the floor. She makes me smile.

She insisted that I take a picture of her doing a curtsy.

Finally here is a photo of me at 30 weeks. Kristen this is for you. OK, and anyone else who cares to see a huge prego lady. I had to use Summer as my Photographer and I think she did a pretty good job.

It is fun to see my little girl transitioning into a girl rather than a toddle girl. I do admit that I wish I could have her small again, but I can look at pictures right. Anyhow, I hope all you women enjoy your own high heels as much as my little one enjoys hers.

Two weeks in Canada

We have been here in Canada for about two weeks now. Things are definitely different, but we are doing good and trying to adjust.

Here are a few highlights from the last two weeks.

Summer waiting in the line up to go into school. She is very shy and doesn't like standing in the line up without me nearby. She is adjusting well and likes her teacher. It is not nearly as intense as her last school. In fact it may be a little too laid back. She even compared it to the Owl's Nest preschool that she went to. She likes it and as long as we continue practicing reading, writing, and math with her at home I won't worry. The biggest challenge is picking her up from school because it is very busy and there is no system for picking up. There are very few parking spots which makes for a chaotic dismissal.

Today she told me that the best part of school was making Easter baskets that they are suppose to leave at school so the Easter bunny will put stuff in it for them.

Here are a few pictures of our townhouse. I only took a couple because we still have a lot of stuff in boxes. The thing I like best about it is the light that comes in. It is very different having the morning light wake us up.

This is the view from our chapel. Isn't it nice. We are so fortunate to live only 8 minutes from the temple. Now we need to take advantage of it and go frequently. It will also be nice for Summer to see it every week.
Summer holding her new cousin. She is practicing for when she gets to hold her own baby brother. Isn't he so cute. Now he needs a name.
On the way to the hospital I spotted this ghostbusters car. I had to take a picture. It would be so awesome if the owner would let me borrow it for the trunk or treat at Halloween and then I would dress my family up as the ghostbusters. Anyhow I thought it was neat.
Summer found a new thing she can do to help me cook. She can grate cheese. She really did a great job and found it to be very enjoyable.

Yesterday I let her go outside because it had finally stopped raining here. She made some sort of lounge area and brought her dolls. She really enjoyed playing outside and I enjoyed letting her go out and seeing her from the window.

She also had the idea to have her lunch outside on the patio so that she could enjoy the sun. So here she is with her doll enjoying a picnic.
We are starting to feel somewhat settled. It will be nice once we have everything set up. I especially can't wait to get my permanent residency papers turned in because then I can actually go into the US without fearing being refused entrance back into Canada.

It is nice being close to family and seeing them often. Summer has enjoyed being picked up from school by her grandpa once and also going on a special date with grandma to dinner and shopping. We really enjoy having them so close now. It is even nice that we are closer to my family so that it is much more possible for them to visit us as well.

Anyhow, more updates to come as we venture here in Canada.