Cake making is upon us!  I fiddled a bit more with the frosting and I have hit on the exact color I want to use!  I spent a lot of time researching and learning about color theory on this one, because pinks are actually really hard.  Neon is generally undesirable, and it's hard to know what to do to tone it down.

Chocolate cakes all the way!

I tinted the ombre frosting for the outside this evening and will do the rest tomorrow.

We want to reveal her name at the shower, too.  We have been pretty close mouthed about it, although my mom has known we were considering Zada.  We have determined that's it, and have chosen the middle name Emaline, which is so pretty.  I am planning on calligraphing her name on a little card atop the cake, and revealing it at the appropriate time.

My mom is throwing a shower for us on Sunday, and my job is the cake.  I so badly want to learn how to do dark frosting that doesn't taste bad, because I really wanted to match the gorgeous jewel tones of the invitation.  Alas, too dark just tastes awful.  Do bakery wedding cakes really just taste awful??

After much trial and error and mixing and fiddling, I have hit upon the right color to use!  Tomorrow I begin!

I was at the mall today to do some shopping, and saw this lovely little sweets shop.  I believe the girls have been here before with their dad, but I'd never even seen it before!  I wandered in and was immediately taken with all their beautiful macarons!

Although exorbitantly priced, I couldn't help but get a few to bring home and share.  Cotton candy, raspberry, peach, fruit loop, and cake batter!

They were good, but honestly a bit of a let down.  They were not as strongly flavored as I would have liked, especially for the price.  But now I know!  The girls thought they were fun but also found them a tad disappointing.  I suppose I can be grateful they weren't amazing and something we would want all the time!  

The girls are on another hair and makeup kick.  They love using real makeup, so I've saved all the old stuff I have gotten but not used and they go to town!  Obviously!  The crazy liner kills me it's so funny.

Jon and I decided we needed some color in the yard, and we saw that the nurseries have in their fall mums!  These seemed the obvious choice, so we went and bought a bunch today.  Not wanting them to endure the same fate as the plants we bought for the garden, we immediately came home and planted them!  We chose beautiful colors, and we are excited to see what they will look like fully blooming.

First Day of School!

It's the first day of school!!  It's Leiden's last year of middle school, which is just crazy to me.

It's Mimi's first year with glasses, which just flutter my heart!

And it's Mac's last year of elementary which boggles my mind!  A big year all around.

The girls had decided to bring the teacher treats for the first day instead of yesterday, so they had those all ready.

Thomas walked with us all to the elementary for the red carpet walk into school.

It was great to see friends there ready for the new year.

And we got them as they walked on in!

Leiden's first day didn't include any fanfare, which I think she prefers anyway!  They all had great first days, and Mac thinks she is going to love her teacher to bits.  Hooray for an excellent first day!

Meet the Teacher

Mac had a cavity filled today, and I am so glad to report she was JUST FINE.  I could only remember how awful a similar visit was several years ago when she screamed and freaked out and wouldn't let the dentist in her mouth.  This time she was nervous, but she handled herself with so much maturity.  She is learning how to manage her big emotions so well.

We revisited these cute little teacher gifts for meet the teacher.  Mimi chose lemon oreos, Mac chose regular.

Mac has Mrs. Hansen, who is new this year, and when we went to meet her, she had a selfie station which I though was super cute.

Mac was nervous at first about having a new teacher, but we talked with her about how she gets to form her own opinions about the teacher all fresh.

Mimi has Ms. Russell, and she's super excited about that.  I think this is going to be a great school year.

Back To School Dinner

The school year is so very upon us.  This evening I had our back to school dinner, and decorated with back to school décor.  Each girl got a 'chalkboard' placemat with their grade level on it.

I made a fun little tableau for the dinner table.

And the place cards!  They are made to look like lined paper with very precise lettering as one would practice handwriting.

Dinner was chicken pot pie, which I took a leaf from the Halloween repertoire and themed it back to school.

We had a lovely dinner together, ready to begin school this week!

All these growing things in our yard!  The magnolia has several blooms which just make me happy.

Most of our garden is still shot and didn't really make it back after the bunny incident.  And the aphids have come back in force.  Earlier this spring we purchased a bunch of plants that attract beneficial insects, but we were lazy and the plants all died before we could get them in the ground.  The watermelons, though, were over in a different part of the yard, and so escaped bunny!  I have never gotten watermelons to grow right, and yet I try every single year.  I know I'm doing something wrong...they grow, just not big, and they appear to not have enough time to mature and ripen.  Maybe this one will!

Mac is still heavily involved in gymnastics.  We went tonight and watched her a bit.  She is on a competition team, and will be participating in those competitions next winter.  She is so excited and I am glad to see her doing something she loves and that she excels at.

Pasties!

My magnolia tree has entered into a second blooming phase!  I didn't even know this was a possibility until it happened.  I can't wait to watch it grow each year and be reminded of this little one I am carrying.

Jon has been missing Michigan something fierce, and today we decided we would attempt to make homemade pasties.

I thought they turned out super delicious, if not exactly like the ones in MI.

Definitely a tasty dinner for one of our nights alone, and a little hat tip to our wonderful trip.

Whew.  We got home from MI yesterday afternoon, and are getting settled in again.  I could have kicked myself...on the last day in Michigan I took no pictures!  That last morning was another hotel breakfast, a quick visit with Grandma and Grandpa G, then time to head out, with one pitstop. 

   I actually did take a picture, but Jon’s phone is finicky, and it shut off before the picture had saved, and I didn’t realize it, so there are no pictures of our fun on the last day.  We drove out and met with Jon’s good friends, Rick and Katie and their three children.  We had a wonderful time talking, the girls swam in their backyard pool, and we had lunch and dinner there.  I met them last year while Jon and I were here, and I really like them.  They love Jon and I’m so glad we got to meet with his friends and spend some time with them.

   The long drive home began that late afternoon...far later than we had intended, with Jon going the whole night again, unfortunately not even starting fresh in the morning.  We prayed for our safety and speedy arrival home, and we were blessed!  We will miss you, Michigan!  We have had a phenomenal time!

Today I was able to get in to the doctor to do my 3 hour test, this time with the correct drink administered.  The lab tech was back, and was SO EMBARRASSED that she had flubbed up my last test.  I tried to reassure her, and we got on with the test.

It was actually horrible.  The drink itself doesn't taste bad, just like REALLY sweet flat soda.  But you go in on an empty stomach, and then down it in just a couple minutes.  At first I felt fine, but after about 20 minutes I started to feel light headed, and nauseous.  Enough to think I might actually vomit, but simultaneously concerned I wouldn't be able to walk straight to a garbage can.  So I sat there weighing out the pros and cons to vomit on the floor vs me on the floor.  I chose to stay put on the couch and used my calm breathing I've been practicing for labor, and kept my head down a bit.  The ice chips they gave me to suck on provided a bit of a distraction, and ever so slowly the nausea passed.  After that it was smooth sailing, and I was able to read and just relax.  But oh man, I hope I never have to do that test again!

The test results come back very quickly, and for that I am glad.  They were looking for numbers lower than 95mg/dL fasting, less than 180 mg/dL after one hour, less than 155 mg/dL at two hours, and less than 140 mg/dL at three hours.  LUCKILY all of my numbers were appropriate, although the second was close.  Even one of those numbers too high and they would diagnose me with gestational diabetes.  That diagnosis carries a lot of associated risks, so I would have had to be VERY careful in my diet for the rest of the pregnancy.  I am grateful I just don't have to worry about it!

Michigan Day 9

   Today we wandered around Jon’s old stomping grounds.  We headed first to Yates Cider Mill.  It’s only August, which meant it was too early for apple season, but this mill has cider year round.  We got our first taste of fall with some delicious cider and cider donuts.  They were SOO good, and I could literally feel the sugar hit my system!

   The girls played in the water at the mill, and fed the goats.  They were particularly enamored with two little kittens they found wandering the mill grounds.  They WERE adorable, and we had to tear the girls away when it was time to leave.

These goats were hilarious.  We purchased food for each of the girls to feed to them, and they were funny.  They were I think a little leery of letting the goat just lick their hands clean, so they would hold out food in their hands, but back ALMOST too far for the goats to eat, so the poor animals would just be straining to get to the food.

Leiden's goat decided it would like to also eat the paper towel the food was wrapped in!

Jon took us to his old elementary school, where he attended until Grandma G started home schooling him.  The girls played on the new playground and Jon and I sat on the swings that were there when he was a little kid.

This afternoon we met up with Jon’s best friend, Dan, at his aunt’s house.  They live on a lake, and have a boat, and kindly offered it to us to use with the girls.  The girls were super excited to have one more lake experience, and it was so generous.  There were rafts, and noodles, and too big life jackets, and jumps into deep lake water.  Then Dan’s mom and aunt came out to the boat with a jet ski!  They again, very generously, offered to take the girls out on a ride.  The girls were thrilled and took turns zooming around.

   After we were done on the lake, we barbecued and had dinner with Dan until sunset.

   Tonight was our last night in Michigan!