A Photo Presentation... With a New Flare!

After much consideration on photo choices and the most fitting layout... we have come up with a finished product to share with you all that I think we can be proud of. (At least I hope!)

Before anyone asks... Devin was with his girlfriend Brooklyn or G-Pa Larry, and Dalton was at baseball practice or with friends all weekend. (Though we know they would have dodged the camera regardless if they had been with us... darned boys and their photo-phobia!).

Here are some of the photos from our weekend outings with the girls. If you click on the "full screen" button you get a better visual of the photos! Enjoy... :)

It Can't Get Busier... Can It?!?!

Two weeks down... countless more to go! (With the school year, that is). Here is how our wonderful world has progressed the past two weeks:

• Bethanie is continuing to amaze us as her teachers are now calling her "mature" for a 34-month-old child :o
• Emmalie's Kindergarten teacher has NOT put her on another school bus by mistake after her school day ;)
• Dalton has made it past the middle school "Fall Sports Extravaganza"... though he did manage to tackle another teammate so hard during the scrimmage that the other teen injured his ribs. (And Dalton feels just aweful about it, too) :(
• Devin finally started his college classes... and actually came home with words about what he learned, in addition to the girls he met of course :)
• Devin is thoroughly enjoying his college classes. Good thing, too... because for what we paid for his textbooks, Dev had better do a lot of learning!
• 8th Grade Football 2010: Dalton will be the starting punter, kicker, full back, kick-off returner, middle line backer, and Captain of the defense. It's going to be a L-O-N-G season!
• Emmalie has started her first school fundraiser. She could basically care less about selling anything... she just really wants the water-filled egg toy that she gets for selling even one item!
• During fall cleaning, we found that Bethanie has successfully held off her growth pattern enough to NOT fit into any of Emmalie's hand-me-downs again this fall/winter. (Emmalie was a 3T for fall/winter and Bethanie is still in 18-24 months). We'll be doing some paced shopping over the next few weeks, I guess.

It has been terribly busy around our house. The days start by 6:00 am and don't quit until well after the 10:00 pm news ends. There are truly not enough hours in the day to take care of everything that needs to be done... so prioritization has become the most important part of managing our lives. From four kids undergoing various levels of schooling, to work, to sports practices (Dalton is in football and baseball right now), to caring for the home... thank GOD there are two of us managing to work together. I'm so blessed with Tony!

We did find time for some fun last weekend with a family trip to the zoo. And today the girls and I took our Mother-Daughters trip out to visit Botanica. So, as you can tell, including some fun distraction is high on our priority list :)

I'll close with a recap of Bethie and Em's conversation about the roses at Botanica today...

Bethanie: "What's those?" (pointing to the large rose beds)

Emmalie: "Flowers! Duh!" (rolling her eyes, of course)

Mommy: "Emma!!.. Those are roses, Bethie."

Bethanie walks up, Emma following, and starts to smell the roses.

Emmalie: "How pretty! We have these at home."

Bethanie: "Uh, Uh! Owes don't 'tink like these!" (holding her nose in disgust!)

It really was a fun day... can't wait to share the pictures with everyone soon! But laundry's calling! Until next time...

From Kindergarten to College... and All the In-Between

Today marked another important milestone for our little Miss Emmalie. Bright and early this morning, Em headed off to start her first day of school... Kindergarten!

I was terrified all weekend with a sick feeling in my stomach that something was going to go wrong... either she'd get lost at the school or not be able to find the daycare van after her class was over. Tony kept telling me everything was fine.

Well, guess what?!?!?! I WAS RIGHT :0

Despite providing the correct after-school information to Em's teacher, school front office and transportation department, Emmalie's school got their information crossed and put our precious 5-year-old girl on a school bus headed to our house. A house with nobody home! (Can you say PANIC!!!?) This is the same over-protected little girl who has never even ridden on a bus or crossed a parking lot without holding her parents' hands. I was totally mortified for poor Emmalie.

Well, it all ended okay. The school called the bus driver on the radio and, after just under an hour on the bus, Em was delivered safely back to school and released to Miss Ally for transport to daycare. Tony met her at the daycare to check on her... and, for all our worry, Emmalie only had one thing to say...

"Daddy, I finally got to ride on a school bus:)".

(At least she wasn't traumatized by the whole incident).

Dalton starts 8th grade tomorrow. He has everything loaded in his school locker already and is set to start football practice tomorrow. The boy has grown into a moose this summer. He's weighing in at 158 lbs and standing just over 5'9" tall. Not bad for a 13-year-old boy. If he keeps it up, I won't be the only one looking up to him!

Bethanie did extremely well with Emmalie going to Kindergarten and her not being able to tag along. The reason for this.... well, Miss Bethanie has made a move up at daycare herself as of today. Bethie is now in the 3-4 year old Preschool class (aka "The Turtle Room")! Bethanie will be the youngest tot they have allowed in this room. The preschool teachers note that this is because of Bethanie's ability to catch on and learn so fast. It's amazing how much drive she has for such a little thang! (Smart like her Daddy, for sure).

And now on to College! Devin and I made our way over to the college campus to pay his class fees. (YIKES!... have per credit hour costs gone up since we were in college). Dev will be taking a total of 10 hours this semester (part being online). The next challenge is to see how he handles the college education environment... expectations without the force for completion.

That is the latest in occurrences in our eventful life. Hope everyone has an enjoyable first week of school ;)

SOUPer Recipes

Over the past year, I have traveled a ton on business (and pleasure) and tried a whole new variety of foods from the east coast to the west coast. I have found that mediterranean cuisine is by far one of the tastiest of foods. And, even better, it is one of the HEALTHIEST of prepared foods! I find myself eating a lot of the French, Lebonese and Monacon foods these days. I routinely don't make it past the soup and quarter portion of fatoush salad because it is so filling. (Well, add in my downfall... some good roasted red pepper hummus!). The best thing is I have lost weight eating with my change in food choices.

So... in light of my desire to share with all of you some mediterranean dishes (with the assistance of a wonderful Lebonese helper), I am including the recipes for my two favorite soups. And they are rather quick and easy to make.

Curry Chicken & Rice Soup

Ingredients:
1 cup of rice, cooked
2 large sauted boneless, skinless chicken breasts (finely diced)
1 tsp curry powder (but you can use 2 tsps if you want it "spicier")
1/2 tsp light butter
1 small can of cream of chicken soup or chicken stock
3-4 tbsps lemon juice (to your own taste)
1 tsp parsley, finely chopped fresh
1 tbsp of sour cream (optional)
1/2 tomato, finely diced (optional)

Directions:
Saute and dice the chicken breasts. You can add the curry powder to the chicken towards the end of its' saute... but I think it mixes better into the soup for a more balanced taste. Mix the cooked chicken pieces, butter, cream of chicken soup or chicken stock, lemon juice, sour cream, tomatoes, curry powder and parsley into a large pot. Bring to a slow boil and then turn the heat down to a simmer. Cook the rice (as individual package directs) and add to the soup. Allow approximately 5-minutes more of simmering and serve! Makes about 6 servings.


Cold Cucumber & Yogurt Soup

Ingredients:
1 medium cucumber (peeled and seeded and diced!)
1/2 tsp of salt
2 cups of plain low-fat yogurt
1/2 clove of garlic, minced (or 1 tsp of dried, minced garlic flakes will work)
1/2 tbsp olive oil
1/4 tbsp dill, freshly snipped
1/2 tbsp of fresh mint, finely chopped

Directions:
Peel, de-seed and finely dice the cucumber and place in a bowl. Sprinkle with the salt and toss gently. Let the cucumber pieces stand for 15-,minutes and then drain (the salt will bring out some of the water content from the cucumbers). Mix the cucumbers, garlic, olive oil, dill and yogurt together and chill in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours. Add the mint as a garnish when ready serve. Note that if the soup is thicker than what you'd like when ready to serve, you can dilute it with ice water. Makes 4 servings.


I hope you all try at least one of these recipes. They are excellent, healthy eats (for adults and kids!). Coming SOON.... From Kindergarten to College;0 .......

Wild Animals

We have had a very busy end to the weekend and start to our week... but at least we were able to enjoy Saturday! While letting the boys get some rest before outdoor evening activities, Tony and I spent the morning Saturday taking the girls on their first trip to the Tanganyika Wildlife Park. It happened to be "Dora the Explorer" day too... (imagine a packed house full of toddlers and preschoolers and you'll have an idea of what that meant ;0 ). Here are some photos of our time at the park.










Tony and I split up tonight's activities. Dalton's fall sports (football) parent meeting and equipment checkout went to Tony. And Emmalie's first ever "Meet the Teacher" night was all mine. I think Emmalie will have a remarkably easy transition into Kindergarten... HOWEVER, I think Bethanie is going to have some issues adjusting. Bethie broke into tears while we were leaving Emmalie's classroom because she wanted to meet her teacher and see her class too. Of course, Emma reminded her very boldly that 2-yr-olds don't get to go to "big kid school". Bethanie just cried more and said "My Emma can't go here without me Mommy! She needs me here too. Tell them?!". (It 'bout broke my heart).

Hope everyone is having fun with back to school preparations. Stay cool in this heat!

5 Days = 3 Birthdays

Well... it's that time of year again... 3 birthdays in 5 days ;) Starting with July 30th and running through August 3rd. We'll start with the most recent and go backwards.

We had three very special people to celebrate with...

Dad Rupp...

And the oldest boy & girl in the family...

Devin Michael -- The BIG 18!
WHOO-HOO! An adult now... ;0

Emmalie Irene

A whopping 5-years-old!
Notice the adorable flower hair accessories her teachers,
Jamie and Mary, made for her.

The "gym-tastic" party was a blast...

Emmalie's friends Trevor and Rachel bounce around.

All those gymnastics classes have paid off for Emma!

Bethanie: "What do I do now?!"

Our friends toddler Katelynn... she can scale
the trampoline in no time flat :)

Bethie helping Emma out of the foam pit.
(Awe... sisterly love!)

Emma's friend Caleb catching foam blocks
as he jumps into the pit. (He is talented!).

Bethanie giving the tall balance beam a try.

Mark and Katelynn during the parachute fun.

All in a line to take a turn swingin' on the rope!

Dalton even got in on the activities.
(We have many more photos to use on him for blackmail!)

Emmalie deep in focus on the high beam.

Even baby Zoe got in on the gym-time fun!

Emmalie poses for a pic with her old and new dolls...
Hailey Sue and Kayla Lou!

We had a rather exciting weekend with all of the celebrations and are finally back into a relaxing funk... of sorts! With school right around the corner, Tony and I are relishing any down time from events right now. (Looks like it will be short lived since Dalton's post-season baseball party is this Saturday!).

Stay safe in this heat wave ya'll :)