Halloween Fun 2011

Here are some pics of our Fall/Halloween adventures.  We carved pumpkins the Saturday before Halloween.  (That is why they still have pajama pants on.  I thought I could crop that out. :))  We had a Trunk or Treat with our branch around the Chapman's pond.  They loved getting dressed up in their Spider girl costumes.  I also got Daddy to let me dress him as Spiderman.  The girls were Spiderman's daughters so they had to have their Spiderman daddy with them.  :)  It is amazing what a little black tape and a plastic spider can do to make two girls happy.  Then we went to the Trunk or Treat with Aunt Tami at the Dunn Ave. ward.  That is where we got our largest haul of candy.  :)  They had lots of games in the gym including eating a doughnut off a string with no hands (Alyssa cheated a little).  LOL!!  They had a great time.  Then on actual Halloween night we got dressed up one more time to go actual house to house trick or treating for the first time.  We went with my co-worker Donna and her family on a hayride around her giant neighborhood.  There were so many people...it seemed like a never ending stream of kids we just kept following.  We never had to knock on a door because there was never a break in the stream of kids.  It was great fun, but Alyssa was tuckered out by the end.

Thanks to our church family, our family and our friends for a great Halloween!

Cute new outfits

Here are some pics of the girls in their newest outfits.  They are growing so quickly.  They are outgrowing all their clothes and shoes.  They have both grown about an inch just in the past month.  :)  They are so adorable if I do say so myself.

Here are some adorable pictures of the Princesses.  :)  I forgot I took these a couple Sundays ago.  We all had new dresses and Daddy had a new tie. We were looking sharp!

Another Year has passed...

Last year I did this in July, I am a little late.  I love to show a comparison of the girls at the same time last year and this year.  They are growing so quickly and getting smarter everyday.  I can't believe they will be 4 soon and will be starting pre-K next fall.

Alyssa - July 2011

Alyssa - July 2010

Hannah - July 2011

Hannah - July 2010

What a difference a year makes!! They look so grown up and they are sure ready for school.  They learn so quickly.  I am so impressed with their coloring skills and how many letters they are learning.  I am ready to start teaching them sight words and how to read. :)  

The Scherck Twins February 2008

From these sleeping angels.....

To these beautiful angels...full of life and energy and amazing little spirits.   What great blessings they are to us.  We thank our Heavenly Father everyday for these angels.  To think...11 years ago I thought I would never enjoy the blessing of being a mother.  Now my life is full of laughs, hugs and a few tears and I am loving every minute of it.  Thank you Hannah and Alyssa for choosing me to be your mommy.  We love you so much and want your life to be full and happy.  

Family Photo Shoot

We had an AWESOME friend shoot some family pictures of us this summer.  They are so beautiful!  I just had to share them.  I love and adore my beautiful family!

I know no one pays attention to my blog, but here are some updates anyway

Hannah writes her name (really good for a 3 1/2 year old)

Alyssa's writing

Another cake I made for back to school week for my team

Hannah and Alyssa having fun doing headstands and sommersaults

My new hobby...

I am finishing the 4th cake decorating class tonight.  I have learned a lot and I am looking forward to taking the other 2 sets of classes so I can get even better.  These are my latest creations.  :)  I am having fun.

Aren't the girls getting prettier and prettier...

These are from Sunday the 26th of June.  It was a special Sunday when Mommy and Daddy both received new callings so we dressed in our finest princess dresses.  :)  

It's very rare I get Alyssa to look at the camera. :)

Smiling Hannah ready for church. :)

Wow! 2 pretty smiles in a row...it was a good picture day. 

I like these in black and white too.
I need a better camera and photo editing software...my pictures could be so much better!
Maybe Christmas!?  If Santa saves up a bunch of money.  LOL!

Updates!

We have been having a great month so far.  July has been full of changes.  I have a new calling at church and will now be busy on Sundays and Wednesday nights...as the Young Women President.  I love this calling and have served in YW several times before.  I love helping the girls (age 12-18) bloom into virtuous young ladies.  Jim also got a new calling the same day I did...He is now serving as the Branch President of the HIlliard Branch.  He just got a whole lot busier, but he is doing great and loves serving the people here.  He is also taking classes at UNF (my alma mater) to finish his degree in psychology.  He is really enjoying going back to school and feels great to have a goal in sight.  He would love to become a school counselor or work with the VA as a counselor. I am so proud of him for all that he is doing and how he is helping our family receive many blessings by serving the Lord.  We are so grateful to have the opportunity to serve.

The girls have been growing like weeds and learning more everyday.  They are enjoying mommy being home for the summer as am I.  We are doing lots together.  I am taking a cake decorating class so they love helping me practice and eating my practice cookies and cupcakes.  :)  I have only had one class so far and already learned many good tips on baking the cake properly and how to make icing and get it smooth on the cake and add a few decorations.  Next week we will learn more cool stuff.  Here are some pictures of a couple cakes I have done.  The Father's day one was before my class started.  I wanted to play with my new tools and see if I was any good or not.  I think it was nice for my first try.  Then I made the white one for the potluck today after learning a few things.  It is much better.  Some of the ladies thought it was store bought. :) Yeah!

  This was just having fun with my new tools.  I really didn't know what I was doing and my icing wasn't the right consistency which is key to decorating properly. But I still liked it.  I also tried torting the cake and putting cherry pie filling in each layer as filling...3 layers of cherries was too much moisture.  It made the cake too moist.  It tasted good, but the second day it was soggy.  Lesson learned!

This was my  practice cake after my first class.  You can already see some improvement.  Having the right tools and some tips from an actual baker can really make a difference.  It had peanut butter butter creme filling and chocolate cake.  It had mini pb cups for decoration.  It was much better.  :)

Lettering Delights!!

Look at some of the fun stuff I am making with all my new alphabets I got for 50 cents on letteringdelights.com

Here is a sample...

I have a whole bunch of other fun things too, I am just learning to play with them.  :)  Fun!

Summer has begun!

YEAH!! It is summer vacation time!  I am enjoying being home with my family.  Here are a few updated pics for your enjoyment.  :)

 We got a new car!!! It is a 2011 KIA Forte and the color is Dark Cherry.  We love it as you can see. We are so grateful to have a reliable car with AC to make it through these hot summers in FL.

 We got a new puppy too.  Her name is Xena (like Xena Princess Warrior, Jim picked it out. ) She is a black lab and she is a bundle of energy.  She is going to be getting some training very soon on how to behave like a proper dog.  Right now she is a chewing, barking, peeing, jumping, scratching puppy nightmare.  But I am sure she is going to be a great dog  once we get her out of the puppy stage and get her some proper dog training.  The DVD's are on the way as we speak.  (The Perfect Dog System, check it out online @ www.theperfectdog.com)

 

Jim and I lost a bunch of weight.  We followed the HCG plan.  We loved it and felt great.  Jim had so much energy, he reorganized the whole house.  :)  He has lost 45 pounds so far and I have lost 28 pounds.  We feel so great!  We are in the stabalizing phase now where you allow your body to reset to your current weight.  In a couple weeks we will start another round and lose a little more.  Then the clothes buying will begin.  I will have to have all new clothes before going back to work.

Jim is also enrolled at UNF to finish up his degree in psychology.  He will be going to school full time until he finishes his Master's.  He hopes to become a school counselor, or work with the VA as a counselor.

We are just enjoying our summer with our girls.