Easter

Easter has been a mixed basket, if you will.

On the one hand, we had great fun finding eggs full of candy and enjoying treats from the "Easter Bunny", including much needed dance and sports bags in lieu of baskets!

We had cute new clothes to wear.

And had fun with Mommy before church.

But there was the toddler who woke up with the blocked tear duct

who also cried through half of sacrament meeting and all of Sunday School, while refusing to go to nursery.


And to top it off, there was the vomiting 4 year old who didn't get the lid up on the toilet in time.  This isn't a candy-induced sickness either- rather something that has been building over the past two days.  My best eater has hardly touched a thing since Friday morning.

Then it was time to leave my family for a stake-sponsored Primary Easter program, of which 8 of my 25 Senior Primary children attended.  I understand trying to keep Easter Christ-centered, but the reality is, most families weren't going to forgo family gatherings, or interrupt them, for a Primary Program.  Sigh.... still-it was a lovely program, and I was there, supporting my eight!

I AM grateful for the opportunity to remember my Savior this day.  I was privileged to teach the Easter Sharing Time lesson in Primary today, and I felt the Spirit as I shared my testimony with the children.  Did Jesus really live again?  Yes, and so shall I!

By the way, these Resurrection Rolls that I made for the Primary are delicious!

 Bookmark it for next year- or just make them for fun!

We are missing our friends and family this Easter!  We hope yours was a special day too!

Egg-cellent!

Monday night was our 2nd annual Easter Egg Hunt/Dinner, put together by my friend Jen and family.  Itwas just a group of us friends, with all our kids, getting together for yummy sandwiches, chips, fruit, caramelitas, and cupcakes!

I didn't get any pictures of the food, which I'm sad about because the cupcakes were especially adorable!  One set were made into a "cupcake cake" in the shape of a bunny head- using marshmallows and rolled out candy to make him fluffy and cute.  The others were decorated with little eggs, like nests.

The kids were so excited to get started, it was impossible to get a great picture.

As soon, as we said go, they were running down the hill to the eggs!

Emma and Kyle were so excited to find the eggs with their name on them.

Drew wasn't quite sure what to do, 

but soon he figured out there was CANDY inside the eggs! 

 (It was really windy- his haid doesn't usually stick up QUITE that much!)

 It was a really fun party.

 My kids got in the car and said "That was the best day ever!"

The Party

We had Emma's birthday party yesterday.  She really wanted a Tinkerbell party, but then she chose to invite a few boys from church and school.  I thought they wouldn't appreciate being fairies, so we turned the party into a "Neverland" party.  I guess I tried to do too much for the party, though, because even though I worked like mad, I still didn't get everything done I wanted to, and I didn't get pictures before the party started.  My friend Anissa took the pictures we do have, so thanks to her for helping out.  You'll have to use your imagination for some of it.

As the guests arrived, they entered Pixie Hollow.  I hung a green sheets, a flower and a butterfly garland, tissue pom-pom balls, tulle, etc to try to create that fairy garden feel.  We also included the table for eating as part of Pixie Hollow.  There, the girls decorated a butterfly clip, while the boys made pirate spyglasses.

After the craft, I dressed everyone:  boys got bandannas and pirate eyepatches, and the girls got a fairy halo and fairy wings.

We made our way to the Mermaid Lagoon (our kiddie pool filled with blue and green balloons- no way was I doing water with 12 kids running around!  I also hung streamers like a waterfall and cut out some pictures of Disney mermaids to hang up).  There we played "Musical Fish"- like musical chairs.  Each child got a Pixie stick for playing, and the winner got some mermaid jewels (Ring Pop).

Then we went to the Pirate Cove (a blue tarp with fish taped on).  There they had to walk the plank- if they made it across they got some pirate booty- a gold chocolate coin.  After everyone had a turn, we put on pirate tattoos.

After that, they jumped around the Lost Boys Cave (trampoline) until lunch was ready.

 For lunch we had Hooks Hamburgers, Tinks Links (hot dogs), grapes, potato chips, strawberries (which were supposed to be cut up and decorated to look like ladybugs, but I ran out of time!), and magic pretzel wands (pretzel rods dipped in vanilla candy coating and covered in sprinkles).  I served Pixie Punch (pink lemondade) for a drink.

After eating and popping all the balloons in Mermaid Lagoon, Marcus was the hit of the party by spinning the kids around on our swing.  They loved it!

 Next, we opened presents!  Emma loved everything from her sweet friends.  Here's just a few of the pictures we took there.

We finished up by enjoying some cupcakes, and then the kids ran around until moms and dads picked them up!

On the way out, they got their goodie bags.  The girls got a pencil, an eraser, Tinkerbell stickers, more Pixie sticks, and a ribbon butterfly wand.  The boys got a pirate hook, pirate stickers, a compass, and more Pixie sticks.  Plus, everyone got to keep their dress up gear from the beginning of the party.

I think it went well- everyone seemed to have fun.  It was fun to get to know some of Emma's new friends from school, as well as enjoy time with some friends we've known for years!  At one point in Musical Fish it was just Emma, Kylie, and Taylor (all friends from church).   I realized those three had known each other since they were babies- I remember all of us moms being in THAT STAGE at church, where you end up sitting out in the foyer most of the time, talking about who was walking, and how they were growing, etc.  It's fun to see how much they've all grown up!  I'm glad they are still friends.


I am exhausted.  No more parties ever!  And if you believe that.....

The Birthday

Yesterday, Emma was so excited for her birthday that she woke up at about 5:50.  I sent her stomping back to her room, imploring her not to start off this day grumpy.  I know she's excited, but really- that's a little TOO early.

At about 6:30, I gave in and let everyone get up.  We had lots of fun opening presents before school.

Thanks so much to grandmas and grandpas who thought of our Emma on her birthday!

At school, she got to wear a birthday crown, and everyone sang to her.  Daddy picked her up after school and took her to lunch at Paradise Bakery, where they gave her an extra cookie.

Then, we got to sing happy birthday to her at home and eat cake.

In case you're curious, I made this with Marshmallow Fondant tinted leaf green, then cut out the flowers from white fondant.  I followed the tutorials here.  The flower is from Michaels- when I saw it, it just said "Tinkerbell" to me- I dont' know why!

Emma finished up the birthday celebration with recognition at her dance class, where she got to wear a ribbon during class.  The girls do a special dance around the birthday girl, then all come in for a group hug.  It's very cute!

We're so grateful to have Emma as part of our family.  She is so fun and energetic, so sweet and loving, and such a great helper.

Six Years

Happy Birthday Emma!  How did she get to be six already?

At six, Emma is independent, dramatic, and somewhat bossy.  She is fastidious about following the rules, and has a hard time when other people don't.  She is a perfectionist, easily frustrated when she can't be perfect.
She is a great helper, kind and loving, friendly to everyone, and a great student.  She loves to read, draw, and color, though she says her favorite subject in school is math.  She is girly, loving pink and princesses.  She loves to dance--especially ballet.  She dreams of being a chef and always wants to help me cook.  She loves to watch the cake-decorating shows on Food Network.

Though we already opened presents, we're in for a fun day, with lunch out with Daddy, eating of the birthday cake, and special recognition at school and at dance for the birthday girl.  Her party is on Saturday (!) {I need to get busy!}.  So, lots more birthday pictures to come.

18 Months

Today, Drew is 18 months old.

Drew might be the happiest toddler I know, which is funny, considering what a grump of a baby he was. He definitely has his rough days, and he can't stand to wait for food when it's cooking or being prepared, but otherwise, he is just happy.

He is forever flirting with people when we are out and about.  He will smile, play peek-a-boo, act bashful, and laugh with pretty much anybody.  Wherever we go, I hear "He's just so CUTE!"

He climbs up on everything, but refuses to climb down, even though he knows how.

He eats decently well- some days he hardly eats anything, other days he'll eat everything.

He runs all over and looks hilarious, as his run is herky-jerky.

He claps and shouts "Yaaaaayyyy!" every time I give him food.

He doesn't talk too much, but can copy words pretty well when he feels like it.  His favorite words are probably "teeth", "cheese", "daddy", and "Hey!"

He can't say "bye" yet, so when people leave, he waves and shouts "Die!"  It makes me laugh every time.

When he gives me hugs, he puts his head on my shoulder and pats me rhythmically on my back or arm.

He loves to be outside, especially on the trampoline.  (Don't worry- I don't let anyone jump when he's on it).

We hope he will go into nursery at church okay, but as he is a little more clingy than my others we aren't quite sure how he'll do.  We'll find out Sunday!

We love you, Drew-boo.