bunny fun

There is always a little room for some fun, and I found a few cute Easter ideas on Pinterest this year.

First up, Bunny Bait

This was really simple to make:

corn chex, pretzels and white popcorn tossed and coated with white candy melts, enhanced with festive sprinkles and Easter M&Ms. 

Very cute end result that I packaged up for the kids' Sunday school teachers.  I had a bit left over so I used it for Easter morning place settings, as well.

Next up, coloring Easter eggs

Nothing fancy this year but fun none the less.  The kids enjoyed writing their names with the wax crayon and Carter even drew a cross.  It was nice to know that the true meaning of Easter was not lost during these events.

Getting a little goofy

We did take this opportunity to talk more about the Easter story and emphasize to the kids that while eggs and bunnies are a lot of fun, the gift of Easter is so much better.  I was a little worried about how fascinated and fixated they seemed to be about Jesus's death, but after talking with friends I think it's quite normal.  I suppose the shocking way in which He died is somewhat (albeit morbidly) fascinating.  Kyle and I tried to steer the conversation towards the resurrection and the sacrifice of our Lord.  I'm always encouraged by how much the kids seem to understand and remember.

I set the table Saturday night so that the kids would have something special to wake up to.  I found cute paper at Micheal's and used that for place mats.  It worked perfectly.  A very cheap way to spruce up the table.

The Easter bunny left a little loot for the kids.

Less candy more little gifts.

Kennedy received a ream of paper (for her endless crafting), markers, band aids, hair pretties, a dress, a bracelet and some princess music/story cds.

Carter got a few activity books, a watch, a new Leapad game, a shirt, card game and movie.

catching up

This is a busy time of year for us...between baseball, birthdays, Easter, spring break, etc., I've found myself, once again, quite behind on posting memories on our blog.  I have a quick catch up post planned and then I'll focus on the more substantial posts as time allows. 

This blog is important to me and as I've said before, I hope that one day Carter and Kennedy will be thankful for this history of their childhood.  I use this as a tool to record our lives and all the craziness that follows and by no means do I want to sound like I'm complaining about being busy or that I only post the good things in order to "brag" about life.  Honestly, I try to capture the realness of day to day life as our family sees it...with that being said, here are a few pictures of the past weeks and some of what we've been up to recently.

Carter and Kennedy's fake smiles...I've got to come up with a better way of soliciting genuine smiles from my kiddos.  Because when they actually smile out of joy, it melts my heart.

We had a few OMNIMAX tickets that were set to expire at the end of March, so Kyle took the kids to OMSI one Saturday morning.  Bless my sweet husband's heart, he carried around our big camera and tried to snap pictures of the kids so that I could see (and later document) what they did on their adventure together.

Playing in the ball room and having a great time! 

We usually don't venture to these types of places on weekends, because they are so crowded.  But the kids had a blast and managed to find areas that weren't swarming with people. 

They enjoyed a movie about Dinosaurs and even were treated to lunch in the cafeteria. 

A fun day with Dad indeed!

We got together with the Pikes to celebrate Shannon's birthday before they headed down to Palm Springs for a few weeks.  They are such dear friends and we always enjoy our time together.  I'm so thankful they live so close!

Happy Birthday Shannon!

My kids just adore her, as do I!  She is a thoughtful friend, a wonderful mother and an all around fantastic woman!

See what I mean?  This is a genuine smile and I can't get enough of it!

Sweet Brevin

We enjoyed a light and healthy dinner so that we could indulge in a very unhealthy dessert.  I found this recipe for Recees' cheesecake bars on Pinterest and they were tasty.  Very rich...again, I wonder why these new desserts that I keep trying are so rich?  It's tough to eat more than a few bites, although maybe that's the point.

I'll post the links to both recipes soon.

Palm Sunday

One of my favorite services of the year at church.  The kids always parade through the sanctuary waving palms and I love it.  I love the story of Palm Sunday and it's such a wonderful way to start off Holy Week.



Feeling Festive for Fall

I have a slight love affair with fall...while not a huge fan of change in general, I love to witness the change of seasons, the shortening of days and the vibrant colors on the trees.  I love to bring out my wool sweaters and endless supply of turtlenecks.  I love to cuddle with fluffy blankets on the couch and burrow in a bit deeper in down while trying to fall asleep.  I love football season and the start of school.  And I can also usually count on fall to deliver some beautiful sunny days in which to enjoy all of these things.  Overall, it's a wonderful time of year.

My dear friend, Shannon, made us some delicious bread as a thank you and I had to call her up the next day for the recipe.  It was simply delectable and just screamed 'fall' to me.  I made a couple of batches and delivered them to the kids' teachers, to a few friends and we enjoyed a couple of loaves at home, as well. 

Here is my finished product.  I doctored them up a bit with some ribbon and a card made from my Cricut - I thought they made cute little gifts.

And here is the recipe - it's easy and scrumptious, the perfect combination for my limited cooking abilities!
3 c. sugar
1 c. oil
4 eggs
2/3 c. water
16 oz pumpkin
2 tsp. ground ginger
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. nutmeg
1 tsp. all spice
3 1/2 c. flour
2 tsp. baking soda
1 1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 c. chocolate chips

Mix the wet ingredients, mix in the dry until blended, fold in chocolate chips.  Pour into 2 large loaf pans (I used two large and two small to stretch the batter - Shannon suggested it, as it makes two really big loaves that don't cook quite as well)  Bake at 350 degrees for about 1 hour.  That was a bit too long in my oven, I found the small loaves cooked in about 40 minutes and the large ones did better at about 50.  They are done when they bounce back on your finger and are no longer sticky. 

Delicious, really.  Give it a try!

Each year I like to buy a new decoration for our home.  This year, after seeing a similar mantel in a magazine, I was on a mission to spruce ours up.  I've always just had pictures in the past, but thought this was a great space to display seasonal decorations.  Found some great deals at the craft stores and Home Goods and ended up with a festive fall mantel. 

Another reason to love fall.  I love to decorate our front porch with pumpkins, corn stalks and hay.  It's such a nice way to welcome to guests.