Easter Early

We celebrated Easter a week early this year. My sister Monica and her family were in town from Texas for the weekend. We all enjoyed spending time at my parent's house on Sunday afternoon. It was especially nice for my mom to have all of her grandkids together. For Easter, she bought them matching T-shirts.
Here is a photo of all the girls standing together and smiling in their matching shirts.

Here is a photo of all the boys kind of standing together, some are smiling, and only a couple are in their matcing shirts. Gotta love differences in gender.

We had a massive Easter egg hunt in which the kids really enjoyed finding eggs hidden around the yard.

Then they all went inside to check out the loot.

It wasn't just the grandkids. My nephew's goat joined in the festivities. AJ tried to pet the goat.

Then, the goat tried to pet AJ.

Ethan and the goat didn't get along. It was obvious they butted heads.

The goat even tried to get in on the action inside the house.

Goat or no goat, it was great to be all together as a family. It's not about matching shirts, easter eggs, or candy. It was wonderful to be with my entire family. The reason we celebrate Easter is to remember that our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ made it possible for families to be together forever. For that, I am always grateful.

My Little Redhead?

I liked the fact that Halloween was a two-day holiday this year. I like holidays that last for days.

Vanessa dressed up for pre-school. Her requested costume: Ginny Weasley, a character from Harry Potter. She is really into Harry Potter right now. She is listening to me read it with Savanah and she loves watching the movies. She can even parrot several of the lines. Last week, she drew a picture of Moaning Myrtle being murdered by a basilisk at preschool. Here is my best attempt at a Ginny look-a-like.The wig is actually a 70's guy wig. It was just the right length and color for my Ginny. I received several compliments on her being a red head. She wanted to make sure all the "Vanessa hair" was hidden under the wig.

Savanah was Hermonie Granger, another character from Harry Potter. I braided her hair in tiny braids to make it bushy. She wore the same Gryffindor robe the boys wore back when they would dress up as Harry Potter. She tried doing spells all day and informed me she wanted to be adopted by witches.
AJ was an Ultimate Texas fan. Is that a surprise? He decided he wants to paint his face like this next year for the game against Oklahoma.

On Friday, we went trick-or-treating to the nearby assisted living center. They have all kinds of activities for the kids like a bean bag toss, cake walk, and cookie decorating. It is a fun family tradition.
After that, we went to the school carnival. Every year it is crowded, hot, and miserable. By the end, there isn't a single parent with a smile on their face. Having said that, we go every year. The kids love it and it's a better fundraiser than selling things to family and friends. The girls loved digging eyeballs out of a bucket of slimy spaghetti.

Vanessa won a live goldfish. It was a girl goldfish named Casey. (I don't know how to tell a girl fish from a boy fish so we have to take Vanessa's word on it.) Yes, I'm speaking of Casey in the past tense. She died shortly after I found a fish bowl and purchased food for her.
Vanessa's preschool also did a carnival to help raise money for a young couple who have premature twin babies. AJ pointed out that the tickets cost more at this carnival but, they let the kids stay in the jump house as long as they wanted. They had slides and rides that the kids really enjoyed. It wasn't very crowded and a lot of fun. Too bad this isn't an annual event.

On Saturday, we carved pumpkins. Savanah thought digging out the insides was disgusting. Ethan and AJ thought it was awesome! Esteban thought it was uncool so, he didn't do one.Here is Vanessa's and Savanah's finished products.

They looked great in the dark.

Saturday night, I took the girls trick or treating. (I'm always happy when they don't want to stay out for very long.) AJ went to a party where he went trick-or-treating with friends. Aaron watched a football game (his favorite way to spend a holiday). Ethan and Esteban invited friends over to watch a movie in the barn. Yep, I said the barn. It was a bit cold so they wrapped up tight. They watched A Sixth Sense, a movie that scared me when I watched it years ago. They thought is was intriguing but, not scary. ( I think they just hate to admit they were really scared.) The only time they were scared was when Aaron snuck out and threw rocks at the barn roof.

Halloween is a holiday that is a lot more fun with kids. I'm grateful for my Four-n-More that make it all the MORE fun.

Which Came First, The Chicken or The Egg?

First, the egg. The girls found lots of them over Easter. The boys were content hiding the eggs and eating the candy. We don't really do the Easter bunny thing. Really, a big pink fluffy bunny hopping around leaving gifts? Bah Humbug! We do hunt Easter eggs. We had an Easter egg hunt with Aaron's family the weekend before and then again at our house with just our kids. Don't you love Vanessa's Easter basket? It is from my sister and Vanessa insisted on using it. Oh well, it's festive enough.Then, the chicken. Twelve baby chicks joined our family yesterday. I grew up on a farm with chickens so, I can't say I'm overly excited about this prospect but, Aaron and the kids are happy so, I am happy. I have to admit they are cute for the time being!

April Fool's

For this year's April Fool's Dinner, we had fishsticks. I cooked real fishsticks so the smell would permeate the kitchen. I set the table with peas, Rice-a-Roni, and red punch. I quickly set fake fishsticks (wafer cookies spread with peanut butter & rolled in crushed cornflakes) on each plate. I also made "peas" out of rolled up sour apple Airheads. The peas did not look realistic but the fishsticks did and they were pretty tasty.My favorite part of the dinner was the jello filled cups. The kids had no idea their drinks were actually solid. Ethan must have known something was up as I snapped pictures while we were eating dinner.AJ found it quite amusing.
I had to laugh at the girls digging in their cups with forks.I enjoyed listening to the kids try to guess what I did to the Rice-a-Roni (nothing), debating whether it was real or not.

Later that night AJ told me his favorite part of April Fool's Day is always the dinner. I love being a mom!

P.S. Credit for the prank ideas goes to Family Fun.

Going Green

This year's St. Patrick's day started out with Savanah crying because she didn't have green pants to wear to school. She wanted me to go to Walmart before school to buy her some pants. She even offered her money ($1.50) to pay for the pants. Finally, I remembered a pair of pants I had put away because they were getting a little tight on her. They are dark gray with enough green tint to satisfy her.
Esteban doesn't have a green shirt so I drew a green shamrock on his hand. After Savanah, it was was nice that he is easily satisfied. Ethan and AJ both stayed home from school due to illness. Poor Ethan looked green but it wasn't because he is a leprechaun. All three of the outfits that Vanessa wore yesterday had green in them. (Have I ever mentioned how many clothes she goes through in a week? I feel another post coming on.)

For my St. Patrick's day menu, I made green pancakes breakfast.(A family tradition.)

For dinner, I made Cream of Broccoli soup and breadsticks both of which were dyed green.

I wonder, can overdose on green food coloring? Apparently not because we all had a happy day.

Independence Day

We started our 4th of July celebrating on the 3rd of July. Logan, a nearby town, did its major fireworks show on Thursday. These are the same fireworks Aaron and I went to on one of our first dates years ago. I haven't seen this fireworks display in 14 years. Back then, it was just him and I, this time I took along our five kids. Aaron was in his masters class than night so he missed out. It is especially fun to watch fireworks with a three year old. Vanessa oohed and ahhhhed in all the right places. She also told me which colors each firework had. The other kids were amazed to hear the sound of the fireworks ricochet off the mountains. I liked the fireworks with smiley faces especially the one that was sent upside down.

Another of our family traditions for the 4th of July is the Lewiston Parade. I love that is is small enough that it is fun and big enough that it is fun.

We parked at the home a cousin of my sister-in-law. It was the perfect place to be! It was right at the beginning of the parade route so it wasn't crowded and the kids received lots of candy. (More than I would like them to have.) We were next to three little old ladies who were more interested in the parade than the candy. That's strange. Our kids were able to "score" their candy as well.

My favorite part of the parade is always the soldiers carrying the flag. I grew up in a patriotic family and I love that I was taught to reverence the flag. I am grateful to be an American. I thank all the men and women who have sacrificed so much for the freedoms that I enjoy.
The Cache County Democrats handed out these fans. I was so excited to get mine, then Aaron reminded me that we were in Utah so I better put my democrat sign down or the kids wouldn't get any candy thrown their wayThis parade is done in a small farming community in Northern Utah so it wouldn't be complete without a tractor,
and horses,
and when there are horses, you have to have the pooper scoopers. I love Cub Scouts. What would the world be like without Cub Scouts?We are in Utah so there were several church organizations that joined in the parade.

It was a fun way to celebrate our nation's independence. We went to lunch with Aaron's parents then spent the night at my parent's house. We watched the fireworks from their front step only to find the neighbors tree has grown quite a bit since I was a kid so it blocked the view of some of the fireworks. Oh well, we were all pretty tired by then anyway.

April Fool's

You know this is one of my favorite holidays! I love April Fool's!

This year for dinner I fixed Chicken-Not-Pie. It is actually vanilla pudding with colored Tootsie rolls shaped into mixed vegetables, with pie crust on the top. Here is a picture without the crust. Since we have chicken-pot-pie every once in a while the kids didn't question it even when I made it in individual servings. We all had fun with it. (Familyfun.com is where I found the idea.)

Esteban has been working on a research paper lately. He put together a Power Point presentation all by himself. He had to give the presentation to his class on Tuesday. His first slide was the title of his presentation: Cow Pies. The second slide was complete with a picture and graphic details of the make up of cow pies. The third slide was titled April Fool's. The actual research paper was on the Texas (surprise, surprise). He talked a lot of about the history of Texas including The Alamo, of course. The kids in his class were amazed that he has been inside The Alamo. He did a great job and he received a hundred percent on the project.

Happy Easter!

This year, we went to Idaho to celebrate Easter last Saturday. We had a big dinner with lots of desserts. It was yummy! You can tell by the look on Vanessa's face.After dinner, the little kids enjoyed an Easter egg hunt out on the lawn.Lauren and Ammon hid the eggs for the big kids on the mountain behind the house. They did such a good job hiding them, nobody could find the eggs. I think we'll be finding Easter eggs throughout the rest of the summer.I recently discovered some confetti eggs that we brought up from Texas. The kids had fun breaking them over each other heads. It really should be a tradition that spreads throughout the world.After the Easter egg hunt, the kids enjoyed coloring Easter eggs with Grandpa. They had lots of colors to choose from. Vanessa consumed more hard-boiled eggs than I thought was humanly possible. I think she just like peeling them. Aaron and his brothers found time to squeeze in a game of basketball. (This is a family gathering tradition.)All in all, it was a really fun day!

P.S. "The Soundtrack of My Life" didn't work this time, because I couldn't think of a song to go with this post. Instead, I picked one of my favorite Gwen Stefani songs. Enjoy!