Bacon

JK got tubes in her ears today - here's to no more ear infections!

Tonight Toby said to me, "you can stop your whining now"
His daddy told him that was a good way to get a spankin
To which he replied: "Did someone say bacon? Mmmm yummy bacon, I like bacon!"

Here's to kids learning to rhyme!

Just another day in paradise!

My new shopping buddy!

The other day JK and I were in Target and I saw a cute jean jacket - Okay I had seen it before with a friend but I knew I didn't need it. On this particular day I tried it on and decided I would just put it in the cart to think about it. The thing is, Lars is very money conscious - not tight, just very conscious.

An example of his thoughts on money: One time when I was shopping with him I said that something was too expensive and that I didn't need it, to which he replied "I've never been so turned on!" - Nice huh?

Anyways, I try, really I do, to be more like him - I'm looking at clothes at Target aren't I? (I love target clothes by the way). But on this particular day I realized for the first time the joy that shopping with my little girl is going to bring me for the rest of my life. It's like she knew how badly I wanted that jacket when she spilled her chocolate milk all over herself and that glorious jacket. Sure there were tears and wet clothes to take care of and yes maybe a security guard came to talk to me when I stripped her down and put new clothes from the little girl section on her - but if you ask me it was the beginning of a beautiful shopping relationship between my daughter and I - I owe you JK!

Happy Easter

Easter egg hunts at school and church are always a great start to our Easter celebrations.And when Pa comes to town there is always more reason to celebrate!
And then there is always the fun of the easter bunny - even if the egg dying smells!


FYI: Toby is still terrified of the idea of anything sneaking into the house at night - he insisted on sleeping with us in the "back room" if the bunny would be coming in through the front door - Poor kid still prays each night that none of his teeth will fall out because there is no way he is letting the tooth fairy near his head and pillow!

So here's to another Happy Easter - and since our church had its semi-annual conference this last weekend which meant a relaxing Sunday at home listening to services, I couldn't resist putting JK in this little get-up on Easter morning!

Good Things Easter Style

How cute are these cupcakes? A friend of mine made these for her boys Easter party at school - she is the type that turns everything she touches into gold - she did tell me that all she did to make the "grass" was to add a Tbsp of milk to the coconut and then green food dye and stir it up. Add jelly beans and pipe cleaners and you are good to go. Cute and easy is right up my ally!


And aren't these darling! Clear icing bags, cheese puffs and green ribbon is all you need for these. We gave ones like these out at our Easter primary party after each kid did the "egg walk" (think cake walk) once their number was called they got one of these instead of a cake. Again - fun and easy and the kids LOVE them!

And remember these:
Just google ressurection eggs and you will get a few different ideas of how you want to fill your eggs to teach your little ones about the days leading up to Christs death and ressurection.

And if you need a GREAT spring cupcake recipe:

Cupcake:
1 White cake mix
4 Eggs
3/4 C Oil
3/4 C Milk
1 3oz pkg Strawberry jello
1 C chopped strawberries (I use frozen that are completely thawed)

Mix all and fill cupcake tins 3/4 full. Bake at 350 for 20 Min.

Frosting:
1 8oz pkg cream cheese (room temp)
4Tbs butter (room temp)
3-4 C powdered sugar
1/2 C chopped fresh strawberries

Cream the cream cheese and butter then add sugar and strawberries. My frosting is always more like a glaze so it works great as a cake as well.

Happy Eastering!

Spring Break

Our spring break week started with a great party for our friend Amber's 30th! Can you tell she was born in the year 1980?




We had so much fun, a night away from the kids was a great way to start a full week of energy filled days that were coming our way.

My cousins Kerry and Hannah came to visit all the way from Kanab Utah during our week off! So far I have had 2 of my cousins come and see me here in Alabama from Kanab, how lucky are we that they have had trips that happen to bring them to the South and then they are willing to drive and see us! We had so much fun just visiting. Thanks for coming to see us guys - the boys miss you!

Then as always it was time for a little of this:

Which mad Lars HAPPY! Especially when BYU won their first game on his birthday.

Then we were off to Atlanta to celebrate birthdays with a trip to the Auto Show. The boys loved it, and I will admit it was quite fun even for me.

So even with the cold weather our spring break was a success full of birthdays, pump it up play days, visitors, a short trip and even a corned beef cook off to finish out the week. Hope your spring break is fun and warmer than ours was!

Sick take II

Does this picture melt your heart or what!

If you read the previous post you know we have been dealing with a nasty virus in our house and JK struggled with it this last week. By Thursday I could tell she had lost weight so we took her in to see her Dr. She was admitted to the hospital from their offices - she had lost 2 pounds since her well visit 4 days earlier. She needed an IV to be rehydrated. We were told we could leave depending on the results from her blood work. We ended up staying there 2 nights and 2.5 days.

I wish I could say JK was a delight and handled everything in stride - NOPE! She screamed anytime someone walked into her room. The poor housekeeping people - they did nothing to her and still they got an earful. The nurses were sweet to keep saying that it was a good sign that she could scream at them. With every scream and groan of "owwie" I would cry too. In all fairness, it didn't help that the Dr.s kept saying "she's worse than we thought" Hospitals and I are not on great terms and I really lose all perspective when I am in them for more than a happy newborn baby visit.
By Friday afternoon we started to see her spark come back - still no appetite though, but she could do her piggy face so we knew we were on the mend...

The day I was checking out and dating paperwork I realized that exactly five years to that exact date we were checking in to that same hospital for Trey while he was having a siezure. I am trying to feel blessed that we have stayed out of hospitals for that long, but really I am just praying that we can keep our visits to the hospital AT LEAST that far apart as these kids grow - my heart ached (that is an understatement) for those parents who have children with serious illnesses, hospitals are no place for kids - or anyone for that matter - but I am thankful for them.

And now just because it is always fun to see the back of a hospital gown....

Thank you to everyone who helped with our kids, called, came to visit, picked up the pieces and kept us in your thoughts. We love you all!

Sick

Toby threw up 10 times on Friday night.

He thought he was going to throw up again Saturday night. He had NO appetite.

JK woke up screaming Sunday night.

I may have told Toby I would give him 5 dollars if he would just eat a banana on Sunday.

Lars had to come home from work on Monday while I thrashed and cried in my bed and felt for Toby.

The Dr. said JK needs tubes in her ears. She has had constant ear infections since November.

I thought I was better but then I had to call Lars home from a church meeting last night while I went round 2 with this bug.

You couldn't pay me enough to eat a banana....