Birthdays

We've celebrated our first round of birthdays of 2012.

Last Saturday (the day of destructive weather) we toughed it out and gathered at my sister, Joanna's, house. The boys and I got there early to help Joanna with her city wide garage sale she was having.... so Reece tagged along with Uncle Ben and caught a few fish!

He claims he caught this same tiny fist multiple times!

Silly fishy ;)

Here is a peek at the yummy desserts....

Joanna's famous sugar cookies.

Yep. You name it, it's in there. Joanna got this chocolate chip cookie, Oreo, chocolate syrup, and brownie recipe from Pinterest. I call it "Death By Chocolate." It was a hit with the kids..... I behaved and totally resisted!!

Joanna also saw these on Pinterest! I think the kids hogged these.... they are supposed to look like Dairy Queen's chocolate dipped cones. She did a great job!!

Also from Pinterest, Joanna made some homemade sidewalk cake. I was concerned that the food coloring would stain her driveway.... it rained that night and it did not stain at all. However, the food coloring on the hands, feet. and clothes may need more than a rain to take it away. So just be prepared!!

They all collectively (starting with Owen, below) thought painting "Angry Birds" would be fun... then one thing lead to another, but Owen was without a doubt the ring leader....

A back story about my adorable nephew, Owen.... to keep it short and sweet, he is OBSESSED with "Angry Birds!" At the sweet age of 3, this kids lives and dreams only about the game. If you cross this cutie's path, he will ask if you have "Angry Birds" on your phone. If you say no, he will ask you to prove it. Several weeks ago, a new version came out, and bright and early Owen ran into his mom very excited and said, "It's March 22nd!!!!" Any guesses why March 22nd is so special? Well he knew exactly when this game would come out, and he probably lost sleep over his excitement. This kid talks non stop about the different kinds of birds and how the pigs and buildings die, and he follows it up with acting it out. I don't remember the last time I heard anything come out of his mouth! He is a hoot, and his sweet, 3 year old voice just adds to the good times! I wish I had this on video!

Alex in on the fun.

Hannah and Camryn working together, looks like someone scored 5,000 points.

Here is Riley's work.... and it says DON'T TOUCH!

By the time all of the kids joined the fun, it turned into a museum!

All of us adults got a special tour!

Good thing the tour was free!

Finally, we got to sing to the birthday kids!

Colby and Camryn were the kids of honor... the other 3 live in Utah, so we didn't get to celebrate with them.

And that's where we wrapped up! We all decided to rush home before Mother Nature got too exciting.... it did get too close for comfort this time, but we were all safe!

More Soccer

Great Aunt Peggy's Hunt

We are off to Wichita to participate in my Aunt Peggy's annual Easter Egg hunt.... but first a couple pictures.

Here are all 11 kids participating.

And here are all of the older kids who had to give the little ones a head start.... waiting patiently!

They move fast, but I got a couple hunting pictures!

Love Riley's face in this one!

An Easter miracle to blog about.... supposedly only 500 eggs were hidden, but almost 600 were found!!! Hmmm.... Don't think we will ever figure that one out!

The boys with their Great Grandmother, age 96!

Happy Easter!

Living the Life

This is how helpful my son is when mom or dad has to wrestle on his soccer socks and shin guards before practice twice a week. It's quite a workout but it doesn't bother this kid! :)

Easter Eggs

Riley's Room

Well, Riley's room is officially furnished.... the walls need filled up a bit, but that will be my summer project.

Jake made this headboard....

Jake made this TV stand for our last MONSTER TV we own.... I will be happy when this dies, but it works well. Reece and Riley have movie night in here a lot. That's all they can watch on this giant. (And that's the chair I hope to reupholster!)

And Jake made this awesome shelf. It is JUST like the shelf I found on Pinterest, just bigger.

This shelf did cause a headache! Looked perfect in the garage while building and when completed.... moved it into the room and of course the crooked floors and walls made it look terrible! I wanted it to go against the wall that juts out (by the TV), but that is where the floor is at it's worst. It just looked terrible. So we had to rearrange the room. The room just isn't made for a queen size bed, and the corner that we lose in this room makes things so awkward, but this was our best solution! I can't wait to get things on the walls. It's looking FUN! Pictures just don't do it justice!

Baked Sweet and Sour Chicken

Another successful Pinterest meal, and here is the recipe!

When I first started out making this dish, I soon realized I was way over my head! Way past my comfort level in the kitchen, and super thankful I had Jake around to just help with little things here and there! I'm not nearly as good in the kitchen as he is, but by the time this meal was done, I was amazed!! This stuff is good enough to order at a restaurant!! Feeling like the chicken, alone, was a big task for me, I opted to make boxed rice..... next time I'll make the recipe for Fried Rice included with the chicken recipe.

This isn't a meal to make on a school night when time seems to go too fast, but we will make it again! Yummy!