Yellow Makes Me Happy

Teacher-in-Service day

Today there was no school= Teacher-in-Service day.  Sam is very atonomous.  Georgie loves to play alone & check in with me from time to time... but Charley, she wants to know what activities we are doing from the minute we get up until the minute she goes to bed.  She likes a plan.  She likes structure.  A day off from school does NOT equal down time for Charley.  So today I whipped up a batch of Sugar Cookie Playdough. 

I actually doubled the recipe which I found here.  The Cookie Shop is an awesome blog, make sure you stop by & check it out!

This is Charley's cherry that she made...

Here is my little Frankenstine.  Of course you know that I had to get in on the fun... Although, I have a small case of OCD & can't stand it when they mix the colors together!!  I really have to prepare myself when I make the choice to get the regular playdough out!!

The next picture I feel like I have to prepare you for...  Sam made it, & it's supposed to be an apple tree.  I did a double take & had to ask what it was. 

See what I mean... I warned ya.  Boys are so dirty!

 We sure did have a lot of fun!  If you have a rainy day, you should try these...
 
  
 
 
  

Breakfast is HARD!!

Sometimes I struggle with what to feed my kids for breakfast... do you?  I don't really remember what I ate for breakfast when I was little except for the apple fritters that my dad used to bring home Saturday mornings.  I'm pretty sure I ate cereal before school, but who remembers?  For some reason I just cannot bring myself to feed the little peeps cereal before school.  I like to think they are going off with bellies full of nutritious, warm food.  So, we have a regular rotation, but I'm always on the lookout for new recipes to add into our usuals.

I came upon a recipe on Bakerella (fabulous, awesome, delicious blog).  It was for Chocolate Chip-Maple Pancake Dippers.  They went over REALLY well around these parts!

 You want some, don't ya!!

They each got their own little dish of warm maple syrup to dip them in.  Can you say MMMMM?  Here's the link... give them a try, your little people wont be sorry you did!   

  
 
  

Peanut Butter Cups & Field Trips...

We have been trying to come up with activities to keep us busy inside when it rains... The kids have had a glimpse of the sun and all they can focus on is playing outside!  Alas, that leaves me to come up with SUPER exciting things to do inside to distract them when it rains!  So last week for one of our rainy day activities we made homemade peanut butter cups... Let me just say... YUM!  I'm not a huge chocolate fan, but I could live on peanut butter and mashed potatoes...

Finished product...

Here's a shot of the inside...

 You may never buy Reese's again...  I used this recipe.  Life in a Peanut Shell is such a cool blog!  She bakes the coolest stuff!  Totally inspiring!

We also had a field trip to the zoo for preschool last week.  It was CROWDED.  The zoo is in Tacoma, and it was "Free Tacoma" day.  Meaning if you live in the city you can go for free... Everyone and their uncle was there!!

The girls still had fun, and watching them encounter new things is priceless :)

  

Those are Gerogie's hands on the belly of a walrus... he swam right up against the glass and she wasn't scared (if you have ever encountered my little person you would know she's kind of a weiner, God love her anyway)

Here's a pic of the big sissy on the Merry-Go-Round... This might've been the highlight for her!  She didn't want to get off... She could've stayed on except for all the dang middle schoolers that were there! 

Sam went to the beach with his best friend & family this weekend...  They were there all weekend and I could tell they had so much fun...  He hasn't stopped telling about his adventures from the minute he walked in the door.

 Sam and Ben...

This one is a little hazy, but they look so happy... I love it!  It's a little bitter sweet for me, watching these two.  Ben"s mamma is also a good friend of mine and his little sister is close with the girls.  They are moving across the counrty at the end of July.  It breaks my heart to see them go... I'm trying to remind myself that with every door that closes, another opens. 

Alright... enough sappy!  It's supposed to be 81 degrees on Thursday!  Enjoy that my peeps!  Lover every minute of it!

signs of summer

To me, one of the first signs of summer is baseball.  I know it technically starts in the spring, but they don't call them "The Boys of Summer" for no reason!  This year I only have one ball player.  Sam opted not to play (now I think he wishes that he had!).  Charley is fearless on the field!  (I used to be a softball player... it was one of my true loves, so it gives me much pleasure to have my girl feel the same joy that I used to!)

Can you see the ball coming off her bat?  I am coaching the team this year, and it is SOOO hard for me not to go over board when she does something awesome... I am bursting!

We also had teacher appreciation last week.  I tend to think homemade goodies are where it's at...  Sooo

Lilac's clipped from my yard, my super duper homemade oatmeal M&M cookies, and of course a homemade card.

I love the new Koshi Doll from A Muse.  She is SOOO cute... We have been so blessed by each of the teachers that we've had this year.  I can honestly say that each of my children are thriving.  Wow!  What a awesome thing to be able to say!

One last activity to show you... We still had a few chilly days in the last couple of weeks, and that always brings out the cook in us ladies around here!  The girls and I made soft pretzels.  Yum!  We ate them all...  no leftovers!

 Some had salt, and some had cinnamon and sugar... They were doughy goodness! 

Happy sunny day everyone!

St. Patty's Day in Review...

We had a very green St. Patty's day!  We started out with a special present left by a mysterious Leprechaun...

Remember Whistle Pops?  I haven't seen those in years!  Of course I found them at my store.  I love it there!

We had green Swedish pancakes & green t-shirts...

  

We had sparkly shamrock glasses for the teachers and St. Patty's day cookies (Chewy chocolate cookies with crushed minty malt balls mix into them)

Then we concludes with green, yes green pizza & green sprite!

He he... What do you think of that?

I forgot!  We also made some leprechauns...

 

I hope your day was as green as ours!  Good luck and good fortune to you!

The cure for my picky eater!

My third child challenges me everyday!  Not always in a bad way, she just has a lot of spirit!  Anyway, we have been struggling with her eating habits for a while.  My older two kids will pretty much eat whatever I put infront of them, but this little one wrinkles her nose up at almost everything! 

A month or so ago, we went to a local restaurant called Fujiama.  It's a Benihana kind of a place.  While we were there, they fashioned some kid friendly chopsticks for the kids.  They used a rubber band and a piece of paper at the top... Anyway, that was really interesting for Georgie... She ate EVERY piece of her chicken and a good portion of her rice.  I tried to save those chopsticks for as long as I could... Eventually they gave out!

Well, last Friday while out shopping I found a set of "cheater" chopsticks...  They have worked magic at every meal since I brought them home. 

Evidence... breakfast waffles...

She cleaned her plate! (This was Monday morning... Instead of getting dressed she put on her fairy outfit... she get's to stay home with dad Monday mornings while I take the other 2 to school)

    Charley really like them too!

And of course Sam had to get in on the action...

Success! I'll take any victory!

Sunday night rituals and more...

Every Sunday night my little family gathers on our yellow sectional couch (yeah I'm not sure why I thought a light colored couch was a good idea with 3 kids).  We usually have a little treat of some kinds and we prepare for an hour of family togetherness... also known as America's Funniest Home Videos.  It's on Sunday's at 7pm.  Our entire family laughs out loud!  I look forward to that hour all week!

  Even our dog, Harper, get's in on the action :) 

I tried a few new recipes this week too.  Zach's favorite (and maybe the only thing) that his mom makes is 7 layer bean dip.  I saw a recipe that is a little different than my mother-in-laws over on The Pioneer Woman's blog.  She has a whole cooking section over there, and I have used several of her recipes.  Anyway, I made this dip for Zach and Sam to take to a basketball party... It looked GOOD!

  Tell me you don't want a scoop of that!

I also made this... I'm always on a quest to make something different and fun for the kids on the breakfast rotation...

Can you tell what they are? Hehe... They are not biscuits and gravy... they are bisquits with CHOCOLATE gravy!  Needless to say they were devoured!  I got the recipe for this one over on the Bake or Break blog.  I have spent hours on end looking at that blog.  I am bound and determined to try all of the recipes over there!  Yum!

I also made a couple of cards :)!

   A little Irish for ya!  Considering we are only a couple weeks from St. Patty's day!  Everything I used on this card was from A Muse except the shamrock punch which is Martha Stewart Crafts from Michael's.

 This little bunny in the carrot car is my favorite new stamp from the Spring A Muse release!  It is so cute!  Everything I used on this card was from A Muse except the black card stock (which was a scrap) and my Copic markers :)   

Let's hear for my boy! (and love day)

Sam had his final game yesterday on his regular team (he also plays on a tournament basketball team).  His little team went undefeated.  Not only that but my boy had 2 baskets, a few assists & he got player of the game! Woo Hoo!

  Blurry picture... sorry!

Here are a few pics of the Valentine's I made for the kids classes.  I made the same for both of the girls'... 

This is the front of the Valentine...

I attached these awesome lollies to the back.  If you know me, I love cherries, so this was right up my ally :)...  I got the lollies at Williams-Sonoma.  (all images and twinkle sticker by A Muse)

Then I made these for Sam's class...

 I got these test-tubes from Impress.  I used Boris and Bernice from A Muse, Boris for the boys and Bernice for the girls. I filled the tubes with Pop Rocks!  I love Pop Rocks!  They remind me of being little.

My last picture for you today is of part of the gift that Zachory gave to me.  My FAVORITE food is barbequed hamburgers...

Oh yeah... I camelized some onions... Zach toasted my kaiser roll... blue cheese and steak sauce.  If love were food, that would be it! (I also got a dvd player for our bedroom, but the burger was the best!)

Cupcakes for my Cupcake...

As I may have mentioned, I have tremendous guilt for having not planned a better birth date for Charley.  December 23rd is the pits!  Not only that, but her celebration day at school got skipped over because we had no school the last week before Christmas break.  So... tomorrows the day...  She doesn't even know it, because if I had let her know she wouldn't have stopped asking if it was her "day" yet.  I made special cupcakes after she went to bed...

 

Yum!

On another note...

 

I am so inspired by this show.  It amazes me!  Tonight was the season premiere and I was glued to it the whole time!  Sometimes I watch while I'm on the treadmill :)! 

What I did today...

Today was one of the rare occasions that I was not behind the camera.  When I went to pop the old SD card in my laptop tonight, I found a ton of pictures that I did not take...  Zach has really been enjoying the camera and taking pictures of our massive snow fall.  Anyway there were several pictures of me as I was sledding.  The faces you make when doing such activites are not always the most attractive.  But I thought I would post one anyway...

Look at that crazy hair!  It's time for a cut!!!

The girls and I also made these today...

I had my personal photog take this picture...  He's been reading the manual and studying up on the ISO and stuff!  He's getting good, but don't tell him, it'll go straight to his head!

One last picture to show just exactly what's going on here at my house...

  Zach took this picture of our icicles this morning.  The amount of snow we have on the ground is like nothing I can ever remember in my lifetime in Washington.  It is so awesome!  I know a lot of people don't like it, but I love it!

Happy snow my friends!  Breath it in, because it will be gone before you know it, and we'll be back to rain!

**Hi Everyone, Zach here - don't tell Amanda I did this but here are a few more of her in the snow.