Easter joy

Fun activities, warm temps and sunny skies, and moments to reflect on our Savior's atoning sacrifice and resurrection pretty much sum up our Easter.

We had fun dyeing eggs and having peeps. Well, the children had the peeps. I can't stand them.

We had a fun Easter egg hunt with a bunch of friends. Mason was hilarious. Found his first egg, broke it open, and inhaled all the contents - including a bunch of grass - in about 5 seconds.

Easter morning was a bit crazed. Mason woke up at 4:45, and in my sleep-deprived state I watched the children discover and enjoy their baskets in a semi-fogged state. I didn't even remember to take pictures. And I had to teach Relief Society. So we managed to get everyone ready for church, although later I noticed boys were missing ties and a belt. But church was wonderful and my lesson went well. Then we snapped some basket pictures after church, although baskets had been fairly well disassembled by then. Connor loved a Lego Star Wars set, Lucas loved an R2D2 figure thing, Isabel loved new jewelry and Mason loved his new Elmo DVD. And they all loved the sweets. Duh.

I hosted Brian's parents and aunt and uncle for dinner. I made a brown sugar-and-orange glazed ham, au gratin potatoes, rolls, chocolate coconut oatmeal no bake nest cookies and a lemon berry tart - all from scratch, all scrumptious.

Hope you all had a beautiful Easter!

Let's get Seussical

"Good morning! Happy Dr. Seuss' Birthday!" Connor said to me when he awakened this morning. With no school plus Dr. Seuss' Birthday, I knew it had to be good.

We started with - what else? - green eggs and ham for breakfast. After breakfast, the children all grabbed one of their favorite Seuss books, and I found them all engrossed in their books. I kindly asked them to sit close together while continuing to read so I could snap it.

Then Brian took the three older children to see the movie The Lorax. I packed them with bags of Hop on Pop(corn) and pink ink yink drink (pink lemonade) to enjoy. Brian had purchased tix the night before, but with all the free 2 year olds who showed up, there were no seats left. So they got a free upgrade to the subsequent 3-D IMAX showing. They really liked the movie. I really like Isabel's upside down glasses.

Michael's has some darling Seuss decor, so I snagged this cute banner. I have my eye on a few more items, but need my 40% off coupon, or else wait for the markdown.

My friends Kristie and Paula and their kiddos came over for the afternoon, and I made some Thing 1 and Thing 2 cupcakes. These were red velvet with cream cheese frosting and blue cotton candy. Fun and easy and cute, except I had to hunt for the cotton candy. I let the kids apply the hair themselves; they had fun doing this.

And some artwork by the children: Connor's interpretation of The Lorax after seeing the movie, and Isabel's Sneetches and Cat in the Hat drawings (which I thought were rather impressive free-hand drawings for a kindergartner!).

Valentine's love

We've always done store-bought Valentine's, but with all the great ideas floating out there on Pinterest, I decided to go homemade this year. Isabel wanted the fish concept, so we did these:

Lucas and his boy-heavy preschool class were a nice fit for the lollipop superheroes (love these!)-

Connor wanted to create his own-

Connor is getting older. It happens, I guess. His teacher contemplated not doing a valentine's party, then ended up doing a very simple one wherein the kids could wear PJs to school, exchange valentine's, and hang out and play games. It doesn't leave much of a need for mom, sniff sniff. At least I snapped him before school with his box.

Isabel, being in kindergarten, enjoyed her first classroom party. She loves the games, the sweets, the crafts, Nate (still), passing out valentines, and all of her sweet girlfriends. I love the picture of Isabel, pettiskirt spread around her she got home, dropped to the floor and poured over her valentines. Totally un-posed.

Lucas had a fun little party with his cute preschool class. And as a side note, he is in this very annoying phase where he either refuses to look at the camera, or else makes very unnatural faces. It is driving me nuts.

Valentine's Day Mason- the only decent picture I could snap of my ever-moving 20 month old, who is largely blocked by his brother's head.

A few fun themed treats: heart-shaped French toast with strawberry syrup, Valentine-dipped pretzels, and salted caramel lava cakes.

I wrote love notes to the kids and put them in their valentine's mailbox along with sweet treats, packed love- and heart-themed lunches, and we also had a fun love-themed family home evening. My favorite part was standing in a circle and tossing heart-shaped bean bags to each other, while telling the recipient something we love about them. These were priceless. I am grateful for my five loves. And I am grateful that they love me.