Foolin' Around

I normally don't do anything for April Fool's day, but the older kids seemed so excited about it and were trying to out-fool each other so much this day, that I tried out a little surprise for them for dinner. I got these recipes from the Family Fun website for Chicken Not-Pie and Colorful Cupcakes. The Chicken pot-pie looking thing is really pudding with cut up candies that look like peas, carrots, and corn. The Cupcakes are really mini shepard's pies with food-colored mashed potatoes on top.


Don't let the smile on Phillip's face fool you, he didn't touch it. Well that's not true, he did touch it and then turned up his nose and went to play with his toys. The other kids thought the pranks were fun and they all really liked the mini shepard's pies (Ryan even took the left-overs to school for lunch a few days in a row-teaching one that you can dress up what is basically meatloaf into a kid-friendly treat). The pudding thing was less of a hit, but it was still fun to do.

Doing a Little Gardening

This is my favorite dish at Olive Garden: Chicken Scampi. I like it so much that I usually get it whenever we go there (which is not very often). It's yummy and creamy and probably insanely fattening. I highly recommend it!

Thank you Doug and Joan for my yummy birthday dinner. We love when you come to visit. Oh, how you spoil us!

P'aint Life Grand

Is this how Picasso started out? Or maybe Jackson Pollock. I discovered this scene after following red footprints from the bathroom to the kitchen. Not quite sure how the toothbrush ended up in the crossfire. Do you like how Phillip tried to clean up after himself with the blue wash cloth in the upper right corner and the toilet paper? I thought he was being awfully quiet. In case you're wondering, red is Phillip's favorite color. They say one day I will look back on this and laugh......

36 Big Ones! March 25, 2010

One of the things I love about being a mother, is seeing the traditions that my kids love and look forward to. One of those is our birthday breakfasts in bed. We did it in my family growing up and now all of my kids look forward to it each time someone's birthday roles around. They fight over who gets to hold the plate, or the juice, or light the candle, etc. Sometimes that part of it tires me out, but then I realize that I like that they all like to do those things and that they get excited about them. I would rather they have that desire than apathy and not wanting to do it at all. So, thank you guys, for wanting to bring me breakfast in bed and wanting to make me feel special all day long. I love you!

A fun part of the day was when the girls and I went and got pedicures. I love them and don't get them very often, so it was fun to get pampered and to share it with my girls. I hope they take their girls to get pedis one day too. Don't our toes look pretty?

Look at the beautiful fruit pizza that Sophie and Dave made for me. I was so impressed with how well it turned out. I was fine with a store bought cake (or really no cake at all, because let's be honest, have you seen my hips?), but Sophie was adamant about making one for me, and she wanted it to be a fruit pizza (talk about labor intensive). Not only does it look amazing, but it tasted even better, and my hips loved every minute of it.

Spring Break Highlights 2010

Visiting the Butterfly House:


Land of Lincoln (Springfield, IL):



Dave just started his new job and so we knew we wouldn't be able to go away for spring break this year. Instead we took advantage of a lot of the great things that are around us. We went to the Butterfly house at the beginning of the week. They were in the middle of "March Morpho Mania". I've never seen so many butterflies at one time. You couldn't walk without them flying all around you, and in several instances, them landing on you. We liked it so much, we took gramma Joan and papa Doug back when they came to visit.

We did do one overnight trip during the week. We went to a hotel so the kids could go swimming (and they love the whole hotel experience). They next day we went to Springfield, IL and visited all of the Lincoln sights. I didn't realize that was where he was actually buried along with his wife, Mary Todd, and three of his sons. His tomb was really cool and so was walking through his house. Of course, we all had to rub Lincoln's bronzed nose for good luck. A lot of good luck has been dished out through the years.