I had this great idea to take the kids to Grant's Farm on Monday. Only problem with that is they don't open until mid-April. Thankfully my dear friend pointed this out to me before we made the 40+ minute drive. Unfortunately, I didn't talk to her until AFTER I had all kids strapped and buckled in the car and geared up for a fun outing. Soooooo we decided to go bowling instead. Wise decision with a precocious 3-year old? Not so much, but we did have fun, and even though I was a pooped, I did get a "Turkey" (3 strikes in a row) and bowled a 167 game. Not bad for someone that thinks she deserves some kind of medal if she gets close to the 100 mark. Now I'm really waiting for my medal... On the way home we just couldn't pass up a park opportunity and with the weather still cooperating, we went to Indian Camp Creek Park. The kids love the teeter totter here. You don't see teeter totters at parks very often any more and I think I know why...shortly after this picture was taken, Phillip and Maddie fell off and although their wails would have suggested otherwise, thankfully they were both O.K.
Yay, our first real taste of spring weather. Had the idea to go to the zoo with the kiddos (and Maddie's friend, Peyton) since it was their first day of spring break last Friday. Apparently so did everyone else within a 30-mile radius. It was CROWDED. Cars were even backed up to get off at the zoo exit from the highway. The animals appreciated the warm weather too and showed off for us a little bit, instead of just lying there motionless. It's always tricky to explain to a three year old: "See that rock over there? It's actually a sleeping (fill in the blank). No really, it's a living, breathing thing-trust me. Isn't that so fun to see? Aren't you glad we came here?" I'm sure they needed to stretch their legs after being curled up in fetal position all winter trying to keep warm (oh, that was just me?). Anyway, thank you animals one and all for cooperating this visit. So excited to see some blooms. It's the Doug Chapman in me coming out. I know this doesn't seem too impressive, but we had a very LONG and COLD winter, so we'll take what we can get. Walking back to our car we stopped off at the ever popular "Turtle Park". My kids love this place. Lots of cool larger-than-life turtles for the kids to climb over, in, on, and around.
In honor of Dr. Seuss' birthday this year, the kids got to dress up for school as their favorite character. I love any excuse to do something cool to the girls' hair (especially since they don't really let me do it anymore......trying to remain calm), so of course, Maddie went as Cindy Lou Who from "How the Grinch Stole Christmas".
Easiest hairdo to do in the world while at the same time earning you major "You're totally awesome" points. I really got the idea from my sister, and have done it in years past, but have now captured it on film, so here you have it.
A little squishy ball, some rubber bands, wire and some braiding know-how, and voila!
Sophie turned 12 this year (February 27, to be exact). Hard to believe that 12 years ago I gave birth to her in Sparrow Hospital in Lansing, Michigan amidst a terrible storm. I remember the storm because Dave cracked some joke about El Nino (from a Saturday Night Live skit - you had to be there). I also remember really NOT liking the first nurse that "helped" me because she predicted two things: 1. That I would be pushing for 2-3 hours, and 2. That Sophie would weigh at least 8 pounds. The worst part about it was that she was right on both accounts. I pushed for close to three hours and Sophie weighed 8 pounds 5 ounces.
Now she weighs a bit more and likes to do a little of her own pushing: Can I have a cell phone? Can I wear makeup? Can I have a cell phone? Can I have a facebook account? Can I have a cell phone? Can I watch this or that movie? Can I buy this outfit? Can I have a cell phone? You get the idea. I love her to pieces though. She's a great kid and has been a great example to all of us of dealing with adversity. I love her, I love her, I love her and she is becoming a beautiful young woman inside and out. I am one lucky mamma!
This year she BEGGED for an "Amazing Race" birthday party. I kept putting it off and putting it off because it always seemed so far away and lets face it, I'm a procrastinator, but before I knew it, her birthday snuck up on me and it was party planning time. I definitely went into stress/panic mode having to think of how to pull off a party like that. Thanks to the Internet, and friends who had done it in the past, I think we pulled off a really fun day for her...Whew!
I made t-shirts with iron-on logos from the show "The Amazing Race" for each of the kids (I would say girls, but Ryan ended up being a fill-in (much to his delight) for one of the girls that couldn't come) in four different colors for the four teams: pink, green, blue, and purple. They turned out really cute!
Here were the clues/tasks that the teams had to do:
1. "Get a Clue"
They had to complete a word scramble of words having to do with Sophie. Each word had numbers under some of the letters. They had to transfer those letters to the bottom of the page which spelled out where they could find their second clue (Thank you puzzlemaker.com for this, it turned out great). 2. "It's Puzzling"
They had to find where their puzzle was hidden, bring it back inside and put it together (I got easy 25 piece puzzles from the dollar store. The race went faster than I thought, so to do it again, I might get puzzles with more pieces)
3. DETOUR - LUG or BUG
They had to choose between these two tasks.
LUG - Each team had to LUG one of its members up the sidewalk to the street sign and then run back.
BUG - Each team had to find three plastic bugs hidden outside around the house.
4. "It's Jell-O-licious"
Each team had to go back into the house at their designated table where a bowl of jell-o and straws were waiting for them. They had to slurp the bowl of jell-o clean with their straws.
5. "Knock, Knock"
Each team was given mapquest directions. They had to drive with their supervisor to the location and go up to the house, knock on the door, and when the door was answered say "Fashion fades, only style remains the same" to get their next clue.
6. "Fashion Forward"
They were given a brown paper bag filled with funny hats, jewelry, sunglasses, etc. that they all had to put on then go back to the door and say "We're ready for our close-up". Their picture was then taken and they received their next clue. Oh and they had to stay in their "garb" for the rest of the race-hilarious!
7. "Zack Attack"
They had to go Zachary's playground which is across the street from our subdivision and they had to complete various tasks which were:
-Sit and spin on the dizzy chair 10 times
-Climb to the top of the rope pyramid and back down
-Go down the roller slide
-Swing across the monkey bars without touching the ground
8. "Hotta Hotta Chocolatta"
They had to drive to World Market, buy a "Chipotle Chili Dark Chocolate" bar and eat it.
9. "Awakening"
They had to drive to the park that has the sculpture "The Awakening" and count the bell-shaped lights in the park and the surrounding area.
10. DETOUR - PICTURE or PRANCER? They had to choose between these two tasks:
PICTURE - Go to the mall, find the photo booth and buy a set of pictures making sure each team member is visible in all pictures. (Everyone ended up choosing this one. I was surprised and thought more people would do the carousel so they wouldn't have to wait for other teams at the photo booth, but what do I know?)
PRANCER - Go to the mall, find the carousel and each team member must buy a ticket and ride the carousel.
11. "Where in the Mall"
They were given a picture of something that was sold somewhere in the mall. They had to figure out what and where it was and go buy it and bring it back for proof. They were all pictures of different books that ended up being gifts for Sophie.
I had so much fun making this diaper cake for a friend's baby shower this year. I've seen them before, and always thought they looked hard to make, but I was pleasantly surprised at how easy it was.
Step 1: Cut out a circular base out of an old pizza box and covered it with cute wrapping paper to match (here it's hard to see, but it's black with a cute white leaf design)
Step 2: Get several (I think I used over 70, can't remember exactly now) WHITE (not all brands are white, some have colored prints and don't look as good for the cake effect. I used pampers) diapers and roll them up tightly and secure them with small rubber bands.
Step 3: Get something to use as your center base (here you can see I used a large bottle of baby powder. Put a large rubber band around your bottle and start tucking the diapers under the rubber band for the first row. The second and third rows will not fit under the center rubber band, so just line the diapers up around the center and secure with string. The first "cake" level has three rows of diapers. The second will have two, and the top level with have one.
Step 4: After completing the second level, get a used toilet paper roll and add to top of baby powder bottle (this fit perfectly) and you can use it as a "vase" for decorating later.
Step 5: Finish the last level same as the other two. You are now ready to decorate your "cake". You can use ribbon to cover the rubber bands and string. Use double-sided tape to adhere ribbon to ribbon, so it doesn't stick to diapers. I also added some shredded tissue paper to each layer to make it look like frosting and to also cover the rolled up diapers a bit better.
And....ta da! The finished cake. It turned out so cute, I need more people to get pregnant so I can make another one!
Ryan's first pinewood derby was great. His favorite part was making the car with his dad. They tried really hard to replicate the Ford Anglia from Harry Potter fame, and did a pretty good job. We definitely chose style over speed as his car placed either 3rd or 4th (out of 4 cars) in pretty much every heat he raced. I can't wait to see what he wants to make next year.
Dave turned 36 this year and for two and a half months I get to hold it over his head that he is older than me. I take my victories, however small they may be. I also like how I always get to TAKE the breakfast in bed pictures. I bring a whole new meaning to the term "bed head".
We wowed him this year with blueberry pancakes - yummy!!
Here is his delicious cake that I slaved over this year (do you know how long I had to wait in line at Cold Stone Creamery?). Homemade would probably have been better, but this was pretty yummy too.
