church, golf, pool and peanuts

school might not be out yet, but it is sure starting to feel a lot like summer! matt played in our neighborhood's holiday golf tournament (where a friend took lifetime 'dibs' on matt being in her foursome) and the kids and i hit the pool on opening day! we finished up with a lazy evening outside. the kids (well, manning) had talked me into an enormous bag of roasted, in the shell, peanuts at bi's earlier in the week and they all enjoyed a large, messy bowl in the driveway. bring on summer! love.

mason easter snack

after running all over town looking for bunny peeps, mason's snack is complete. love.

the beautiful weather continues

yesterday, daddy went to work and i got to work at home with finding homes for the new toys but we still found some time to brave the mall and pick up a few deals. the kids and i spent some time outside while waiting for daddy since it was another warm and sunny day.

we couldn't believe that we were going to have an even warmer day today - 53! and still sunny! (where we live is the cloudiest place in the country and sunny days this time of year are very rare.) with no plans, we set out on a family walk after lunch. all four kids walked the entire three miles - without complaining! it was that nice out. (manning was carried for about 10 minutes at the half-way point to 'rest').

we stopped for some shoe tying and i thought a group picture was in order. apparently, we were facing the sun. oops. 

blue skies for miles

we were all refueled by some starbucks (coffee for me and daddy and peppermint hot chocolate for the kids) and the half-way point. the kids ran most of the way back! we were all ready for a little snack when we got home so i let the kids eat this 'gingerbread men' we made before christmas. they received rave reviews from the kids. they are made from marshmallows assembled, dipped in water and then a sugar, cinnamon, ginger mix. we were going to decorate them, but i decided it wasn't worth the effort. maybe next year... love.

snack friend

yesterday was a marathon day which included trying to pick up the supplies needed for maddux' 'd' week snack - "dinosaur dig." the problem ended up being the dinosaurs! i wasn't looking to spend a fortune on them. we had promised the kids that they could go to our local fire house open house so matt took them and i ran out to hunt for dinosaurs before racing back to pick up madelyn for swimming lessons. matt asked if i really needed to do this and i said that i was in too deep and didn't have time to think of something else - i was seeing it through! (i am so luck he loves me.)

you layer crushed oreos and graham crackers with chocolate and vanilla puddings to make dirt/rock layers to hide the dinosaurs under dyed coconut 'grass'.

and then maddux woke up with a low fever. sigh. he wasn't terribly sick, symptom-wise, but had that whiney, pitiful sort of face. the one where his chin quivers every time i make eye-contact with him. so he would miss out of enjoying his selected snack with his class. oh well, at least the other kids enjoyed it and there were enough left over for each of our kids to have one at home. love.

the return of the nap

manning has started napping again. it isn't at a set time but when he is tired, he just gives into it. today was a first for falling asleep at the table while eating. i had to check his mouth for pretzels before he moving him to his bed.

but he is so funny about napping! if he is tired, he just goes to his room and goes to sleep. if we are outside, he asks to go in and just goes to his room and falls asleep (i come in and check on him). we only wish that he went to bed at night that easily!

love.

big day at preschool

today was a big day at preschool for the boys - maddux was snack friend and mason was asked to wear pajamas and bring is panda for "p" week! maddux and i looked a few options for snack this weekend but last week they covered transportation and he could not get past the idea of 'traffic lights'. (i do think that the chocolate might have helped a little too.) he couldn't wait to get there and show his teachers.

mason had been waiting and waiting for "p" week because he wanted to bring in his panda. and "pajama day" is always a big deal for all of the kids.

loving that everyone was healthy on their special day! love.

maddux snack friend

it is amazing how much the kids love being the "snack friend"! maddux said that he wanted to bring "pizza" for snack. so we went with an old standby - rainbow fruit pizza. maddux told me that was just what he had wanted.

after school he told me that it was a "God snack" because God gave us rainbows. i love his teacher. love.

first time pretzels

keeping our day of fun going, we made the soft pretzels we have planned on making every day. we just keep forgetting until it is too late to have enough time for the dough to rise. manning was more than just a little thrilled to be able to take a try and rolling out the dough.

and everyone enjoyed helping to eat them. love.

baby jesus snack

just to add some more fun to my busy week, mason was the snack friend.  and not just the snack friend, but the half-birthday snack friend.  i try to do something special for the birthday/half-birthday snack.  mason wanted to keep it christmas-y.  he and i looked at a few options and he fell in love with these baby jesus in a manger made out of hot dogs.

the problem with these was two part - first they called for peanut butter to make the manger and nuts are a no-no and, second, they needed to be made the morning of because crescents get so 'wrinkle-y' when refrigerated.  so at 5am i got up to make 22 of these babies.  and mason was so excited that he joined me. i made him promise to take a nap later in the day.

after some testing last night, i figured out a way to use mini-marshmallows instead of the peanut butter.  all and all, we were really, really pleased with how these turned out!  they even made the preschool facebook page.

happy 4-1/2 birthday, mason!  love.

solo sunday

we went from a house of 10 to just me and the kids today.  whew!  daddy left around 6am for a business trip and papa and nana headed out around 8am before the kids and i left for church.  today was "family sunday" and there is only childcare for children 3 and under.  part of this is an effort to integrate all of the different ages and part is to give the childcare (middle and high school too) workers a week off.  unfortunately, matt and i teach 2s and 3s so we still have to teach our class and we have to bring madelyn and mason in too because there is no where else for them to go.  and today i didn't have matt.

it was a difficult week logistically, but it wasn't as stressful as i was anticipating.  i did have two youth helpers and a smaller than normal class so it worked out well.  after each service they had a cookie reception for everyone.  it worked out great for madelyn and mason because they got to have cookies after both services!  (we attend the first and teach the second.)

maddux was pretty bummed when madelyn told him that she and mason had gotten cookies and was very happy to learn that he would get one too.  i think manning ended up with three cookies by helping himself once while i was visiting with the kids director.  oh well.  there is nothing like overtired, sugared up kids on your own, right?

the kids were actually pretty great this morning and i had a fun day of christmas preparations planned for us while i got us settled back into the house.  it is just a little weird to go from six adults to just me.  not that i am too worried.  love.

a girl snack

like i mentioned in an earlier post, madelyn has been a little jealous that she doesn't get to be snack friend at school any more.  but when snacks came up as an option for chayil (a k-5 girls only mid-week bible study at church that she started this year), madelyn saw it as her chance.  i spoke with her teachers last week to make sure that bringing in a snack was really an option and then madelyn and i tried to decide what would be best.  we came up with these 'butterflies'.  i have seen them several times on pintrest and thought they were cute and easy.

but then i woke up sick today.  it took every ounce of energy i had to make the 15 for her class after school with her.  matt took the three bigs to church by himself.  he probably would have opted to stay home but madelyn looks forward to chayil all week and would have been devastated to miss - especially since she was finally getting to bring a snack.

thanks to daddy, she had a wonderful evening!  love.