All Fired Up!

This weekend we were in Birmingham for cousin Daniel's 2nd birthday. Here comes the fire engine...
Daddy and Walker enjoying the fire truck!

Kathryn wasn't quite as excited:)

This picture's not great, but it's the only one I have of the birthday boy driving his fire truck!

Buttons, buttons and more buttons. Walker was in heaven!

Look at this silly picture that Matt snagged of me and Sissy! We were more interested in eating than posing for the camera!

Christ is risen! He is risen indeed!

Last night, we made these Easter Story Cookies. Sugar and Spice Mommy shared this fun idea with us, and it was a great way to keep the focus of the weekend on Jesus!

Kathryn crushing the pecans...

Walker tasting the salt...

Sealing the oven, much like Jesus' tomb was sealed...

Someone did a little sampling before the cookies went in the oven...

I forget to include a picture of our cookies. I did take one, and we did taste them, but I have to admit our cookies were not hollow (I think we accidently got some yolk in our mixture...that's what happens when little hands are helping in the kitchen), but praise the Lord, on Easter morning, Christ' tomb was empty! And I do look forward to doing this again next year!

Sunday morning, Kathryn and Walker found a trail of carrots leading to their Easter baskets...

It took Walker about 3 minutes to have his mouth stuffed with candy (sorry to his Sunday School teachers:)

All dressed and ready for church.

Daddy and Walker...

Trying to get a picture at church...

We let the kiddos play outside a bit after church, so we could get a few pictures. Unfortunately, the weather turned yucky fast. No Easter egg hunts today!

Mommy and Walker...

Daddy and Kathryn (She wasn't really in the mood. Can you tell???)...

And, we couldn't forget Mommy and Daddy:)

"He is not here; he has risen!"

Luke 24:6

A Day at the Park

This morning we were blessed to spend some much needed quality time together as a family. Matt and I did something we haven't done together since the kiddos were born, a spinning class! Back in the 'Ham, we used to go early on Saturday mornings and then hit the McDonald's as soon as we left the gym:)

No McDonald's today, but we did stop for some Starbucks before we headed to the park. I gave Kathryn and Walker an early Easter gift--sand molds--so Kathryn occupied herself in the sand.

Walker also played in the sand...

And on the slide...

And on the swing...

Sitting on the park bench...

All while Kathryn continued to play in the sand:) Did we mention our son's favorite phrase is "I'm too busy!" He's very busy indeed:)

P.S. Walker is wearing my newest "sewing" creation. I decided to try my hands at an embroidered t-shirt. I thought it turned out quite nice!

The three embroidery threads were $1 at Hobby Lobby, his shorts (Kelly's Kids) were approximately $7 on E-Bay, and the plain white t-shirt was left over from last year. So, for $8, I think it makes a pretty cute little outfit:)

If you would like to give it a try too, look here for some inspiration!

Here Comes Peter Cotton Tail

I made the mistake about a month ago of letting Kathryn look at my spring copy of Cooking with Paula Deen. She was immediately drawn to this precious little marshmellow bunny. And who wouldn't be? They really are adorable!

Well, after she carried on a complete conversation about how she was going to give these bunnies to her classmates, I felt a little bit of pressure to help her carry out her wish. And so began the marshmallow bunny cook-a-thon.

We started early Tuesday morning (school was Wednesday and the marshmallows had to harden in the refrigerator for at least 8 hours or overnight (wish I had read that before Tuesday!)).

Here's the gelatin setting up...

And here's all the sugary goodness working hard to reach 240 degrees...

And here are my little helpers, a bit distracted with some dish washing, but they are still helpful nonetheless...

And here I am manning my post at the stove (I don't always cook in hair curlers, but I think it adds a little something, don't you?)...

Mixing all of the yummy goodness together...

Ready for the refrigerator....

The best part...

Eight hours later (and after bedtime for the little ones), I melted the candy melts...

Cut out the marshmallow bunnies...

Dipped them in the pink candy yumminess...

Bunnies without faces...

But not for long...

Finally, here they are ready to deliver to their friends at school. Kathryn, however, was quick to inform me that the boys would not like these pink bunnies. After all, according to her, boys only like cars, airplanes and frogs!

And later Wednesday, after dinner of course, Kathryn finally enjoyed the "sweet" taste of success! And mommy did too. That face made the day long bunny cook-a-thon worth every minute!

Tiny Talk Tuesday: Eye Shadow

Sunday morning, Kathryn joined me in the bathroom as I was putting on my makeup. Of course, she "needed" some makeup of her own, so I grabbed the lightest color I could find and the smallest brush!

As she was putting on her makeup, I was saying how well she was doing with her EYE SHADOW. She stood up, looked around and said, "I'm not making a shadow." "No, baby, eye shadow. It's makeup for your eyes."

What has your litte one said to make you laugh today? Join Sugar and Spice Mommy for Tiny Talk Tuesday by posting your story here!

Oh, dinner time, why do you have to be so difficult!

I don't know about the rest of you mommies out there, but dinner time is a difficult time around our house. The kiddos instinctively know when I have to focus on something like making dinner, so utter chaos is normally breaking out somewhere else in the house while I'm working away in the kitchen.

In addition to prayer on the matter, I thought I would introduce some new tactics. So, last week, I printed out some dinner appropriate color sheets and had the kiddos sit down and color while I finished up dinner. I thought it would be fun to have the color page coincide with that night's meal (although it didn't make them any more excited to eat there veggies!).

I'm happy to say it worked! Something about just having one sheet to color instead of a whole coloring book helped them focus a bit more. They also got a kick out of mommy playing "teacher." Asking them, "What color is the carrot?","What letter does carrot start with?", etc. And it bought me just enough time to finish up the meal and get it to the table.

Here are the results....

And here's dinner...

I am so loving roasted veggies these days. For these carrot "fries," simply slice carrots into small sticks (I used approx. 7-8 regular size carrots, peeled) and coat with approximately 2 T. of olive oil. Salt and pepper to taste. Roast in the oven on 425 degrees for approximately 20-25 minutes. Our other favorite veggies to roast are cauliflower and potatoes.

You can find the carrot coloring page here. Happy coloring (and cooking)!

A Sunny Day