Easter 2014

 Happy Easter!  

Here's the recap of how we spent our Easter Sunday.

We woke at 6:50 and by we I mean me and Max.  The kids were up a bit earlier than that I do believe.  Mike got up a few minutes before me.

The kids are experts at exploring their baskets without disturbing the placement of items. 

Each kid got a new book, some peeps,  a Reeses pieces carrot and a chocolate cross. Then each had some different things.  The two little boys got some fruit snacks, crayons and a dvd.  Max got a soft football and soccer ball.  Nathan got a baseball and glove and his own bag of his favorite candy, m&ms.

Madison could not abide a basket without a stuffed animal in it. So she got a stuffed dog, some new socks, beef jerky, tracing paper, swim goggles and colored pencils and stick on nails.

Grace got a much needed new swim suit for swim practice and some new goggles.  She wanted beauty stuff so she got a nice new razor, shaving lotion, eye lash curler, tweezers, lip gloss and socks.

Noah got the Hobbit part 2 on DVD, a new razor and shaving lotion a Mentos geyser tube, new swim goggles, new socks, beef jerky and a red cord bracelet in his school colors.

All the kids were happy and enjoyed their basket goodies. Then we let them go hunt all the eggs hidden around the house. There were even some crazy eggs stuck to the walls and hanging from lights.

 Max & Nathan's Baskets

Madison's

Grace's

Noah's Basket

  

Here's a short video. I tried to shoot of Max.  You'll hear the craziness of 5 children hunting for eggs.  They loved it!

Then we ate pancakes and hash browns for breakfast and maybe a little candy and got ready for mass.

We attended a 10:30 mass then returned home grabbed a cake and some red velvet cookies I had made and took them to George Washington, an 93 year old man that lives on an old farm in front of our neighborhood.  We wished him a Happy Easter and gave him the goodies.

We then went home and took our family photo with a tripod and a timer.

Then we changed clothes and Mike and I hid 90 dyed and filled eggs in the back and side yards for our Easter game borrowed from my brother's family. We took eggs drained them and then filled them with fruity pebbles and sealed it up by gluing tissue paper over the hole.  We filled 4 eggs with sprinkles that you use to decorate cookies with.  The kids were to find the eggs and smash them over each others heads. If you have a non fruity pebble egg smashed over you head you win a prize.  I had four different prizes and we decided the first to get a prize egg got first pick and so on.

They had a lot of fun with this game!

I should have placed the next photos before the game photos, but oh, well.  I wanted to show you the egg dye photos.  They really enjoyed that too.

Finally, I'll wrap it all up with some individual shots of the kids.

You'll note that Max didn't really cooperate. He wouldn't sit next to Nathan for a little brother shot. So I just snuck a couple head shots while he stood in the garage.

Leibster Award

My sister in law, Cristina has tossed me a Leibster Award. She tells me she gave it to me because she's hoping to get me blogging again.  So here you go.

1. Where do you live? And why do you live there?

I live in Fredericksburg, Virginia.  We live here because my husband is in the Marines and we were stationed here.  However, we are soon to retire, (this summer) so if we stay here it will be out of choice.  We do like it here.  We are open to moving though.  So we'll see. It's ultimately going to be where the job takes us.
2. What are you currently watching and/or reading?

I am reading the third book in the Divergent Serious, called, Allegiant by Veronica Roth.  I really enjoyed the first two books. This third one is not as thrilling.  I must admit, I enjoy reading fiction. I enjoy reading what Noah is reading. We read pretty much the same books so we can discuss them. He just finished The 5th Wave, I think that will be my next read. He devoured it and really, really, enjoyed it.

3. What kind of Catholic are you: cradle, or convert? (Or considering?)

I'm a cradle Catholic.  Though I would say that I have come to a much better understanding of my faith in the last 5 years.


4. Can you point to one moment or experience that made you a practicing Catholic? (Or want to be?)

As a cradle Catholic, I've always been practicing.  I would say that my Dad began to understand his faith better and he passed that along to us kids about 5 years ago.  That helped me to fully embrace and understand my Catholic faith.
5. How many pairs of shoes do you own?

I have probably around 20 pairs. I haven't counted.  I will say that a good number of those shoes were given to me by my mom when she decided she no longer wanted or needed them.  So I really don't buy myself shoes that often.  I love a comfortable boot in the winter and I love a comfy flip flop in the summer.

6. Are you a good dancer?

No, not really.   I've never really been comfortable on the dance floor. I did however manage to pull off being a member of the Cardinal Singers in High School.  We had to dance and sing.  I had to work a little harder at it than the rest of the members, but I'm determined.
7. Who usually drives, you or your husband?

My husband usually drives. However, I do drive occasionally and he doesn't mind.  I like to drive if we're going through the drive thru.  He can't handle ordering for all the kids. I pretty much know what they want without asking them. I can handle them all yelling orders at me.  He gets frustrated. So I take the wheel and order.

8. What's your favorite holiday and how do you celebrate it?

I love Christmas.  I love that it is something that changes the whole look and feel of my house.  I love the music. I love the preparation.  I don't always love the shopping, but I do love the rest.  We celebrate by decorating the house, with several trees.  One in the living room, and one in each of the kids rooms.  We put out our big nativity set in the house.  We play a lot of Christmas music and I bake lots of goodies.  Mike puts out Christmas lights on the house.  We do the Elf on the Shelf thing and we exchange gifts on Christmas. Santa comes to visit too, of course.

9. Which is correct? Left or right?

Ah, the Left, definitely.
10. Do you have any scars?

I have one on my arm from when I was a child and cut it on the back of a mini frig in a hostess house.  We were moving from Kansas City, Mo. and staying there and I hid behind it and cut my arm.  I have a c-section scar from the 4 c-sections.  I have a scar from having my gallbladder removed.  I'm sure I have some other small ones here and there.  I had stitches on my forehead from having a dirt clod with a rock hidden inside it, thrown at my head.  Some sweet neighbor boys launched an attack when I was a little girl.

11. What's the most famous thing you've ever done? 

I got to meet President Bush a couple times once on the White House lawn and once in the Oval Office.  I also won the Christmas card contest held by Marine One Helicopter Squadron.  My paintings were selected to be the Card design.  Two years in a row.  I was able to tour Camp David twice.  It was a lot of fun.



Now I'm supposed to tag even more bloggers to participate.  I don't think I can.  Really, I don't think I can.

Only my family read my blog.

Thanks Cristina! :-)

S'mores Cookies

You must make this cookie!  I am not kidding. You will love this cookie!

The great thing about this cookie, is it's really like having a campfire s'more, and even the next day it's still yummy and gooey.

Delicious.

Trust me on this.  Bake it!

Here's the link:

 http://www.marthastewart.com/336491/smores-cookies

I made a batch of these. I had 31 cookies. Noah wanted to have some cookies for his last book club meeting at school.  He took 14 to school for his friends to eat at the meeting.  I'm sure they will be loved. There's just nothing like a campfire s'more and a good book.

• 
  
• Here's Martha Stewart's Recipe: 
• 
  
• S'more's Cookies
• INGREDIENTS
• 1/2 cup old-fashioned rolled oats
• 1 cup all-purpose flour, (spooned and leveled)
• 1 cup whole-wheat flour (spooned and leveled)
• 3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 3/4 cup light-brown sugar
• 1 large egg
• 8 ounces bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, cut into 30 squares
• 15 large marshmallows, halved horizontally

DIRECTIONS

1. STEP 1

   Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a food processor, pulse oats until finely ground. Add flours, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt; pulse to combine. In a large bowl, using an electric mixer, beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in egg, scraping down side of bowl. With mixer on low, beat in flour mixture just until combined.

2. STEP 2

   Drop dough by tablespoons, 1 inch apart, onto two baking sheets. Top each with a chocolate square. Bake just until lightly golden, 11 to 13 minutes, rotating sheets halfway through. Remove sheets from oven; heat broiler. Top each cookie with a marshmallow. One sheet at a time, broil until marshmallows are lightly browned, 1 to 1 1/2 minutes. Transfer cookies to wire racks to cool.

I always love that Cristina (my sister in law) throws in a photo or two of the kids regardless  of the post content. I'm throwing in a couple of the kids.  These cookies would be delicious after a day of snow play like this. Enjoy the kids in the snow cuteness. :-)