Easter Egg Hunt 2011

I just really love Peyton's basket!!!

We caught the YW on their service project. Cute Girls!!!!

A Peacock and A Cheetah

Derek was the yellow power ranger this year so he could fit in with the big boys. But he changed into Harry Potter on the actual Halloween which was on Sunday. When a Peacock and a Cheetah showed in, he didn't want to be a Power Ranger anymore.
I love these girls so much. I am so happy they come up from Provo every once in a while to hang out with us. We roamed the neighborhood for awhile and had our wildlife Halloween photo shoot.

Jacquie doing her Peacock version of Karate Kid...

I talked Hannah into doing a lazy cat shot in our neighbors hammock. It was harder than it looks to get in that Hammock with those heels on...

And Clint also decided to change up his costume. The green power ranger does not look as cool without his entourage...But Master Chief looks awesome with a couple of wildlife babes...
The shoes make the jungle animal...

We had Halloween Nachos for dinner. And pumpkin pancakes with cinnamon black syrup for dessert, along with pumpkin pie, and trick or treat candy.Jacquie and Hannah sang all of the songs from the Prince of Egypt and Wicked during dinner. Then we watched Stardust because Jacquie had never seen it. A very good choice of a lovely Halloween movie night.

My nachos were yummy!!! And so was everything else.

Ninjas

There are actually 4 ninjas in this photo. Can you see the other 3? (Yes, they really are that good). I think it will be a very sad day when Clint and his friends no longer get excited about Halloween.

For now, I sit back and watch and soak all of the moments in. Grateful for another year of silliness and imagination that becomes ever more sophisticated, but is still, nevertheless, there.

Rushing ever forward, with each year bringing new and unexpected twists. Occasionally I get glimpses of my life, and realize that in spite of everything that is wrong in the world, there are still little boys who believe they can overcome evil and save the world. And who am I, or any other adult, for that matter to tell them that they can't?

When in all reality, the only difference between big boys, and little boys, is the SIZE of their superhero costumes, and the AMOUNTS of the food they eat.

I am just happy that they still come around.

And even if it means spending an entire day sewing 5 ninja costumes and seeing the contents of the fridge emptying before my eyes, I will do everything I can to make sure that they always do.

* The guys originally wanted to be Power Rangers, but since I didn't want to make paper mache' helmets, I convinced them to be the Might Morphin Power Rangers in their Ninja Form. They went for it, luckily. And are happy with the costumes.

To make the costumes: I bought inexpensive over-sized T-shirts. 2 for each. One is used for the ninja mask. You can see how to tie it here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ifK9lqNPVA
With the other shirt, I cut off the neck and sleeves, and slit it down the middle to make a robe- type shirt. I bought an inexpensive black bed sheet and cut it up into strips for the belt. Just because it was 4 dollars for about 5 yards of fabric as opposed to 5 dollars a yard if I had just bought black material. (I also use sheets for all of the curtains in my house. Such a great way to buy fabric! So much cheaper!) I sewed the edges of all of the shirts around the neck, arms, and up the middle. I also sewed the edges of all the belts. The belt strips I left all long, just like a real black belt.
The finial costumes are a cross between Mighty Morphin Ninjas, and Power Rangers Ninja Storm. The Power Rangers Ninja Storm wear gray armor under their Ranger Tunics...Hence, the gray long-johns.

Happy Halloween!!!

Scarecrow necklaces

Hot Glue, Raffia, Candy.... We cut the sucker sticks in half and glued them onto the nerds boxes. Hot glued all of the other candy right on to the box, and then tied the raffia around the necks of the suckers. Candace wanted to use beads instead of googly eyes for the eyes...definately much more Scarecrowey

Make sure to tie a raffia bow around the neck to make sure it looks cute instead of like a noose.

Maybe they do look a little like Blair Witch Voodoo dolls...

But they definately taste good!

Happy April!

My April Fool's stand-by joke. Clint doesn't fall for it anymore, but Derek still did. (it's Jell-O, by the way).

And the Legos were all Derek's idea

LEGOMANIACS Rule!!!!

Happy April.

Unlucky???

St. Patrick's Day was a little wacky this year. It started the night before when Clint almost punched a Leprechaun in the face for putting stickers on him while he was sleeping, and then continued with Derek waking up in the middle of the night probably right after the little guys left and getting upset with all the stickers on his face. So no pictures this year for mom.Morning time was still pretty exciting...except my spin teacher brought shamrock cookies for everyone at spin class and made me take one on the way out. I promised myself I would save it for my kids...but after spin, I am always craving carbs right away and I had only take 2 bites by the time I got home...I tried to talk Clint into eating the rest of it before he left for school...he didn't. So it was sitting on the kitchen counter until 7:30 and Derek still had not woken up... It was gone by the time Derek made it to the kitchen.

There were gold coins under pillows, and all the water and liquid in the house had turned to green.

Derek would not eat any breakfast other than the chocolate coins and green milk. I, not wanting to be a hypocrite, and having eaten a shamrock cookie for breakfast myself, just let it go. Big mistake!

When Landen showed up, Derek had eaten half of the bag, but still decided to share a few with Landen.

Landen got a tour of the havoc that the Leprechauns had caused. And shortly after, Derek threw up all his chocolates in Lisa's car on the way to preschool.

Nex time I think the leprechauns are going to leave golden apples under Derek's pillow, and we will definately skip on the chocolate...and the spin class. I'll just sleep in!

Taste a Rainbow

St. Patrick's Day is not just about green, you know. Those Leprechauns always find their gold at the end of the rainbow.

And since Derek didn't go for the green eggs this year, we did the rainbow thing for dessert.

1. Prepare and refrigerate Jello.

2. Cut Jello into squares.

3. Layer in pretty glasses, with or without whipped cream...(neither Derek or Delany like whipped cream).

And Neither Derek or Delany like all the flavors of Jello, but they do all look pretty together, and they were a blast to make!

And Dad and Clint ate them. No problem there.