Teresa's Bridal Shower

Jason's brother Jared is getting married soon, so Jason's mom and sisters put on a bridal shower for his fiancee Teresa. It wasn't a typical shower with corny games. (Don't get me wrong, I like bridal shower's with corny games too.) Instead we did 3 different crafts and gave them to Teresa. We rotated through 3 different tables. At the first table we made a beaded charm (that kind of represented ourselves) and put it on a charm bracelet for Teresa. At the second table we painted blocks of wood for seasonal decorations (the blocks spelled; SPRING, FALL, WINTER, & SUMMER). At the third table we made greeting cards for Teresa (birthday, baby, wedding, thank-you, etc.) I was in charge of the card table. I had made up about 16 card "kits" and after that they were on their own. Then she opened her gifts and we had dessert. Overall I think the shower was a success and very fun.





Teresa with her "lovely" bridal princess tiara (ribbons, bows and paper from her gifts). The theme for the shower gift was, "What every woman needs at least one of". I gave her the book, "The Five Love Languages" by Gary Chapman. I thought every women needed at least one relationship/self-help book. :o)

Jared & Teresa in front of their new home.

S'mores for Easter???

You may have seen these cute little things, but I thought I'd share any way. I've given them to my Visiting Teaching ladies for the past 2 years (different ladies). I've never baked them up myself, but I've heard they're yummy!

Ingredients and Directions:

Graham crackers

Marshmallow bunny PEEPS

Pastel Easter M&Ms

Brown Sugar

Reduce 1 sleeve graham crackers to crumbs.

Layer 2/3 of the crumbs in a quart jar.

Place 8 marshmallow bunny peeps standing up, facing out around the inside of the jar.

Press them up against the glass, but don't squish them.

Carefully spoon in remaining crumbs into the center of the jar to support the bunnies, pressing down to keep snug.

On top pour 1 1/4 C. Easter M&M's.

Spoon 1/3 C. Brown sugar on top and press down, so the lid fits.

Decorate and attach a gift tag with these instructions...

Easter S'mores

You will need:

S'more mix

Butter

Vanilla

Empty jar contents into a bowl. Snip/cut bunnies into bits. Return bunny bits to the mixture. Mix well.

Melt 1/2 cup butter; add 1 tsp vanilla. Pour over dry ingredients. Mix well. Pat into greased 9x9" pan. Bake at 350 for 15 minutes. Cool and cut into bars.

*Option 2- Leave bunnies whole; after mixing ingredients, place bunnies on top, then bake as directed.

Practicing for Parenthood

I watched Kyrick this week while his mom and dad were both at work. In the morning, I was still kind of sleepy, so I turned on cartoons and dozed on the couch, while Abree and Kyrick played. (Nice babysitting, eh?) As I was in and out of sleep, I would see snapshots of what was going on. Abree and Kyrick had gathered several toys from the bedrooms and were playing "house", I think. They both had babies, a shopping cart, food, dishes and other various things. One time I saw them with linked arms, walking and talking together. Abree was calling him Honey. Other times I would see them tending to their babies or eating their food. It was SO cute. (In the past, Abree and Kyrick have had a little friction, but nothing like that today. ) Another snapshot was Abree giving Kyrick a "haircut". She had wrapped his blanket around him like a cape and was using a plastic play knife (not sharp, don't worry) to "cut" his hair. With Kyrick's mom being a stylist, I guess he was used to it. He held still and didn't seem to mind.

"Hold still Honey. I'm almost done." Cute Cousins!

WAY too much time on our hands!

On Sunday, we had friends cancel dinner plans last minute with us. We had way too much food for just our family, so we invited a few family members over to share with us. Josh and Tawnya had just gotten a new pet and wanted us to see it. So they brought over their cute floppy-eared bunny named Buddy. He's a sweet little bunny, don't you think?

Some times when my family gets together we do weird stuff. I don't know exactly how or why it came up, but someone dared someone else to eat the bunny's food. I know my dad chimed in and said, "Yea, it's healthy for you. It's got lots of vitamins and minerals." Now that I think about it, it might have been Josh who started the dare. Soooo, Josh was the first one to "bite the bullet"... oh, I mean pellet. Then other's slowly joined in. Talk about your peer-pressure! I chose NOT to participate. I was told it tasted like farm-country smells. I don't think that sounds all that pleasant. As they crunched they said it kind of tasted like grass and dirt and wasn't all that bad UNTIL the after taste. Nasty after taste.

The CRAZY people who actually tried it... Dad, Tawnya, Josh,

Taylee and Rylee.

Taylee's School Program

Last Friday, Taylee had a school music program. It was titled, "The Colors of Us". They sang a variety of songs from different cultures, many of them with a color in the title. Each class had their own tie-dye color, so the risers were a rainbow of colors. Taylee's class was obviously green (just in time for St. Patrick's Day that next Monday). Their music teacher always does such a good job. During the program they showed pictures of the kids on the playground, along with some of their artwork, up on a huge screen. Taylee had a square dancing part and did a great job. The highlight of the program (judging by the squeals of excitement) was when the lights went out and then 2 spotlights appeared revealing the principal and vice-pricipal dressed up in detective attire (including a big mustache and magnifying glass). They then worked their way through the crowd to the tune of "Pink Panther" music. Then someone danced a life-size Pink Panther down the isle. The detectives discovered him and then ran off.They acted so silly and the kids LOVED it. Look at that tie-dye cutie!

Disneyland!

About a year and a half ago, our family set a goal to earn enough money to go to Disneyland in the spring of 2008. We had a few garage sales, sold things on Craigslist and put extra money away every chance we got. We originally thought about going on Spring Break, but found out air flight among other things, were less expensive in February. So we pulled our kids out of school and took them to Disneyland the first week of February. We purchased a 3-day park hopper. The first day we went to Disneyland, the second day we went to California Adventure and on the third day we went back to our favorite rides... a few in California Adventure, but spent most of the day in Disneyland. We had lots of fun and would do it again in a heartbeat.

Here we go! Notice Abree's headphones... plugged in to nothing... just feeling pretty cool.

Ok, so we're in Disneyland... what should we do first???

Toon Town was one of our first stops at

Disneyland.

It was our turn to meet some Disney royalty. As we turned the corner the first princess we saw was Belle. The look on Abree's face was priceless. She was in awe... she just knew that she was the REAL Princess Belle. Belle was so sweet with her. She talked to her, asked her questions, hugged her and held her hand.

Abree had a princess shirt on (with all the princesses on it), she had to point to her shirt and show Belle where she was on her shirt. Sweet Belle just played along.

We also met Briar Rose (Sleeping Beauty) and Prince Phillip. Treyson said to Prince Phillip, "I have a toy of you", to which the prince replied, "Oh my, how flattering."

California Adventure, here we come!

Right when we got to California Adventure we ran into Snow White. She was so sweet and soft spoken, just as I would have imagined her to be.

Mrs. Incredible! Abree kept wondering why the characters wouldn't talk to her. The guy who was taking photos for Mrs. Incredible said that she had a sore throat from yelling at her kids. It didn't totally satisfy Abree, because she asked almost every time.

Flick!

This ride was called the "Mali Boomer". It shot you straight up and then dropped you. And although it was fun, the "California Screamer" rollacoaster was Jason, Rylee and Taylee's favorite ride in California Adventure. Treyson, Abree and myselft chose NOT to do that one... way too scary for me.

Each night I would ask the kids what was their favorite part of the day or what was their favorite ride, Abree would always tell us, "the train". I guess she loved the tram that took us to and from the parking lot??? Who knew.

Disney's version of the Chineese New Year,

the "Year of the Mouse"... Minney Mouse and family.

We affectionately called Rylee the "Signature Stocker". She was on a mission to get every character autograph she could... even Mary Poppins who was really just out for a morning stroll, not really giving autographs at the time... but Rylee got one from her.

Daisy Duck was our parking friend. We parked there all 3 days.