Eli says . . .

My kids were having a discussion about my dad and reading. I guess some how my kids thought that my Dad doesn't do a lot of reading. Which is funny because my Dad reads tons. In fact my dad usually reads more than one book at a time. But he usually reads upstairs which the kids don't spend alot of time up there. So, my mom was telling the boys about how not only does Papa read alot and more than 1 book at time. So, Eli says " Does he pass his AR tests?"

Oops!

Obviously, I need to do a better job when I am taking videos. I didn't realize that it was still on. It would help if I read the manual instead of assuming it is just like my old camera! So, sorry!

St Pat's Day Games!

We played some games for our St Pat's day party. In this video the cousins are tossing gold coins into their partners hats. We also tried to toss the hats onto our partners heads (Noah came up with this game), hide the hats (Jordan's idea), coin toss, leprechaun races (which I thought I had a video for, but didn't and it was funny).

Happy St Pat's Day! I know it late but oh well!

The boys and I celebrated St Pat's Day on the 18th since they were in Florida for the 1st half of spring break. The sibs (except Andrew) and cousins came over to join in the green fun. Lucas quickly jumped in to help make the cookies. Green shamrock sugar cookies.

Eli helped with the frosting. Because of course the boys wanted frosting and sprinkles on the cookies. Are we surprised? No!

The decorations. I saw this idea on someone's blog. Can't remember who, so I can't give them credit. But we made a rainbow passage. The kids all really liked it. When Trevor saw he stared at it and whispered "ohhhhh!" It was too cute! Wished I had captured that on film.

After games, we went up to the park. Fred/Julie/Trevor/Tyler showed up shortly after. The kids had lots of fun. Even Trevor joined in playing with his cousins.

Scott did not pose for this pic! ;)

Jordan and Scott having a sibling moment.

I did not take this pics. Jen had my camera, (since I was holding Tyler) and was in charge of taking pics. I would not have encouraged Jordan to climb up on this thing. In fact, I hollered at Jen when she was taking this pic. So, just to be clear. I do NOT support this pic. But I was glad it wasn't my kid climbing up there :).

Rock, Paper, Scissors!

Trevor loved the playground. The swing, slide and tubes!

It was a little chilly, but Tyler liked watching all of the kids play.

Some of our green food included green mac and cheese, grapes, green ice cream floats and green applesauce.

And we can't forget the sugar cookies.

I tried getting a closer pic, so you could see them better. But as you can see they were going fast. Right after the pic, the plate was empty!

Happy Birthday Grandpa and Trevor!

Trevor's Bday was yesterday and my Grandpa's bday is on Thursday, so we had a joint party for them on Saturday. Trevor's before dinner and Grandpa's after. I didn't take pics of Grandpa opening presents, frankly because I was tired. But he enjoyed the frame. Here is the baby birthday boy opening gifts.
Birthday hats for all! Well not enough for all, but they helped put everyone in the party mood!

Even Tyler was in the mood.

The big cousins were bit over the party scene.

Trevor was a little more interested in playing with his new presents.

I think family events are a little overwhelming for our shy Trevor, but he did pretty good.

Even with the barrage of cousins.

I think one of the highlights of the party were the balloons for Trevor. Unfortunately, my parents house has A LOT of vaulted ceilings. But Trevor was happy to play with them as they were tied to a coffee table.

Make a wish!

Julie's mom brought these. Yeah! Thankfully they didn't make noise.

Trevor tried and tried to make his work. And he had plenty of people to show him how to do it. While the cake was being cut, I snagged a pic of him trying all on his own. But he still wasn't able make his work. Probably because he wasn't really putting his mouth on it ;).

Black frosting, YUMMY!

The cake!

Here are the making of the cake pics. Chef Lucas helped with the making of the cake and the eat of the frosting! Shocker! My child liking scratch that LOVING frosting. Say it ain't so!

When the boys got home, Eli joined in the fun. He helped with the green.

And the finished project. It's hard to read but it doesn't say Trevor sucks!

Lucas says . . .

I have another funny story of what Lucas said. Yesterday, Lucas and I were making my nephew's bday cake (Happy early Birthday Trevor!) And Lucas asked if he could lick the beater. And I said yes. So, as Lucas is leaning over the kitchen sink licking the beater-he says " I want to make sure it isn't POISONED!"

What?!?! Where does he come up with this stuff? So, Julie rest assured that Lucas is Trevor's official taste tester and the cake is safe!

Some Before and Afters . . . .

It's my Grandpa's bday next week and this is a before and after of his present. Since there are 3 sets of great grandboys, I thought that this set of frames was perfect. But a little plain.
So, I painted them. And I love how it turned out. I felt bad though because when I bought them Lucas was with me (before kindergarten). And I painted them after I took Lucas to school, when he got home and saw them he said" You painted them without us?" I felt bad, because they are usually right in the middle of all the craft projects that I do. I had bought some stamps for them to make bday cards. So, they each made my Grandpa a card.

When we went into Michael's, Lucas saw all the St Pat's Day decorating stuff and wanted to of course get some. Truthfully, I don't like decorating for holidays. They come and go so quickly. And as the boys have gotten older, they ask more and more to decorate for the holidays. Lucas was really wanting a wreath (and they were tacky!), so I came up with a craft project with this wreath. It wasn't white but I spray painted it. I just thought a brown wreath wouldn't go with the ideas that I had. And my bloggy buddy Ashley is always spray painting things white. So thx for the idea! So this is the after before pic. What?!?! I don't have a pic of the wreath before painting it-oh, your smart -never mind.

And here is the St Pat's Day wreath. Lucas helped me with putting the garland on. The plan is to then have different garland for the holidays to switch out. So, the wreath will have lots of use. And the easter stuff I got will go with the white better. But maybe I will have to get a brown one for the holidays that don't look as great with the white. I can't wait for the Easter one. Now, look who's excited.

And the last is a pic of another St Pat's day decoration. Didn't make it but its cute and simple (my kind of decoration).

Chef Lucas and his Whik!

Chef Lucas enjoys his new "Whik". I believe we were making pancakes, or eggs. Something breakfasty. He is such a great help in the kitchen.

Thank you . . . Thank you!

I am so giddy over getting this award. For those of you who don't know, my girlfriends/coworkers won a Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2 contest. We got a spa day, movie tickets etc. So, I love this award. Thanks Ashley! She has become a great new blogging buddy. The rules:

1. Put the logo on your blog or post.

2. Nominate at least 10 blogs which show great Attitude and/or Gratitude!

3. Be sure to link to your nominees within your post.

4. Let them know that they have received this award by commenting on their blog.

5. Share the love and link to this post and to the person from whom you received your award.

So the nominees are . . . . drumroll please . . !

1. Julie

2. Brooke

3. Eryn

4. Violet

5. Sarah

6. Ashley

7. Lynette

8. Kat

9. Kelly

10. Laurie

So share the love and pass the award along!