St. Patrick's Day

Last year, the boys and I built an "Apricot Trap."
We caught an apricot and spent the day cutting the green grass with kid scissors.


This year, we decided to catch a leprechaun.
Leprechauns and apricots, as you may know, are two entirely different creatures.
To catch a leprechaun, we needed all the Lego strength we could gather.





Police men with fire axes were positioned at the ready.





Empty containers of gum crammed full with tortilla chips.
Notes telling the leprechauns to "go in" were taped next to doors and windows.
And dangerous traps were disguised as animals and trucks and Lego rockets.





Once the traps were built and ready, magical green smiley faces were drawn on foreheads to protect us from the leprechauns that might pinch us (and wake us up) in the middle of the night.






We woke up and found that although our traps failed to catch a real life leprechaun, the leprechauns left us a little treat.
We love our leprechauns.



We celebrated our day with green shaves, green baths, broccoli, and splashing in puddles of water.
Over all - leprechaun day rocked.

A Marker Lid Christmas

Christmas is here, and we are so very excited. The day after thanksgiving we opened all of our Christmas boxes and greeted our Holiday friends. Stuffed animals that tell stories, favorite Elmo ornaments, and comfortable Christmas blankets are all unpacked and being enjoyed - and I love it.

Christmas time is so fun.

But as we set the tree up and assembled all of the ornaments, something was missing.
I could not figure out what it was.
So I thought and I thought and I thought about it.

Nothing came to mind.

Then one day I was unpacking the 2 toddler bin of clothes for Colton (the eighteen month clothes are now too small) and while I was folding some khaki church pants I felt something bumpy in one of the pockets.

I opened the pocket to find...




I am not kidding.
Do you remember Caleb's obsession with marker lids?

Do you remember that he wanted to carry these superhero marker lid friends with him everywhere so we had to make a car and recycle our socks and altoid containers to hold them?

And do you remember how they evolved into bunnies and men with funky hair?



Well.
We decided that our Christmas tree was definitely needing some marker lid love.
So we hot glued some pipe cleaners to the top of the marker lids,





and we hung them on our tree.






And now my friends, Christmas is complete.
Santa can come and the reindeer can fly.

Independence Day 2011

Neighborhood parade with awesome friends while Nate was playing chiropractor.
(thanks again, Jen!)









Bike Rides. Look who is finally riding a big boy bike :)





Grandma and Grandpa, walking in the park, sunglasses, and snap-poppers.



Chasing Friends.





Fireworks



Independence Day 2011 was amazing.
America, you are truly beautiful.

chick-ology 101

I enjoy Easter. a lot.
I love the deep spiritual significance.
I love the spring time feel.
I love the Easter eggs.

I have secretly been planning Easter baskets, eggs, and activities for months.
I am so excited that it is finally here.

This week the boys and I pulled out all the Easter eggs to practice our egg hunting skills and learn a little about chick-ology 101.


First, we had to build a nest for our eggs





Sheriff Woody was recruited to act as the mama chick.

At first the boys were not too pleased. They wanted to play mama chick. There was quite the debate about whether the sheriff could really keep the eggs warm enough. We eventually had to incorporate many blankets and pillows.



When the conditions were absolutely perfect, the baby chicks emerged from the eggs.
Cute, warm, and hungry.



We were ready to feed their appetites with some tasty worms.
The chicks really like to eat them... and so does Colton.



Such a fun game.
We played it for days.

Eventually, we decided that we needed to make more baby chicks to play with.
I really need to invest in googly eyes.




These baby chicks are a bit older than the "hatching chicks" and they needed a home that was easily transportable.

So, we made a little pet carrier for them.




Caleb loves it.
It is like a little suit case that he can carry around with him everywhere.



He had to try it out by going up and down the stairs with it at least a dozen times.



So incredibly fun.

I found packages of eggs for forty cents a pieces at Hobby Lobby. I went a little egg crazy. We are having a lot of fun sorting eggs by their color, hiding eggs with numbers inside and then lining them up in the right order once they are all found, and basic word spelling with letters hidden inside each egg.

My boys are awesome egg finders.
The Easter bunny is going to have to get a little creative this year.

St. Patrick's Day

I really enjoy St. Patrick's Day - primarily because green is an awesome color and I like the idea of being allowed to pinch anyone who is not wearing one of my favorite colors.


I kind of made a big deal about St. Patrick's day at our house this year, probably to make up for the fact that I completely missed Groundhogs Day. I still do not know if that little hog saw his shadow or not.

Anyway...

We started our St. Patrick's Day festivities out early with green painting, green sensory bins, and a Leprechaun trap.





We baited our own little Leprechaun Pete with gold coins, rainbows, and a tree house for him to play in. We woke up to find green footprints in our tree house,



an empty Leprechaun trap, and a little treasure hunt. We found clues in our shoes, gloves, and cupboards. In the end, Leprechaun Pete left us a little pot of gold coloring books.



Colton spent most of the day pulling himself up.
I am so happy that I finally caught a picture.



And despite my grand plans to spend the afternoon playing with green balloons, green streamers, green playdough, green baths, celery painting, shamrock hunts, "green green yellow," and green eggs...



we spent the day cutting grass with scissors.
I guess the grass should be green.

Happy Green Day!

The Apricot Trap

We are hoping to catch a Leprechaun tonight with our magical trap.



Leprechaun is kind of a big word.

Conner continues to call them Apricots.



We are going to catch a little mischievous man who is required to grant three wishes... or jam.

Either way, I am happy.







On a completely different note, look who pulled himself up to the dishwasher yesterday. This kid is going to be walking before I know it.

I missed the picture moment, but you can still see the red spot on his forehead from the little crash that occurred when he lost his balance.



I love that drool that is always hanging from his mouth.

More Pancakes Please...

Yesterday I told my boys to eat.

I told them to have fun and eat all day long.

I even broke my two year vegetarian habit and cooked a turkey.







Turkey.

Stuffing.

Sweet Potatoes.

Vegan Mashed Potatoes.

Vegan Gravy.

Biscuits with Honey Butter.

Gingered Carrots.

Salad.

Apple Crisp.

Vegan Pumpkin Pie.





Should be every little boy's dream... right?



Food galore.



I was wrong.



A couple weeks ago, Nate and I decided that our family needed to celebrate Thanksgiving on our own this year. While we were both incredibly thankful for the many invitations we received, we both needed some quiet family time.



Wednesday night was spent in the kitchen cooking a feast for my boys.

I imagined my boys jumping for joy when they saw just how much food I was preparing.



To be completely honest, I wanted to be a Turkey BaHumBug this year.

I wanted to defy the traditional turkey dinner with pancakes... lots of pancakes.



I was all ready to create pancake masterpieces when our life climb took a change in direction.

Unsure of how this new direction will alter our lifestyle, I wanted to make Thanksgiving extra special for my family.



I cooked a turkey. I mashed potatoes. I sugared up sweet potatoes.



One glance from Conner told me this feast was not up to his standards.

On hands and knees, he begged for the left-0ver pancakes in the refrigerator.



So, while Nate and I stuffed ourselves silly with yummy food...

our boys basked in the simplicity of pancakes served with agave nectar.



When Nate and I went back for seconds, the boys asked for more pancakes.







After all the left-over pancakes were consumed, we feasted upon our kids.



We gobbled up their creativity,

broke a couple of house rules,







played hard,







and requested additional servings of their love.





My thanksgiving feast will continue to last today, tomorrow, the day after, and the day after.

I never want to stop feasting upon the miracle and love of my children.