St. Patty's Day Idea...

I thought this would be a super fun project for the kiddos to put together! For friends, neighbors, cousins, whoever...

The buckets are at The Dollar Tree (maybe other dollar stores too!?!) for 3 for $1... Stick Rolos (or chocolate coins...) in the bucket and then place in a cellophane bag. Tie with a ribbon and add cute tag below!

Go to http://thecraftingchicks.com/ for more info and more tags!

PReZ DaY

Chris and Abby made our President's Day one of the best we could remember... ;-)

Lots of Wii parties... they passed all 8 worlds! Even Abby impressed the kiddos with her playing abilities.

Lots of hanging out... chatting... playing... eating yummy food... wrestling... fun hide and seek games Chris made up (he is King of Making Up Fun Games! I don't know how he comes up with them? But I will have to do a seperate post just on the ones he has made up!)... AND we even fit in some Ranger Riding! I love the above pic- Colby was thrilled getting geared up with Chris' stuff. Really Colby thinks Chris is his older brother- he adores him and loves teasing him, snuggling with him, talking to him, wrestling with him... giving him wet willies. Ha. The things Chris has taught him. And Chris is so patient and gives Colby plenty of attention too... and loves him just as much I think!

I took my camera Ranger Riding... but left the battery charging at home. DOH! Abby! I am depending on you for pics! We took a scary ride down to Lake Saguaro... hiked... had a picnic... made a fire... roasted marshmellows and made 'smores... rolled up our pants and sleeves and tried desperately to get a tan... the kiddos played chase and ran around... took video of Chris and Abby's FJ making it up some pretty tough and crazy stuff. Woah. I will have to post those next round. It was a blast- we had such a great time and it was a gorgeous day. Then for Chris' bday that night we went to Carraba's for dinner. The food was delicious and the company was perfect. ;-) We don't get to see enough of Chris and Abby!

And Allie was happy and just loved every minute of the extended holiday weekend. :)

Hope you all had a great holiday weekend too!

Brrr! It's raining... it's pouring....

Well we dropped 20 degrees in a matter of days... went swimming last weekend and pulled out our coats for chilly 60 degree weather this weekend! The kiddos LOVED it though. They love the rain... love pulling out the umbrellas... love trying to catch the rain on their tongues... And Ger and I laugh at what wimps we are because it is such a pain to pull out gloves, hats, coats, boots, etc and gear everyone up. Yup, we are not Utah material. ha.

They really wanted to be outside despite the cold weather so set up a fort in one corner of our back patio. They spent a good portion of the weekend out there! They ate out there, colored out there, water color painted out there... made all sorts of shapes and letters out of pipe cleaners in their fort... etc. Ger even said he would sleep out there with them... until I reminded them all about the cats that sneak into our backyard sometimes at night!

They pulled all the cushions off the patio furniture and each had a pillow, blanket (towel from last weekend still hung out to dry!), and bed.

Next up on their agenda... PuDDlE JuMPiNg! Seriously. They got all geared up and we walked all the way to our neighborhood park and back, jumping in every puddle they saw. Allie stayed safe and dry in her car- she LOVES this little ride on toy.

Wow. They got drenched. They were giggling hysterically- so fun.

I was surprised Sydney got totally into it too- sometimes she likes to stay warm and dry like her mama. ;-)

And luckily Colby didn't whine or complain when he realized he was soaked through!

So fun to spend family time together again- we love weekends. Couldn't survive without them.

Even Mia remained happy all the way home- cold and totally wet!

This was a pic at the end to show how wet their pants are!

The best way to get warm again?!? Change into dry clothes and have smores by the fire!

We had massive marshmellows and everyone got their fill. yum. I will never get tired of smores!

Allie's first fire?!? I can't remember for sure but she loved it.

I laughed at this pic- poor Allie's shirt is pulled up and her socks had fallen off... eating her graham cracker. Ha. She had a good time though and they all enjoyed the warm bath after!

Mia is our little poser! ;-) A fun and adventurous weekend in the rain!

Summer Weather... in February!

It has been unseasonably warm here... hot even the kiddos think! Low 80's in February!

So we got our swimsuits on Saturday and had a water party! Allie LOVED it!

Turned on the sprinklers...

Swang on the swingset...

Jumped on the tramp with Ger spraying the hose... (oh and the kiddos poured dish soap on the tramp so it would be slippery. ;-) Sure glad no one broke an arm!)

Colby jumped in the pool- brr! I didn't even check the temp but it must be 50 something.

We put heated water in Allie's pool... it was a little too hot at first but she did jump in eventually... Splashed and giggled and splashed some more... than accidentally let all the water out of her pool. oops.

BAH! Mia jumped all the way in- crazy!

Crazy kids... had a blast.

Oh and we also flew airplanes off the roof before we swam- the kids loved it. They worked with Ger on folding their own airplanes...

Ger videoed it on his phone... and they had all sorts of contests like, Plane that made the most circles, plane that flew to the pool, plane that went the shortest... Ger had much more creative names than that though!

Allie and I just hung out and watched from the ground... She thought it was so fun to see the paper airplanes floating down.

We also met friends at the park for playing and took a picnic... cleaned and worked in the morning.... and went with some friends to Gnomeo and Juliet and out to dinner. A movie review coming soon... What a fun and busy Saturday! So great to spend it together as a family.

Tried these yet?

Bisquick cinnamon rolls- the fastest and yummiest cinnamon rolls ever. I did a post on them a while back... today I didn't have a Bisquick mix so I just made a basic biscuit recipe using all white wheat and they were super yummy! Mia helped make them so they were extra messy but that's half the fun!

If you want to make these...

• Just make basic bisquick (or biscuit) recipe
• Roll out super thin- as thin as you can- on floured surface
• Add butter, sugar, brown sugar, and cinnamon. LOTS.
• Roll and cut like cinnamon rolls
• Place in a greased pan/cookie sheet
• Bake according to directions
• Make your favorite frosting- cream cheese or drizzling thinner frosting!

I just made my typical frosting recipe- butter, vanilla, powdered sugar, and added extra milk and red food coloring. Then I scooped some in a sandwich bag and cut off the tip for drizzling. This obviously wasn't my cinnamon roll because i prefer TONS of frosting... and nuts! Enjoy!

Rice Krispies Pops

Here's the fun we had making the Rice Krispies Pops! Make up the Original Treat Recipe found here: http://www.ricekrispies.com/recipes/the-original-treats.aspx#/recipes/the-original-treats

Once they are made and pushed down firmly in a pan, let them cool. Then Sydney is demonstrating what to do next... spray your heart shaped cookie cutter with Pam!

And cut out as many heart shapes as you can from the pan... The kids loved eating the left-overs!

I melted a little white chocolate and dipped the top of the stick in chocolate before inserting it in the Rice Krispy Heart. You will want to push it up into the heart most of the way. (this was the only part that was a little tricky for the kids...)

Then decorate! Melt small a handful of chocolate melts in the microwave for 30 seconds and then more if needed. Then cut TINY TINY corner out of baggie to squeeze frosting out of. I put them on wax paper to cool, though you don't necessarily need to do that...

So fun to stick in cellophane bags and tie with a fun ribbon to give away! (I had to cut the ends off the cellophane bags I had because they were too long... but I am sure you could find some a good size so you didn't have to do that.)

Colby definitely loved them the most- I lost track of how many he ate!!!

So fun being creative- I loved how differently each child decorated them. They turned out great. They loved being able to squeeze their own chocolate on each one... Colby actually did blue chocolate on his and I don't know why I didn't get any pics of his?!? But they were super cute.

YUM!

You can get fancier and stick them in a pot with floral foam with crinkle cut gift basket shredded paper if you want! A cute gift for a teacher or neighbor.

(Note: You can make these just as regular Rice Krispies Treats and not worry about doing "Pops" if you don't want to worry about the sticks!)

Make it a weekend of...

Love!

Cut out sandwiches and pancakes with a heart shape cutter... use some red pancake batter in a syringe to make a heart on a waffle or pancake... drink lots of red crystal light... put powdered sugar with a heart cut out on cookies... make pink frosting for cinnamon rolls! So fun to have Valentines on Monday so we can really celebrate all weekend long.

Do something with your kiddos to show your love for someone else- a charitable and kind deed. Even on Valentines, giving is better than receiving! Do fun cards for neighbors... cookies for someone lonely... a phone call to all sing a song for a great grandparent... I would love your fun ideas!

Vday Activities...

We did this craft over the weekend...

And LOVED it! Too fun! Super easy too. My only regret is I didn't take more pics. Bummer. The kids were SOO cute- breaking up crayons, cutting up crayons with plastic knives, and peeling the labels off the crayons. They really got into it and it occupied a good deal of time with minimal mess!

Just break up bits of crayon, put them in a greased muffin tin, stick in oven at 275 for about 10 minutes!

Here are the websites I went to for the info- the first one has the adorable valentine you can attach it to, the second website has the detailed directions...

http://thelongthread.com/?p=5646

http://www.makeandtakes.com/recycled-chunky-crayons

Here's the next project we did! SO FUN TOO! (In fact we have done it twice now because the kids think these are not only fun but so tasty... Colby loves them especially!) The kids loved putting the chocolate on these Rice Krispy treats and adding lots of sprinkles. Quite a bit more of a mess than the crayons but I will have a post soon with more details. ;-) Valentines is too much fun!

Vday Printables/FHE Idea!

Whether for school or home... these vday printables are great!

Do a Family Home Evening on love tonight! (Lesson idea below... ) Then make simple heart envelopes out of paper and write valentines for each other on these.

http://rebeccacooper.blogspot.com/2011/02/valentines-printables.html

From the Friend Magazine... a few things you could use for FHE!

A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you (John 13:34).

Can you guess the answer to this riddle? What is as invisible as the wind and as warm as the sun, can be given away without losing any, grows when it is shared, comes from your heart, and shows on your face?

The answer to the riddle is love. Love is a powerful feeling of affection, concern, and tenderness for another.

Your home in heaven was filled with love. Your Heavenly Father prepared a plan of happiness for you because He loves you. That plan makes it possible for you to become like Him and return to live with Him forever. Your Savior and Elder Brother, Jesus Christ, suffered and gave His life to free you from sin and death. Heavenly Father and Jesus love you. Jesus gave us a commandment to love one another as He loves us. When you love others and show that love by your actions, you are following Him. When you love others, you show that you are a child of Heavenly Father and a disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ (see John 13:34–35). You become more like Them.

Your home here on earth is the first and most important place to show love. You can do it in very simple but powerful ways—a smile, a thank you, a hug, a kind word or deed. You can say, “I love you.” Everyone enjoys hearing those words again and again. As you show love for your family, that love will grow, and you will help to make your home a heavenly place.

A home filled with love is a heavenly place.

A person filled with love is following Jesus.

Take turns talking about some ways we can show our love for one another- toss a bean bag to each other, do a memory card game with the ideas already written, take turns playing charades and acting out the ideas, pictionary, etc!

Songs: We are a Happy Family (I love Mother...), Love One Another, When We're Helping We're Happy, Families Can Be Together Forever, etc!

http://lds.org/friend/1996/06/sharing-time-love-at-home?lang=eng

Rainbow Smoothie...

Ok, lame name but it has fruits and vegetables that are all colors of the rainbow! Talk about healthy! I did the green drink for a while... chocolate banana protein smoothies... fruit smoothies... then back to cereal because smoothies were too cold. :-) Now this is my latest favorite and I think it's going to be around for a while... so I thought I would share. I LOVE that you get practically all your fruits and veggies in the morning- so many amazingly good for you vitamins, fibers, anti-oxidants, etc. Gives you energy and builds your immunity. You can change it up by switching out what you add everyday... using whatever you've got. It is so yummy I crave it. Had one for lunch today!

I don't have an exact recipe but I will list out what I add below... First add all your veggies and fruits. LOVE my vitamix. I have had it a year now and it has been the best purchase ever- use it multiple times a day. My kids love smoothies too so I try and make them before school a few times a week and even after school for them.

Then I add protein powder and water- no juice is used... so really it's super low-cal. This shake is big enough for Ger and I. I have been sending him off to work with a disposable cup of this and he loves it too.

Blend it up super good! Don't you love that I use a plate instead of the real lid- so lazy!

And it always turns out a purplish color... Yum! Mia is a fan too- loves them... but the other kids have seen the spinach go in there and haven't wanted to try it yet!

Rainbow Smoothie

Serves 2

Base:

• 2 oranges (peeled thrown in whole)
• 1/2 cucumber (peeled- gives it a super fresh taste!)
• 1/2-1 cup frozen blueberries
• handful of frozen strawberries
• huge handful of spinach
• 1-2 scoops vanilla protein powder
• 1/2 dropper of Stevia (Optional)
• Water (I have no idea! Start out with 1 cup.)

Then I add in whatever else I want to mix up the taste... or you can leave it as is!

• Apple
• Celery
• Carrots
• Kale
• Frozen Mixed Berries (from Costco instead of Blueberries/Strawberries)
• Banana
• Chobani yogurt

(If you don't have a powerful blender this probably won't work... The vitamix makes a totally creamy smoothie with no grainy/chunks even when I add carrots, apples, etc.)

I would love your smoothie recipes if you have a good one!