Easter Baking: Some Fun Treats

We found some yummy treats to make this Easter from a great website called Our Best Bites.

First we made this Glass Block Jello.

The kids were really excited about the Jello blocks and they looked awesome!

But they were happier eating the coloured blocks in the pan before the white layer was added. So next time we might just stop there and have colourful jello salad.

We also made these Cadbury Egg Cookies.

They were wonderful! I highly recommend these.

I made two modifications to the recipe. I used all butter, instead of butter and shortening. And I also reduced the flour to 2 1/4 cups. I think that was due to altitude, so you might need the full 2 1/2 cups where you live.

Now that Easter is over, I'm thinking these would be good to make with M&M's. And you wouldn't have to crush them up.

Enjoy!

Good Friday on the Farm

We spent Good Friday with two dear friends of mine. We figured, during the visit, that the three of us have been friends for about 23 years now.

We don't get together very often, as none of us have lived in the same city for several years. But when we do get to see each other, we just pick up where we left off.

I love visiting the farm. It makes me want to move out to the country and become a farmer.

So beautiful!

These calves were only a week old.

The kids were so excited to pet the cows.

Preschool - Z Day

This week was Z day for Preschool. It was at our house again, as one of the Moms in our group recently had a baby, and we worked the schedule to give her a few weeks off.

Here are some of the activities we did:

We were Zookeepers, and built cages for all of our zoo animals using Connectors and Straws.

As the kids put the animals in their cages, we talked about what letter each animal name starts with and what sound that letter makes. It was a good letter review, now that we're at the end of the alphabet.

Then the kids fed the animals and took care of them.

We read some Z books: ZOOM! by Robert Munsch, and 1 2 3 to the Zoo, by Eric Carle.

We glued some Zebras to coloured papers and gave the Zebras black stripes.

Missing My Babies

Nathan and Clara have spent most of this week at their Nana & Papa's house.

We sure have missed them!

The past few days around here have been peaceful, quiet, lonely, and... ridiculously productive.

And it truly is amazing how clean the house stays all day long. I could get used to that part.

But man, I've sure missed them...

To prepare for the upcoming Play On! season, I needed to update all of the Appendix files for the local Operators, set up the finance spreadsheets and accounts, and a few other organizational tasks.

And last night I hosted a triple baby shower (more about that later - it was so much fun).

Samantha had a talent show at her school, and well, it was a really busy week.

So Nana came to the rescue and agreed to watch Nathan & Clara. So much better than forcing them to watch Treehouse for 14 hours a day, while surviving on a diet of goldfish and rice cakes.

Thank you, Nana!

Being super busy with work helped when we were missing our little munchkins.

Did I mention how much we've missed these kids?

They get back later today and I can't wait to kiss those chubby cheeks!

Happy Weekend, everyone!!

Confessions from a Mean Mom

My children often accuse me of being the meanest Mom ever.

I admit that I struggle daily as a Mom. I am not a very patient person. I have raised my voice, lost my cool, and have had parenting moments that I would change if I could go back.

But those aren't the things they complain about.

Here are some of the reasons why my kids think I am super mean:

I make them eat vegetables and other healthy food. And I don't fill their lunchbags with Fruit-roll-ups, chips, candy, or soda pop.

I make them brush their teeth and hair. And use soap to get clean in the bath. And wash their hands when they come in the house.

I make them go to bed "early" on school nights (early being 8:30 PM).

I make them tidy up their stuff, make their beds, empty the dishwasher, clean the bathrooms, etc.

I make them do their homework and practice the piano. And learn theory.

I make them apologize and hug each other when they have a fight.

I don't let them play DSi 24 hours a day. I don't even let them keep their DSi's in their own possessions.

Oh, and I put Clara in time-out when she's naughty. I get all kinds of evil eyes when this is going on.

As you can see, I'm definitely up there on the Mean Mom list.

My own Mother has even accused me of being a mean - or should I say a strict - Mom. Because I make my kids wait until the cookies have cooled before they get to eat them.

Ironically, my kids are fine with the waiting part. They have seen homemade cookies so often that they think I'm mean because I don't buy them Oreos, Arrowroots, and Chips Ahoy.

Aaaaah, I just can't win on that one.

But that's okay, because the truth is... I make the cookies for Scott.

Learning the Hard Way

Scott got up at 5:30 AM this morning to drive to Toronto to catch a flight to the US for a business meeting he had tomorrow.

Unfortunately, his passport had just expired, so he didn't make it through US Border Patrol at the airport.

We didn't even think of checking it, as we were just in Florida a couple of weeks ago, and crossed the border twice without incident.

He came back to London, drove straight to the Passport Office, and had it renewed today. In fact, he's picking it up as I type this.

But, he's going to have to settle for a Conference Call tomorrow.

Live and learn!

Update: April Fool's and Other Random Thoughs

Some thoughts on what we've been up to lately:

1. Meaghan's concert on Thursday was so much fun! We all loved it!

2. Samantha woke up early (or stayed up late?) to play some April Fools Jokes on her brothers:

Brett was livid and couldn't wait to get the marker washed off. This wasn't surprising given that the boy is 8 years old and has never had his face painted (his choice). He refused to even let me snap a quick photo of the prank.

Jesse was indifferent, but washed his face before leaving for school.

Nathan loved it and wanted to leave it on all day. He thought the moustache made him look like one of the Super Mario Brothers.

3. I loved watching General Conference this past weekend. Especially the Sunday afternoon session. Elder Scott, Elder Robbins, and Elder Holland's talks were some of my favourites.

4. We all loved having Nana in town for the weekend! She taught Brett some Math tricks, danced with Clara to imaginary princess music, and listened to our kids play piano duets.

She also learned what happens when you don't lock the bathroom door at our house.

One minute she was enjoying a peaceful soak in the bathtub... Until the door flew open, Nathan ran in, and decided he needed to take a bath too.

5. Scott and I were able to attend a baby blessing on Sunday night at the home of some friends.

All I can say is newborn babies are precious beyond words. Holding a newborn baby makes me so happy. And sad. Because my children were that tiny once too. And now they are growing up and they do things like wipe my kisses off of their cheeks and foreheads.

6. This week Scott and I made trips (separately) to Toronto to work at the Bishop's Storehouse. He went on Monday with a group of friends and I went yesterday with 3 lovely ladies.

It was neat to see people working together to help those in need, and I was grateful to be part of it, even if just for a few short hours.

7. I think the best (worst) April Fool's Trick of all is that it snowed on Sunday! Spring, where are you??