03.28.2008 EASTER HUNT

 

Danielle hunts for eggs at our annual Easter Egg hunt. We really enjoy going to The Week's property-they have like 10 acres of property and each child has their own section to hunt a specific number of eggs (which really helps to know how many you started with incase you dont find them all!)

 

Bubba enjoys the hunt. These eggs are pretty special, some have money (even DOLLARS!) others have candy! Always plenty of candy so the Easter Bunny only has to give them like 1 big chocolate bunny in their basket! All the rest comes from Auntie April and Grandma Norma's easter egg hunt.

 

Danielle and Timothy show off their 30 found eggs!

 

All the young ones after the "hunt". Tylor Bartosik, Danielle Coates, Timothy Coates and Colton Ruskauff!
Happy Easter to all our friends and family!! Come on by if you need some candy...we have enough to last us until Halloween!
P.s. Did any of you know they make Reese's mini foil wrapped candies shaped like eggs? OMG that is the BEST EVER! Yummy!

03.23.2008 Easter Baskets...and other goodies!

 

Yeah, the Easter Bunny didn't take our Easter baskets to California! They were excited they made the trip all the way to Montana. You see..originally we thought we might be in CA so i assured them the baskets would be THERE. Then the drama over whether or not the Easter Bunny knew we didn't go. Oh the lies we must perpetuate as parents. Haha.

 

Danielle loved her basket! She got a special Angelina Ballerina with a crown, some books, bubbles, the works. Not so much candy though, that comes later.....

 

The only pic of Timothy opening his basket has Danielle in a rather un-ladylike position exposing her tights and lovely underwear to the world! So here's a sneak peak at his basket. He got a plastic chicken that poops egg shaped bubblegum..because...as you blog readers should know by now...EVERYONE POOPS!

 

These are the Homemade candies i made for the kids. I have molds and Danielle and i had fun painting the chocolate/vanilla candy and then making all kinds of animals. I made eggs, and other bunnies. All 3 kids got to have one of these larger ones. It looks like it could be a fun tradition in years to come. Oh, i forgot the lollipop sticks so they were standalone which the kids didn't mind at all!

03.22.2008 Dying Easter Eggs

What Easter would be complete without the compensory coloring of the Easter Egss. Oh did they beg, and beg, and beg! Do you think little miss Diva could have changed out of her famous Hello Kitty jammies for some good photos> Well...no!

 

Bubba is really concentrating. This is his first year of actually getting to physically dip the eggs and pick his colors. He had a blast. Note to self, next time not so close to naptime!

 

Danielle was like an old pro. She made them fancy (two-toned) and had a blast! Oh but she dropped one and it cracked. TOTALLY unfair that her brother would end up with more eggs than her. As usual he gave up one of his to make her happy. Such the giver that little brother! All went well, then some stickers or glitter was applied...oh and some "tatoos". Didn't we know that all it is that goes on those egss are tatoos. Thank you little miss 6 going on 16 for pointing that out! Really she just wanted to keep the egg transfers as tatoos since they were her favorite-Littlest Pet Shop!

 

Didn't Danielle make the prettiest eggs? Gotta love these plastic egg platters for showcasing the goods!

 

Bubba with his Masterpieces. Had to take quick picture and grab the platter before we had major Humpty Dumpty Breakage!

03.18.2008 Bubba turns 4 !!!!

 

Spider man, Spider Man. Hey did all you readers know that Spider Man is a GOOD GUY!? Well Bubba does and he loves watching any of the SpiderMan movies, even the "scary" ones (he says with a tremble) cuz Spidey is the coolest. Well he got the costume, which i am sure will become pajamas and outer wear some days. It is still quite big...the smallest one they had was 4/5 but he doesn't care.........spins a web any size......lookout here comes the Spiderman!

 

His Birthday was awesome. He had a party at school (only cell phone pics available and they are grainy so no posts sorry) and all his friends were there, and he had cupcakes and Transformer plates, goodie bags etc. But best of all was the Birthday box Auntie Lynnette sent. Boy did he love his gifts. Transformer from Auntie Kelly, Andy & Aubrey...

 

Gotta love that cute little baby face! And the TransforMutt Shirts from Grandma were Awesome! Thanks for the Lunchbox!

 

Best of all, our little man LOVES Scooby Doo. Auntie Lynnette hooked him up! Not only did he get the Scooby Doo Mystery Machine with Fred, Daphne and Scooby but he got a pkg with Shaggy & Scooby constructing things.

 

Hmmm, choices as a 4 year old. SHould i stick with the Transformer "must haves" or play with the old trust Scooby Doo. Oh sweetie, you don't have to chose...you can play with either -or- both anytime! So, which does he like more Transformers or Scooby. After a week with both I can tell you BOTH Mystery Machines (the van and lunch box) are parallel parked right in his bed come naptime or bedtime - apparantly to make sure they don't drive off?

03.17.2008 Mom gets a new Hairdo

 

Well I finally did it (kinda)!!! I've been wanting to color my hair since last fall. I was mostly chicken, so the closest I got was Red highlights, but could never go "all the way". Well that all changed today - I finally mustered up enough courage to go for an even darker color (brown) with some highlights of red. Well what I ended up with was really dark underneath (like i wanted...to phase into the dark color) and Reddish/blonde for the rest. After it was done i was actually kinda sad cuz i think i could have gone all dark and it would have looked fabulous! Anyway, a couple of akward days and alot of washing later...it's kinda grown on me. Everyone seems to like it and the cut is awesome. Sorry no frontal pics available, i'm just not photogenic!

It's been a really busy couple of weeks and i have lots of pics saved and blogs started but not posted. So there should be a flurry of them in the next couple of days. I am very busy here in Montana between working on the house, looking for a new one, and tax time. Not to mention the regular kiddie activities. So i'm sorry the posts slowed down. It seems like March has been March Madness for me around here! Feel free to comment on any of the new posts, and i'll get you up to date by the weekend!

03.14.2008 Making Sugar Eggs

 

 

Well here are a couple of "Finished Product" eggs. Me and the gals from church got together at Wendy's house for some good 'ol fashioned homemaker stuff. We made sugar egss. YES, you can eat them. No pickin' way would i !!!! Lori enjoyed lickin the frosting, and I'm sure her egg is all gone by now (hehehehe) while mine is safely sitting in Easter grass at home in a basket.

 

This is Lori Cousins and her egg. Like i said, she is mighty fond of the sugar egg makings....and legend has it as a child she'd pick it off peice by peice and eat it. Now Lori, these are supposed to be DECORATIVE not dessert!

 

This was my finished product. It has a chocolate cross inside (ok, that is the only part i wanna eat) and some grass, bunny, chickie, flowers, etc. It sure was fun and there are so many kinds you can make it is awesome! After the eggs we watched AUGUST RUSH. If you haven't seen this movie, RENT IT, BUY IT, whatever, just GET IT! It is awesome!

03.06.2008 Erick is a New Man

 

 

 

 

Erick has been going to Awana's (a Christian youth group) with his friend Steven for nearly a year. He enjoys it but has never really taken his faith (or lack thereof) too seriously. Well a few weeks ago we had a guest speaker at church who talked about creationism/intelligent design vs Darwin's theory, etc. It was a mind blower. Erick really enjoyed it, starting watching DVD's and attending Men's study as well as Awana...and even started to faithfully come to church each Sunday with me. Well on Wednesday March 5, as I was driving him home from Awana's he told me he was "ready" to become a Christian. I was like, "Oh good, we'll talk to the guys at church and do it on Sunday"...and he was like "No, what if I die on Friday? I don't want to wait that long" I knew he was serious, and we called my friend Nick & Wendy and said we would all get together the very next night. Erick prayed the sinners prayer and accepted the Lord into his heart right there in their living room. His good friend Steven and I were there and it was just a really cool night. He even promised not to complain and do the dishes...added bonus for mom! He is really changed in his heart, and you can truly tell the difference it has made in his life. Not to mention 3 days a week he is at some sort of church related study or event and loves it!(Did i mention i nearly had to drag him to church before -just once a month) Way to go Erick!

A day in our lives...what we are reading...03.06.08

Well, on any given Tuesday night you can find me curled up on the couch with my favorite..a PEOPLE magazine. But when i've read that cover to cover (approx. 2 hrs with the normal distractions) what is a mom to do when she actually finds herself with some time on her hands? Read! Foreign concept these past 2yrs but i actually went to a bookstore last week and picked up some stuff for ME for a change. Here is what i just finished, it was excellent. A True Story about a man who died in a car crash and was in Heaven for 1 1/2 hours approx. Awesome!

 

Then here for contrast is what my poor boy Erick is getting to read these days! Boy the life of a High School Junior! Next month is the ACT. UGh, then in June the SAT. But he has subscribed to a really cool website that sends him a sample SAT ? every day and then lets him know if he got it correct/incorrect and the statistics of how many others that answered got it correct/incorrect. It's pretty cool. Mom always guesses right on the English/Grammar ones which frustrates him quite a bit..but hey..it's not like i would get any MATH questions right!

 

Then there is Danielle. She is a VORACIOUS READER! Her teacher and I can't keep her in enough books these days, one a night to bring home is child's play! She wants to read, read, read! For Christmas she got the Angelina Ballerina series and she loves, loves, loves these books! I seriously recommend them to any moms with little girls!!! She is reading them all by herself which is so amazing from my standpoint! There are some tricky, big words! Some nights when she starts to get tired she will let me read one page and then she'll read a page. It is fun - and our nighttime reading ritual is one that i TREASURE with every fiber of my being. She is so eager to tackle the harder and harder books - and she loves reading to her brother right before bath time!

 

 

03.06.08 Wait mom, I like to read books too!

On any given night, usually before bath time this is a familiar shot (below). Poor Bubba trying to "go" on the potty and his way grown up sister reading him a book! It's the stuff that makes your heart MELT as a mom and makes you grateful you caught it on camera!

 

Bubba, too, is finally coming around to reading. Before he just couldn't sit still. But now before naps, before baths, and before bed he loves to be read to. The greatest thing is that his new favorite is Eric Carle books. Even more amazing, is that he's the THIRD one in my clan. It started out 14 yrs ago as Erick's all time favorite, then we had them around still and they became Danielle's favorite when she was about 3. Now they are Bubba's. He has all but memorized the Caterpillar and the Cricket books. He finishes my sentences he knows the books so well. And the illustrations are amazing so it is fun! Hopefully he'll love reading as much as his big sis does!!

 

 

03.05.2008 Danielle gets a BOB

 

It's the big day! Finally a haircut for my girl. It starts with the cool black cape (a black and white photo op too!)

 

We then begin the fun task of cutting off all her stick straight hair. This girl refuses to brush her hair (or let me brush it) so we have jointly decided it is time for a haircut. She actually loves it short and so do I. I am sure it will warm up in a couple of months, she'll just have a chilly neck for a short while. She was a trooper and my friend Laura (who is our family hair stylist) made her the cutest little cut.

 

A day in the salon! Ok, well maybe a 1/2 an hour - but what a difference. Yeah Danielle, you look like a nice little girl again. Mommy is proud you were able to keep your head down and sit pretty still the whole time!