Cupcakes for Dinner?

Today is April Fool's Day and it wouldn't be complete without a little fun!  Tonight the kids couldn't believe I was serving cupcakes with dinner.  Little did they know they were meatloaf cupcakes with whipped potatoes posing as frosting! 

Grandma Huffey had stopped by to pick up a few things and sat down to enjoy a cupcake with us.  She was just as surprised as the kids when she bit into her cupcake.

My unsuspecting victims... excited for some cupcakes!

Everett loves to lick the frosting off before eating the cupcake.



Wait a minute!  What is wrong with this frosting?



"I don't like this cupcake Mom."

Ethan was trying to convince Everett to try his "baked beans".  Ev is not a fan of baked beans.

 Ethan loves baked beans, so he dug right in, but was surprised when he tasted something a lot sweeter than his normal beans.  Everett on the other hand, was hard to convince. 



Until they are made with chocolate pudding and tootsie rolls!!

Yum!

Thanks MOM!

Love this smile!

Did you have fun on April Fool's Day?  I think this smile says we did!

A Bear and an Insect

Today we went to the Civic Center to watch a children's performance by Lightwire Theater.  Ethan and Everett liked it so much, they put on a show of their own tonight.  It was awesome, and Ethan created his costume all on his own!

Ev as a Bear

I can't help but laugh at the face Ethan is making in this photo!!

Bugs in motion!

Behind the scenes... Everett didn't last long with the costume, it was close to bedtime and he didn't like being away
 from Mom in the dark, so I made him a silly hat but he refused to wear it (at least he held it for the photo).

I have a video I will try and link, I uploaded it to Facebook but don't really know how to get it here, so I will do my best.

Library Reading Program

For the month of February, our local library has had a reading incentive program for school age kids.  Ethan turned in his reading log today and got to pick out a free book to take home!

The Magic Tree House bookS have been some of his favorite books to read lately.  They mix non-fiction science and history with an adventure story involving a brother and sister.  Although he would prefer to read non-fiction, he does enjoy these books, and I like them because we can do small unit studies over the facts that he funds out.

Great job Ethan!  Thank you Pleasant Hill Library!

Basketball-er

2013 K-1st Grade Upward Snow Leopards

This is Ethan's first year playing basketball for Upward Sports and he is really enjoying it!  Today he told me that basketball is his new favorite sport (this past fall you might recall that football was his favorite), but then he corrected himself and said that he is sure when football season comes around again, he will think it is his favorite.  Funny kid.

His has practice once a week and games every Saturday; the whole event is pretty impressive.  They have an announcer with music, score board, cheerleaders with a few half-time cheers and he has even had to shoot a few free throws in a few of his games.  The refs are somewhat lenient and will often give a warning before calling traveling or double-dribble, but you can tell the kids are really learning how a real game works.



Ethan, shooting a free throw

The games are actually fun to watch, and we all can't get over how great he is doing!  He is a real hustler out there on the court and isn't afraid to play defense!  He even will sit on the sidelines and shout to his teammates who is open and what to do!  It is a lot of fun to watch.

This past game he scored 8 baskets, with almost every shot he attempted going in.  His team, the Snow Leopards, are doing a great job, but have learned a few times what it feels like to loose a game, which I feel is a valuable lesson that sometimes gets missed at this age.

Go Snow Leopards!!

Vrooming to a Happy Valentine's Day

Today is Valentine's Day and although we didn't really do too much to celebrate, we did make a stop at the thrift store on our way home from Ethan's enrichment classes and found a bike for Everett!!

$5 was the price and I was so excited to find such a great deal!  It is practically brand new!  The retail price on this bike is close to $100, so at $5 I couldn't pass it up!  This is a balance bike, so it is different from a regular bike as it doesn't have pedals and the child doesn't use training wheels.  The idea is that the child learns to balance before pedaling.  I don't know how well it will work, but he thinks it is AWESOME, so that is what matters!

I'm doing it!!

It was a beautiful sunshine filled day so we took it for a spin when Derrick got home.  It is going to take him a few times to figure it out, but already, after about 15 minutes, he was starting to get the hang of it and balanced while he coasted short distances.

Pretty soon he will be zooming around the cul-de-sac with the rest of the neighbor kids!

Spreading the Geo-bug

Today, since the warm sunshine was in Branson and Des Moines was just recovering from snow and cold temps, Amanda and I decided to make the most of it and do some last minute geocaching.  We left the husbands and the preschoolers at the condo to nap, grabbed some GeoSwag (small items to trade) and our smart phones, and headed out with the older two (and Elliot) on an adventure.

Laila and Everett, enjoying cartoons at the condo in Branson

Our first stop was near the dam.  It was a great view and a crazy sight seeing all the turkey vultures flying around.  That is the beauty of Geocaching, you go places where you might not normally stop.

Ethan and Emma posing near the overlook.
The steps made me nervous, it was a straight drop down over the edge of the wall.

The warning in the notes of the Geocache said to hold on to your kids during
the hike to the cache.  They weren't kidding!

 The search for the cache took us along the edge of this bluff along a footpath.  Once we got close to the trees I started hearing a rustling in the leaves.  I worried about snakes, so I stopped and motioned to everyone else to stop.  Then, out of the grass scurried an armadillo.  The kids couldn't see it, as the camouflage was pretty good and it didn't hang around long, but Amanda and I thought it was pretty cool!



Elliot, Ethan and I with a view of Lake Tannycomo in the background

Once we got close to the geolocation, it didn't take long to find the hide.

Ethan can't go on a hike without carrying a walking stick.

Found it!!

After signing the log, exchanging trinkets and placing the container back where we found it, we decided to do some more exploring and look for some more.  Elliot fell asleep in the van along the way so we decided to let the kids swing a little at the park and find a cache that was close to the road so he could stay sleeping.

From our condo you could see the road that ran along the bluff, so we decided to drive along there.  At the scenic overlook was a geocache!!

 

After pulling up and getting out we spotted our condo with Amanda's white vehicle parked outside. We pointed that out to the kids and Ethan said "Where's our van Mom?" We all paused and I replied, "Where is our van Ethan?", then laughed as he realized we drove it.

It was a pretty cool view, so we called Derrick and convinced him go outside and wave to us. He did and the kids were impressed at how small he looked.

Amanda and Emma at the overlook

You can barely see Amanda's white SUV infront of our condo. 

We found the geocache and then headed back to the condo since it was getting cold.

Emma, grabbing the geocache from behind the pole

I hate to admit it, but I think Amanda and I enjoy the hunt more than the kids, and now that she is addicted I have even more excuse to get out and find some caches!



 

Baby E is 7 Months Old

Elliot is 7 months old today!  He is growing up so fast and I can't get over his sweet laugh!  It makes all the sleepless nights worth it.

Today he was playing on the floor with a few of the musical instruments the boys had out.  I couldn't resist grabbing a few cute smiles from our favorite baby boy!  He is teething like crazy (he has two bottom teeth and is working on the top one), so things are constantly in his mouth, and if it is on the floor, it is fair game! 

He is into everything and I can't seem to keep him still, or sitting for that matter.  Standing at whatever he can put his hands on is his preferred position, so it is amazing that he sat here long enough to get these shots.  Enjoy!

 

Here he is working on that upper left tooth.

 

 

He cracks himself up too!