Easter Dinner

This is the beautiful ham that Brad made for our Easter dinner.

I'm not much of a ham person but I must say that this was delicious!!

I am lucky to have a husband who likes to cook!!!

Photo

I think it's fun to play with pictures in Picasa 3. 
So here's one I did but I have to say I miss
seeing the brightly colored shirts but I love the look of sepia too. 
I also like to crop the bad stuff out when I'm doing a close-up.  It's so nice.


I'm trying to figure out how to get my picasa pictures to load from the insert image while posting.
Anybody know how to do that?  Please send your help my way.  I don't mind blogging from picasa when I have 1 picture or a collage but I'd love to figure out how to blog more than 1 picture from picasa because that seems to be the place where I edit my photos most often.  Also if I'm making a photo gift on one of the many sites that are out there I can't seem to figure out how to use a photo from picasa.  If you know how to do this...please leave me a comment with instructions.  If not I'm sure I'll figure something out.  Thanks!!!

Blake & Sonny's Easter Pictures

Here are my 2 handsome boys & all the funny faces that come along with them.

Looking down instead of at me & Sonny's new "side" smile.

Looking at me....Blake decided to put his arms around his brother.

They are so cute..."side" smile again.

Pretty similar but a little bit better.

I like this one.

I ♥ this one cuz they are both laughing & look like they are having fun.

A close-up.

And the last one. 

I'm thinking that I need to go play around with the editing on a few of these to see what I can come up with.

I ♥ my boys!!!

Easter Pictures with Libby

On Easter morning we decided to take the kids out front to take some pictures.

(trying to cut back on pictures @ studios...they can be pricey plus I can practice my raw skills).

My boys were not too happy about this but we finally got a few good shots.  Actually....Kimi's pictures turned out way better than mine but she's a professional & has a way better camera & I don't have her pictures so we'll make do with what I took.  Plus...I don't know why but I alway stand off to the side when I'm taking pictures...I need to stop doing that.

Have you ever seen a boy more sad?

Now that Blake is smiling...Sonny's pouting.

I love how his arms are crossed & his bottom lip is totally sticking out.

Still a little mad.

Now Blake's pouting again.

Ok...here we go...the boys are finally smiling!!!  Yay!!!

And another one.

Doing better...Sonny looks like he may fall over.

This is a cute one.

And another cute one.

And we are DONE!!!!!

The boys & Libby have done pictures together many times but it was fun to just do it on our own & thank goodness for digital cameras!!!  I need to practice more.  The boys only are up next.

Easter Morning

Well....the boys were up early

 (but not really any earlier than any other morning)

& they were off

to find the eggs that were hidden. 

They sure had fun!! 

Don't you love those Easter baskets.  Found those at Pier 1 Imports.

Blake seems to be a "master" egg finder & I think that next year we will definitely have to go

outside...(if the weather holds up) so there is more room. 

Then we had breakfast & turned on General Conference.

I printed off confernce bingo & Blake & I played that til it was time to go to Grandpa & Naunie's for lunch.

We don't really play it traditionally...we just cross off everything we hear.  I think it's a good way for him to pay attention to the words that are being said.  I found some really awesome stuff for the kids to do all throughout the blogosphere.  Someday I will print them out & do them with the kids...*sigh*.

But what I did hear in Conference was great & uplifting and I am so grateful to have the Gospel in my life.  I feel extremely blessed not only to have the Gospel in my life but to know that I am a Daughter of God & He loves me no matter what.  I grateful for my Testimony & that even when things get rough in life I don't turn away but I embrace the Gospel because I know that my Heavenly Father is watching out for me & cheering me on & I know that I can make it & I hope & pray that I can instill this into my boys & that they will never turn their back on the Lord & always turn to Him for guidance & that I can be an example of this to my husband as well.  I'm grateful for the sacrice that my Savior made & for the knowledge that I have of all that includes.  I am very blessed.

Got Eggs?

We had several opportunities this year to decorate eggs. 

We got together at my parent's house with my sister's & their kids (all boys)

 to color eggs & we then colored more at our house because for some reason there was a surplus of hardboiled eggs.  I also had Blake glue faces on some of those eggs to do something different.  We also decorated foam egg shapes with stickers & hung those up on the door for decoration. 

Naunie with the grandkids...Mason, Gabe, Blake & Sonny (heads)

Here's my boys.

What's up with the whisks?  Let me explain.

Amelia (my sis) said she read in a magazine somewhere that putting the egg inside

a whisk makes coloring eggs easier for little ones.  I thought it was a great idea.

The kids thought it was cool too.

Gabe & Blake

Gabe getting serious about this egg thing.

Mason...he's so cute...mom took his shirt off because he was bound to get

colored.

Stop taking my picture mom

Blake did the most...he is a little older & able to stay focused just a little longer.

Here we are at home & Sonny is showing me his plain white egg.

Do you like how conference is in the background?  I was trying to watch it at the same time.

Blake showing me his plain white eggs.  I wanted to to the extra eggs when we got home because I wanted to make eggs with really vibrant colors.  The eggs we did @ Grandpa & Naunie's were more of a pastel color.  They were pretty but I wanted them to be bright!!!  So I used vinegar instead of just water to see if that's the key.  Maybe it's the vinegar & the brand. 

These turned out much brighter & I liked them a lot!! 

 (we used Paas brand which is the best I think).

The boys also decorated eggs with their cousin Libby & Grammy

earlier in the month but those pics didn't turn out.  Oh well.

Next time.

Easter Outfits Early

Brad & I were out shopping a few weeks back & ended up at the Children's Place Outlet looking at Easter outfits for the boys.  I originally wanted to get the blue/yellow outfits but when we got there they also had purples & blues & greens.  I always love to get the sweater vests but it was all starting to add up & I am really trying to watch how & what we spend our money on so we decided to go with solid shirts & then have the boys wear matching ties & they could wear pant from home that they already have.  So that's what we did.  They wore these outfits 2 weeks ago because our Easter services were early due to General Conference actually being on Easter this year & we usually watch conference at home on satellite. 

Don't they look so handsome!!!      

Even with Sonny's grumpy face.                                              

Hopefully I can get them to wear them again on Easter Sunday when we go hunting for Easter eggs.  We'll just have to wait & see I guess.

~Shannon

St. Patty's Day Cupcakes

Blake & Colby

Last week was St' Patrick's Day...just in case you forgot. 

 I made sure the kids had some green on & every year I wonder...why can't they just wear the all green shirts that I pick out for them...why oh why?  Oh well.

I thought it would be fun to make cupcakes & decorate them with green sprinkles from the Christmas stash & green Mike & Ikes.  Actually my idea was to make shamrocks with green frosting but I decided to go the easier route for the kids.  I made the cupcakes with my fabulous Demarle flexible bakeware while Blake was at school & then when we got home we decorated them.  Kylie's was gone before I even gave her the frosting & Sonny only got a little frosting on before he decided it was easier to just eat the frosting & cupcake by themselves.  Blake & Colby had a really fun time making their special cupcakes & then decorating the rest.  It was fun to watch.  It's not a holiday that we do much for so it was fun to make a sweet treat & the kids enjoyed it too.

~Shannon

Pre-♥ Day Fun

The day before ♥day was a busy one for us. We started off the morning by FINALLY getting Blake signed up for baseball. Then we went to the gym (something I am doing more regularly), the grocery store & finally home. Whew what a morning. Then after I took a shower & was making myself look normal again, Aunt Kimi called to say that she & Uncle Bryan were at the mall & that I should bring the boys over to see all the firemen, trucks & helicopters. So I picked up the pace & finished my beauty regimen & off we went. We met up with Aunt Kimi & Uncle Bryan & went around & looked at all the stuff. Blake & Sonny got to sit in the helicopter...that was cool & then after a while we went for a ride in one of the older firetrucks. That was really fun. There was a firefighter that climed up a ladder & then repelled back down. It was really high & they even had a smashed up car & demonstrated how they got the cars open with the "jaws of life" to get people out in a real situation. That was cool but also crazy to think about & I'm ever so grateful that I've only been in minor fender benders. Thank goodness!!

So here's our fun pictures from our "Fill the Boot" safety outing.

(click on images to see larger)

I ♥ all the fun faces that the boys make.

After our fun filled day it was the time of day to decide what's for dinner. Well, we weren't going to go out to do anything special for ♥day but Brad told us to get loaded up in the car. I never know what he's up to or where he's taking us (which drives me nuts) but off we went. We ended up at this place called Suzie B's downtown & it was good & fun. Thank goodness for gift cards. We all got a sweet treat after we ate & that was fun.

Blake with his chocolate covered ice cream cone.
And Sonny with his
(this family sitting behind Sonny had a little baby that was flirting with me the whole time.
He was a cutie but he's not in the picture).

Sonny with a chocolate covered face.

Here's Blake shoving the last bite in his mouth.

I can't believe he ate the whole thing. Funny how kids say they are totally full & then you give them an ice cream cone & they eat the whole entire thing! Kids!

Anyway...it was fun to go out as a family & not feel the pressures of Valentine's Day. I already have too much pressure for Brad's birthday & Father's day & our Anniversary & Christmas to worry about getting him something else he probably didn't want/need in the 1st place. It's always hard to shop for Brad. He ends up going out to buy stuff for himself anyway & then I feel a little cheated because if he would've just told me a few things he'd like I could get him something he really wanted. Oh well. What's a girl to do?

Oh & I bought fudge from the YW in our ward so I did get a little ♥day treat for myself & I didn't really share either....maybe that's why I'm a little soft around the edges. Hmmm....

Be Mine ♥'s

With Valentine's Day approaching my friend Jaime & I thought it would be fun to have our boys who are in school make homemade cards for their classes. Valentine's day is on Sunday this year & I know Blake's class is having their class party on the Friday before because the week after they are out of school for a week so we needed to get going on these before we ran out of time & it wouldn't be fun anymore. I know that you can find really cheap cards at the stores but I think it's fun to make our own...especially since I have tons of paper supplies & Blake ♥'s to be creative. And if I don't have to spend any money, even if it's only a couple of bucks...it really helps out. So this is what we came up with.

1. Hershey Kisses or your fave sweet treat

2. ♥s with your message inside

(created by Jaime)

You could have the kids write it themselves depending on how old they are

& how much patience they will have.

3. Larger ♥ cutouts with fun scissors or just regular scissors

(Jaime & I cut these out. Glad we did cuz it took forever!!)
4. Give the kids whatever supplies you have to decorate & have them color the
plain ♥s with the message inside. When they are done they can cut them out
or you can to save time.
Also have them write From: .....
on the back of the larger ♥'s.
5. Then glue everything together & WHA-LA!! You have a cute homemade Valentine Card!!
You can make these as fancy or as simple as you'd like. The hardest part was cutting
the ♥'s out with the fancy scissors.
HaPpY VaLeNtInE's DaY (early)!!