Enjoying the "Spring" weather

Spring or Winter?

Yesterday we had a great time. We were enjoying the mild weather. Even though it was cooler than it had been we still got out the bikes and went on a bike ride to the library and then to the duck park to feed the ducks. The wind was a little chilly, but still bearable with only a sweater.

This morning this is what we woke up to:

I've seen spring snow storms before, so this isn't new. But, the amount of snow surprised us and the kids. After breakfast they all wanted to put on their snow suits and go play in it. Maybe we will if there is still some snow left after we get back from church.

Easter

Easter started for our family last weekend. Katie and Braydon were here so we had an early Easter celebration with the Rogers' family. Here we are decorating egg shaped cookies, instead of real eggs. The kids really got creative. I'm suprised Leah could fit her cookie in her mouth with the MOUND of frosting she put on it, not to mention the tons of sprinkles! Enjoying their time with Braydon.

This weekend we were able to have more cousins at our house. Eve, Eden, and Ezra came to visit while Christel had a Dr. apt. Here is a picture of cute Ezra. What a monkey! We didn't know where Eden and Ezra were at one point. We found them both in the bathroom. I guess Eden had to go potty, and Ezra decided to take a swim in the yellow swimming pool! His one foot was down the hole and the other leg was outside the seat. I wish I could have caught a picture quick enough of the actual scene.

Eden and Eve were able to have a sleepover at our house so we could give Christel and Alan a break. The kids loved it. The girls were all in Leah's room. We pulled out her trundle bed to let Eve and Eden sleep on it. I guess Leah didn't want to be left out so all 3 of them ended up sleeping on the trundle. At 10:30pm Eve and Leah were still awake jumping on the bed while Eden was sound asleep. I don't know how she fell asleep with them jumping and laughing for hours!

Saturday we did an Easter egg hunt with our kids. They were able to find eggs in our backyard that we filled with quarters. Easter morning was my favorite. I was finally able to see my kids in their cute Easter clothes I got for them. The boys each got a new shirt, tie, and belt. Leah got a new dress, shoes, and purse. Here is a picture of her twirling around in her princess dress.It's kind of hard to tell by the picture, but Alex's shirt is yellow and Caleb's is green. It's the first time they've ever had colored church shirts. Jon really likes plain white shirts, but I went out on a limb and got the boys colors. They looked so handsome. What cute kids!After church we went to Salt Lake to see Oma and Opa. They always have an Easter egg hunt at their house and yummy food. It's always nice to visit with them. We went to see Grandfather Lanier and Aunt Robin next. We all went to the cemetery together to say "Happy Easter" to Uncle Billy and Uncle Adam. Grandma Hosie left a basket of flowers, and Christopher left Billy some Easter candy. What a sweet boy. Next, we went to Uncle David's house to visit him. The kids were quick to find the candy dish and cookie jar. We got to look at David's book of remembrance and see pictures of Easter when they were growing up. Grandfather Lanier showing a trick to the boys.Leah followed Aunt Robin around everywhere. (I've decided that she just likes to be with anyone else besides mom and dad. Even at church today she went to sit with her sunbeam teacher rather than with us.) Here is Leah convincing Bun to show her what's in the cookie jar.We've had a busy weekend and a busy day today. Between all of our Easter plans and activities I managed to make two baby shower cakes and go to a baby shower on Saturday morning. I don't know how we fit it all in sometimes. I'm glad to be home now. We got home at 10pm. I'm happy to go to bed soon. I hope everyone else had a great Easter.

Disney Princess Wishes

We went to see the Disney Princess on Ice show last night. It was so much fun. We had a girls night out with aunts, cousins, mom's and sisters. It was a good time. We started by going to eat. Aunt Robin and Aunt Denise made these cute gift bags for all 5 of the little girls. They got wands, crowns, treats, stickers, hair elastics, etc. It really got them excited about the Princess show. After the show they got snow cones. Leah got a Flounder cup. She loves it.

Hannah and Leah

Eden and Aylora

Christel and Eve

Lanier girls

It's My Birthday!

I woke up this morning to a big surprise. The phone rang at 8:15am and I was still asleep! And this was after I went to bed exhausted last night by 7:30pm. I slept for more than 12 hours! I usually wake up after Jon leaves for work, but this morning he never woke me up when he left for work because he surprised me and took the day off. After we ate breakfast and got Alex off to the bus stop I exercised while Jon folded the laundry for me.

Caleb and Leah had their computer class today. It was fun for them to have dad come along to see what they do at computer class. My mom was nice enough to watch Caleb and Leah for us so we could go to the temple this afternoon. Once we got there we realized we were too late. We had just missed the temple closing for the day. I knew they closed early on Monday, but didn't know exactly when they closed. So, we went to the Brick Oven for a lunch date instead.
We had a fun family home evening based on the 5th article of faith. It's the next one that our kids need to memorize so we were helping them work on it. Leah picked "Chutes and Ladders" for our activity. We went out to eat to Wingers for dinner. My birthday sundae was devoured by our 3 little kids. I'm surprised that I even got a couple of bites!

So, overall I had a great day! I was able to buy some decorations I had wanted from Rod Works thanks to some birthday money I got from my mom & dad and Jon. I got the big rod decoration above my temple picture, and 2 hearts and a welcome sign to go in our entry way above our coat rack. I love the way they look!


I also got some new silicone spatulas and some nylon whisks for my kitchen! I was excited about that. You can never have too many spatulas, and my favorite whisk just broke a few months ago.

Thanks to everyone who sent letters, e-cards, made "Happy Birthday" phone calls, and wished me happy birthday. It made me happy.

Cupcake Demo

I did a demo at the Robert's store tonight. I made cupcakes. I got a lot of people interested in my upcoming classes. Here is what my demo table looked like. I displayed my sugar egg and then I made some cute Easter cupcakes. A lot of people took some fliers, so I hope that means my classes will fill up next month!

Who Leah Looks Like

MyHeritage: Look-alike Meter - Geneology - Family history

Caleb Looks Like Both of Us

MyHeritage: Family trees - Genealogy - Celebs - Collage - Morph

Who Alex Looks Like

MyHeritage: Look-alike Meter - Free genealogy - Geneology software

A Vegetable Experiment

I was at the grocery store over the weekend with Caleb and Leah. They were being really good and helpful. I listened to the usual, "Can we have this, mom?" "Can I have that, mom?" as we went down all of the isles. Most of the time I have to say no or we'd be eating all donuts, chocolate milk, chips, etc. So, when we got to the produce section of the store and heard the same questions I indulged them. Caleb was excited to see cantaloupe, oranges, and pears. He said we hadn't had cantaloupe for a long time and couldn't wait to eat it again. He also picked out the pears. When I was getting some green peppers for chicken fajitas Caleb was intrigued when he saw an orange pepper. He said, "I've never seen an orange pepper before. Can we get it mom?" So, I was willing to pay more than twice the price of a green pepper to get an orange one also. I was hoping if Caleb picked it out he would love eating it.

I made chicken fajitas the other night for dinner. We played "restaurant" where the kids get to make menus and pick what they want to eat. I turn into a funny waitress lady (mom with her apron on) while I take their orders, then change back into "mom" after taking off my apron and running back into the kitchen pretending that they all went to a restaurant without waiting for me! On the menu for the night was tortillas, sour cream, cheese, fajita meat, orange juice, milk, and water. None of the kids checked the box by "fajita meat". This was my big experiment to see if orange bell peppers would go over well with my family! I couldn't NOT give it to them. So, I did what some waitresses do and messed up their orders and gave it to them anyway. After "mom" came to the table I heard, "Hey, I didn't order fajita meat! I don't like peppers!" I said, "Well, the waitress must have messed up your order. Or, maybe it comes free with the tortilla!" They still weren't convinced, but they were hungry and ate the whole thing! (Alex was smart and actually picked out some of the peppers still. Caleb devoured the entire fajita.) Usually when we have fajitas the kids ask for their second one to be just cheese and sour cream. Alex and Caleb both asked for another one, so I changed back into the "waitress" and made them a fajita exactly like the first with peppers, onions, chicken and everything in it. They ate it all too.

It wasn't until afterwards that I asked Caleb, "So, how were those yummy orange peppers that you picked out?" He looked at me cross-eyed and then gave me the thumbs down. I really wanted to get a picture of it but my camera battery died! His face was so funny. I said, "But you must have liked it because you ate two whole fajitas and didn't pick them out." I think secretly he liked them, but didn't want us to see that he's succumbed to our wills of eating vegetables that are "weird" or "strange" to young kids.

So, over all, my vegetable experiment was successful. I will continue to try to get my kids to pick out vegetables each time we go to the store so they will be more willing to at least try them.

Still No Cake Classes!

So, after the Orem Roberts store's classroom had been closed for the past 6 months they finally reopened it for classes. My first class was scheduled for tonight. I had my cake baked and everything, ready to go teach, and then I found out that not enough people signed up and my classes got cancelled! How sad! I was looking forward to getting into the swing of things again. So, I just frosted the cake simply and we had some of it for dessert tonight. My kids were excited to eat cake, but I wish I could have started teaching. So, if anyone is interested in taking cake decorating classes you should go sign up. My next class will start April 5th if all goes well. I'll have more time to advertise this class so it should be able to fill up.