Lion Trial One

This is my attempt at making a lion face out of food.  Practicing for the birthday cupcakes.  The mane in slivered almonds, eyes and mouth choc chips, nose and whiskers candy corn.  I want to do licorice whips or pull and peel twizzlers for the whiskers and mouth, but haven't found them yet.

Most Requested Song

Every night before bed, the kids ask for a prayer, a story, and a song.

O's favorite song is Frere Jacques

I love to hear him ask and try to say it in French, and I don't always sing correct French, so I found the lyrics on Kididdles.com.

You can print lyrics and music for free and listen to the songs on the website too.  No more need to hear mommy say "sani nan i tina." 

Frère Jacques,
Frère Jacques,
Dormez vous?
Dormez vous?
Sonnez les matines,
Sonnez les matines,
Din, din, don!
Din, din, don!

English Version:

Are you sleeping,
Are you sleeping?
Brother John?
Brother John?
Morning bells are ringing,
Morning bells are ringing,
Ding ding dong,
Ding ding dong.

lion cupcakes

My oldest will be 4 really soon, I can't believe it.  He is still a wild animal lover. Specifically lions, so I would like to get some great ideas for turning a cupcake into a lion head.  He asked for Apple Pie for his birthday dessert, but in lieu of a party, we are taking him to Busch Gardens in Tampa a week early.  So i thought we could have the cupcakes while we are there, then we can still enjoy apple pie for his bday dessert.

here two links to ideas so far:

First

Second

Correction

To correct myself on the previous post.

The workbooks that C and I have enjoyed are KUMON.

Anyone know about this type?

Craft Time

I am realizing that I need to be a lot more prepared and  organized  as my kids get older.  Although they are more independent than they used to be, our activities require a lot more preparation and fore-thought.  They enjoy craft time, and I do too if I have all and/or can find all the right utensils needed for our crafts.  C is really starting to draw. No more does coloring consist of random scribbles, but he is putting thought into his art. I have no idea at what age this is normal, but it seems like mine might be late bloomers in the creative arts department. Nonetheless, I am going to display their artwork proudly!  

1.  First is C's drawing of his friend Chad.  Completed in Sunday School no less.

 2.  Second is our craft from today,  Addie, Owen, and Caeden made flowers.  It was supposed to be from here and look like this. 

Orginially we wanted to do egg carton bugs, but since mommy was crafting on the fly, we used what we had and tried to make flowers instead out of: plastic egg carton (not stirofoam), construction paper for the petals, glue gun, and straightened out large paper clip for the stem.  They turned out cute

3.  Third, When painting outside the other day, C asked if he could paint wood, so we grabbed some scraps from the garage and painted away.  We decided to add the word bikes and we kept painting over it then taking the eraser of a pencil to etch out the word.  I like this one.  If you notice, there is a really faint I( heart) in the background.  The scribbles were added later by crayon, I kinda wish i wouldn't have let him do that, but it is His art right?

 4.  Last, this is C's drawing of a crown.  I am so pleased that his lines are connecting and he is producing something tangible on his paper.  It might be silly, but I am a proud mom.  I owe it to the workbooks we have been doing.  I think the name of them is Komen.

A day with the cousins

O how we will miss our cousins.

Hope they have water fountains like this in Argentina;

because we would like to visit them really soon

so we can laugh and play all day for that is what we cousins do best!

What I am loving this spring

1)  Boys Easter Shirts

from the Etsy shop, Supersweetcreations

I love their Easter shirts so much.  I saved them in the closet for weeks until the day before Easter when we went to Woodsmoke to take Family Pictures.  The t-shirt is from Americal Apparel and super soft and the tie hand-sewn on the tee.  

2) Spring Scarves

In Philly, the attire was so much different than Fl.  Granted, the weather was much cooler, but I would love to dress in scarves, hats, and boots all the time.  It makes for such a cute wardrobe. 

 

3) Anthropologie

Seriously, I have never spent so much time in one store. 

 The Anthropologie in Philly was 4 stories.  It was wonderful, browsing with no kids.  We spent hours and hours in there.  I tried on a lot more clothing and wish i would have bought a really cute vest, but I did find a great deal on my new hat and apron.  If only, I had as much money to spend as I did time during that weekend get-a-way.

4)  Williams Sonoma Jungle Animal Pancake Molds

Well, I have tried these molds twice.  First time, I made them a little too runny.  Second time, I used a different batter than what the recipe called for.  Luckily, I have kids that will eat pancakes for breakfast, lunch, and dinner and don't care what they look like.

The molds come in the shape of a lion, monkey, and elephant.  And I just couldn't pass up on the adorable lion spatula.

5)  New Salt and Pepper Shakers

Our salt shaker that I received as a wedding gift has broken, so naturally when one finds sleepy elephant salt and pepper shakers for 4 bucks, they have to be purchased.

6) A new season for a big boy bed

This is the bedding I got on sale at Target for Owen's new bed.  

The bed is now the box below, just picture a mattress inside.  It will eventually be a loft bed, but until that is finished, Owen is sleeping in his rectangle box on the floor.  The crib is officially moved out of the room.  So nap-time and night-time have been interesting lately. 2 out of the last 3 days, there has been continuous refusal of nap-time, coming out of the room, playing in the room, and if he weren't so darn cute, i would really be more upset about it.  I have been exhausted during nap-times lately, but it is a learning process for us all.

7) Crudite/Hummus/Edamame

My luch with my boys has been enjoyable lately.  Not that I don't always enjoy it, but instead of eating the traditional sandwich with them, I have been fixing myself a veggie tray with pita chips, and hummus; ok, a little bit of ranch dressing for dipping too.  It definitely sits better in my stomach than grilled cheese.

I also love love love, Edamame. Owen does too as you can tell from the picture.

8) Peanut Butter Bumpers

This cereal is fantastic.  We can't keep the box in the house for very long.  It is from Mother's Natural Cereal and we find it at Target.  Not only is it tasty, but it is all natural and sweetened with molasses and honey.

8)  Spending time with my Mom and Sisters.

Unfortunatley Hope couldn't join us on the trip to Philladelphia, it is too bad, because we had such a great time laughing, reminiscing, shopping, walking, riding in stinky cabs, and more shopping.  I am so blessed to have such wonderfully encouraging and God-fearing women like my mom and sisters.  It is hard to know that with Amber in Italy and Heather in Argentina our family togetherness with be miniminal.  When family trips do happen in the future, Italy and Argentina are pretty cool places to travel to.

Britain's Got Talent

If you haven't heard or seen Susan Boyle sing yet, you need to.

click on her name to see the youtube video of her Classical Voice on Britains Got Talent.

Absolutely Amazing!

It reminds me of Paul Potts who made me cry the first time I heard him sing Opera on that same show.

Family Pictures

Because I loved their "tie shirts" so much, I asked my talented sister Heather to take some family pictures of us.  

now i just wish I had Photoshop because I get sick of my editing choices only being sepia, black & white, and antique.  

The pictures turned out pretty well, considering the kids weren't cooperating and I was having a bad hair day; ( glad i brought my hat).  When I see myself in pictures, it makes me want to be a blonde again.  After reviewing over 300 photos, I found a dozen or so that I like.   I liked the idea of being dressed up and taking pictures in front of old trailers or rusty tractors, but the ones that turned out the best were on the boardwalk.  The lighting was so pretty through the trees. 

Here they are: I was only going to post a few, but if i put all the ones that I like, then it will be easier for me to find them later when I want to print them.