Egg Hunt #2

Easter lunch at Nana & Pop's house included an Egg Hunt!!  It was supposed to be outside, but an early morning rain caused a change of plans.  Instead, the kids hunted in the basement. 

Each child had his/her own color to search for and an egg carton in which to put the eggs.  

The basement was cramped...

...but Nana and Pop found lots of great hiding places.  

 It was even a bit wild at times...

Finally, all of the eggs were found...

...and the kids went upstairs to check the contents.

They were excited to find bits of money in the eggs!  And there was more!  If they could accurately count the change they had, they would get an extra dollar!  I've never seen such good money-counters.  They all earned the full amount.

Happy Easter

Happy Easter!  

We celebrated our Risen Lord at church in the morning, followed by lunch at Nana and Pop's house.  Their azalea was in full bloom.  It was the perfect backdrop for family pictures.  

Three generations of Christines, plus Merry.

The ladies, including my cousin Katie.

Amanda wore the dress my Mom made for me when I was five.  This portrait has hung in the living room ever since then.  It was special for me to see Amanda wearing the same dress.

Easter Egg Hunt

We had a wonderful time at our church Easter Egg Hunt this year.  Amanda was particularly excited about posing for pictures.

Scott's 9th Birthday Party

Scott's party this year was one of my favorites yet.  It was small and low key, yet so much fun and so much what he wanted.

We invited three boys (+ Scott & Andrew = a full mini-van).  They arrived at our house and we loaded the car to explore our county and Geocache.  If you aren't familiar with the sport, check out this site.  

But before we hunted for treasures, the boys wanted to play Capture the Flag.  So they did.    

Then they set off to look for a geocache.

Scott held the GPS...

...but Jeremiah found the cache.

We returned home for cupcakes and a snack before parents came to pick up the kids.

Happy Birthday Scott!

We celebrated Scott's birthday with Nana this year.  Their birthdays are only a day apart, so it is fun to celebrate together.  Scott chose tortellini for his birthday dinner.  

I made a delicious Gluten Free birthday cake.  Seriously, it was the best GF dessert we have had.  Most GF baked goods taste gritty and sandy, but this was a wonderful mix of flours, with added almond extract - the Hodgson Mill box mix from Walmart.

Later, the boys were eager to start putting together the Lego kits that Scott received.

Happy Birthday Scott!

Angry Bird Party

Andrew's Angry Bird party was so much fun!  And we were so thankful the weather was perfect, because I'm not sure how we would have pulled it off in the rain or cold that we have had this past week.

The highlight of the party was the life-sized Angry Bird slingshot.  I found this blog post a few weeks ago and asked Derrick if he could make one just like it.  He immediately thought it was a great idea, especially since he was able to use scrap wood that has in the basement.  I used scrap fabric to make a pouch.  The only purchased items were bungie cords and bolts.

We created a target with cardboard boxes.  Walmart is selling the big balls in their Easter area, so I bought two green ones and Andrew put pig faces on them.  We added cans to make some noise.

Andrew went first, ready to smash those pigs.  The kids came back again and again.  They probably played for a good 45 minutes.  It was so much fun!

Even Amanda took a turn.

We ate some lunch and enjoyed the cake.

The sign of a great birthday party is finding your son sound asleep next to one of his new toys.  I wonder what he is dreaming about.  

Gettin' ready to smash some pigs!

Andrew's party is coming up and we are so excited.  It's an Angry Bird party.  He wanted one for his 6th birthday and I vetoed it because it sounded too wild.  The 5th birthday, Jedi party almost did me in. We had a Lego party last year, and, to tell you the truth, it wasn't much calmer.  So if the Angry Bird party could be outside, I was willing to have it.

The invitations were sent!

The inside said, "Andrew is turning 7.  Come crash the party and smash some pigs."  I think it was verbiage that I took off the Internet, but I created the invitations by looking at some pictures.  Angry birds are just simple shapes put together.

Our party favors were 5" playground balls.  I think this was my favorite part of planning the party.  The blank balls came in a 3 pack from Toys R Us.  I painted faces on them, copied from a jacket that Andrew's grandma gave him for Christmas.  Each one has his own little personality.

This Green Bird is ready to get those pesky pigs.

The Red Birds make me laugh, because they didn't turn out as well as I planned.  I think they look kind of loopy and happy.  Andrew told me that was because the pigs weren't successful in stealing their eggs.  Such a sweet boy!

The cake is Andrew's favorite cookie cake.  Scott desperately wanted to help and watched me ice the beak, eyes and eyebrows while the others watched a movie.  He never lost interest, so I let him ice the green part.

About this point, the others wanted to watch.  I told them I was looking forward to a time when they would do all the birthday party preparations and I could kick my feet up.  Instead, I washed dishes while Scott iced.  

I thought Scott did a great job!

I can't believe I didn't take any pictures of the most important party of the birthday party prep...the slingshot!  Boy are we excited about this part of the party!