Thursday, March 27, 2008

Resurrection Cookies

I have a friend (well, I used to call her a friend before this!) who told me about the recipe for Resurrection Cookies--cookies you make with your kids the night before Easter to help them understand the story of Christ's resurrection. We did them for our family devotions Saturday night before bed, and the kids really enjoyed it. Brent read Scripture that went along with all the ingredients that we added. They were a meringue style of cookie that were supposed to be empty on the inside after being in a sealed tomb (taped oven) all night. Some of them came out hollow--some did not. The kids didn't mind the taste even thought their expressions provide evidence to the contrary!

And a big disclaimer...I know we all look like wrecks in these pics. I figured if I took time to get them in presentable clothes and get the kool-aid mustaches washed off, I'd be getting them ready for church the next morning before the cookies got baked! So the kids are looking a bit rough--but that's reality! And I have no make-up on and am in my work out clothes, but the only way Brent would let me post a picture of him looking so rough is if I included a picture of me--a rare occasion for sure! BTW...I really do have a friend who has perfected the art of sucking in her cheeks when she smiles so her face looks thinner...not sure how she manages to look natural while I look like I am imitating a fish...practice...more practice!

Sunday, March 23, 2008

In my defense...

So Brent was giving me a hard time about how I managed to cut off his head when we have a digital camera that shows exactly what the picture will look like! So I decided to explain...We were in a hurry this morning and Sarah was extremely fragile. I grabbed one of the kids' cameras since my batteries were close to dead. The screen on the back of the kids' cameras goes black after just a second of two of not taking the picture so by the time I made all the goofy faces to make Sarah smile, the view finder screen had gone black so I just took the picture the way I thought it would be okay while Sarah was smiling--hence the cut off head! I posted the other 2 pictures I took to show you that the one I posted previously was clearly the best of the 3--even without Brent's head! This is Daniel with his eyes closed...
This is Daniel making sure his eyes were open for the next shot since I moaned so loudly at him that he had closed his eyes! Closed eyes, bug eyes, or no head for Brent...clearly the no head shot was the best shot to post since he's so handsome--even without the top of his head! See, it makes total sense to post the picture of Brent without his head!

Easter Pictures

Here are the kids in their Easter outfits. I found them all on Ebay through different auctions...Hannah felt like such a princess with her organza bow in the back and almost to the floor length! Hers was too long but since it has an organza pleat along the hemline like it does at the collar it took some creative ingenuity to figure out to make it short enough for her to wear. A few pintucks a couple of inches above the hemline and it was good to go...even looked better I must say so myself! I told Daniel they all had matching outfits to wear, and he looked a bit frightened when he saw Hannah and Sarah's blue and white flowers! I even egged him on a bit (no Easter pun intended) and told him his shirt was a perfect match for their dresses! He was quite relieved when he saw that I didn't intend on having him wear flowers, too! Yes...I know I cut Brent's head off...it's the only good one of all of them...I figure anyone who cares enough to look at our blog will remember Brent has a flat top and will not need to be reminded by seeing a picture of it!
I have more pictures to add from our Easter celebration, but that will have to wait...hopefully not as long as Hannah's birthday pictures had to wait, but one never knows!

Friday, March 21, 2008

Hannah's 6th Birthday Cake

For Hannah's 6th birthday she wanted a castle cake much like my friend, Robin, made for her little girl. It took some doing and creative engineering, but she loved it and didn't even notice the flaws! It was pink, a castle, and tasted yummy--That's all Hannah cared about!

Chuck E Cheese

For Spring Break we took a quick trip to Appleton, WI, which is about 2 hours south of us. There's a great mall and all the fun stores that I love so much. We were able to spend some time at Chuck E Cheese's for the kids...and Brent, too!
Brent really likes to shoot hoops and always stops to play the game where you have to make a basket while the hoop's moving. He does really well, too! The kids and I were quite impressed with how well he did...especially since the rest of us wouldn't even be able to hit the rim!

Even Sarah liked the rides...she wasn't quite sure what to think of it at first, but when she realized it was supposed to be moving and she could make it blink and move, too, she was hooked!

Thursday, March 20, 2008

I'm still a transplant!

Something happened the other day that confirmed the fact that I still don't quite fit in up here in the Northwoods...We went to Appleton, the town with a great mall, for 2 days and one night while the kids were on Spring Break. I noticed a note on the Flooring America sign that read, "Thanks for your faithful years of service. We will miss you, Brett." I started wondering how long the man had worked for the company and thought what a nice place that must be to work for that they would recognize the retirement of one of their employees in such a nice, public way. Then I started laughing out loud when it dawned on me the sign was referring to Brett Favre retiring from the Packers! You know you belong around here when you immediately think Brett Favre everytime you see the name Brett! Sure enough...later that day my suspicions were confirmed...I cut myself and I still bled red--no green and gold yet! I'm still a transplant! Not quite sure that's a bad thing, though! :-)