April Fool's Day Happiness

April Fool's Day has always been one of those days that I wake up and hope NOBODY remembers what today is because I do not want any jokes played on me. I'm one of those girls that can dish it out but can't take it. And since I can't take it, I don't dish it out.

I have a new favorite blog that I read. And on that blog were some of the coolest ideas of things to do with food on April Fool's Day. I thought, yah, I could take that if somebody did that to me. And if I could handle it that means I could do it to someone. My children! They would love it.

And so I did a little research, read a few blogs, and came up with some fabulous ideas. It all started with packing school lunches. I told the kids I was thinking about making them grilled cheese sandwiches. So I took angel food cake, sliced it to look like bread, spread yellowish orange frosting on them and grilled them on the griddle. The results were that they looked remarkably close to grilled cheese sandwiches. And then I did a little switcheroo.  I bought individual packaged oreo packs and carefully opened them. I dumped out the oreos and refilled them with gold fish crackers. I used my scrapbook adhesive to reseal the bags. I packed all the rest of their lunch normal. I did include a note saying happy April Fool's Day just in case they didn't even realize what today way.

You should have seen the kiddos faces as they got off the bus. They were beaming! Their smiles spread across their entire face as they told me how well I had tricked them. They thought it was so cool and told me how their friends thought it was so cool and how lucky they were to have such a cool mom. My head was growing at that point.

Lunch was fun. Supper was even better. I made meatloaf in a cake pan. And then I frosted it with blue-colored mashed potatoes. I decorated it a little with katsup. You couldn't tell it was mashed potatoes! The kids really thought I had baked them a cake! And that I was serving it up for dinner. I took green runts and orange cut-up starburst and made it look like mixed vegetables. I took cup cakes and decorated them like spaghetti and meat balls. And I made the drink jello. I was so excited to see them sip their drink and not have anything come out. I was more excited than the kids.

It was a super big hit. Spencer had a hard time eating the meat loaf cake. Once I fed him he really liked it, just couldn't get over the fact that it was meat loaf but looked like a cake. The jello was the biggest hit. It was so cool to have a 16oz cup full of jello all to themselves. Nathan kept trying to sip and saying, "It's not working!" And then to have the spaghetti cupcakes. All through supper my kids kept telling me how cool this day had been.

It was a lot of fun. Don't know if I can do it again next year. I am fresh out of any ideas that are fun, not wasteful, and not at all mean.

 So glad I found these cool ideas because we made some seriously awesome memories.

 And this little plate is one I made for one of the best women to walk this earth. They are all cupcakes made to look like spaghetti and meatballs, mashed potatoes, peas and carrots, and corn on the cob. I put a smile on her face and was glad to share a little fun. The butter is squished starburst. The corn kernels are jelly bellys.

And this is the fun jello.

Rodeo Time

I have been living in this wonderful state with my husband for 5 years now andnever been to the rodeo. Who does that? Everyone goes to the rodeo. It is just what you do here. In years past I have either had a baby or been too pregnant and sick to go. I decided we needed to snap out of that mode and go. So I consulted with my better half and we decided to get four tickets to the rodeo. Evan would take the three girls and I would stay home with the boys. 'Cause seriously, who wants to manhandle a baby through a rodeo followed by a very loud concert?

Evan took the very excited girls to the rodeo and they got to see Alan Jackson in concert. They had so much fun. Taneal enjoyed the rodeo art the most. Camie thought the huge rabbits were way cool. And Danielle though Alan Jackson in concert was awesome. 'Course when he first came out on stage she asked Evan why there was a grandpa out on the stage. They had fun.

The next day around noon, Evan called me and asked if I wanted to go to the rodeo. We had been given two tickets to the rodeo that day. We would have to hurry and find a sitter and Gavin would have to come with us. But the kicker was this: Brad Paisley was the concert after the rodeo. And the seats were AWESOME! How could I refuse? And manhandling a baby? Yah, I'm all over that. I do it all day, why not at a rodeo being sung to by Brad?

It was pretty fun. Gavin did great. We kept having to put the ear plugs in his ears so he wouldn't cry over the loud noises, but he was wonderful. Evan was pretty good company too. And now I have been to a Houston rodeo. Yee Haw!

Ice Cream Factory

I went a little overboard with the pictures, but hey! I have a great bunch of children and a wonderful sister and brother-in-law. They suggested we drive to visit an ice cream factory that sells the best ice cream. We were all over that idea. I pulled the kids out of school (shhh! They've only missed maybe two days this entire year) and we made the trek and saw how the ice cream is made. And then we got a scoop to try out afterwards. So much fun.

As you can see in some of the pictures, MOST of us were having fun. Spencer knocked the chair over, got embarrassed, wouldn't come out from under the table and threw a silent fit that kept going and going and going. I finally got him to get on the cow statue for a picture. The three boys slept all the way back and Danielle needed an attitude adjustment when we got home so she took a nap, too. We had a great time. Bonnie and Jarom will probably never want to go out with this group of yayhoos again, but we love them and hope they still want us around. 

I look at this picture of us in front of the car a seriously wonder where all those kids came from. I still can't believe they are all mine. Wow!

Elementary School Deems Inappropriate

Taneal has been part of a newspaper group at her Elementary school for two years. She has had fun writing articles for the paper that are actually published in a newspaper and distributed to the student in her school. She has really enjoyed interviewing people for her articles and has had so much fun coming up with ideas and then seeing them in print.

There has been a delay in the printing of the last paper because of Taneal's article. The administration says it is inappropriate and refuse to print it without deleting several paragraphs. I thought she did a wonderful job, especially for being a 5th grader and still in Elementary School. So I thought I would share the uncensored article with you and see what you thought. I changed the name of the school and the names of the teachers:

The Butterfly Garden
by Taneal

Many of you know the beautiful butterfly garden at our school. You may think that Krueger hires someone to care for our garden, but that is not the case.

Fifth grade teacher, Mrs. Reed, is so nice and willing to help take care of our garden here at Krueger. Mrs Reed wanted to help out at the garden because when people drive up, that's the first thing they see. The beauty enhances our school and shows that we care about it.

"We plant plants that bring the butterflies. Especially the monarchs when they do their Journey North (migration)," Mrs. Reed said. She wants people to sit on the benches and admire all the plants and butterflies that come. "Different classes have different plaques that are dedicated by class and people that made a difference in our lives at Krueger," she said.

Mrs Reed has been working in the garden for two years. One of Mrs Reed's hobbies is gardening. She enjoys it because it is peaceful and gives her the satisfaction when she's finished and it's beautiful. She's proud of it. She works on the garden school for about two hours during the week, and on the weekends for six to eight hours. The butterfly garden was started by Mrs. Parks (a former science teacher) who had a great interest in butterflies and teaching children about plants and flowers and butterfly migration.

Mrs. Reed's family, especially her husband,  helps her with the garden. "Former students come by all the time," she said. Mrs Zamella's family and boy scouts have helped build it too.

Unfortunately, some people do not love the garden as much as Mrs. Reed and Mrs. Zamella. Flowers have been pulled and ripped out. People have shown disrespect as well, by letting their animals run through it. Decorative spinners and chimes have been stolen out of the garden.

On the weekends, visitors come by and talk to Mrs. Reed about how beautiful the garden looks, and how much they appreciate it. Every Mockingjay should take pride in our school and our beautiful butterfly garden.

We can help keep it beautiful by walking around the garden instead of through it, and being respectful and not destructive. And maybe you could even volunteer to help in making the garden a lovely part of our school. We are thankful to Mrs Reed for our beautiful butterfly garden because without her there would be no butterfly garden.

Please be respectful to the garden. It's part of Krueger!

Shark Girl

Danielle is my little princess. She is all things pretty. All things girly. And she loves to shake those hips. She is in the 1st grade and almost finished. And she still hasn't lost a tooth. Those two front teeth aren't the least bit wiggly either. But what she has done is grown a second set of teeth. Kind of strange. I took her to the dentist and they x-rayed her and said not to worry, the new teeth would push the baby ones out on their own. It has been two months since that diagnosis and I'm starting to get worried again. The front ones are supposed to be getting wiggly. Nothing is happening. I guess we will wait and see.

Poop Happens

I recently shared this story with a friend and she had a story that totally blew mine out of the water. And I am very grateful for that. I do not wish to have some experiences in life. The ones I have are plenty. I was shopping at Costco yesterday and I was about ready to head to the checkout line. My cart was full, found all the things I needed and some that I didn't need. I had made it through the shopping trip virtually problem free with three little boys, when I smiled at Gavin and then noticed the yellowish orange stuff coming out the leg of his diaper. There wasn't just a little.

I didn't know whether to laugh or to cry. I almost started crying right then and there. And so I took a picture. If I picked Gavin up I would for sure get the poop all over my hands. I didn't have a new outfit, but I could buy one there. I had diapers and wipes. But then the stuff was all over his car seat, so bad that I couldn't just wipe it up. It needed some serious washing with some serious spray. So I quickly went through the checkout, left Gavin in all his poopy mess, and b-lined it home. I took him from the car seat straight to the bath. The car seat cover went straight the to washing machine.

I wish I could say this is the first time this has ever happened to me. But check out these pictures.

My mom gave me some sound words of advise when I started having children and with the messes they make. She said, "before you get mad, take a picture." Normally I don't think the average person would take a picture such as these. But when I feel like I should scream or cry, I really do take a picture instead. It takes a lot of the negative emotion away.

I am using this blog as my "journal" so that in years to come, I can look back at the happy days of being a mother and remember how it really was, not just the faded memories that we all have if we don't write it down or take a picture. And here is to remembering it how it really was, poop and all. 'Cause, it really happened.

Nathan's Pocket Knife

Nathan is about as boy as they come. I don't quite know what to think sometimes.

I caught Nathan sawing on the fence outside with what I thought was a pocket knife. Where would he have gotten one of those and oh no! He is two!

As I carefully approached him so he would not stab himself and I could take the dangerous weapon away from him, I realized that he had simple gone to the drawer in the kitchen and pulled out a pair of nail clippers. He took the file and extended it out and was using it like you would a pocket knife.

And he is two.

In his pockets you can almost always find his "pocket knife" (nail clippers) and a battery. This kid thinks like a boy, acts like a boy, and even smells like a boy (yes, he is still in diapers and refuses any other option). He is about as cute as they come, acts as tough and grough, but still needs the cuddly times with mom when he is tired or has his feelins hurt. He is a Daddy's boy most of the time. At least once a day he puts on his boots and announces that he is "going to work. To make some money." And he really thinks he is going to work.

Occasionally Evan actually takes him to work and he is thrilled.

I'm sure the day will come when Nathan will want a real pocket knife. But for now the nail clippers are doing the job.

I'm a little nervous.

St Patrick's Day

This day is one of our favorite holidays. Spencer even came up to me midday and said, " Mom, this is more fun than Christmas." I wonder why that is? For St Patrick's Day the children put out treaure boxes the night beofre and the leprichauns fill them. Then we eat everything green. That's it. But they LOVE the day. They love that we eat green scrambled eggs with kiwi and green orange juice. Or for Lunch that we have nasty looking green macaroni and cheese with green french bread. I must admit the green sugar cookies are awesome. But the green milk and green mashed potatoes and green buscuits? It is fun. Just not sure why in particular makes the day so great.

This ST Patrick's Day the leprichauns left green silly string. We went to the park in the neighborhood and had a silly string war. They LOVED it. And then we had a race to see who could pick up the most of the silly sting off the ground. Danielle won that one.

We all wore green.

It was a lot of fun and I this holiday sure brings fun memories.