My Chocolate Covered Life: April 2014

Friday, April 25, 2014

Friday Things

1. I am so looking forward to sleeping in tomorrow! I can't wait to turn off my alarm and sleep until........6-ish!!!

Woo-hoo! I live such a crazy life :)

2. We are celebrating my Mom's birthday this weekend. We will be meeting up at Cafe Rio and drinking large amounts of horchata.

Again......my crazy life ;)

3. Max and Mia stayed after school today for a "Frozen" movie viewing party. They occasionally show movies after school in the MPR. They sell hot dogs, candy, and drinks. The kids feel very cool and very grown up.

4. A beautiful article on sisterhood and nurturing.

5. Cookies and Milk Shots!!!!

I think the kids would love this idea!

6. A final thought for your weekend:

Have a good one!

Thursday, April 24, 2014

This and That

1. We are still reading the Book of Mormon each morning before school. Sometimes I feel like no one gets anything out of it.....myself included! Some mornings I can tell that no one is paying attention! I, however, am not giving up! I know we are blessed for our efforts. I know we are blessed for obedience, so we will just keep reading.

I am sure one day all of my children will have fond memories of this morning tradition ;)

2. Yesterday I did a little stock up shopping at Trader Joe's. They are now carrying peanut butter chips (You know like chocolate chips only peanut butter....). Anyway....they are way better than the kind you can buy at the regular grocery store! I highly recommend picking up a few bags if you are in the area.

3. Ty and I have been purchasing beef from relatives in Utah for the past several years. This year we bought a half cow. Our deep-freeze freezer is completely filled!

4. THESE blueberry oatmeal cookies look divine!

5. Max's homework this week.....

Vietnamese Chicken Noodle Soup

Verdict: Fish sauce is very smelly

Jalapenos are spicy

The soup was delicious!

Happy Thursday!

Monday, April 21, 2014

Easter Weekend

We enjoyed a busy and wonderful Easter weekend. Ty's parents were able to come down and stay with us for the holiday. They arrived on Thursday night. It was Ty's dad's birthday so we were prepared with chocolate cake and ice cream. On Friday Mia and Max had school so we took Zack and Zoey on a little exploration of the wildlands in Oak Glen. It was a cool and beautiful day. Zackary especially loved our little hike! We had our egg hunt on Saturday. Zoey was excited to find little rubber lizards in her eggs. She has been playing with them all weekend. On Sunday we attended church together. Easter Sunday is so special! I left a little early so I could get our ham in the oven! We had lots of guests. Ty's parents, my parents, family friends, my brother. Dinner was great. We played games and the kids got into a water balloon fight....with everyone. It was kind of a shame that everyone was dressed so nicely to begin with!

At the end of the day we were all worn out.

On another note....Mondays are never easy.

Especially after a holiday.

I am planning on avoiding all chores and clean up for as long as possible.

Have a great day!

Monday, April 14, 2014

Monday

1. Ty and I went out for a movie date on Saturday night. We saw the new Captain America movie and loved it! We are big fans of all the super hero films :)

We shared a small popcorn. I haven't had movie theater popcorn in ages and I forgot how good it is! Date night is always fun.

2. The kids and I started THIS 7 days until Easter project through the Friend magazine. I love all of the help we are offered when it comes to teaching our children and helping them to feel the spirit.

3. A beautiful video presenting the Savior as the focus of this wonderful Easter season.

I watched it yesterday. It is wonderful!

4. THIS chocolate peanut butter pretzel granola is amazing!

I blame the peanut butter/butter/awesome combo :)

5. We took a walk with the kids after dinner last night. Ty and I both decided that getting out was a much better option than lounging about the house! We stopped at a friend's house and had a great evening.

6. I guess we are ready for Monday.

Have a lovely week!

Friday, April 11, 2014

Car Wash

This morning's play activity idea was borrowed from a friend!

Zack and Zoey picked out a bunch of little cars to wash using paintbrushes and water.

This was a big hit and moved on from cars to action figures and anything else they could find soon after!

Friday!

1. TGIF!

I am looking forward to the weekend. Ty and I have a date night planned and I have way too much on my to do list! It should be great!

2. I love this thought:

"Parents must bring light and truth into their homes by one family prayer, one scripture study session, one family home evening, one book read aloud, one song, and one family meal at a time. They know that the influence of righteous, conscientious, persistent, daily parenting is among the most powerful and sustaining forces for good in the world."

It comes from a talk by Elder L. Tom Perry.

It's a step by step, day by day kind of a thing!

3. Zackary was so together this morning. He got himself dressed and came out of his room with a sweater on (backwards and inside out), and a pair of long pants! It was so cute of him to try, but I reminded him how warm it has been lately and helped him pick out a short sleeve shirt and shorts to wear instead :)

4. As we were putting kids to bed last night, Zoey decided that she needed to watch "Frozen". She said she was awake and sat herself on the couch in the dark tv room. She did not like that I made her wait until morning. As I carried her to bed she kept crying, "Snowman! Snowman!"

5. Cookies to celebrate the weekend....

Reese's Giant Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookies

Happy Friday!!!!

Tuesday, April 8, 2014

Summer Dreaming

It is 90 degrees today!

We searched for some shade while we waited outside the school for Max and Mia.

The heat has me moving into summer mode:

I am thinking about swim lessons

I need more shorts

The kids need more shorts

I am craving watermelon!

We should invest in a few fans....I have been meaning to do this for about 3 years.

I am whiter than I ever have been

No more oven! BBQ time :)

Speaking of no more oven.....I made an 8x8 inch pan of brownies last night and served them with whipped cream and fresh raspberries. The entire pan lasted about an hour.

I remember eating brownies right out of the pan with my brothers. I guess our family will be much the same!

It's only April! I think I should try and enjoy the last few weeks/months before things get really hot around here!

Princess at the Castle

Little Mia recently attended the Princess at the Castle event at the Kimberly Crest mansion in Prospect Park.

Mia was presented as "Princess Mia of the House of Newman"!

She met with her fairy godmothers and was given the gift of knowledge.

She visited with Snow White and danced gracefully with all of the other little princesses.

Princess for a day :)

Monday, April 7, 2014

Weekend Wrap Up

Conference Memes from the weekend!

(I love these!)

It was a wonderful conference! You can watch/listen to the messages HERE.

I made these fabulous granola bars from Ambitious Kitchen over the weekend:

(Dark Chocolate Cherry Granola Bars with Chia Seeds)

They are both mom and kid approved!

I grabbed one for breakfast this morning. I am all about the convenience!

Mondays are always kind of hard to face. I feel like I am playing a never ending game of catch up. Wouldn't it be nice if the kids came home from school today and had no homework????

A girl can dream!

Have a great week!