School Pictures...

Zack is in kindergarten this year....He is 6 years old and doing great! 

 Little Miss Mia...3rd grade and 8 years old! 

 Max is our big 5th grader. 10 years old and off to junior high in the fall. 

 While the kids were at school today, Zoey and I were baking. Snacks for after school and treats for lunch boxes. Blueberry muffins, carrot muffins, and peanut butter chocolate chip oatmeal cookies.

Apple Pie

 Zackary loves apple pie. It is his favorite dessert! He wanted a pie last week and I told him I would give it a go. I made a few pies a couple weeks ago for pi day.....they were kind of terrible and I wanted to prove to myself that I could make a decent pie!

This pie turned out perfect. We ate the entire thing in 2 days. 

Zack was happy and I am glad to report that I am no longer a pie making failure.

Getting Crafty

Mia's latest American Girl magazine featured a how-to for making chocolate dipped spoons. 

Mia is adorable and I am a sucker for these kind of little crafts so off to the store we went for plastic spoons. My favorite chocolate chips were on sale so we stocked up and used them for our melted chocolate.

 Mia dipped the spoons in the chocolate and then added colorful sprinkles to the top. We are going to use the spoons for hot chocolate! So fun.

A few hours later we switched gears and made some peanut butter play-doh. I mixed peanut butter with honey, powdered milk, and powdered sugar.

 Everyone thought it was pretty tasty!

Spring Break Fun

Ty is working this week so the kids and I are making our own fun around town. Yesterday we went on a little adventure just behind our neighborhood.

 It was a cold and windy, but beautiful day!

 It was good to be outside in the quiet...away from the screens. Screen free time is so important!

 After the walk we stopped at the park.

 The kids played for a while and then Mia came and sat in the grass with me. I read to her from "Farmer Boy" for over an hour! She loved it! I am excited to get her interested in the Little House series.

 We read more in the evening while we waited for our chocolate chip cookies to bake. I tried a new recipe last night and it had great potential! It needs some twerking, but I think I can make them perfect next time.

 Today started with smoothies...it seems to be the favorite breakfast. I think the kids are just anxious to start the day and want something they can gulp down and run!

Max will be meeting a friend later to play. I think we may pick up some Easter treats for the weekend. I am kind of behind on my planning this year!

I am really going to miss Spring Break when my alarm goes off on Monday morning!

French Fries

 The kids are on spring break this week!

The kids and I decided to celebrate by having a french fry tasting party via Farmer Boys. We have never eaten there before.

We got one of each sauce to try; BBQ, honey mustard, ranch, and ketchup.

The BBQ and the honey mustard were the favorites!

We finished our party with popsicles in the yard.

Life Lately

 Baskin Robbins opened a shop not far from us a few weeks ago. Zoey is quite smitten and asks to go to the ice cream store often. Her go to flavor is the rainbow sherbet. I am sure one day she will discover the joy that is chocolate ice cream, but until then, rainbow it is!

 Ty and I went out for mexican food and Ty ordered the largest burrito ever in the history of mankind. It was filled with chile rellenos, meat, beans, rice, cheese, and topped with fried eggs. 

 I made lots of cookies and I will be making more!

 We are having a bishopric social on Sunday and I am in charge of cookies. 

I took the kids to IHOP for national pancake day. 

 Free pancakes all around and there was much rejoicing.

 Mia participated in the school's wax museum project. She was Miss Annie Oakley.

 We had a great time studying Annie Oakley and getting ready for this project. What a neat gal she was!

 Zoey and I have been spending a good amount of time at the park. It is such a lovely break in the day to get outside and enjoy some quiet and fresh air.

 Bubbles at the park are fun too!

 Zoey has a massive Hello Kitty kite. We took it out to fly it last week. It got pretty high into the sky! 

 The kids and I have had a lot of meals on our own lately. I used to never make a meal if Ty wasn't around, but he has been so busy it has kind of become our normal.

 This was orange chicken and rice on Sunday.

Daylight savings time has caused us lots of sleepy mornings! We are ready for a week off from school next week!

This Week

 Strawberries went on sale.....for the first time in forever!

It was time for pie!

 Whipped cream was involved and there was much rejoicing.

Zackary came down with the flu. He missed 3 days of school! He spent 2 days at home with a fever, aches, and chills. It was very sad. Day 3 was a recovery day and since he was doing so much better he joined Zoey for a little bit of school time fun.

 We worked on numbers, letters, and sight words. Then we read stories and completed a few puzzles.

It was fun to have Zack join us!

 Ty has been busy at work all week long. We are excited for the weekend, but as usual, I know it will be over before we know it! Ty signed us up to clean the church tomorrow and Mia has a stake achievement days event to attend. I would love to make it out to Trader Joe's and do a D.I. drop as well.... Saturdays have to be so busy, because Sundays are special! Looking forward to Sunday especially! Ty is not on call so hopefully we can spend the evening together....relaxing on the couch and watching Mr. Bean with the kids.

LIFE LATELY

 Grade schoolers are now bringing home laptops from school to use for study and assignments! Good thing Max is so responsible!

 ...and also a monkey. I really don't know how his skinny arms manage something like this!

Every year Ty takes Mia to the daddy daughter dance at the school. Mia looks forward to it all year! This year they had a barn dance theme. 

 The dance was followed by ice cream at Baskin Robbins. They had a great night!

Roses for me for Valentine's...because Ty is just the best.

 Hello Kitty PJ's for miss Zoey from my mom. She loves them! They are super soft and cozy too.

 The kids have been out of school all week and we have been busy! Crafts and activities at home...play-doh, kinetic sand, baking cakes, baking cookies, park visits, ice cream store stops, a trip to Game Stop, the library, friends....It has been a great week. I am glad we have 2 more days to enjoy!

Little Gowns and Things

Today we took Zoey to her Pre-K physical exam. She looked stunning in her puppy print gown!

She was all smiles and giggles until the needles came out. It took quite a bit of convincing, but 3 stickers and a lollipop later, the shots were over!

Ty was home today and he and I (and Zoey!) were able to go out for lunch together. We ate at Johnny Russos and I had the fried zucchini and caprese salad. After the kids came home from school I made the best chocolate cookies ever! I filled them with mini peanut butter cups :)

The kids and Ty thought they were awesome, but sadly I made a mini batch so we have to make more soon! Ty will be escorting Miss Mia to the Father/Daughter sweetheart dance at the school tonight! Mia has been looking forward to it for weeks. I get to stay home and party with the other littles. Oh how we love the weekend!

Valentine's brownies, schoolwork, and the weekend!

 Zoey and I made Valentine's brownies yesterday for Max's class party today. Zoey thought the batter was delicious! I topped the brownies with white and dark chocolate and lots of pink sprinkles! Max said the brownies were gone in 2 seconds. That always makes me smile!

Today we did lots of review work at home. Numbers, letters, name writing practice.....and then a little painting and a walk to the park!

I am so happy we have made it to Thursday afternoon. Friday will be here soon and I am rejoicing over the coming weekend!