Chuck E. Cheese

Chloe was invited to a party at Chuck E. Cheese this last weekend by one of the little girls in her class at school. Her mom was super nice and let all 3 of my boys come too. I really dread going there, but this trip wasn't so bad. I actually had a good time playing with my kids!

In this picture it is hard to see, but Cooper is actually looking at the camera and smiling. TOO cute! I guess when we want family pictures again I am going to have to let him sit by Chuck E.

Nick.

Alex.

Chloe and me. I guess my kids like having their picture taken!

200

(I know you can't see it, but this is for Chris!) Friday was our last week of bowling!! It was a little bittersweet to be honest. I am very happy to be free, now we can do something else on Friday nights, but on the other hand, I like bowling now. I was actually starting to get a little competitive! But anyways... for our last week Chris did awesome! Not so much for me, but Chris scored over 200 for the first time, so he ended the season very well.
We ended up tying for 11th place. That may not sound very good, but that is very good considering where we were the first half. And to make things better we won a little prize money too, so that was fun!

Happy Easter

This Easter was probably the best by far! All of my kids are old enough now that they could participate in all the fun, we were able to focus on the Savior, but still do the fun "bunny" stuff, and all of my family was able to be together for a very yummy dinner.
We started off our day with Easter baskets from the Easter Bunny and an egg hunt. We then sat down for homemade cinnamon rolls (we rarely have time for that on Sunday morning!) and then we watched To This End Was I Born together. For the most part they actually paid attention and I was really impressed when they would ask questions about what was going on. We then got ready and headed to church. I had the lesson in YW, it was more of a presentation, but I was glad that I had the opportunity to study the last week of the Savior's life over the last couple of weeks.
After church we headed to my parents for more candy overload for the kids. Grandma likes to be the Easter Bunny too, so she had bags of goodies for all the grand kids. The Easter Bunny his eggs at her house too and then it was time for dinner. So we enjoyed the night with family, friends and lots and lots of good food!

Easter Bunny's On His Way

Nick was having a hard day and Cooper was scared. He just kept saying, "hi bunny!!" and was fine if we didn't go near him. So this year was just Chloe and Alex.

Hooray!

The Easter Bunny's on his way!

We'll be painting lots of eggs before he comes!

We'll be painting lots of eggs before he comes!

We'll be painting lots of eggs,

We'll be painting lots of eggs,

We'll be painting lots of eggs before he comes!

He'll be bring lots of candy when he comes!

He'll be bring lots of candy when he comes!

He'll be bring lots of candy,

He'll be bringing lots of candy,

He'll be bring lots of candy when he comes!

He'll be hiding eggs all over when he comes!

He'll be hiding eggs all over when he comes!

He'll be hiding eggs all over,

He'll be hiding eggs all over,

He'll be hiding eggs all over when he comes!

Oh, we'll all run out to see him when he comes!

Oh, we'll all run out to see him when he comes!

Oh, we'll all run out to see him,

Oh, we'll all run out to see him,

Oh, we'll all run out to see him when he comes!

And we'll all eat lots of chocolate when he's gone!

And we'll all eat lots of chocolate when he's gone!

And we'll all eat lots of chocolate,

And we'll all eat lots of chocolate,

And we'll all eat lots of chocolate when he's gone!

Easter Story Cookies

For Family Home Evening I wanted to teach the kids why we really have Easter. They have been so excited for the Easter Bunny to come, that I wanted them to plant that little seed of testimony of the atonement. So we sang some primary songs about the atonement and read the book, In The Garden. It was great! And the pictures I think, helped them to understand a little better. Afterwards we made some cookies. We had a great night being together as a family. I am so glad that my kids look forward to Mondays!

Easter Story Cookies

1 cup whole pecans (or almonds)
1 tsp. vinegar
3 egg whites
pinch of salt
1 cup sugar

Ziploc baggie

wooden spoon

tape

Bible

2 cookie sheets

parchment paper

Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Place pecans in zipper baggie and let children beat them with the wooden spoon to break into small pieces. Explain that after Jesus was arrested He was beaten by the Roman soldiers. Read John 19:1-3.

Let each child smell the vinegar. Put 1 tsp. vinegar into mixing bowl. Explain that when Jesus was thirsty on the cross he was given vinegar to drink. Read John 19:28-30.

Add egg white to vinegar. Eggs represent life. Explain that Jesus gave His life to give us Life. Read John 10:10-11.

Sprinkle a little salt into each child's hand. Let them taste it and brush the rest into the bowl. Explain that this represents the salty tears shed by Jesus' followers, and the bitterness of our own sin. Read Luke 23:27.

So far the ingredients are not very appetizing, are they? Add 1 cup sugar. Explain that the sweetest part of the story is that Jesus died because He loves us. He wants us to know and belong to Him. Read Psalms 34:8 and John 3:16.

Beat with a mixer on high speed for 12 to 15 minutes until stiff peaks are formed. Explain that the color white represents the purity in God's eyes of those whose sins have been cleansed by Jesus. Read Isaiah 1:18 and John 3:1-3.

Fold in broken nuts. Drop by teaspoons onto wax paper covered cookie sheet. Explain that each mound represents the rocky tomb where Jesus' body was laid. Read Matthew 27:57-60.

Put the cookie sheet in the oven, close the door and turn the oven OFF. Give each child a piece of tape and seal the oven door closed. Explain that Jesus' tomb was sealed. Read Matthew 27:65-66.

Go To Bed!! Explain that they may feel sad to leave the cookies in the oven overnight; however, Jesus' followers were in despair when the tomb was sealed. Read John 16:20 & 22.

On Easter Morning open the oven and give everyone a cookie. Notice the cracked surface and take a bite. The cookies are hollow! On the first Easter Jesus' followers were amazed to find the tomb open and empty. Read Matthew 28:1-9 (see below). Matthew 28:1-9

Getting started.

Beating the pecans. They really liked that!

Dad's turn mixing! Lots of mixing!!

The kids had a lot of fun making the cookies and they were so excited on Tuesday morning when we took them out of the oven. We will have to make this part of our Easter tradition!

My lucky night

I haven't been bowling for the last month or so and my return on Friday was full of luck! I got my NEW high score of 166 in the second game. In January I got a 151, which I thought we be my all time high. For it I got a patch for going over 140 for the first time in my bowling career and a little bowling pin. Plus I beat Chris, my dad, and Jordan on one of the games! That has NEVER happened and I am sure it never will again, so I had to add that! We didn't win any of our games tonight, but we still had a good time. Hopefully the guys will be back to normal next week, so we can make up some points and keep our 5th place standing(we are tied with the 4th place team). We are definitely doing better!!

I know it is hard to see, but it is my proof!

Poor Guy

The pictures really don't do it justice. It looked way worse in person, especially the day after everything started to scab over!It all started a couple of weeks ago when Alex decided to go down the slide on his belly and came crashing down into the pavement. The next day at school his teacher totally shocked when she saw his face, asked him what happened, and then said, "that is why we sit on our bottoms when we go down the slide". I guess he learned his lesson the hard way! So... his face his face scabbed over and healed pretty quick from the slide incident. We covered his face in Neosporin a couple times a day and we were good. Until last week when we were at my nephews baseball game. It was pretty chilly, so he just put his jacket on and stuck his hands in his pockets and ran off to play. Someone ran in front of him and he tripped and landed on his poor little face for the second time now. In the picture above you can't really see how far his goose egg sticks out and how swollen his lip was.

And then just a few days later he falls on the cement of course and hits the exact same spot on his head! His poor little face is going to be totally scarred!

So when I come home and he is sleeping in my bed, I let him! He has had a rough couple of weeks.

After the first incident I was happy that Alex was at school when I had a couple of dr. appointments. At least his teacher really knows me and won't be calling CPS. But now that this seems to be reoccurring I feel like I need to get signatures of all witnesses!