Hunt Those Eggs!

We had a ton of fun hunting eggs this year. On Saturday we went to the egg hunt at the church. It was a lot of fun and they even had little bags of candy and little toys out to 'hunt' as well. Liam latched onto Corie right away and they had a very successful hunt. Then, for tradition's sake and for the sake of fun, we went to the town egg hunt on Easter afternoon. This is the hunt my sister and I grew up going to as well. As always, it was a lot of fun. Izzy and Liam were a little *too* excited though because they kept trying to cheat and go and get the eggs before it was time. Liam had his eyes set on a specific blue egg. It was torture for him to wait for it.

Here's Izzy with Shaawn bringing her back to the starting line after one of her 'cheat' attempts. :)

The kids waiting so 'patiently.'"GO!"Izzy did a great job at her first hunt where she could actually participate. However, soon she realized it would just be more fun to run on the baseball field. Pretty soon, Liam decided to join her. They were both on the go running as fast as they could. How do you like Liam's smile in this? ;)

Liam with his loot. We decided this was the year he had a chance since he was the oldest in his age group. Next year the eggs will probably be gone before he can leave the starting line. He really took advantage of his age this year. Look at all those eggs! He can barely lift his basket.

I just love this picture of Izzy looking like a little Diva. She loves her sunglasses. Cute, cute.

I told Liam he needed to thank the Easter Bunny for the goodies he left him, but he was a little scared of him. So, he just went and shook his hand really quickly and said "Thanks!" and ran away...

My sister and I with our cute, non-smiling kids. :) Cute, nonetheless.

That concludes the Easter festivities. Whew! It was a whirlwind weekend, but we had a blast. I'd also have to say it was successful because Liam ended up on the cover of my hometown newspaper hunting eggs!

Easter Fun

We had a lovely Easter Day at Nana and Papa's house. Of course, the Easter Bunny had to hide Liam's basket. And surprisingly, Liam found it completely on his own. At my parents' house, Liam always goes in to their room when he wakes up so I wanted them to come and get us when he was ready. Well, Liam went and found his basket immediately and took it into my mom saying, "Look what I found!" He was pretty excited. I guess the Easter Bunny is going to have to hide his basket a little harder next year.

Do you see his basket?

The Lucky Boy got lots of fun goodies. Checking out his stash- His absolute favorite thing in his basket was that little rabbit in the car that had jelly beans come out the trunk when you pushed on it and also said "Happy Easter!" Liam had it in his head that the Easter Bunny was definitely supposed to bring Jelly Beans. He wasn't disappointed. He also got playsilks that I made, a swimming suit, a Dora egg hunt book, fruit snacks, and bubbles.Our little family before church.Liam looking snappy Oh bubbles. I thought the obsession with bubbles that we had to endure last year would possibly die down a bit this year, but it definitely has not. I think it might only have gotten worse. This is all the boy thinks about!

He knew he could count on recruiting Papa for playing with bubbles. Liam and Izzy with their egg hunt stash (more on that later).

Izzy and Nana looking pretty on Easter.

What a precious girl!

The Easter Bunny brought more fun things through Nana and Papa as well! Liam got this rockin' rubber boots, perfect in time to help garden!

He also got this fun snow/glitter globe bouncy ball that Izzy is trying out. This thing is so fun! We had a very nice dinner and enjoyed a beautiful day. It was very low-key, but a lot of fun.

We're so thankful for the resurrection of Christ and that he overcame death for our us. I love that we can celebrate the resurrection this time of year when the world is blooming and becoming new again.

Our Little Star

Liam performed at our ward's talent show tonight. He chose to sing "I Love to See the Temple." He did a great job and has been practicing for weeks. I was a little worried he would get up there and freeze, but I shouldn't have worried. As a matter of fact, after he came back and sat down he told me, "Mom, I want to sing another song!" I think he favorite part was singing in a real microphone instead of his inflatable Dora one. ;) He's actually still singing this song in his bed as he's going to sleep. Not even joking. :) He also got to sing with the primary kids even though he's still in nursery and he loved that. It was kind of impromptu because he happened to know the songs, so I wasn't prepared with the video camera. Anyway, I was definitely a proud momma tonight. My little boy is growing up!

Egg-Stravaganza!

We had a lot of fun doing Easter Eggs this year. We went to Nana and Papa's house for Easter weekend and all the festivities. Nana got Liam a special Dora egg dying kit and he was in Heaven. He loved 'plopping' those eggs into the cups. Surprisingly, the only egg that cracked was mine. Go figure. The colors were bright and so pretty though. He was pretty happy with himself.This is just a cute pic I had to throw in of Liam and Papa reading 'Care Bears.'The second part of the egg coloring events included Martha Stewart. I saw this on another blog and just had to try it. Here is the process.
First, you need silk ties. To get a really good pattern, they should be silk. I used one of my dad's old '70's ties. We found a couple other ones that had some silk in them, so those gave a pattern as well, but not as good as the all silk. I'm going to be keeping my eyes peeled at thrift stores throughout the year. Anyway, you cut up the ties in pieces enough to wrap around an egg.Then you wrap a raw egg in the silk from the tie and secure with a rubber band. Then you need a white material square(we used a cut up old pillow case) to put over the egg again.Then you put eggs in a glass pot and fill with enough water to cover eggs and add 3 tbsp of vinegar. Bring eggs to a boil, then turn down to simmer for 40 minutes.Put eggs on cooling rack and then unwrap. WOW!We loved this. It was soo amazing how well it worked. I can't wait to find some really good ties to try next time.

Proud Mom

If you remember, Liam had had a little dark stain on his tooth and I freaked out thinking it was a cavity. We'd been getting it checked every couple of months to make sure it didn't become a cavity, but unfortunately, the last time we checked, it had just gotten a little bit soft, so Dr. Childs wanted to fill it before it got any worse. I was *very* nervous about this. But, I tried not to let Liam know that I was so nervous. Luckily, we had a great experience. Dr. Childs and Pam, his assistant, are beyond fantastic. Pam showed him every little thing and let him try things out. He didn't want to lay down during the procedure, but Dr. Childs was great and did it with him sitting up. Luckily, it wasn't bad enough to need to numb the area and it was small enough that he did it quickly. Liam was a champ with following directions and did just great. I was so proud of him for doing soo well! He did so well that afterward we went and picked out a backpack for his first day of pre-school... More about that later!

Pam showing him all the cool tools.

Opening his mouth really wide. He did great, but you can tell he's a little unsure.Liam and Pam-- He even got a glove balloon, his own little dentist mirror, a brushing timer, and a fun little snake. What a lucky boy to have had such a great experience at the dentist!

Knit, Knat and All That

Wes came up with that title.

So, it's no secret that nursing school is a tad stressful, especially lately. I needed an outlet A girl in my class is an amazing knitter and knits beautiful things during our lectures. Most of our lecture material is online, therefore I take just a few notes here and there or just write down the really important things not on the slide shows. Well, because I tend to pick my cuticles when I'm bored, but listening, so I decided I needed to find something to keep my hands busy. I was inspired to try knitting.

I've always wanted to learn to knit. I used to crochet when I was younger, but I really like the tight look of knitting. So, I headed over to grandma's house, who is a champion at knitting dish rags, and she taught me how to make a dish rag. I was *so* excited that I shared my excitement with my good friend, Erica. Well, amazingly, Erica had been wanting to learn to knit as well. So, we kicked out our husbands and kids and made a girls' night of knitting and watching 'P.S. I Love You.' ^This is the beginning of our addiction- Erica starting her first one.

^This is my first completed dish rag. Yes, there are mistakes, but I was still proud. ^This is my second one which I gave away already. I love the colors. I think this one has turned out the best so far.
^Here is my third. I like this one a lot. (Yes, I know they are all looking the same, I promise my blog won't become a tribute to my knitted dish rags, I'm just excited right now.) ^And here we are tonight with Erica's very first completed one! Here is my latest, which I also thought turned out pretty well.

I think I'll make one more dish rag to make sure I have the hang of it. I taught myself the pearl stitch from YouTube, so I want to try something with that next. I'd really like to make a few little hats for little ones, so I'm sure you'll be kept updated with our knitting progress!

Scrumptious

Once a month we do a Famliy Home Evening dinner and lesson with the Finlays. This last month was our turn and I wanted to try something new and fun. I got this recipe from a friend who got it from Southern Living. It is a Mint Chocolate Cake and was a HUGE hit. I had to take a picture because 1) I rarely bake and 2) it looks so pretty on my beautiful new cakestand that I got from grandma for Christmas. It was a huge hit and everyone loved it, so I thought I'd share the recipe for those looking for something new to try!

No laughing and the cake itself with the nonmatching layers. I don't have two pans of the same size and didn't have enough time to use the same one. I think it still looks ok though.

Here is the recipe (there are three parts):

Chocolate Cake

1 1/2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 (16 oz) pkg light brown sugar
3 large eggs
2 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 (8 oz) container sour cream
1 cup hot water
2 tsp vanilla extract
(peppermint frosting)
(chocolate ganache)
1. Melt chocolate morsels in a microwave-safe bowl at HIGH for 30-second intervals until melted (about 1 1/2 minutes). Stir until smooth.
2. Beat softened butter and brown sugar at medium speed with an electric mixer about 5 minutes or until well blended. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating just until blended after each addition. Add melted chocolate, beating just until blended.
3. Sift together flour, baking soda, and salt. Gradually add to chocolate mixture alternately with sour cream, beginning and ending with flour mixture. Beat at low speed just until blended after each addition. Gradually add 1 cup hot water in a slow, steady stream, beating at low speed just until blended. Stir in vanilla. Spoon batter evenly into 2 greased and floured 10-inch round cake pans.
4. Bake at 350° for 30 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pans on wire racks 10 minutes; remove from pans, and let cool completely on wire racks. Spread Peppermint Frosting evenly between cake layers. Spread Chocolate Ganache evenly on top and sides of cake. I also put shaved Ande's Mints all over it.


Peppermint Frosting

1/2 cup butter, softened
1 (16 oz) pkg powdered sugar
1/3 cup milk
1/4 tsp peppermint oil


Beat butter at medium speed with an electric mixer until creamy; gradually add powdered sugar alternately with milk, beginning and ending with powdered sugar. Beat at low speed just until blended after each addition. Stir in peppermint oil.

Chocolate Ganache


1 (12 oz) pkg semisweet chocolate morsels
1/2 cup whipping cream
3 tablespoons butter

1. Microwave semisweet chocolate morsels and whipping cream in a 2-qt. microwave-safe bowl at MEDIUM (50% power) 2 1/2 to 3 minutes or until chocolate begins to melt. Whisk until chocolate melts and mixture is smooth. Whisk in butter, and let stand 20 minutes.

2. Beat at medium speed with an electric mixer 3 to 4 minutes or until soft peaks form.