Easter Clothes

Easter Sunday...my favorite part is seeing all the kids dressed up in their Easter clothes. It's such a great way to celebrate the Resurrection!

All of the speakers at church did a great job, I really felt the spirit at church. I usually don't care the fifth Sunday lessons but the Relief Society did a great job with their lesson.

The ham is in the oven. I already whipped up some funeral potatoes, candied carrots, and fresh corn on the cob.

The kids managed to clean up their huge mess from yesterday from the Easter Egg Hunt.

We didn't do Easter baskets and the kids didn't even miss them. No more baskets for us. We're going to keep up the new tradition of keeping Sunday for the real reason of Easter and Saturday will be set apart for the Easter Bunny/Easter Egg Hunts!

"He is Risen" is the real reason of celebrating Easter.

I'm glad my kids know why we celebrate. It's not all about new clothes and Easter egg hunts.

The Savior...is the reason why we are here!

He Is Risen

I hope everyone is having a great Easter Sunday. If you are interested and have a few minutes, here is a great video entitled "He Is Risen"!

Easter Bunny!

Easter Bunny: Love it or Hate it!

Logan: Hate's it!
Leah: Love's it!
Leilani: Love's it!

I'm not sure but things might change next year. Logan hasn't been a fan of the big bunny since he was little. I have a picture of him about two years old and he's screaming his head off. I remember, I literally throw him in to the arms of the Easter Bunny.

So, I decided to make sure to get a picture of the baby with the Bunny because I didn't want to take any chances of her being older next year and she might be scared of him. As of now, she's the big bunny. I could of left her with the Easter Bunny and I think she would of be quite happy!

I told Logan if he wanted to collect his bag full of Easter Eggs. He would have to get his picture with the big bunny. He's still not a fan!

Nothing says I love you like...

A thread and needle hard at work! The boys are always complaining that I don't make them anything any more. So, I decided to whip up some neck ties for church. I didn't realize, when I started this project that neck ties need to be hand sewn. I managed to get four ties done in less than two days. The boys were so excited to see them. I might have to start making them on a regular bases.

Little Miss Radio Flyer!

Good thing for best friends, my bff pick up this little Radio Flyer trike on a Curb Alert on Craigslist. Yes, it's in tough shape but the baby loves it. I thought she was too little for it but Landon wanted to try it out with her. She feel right in love with it. It wouldn't be too much longer before she's actually pedalling away on it.



She's trying to figure out how to ride the bike...lol!



Excuse the messy face, just finished my afternoon snack of mac & cheese and vanilla pudding!



Gotta love those chubby cheeks and thighs!

Pigtails

One Last Get Together!

Big Announcement...My BFF is moving to Centerton this weekend. I'm trying to stay positive, it's not going to be easy but it's only Centerton. Yes, we will be still able to get together but Bella Vista wouldn't be the same. Either will her van be the same. She came over this afternoon because she wanted me to help her make Pirate costumes for her kids plus Leah. The boys are too old for this type of fun. Chick Fil A was having a pirate party. So, when she left to take the kids...she backed up into my neighbors rocks. Yup, she has a huge scratch on her back bumper. Her  husband is going to kill her. Oh well, that's what he gets for taking her away from all of her friends but that's another post...lol!

Guess what she's using as a paci?

Leilani was holding the nerf bullet in her hand, when I put her down for her afternoon nap. I went back to check on her and I discovered that she put the bullet in her mouth as a paci. What a silly baby?

Easter Dresses

 

Easter dresses on a dime...OK, not a dime but $2.50! 

 

My new favorite hot spot to find vintage, sometimes funky, and super cute is the Salvation Army. Screw going to the fabric shop, I just shop at the Big Red in Rogers. If I make a mistake, no crying over all the money spent on fabric.

 

Yes, I'm a smarty pants. Sewing doesn't have to be expensive and neither does the holidays!

Leah's Dress comes from McCall's M5742!

Ten on Monday

1. You know me, super busy all the time. I'm up and going at full force all day long. I haven't had much time to spend on my blog but I decided to stay up late tonight and get it updated! I have started to print off my blog which has been a wonderful thing. I feel really bad that I haven't taken the time lately to write up my Ten on Tuesdays but I'm hoping to get back in the groove of things.

2. Basketball season is finally over! Upwards Basketball has been the best thing ever for Logan. The program is amazing and Logan stretched himself and gain some self-confidence! He went from being the quiet shy boy to make basketball playing machine. He would score over 4-6 point at each game. I'm so proud of him. After the awards celebration, Logan told me that he was happy that we finally found something that he loved! Plus, he can't wait to play again next year!!!!!! Logan hasn't ever stuck with anything, so this makes me so happy! I love his basketball pictures. You can see the confidence in himself in the picture. I need to post it. It's a really powerful picture of Logan.

3. Leah is super athletic and loves to play sports. She's in soccer and gymnastics. I know, super crazy schedule but she's loving both of them. She's very competitive and loves a good challenge. I'm not happy with Bentonville Rec and we will not be signing up with them again. 8 girls on a soccer team is way too many. Leah is hardly getting any soccer time at all. She's not to happy about being on the side line, she would literally play the whole entire time without any complaints!

Leah thinks she's going to first grade in nine days. I'm not sure why she thinks moving up the next grade in less than nine days but I told her it's about 45 days until she graduates from Kindergarten. She wasn't too happy about. She loves school which is so awesome!

4. Landon will be starting up again in Tennis. This spring, they will buss the kids from school to the tennis courts which is great for me! Plus, he wants to run in the Gold Rush 5k in May with his school running group!

5. Spring Break turned into a huge mess, it's a long story. Lots of things went wrong...sick, bad weather, and camper issues. We ended up staying home which turned out to be the best thing for the whole family. We work on the garden beds, Leroy worked on his cars, and we hung around the house. We did take the kids to Chuck E Cheese because they earned it. The kids were able to earn a trip to CEC for filling up a glass jar with cotton balls for reading their scriptures.  Chuckie was good but the place was jammed packed with kiddos. It was a real madhouse but the kids had fun. So, that's all that matters.

6. I told the kids last night that we're not doing Easter baskets anymore. I know, I'm a mean mom but Leroy explained to them that he only got an Easter basket one time growing up. So, the kids boo-hoo about it but they already went to one Easter Egg Hunt and made out like bandits. I'm taking them to the Bella Vista Easter Egg hunt this Saturday and that's that! Last year, I found their Easter Baskets in their Closets full of candy...I mean nine months later. They still had a ton of candy left over and it was just rotting away in their room. So, we explained that on Sunday we will be focusing on the real reason of Easter not the Easter Bunny. The kids aren't to pleased but they will get use to it.

We just had a really nice FHE on Easter. I had the kids go thru all of the Gospel Art kit and pull out all of the pictures that would tell the story of Easter. The kids sorted thru all of the pictures and had to put them in order. It took several attempts before they got it right. The youngest up to the oldest had to hold up each picture and tell the story about the Resurrection. We stopped them from time to time and asked them questions. It turned into a really good FHE. The kids had to teach us about the Resurrection, it's a good way to see how much they really know and understand about the Resurrection!

The rest of the week, we will be dyeing Easter eggs and we will be making our famous Easter Bunny Sugar Cookies! We will have our own little Easter Egg hunt at the house! I'm not terrible mean but we will be trying to focus on the more spiritual side of Easter which can be hard to find a good balance. It's the first year not having a Easter party at the Preschool, I'm having a slight issue. I miss it, six straight years and no more. I can't wait for Leilani to grow up so I can send her to preschool and redo it with her!

7.  I have been working really hard on my sewing skills. I just finished sewing up the girls Easter dresses and I'm going to attempt to make matching ties for the boys. I'm really obessing about the sewing thing. I'm barely working out, every chance I get, I want to spend it on the sewing machine not the treadmill maybe it's the weather. I don't know but I was hoping to be back to my old body but it's not happening any time soon.

8.  I'm working on the details on our big trip out West. We will be driving up to Mt. Rushmore, Yellowstone, Idaho, and Salt Lake! It's going to be a whole lot of driving but I'm not planning on taking these kids out West ever again! So, we will be seeing the sites and visiting with family. Plus, I'm still planning on taking the kids out East as well. My head is already spinning...just from thinking about it all.

I really want to do it all with my kids, I want them to see world and not miss out on anything. I know this is kinda crazy of me but I can't help it.

9.  Remember all the picture drama...how I couldn't make up my mind. Well, I order this huge picture and I hate it. It's 20x30...it's so big...what the H*ll was I thinking...I even went down to Hobby Lobby and picked out a custom frame. I panic, I called Hobby Lobby the next day and cancelled the order. I don't know what to do????? I might just stick with it but I don't know someone help  me make a decision. The canvas print that I order turned out awesome, everyone that has seen has given me lots of compliments about it.

10. I'm all up to date with my 2012 digital scrapbook. It's all done!!!!!! My new goal is to make a calendar/month for each month and to print it off, right away. I'm already done with Jan and Fed for 2013. I'm going to start working on Mar 2013. If I keep this up, I will have the Family Yearbook done it will be so much easier this way.

The baby's scrapbook is update.

Life is super duper crazy, I feel like I'm juggling a ton of balls up in the air but I'm handling it really good. I'm going to have to cut out some things eventually but right now I'm doing it all.

Long Forgotten Author

Reading is a new passion of mine. I never read a book growing up unless it was a book assignment. My top two all time children's chapter book authors are Lucy Maud Montgomery and Laura Ingalls Wilder. We finished up reading all of the "Little House on The Prairie" books a couple of months ago. Let me just say that my boys all time favorite books are the "Little House" on audio cd. I kept on checking the library for a new series and I couldn't find anything similar to the series. I noticed at the Rogers Library, a series of books by Lois Lenski. The books look old and out of date. I have ,noticed them for several months. I finally decided to pick "Strawberry Girl" and feel in loved with the author. My observation of the books are they are very similar to the "Little House..." books. Her illustrations capture a folksy simplicity that I adore.
The best way to describe these books are as historical novels of children growing up in the early 1900's in different regions across America. Lois Lenski did extensive research on each book and give accurate details about each region. So, far...I haven't come across anything questionable and all of the booksim are wholesome. The girls and boys are courageous in all of her books. The books give a nice glimsed have what it would of been like to live in that time period.
I so appreciate that for her American Regional and the Roundabout America series she traveled to the places she wrote about and actually lived with local families. Their real-life experiences, as a whole, are the books, with names changed. She didn't just sit down and make up these stories. She lived among the people and work these amazing stories.

It's a real shame, that most of her works are out of print. I'm going to end up spending a small fortune in building up my own collection.

Here's the list of books I have read so far...

Strawberry Girl

Blue Ridge Billy

Indian Captive: The Story of Mary Jemison

Bayou Suzette

Shoo-Fly Girl

Every child would greatly benifit from these books. The best way to teach and learn about history is thru historical novels. I thought the books had a nice cross between the "Little House.." books and American Girl books. Don't miss out, especially if you have girls. The girls in these books are not silly but strong and they all have challenges that they have to overcome. You can re-read these books over and over again. You wouldn't get tired of them.