Frozen Party

Our latest movie-themed party was for Disney's Frozen. Frozen has been memorized and reenacted many times in this house and as this video attests, the songs are well loved too.

So the party was a must. We made snacks- ice covered trees, frozen hearts, polar ice-cap sodas and Olaf the Snowman donuts.

Everyone contributed to the snow themed treats.

Court approved of them all and could hardly wait to dig in.

Miya as Princess Elsa and Luca as Princess Anna

The viewing

Success!

A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away...

Much to the delight of Joe and I, Luca and Court have fallen under the spell of Star Wars. We have light sabers galore and Luca (aka Princess Leia) and Court (aka Darth Vader) frequently reenact scenes or write new ones of their own. The cousins, Isaiah and Isla and friends, Cole and Miya are equally fascinated so the Mommies decided to have a Star Wars viewing party.

You can't have a party without snacks so the kids made pretzel light sabers...

 ...(after taste-testing the pretzels of course)...

 ...and Tie-Fighter cookies...

 ...and we bought some "Leia Buns".

And a little dress-up always makes things special.

 At the Party

 The Leia's (who knew that an extra large turtleneck and a belt make a perfect Leia dress?)

 The Jedi

 The snack bar: Jedi Juice, Death Star Donut Holes, Popcorn Mechanical Hands, Wookie Cookies,...

 Storm Trooper Marshmallows, Han Solo Carbonite Jello and Ewok Gummies.

 Ready for the show

 Three buddies

 It was a success!

Bunk Bed Building

Court is now a two year old, so it was high time to get him into a big boy bed (especially because he liked to jump in the crib and every morning I'd have to tighten all of the bolts holding it together). Joe had promised Luca a bunk bed and she was very excited.

Building:

 

 A little help measuring...

After a paint job and anchoring it to the wall- Ta Da!

 

 The second night in his new bed,Court realized that he was no longer physically confined to his room and strolled into the living room at 11:30pm. I asked him what he was doing he said "I get up, I play with toys". After that one misunderstanding, he settled into his new bed very well. I'm not altogether sure how Luca even fits on her bed since every stuffed animal we own has taken up residence there, but she seems to make it work.

Yay for Daddies!

April 1-20...A Quick Picture Reel to Catch Up

 Naptime Art Sculpture

 Chocolate Pancake Breakfast

 Spring IS Coming

Nothing Like a Good Nap

 Stealing Daddy's Hats

This mess was from one pudding cup. One.

 I started seedlings for my vegetable garden in eggshells this year (saw the idea somewhere) but what I didn't realize was that they would shoot up so fast. I thought I had timed everything just right but they quickly outgrew their egg carton, so I took a chance and put them in the ground.

 The cups worked for the first late snow but not the second or third. Back to square one! However, if you are thinking of starting seeds indoors, I highly recommend the eggshell method. It speeds the whole process up and are a snap to plant. 

 Entertaining cousin George with a puppet show.

 Court did a lot of "Tummy Time" with George.

 

 Story Time

Luca planting some seeds of her own.

My sweet daughter came in with flowers for Mommy. She picked every single blossom off the vinca vine.

Boys and Dirt

A busy day at our house: Naomi, Luca, George, Court, Audrey and Madison

Pillows for the kids made out of fabric leftover from the new roman shades in their room.

How do you get your kids to eat new things? First eat it in front of them insisting it is "Mommy's special snack" and not really "for kids". Then, give in a little, "oh, okay, you can have a couple of bites". Bingo. Two kids who formally wrinkled their noses at avocado now request their own half (or whole) with a spoon. As you can see, Court has to get every last lick. 

March 10-16

 The snow that came in on Sunday caught me unaware and without milk, eggs or bread so we made an evening run to the store but first, Joe and I scooped the driveway while the kids watched from back of the truck. The drive was reminiscent of a ski town, big flakes, not many cars and none of the roads cleared. Court and Luca got to see several tractors with blades pushing snow up close at the grocery store, pretty exciting!

 

When the church parking lot across the street gets cleared, we end up with a long row of snow "mountains" for the neighborhood to rule. Court and Luca toured some of the caves created by the big kids.

Avocado! Funny, when I tried putting it on sandwiches, serving guacamole dip or topping an enchilada with a few slices, the kids wouldn't touch it. But when I slice one in half, sprinkle it with salt and pepper and try and eat it as my lunch, suddenly Luca and Court can't get enough. I'm going to try this method with spinach next.

Court's name for Luca is "Lula", it's pretty cute.

 You should have seen Court's face when I rolled open the sunroof while we were tooling around town, he obviously didn't know such a thing existed. And now, he wants me to open it every time we get in the truck.

 Short sleeves and snow!

I had a picture of a little trellis that I showed Joe in hopes he could construct something similar so that I can grow some squash this summer. My hubby took my little plan and turned it into a true arbor. Can't wait to start planting!