Birthday Boy

Clay turned 4 yesterday and he chose to celebrate with hot dogs, hamburgers, and chocolate cake (with Transformers on top). Some things about Clay:
- He has a major obsession with Transformers
- He has amazingly long eyelashes
- He loves to swim
- He loves anything chocolate (a man after my own heart)
- He is very tidy- he's great at cleaning his room and everything has to be in JUST the right spot; I can't imagine where he got that trait!
- He's one of the most mellow boys I know- A couple of weeks ago my mom said "it's so funny- you have Clara (dramatic), and you have Janie (super dramatic), and then there's Clay." And I knew just what she meant. He's such a sweet boy and I wouldn't trade him for anything. Happy Birthday Bud!

Fathers and Sons

Last weekend was our ward Fathers and Sons. The boys had so much fun; maybe too much because all Derek's been talking about is all the camping stuff we should get so we can start camping as a family more often. ( I can't wait.)

Makin' himself at home

One of the many reasons I'm not a camper.

Pancakes, sausage, and potatoes for breakfast

Easter

We had such a fun Easter weekend! Festivities included coloring eggs at Granny and Grampa's, easter egg hunts, easter baskets, and the most delicious Sunday dinner with family and friends. See here for some of the yummy recipes.

Challenge

Last Sunday our Bishopric challenged us to go 7 days without grocery shopping or going out to eat and only eat what we had in our home. It would have been easy if I had gone grocery shopping Saturday like I ususally do, but I hadn't been since the Wednesday before. Well, I made it to Thursday (which in reality was 8 days), and my fridge that's usually pretty full looked like this:

I guess we could have eaten rice and beans for the next few days, but I couldn't go another day without fresh produce! It was a good challenge though. It forced me to do some creative cooking and made me realize that we need to educate ourselves about gardening so we can actually grow our own fruits and vegetables (although we did have a delicious salad one night with romaine and spinach from our garden!)
After the grocery shop:

I may have been hungry when I went.

Brunch

I love, love, love having parties and I'd been wanting an excuse to use some of my vintage dishes so I decided on a Spring Brunch for some girls in my ward (who are also some of my best friends!) We enjoyed cinnamon rolls, banana coconut walnut muffins, breakfast quiche, yogurt parfaits, and strawberry pomegranate soup. It was the perfect weather and the perfect company. I think I will make this an annual tradition.

For the Strawberry Soup recipe, go here.

Food Storage

It was a sad, sad day last week when I decided to turn my office/craft room into our new food storage room. I think it was a good decision though. Now everything can be in one spot, it'll make rotating easier, and there's room to grow.

My new work space- it's a little tight, but I think it will do!

One of these things...

... is not like the others. Clay might need a brother.

Five

Clara's 5 today! We celebrated last night at the park with family. We had hot dogs for dinner (Clara's request) and Candice made an Ariel cake (also a request). Her present from Derek and I was a new puppy (Shadow died a few weeks ago). I don't think she realizes yet that he won't be a puppy forever, but for now she's having so much fun with him. The kids decided to name him Prince. Thanks to everyone who helped make her day so special! Happy Birthday Clara! Love you lots!

Before and After

It was time for a re-do on the girls' room. Janie was ready for a twin bed and I had to do some re-arranging to accommodate the furniture, but I'm very pleased with the result.
Before:

And After:

Girls' Chorus Valentine's Concert

This was probably my favorite concert yet! The girls are so fun to watch and they were very animated. Jeepers Creepers was by far the favorite song; for us and the girls! We performed at a nursing home, so the pictures and video are just from practice- but you get the idea.

Valentine's Week

I think I love Valentine's Day more and more every year. Maybe it's because I always enjoyed it when I was little because my mom would make it so special and now I have my own family to share this day with and it's fun for me to make them feel special and know how much they're loved. This was our Valentine's breakfast- Oatmeal pancakes, bacon, scrambled eggs, berries with pink whipped cream, and strawberry smoothies.

The girls trying on their gifts from Granny

Kelli came into town so of course we had to make a memorable Sunday dinner. We tried our hands at chocolate bowls for dessert- 25 of them. It was quite the experience. We popped lots of balloons and broke a few bowls, but overall they turned out pretty well! We filled them with chocolate cake, vanilla whipped cream, and strawberries.

Dinner at North- favorites were the mushroom and arugula pizza, chicken parmesan, short ribs, pork tenderloin, and nutella and banana crepes with roasted banana gelato; and our waiter that said Happy Valentime's Day - more than once.

Sunday morning before church

Hiking the wind caves Monday morning

And to top it all off, Derek asked me to come trim the sides of his hair yesterday morning. He usually gives himself a buzz and I come in after to trim the sides and make sure it's even. I was busy talkin' away and without even looking I grabbed the clippers and started up the side of his head. He didn't have the guard on. Whoops. Luckily my mom came and saved the day and he didn't have to go completely bald. At least his hair grows fast!