Happy Easter

I hope everyone had a very happy Easter! We sure did. Granted Cooper was sick, but with four kids I figure it will be years before all of the kids are healthy for any single holiday. I think it was good it was only one out of the four!

The kids woke up in the morning to discover that the Easter Bunny had come and left baskets of goodies. Emma Jo was excited to find the newest Harry Potter movie in her basket!
After church, we came home to an Easter egg hunt. There were over 150 eggs hidden in Grammie's yard. Grace had been very concerned about how many eggs each kid could find so that everything would be fair. Once she realized how many there were she decided they should just go for it! Emma was a great big sister and left the "easy ones" for the little kids. When Grace's basket was full she took over Henry's and filled it for him!

The kids were adorable in their special outfits that Grammie bought. The morning was a little drizzly so I was happy that Henry had the option of black pants even though the overalls were too cute! Grace wore her high heels to church but quickly changed to Crocs when she got home. Emma looked a little too grown up in her sheath dress and leggings. I can't hardly believe she will be 12 in less than two months! Cooper wore his button down shirt and sweater vest. He loves wearing "fancy clothes" and was quite a handsome little guy.


Henry was very happy finding just one egg and trying to eat it!

Can you believe how big he is? He is very fast at crawling but now would prefer to be standing. Henry pulls up on everything and even tries to let go with one hand most of the time. (Emma's a little worried that he is going to take over the early walking record in our family).

Leprechaun Cake

Last week I happened upon a blog posting about a Leprechaun cake. I instantly knew that the kids would love it. Even though St. Patrick's Day was on Thursday, I still decided to make the cake on Sunday. Emma Jo was at the house helping Jason get things ready for new flooring, so it was just the little kids and I.

We mixed up the cake batter and separated it into six different bowls. Then Grace and Cooper got to add food coloring to their bowls to make all of the colors of the rainbow (this was accompanied by singing the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse song about "Red-Orange-Yellow-Blue, don't forget the Purple too!"). Then we carefully layered the colors into our bundt pan. The kids enjoyed squeezing the batter out of the baggies. After it baked it was time to add the marshmallow clouds around the edges and in the middle. Then Grace was in charge of making a leprechaun trap, gold coins, a sign and a ladder.
It didn't turn out as beautiful as the sample blog, but it was pretty darn cute and the kids loved it! Emma Jo was surprised when we slicing into it and there was a rainbow inside.
This was definitely a hit and we've already talked about ways we could adapt the method for birthday and other cakes.

Valentine's Craft

Last week, in honor of Valentine's Day, the kids and I made candle holders for their teachers. I cut hearts out of red, pink and white tissue paper and the kids used starch to paper-mache them to jars we found around the house. It was a simple activity but the kids really enjoyed it.

I always enjoy doing simple activities like this with the kids, and whenever I do it I wonder why we don't do things like this more often.

Heroes

My uncle Ranndy is much more eloquent than I am, so you might want to click over to his blog and skip this post altogether.

Today we celebrate our veterans. I say celebrate because we should remember them everyday. They are the brave men and women to put their lives on the line to ensure our freedom and to help those less fortunate than us. They are husbands and wives, sons and daughters, mothers and fathers. They are young and old, proud and scared. They are the heroes.

Both of my grandfathers fought in World War II. One passed away before I was old enough to know about war. The other didn't choose to discuss it.

Unfortunately I don't have any digital pictures of my Grandpa Dick. I do however have a few of my Grandpa John.


My grandpa circa 1960

Grandpa and his three brothers who all served in WWII

They all made it home safe.

To everyone who has served this country, and everyone who has had a loved one serve this country, Thank You. You are the heroes.

GIANT Halloween!

I'm not sure what was the best part of Halloween, seeing the kids dressed up having a great time trick-or-treating, or having the Giants win 4-0! Cooper combined the two by sporadically throwing in a "Go Giants" when he should have been saying "Trick-or-Treat" or "Thank you". I don't think anyone minded that he got confused:).

This year was the first year that we let Emma Jo trick-or-treat with friends and no mom or dad.

She was a Green M&M.

Cooper decided on Saturday night that he wanted to be Batman and "save the day". Unfortunately we had already gotten his dinosaur costume over a month ago and there is nowhere to get Batman at the last minute in Healdsburg anyway.

Grace thankfully agreed to wear the Snow White costume that Emma wore at her age. She had just wanted to be a princess so she was happy.

Henry made it through about half of the houses the little kids hit up and then he needed a break for an after-dinner snack. I didn't mind because it meant I got to listen to the World Series on the radio.

Our littlest Dinosaur. All of the other kids were pumpkins their first Halloween, so Henry wore a pumpkin suit under his dinosaur suit.

Ice Cream

Grandma Bette & Grandpa Joe - Thank you for the Cold Stone Ice Cream money for Easter! We went last night and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.

Cooper had an interesting technique of using a big spoon and a taster spoon to scoop the ice cream into his mouth. He ended up with ice cream all over his hands, face and shirt, but he sure looked cute doing it.

Sorry, no pictures of Emma Jo since she was the photographer!

Easter Egg Dyeing

Rainy Day Fun

Yesterday it started raining. The weather forecast is predicting a steady week of rain with several inches falling in the next 8 days.
The kids and I have today off for Martin Luther King Jr. Day (King Day as Gracie calls it), so we were looking for something to keep us occupied while staying dry. Playdough seemed the perfect answer.

We mixed up two batches yesterday afternoon while Cooper was napping. Gracie made purple (although she insisted on calling it magenta).


Emma Jo made aqua-marine. The girls spent a good hour yesterday making playdough pizzas and animals.



This morning Emma Jo is more interested in playing on the Wii, but Cooper loves the playdough.



He has been bring me presents saying "cookie for you" or "Merry Christmas" and asking me to taste his creations.

Thanksgiving 2009

Sixteen of us gathered at Grammie and Grampa's house for Thanksgiving this year. It was great to have all of the Gimme Five together, along with the rest of the family.

I love to watch these kids and see their personalities shining through. Grace is almost always happy and smiling (except when she is throwing a fit).

Emma Jo loves to be the oldest and the big helper. She adores her little cousins and her little brother. It was fun to watch the interactions between Emma Jo and Mays. Those two have a very special relationship. Mays even insisted that he needed to sit next to Emma at dinner.

Dallas is a sweetheart. He very definitely has opinions about what he wants, and what he often wants is Daddy. Dallas had a great time throwing the balls into the pool, just as quickly as the rest of the kids could fish them out. Cooper kept a close eye on him to try to learn a few tricks.

Grampa once again spoiled the Grandkids by purchasing an arcade-style basketball game. The little kids weren't quite sure how to play with it, but the big kids sure liked it.

After dinner the little kids were tired and decided to relax on Grammie's bed with a little Blues Clues.