Baker Boys

Last week was Don's birthday.  It was also my birthday.  Yeppers, we share the same birthday, though not the same birth year.  I will always be the younger gal in this relationship.  I thought it would be cool for the boys to have total control (yeah, this was hard for me because I like to help...too much) over making their dad a cake.  But bake they did and an awesome job too. 

Benny read the instructions and measured the ingrediants while Jack mixed it all up.  They were super thrilled with themselves.  The most exciting part I am sure was mixing up the frosting!

Once their creation was baked they set to work to carefully decorate it.  I had bought two containers of frosting so you can imagine just how much there was to get onto the cake.  But very carefully and with love they got it all on.  Most of it piled into the center of the cake (believe it or not there was a hole in the middle of that cake)!

The result was a fantastic gift for their dad.  Of course we all enjoyed eating it.  Well, except for Jack who is far too picky about his cake. 

Sleepover Time!

I love love love a good sleepover so we have lots of them!  I think Ben started having sleepovers when he was three years old.  On this night we planned a huge sleepover with kids from four different families.  The moms are my besties and everyday we collect in the cul de sac so the kids can play, dinners with each other, parties with each other.  All the good stuff besties bring.  In fact I love that saying "friends are family you choose" because these ladies and their children have really become more like family than anything else.

Anyhoo, on this night we had eight kids for a sleepover.  The boys and I prepared carefully.  the right snacks, entertainment and a craft of course.  I would say that we hit a home run with edible play dough. 

By the looks of it I would say we had just as much fun making it.  We made it the night before so it could harden in the fridge over night.

It looks kinda gross here but it was quite tasty.  Peanut butter, flour, corn syrup, and margarine made this dough both playable and eatable!

As the sleepover got underway there were of course kiddies running around everywhere but the play dough quickly became the center of attention.

There were oohs and ahhs as everyone realized that eating it was not only ok but encouraged.  These became even louder as they realized that it actually tasted good!

As the night wore on I put some movies on up in my room.  Due to the basement finishing underway there are two futons up in my room along with our king size bed so it only made sense to let all the kiddies take over my room.  They watched some Smokey and the Bandit and with minimal threats were all off to sleep by 11:30.  They had an awesome time.

And in the morning this was the sight on my couch.  Tired kids snuggling with me on the couch.  Successful mission and a wonderful memory for my boys!

Craaaazy Hair Day=Crazy Morning

It was crazy hair day around here.  A spirit day for school.  If you pay a dollar you get to go to school with wacky hair.  I did NOT leave enough time on this morning to transform the boys.  This resulted in a rather harried Momma barking at the boys while obsessively checking the time...

"Stay still so I can tease your hair!"
"Stop, moving!"
"Do you WANT to go to school with crazy hair or not?"

Realizing that I was quickly turning what was supposed to be a fun moment into a terrible experience I attempted a lame recovery in my 'super sweet nice voice'.

"You know Mommy used to have a mohawk." 

I guess I hoped that this revelation would somehow make up for my barking.  The boys were leery at that point though.  Knowing that Mom was teetering on the edge of a nervous breakdown they did what what they could, just nod and smile at the crazy lady smearing green dye in your hair.

Thankfully for everyone once we got it all under control and once I was confident that we would not miss the bus we were able to enjoy some of the crazy hair.  I do love the expression on Benny's face here.  It says "I really don't want this photo taken but I am gonna do it to keep the nutty one quiet."  Thank you Ben.

What the Hecka is Going on Here? Part 3

Oh yeah baby, at the end of this winter craft we had somewhere around 12 kids running around the fort painting it with the spray bottles full of paint and water (FYI use food colouring not paint). 

Everyone had a chance to express themselves in the snow and the result is nothing less than fabulous.  My front yard has been transformed into a massive fridge front covered with drawings from all the the neighborhood kids.  So far this morning we have all taken our tuns running to the dining room window to check it out.

This is one of my favorite pictures of the day.  The two moms admiring their work knowing it was thoroughly enjoyed by many.

What the Hecka is Going on Here? Part 2

Part 2 of this neighborhood craft project involved some major snow moving.  Ben and Jack were total troopers and definitely moved a lot of snow in preparation for this craft project.  The lump of snow that we slowly accumulted was many things in the half hour the three of us worked away at it.  A mountain, a cone, a cylinder, and of course Jack prayed it would magically turn into a train.  I think the boys were pretty thankful when Katie our neighbor and Mom of Peyton and Ethan arrived to help with the snow! 

Between the two moms we moved some major snow!  I am talking a good hour and a half of shoveling.  Coats and hats were shed.  We were sweating it out, neighbors drove by and slowed as they passed us wondering what the hecka we were up to.  Slowly what started out as a big lump of snow began to take shape and turned into a super awesome snow fort complete with two rooms.  The energy between us changed and we became SUPER MOMS. 

This isn't something that happens everyday of course but once in a while you do something so cool for your kids that you are elevated to the peak of SUPER MOMNESS and we achieved it on this day.  We were great, plans have been made to expand the fort of course.  We are just waiting for more snow so we can add furniture and of course more rooms.

You can see the excitement (relief) on our faces as part 2 of this super winter craft day is completed.  Bet you can guess what is next!

What the Hecka is Going on Here? Part 1

I love to craft.  I think the boys do too.  I know sometimes my boys get sick of it...clearly I planned a few too many at Christmas time but now that we have had a chance to recuperate from Christmas it was time to get back at it.  Can you guess what we are making?  A few clues:

1) Empty contents of all the spray bottles in the house into mason jars.

2) Fill up spray bottles with water and paint.  Two very excited boys are wonderful helpers for this step!

3) Text all neighbourhood moms and arrange to meet outside.

4) Win the Mom of the Week award!

Crazy ideas best left alone

It is a rainy day here today. Rain all day. A good day to be inside watching movies and doing some heavy duty play. Wish us luck. Mommy decided we should sort all the Lego so we can rebuild the kits...silly Mommy.