This just makes me happy

A Day Out With Thomas!

All of Bear's dreams came true when we went to see real, live Thomas the train pulling "big, big, BIG cars!".  Bear was thrilled to see his hero up close!

He was very proud of his Thomas tattoo.  He kept showing it to other kids that had the same tattoo and comparing it. All day he kept looking at it with a proud smile!  

The best part was the tent with the model train setup. It even had Mt. Thomasmore!

Bear probably would have spent hours there just watching the various trains going around and around!

To top off all this fun, he got to ride the bus to and from the Thomas station! 

Does it ever get old?!?

Kids + Static-y hair. Does it ever get old?

Look! No Trampoline required (just roll around on the big, red marshmallow)

Randomness from our life lately

 What? You don't wear your sister's old book cover as a hat while you eat your McNuggets on a sick day?

Look what Birdy bought with her birthday money at the dollar store, Papper!  Even the awesome eye shadow...

Once upon a time... (a story with a sad ending)

...There was a little boy.  This boy liked to occasionally go to the potty like his big sisters. He even got jelly beans.  One day, he told his dad that he had "pee pee in there!" and successfully put the pee pee in the potty.  His Mom and Dad were excited.  For a whole week, he wore unders and pull ups and pee peed in the potty successfully. He even told his Mom he needed to go potty while playing at McDonalds! 

Then, one day, the boy got the flu.  It made him very cranky and he did NOT want to go to the potty anymore.  He also decided that going #2 at all was a very scary prospect (despite many, many conversations about how everyone we know goes poo poo in the potty).  Now he will only wear his "animal diapers" and no longer goes in the potty at all. However, he has decided that he doesn't like being wet, so he insists on a new diaper when he wets it. *Sigh*

Cross your fingers that when his flu blows over he'll decide that wearing unders and Diego pull-ups is cool again...

P.S.  Since we've already talked about bathroom stuff on this post, I'll share a funny poo-related exchange with the boy:
Him (crying): "I have poo! Change my bum!"
Me (changing him): "See? Nothing to be afraid of... Poo is good!"
Him: "No, Mommy. We don't eat Poo- it's kucky." (because I said poo is good...)

Not the brightest pixie in the forest...

There are 6 different bite marks on that fake, styrofoam apple.  He doesn't catch on very quickly, does he?

A Small Request

A note from EJ with a helpful suggestion on what to do with our bananas.  FYI: Banana bread was made (obviously, I was saving them for that!) but not with chocolate chips.  She still gobbled it down.

Boxes: The Very Best Part of Moving

These were all taken on different days throughout the month/move so far...

Fashionista?

This was Birdy's outfit of choice one Saturday morning. Check out the pants tucked into the green socks.  This girl definitely has her own sense of style!

Salted Caramel Marshmallow Treats

I don't have a picture of these- sorry. Not like my food photography ends up very yummy-looking anyway. You'll just have to imagine how yummy these look :) 

6 c. Rice Cereal
5 1/2 c. marshmallows (a.k.a. a whole bag of the Kraft Mini ones)
1/4 c. butter
2 bags Kraft caramel bits
Sea Salt

Melt the butter on Medium heat in a big soup pot and add marshmallows.  Stir constantly until the marshmallows melt. Don't freak out when they get to the half-melted place and stick to the spoon- they will melt and become smooth :).  You can add a tablespoon of milk to the end if you want. I hear it makes them creamier, but I don't do it every time.

Once the marshmallows are melted, stir in the cereal (still in the pot- why dirty another container?) and keep stirring until totally coated.  Then add 1 bag of the Kraft caramel bits.  These are awesome pellets of caramel that are easy to melt and NO WRAPPING! Seriously, they've changed my life.  Go ahead and stir those in well.

Smear butter all over a 9 x 13 pan. I like to use the wrapper from the butter I used earlier- it seems to work well.  Pour the sticky cereal stuff into the pan.  Grease up your hands- either by rubbing the butter stick on them (you've washed them, right?) or spraying cooking spray. If you don't, you will end up in tears with sticky, evil rice cereal stuck everywhere. Not like I speak from experience or anything...  Pat the cereal down with your greased hands to make it flat and uniform thickness in the pan.  Sure, you can try using waxed paper, plastic wrap or a greased spoon, but trust me- your hands are the quickest and easiest way to do this.

In a small pot on the stove, combine the remaining bag of caramels and 3 T of cream (or half and half, or whole milk- just not skim).  Stir over medium heat for a long time until everything is melted and smooth.  Pour the hot caramel over the treats in the pan and spread to coat the top.  While the caramel is still liquid-y, sprinkle sea salt over the whole thing.

These treats will seriously change your life. I'm struggling not to eat the entire pan right now. 

P.S. Cyndi- these would make crazy-easy marketing treats!  The ladies at our Relief Society activity are STILL talking about them. I don't take credit for them- I didn't bring them!

P.P.S. Can you tell I've had a lot of traumatizing past experience with Marshmallow treats? Seriously, there are few things easier to make, but somehow I've managed to mess it up. A lot.

P.P.P.S. You're welcome.

Spa Day!

EJ and Birdy got invited to a "Spa" themed Birthday Party (it was SO cute y'all!).  Birdy came home very inspired and insisted on giving me spa treatments. Seriously, why haven't I thought of "give Mommy a foot rub" as a game before now! It was awesome. 

They had so much fun, we declared that night to be Family spa night and turned on the "new age relaxation" Pandora channel, turned the lights down and took turns doing a face mask (even DMP and Bear).  DMP and I took turns give each kid a foot, hand and back massage. It was a lot of fun for everyone!

Bear and his Friends

I'll be the first to admit my baby boy is spoiled. His sisters are (mostly) limited to 5 dolls or stuffed animals in their bed to sleep with.  This is bear with all his "friends". Clockwise from the left we have Mr. No Name (fuzzy brown/orange guy), Baby Brother (cabbage Patch), Duffalo (small buffalo), Bunny Boo Boo (thumper), Percy Pet (green train), "My Puppy!", Rainbow Armadillo (yellow pointed faced thing).  He is holding Monkey George. 

Believe it or not, he has added another stuffed puppy, and a stuffed bumblebee (they don't really have names) and a yucky, squishy frog with rubbery, sticky skin (also not named) to this collection. My puppy got kicked out when Bear discovered how to turn him back on and make him talk all night. 

In addition to his "friends" (that's what he calls them, as in "Mommy, get all my friends so I can go to bed!"), he sleeps with his Thomas blanket, and at least two cuddly blankets. I try to hide the other two, but he usually finds them.

And the hat? That was a $2 clearance find that he wore for 3-4 days straight. It's an adult hat because he has such a giant noggin :)

Best. Dad. Ever.

I scored a sweet new set of Thomas engines, cars and track at the thrift store for NOTHING (seriously, the find of the month!) and it rekindled Bear's love for his non-wooden track trains.  DMP came home from work and said "I bet I can build a track that goes all around the kitchen and living room" (you can see the layout above where there is one wall separating the two...).  I said "I bet you we don't have enough..." 

He accepted the challenge and before dinner was finished he had a snazzy track that went all the way around.  Notice how it cleverly goes around the pedals on the piano and how he built bridges to go over the divider between the flooring.  Bear of course was THRILLED and we had to keep the track up for three days.  That was as long as I could stand it- those trains are loud, and it was really hard to sweep under.  Bear is lucky to have a nerdy and creative dad :)

Also, he does a lot of this:

Big Boy Bike

Bear is very proud of his new big boy bike.  He was riding a little baby push bike, but it was too small and he started wearing the toes of his shoes out because he'd drag them on the ground.  We were going to get a bigger pedal trike, but we saw this cute little balance bike at Kid to Kid and DMP was sold.  He loves pushing it around and he is thrilled that he is riding his "big boy bike" just like the Sissies!  I'm excited because it will fit him and work for a long time- probably up until he is ready for a real bike.

Easter 2013

On Friday, the kids had a day off of school (and with Spring Break only 2 weeks ago, we really needed another day off... )  Some of the Moms in our ward organized a picnic and egg hunt for the kiddos. It was a lot of fun!  Notice Birdy's Hello Kitty ears.  She went to a birthday party the day before and got those and insisted on wearing them all weekend!

Bear was really into "picking eggs". It was fun to see him get it this year and be so excited!

Friday night we colored our Easter eggs.  We did the "volcano eggs" again, but we have decided to call them "fizzy eggs" instead- it seems more appropriate.  DMP and Bear missed out last year, so they were especially excited about them!

Our beautiful eggs!

 The Easter Bunny now comes to our house on Saturday for lots of reasons.  First, the Atonement is kind of a big deal, and I've been bugged for a couple of years by how the Bunny takes over the celebration.  Also, it was SOOO much easier to get kids ready for church when we weren't trying to rush through egg hunts, eating candy and etc.  We just hung out and played all day and had no real pressure to be anywhere. 

Also, as you can see, the Bunny and Santa got a bit confused.  He may have gone overboard a bit with gathering "non candy" things for their baskets and they ended up with a lot of "presents".  Live and learn, right?

The kids had a successful egg hunt all over the house.

Bear was only interested in eggs that sounded like "coin-ys" first, and jelly beans second.  Forget stickers and other non-shakey prizes!  He was also hilarious- we gave the kids baggies to collect all their candy in so they could empty their eggs. He would NOT let us empty any eggs- even the ones that had squinkies or other toys.  He would look at it and then insist it go back in the egg in his basket!

On Sunday, we got all dolled up in our Easter clothes.  Thanks to Cynj for outfitting Bear for Easter for yet another year. I'm so glad to have your boy hand-me-downs!

Here are my pretty girls...

The whole family!

One more for the road!

Hope you all had a happy Easter weekend, too!