Easter

We have so many pictures of Easter, but I didn't want to back track since I haven't blogged in a while, so here are a couple of my favorites of Easter morning.

Happy Easter!

This morning we went to the ward Easter egg hunt, and the kids were so excited to see the Easter Bunny and hunt for eggs. Then we went home and dyed eggs. The kids dyed all the eggs we had in the fridge. I told them that the Easter Bunny will give them more candy if they leave the dyed eggs for him to eat. I just can't stand the smell, and Berkley has already dropped three of his. SERIOUS ANXIETY! Oh, and he mashed one into our deck. So sick! Tomorrow we are going to Grandma and Grandpa McEwan's for Easter dinner with the Jones and Mcewan families. We are excited! We hope everyone has a HAPPY EASTER!

Escapee!

The doorbell just rang, so I answered the door, and there were the neighbor kids holding onto Berkley's shirt so he couldn't run. Did I forget to baby proof latch the front door? Guess so. Here's a re-enactment picture, so you can see the boots he always escapes in. I promise, I had checked on him two minutes before the doorbell rang.

HAPPY ST. PATTY'S DAY!

I know that I am crazy, because my birthday is supposed to be MY day, but St. Patrick's day is so fun for the kids, that I have to make it fun for them. The leprechaun comes to our house, and kisses the kids in their sleep with shamrocks. He leaves them a pot of gold chocolate coins, and make mischief everywhere, tipping over chairs and making messes. He also leaves leprechaun dust everywhere he's been.
When I woke Savanna up for school, she darted out of bed, and she and Berks raced down the stairs. You would have thought it was Christmas by how excited they were! They ate cereal with milk the leprechaun had dyed green, and we spray painted their hair green.
For dinner, we invited our friends, Kip and Kathryn and their kids, over for a green dinner. We had roast, green mashed potatoes, broccoli, green rolls, and green jello. Kathryn brought green cupcakes and ice-cream, so of course everyone had to sing Happy Birthday to me. We had a fun time. The kids loved the day, and even though I didn't get to do anything for ME, it was a good day. I guess that's just how it is when you are a mom. When my kids are happy, I'm happy.

She Takes After Her Daddy

I posted pictures of Berkley skateboarding a while back, so now it's Savanna's turn. We played outside last week (the one day that was warm), and Savanna got on Mike's skateboard, so I had to take some pictures. She fell and cried a few times, but kept getting back on. It is not as much her passion, as it is Berkley's, but she had a good time anyway. She is all scraped up and bruised now. I guess that comes with the territory.

Mommy's Little Angel

I am not exaggerating when I say that Berkley spilled close to 2 ½ gallons of milk this week (not to mention that 2 different times, his sippee bounced and splashed EVERYWHERE! Both on the carpet and the tile. So I will just give you Friday's Berkley news to give you a taste of the week. 1. Berkley got out an entire loaf of bread while I was showering, broke it into bits and scattered it around the house like he was in the Hansel and Gretel story. 2. After that he went to the bathroom, and accidentally dropped the whole roll of toilet paper in. I fished it out of the poopy water, and I guess it was a good time, because then he went and did it again in another bathroom, dipping and smearing the wet toilet paper all over the mirrors and walls, leaving toilet paper bits EVERYWHERE!!! 3. While I was cleaning that up, he went downstairs, decided he needed a snack, and got out crackers. He spilled them all over the couch, and thought it would be fun to jump on them all, and mash them into the couch. 4. After my yelling uncontrollably, he decided to sooth himself with a sippee of milk while I was feeding the baby, and dropped it with the lid half on, splashing milk EVERYWHERE!!! 5. While I was cleaning that up, he wet his pants. 5. I saw him and his wet pants and the wet carpet, and cried. 6. Instead of hugging me or saying sorry, he stuck his tongue at me and ran away. OK, that is when I really lost it, called my sister and sobbed uncontrollably for an hour. After I was done with her, I called Mike and gave him the lowdown on what “his son” had done. Oh, I forgot the chocolate syrup smeared all over into my cream colored grout in the kitchen. I am not even exaggerating, and this was all within a few hours. I'll bet you're thinking, "Where were you the whole time?" Well, I can literally blink my eyes twice, and he's gone. Ask my sister-in-law Carrie, and she'll tell you all about losing him in Disneyland. It really only takes three seconds for him to vanish into thin air. Plus , I can't follow him around all day long. I have two other kids that have needs too, and other motherly responsibilities. I promise I am not watching soaps all day, eating bon-bons. I am sure I am even leaving something out. The day was THAT bad! I am happy to announce, though, that he is still alive. Needless to say, Mike went on a shopping spree at Home Depo on the way home so we could baby proof the entire house. I told Berkley that Daddy was going to lock the pantry so he couldn’t get into anything and he said, “Oh, it’s for Havanna (Savanna)”. Could he seriously believe that??? Savanna said, “Ya Berkley it’s for both of us, and then winked at me.” The child is seriously going to drive me into the “crazy house”. He is so dang cute though. How could anyone resist this face...or his lisp...or the way he wraps his little arms around me, and says,"I love you, mama". Really, at the end of the day, it is all worth it, and the rewards of being a mom outweigh the frustration by 100 times. I love this little guy, and wouldn't trade him for the world!

Here are a few new pictures of Maddox I took yesterday.

Water Snob

We have what we like to call a "water snob" in the family. I'll explain. A couple of nights ago, we put the kids to bed, and I went downstairs to get them water sippees (I know, Savanna is a little bit old for a sippee, but they work so nicely at bed time). I brought them up with ice per requested, and after Berkley took a sip of his, he choked on his water and said it was gucky. I took a sip of it, and it was just fine. He kept telling me he wanted jiggly water over and over again. We finally figured out that he wanted bottled water, and after getting that for him, he went right to sleep. So pretty much, Berkley will only drink bottled water now. I tried to trick him with water out of the fridge today, but to no avail. He truly is a "water snob".

Easter Cookies

I just found the greatest cookie invention ever! The kids always want to help me when I am baking, but to be quite frank, I cannot handle flour flying everywhere, and a HUGE mess, so I found an alternative: Pillsbury Sugar Cookie Dough Sheets. Each package comes with 2 sheets of rolled out cookie dough and 2 packets of frosting (in two different colors). It is so fabulous, because I can give each of the kids their own sheet of dough, cookie cutters, a spatula, and a cookie sheet, and let them go to town. Pretty much all I have to do it sit back and enjoy. Ok, I'm not gonna lie, there still is a mess to clean up since Berkley is the sprinkle king, but it isn't half as bad as the alternative. We've made them three times in the past month, and the kids are still begging for more. The cookies are pretty yummy too. Here are some pictures of the kids making them. Savanna opted for pink and purple frosting spread neatly and evenly over the entire cookie, with sprinkles placed one by one. Berkley prefered a mixture of colors with mounds of sprinkles, and also rewarded himself with a few shakes of sprinkles into his mouth after finishing each cookie.

Trust Dad and Jack to Pull Something Like This Off

So my Dad and his best friend, Jack, decided to fly to New York to pick up a van Jack bought on ebay. (Jack is opening an assisted living place in Boise, and needed a van to transport people.) Anyway, they got the van, and were going to drive the thing clear across the U.S., back to Idaho. So I am sure they were having a merry ol' time (they are both really funny) driving in Wyoming, when Jack hit some ice, slid out of control, and rolled the van. All I have to say is, thank goodness for seatbelts!!! Oh, and Jack only had liability insurance, so I guess it wasn't such a good deal after all. So they climbed out the window, and had a good laugh, and my Dad took some good pictures. The pictures are so funny, but only because they both came out unscathed (is that how you spell it?). Take a look. Pretty incredible! I LOVE YOU DADDY!

Baby Love

I seriously want to eat Maddox! He is so dang sweet, and never stops smiling and laughing! I can't get enough of his little bowling ball head. Just writing this makes me want to go wake him up and smooch on those fat little cheeks!

Jaxon and Maddox

We have been dying to get Maddox and Jaxon Stice together for soooo long! J.D. and Lara are some of our best friends, so we hope our boys will be too! Neither of them cooperated very well, but they are still so cute in their matching hoodies. They are just 8 weeks apart.