Finally an outing

I have read quite a few blogs recently about how families are trying to go outside here and there due to crazy weather. Well it is no different for us here in Wyoming were one day it's 70 and sunny and the next day it's rain/snow! There was one Saturday not to long ago that it was nice out, so we took full advantage of it! We packed up our things and for this outing we went to a spot where Keith wanted to set up a bike trail for his group of friends who have all been riding together. (That will be a story for another time.) Any way I got these fun pictures along the way and I wanted to share them with you all.



Here are all my kids! :) Here is Keith showing Eli how to tie the orange markers on the bushes because he wanted to help. Eli hardly left Keith's side he was so excited to be out of doors and just wanted to do what ever was needed.
My kids loved playing with the long grass. Eli and Mckenna were fighting each other with it acting like they were swords. The fight wouldn't last long though because the grass would fall apart and break and then the kids would just laugh and laugh.

Here is Mckenna with her grass sword.

I had to take pictures of the flowers that were trying so hard to grow in the colder weather.
After Mckenna watched Eli helping Keith she wanted to help set up markers as well. Here Keith is showing her how.
Making sure it is nice and tight.

Keith's friend Noah was out as well and caught up to us. I loved the picture of him with his dog and the elk sheds he had found. Looks very authentic.

This picture is my favorite! Mckenna had fallen asleep and Keith was holding her but most of all I just liked how this picture shows how much my kids love their Dad!
I had to get a picture of me in there somewhere! I had to show that I was really there and so Noah was nice enough to take our picture.

We had such a fun day and now we want more! Here's hoping for more warm weather!

Dino Eggs

So as many of you know I am a BIG fan of the blog, Our Best Bites. They do lots of yummy recipes and also some crafts. If you haven't been to their site here it is... http://www.ourbestbites.com/. Go check it out it's great!
Any way as I was looking through their site I came across these cool Dinosaur Eggs. I knew that my kids would love these and so for family home evening this is the fun had by all.
I was late about getting out my camera and so I didn't get any pictures of Keith and I helping the kids crack their eggs. I also didn't get any of them picking the colors they wanted. Oh well, at least I did get this picture of the cups and inside of each one was our cracked, but not peeled eggs. You leave them over night and the next morning you take them out of the cup, wash them off and peel them. The result is this...

Dinosaur Eggs!
The kids were so excited the next morning to see what their eggs looked like.
Here they are eating their eggs with a little salt.
Mckenna loved hers but Eli wasn't so sure. You can tell he was struggling by the look on his face. He did eat it though and in the end liked it.
Here are my two dinosaurs! Rrrroooaaaarrrr!

Eli's 5th Birthday

My little boy just turned 5! To be quit honest though, I really don't know if I can keep calling him little any more because he has gotten so very BIG. So my big kid was so funny about this birthday because as soon as we turned the calendar to March he was counting down the days until his birthday. He asked if I would print him a calendar to hang in his room and each day he would mark an "x" over the previous day and then count how many more days were left. When the day finally came he came running into my room telling me that it was his birthday! Another fun thing for him was that his birthday landed on a Friday and it was a school day as well. When he got to school his chair had a birthday sign on it and he got to ware a crown for the day. To say he was excited wouldn't even come close.
Weeks before I asked Eli what kind of cake he wanted to have and without hesitation he said, Transformers. So he and I made a plan to use my car cake mold and make a yellow car that would be the Transformer, Bumblebee. He loved the idea so much that he even drew a picture of what he wanted it to look like. I thought that it would be easy enough to make and since Heather was coming I knew I would be able to pick her brain on how to make it look awesome. Yet when the moment of truth came I got the cake in the mold and into the oven and do you think it worked, NO! I was so mad! Thank goodness Eli was kind and Heather was smart because she decided that we would just do a regular cake and frost the Autobot symbol on top since time was running out. It looked great and Eli loved it! In the end that was all that really mattered. Thank you Heather for making the cake look so wonderful.

The finished product!
Eli blowing out the candle with some of his friends.I think the look on his face says it all. He really liked his cake.
This was one of the little games we played called, "Find the AllSpark." The kids had to follow clues to find the AllSpark and once they found it and opened it it had their gift bags in it. Another one of Heathers helpful ideas. The other reason I put this in was for the decorations. I had way to much fun putting up autobot symbols all over and of course BALLOONS!

Here Eli is opening gifts from his friends.Here is the Optimus Prime he got from Heather.
Bumblebee PJ's from Keith and I.
Judy got him a Lego Hero Factory guy that he loves to play with. So much so that he now has another one that he was able to buy with his birthday money that he got from his Great Grandma and Grandpa Wharton.
Here he is holding his new helmet. We had him open this first and then led him out to the garage for this next present...
It was about time we got him one of these.
Here Mckenna was trying on his helmet and she didn't stop there because she had to try out his bike as well.
I think we know what to get her for her birthday. (=

It was a great day and we couldn't have done it without the help of all of our friends and family. Thanks to everyone for all gifts you gave. I know that I didn't get pictures of them all but know that they were appreciated and loved. If I posted each gift you all would be here for awhile. He was very spoiled and loved it!

Happy Birthday Eli! WE LOVE YOU!

Go-Go-Gummo

I know I should be posting pictures of my kids and the great things they are doing. I most of all should be posting the pictures of Eli's 5th birthday. I could even be posting some of the great recipes I have tried lately. Instead though, for the last few weeks I have been just a little preoccupied. I'm not one for playing computer games but there is something about this one, I'm a little embarrassed to say, that has me hooked. It's called Go-Go-Gummo and you should at least try it once. If you dare! :)

www.shockwave.com/gamelanding/go-go-gummo.jsp

p.s. Heather I promise to be posting pictures of Eli's birthday very very soon!

Fun Random Pictures

I was going through a period of time where I couldn't get myself to sit and blog. Consequently I wasn't able to post a lot of pictures that show the funny things my kids have been doing. There are LOTS of pictures that I would love to put on here but I whittled them down to these few. This first one is of Eli's first day of Pre-School. He was really sad for the first few months of school when I would leave but now I can just drop him off and he is as happy as can be. He has made lots of friends and has one friend who likes to write him letters. The other day the letter had hearts on it. Then the next day her Mom came up to me and said she wanted to meet Eli because her daughter kept telling her that Eli is her, "BOYFRIEND." I about fell over when she told me that. Do 5 year olds know what that word means? Luckily when I asked Eli who Gwen was he said that she was just his friend. Thank goodness! I guess I understand though because who could resist this kid! (:

This picture of Mckenna is classic Mckenna! She loves spaghetti and it shows. I took this picture as fast as I could so that she wouldn't touch anything with those hands!

The kids wanted to watch a movie, so I set up the little DVD player for them in the front room. We took the couch cushion off the couch and they snuggled in together to watch Planet 51. Well after about 30 minutes I came in and found not only the kids watching a movie but also Eli's little cars and planes were watching too.

I got this idea from Gina Goodrich when she did it for her girls. They looked like they were having so much fun that we had to try it. The kids and I covered the table with blankets and then I put more blankets and pillows inside. Eli grabbed cars and Mckenna got lots of books and they played and played. The kids loved it! So much so that we have done it several more times since.

This last picture is my favorite. Since the kids are both big now this picture is the last one I took of them in the bath together. Keith and I were in the other room and all we could hear were the kids squeals of laughter. So I grabbed the camera and this is what we saw.

I love that my kids like to play and have fun together. I hope they can stay that way forever!

Lots of Christmas Pictures!

Here are the pictures of all our Christmas fun this year. I know I'm behind and that Christmas is over but I'm a firm believer that it is always better late then never.

Here is our Christmas tree and Eli showing us his lights teeth. We decided to make this our new family tradition that when we decorate the tree we just have finger food for dinner. The kids loved it and here is Mckenna showing you what she is eating.
The finger food! It was so nice because the kids loved it and it was easy to make!
Decorating the tree is so much fun. This year our tree was so tall that we had to get more lights and I didn't have enough ornament to cover the back. (I can tell you that now since Christmas is over and the tree is gone.)
Our family picture.

The kids were the best at being my little helpers in the kitchen. We like to make goodies for friends and here are some that we made and ate.

At Eli's Pre-school they had a day with Santa. It was great because Mckenna got to go too and sit with Santa. I didn't get to go since I had just had surgery the day before. It worked out good though because Keith was there and had a lot of fun with the kids.

On Christmas Eve we went sledding. I took video of the fun since I couldn't sled but no pictures, except these ones. We brought hot chocolate and here are the kids having some in the car. (They could be an advertisement.)

Here are the cookies for Santa. I was out helping a friend so Keith and the kids went to work on making cookies. I got home just in time to help frost and sprinkle the ones the kids wanted to leave out on the Santa plate.

Christmas morning was really funny because Keith and I were so excited to see the kids reactions that we got up kind of early thinking they would be up early too. We were wrong! We sat and talked and played a card game and then Allen and Cindy showed up followed by Judy and Bob. The kids were still asleep! So Keith and I went in and told them that Santa had come and they jumped out of bed. Here they are opening the presents in their stockings.

Mckenna got a scooter from Grandpa Allen and Grandma Cindy that she rides it all over the house.

Here is Eli's new race track from Santa.

This baby cradle is beautifully hand painted by Judy. She also sewed the blanket and bedding. As soon as Mckenna saw it she ran in a got her baby and put her right to bed.

Then she also got baby clothes that Judy sewed and baby diapers from Allen. I have to stock up on wipes just so Mckenna can change her babies diaper and that happens almost every time she puts a new outfit on her.

Here is Eli in his winter hat from his friend Savana and his cool shirt from Jaime. He had to put them both on right after he opened them.

Last but not least the pillow pets from Grandma and Grandpa Metcalfe. The kids have been asking for these since the first time they saw them on TV.

Mckenna trying out her new pillow pet.

The kids got Keith a new puzzle and it took him only a few days to finish it but here is the finished product.

Thanks to everyone for all the wonderful gifts, cards and goodies we got. It was a great Christmas thanks to all of you!