crafts and cooking

so I could not remember the last time i had found a new recipe that i wanted to try out in so long mostly do to the fact of our horrible old kitchen and appliances and also a little to do with two needy kids, haha. i came across this recipe for lemon crumb squares and it intrigued me. something about it screamed yummy spring food so i attempted it for easter dinner to bring to in-laws house. kept my fingers crossed and dove straight in. all i can say is wow, YUMMMM. worth every squeezed lemon. All i can say is that it was fitting that it was holy week and this was proof positive that heaven can exist on earth, haha (jk).as most of you know i would choose chocolate over any fruit dessert any day, but this is one strong contender!! fresh, sweet and oh so good. it also got rave reviews from the fam, phew!

all the prep work and ingredients.....see all the squeezed lemons (only to get a half cup of juice) & fresh zest

the end result....heaven on earth

my other recent activity was to make a bow holder for miss O.....as we have added to her collection, her drawer in her armoire filled to the brim, smashing those beauties. i am trying to be frugal these days and could not find myself paying someone $30 for a hanger that i knew i could do. after several trips to michaels and joanns to find the best wood, ribbon and paint, i came up with my idea. start to finish is took me about 2 hours to make. Not bad, and at a whopping $8!!! now i can have some money left over to buy more accessories (wink)!!!

the end result

zootacular fun

mondays and fridays are our downtime from school and you would think we would enjoy that, right? NO!!! jackson likes to play hard from dawn until dusk (sometimes later) and i literally try to have something planned often as to avoid the "mommy, what are we doing, who are we seeing, where are we going today" questions that start as soon as his feet hit the ground. this particular friday, we chose the zoo as the outing. fun it was. the penguin exhibit just opened and we had not been there this year. we had a wonderful time with the elsner and hogan girls. note to self though....NEVER go on a friday. i think every school in jacksonville goes there on fridays!

the only moment I got jackson to sit long enough to snap this

olivia absolutely loved the giraffes....she was in awe of it all

the kiddos playing in the park area

all the kids ready for the fun to begin

olivia, addison, audrey, ava, jackson, ellie and emry

bouncing birthday celebrations

disney live

the disney live show came to jacksonville and we decided to take jackson and friends to see it. nathan and i have been trying to pick special times to share just with jackson, he has to "share" us with miss o so much more now, that he really needs the one on one time. it was a very nice evening out. we went to dinner first with the hogan, peterson and massey families at Okinawa Japanese restaurant....that was an event all on its own. jman was amazed at the cooks at our table. he was a tad scared of the fire, but with a little help from Mr.josh, all was well again. the disney show was too cute and all the kids were mesmerized and very well behaved!!! fun times, fun times

nathan, jackson and i waiting for mickey to start

buz and woody were all of the kids favorite apart aside from cinderella

jackson chose miss tiffany to watch the show with and i was graced with miss emry in my lap. a fun swap

blair and grace massey, jackson, ellie hogan, halle peterson and emry hogan.....all waiting for us to leave dinner and head to show

jackson watching the cooks throw the food and throw fire too

Jesus loves me!

every evening before we eat dinner, jackson says our "dinner prayer". usually it is "thank you for the world so sweet" or "God our Father", but recently he started saying a "new" prayer. at first, he caught us off guard, mostly because we knew it, so at first it did not click and then halfway thru the first time saying it, it hit nathan and i......it is sweet, it is thoughtful and it is so special to see him sing...but a song it is and not a traditional "prayer". Oh littleman, you seize to amaze us with the unique way of putting your own touch to everything u do!!! we love you so much. xox

Erin Go Braugh!

Jackson wanted wish everyone a very Happy St. Patricks Day!! May everone have a very lucky day....Go Green.

Luck O' the Irish

I decided to surprise littleman today and make his lunch totally Green theme for St. Patty's...shamrock sandwiches, green juice in a green cup, pears and green gummies and green m&m's as desert!!

zoom zoom

olivia found jackson's old jeep over the weekend while she was "plundering" in the garage....she fell in love with it and surprised us all with how easily she figured it out!! so today while playing outside, i was able to record a few minutes of ms. stuntwoman!!! she loves speed and take notice of her standing while driving, boy do we have our hands full....haha

walkin' the wild side

circle of love

the weeks seem to be busier these days and now the weekends are too....we are getting into what i now refer to as "bday party season". it seems as though there is a party or two every week from now until sometime in june! fun, but requiring some strategic calendar planning on mommy's part. This past monday, we celebrated Caleb's birthday at Pump it Up...so much fun fun for the kiddos and so stress free on the parents!!

here are a few pics of the fun and one of miss o and jman before we headed to the par-tay!!!

slide fun

the four muskateers

miss o was determined to get in on the fun

the whole party of kids

scooter dude

jackson really fought the idea of the scooter since santa brought it, but just the other day, he looked at it and said he wanted to finally give it a try!! yay....we did not want to push too hard and figured he would do it when he felt comfortable. he gets intimidated by things sometimes and just will not give it a chance, we are working on this and were so happy he picked up scootering so quickly and more importantly really LOVED it. needless to say, we have not been able to come inside ever since....he even asked to sleep with his red scooter the other night! our funny littleman

sweet...

oh sweet child O' mine!!

we had a busy week, so the weekend was a bit more low key....as olivia is now on the mend, jackson decided to fall ill. not sure what he has, but he sounds terrible! we had fun at as best we could (some girl time for mommy on friday helped her) , playing outside when the temps were bearable and scootering in the driveway and around the block. olivia had the best time riding behind her "bubba" in her little pink punch-buggy. jackson was too fast this day on the scooter to get a good pic, but here are two of miss o plundering and playing in the garage while daddy is doing yardwork.

happy girl

she could not move fast enough, olivia has almost figured out a funny run

lolli

after a bit of a fus from miss o feeling left out while the big kids got lollipops at the playdate, i caved and let her have at the very last one i had.

lets just say, she figured it out and quite enjoyed it! one word.....sticky!!!!

umm umm, yummy

this feels cool