Spring snowstorm...time to craft

When we look out the windows today, it looks like we are living inside a giant snowglobe! Big, fluffy flakes are flying around and when they land, they make slush. It is day number three of Ashlynn's spring break...it is a good thing we were out and about the town yesterday!
Teddy went to the shop to hang out with Daddy and "the ladies went out shopping at the craft store" to quote Alisa. Michaels is not a place I go with three children and yesterday I wasn't quite sure the girls were ready for it either. They are redoing the store and the girls kept going down on the floor "finding treasures"...little screws and beads or parts of flowers that have been stuck under shelves for years...gross! We helped the salesclerks by dusting the floors with Ash and Sisa's pants...ugh! A couple of them walked by and smiled politely...probably thinking, "What mother in her right mind would bring children to a craft store?" I honestly thought it would be fun for them to look at all the neat stuff...all they wanted to know was "where do we get to do the crafts?"
"AT HOME...and don't ask me again! I am try to find something...get up off the floor! You just knocked all the stickers off their holder...watch where you are swinging your arms...can you pick that up...ok, now get up off the floor."

We ended the spree with a trip to Starbucks for a strong drink for Mommy and a treat for the girls...it is great fun to pick out your own drink from a cooler and split a cookie when you are 4 and 5! It is also fun to spend a gift card...so in reality, it was free!

The Evidence that Grandparents are in cahoots with the Easter Bunny!

Thank you for all the goodies and special treasures! Notice the new tablecloth and stamping/scrapping idea book (from my secret pal!). Grammy supplied me with a new cookie sheet (under all the sweets that are now hidden up high on a shelf in a basket!). The best part of the day was all the hugs and kisses from uncles, aunt, and grandparents!

Easter Sunday with the Tackeberry Family

Camo basket/helmet!
Great Grandma Norup



Part of the group...




The bunny and the carrot of Reeses pieces.

Egg picking with Alisa.

Treasure boxes

We love you, Grampy and Grammy!

All dressed up in our Easter finery and ready for church! Then to Papa and Grandma's for Easter dinner. Grampy and Grammy came too! We had 17 people for the gathering and wonderful food! The "Easter Bunny" left baskets on the front porch and Grandma hid eggs...even from herself! Grammy made treasure boxes to keep all the "finds" safe. Today...we are experiencing a sugar rush...as the little basket scavengers kept scarfing candy while grown-ups weren't looking. The evidence...the chocolate breath!

A craft session for Mommy

I love getting a new magazine in the mail! A couple weeks ago, I received my issue of Better Homes and Gardens. I have been through it cover to cover several times and found this cute springy idea. I took small branches that had blown down in the yard and hot glued small flowers to the sticks. I thought is was cute! The idea was to make it look like the dogwood blossoms or cherry tree blossoms. We used several colors...the girls liked the hot pink flowers the best.

A Homemade Truffle Recipe from My Cherry Friend

I didn't have any lettuce for a bed for my truffle...but green depression glass will do! Believe me, you will not be depressed after indulging in this! My cherry friend brought me a special treat on Wednesday and I have been rationing out one truffle a day...this is the last one and I share it with you. Do I dare make a batch? Do you?

Cappuccino Meltaways

coffee-flavored truffles with cream cheese in the filling and dipped in dark chocolate

Yields about 5 dozen

2 (12 oz.) packages semisweet chocolate chips

1 (8 oz. ) package of cream cheese- softened

3 T instant coffee granules

2 tsp water

1 lb. dark chocolate confectionary coating (we used dark chocolate chips)

White chocolate-optional for decor

In a microwave-safe bowl or double boiler, melt the chocolate chips. Add cream cheese, coffee, and water. Mix well. Chill until firm enough to shape.

Shape into 1 inch balls, and place on wax paper-lined cookie sheet. Chill for 1 to 2 hours or until firm.

Melt the dark chocolate and dip balls and place on wax paper to harden. If desired, use melted white chocolate to drizzle over truffles. Store in the refrigerator.

Note: Truffles can be frozen for several months before dipping in chocolate. Thaw in refrigerator before dipping.

They are particularly yummy with a good strong cup of coffee. The coffee flavor is very subtle in the truffle.

Lazy Saturday Breakfast

I love spring...the stores begin carrying strawberries at a decent price! This morning they accompanied a breakfast of pancakes...mmm! A wonderful way to start a day of cleaning and errands in preparation of Sunday! Happy Easter Weekend!

Chasing the tears away with a story

We spent time with Grammy today, helping her at school. We stopped at her house to see all the work she has been doing while on spring break. While we were there, the kids ran around outside till Alisa hit the driveway and skinned her knee. When she saw the blood and ripped tights, there went up a yowl like we have never heard from her before...our drama queen had center stage for awhile. Grammy tried to distract her with stories of all the injuries of her mommy, aunt, and uncle. It seemed to be counterproductive, as the whimpers returned everytime she looked down...so we headed out to lunch at Culvers. With the thought of ice cream...Alisa practically skipped to Grammy's car. What else does a girl need? loving cuddles from Grammy and something sweet...always makes me feel better! and my girls too!

The Easter Story

We read the Resurrection story and used the special eggs to help the kids understand. The light blue egg is empty...just like the tomb! Grandma bought this set for us. The kids love to open the eggs to see each "piece" of Jesus' entrance into Jerusalem, the last supper with the disciples, the trial, crucifixion, burial, and resurrection of our Savior. I love to listen to them tell the story to each other...however, they didn't get very far yesterday...there was a fight over who was going to open which egg. I will try to capture their words another day.

Who says I can't do technical?

We are back in business with the camera! A big thank you to my mother-in-law who found an article in a magazine that gave info about Googling when the modern technological gadgets fail. After a month of not getting the camera off in the mail, I got on the puter and found out I am not the only person with a "zoom error" issue. After reading through the different posts, I found a very helpful one and now my camera is working (for now) without cost to me! Fuji digital camera E550 sounds like it is a dud...an expensive one. I am ready to go back to 35mm, but Ted doesn't think that is the answer...he wants to continue the digital path...I will continue to use my little help line to keep the pics happening!

The Easter Bunny is getting a good laugh

My children do not like to eat eggs...they did when they were littler! Now they want to "paint" eggs again this year...who is going to eat all of them? Being the creative mother that I try to be, we bought a dozen eggs and Grammy supplied us with the kit (that warns it is a dye and will stain anything that it touches...thanks Mom!). I put the eggs on to boil and forgot about them...YES, I SAID I FORGOT ABOUT THEM! So I had to call Mom to see if you could "over boil" eggs...since all the water had not boiled off, they were not burned! I now have another thing to add to my list of things I have learned...we shall see what color the yolk will turn when we crack them open...egg salad with a hue of green, anyone?

My children do not like jelly beans...can you imagine? A pure sugar buzz and they are not taking advantage of it!!! I am singing "Hallelujah", then I noticed the little foil wrappings on the table from the chocolate eggs...Who is responsible for the idea of "Easter candy and baskets"? It certainly wasn't a mother and father! I am thinking there were grandparents involved!!!

Last night at Cubbies, the kids went "Easter egg picking" in the dark with flashlights! Alisa wasn't sure which came first...the egg bush or the egg, but they had lots of fun!!!

Today, I am taking out our Resurrection eggs and we will talk about the real Easter story... and try to forget the bunny-based market that is getting a good laugh watching all the kids bounce off the walls...and the mothers waste the time and money making themselves crazy due to too much sugar!
I am of the opinion that Easter should be simple...just like the Gospels...Jesus died for our sin, He was buried, and He rose again! And it was for me...and you, oh praise His name!

OH BROTHER!

It is a grand experience to have a little boy living in our house! He has thought of things that the girls have never dreamed of...and then done them...just to see what would happen!
On Daddy's watch, the other night, was one such episode (excuse me while I do a little happy dance because I have tried to explain what can happen when you are involved with mundane tasks such as washing dishes and doing laundry). Teddy inherited his Daddy's love of cars and things that go fast...thusly, taking ownership of a remote control car recently. He turned the car on and proceeded to place it on his sister's long, flowing, brown hair which then triggered the scream heard around the block...DADDY TO THE RESCUE...the car was turned off and the remains of a burn out were left behind. As soon as Ted's heart returned to normal rhythms, he was able to remove the vehicle from Ash's hair with a simple snip of the scissors. His concern to remove anymore hair, prompted him to share the evening's events with me, in hopes that I would be able to take care of the incredible tangle...which we were able to do without incident. Brothers...will test their sister's endurance and try the parent's patience...incident after incident...it is a fact we are trying grasp.

Silly Girls

Last night, we had a ladies night out at our church. We had a baby shower for the crisis pregnancy center here in town...a way to reach out and minister to those in our community. It was a neat idea and the ladies bought such cute things! (Almost... makes one want to have a baby again) It was fun to go buy things that were needed by the ladies that will come to that center for help. Alisa helped me shop and insisted that " babies need toys", so we picked out the softest little stuffed puppies "for them to sleep with". She was pleased!
For those of you who have to plan showers, we played a game that was quite interesting (I had never played it before...it may be old). Guess what is in the diaper...using newborn diapers, they put different mini-sized candy bars in them and put the package in the microwave for 10 seconds. You were handed the warm diaper to touch, smell, taste, etc. We had to write down the type of candy bar we thought was in each of the eight diapers. The only thing that was lacking was a camera to catch the actions and expressions on the faces of the ladies! It is going to affect the chocolate eaters for a couple days. Anyway, it was fun to watch how silly grown-ups can be...especially mothers who needed to get out and have adult conversation!