4th of July T-shirts!

This is the original post where I found this adorable little project on Pinterest.

(the image is linked to the original post)

Anyway, I saw these really cute 4th of July t-shirts on Pinterest and just knew I wanted to make them with the kids this year, so off to Michaels we went where I bought them each a white t-shirt, fabric paint and some sponge brushes.  When we got home, we got set up and started to make the shirts.

I helped the younger two do their hand prints, while Jacob did his on by himself.  Then I helped Henry and Scarlett use their thumb to paint the lines on, while Jacob did his own again.  I think they turned out really cute, and the kids (my boys, anyway), got to wear theirs on the 4th of July!

Easter 2014

I've learned a few things from this past Easter.  A) Hide the Easter eggs inside the night before instead of in the backyard.  The squirrels and raccoons ate most of them!  And, B) Hide the Easter baskets.  The kids woke up early and let us sleep in (thanks, but not really, lol), but in doing so they ate almost all the candy in their Easter baskets and I got no pictures. :(  Sad mama bear.  So, anyway, next year I'll be hiding their baskets and hiding the Easter eggs for the egg hunt inside the house, too.

When we were finally woken up by the boys and found out they had eaten over half their candy, we got up and I made everyone some special Easter pancakes.  Check these cuties out!

I got the idea from Pinterest.  I wish I could take full credit for it, but isn't he so cute?!

After breakfast, the boys and I finally got around to dying Easter eggs.  The last two Easters time has just gotten away from me and we always forget to do this.  This past year time got away from me so much that we ended up doing it the afternoon of Easter!  They had a lot of fun, though, and we created some really cool looking masterpieces.

In the afternoon Gee and Pap came bearing more Easter baskets for the boys.  I DID get pictures of them opening those at least!

The boys' big present from the Easter bunny at my parents' house was their new recliners.  I love these things!  I wish we had them in adult size!

As you can see Henry was in love with his new chair!

We had a yummy dinner that night that consisted of ham, green beans, potato salad, deviled eggs and rolls. And, for dessert I made a delicious cake.  I had wanted to do a peep cake, but couldn't find the right peeps at the store, so I had to forgo that part.  It still looked great and tasted even better, though.

The recipe for these deviled eggs can be found here.  I made them for the first time last year, and I loved the way they turned out so much I decided to do them again this year.  John and my step-dad won't eat them, though, so I have to make a batch of regular deviled eggs for them.  I don't know why they won't eat them ... they taste exactly the same as the regular ones.  *shrug*  Anyway, you can see last year's post about these same eggs here.  I think the color turned out better last year.  I think I put too much food coloring in them this year. :-/

We had a really nice, low-key Easter Sunday .. it was perfect!  I'm very excited for this coming Easter, though.  We finally have a Church home, so we'll be going to Easter Sunday service!

Dyed Deviled Eggs

I found this on Pinterest a while back and just saved it figuring I'd try it this year for Easter.  I ALMOST didn't, but last minute read through the blog post and once I found it was super easy to do, I decided to do our deviled eggs that way this year for our Easter dinner.  They were a huge hit!  My husband, however, wanted a whole tray of plain white eggs ... he claimed it was "weird" to eat dyed deviled eggs.  Whatever ... I think they actually tasted BETTER than the regular ones. :)

Anyway, the original post can be seen here.  I'm not going to write down all the directions on boiling the eggs, etc, but I will say that if you want PERFECT boiled eggs that are easy to peel, don't rip apart and the yolks are a pretty yellow color, you should definitely give the original post a quick scan. Now on to the fun part ... dying the eggs.

After you've boiled, cooled, peeled, cut and de-yolked (is that a word?) the eggs you want to put the outer parts of the eggs in cups with water, a few teaspoons of vinegar and whatever food color you want.  It's basically the same thing as dying Easter eggs. Leave them in the cups until you get the shade you want (NOTE: the color will darken some after you take them out of the water, so just keep that in mind).  Let them drain for a few minutes on a paper towel.

 

Then once they're done draining just make your filling however you would .. I did mine with 1/2 C of mayo and a little bit of brown mustard.  Fill them all up with the yolk filling and voila!  ENJOY!

Happy Easter!!

I know I'm a little late getting around to blogging about our Easter, but I hope everyone had an awesome holiday, nonetheless.  :)

We were in Pennsylvania over Easter this year for our nephew's birthday.  It was so nice to just get out of town, relax and visit with friends and family.  The last time we were up there was over New Year's and I had my unfortunate fall where I sprained both ankles.  :-/  Thankfully this trip was completely uneventful in that department!

Friday evening the boys and I met my sister and brother-in-law in the Waterfront for dinner.  Prior to seeing them this night I can't remember when the last time I saw them.  :(  I was supposed to meet up with them over New Year's, but I had just fallen and couldn't even walk.  I hate that we don't get to see each other often, so I just try to make the most of what time we do have together.  Anyway, we met at Longhorn for dinner (and of course I didn't remember to take any pictures :-/).  It started off rather rough because Jacob was in a mood and didn't want to get out of the car.  He threw a massive tantrum in the parking lot and I honestly didn't think we'd ever even get to eat.  But, thankfully he eventually calmed down enough that we were able to have a really nice dinner together.  :)  While we were at dinner, John had his night out with his friends that he always has while were in PA.

Saturday was Josh's birthday party.  It was at a hotel in Irwin that has this really cool, small waterpark on the inside.  Looking at the hotel from the front you would NEVER expect it to have two water slides and a small pool inside, plus a little area set up for birthday parties.  They certainly had me fooled!  Henry was ready to go the second he got his swimming trunks on.  That little guy LOVES him some water.  I call him my water baby.  LOL  I spent Friday and Saturday morning going to three different stores looking for a raft for him to sit in, so we wouldn't have to hold him the whole time, but instead that little booger just wanted to jump off the sides of the pool in to someone, or kick his feet and "swim" around.  He's a complete 180 from the way Jacob used to be in the water when he was his age.

Jacob surprised me, though ... he went down both water slides (one pretty tall one and one shorter one) all by himself!  He still wears water wings, but he's starting to really get into swimming now, which I love, since we spend a LOT of time at the pool in the summer.

After they were done swimming, we had pizza, soda and cake, and got to watch Josh open all his birthday presents.  All the kids really seemed to have an amazing time ... I'm so glad we were able to be a part of his special day.  :)

Saturday evening the kids spent the night with John's parents, and we went out to see Titanic 3D and spent the night at a hotel where it was ... silent.  Probably a little too silent for my liking.  I'm used to the noise and I missed my guys, but it was nice spending some quality alone time with my hubby, and of course I got to see one of my favorite movies of all time in 3D. :)

On Sunday morning when we got back to John's parents' house, the kids had a small Easter egg hunt and they got to open their Easter bags the Easter bunny left.  They each got a new Disney movie and a pair of summer PJs.  When we got home to VA later that day, they had another Easter egg hunt at our house and they got to open their baskets the Easter bunny left for them.  Jacob's basket was filled with art supplies, some candy and a new Cars puzzle.  Henry's was filled with bathtime toys/soaps and cereal bars (he's just too young for candy!).  We had a nice Easter dinner with my parents and visited the rest of the day.

 

We had a really great holiday, and I hope you all did too!!