obligatory easter pictures of my ridiculously cute kids and one of the pie i made.

This first one was taken before church.

Blake didn't want his shirt tucked in and Cade was wearing two ties and the tie from my bathrobe. 

After church we attempted to get a better shot...

We gave up. I've decided herding cats has got to be easier.

Here's the pie, it's a lemon meringue. The recipe is from Aaron's Grandma Smith. Corgan liked it so much, he had two slices.

The end.

he will never know the joy of a tape player

I was at the thrift store the other day when Corgan comes up to me asks:

"What is this?"

Side note...Pet Shop Boys are awesome if you're into that sort of music. LMFAO and David Guetta have got it all wrong.

one and done

two cry babies, one birthday

Happy birthday to my baby sister.

(it's okay, i don't look very happy to be there either)

And happy birthday to the baby of my babies.

Try as hard as you might, you're still cute, even when you cry. Nice try though.

for i am not ashamed

I was in the other room trying to talk on the phone. It was seriously for like, 5 minutes. I come out of the room to see that Blake had helped himself to a nutritious bowl of sugar for breakfast. 

Who was I to stop him? His mother?? That doesn't count.

On Saturday we were with some family 'cause the boy on the left was baptized.

But what happened after the baptism was life changing for me. My sister April, was describing a new spread that she had come across. When asked, "What do you put it on?" Her reply, "A spoon."

Fast-forward to yesterday. (or is it rewind?)  I was at the grocery store when out of the corner of my eye, I see something new that wasn't there the time before. It was the exact spread my sister had been raving about. So I overlooked the $6 price tag, and purchased some.

I had a few more stops before getting back home, so I thought, "Eh, why not?" And I opened up the jar in the van. Each stop I would taste a little bit more, you know, to make sure it still tasted as delicious as I had thought the finger-dip before.

I was a bit more proper and did spread some of the spread on some bread for the boys after arriving home.  Dude, they paused the Wii so they could eat it. That's how good it is.

I was also enjoying this delectable new find on some bread as well. But then my little eye spotted some 60% Bittersweet chocolate chips on my counter. Since my shame knows no bounds, I dotted what was left with some of those.

I have yet to look at the nutritional facts on the jar. Living in ignorance is sometimes bliss. 

this happens

This is what happens when I cut onions.

Aaron walked in the door from work as the uncontrollable tears were streaming down my face. He thought someone had died. He was relieved to find out I was only cooking dinner.

This is what happens when you turn the wrong burner on while a carton of eggs are on top of said burner. Blake came in the kitchen and asked if I was, "cooking fire for dinner."

And this is what happens when you blink.
Wait for it....

Almost there....

There it is.

His two front teeth are officially growing in.

lesson to be learned

I'm afraid I'm about to learn a really big lesson in purposely letting a child make all the wrong choices and subsequently watching them fail miserably, in order for that child to grow.

Being a parent sucks sometimes.

It is breaking my heart. I have told Aaron, multiple times, that I can't just sit back and watch without helping, guiding the child in right direction, ensuring a successful outcome. Because honestly,  I don't think I have the heart to let it all happen.

But I know it's going to have to come to pass and I will just have to be there to console and wipe away the tears from both our faces.

The Pinewood Derby is scheduled for April.

And I'll be damned if Corgan doesn't take first place.

assembly and pancakes

Yesterday morning, right as Corgan and Lily were leaving to catch the bus to go to school at 8, Lily hands me an envelope and says, "Here, this is for you."

"To the Parent's of Lily Smith", is scribbled across the front.

Corgan then says, "Oh, yeah, I got one, too", and gives me his.

I didn't think much of reading them right then; emailed to me the day before was a pancake recipe that I had started to make with Blake and Cade. Sometimes I am that super-great mother who cooks with her kids. Most of the time they just get in the way and I get ticked and tell them to go do something more interactive and stimulating such as watching t.v. But yesterday morning I was super-great.

Anyways, a few minutes later, just after I had Blake add the wet ingredients to the dry ones, I opened one of the envelopes.

"Dear Families, 

I am excited to be writing you today because I would like to include you in a little secret that concerns your child.

Your child will be recognized as a STAR Student at an assembly next Tuesday, 2/21/12. This assembly will occur in our gym on Tuesday morning from 8:30 until 8:55 and we invite you to join us for this recognition."

Blah, blah, blah....Sincerely, the Principal.....I didn't really read the rest of the letter.

What I did do was look at the clock and it read 8:05. Oh, snap!

Blake and Cade were awaiting their pancakes and the four of us needed to get dressed and look presentable in less than 15 minutes. I go into fast mode and quickly pour out one batch of pancakes on the griddle, grab some clothes for the boys and myself. I go back to flip the pancakes and notice that they have barely cooked at all. What the heck?! Aaron had just mentioned a few days earlier that we should probably get a new one, we got the griddle as a wedding present (thank-you Maria Worton Bybee!...how awesome is it that I can remember who gave us that? pretty awesome.)  So the dang pancakes weren't cooking. I grabbed a skillet out of the cupboard and turn the stove on high, and throw the pancakes on that. Go in the bathroom and wipe the flakes of mascara off from under my eyes and throw on some more. Glamourous, I know. I then opened up the fridge to grab some milk and notice the light was out, and like a good math teachers' wife, put 2 and 2 together and realized that the circuit was out.  Ran outside to the box thingy and flipped the switch back to the "on" position. But by that time, the pancakes were already done on the stovetop. Told the boys to hurry and eat, that we had to leave. Put their shoes on while they're eating. Roll up a pancake and dip it in some syrup and take a bite....then I had to pause and have a moment. It was a really good pancake. I'm not a pancake type person, french toast is where it's at, but these pancakes were really good. After I had my moment with my food, I throw jackets on all of us and out the door we went at 8:22.

And per usual, whenever I'm in a hurry, every single grandma this side of the Mississippi decided to be driving in front of me. I then spend the entire car ride screaming in my head for them to drive faster or get out of my way, sprinkled with a few appropriate curse words. I've learned my lesson about vocalizing my occasional swear word in front of the kids. Parrots, they are.

We find a close parking spot, and into the gym we four went, just as the elementary kids were being herded in.

I'll turn around now so you all can pat me on my back.

It was a nice little assembly to be at and watch my two little elementary schoolers get their little awards.

{can you tell which one has taken sports pictures before?}

And to top off the day, I find out last night, that yesterday was National Pancake Day. Even when I'm not paying attention, I do awesome things.

Like my STAR Student kids, they were STAR pancakes. After we came home, an hour after mixing the batter together, I cooked up the rest of 'em. Still good. I can't give you my awesome kids, but I will give you the awesome recipe.

Featherlight Buttermilk Pancakes Source: Cooking.com
Active Time:  20 Minutes Total Time:  20 Minutes Makes about 18 pancakes
Cooking.com Tip: The secret to making these amazing pancakes is the lumpy batter. So whatever you do, do not overmix the batter! To cook the pancakes, use a heavy large griddle. A very low-sided griddle, makes sliding your spatula underneath the pancakes and turning them over easy. The griddle's large surface area allows you to cook a large batch of pancakes each time. INGREDIENTS 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour 1/4 cup sugar 2 teaspoons baking powder 2 teaspoons baking soda 1 teaspoon salt 2 cups buttermilk 2 cups sour cream 2 large eggs 4 teaspoons vanilla extract 3 tablespoons unsalted butter Additional unsalted butter Pure maple syrup, warm
DIRECTIONS Whisk first 5 ingredients in large bowl. Whisk buttermilk, sour cream, eggs and vanilla in another large bowl. Add to dry ingredients. Stir until batter is just blended but still lumpy (do not overmix). Melt 1/2 tablespoon butter on griddle over medium heat. Pour batter by 1/3 cupfuls onto griddle, spacing 2 inches apart. Cook until bubbles break on surface, about 3 minutes. Turn pancakes over. Cook until bottoms are golden, 3 minutes. Transfer to plates. Repeat with remaining batter, adding butter to skillet as needed. Serve pancakes immediately with butter and warm maple syrup.

f.h.e.

Not only does that stand for Family Home Evening, but also Fantastic Haircutting Experience.

If I can upload the video, you can have a recorded witness of all the fantastic-ness of cutting hair at home with the "willing" subject. It's not hard to tell which boy that is in the following photo montage.

And this is what Corgan's hair looks like when we brush it. Hence, the reason why we never brush it. He has more feathers than Farrah Fawcett ever dreamed of having.

best dad in the whole wide world

This was waiting for Lily this morning...

He is in love with his little girl.

and then there's this kid

And his shadow....

under the weather again

I called the operator to see if they had a listing for Substitute Mom's. I couldn't find it anywhere in my phonebook.

They just laughed at me and hung-up.

no words needed

We've all been sick. 

My little cold, turned into a big cold, which then turned into a sinus infection. I also sounded a little like Lindsey Lohan. We all sounded like a bunch of smokers with our hacking coughs. 

Friday night, Lily said that we lived in a coughing house instead of a Napping House....that's how bad it was. 

I was hoping Oneil would avoid all the fun, but yesterday he woke-up with a cough and his little voice is all squeaky and raspy.

At least he manages to stay super cute and adorable while being sick.

the big 0-3

If they had Last Comic Standing for Toddlers, he would win.
No joke.

Happy Birthday, boy.