Workin' Hard

I've been thinking up a lot of projects lately, and so far, it's been really fun to watch Casey get them all done. With a little help from Benson and me, of course.

Ready for Church

Benson and Molly, all gussied up for Church

Yeah, Molly's getting a fro!

Monster....

Someone loves Monster Trucks.... A lot. 

He can rarely be seen without one in each hand.

Notice how he's got the cars lined up and the Monster Trucks ready to drive over top of them? Yeah, he's a pro!

Then and Now

Remember how I said Casey had been home from his mission for 5 years? Well, we went on a date to celebrate and had a great time. Benson took this picture of us. We've changed a lot in 5 years, eh?

Surprise!

The other day, Casey surprised me by bringing home flowers and taking all of us on a date.

He also brought flowers to Molly. She was SUPER excited!

She couldn't stop grinning! What a good daddy. We love him!

How about the Weather?

We have had some really beautiful days, and it's been nice to be able to play outside again. 

Benson loves to ride his bike.

Molly just runs around and around and around

Benson's getting back on top of his golf game. What a stud!

A Leprechaun Trap

For those of you who haven't realized it until now, tomorrow is that "lucky" day. I knew it was coming up, but I hadn't really planned anything super amazing, which I wanted to, but never seem to do.

But, I want to share with you what I did do, very last minute. So, if you are reading this now, at 11:00 on St. Patty's Day Eve, you can still do some fun stuff for your kids in the morning. If not, file these ideas away for next year.

Before my kiddos headed to bed, Benson and Casey made a leprechaun trap. It was very exciting, and hard for this little boy to keep his hands off.

We thought the leprechaun might like "Lucky Charms", so we set a few in our trap to lure them in. It lured someone else in too.

After we set the trap, we made sure the kids were wearing green pajamas (so I couldn't pinch them in the morning.) and got them to bed. Benson had to check the trap a few times to make sure nothing had set it off yet.

Once the kiddos were in bed. The leprechauns visited our house. They left green footprints all over the house!!! Thankfully, they only left their dirty green footprints on things that weren't permanent.

Like our preschool schedule

Our calendar. (which is ooo-gly, I know.)

Molly's oatmeal.

And look, they even left some on this paper that led toward the leprechaun trap....

Oh my goodness! They seemed to set off the trap!

And what did they leave for us? (Sorry, it's late and dark. Bad pictures, I know.)

Some gold coins and some St. Patrick's Day Potion.

This St. Patrick's Day Potion is THE BEST idea! It came from my sister, Tami. She teaches kindergarten, and I am convinced that she is the best teacher ever, because she has awesome ideas like this:

You take a packet of green koolaid and mix it with the sugar it calls for. Then put it in a bag and leave this note with it. Then, when you add water, the "potion" turns green. That, in itself will amaze young kids. But here's where the leprechaun plays it's trick.... A grown up needs to drink some of the "potion". Of course the kids will object, but because it smells so yummy and looks so good, someone like myself just couldn't resist! All goes well for a few minutes until... "Oh, no. My legs are getting itchy. Oh, golly, I'm feeling a little weird. Oh, these legs are so itchy." And guess what? When I pull up my pant leg, I've got GREEN SPOTS all over my legs. (just washable marker put on earlier).

The kids go ABSOLUTELY nuts for this. It is such a fun trick and something they'll remember for a long time! Thanks, Tami. I'm sure it will be awesome. And happy birthday too. You're the best sister ever, except for you, Emily, you're great too.

Also, tomorrow will consist of everything green. Green waffles, green milk, green salad, green cake, green EVERYTHING! Lucky for me, I've got some green food coloring handy. Unlucky for me, I'll be changing green diapers for a few days. Remember how I did everything RED for Valentine's Day? (HERE).... Yeah.

Good luck! And may the luck of the Irish be with you!

Growing

Yup, they're getting big!

Smartie Pants

The other day, I came in Benson's room, and he had his blocks arranged this way.

Once I told him they were backwards, he fixed it all by himself.

Then, a few days ago, he wrote his name on the driveway all by himself.

What a smartie pants

Antelope Island

Yesterday, we took a wonderful ride out to Antelope Island. It was so fun to be together and go on a drive together. We saw some bison (not to be confused with buffalo), deer, and antelope. The kids had fun throwing rocks into the water, and we all loved listening to Benson's non-stop chatter the whole ride.

Even though it was such a beautiful day, and we had so much fun together, don't let these pictures fool you. Antelope Island really isn't too exciting or much fun in itself.

It was so nice to be together and go on a long, Sunday drive, though. I sure love these little people and that guy I have.