Easter Sunday pics

 Caution:  Photo overload ahead!

We didn't do Easter outfits this year.  Waverly was the only one who got a new outfit, only because I had bought this skirt the previous fall, and had to wait for spring to find this shade of turquoise again.  So I just saved it for Easter.  We usually do a color theme as a family.  The girls were not willing to not do that, so Easter morning they were frantic to find something turquoise and brown, since that was "our family color" this year.  I had to quietly laugh to myself:)

 Waverly was NOT a willing participant for photos this year, probably because she was the only one I picked on, and there were cousins there to play with!

 We spent Easter with our Henry cousins this year.  We were excited to have Grandma and Grandpa back from their mission this year!  We had our Easter egg hunt at Steve and Lara's, since they have a very big yard, with more hiding spots for the large cousin assembly.

 These two photos made me laugh, with 3 girls, and poor Keaton as the lone boy.  Looks like he feels it here too, with that scowl on his face.

 Brighton lost interest in egg finding immediately upon finding this forgotten shovel and gravel spot in the yard.  We had to pull him away from it before he decided he'd rather have the chocolate.

I love this photo of Keaton jumping freely off the rock wall.

Easter '12

 I tried my hand at some Easter bunny pancakes I saw on Pinterest earlier.  Apparently it takes a much steadier hand than I've got.  They really are a work of art when someone can make them as pretty as the lady on the blog did.  These were my best 2 and they don't even compare.  Oh well, good thing it doesn't affect taste. 

 As in years past, we celebrate the Easter bunny on Saturday so we can celebrate Christ on Sunday.  Scott had to work that morning though, so we meanly made them wait until he got home around noon to find their baskets.  The Easter bunny left them a scriptural treasure hunt that led to their baskets.  The kids were great to figure out the clues quickly, and took turns finding the eggs (with encouragement:).

 In order to keep them from being found accidentally, we had the Easter bunny hide them in the trunk of the van.  The last clue was about a chariot.  I thought that would stump the kids longer than the others had, but Irelynd was already running to the door before the entire scripture had been read.  Smart girl!

 Everyone got some candy, Pringles, and a movie.

The Easter Bunny brought me a Scooby Doo movie??!

Waverly is exceptionally excited about her Strawberry Shortcake movie.

Passover Feast

 We ended our Easter week with a Passover meal.  We had the same things as last year, but we didn't have the room to sit on the floor.  Kind of loses some of the authenticity when you're sitting in chairs, but hopefully we got the meaning across to our children.

All Fool's Day

 We enjoyed our April Fool's dinner, with the courses being all mixed up.  The older kids remembered the jello "juice" and didn't fall for it, but Brighton did.  The only "trick" I pulled this year was cupcake cones, with the cupcake baked inside an ice cream cone.  That surprised them. 

Waverly got new clothes from Grandma L right before Conference.  We saved them to wear for dinner that day.  She was so cute in her skirt and sassy pose that she had to have her own post for it.  This little diva is sure growing up fast!  She is all girl and loves everything that twirls, sparkles, is frilly, or Princessy in any way.  These handmade skirts have been her favorite thing to wear.  Thank you Grandma!

General Conference weekend

 We enjoyed our General Conference traditions and weekend again this year.  Due to my lack of interest in blogging lately, I've been lazy about picture taking as well.  I only got 3 photos this year of our activities.  Above was our crazy hair bag.  This time all the girls got crazy hair.  We would've done Scott's too, had he had any...

 And we put up our tent too.  I'm afraid due to our lack in camping excursions, when our children grow up, when someone says "tent", this is the image that will first pop into their heads.

We had a wonderful weekend full of fun family time and amazing counsel and spiritual boosts from our beloved Prophet and leaders.  Our kids have come to LOVE General Conference, and talk about it more than Christmas or Easter.  Brighton was already asking when the next "St Conference" was going to be.  When the twins see a picture of President Monson, they say St. Conference.  (I'm thinking they're getting St. Patrick's and General Conference mixed up!)  I'm glad to see that our efforts are paying off in all the work leading up to the event.  I'm hoping they'll have such fond memories of our fun times together that they'll choose to watch with us instead of going off with friends, when the opportunity presents itself.

Hunger Games party

 I have been SOOO excited for the release of the Hunger Games movie.  I inhaled all 3 books within hours of being released, and, though I'm a big fan of Twilight, too, I knew more money=better casting=waaaayy better movie.  It did NOT disappoint.  I had had big plans for this party, but due to my surprise guest arrival, my stomach wasn't in this (plus the new puny digs don't inspire creativity, either.).  But I think we had a good time anyway.  

Above and below are the three favors I made.  Nightlock berries and Emergency (licorice) rope.

 Since Peeta's back ground is as a baker, I had to pay tribute to him, and made 3 kinds of cookies which I packaged in a plain white baker's sack. 

 Here's the close-up of the excerpt from the book.

 I had planned on doing a mock gamemakers training, with archery, sling-shotting (is that a word?), etc to test everyone's skills, but ran out of time.  I'd also planned an edible plants test (I learned a lot from that!) which got nixxed too.  We did, however, do a Cornucopia challenge, where on go all the Tributes grabbed items in the center of the circle, and earned points for them during the story I read.  The necklaces above and below are what I created for the prizes for each.  I changed it and gave one out for the Cornucopia challenge, and 2 out for Best Costume.

 The food was absolutely delicious!  Yay for me for making friends with such good cooks!  I'm no dummy in my friend selection!:)

 Group shot.  Every guest was assigned a District to represent, and had to come in costume to represent it, and bring food from their District. Let's just say some put forth more effort than others in their costume...:)  The winners of the costume contest were District 12's Tribute, Britt, and District 9's Tribute, Lisa.  Britt sewed a Girl on Fire cape with ribbon (I knew you had it in you somewhere, Britt!), and Lisa sewed a headband using wheat and the number 9 in her design.  Wow!  Runner up was Michelle, the Cattle District Tribute.  In case you're wondering, I'm a Capital Game Maker.  Duh!:) 

Can't wait for #2!!

Guess who?

For the reason my posts have been lacking lately...

Can you guess who's coming to our house around Halloween?  We asked the kids the same question that evening over dinner.  Guesses: The Easter Bunny, Santa Claus, the Leprechauns.  No one guessed the real reason, and when put up against Santa Claus, well, Santa Claus generated more excitement from the little ones.  This was an unexpected, surprise guest!!