Easter Baskets!

Easter is almost here! Most of you know I can be pretty "picky" when it comes to how much sugar and candy I give the kiddos. I always try to come up with candy alternatives for the Easter Baskets. I also am a fan of saving money! So here is a list of items I'm including in the easter basket this year. Feel free to add suggestions!


These have less sugar than other fruit snack brands!


These are a great alternative to twizzlers!




Ok...these have a decent amount of sugar...but they are so good.



You can get this for right around $1 and it makes for some fun crafts!



My kids love getting new tooth brushes! I got this idea from http://www.sweetmamajame.blogspot.com/.



For young kids, safety sizzors are a great idea. Cheap and good to have around for crafts.




Flower seeds! You can get a pack for 50 cents! All you need a small area to let the kids have fun. Since our entire back yard is weeds and we don't have time or money to invest any time soon, I decided I will let the kids go crazy. They each will get 2 packs of seeds and they can put them where ever they wish and watch them grow! I'll show pics once we see some results!

For even more ideas visit http://www.sweetmamajame.blogspot.com/


As for candy...dont worry. I'm sure the grandparents will glady cover that part. ;)

Wedding Preview Event

Emerald Productions was chosen as the exclusive videographers! We had the show on Sunday, March 21st. It was a really cool event, definitely not your average bridal show. Mike and Dave shot the event and we can't wait to show the finished video.

We had a great time, met a lot of brides and wedding professionals and got a lot of great food!

Until the videos are done here are a few pictures of our table display.

Cake Pops!

Found a great recipe that is really fun and tasty!

You will need:

50 4" lollipop sticks

Wax Paper

Melt-able candy or chocolate (several bags or boxes)

Box of cake mix and required ingredients

Can of frosting

Sprinkles or decorations of your choice

1. Following instructions on cake mix, bake a cake. Once done chill in the fridge for several hours.

2. Once chilled through, crumble cake into fine pieces in large bowl.

3. Add can of frosting and mix together. You can use a wooden spoon, but I used my hands and it went a lot faster. It is messy!

4. Once mixed well (it should be mushy texture) put in fridge for several hours or freezer for 15-30 minutes.

5. Once cake mix is chilled begin forming balls about 1.5 " diameter using your hands. Place cake balls on wax paper.

6. Melt small amount of candy and dip stick into candy and then insert into cake ball. (About 3/4 into ball).

7. Place balls with stick back in fridge for 30 minutes to an hour.

8. Melt more candy or chocolate following instructions on bag. Dip cake balls into melted candy and place on wax paper to dry. You can use sprinkles now, or add them once the candy is hard by using more melted candy as glue.

This recipe does take time, so I would start in the morning or make cake ball mixture night before.

Also I tried using a Styrofoam block to let them stand and dry, but all the candy just dripped down the stick and made them...more blob like. Finding the right consistency might be key, so give it a try and let me know if you come up with a good technique!

You can get all kinds of creative ideas for decorating by googling "cake pops"!

I used Chocolate cake mix with cream cheese frosting, dipped in purple candy and

Red velvet cake with chocolate frosting dipped in white chocolate. (These ones were Amazing!)

Cupid's got nothing on Mike.

For Valentines Day Mike and I planned on going out to dinner and maybe a movie. Sabrina was going to come over and watch the kids for a few hours. When she arrived, we headed out the door and decided we wanted to eat somewhere downtown.

We couldn't decide where to eat so we thought we would just park and walk around for awhile. Mike found a great spot... right in front of the Oxford Hotel in the valet parking. I of course quickly pointed out he must have missed the "valet" sign and we could not park here. Instead of moving the car, he gets out and tells me to get out and hands the driver our keys and pulls a bag out of the trunk.

I just kept repeating "What did you do?" with a completely cheesy grin on my face. Last week we were downtown for a friend's birthday and we passed by the hotel and I glanced inside and mentioned I would love to stay their sometime. Somehow without me ever knowing he arranged my sister to watch the kids all night and most of the next day, book a room at the Oxford, and pack a bag without forgetting anything I would need.

This was the first time we have ever had the opportunity to spend an entire night away from our kids since we had them. That is over 3 years ago! We had a great time. We went to several different restaurants, hung out in our awesome room, browsed their fantastic personal library (I could stay there a week and do nothing but read), we ordered room service, we slept in with no kids calling for us or demanding breakfast, we woke up to snow, ate breakfast at 11:00 and then went to see Avatar 3D.

This was the best Valentines Day ever! I still can't believe he planned it without me ever having a clue.

The Oxford Hotel- Built in 1891

Our room!

Haven's Preschool!

Yesterday we went to visit a potential preschool. We took Haven and Avie to check it out. It is run by Ms. Kara. We arrived and both Haven and Avie jumped right in with the rest of the kids. Haven got to use sizzors for the first time! We saw some of the kids doing really fun crafts, learning how to use the computer and playing! While they played Ms Kara told us all about what they do while they are there. We decided it was a perfect fit! Not just for Haven, but for Avie possibly as well. Ms. Kara seemed to think Avie was more than ready to join this fall as well! We are particularly excited for the field trips and "preschool production" they put on for family. Don't worry, on the official first day of school we will have plenty of pictures to share!

Ginger Bread House

While Avie was napping...or while she should have been napping, we made our very first ginger bread house. Aunt Jillian, I mean Aunt Jin Jin, gave us the kit. Luckily the house itself was already constructed. I'll admit I'm a pretty poor ginger bread architect, so this really is the best way to go. All we had to do was mix the icing and decorate! Haven was really excited. He suggested every few minutes that we start eating it, but I told him we had to wait for Dad to see it. I was really impressed with how patient and careful he was. I had no idea he was capable of such a craft! He did a great job. See for yourself!

Exploring and Engaging the Issues of Injustice

Normally, I post fun stories and pictures of my kiddos. but this issue is very close to my heart and I simply can't overlook an opportunity to shine a light on this injustice. So here's your warning in advance...this is not a happy post, but a necessary one.

Over the summer our church confronted an important, often neglected issue that takes place world wide.

The below information is from http://www.iempathize.org/.

"Each year sexual traffickers lure, coerce, trick, drug, kidnap, and sell millions
of vulnerable women and children into the multi-billion dollar sex trade. In
their daily lives victims of sexual trafficking endure unspeakable acts of
physical brutality, violence and degradation including rape by so-called
customers and pimps; undergo forced abortions; acquire drug and alcohol
dependencies; live in fear of their lives and in fear for the lives of their family
and friends; suffer acute psychological reactions as a result of their extreme
physical and emotional trauma; and contract sexually transmitted diseases
which all too often bring life-long illness or hasten death. If they survive, the
physical, psychological and spiritual impacts of these experiences on victims
are devastating and enduring.
As for the traffickers, they are not respecters of international borders, the rule
of law, democracy, or multi-lateral treaties guaranteeing universal human
rights. They have no regard for the economic status of victims or their level of
education. They do not discriminate against their victims based on the color of
their skin, their nationality, or their religion. For all those among the innocent,
Explore the Issue."


After hearing all of this I was horrified. We were told currently iempathize was raising money to build a fence around their community because pimps were stealing children back that had been rescued from the sex trade. Children as young as 6.

As a mother, there is no way I could ignore this. My children, thankfully, are safe, but there are some mothers who don't know where their child is, as their child in being tortured in unspeakable ways.

And don't be fooled into thinking this only happens in other countries. There is child trafficking taking place right here in our country.

Find out how you can help. http://www.iempathize.org/