Easter

I feel like we had Easter for a week straight this year between all the easter egg dying, hunts, baskets, etc...but, I do love Easter. What could be better than celebrating Christ's resurrection and the beginning of Spring {better yet...the end of winter, hurray!}, with all kinds of fluffy little animals and Reese's peanut butter eggs? We dyed Easter eggs, but sadly lost about half of them to the tile floor. Caleb got pretty into it this year, and Janie got really covered in dye from head to toe. We also made sugar cookies and then the kids licked the frosting off.

Caleb was up extra early to search for his basket. He also found Janie's before she could even make it to the stairs. Notice they both have their "Mimis" with them and received smaller versions to be their baby mimis. Needless to say there was a lot of happy, high-pitched squealing going on that morning as the baby "mimis" were lovingly welcomed in by "Lammy" and "Tail". I apologize to those of you reading this who have no idea what I'm talking about.

We were fashionably late as usual for church and so we had to take our Easter photos afterwards. By then the Easter magic had worn off for Caleb so this is the best shot we have of him in his Easter apparel. I was just excited that I miraculously got him into a button up shirt that morning. Usually he will have nothing to do with them because he thinks people can see through the holes to his belly. And if you know how he feels about "armpit" shirts then I'm sure this isn't surprising.



















Janie on the other hand was loving the camera and struck all kinds of poses for me.
Do you think it's a gender thing maybe?

Last, but not least was the adult easter egg hunt {the kids got a little too} at my mom and dad's house. This is one of my very favorite parts of Easter. I especially liked that my mom threw some bottled waters and bags of carrots into the hunt this year. Nice touch! We definitely have enough candy to last until Halloween at least. Can that count as food storage?
We also got to take some last pics of the kids with cousin Ellie before Jamie & Kyle took off for the summer to South Carolina. We'll miss you guys!

ABC....Delicious!

Janie is obsessed with her ABCs right now. It's her favorite song, favorite puzzle, and when my sister asked what her favorite food was she replied "ABCs". So when Aunt Megan found this recipe for Alphabet Soup she sent it for me to make for Jane. So even though I was feeling very cynical about my kids eating any recipe with chunks of real, actual vegetables, I gave it a try. It was a hit! So for all those out there who have sent me one of those "send your favorite recipe" emails and received no response...here's my belated contribution. I love this recipe because: 1. It's so easy and really fast to make 2. It's healthy, and 3. My kids eat it!!! (Shad and I like it too btw:) What a combination! The best part is, there are even some vegetables hidden in the pasta if you get the Eden Organic ABC pasta which I found at the neighborhood Walmart. Here's the recipe if you want to try it on your kids. Happy cooking!

Peas and Carrots Alphabet Soup
6 cups chicken broth
2 carrots {diced}
1 cup alphabet pasta {I use Eden Organics}
Kosher salt
1 10 oz. package frozen peas {2 cups}

Place the broth in a large saucepan and bring to a boil. Add the carrots, pasta, and 1/4 teaspoon salt. Simmer until the carrots and pasta are tender, 6-8 minutes. Stir in the peas and cook until heated through, 1-2 minutes.
Yield: 4 servings