Cutest Easter Tradition

I blogged about this last year after Easter and got requests to do it before the holiday this year. I think this is by far the cutest Easter tradition.

1. Buy some "magic" jelly beans

2. Plant them in your yard, this only works the night before Easter

3. The next morning go outside and see what grew.

I love magic jelly beans.
Anyone know how I can make some dollar bills grow overnight?
Now that would be fun!

(PS - I found these at Walgreens for $1.00, which is by far the best deal. I went to a specialty candy shop and they were half the size for about 5 dollars!)

My Brother

Happy Birthday Jeff!

10 reasons my brother is AMAZING

1. He is super smart -- he has a PhD in electrical engineering .

2. He is the BEST dad ever - - his kids adore him.

3. He taught himself how to play flemenco guitar and he is awesome!

4. He has a great sense of humor.

5. He reminds me of my dad (handsome, kind, funny, generous, spiritual and hard working).

6. He is a gifted athlete.

7. He keeps himself in great shape by running year round. (even in the snow)

8. He is the most disciplined person I've ever known.

9. He loves to learn and reads text books to relax?

10. In spite of all his talents, he's the most humble person I know.

St. Patrick's Day

Growing up we never really did anything to celebrate St. Patricks day except wear a bit a green, of course. I was not prepared for the fun that is had around here for Kindergarten. Every kid made a Leprachaun trap (I could not believe how amazing they were!) The Leprachauns come at night and make a disaster of the room, leaving chairs turned over, scribbles on the tables, notes on the board and more. No one caught him but he did leave a gold dollar for everyone. There was face painting, games, cookie decorating, a treasure hunt, candy, stories, hat making and more.

While most people were green on St. Patricks Day, a tender hearted little guy I know was very blue. He had way too much fun with his best buddy in town from California (more on that later.) and had to say goodbye before going to school. Broke my heart!

Happy Birthday Julia!

The sweetest girl I know turned 6 today

She was put in charge of all activities for the day. She isn't having a friends party so I told her she could invite a friend to join us.

Lunch: In-N-Out.

Activity: Shopping for jewelry, clothes and stuffed animals

followed by crafts at home

After dinner : Spoiled rotten and well deserved.

Happy Birthday sweet Julia !

Crazy Hair Day

When we woke up on crazy hair day I didn't have anything in particular in mind . . .

However, when I saw the finished product it reminded me a lot of:

Furniture makeover

My good friend moved to South Africa last week and she sold a lot of her stuff to accomodate the move. I was able to buy this piece for $25.00! I had some paint in my garage and decided to give it a little change. This and a couple of other pieces have sparked quite a few changes at our home, if I ever finish I will post some more pictures.

Before:

After:

Valentine

My Valentine.

I made this shirt for him. Well, actually for me but I thought he would like it. When he saw it he couldn't stop laughing. I guess than means he liked it (?)

Part of our day:
No holiday would be complete without our menu, right?
Click here for the white pizza recipe, here for the pasta carbonara and here for the salad.

Happy Valentine's Day! I hope yours was great.

That boy of mine

He turned 9 today

Nine things I love about James :

1. He loves sports and is pretty darn good at them.

2. He loves to read and he is very smart. He has read at least 5 big chapter books since Christmas.

3. He is very sweet and kind. Several of his friend's moms have told me that he is always nice to their little brothers and sisters and includes them when he is at their houses to play.

5. He is appreciative. For example - two weeks ago I brought the 5th LIGHTNING THIEF book home from the library for him to read (simple gesture on my part). He hugged me over and over and kept saying, "Wow, thanks mom! Thank you SO much!" Made my whole week, his appreciation for that small thing.

6. He is very helpful.

7. He isn't afraid to blow me kisses in the middle of his basketball game or give me hugs in front of other people.

8. He is a great brother. When James is involved, all four kids play without conflict together for hours. He doesn't tease and he loves all of his sisters.

9. He is well behaved and responsible. His teachers, both school and church, have always told us how obedient he is. Even when all the kids are acting up together, he seems to remember the rules.

He got to design his perfect day today, so--we had cinnamon rolls for breakfast, played at the park all morning long, went to see THE LIGHTNING THIEF with a few friends, opened presents, had dinner at In-N-Out, and watched the slam dunk competition with his dad.

More Valentine's

Today we decorated cookies. Click here for my very favorite recipe, it is my mom's. Another mom in Julia's kindergarten class gave me the best tip for decorating cookies with kids. I used to dirty a million little bowls, spoons and knives so they could go to town decorating. Not any more. I bought a box of disposable pastry bags. I bought a box of 100 at the craft store (bring a half off coupon - they were priced over 20 bucks) And now when we are done there are NO dishes to wash!!! I just throw it all away.
One more thing - I saw this here and knew I had to do it. There is still plenty of time to make your own. I thought this would be a fun thing to do each year and see how they grow. Another reason I love this blog, Thanks again Lorie for the fun ideas!

Recipe Organizing

For years organizing recipes has been on my list of things to do. I decided the easiest way for me to organize them would be to start a blog and one at a time, type them up. After a while, I will have all my favorites orgainzed and easy for me to find. I thought I would tell my friends so they can have access to our family favorites.cjaneinthekitchen.blogspot.com

Valentine treats and a fun blog

What do you do when you have a lazy Sunday afternoon at home? Gather the kids, melt some chocolate and go to town. These are all easy, fun ideas I have seen all over the place. Dipped Oreos, Marshmallows and heart suckers made from two mini candy canes. I don't know who to give credit to since I see them everywhere and only have them bookmarked in my head.

My mom made these last year, I think she saw the idea here. This year I added the chocolate and a gumball cherry. These look cute in a celephane bag tied with a cute ribbon.Finally, we made our Preschool Valentines. Just take cardstock and vinyl, cut hearts, punch holes and lace ribbon through it and stuff it with candy! This was in my family fun magazine a few years ago. This was especially fun since all four of my kids like to sew and lace.

Speaking of ideas, if you don't already check out BeDifferentActNormal, you should! She posts several times daily all the cute crafts, holiday decor, recipes, etc., etc. Plus, she happens to be my brother in law's cousin and I hear she is super nice.

A good book

We had a couple of extra Books of Mormon laying around the house so we gave one to each of the twins. I never expected that it would become their most played with item. I must hear the words "Book of Mormon" twenty times a day. Every Monday they want to bring them to school for show and tell.

I did not set up any of these situations, these were all taken within a few days.

When they colored, they asked their big sis to write one on the page When they read, it is always in the pile of books:
Everytime I start the car and back out of the driveway, I look back to make sure they have their seatbelts on and without fail, they each have a Book of Mormon in their lap. One time I was unloading the car and they had positioned their three bears in the seat to read:

They showed up as I took a bath and ran on the treadmill:

It is most often the first thing they pick up in the morning:

They ask me if they can take it on every errand we run:

I think that they are so excited about it so they can teach their mom a thing or two. Thanks to them and their constant reminders, I am slowly getting better at pulling my copy out and reading it more often, Heaven knows I have some improving to do.

If you want one click here - it's free)

New Recipe Sunday, Super Bowl Style

So this is what our Super Bowl looked like:

Potato Skins - these I changed a bit.

I omitted the paprika and added seasoned salt instead.

I also cut the skins in half then in half again)

Ultimate Spicy Beef Nachos from Cooks Country

White Chocolate Carmel snack mix

Creamy Carmel Toffe Dip

All of these recipes were SO good! Our only problem today was too much food. We should have invited about 15 more people to join us. Oh well, at least my famiy is fed for the next few days!

Therapy, Sports Therapy

I have mentioned before that James is way into sports. He wakes up every morning at 6 AM and the first thing we hear coming from the family room is ESPN or the game from the night before that he set to record since he had to go to bed. Sometimes it is an old game he loved, he watches those several times as if he had never seen them before.

It can be an issue when there is a really big game or his very favorite team playing. It affects him in a way that I can understand to a degree. I have felt that disappointment before. I remember like it was yesterday going to my brother's high school basketball games that were so important to me, if it was a bad game I would be sad and really frustrated. I have a clear memory of the Phoenix Suns losing in the 1993 playoffs and the disappointment that followed. Or the time I was living in Oregon and the Arizona Diamondbacks won the world series, I was energized!


Sports are fun that way. I grew up with a dad and brother that loved playing and watching sports and I saw it firsthand. They are exciting, stressful, frustrating, nerve racking and create an energy you don't find other ways. We sit, we stand, we jump, we scream, we dance and celebrate and we yell at the television. The greatest games and plays are fun to reflect on for years to come. I was always amazed how my dad would remember a specific game, players name and number, inning, quarter or half, the year it was played and that specific, awesome play. I think a lot of people can do that, you remember those very best and worst games and plays like you do major life events.

The past college and NFL football seasons are the first time we realized the effect sports have on James. A couple of times he was so frustrated that we had to pull back a bit on the football. We have had talks about it. He knows what is a good way to act and what isn't.

I noticed he has been so pleasant after his losses for a while now. I also realized what he did after a game tonight and then realized he has been doing it for most of the season.

He turns on the XBOX, pulls up the two teams that played the game and he plays it, the right way. Once his game is over and his team won, he has gotten over the real loss and replaced it with his XBOX win! I love his way of dealing with it. Quietly, without a word, turns on the game and lets it all out. His therapy. Doesn't bother anyone, doesn't tease his sisters, doesn't slam his door or talk back to anyone. He very quietly sits down and deals with it. Somehow he always wins the game version of the real game, never a loss.

Tonight it was the Cardinals loss.

Good boy, always cheers for his mama's hometown teams. I asked him yesterday what NBA team he likes the best and he basically told me he was taking applications trying to decide. He said he needed to look into the different teams and see what he thought of them. I told him he needs to make it the Suns.

A few things I learned

I have learned to keep all permanant makers on top of the fridge.

I learned that a lock on the microwave is a good idea.

I keep child knobs on the fridge, pantry, toy closets, and front door.

I keep all medicine, sharp objects and chemicals out of reach of children.

Having said that,

It is a good thing I love these so much:

Otherwise, I just don't know what I would

do when they do things like this to my new bedspread:

And I now keep paint pens under lock and key.

Happy New Year!

May your 2010 be as carefree and joyful

as this precious little one

December Recap

Just like everyone else, my December flew by. There were a lot of things I did not do, I didn't make treats for my neighbors and I didn't blog much, I didn't have family pictures taken and I did not mail out Christmas cards. Yes, there were things I did not do but there were a lot of things I did do. This year I focused on my kids, every single day we did an activity or craft together. At the beginning of the month I made a list and we stuck to it. It was nice to put all things aside and just enjoy the holidays.

We played a lot of games, did lots of puzzles and spent many nights sleeping

near the Christmas tree watching Christmas movies

We did a few crafts with food. Our rice krispie night was my favorite, I like Addie's anatomically correct snowwoman and of course James made a football.

We did some service

We visited Santa Claus

We had a good ol' time at Grandma Susan's annual Christmas party. Delicious food, gifts galore, scavenger hunts, a visit from Santa Claus, reindeer and Santa crafts, white chocolate nativities (thanks Amber!!), singing Christmas carols with a great serenade from Uncle Jeff on the trumpet and new pillowcases from Aunt Dawn with names embroidered on them. Oh, the excitement of Christmas eve, I wish it would last longer. I get as excited as my kids to to see the look on their faces on Christmas morning.

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas!

Happy New Year!