Our "Egg-citing" News

Happy Easter!!!

We had a great Easter! We had a busy Saturday planned so we dyed eggs on Friday night. On Saturday night we went to the Orem Owlz Easter Egg Hunt. The kids had a blast gathering their eggs and Ben & I were glad to score a lot of free tickets to the baseball games this summer. We didn't stay too long because it was cold. Easter was way too early this year!
Speaking of early, our kids were up at 4:30 in the morning on Easter!! We told them that they had to stay in their room until 7 with the lights off. They were still wide awake though and we could hear them talking the whole time. At one point they did sneak downstairs for a peak because they weren't sneaky enough to forget to turn off the bathroom light. They insisted they were just peaking but Ben and I noticed a few items from their baskets had mysteriously made their way to other places in the room. Crazy kids! When they finally were allowed to go downstairs, it was utter mayhem for a few minutes while they ran for eggs. Among the loot, Nick & Kade scored some Brave Buddies (Nick-Flash and Kade-Batman, of course) and Skylar got a Supergirl Barbie. As usual, the Easter Bunny brought WAY too much candy which will probably last us the next year-considering that we still have Halloween candy we haven't even gotten to yet!!
Since we have early church we had to hurry through breakfast, get dressed, and out the door. Before church I attempted to get a cute shot of all of the kids dressed in their Easter clothing (including the boys in their cute whale & dolphin ties) but they weren't too interested because it was so cold outside. After church I tried again but the only one interested in posing was Skylar, of course!
Later on we went to Ogden to my sister's house for dinner and to celebrate the many March and April birthdays we have in our family. I brought the camera, but of course forgot to take any pictures. We had a really fun time! Anyway, have I ever mentioned that there's a certain week in June where everyone in my family has something special: birthday, anniversary, etc. This seems to translate into babies being born in a corresponding week in March, including our little Kade. So we have a lot of birthdays to celebrate this time of year! I think between March & April there's at least 12. Anyway, Happy Birthday all of you Spring kids!!

Kade's Bithday Pics

I took Kade to get his birthday pics taken! He looks like a handsome little man in these! He's getting so grown up-it's a little sad!!

Happy Birthday McKade!!!!

McKade turned two last Wednesday. It's hard to believe that two years have passed since he was born! It has been a wild ride having three kids but so much fun! McKade has been such a fun baby and it's sad to see him growing up so fast! Of course, he wants to be just like the big kids and do everything they do. On the other hand, he's still willing to plop that that thumb in his mouth, grab his bear blankie, and settle in for some major baby cuddles that we love.
Since Ben had Scouts on Wednesday, we only had time to celebrate by having a quick dinner at the Spaghetti Factory. We were lucky enough to get to eat in the trolley, which the kids thought was sooo fun! Before bed, we opened up some presents. Skylar got Kade a skateboard, and Nick got him an Ace/Earth Planet Hero (my current favorite toys for my kids since they are learning so much about space!!) that comes with a skateboard! Kade could not have been more happy since he is obsessed with skateboarding! Mom & Dad got him a Batman big wheel which is soooo cool. He can't quite reach the pedals yet though (our poor kids are always so short!!) but he does love all the cool buttons on it!
On Thursday night we actually had a little Buzz Lightyear party for Kade. We only invited the Tongs and the grandparents since it was a school night. We had some pizza, played a few games (actually all the guys watched the BYU game), opened some more presents, and had cake and ice cream. We had a fun time. Kade seemed to totally understand what this thing called birthday was all about and loved every minute of it! Happy Birthday Kade!!! We love you!!!

A Wee Bit 'o the Irish

I'm a 100% gringo. This is not something I find too exciting. I've always had friends that have come from interesting cultures and celebrate their heritages with cool traditions. My family... nothing. So I am determined to have my kids celebrate something from their heritages. Hence, I make a big deal out of St. Paddy's Day since Ben's got some Irish blood in him. I guess the world's way of celebrating St. Patrick's Day includes a lot of partying with the good ol' green brewskies but since I try to not be "of the world", we settle for green food all day long! So for breakfast: green eggs & ham, of course. Also, the kids wanted green OJ and we lucked out finding some green bread at the local store for some yummy green toast with jam. Although the green bread seemed a little iffy, we decided to finish it up with grilled cheese sandwiches along with green grapes and green milk for lunch. Yummy!
Believe it or not, dinner was not green! I made the traditional Irish meal of Corned Beef and Cabbage. Ben grew up eating this and he loves it! I actually hate it!! It seriously makes me gag. But every St. Paddy's Day I make it for him because he loves it and I love him. I also make Irish Soda Bread, which I actually like. So that's what we had for dinner. Well, Ben and the kids, at least-I had to sneak out for a burger after because I honestly can't swallow more than two bites of the stuff! Hey, at least I'm a good sport and make it for him, even if I don't eat it. Our kids actually ate it though! Skylar said she loved the beef but the cabbage was too soggy. Of course, the bread was a hit with everyone.
Since it was FHE we had dessert too. To go with the Leprechaun thing, Skylar and I made rainbow parfaits with fruit of every color: red-apples, orange-oranges, yellow-bananas, green-grapes, blue-blueberry yogurt, and purple-raisins. We even topped it with some vanilla ice cream "clouds". The kids loved it and were so excited that we were eating a "healthy" treat! All in all, it was a fun day with many adventures in eating! Happy St. Paddy's Day Everyone!!

Crazy Kade

Have I ever mentioned that life with Kade is well.... interesting. He's always doing something crazy. The other day I heard him having a hard time going down for his nap. Later on I discovered his bed was a little crowded:
This note from Skylar proves the point:


I love you Kade-a-roo!!!

Weekly (or two) Wrap-up

So the winter has turned into a blur of being cooped up and getting stir crazy. It just seems as one day blends into the next at this point. As usual, we've been busy. Last week it was our turn to do Joy school, which we haven't done at our house for awhile. We had fun learning about trying and confidence. The kids even made crazy cake: bread, peanut butter, jelly, honey, raisins, chocolate chips, nuts, etc, and the kids devoured it! I never knew slapping some stuff together would prove so appealing to a bunch of 3 and 4 year olds.
The weather we had last week certainly made me so excited for spring. Bring on the flip flops!! We even made a trip or two to the park. It was so nice to be outside! I also took the kids to the gym and let them get out all the gobs of energy they've been storing up.

The big event of the last week or so was Ben quitting his job. He got a new job offer from a friend who has been trying to get him to come work with him for awhile. The timing worked out perfect as his last job was moving their office to Draper this week which we weren't too excited about him having to commute. His new office is once again within biking distance so he may get back to that as soon as the weather improves more. He is working at Orange Soda, which I believe, is an online marketing company. I probably shouldn't be quoted on that. Anyway, he will be the Web Design Manager, which he is excited to get back to more design work. Today is his first day of work so I'm hoping he's loving it!
Skylar had school off yesterday so Ben decided to take an extra day off too so we could do something fun as family (and he could get a breather between jobs). We went up to SLC to go to the Living Planet Aquarium. It was pretty cool, although really small, since it is only a preview exhibit. It definitely does not compare to other aquariums that we've been to out of state but for being in Utah, I guess I can't complain. They had a big section on Utah fish and then a section with jellyfish, sharks, and they even had rays that you could pet. We had a lot of fun! Afterwards, we headed for our favorite store, IKEA, where the kids got to play and Ben & I continued to try and figure out our bedroom completion project. We also ate dinner there . What a fun day and a nice break to the same old, same old!