Snuggling the Schofields

The night before leaving, Grandma and Grandpa gave Mcayden plenty of tickles and snuggles. As a mom it is so neat to see the relationships he has developed with his grandparents and how much love they have for each other.Mcayden gave Grandpa lots of good-bye kisses.

"This little piggy..."

Grandma telling Mcayden a secret. I love the expression on his face!Big hugs!
We had such a fun weekend together!

A Walk in the Park

Rick's parents came down for the weekend, so we took them to Estes Park & The Rocky Mountain National Park. It was a beautiful day to be there, but unfortunately we couldn't go up very high because there was still too much snow at the higher elevations.
Mcayden & Grandpa took a little hike together.


Addison doing the heisman pose.

We strolled through Estes park, did some window shopping, tried icecream at THREE different icecream stores! Yes, we had to! And went into our favorite glass store along the way.
Grandma Shey took Mcayden with her into a Christmas store and when they were leaving, the lady working in the store gave Mcayden a car ornament, "Because he had been so good" in her store! He loved it!

On our way out of town, we stopped by the Stanley Hotel. After Stephen King stayed there he felt inspired to write "The Shining". You can watch the movie on Channel 42 anytime in the hotel.--it plays on a continuous loop. They even have Ghost Tours. I think it would be so fun to stay there.

We finally got to see some elk. We had heard there were more elk in Estes Park than in the Rocky National Park. And so it was. There were a ton of elk and they came right up next to our car and we got some great pics!

Grandpa & Grandma= Gifts, Right??!

Rick told Mcayden Grandma and Grandpa were bringing him a birthday present. He was so excited. It was the first thing he asked about once they arrived and he was a big helper to unload the car and bring in the gifts. LOL
Mcayden was given a great big recycle truck--complete with a driver and recycling bins. He plays and plays with it!
Addison got her first bike. She was really happy and likes pushing the buttons and sitting on it. It will be fun this summer--we can all ride bikes outside together.

A Box Full of Happiness

A box, just a plain old box can really do something with a child's imagination. It's square, it's empty and it's immediatly transformed into a...

Cave...

a FORT OF FUN...

a hide-away, so I can spray Mommy and close the doors behind me!.... A playhouse for the two of us...Then, one finishing touch. I'll add a "bathtub" to the new home away from home. Now, it's perfect!

St Patty's Day

Mcayden is my little helper when it comes to baking. I'd say his favorite part is taste testing!
We made green clover rolls for St. Patrick's Day. Mcayden didn't care that they weren't sweet. He still wanted to have a sample or two. Holding out a hand-full of dough Mcayden exclaimed, "Daddy! I have balls!" We had a laugh.
I haven't made rolls before, so with Rick's help, I made these and they turned out great!
I remember my mom making these St. Patty's rolls when I was younger and they are so fun and easy.
How do you make them, you ask?
Make your favorite roll recipe, add green food coloring to the mix (works best to add it to the wet ingredients), then roll the dough into small balls and put three or four balls in each muffin tin cup. Bake and enjoy!
I didn't get pinched today. I had an apron on that had green on it. Rick got pinched a couple of times! How about you? Did you wear green?

She's Holding Me

Addison and Mcayden were playing in A's crib together when Rick went out of the room for a minute. He came back to find Mcayden sitting on Addison. With a big smile on his face, Mcayden exclaimed, "Daddy! Addison's holding me!"

Nothin' Smells Better Than Clean Baby

Spaghetti for Dinner

Cardboard Box

Did you know the card board box is in the National Toy Hall of Fame? It's true. It joined the Hula Hoop and GI Joe in the Toy Hall of Fame, back in 2005.
There should be a parent's book out there called, "101 Ways to Entertain Your Kids Using a Cardboard Box". It would make bank. I'm pretty sure I'd buy it.
A while ago I got a photo album from Snapfish in a flat, cardboard box. I had just taken it out to the recycle bin when Mcayden asked where his computer was. After much questioning, we figured out he was referring to the cardboard box I had just taken outside. I retrieved the "computer" for Mcayden and he was thrilled. I drew some buttons on it and Mcayden and I colored it and added stickers. To all of us who have ever said, "I never knew how fun a cardboard box could be", well, here's another reason.

Delicious Recipe

When Addison was born, our amazing friend, Carrie, brought over a delicous home-made dinner along with some amazing coconut banana bread. Neither Rick or I like coconut, but we have been converted. This bread is so yummy! Carrie just shared the recipe on her blog, so I had to share it with you! It's worth making! Enjoy!

Coconut Banana Bread with Lime Glaze
Ingredients2 cups all-purpose flour3/4 teaspoon baking soda1/2 teaspoon salt1 cup granulated sugar1/4 cup butter, softened2 large eggs1 1/2 cups mashed ripe banana (about 3 bananas)1/4 cup plain low-fat yogurt3 tablespoons apple juice1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract1/2 cup flaked sweetened coconutCooking spray1 tablespoon flaked sweetened coconut1/2 cup powdered sugar1 1/2 tablespoons fresh lime or lemon juice
Preheat oven to 350°.Lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine flour, baking soda, and salt, stirring with a whisk.Place granulated sugar and butter in a large bowl; beat with a mixer at medium speed until well blended. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Add banana, yogurt, rum, and vanilla; beat until blended. Add flour mixture; beat at low speed just until moist. Stir in 1/2 cup coconut. Spoon batter into a 9 x 5-inch loaf pan coated with cooking spray; sprinkle with 1 tablespoon coconut. Bake at 350° for 1 hour or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pan 10 minutes on a wire rack; remove from pan. Combine powdered sugar and juice, stirring with a whisk; drizzle over warm bread. Cool completely on wire rack.

In Blue Jeans, Baby

One of the many fun things about having a baby girl is all the cute clothes! Seriously, it is hard not to buy something every time I pass the children's clothing area in a store. Do you have the same problem?

There are bows and dresses and ruffles and frills up the ying yang for little girls and they call out to you as you walk by. "I'm on sale! I'm the cutest dress you have ever seen! Buy me!" and so on. Oh give me strength.

Thankfully others give our kids cute clothes, so I can often avoid the clothing area and the dent in my wallet. Whew.

This jean jacket Addison is sporting came from Auntie Debbie. She's "the shopper" in my family and a really great shopper at that, I might add. Thanks, Deb!

Catching Up

I've done some catching up on this blog. Go back to Feb. 12 to see all the new pics.
Hugs!
xox J.L

Bubble Prints

If you have young kids, this is a fun little art project to add to your list of "Rainy Day" activities.

What you'll need: bowl of water, food coloring, dish soap, a towel, a straw, paper.

Sit your child at the table with a bowl of water and a straw. Have your child practice blowing in to the straw to make bubbles. (Talk about the difference between sucking and blowing.) If she can do it, add a couple drops of dish soap to the water and have her blow. Can she overflow the bowl with bubbles?

Once she gets good at making a mount of bubbles, drip some food coloring into the bubbles and watch it spread. Gently place a piece of white paper on top of the bubbles to pop them. Lift it off and let it dry. You will have a unique bubble print!

Spoil

The other day, Rick was pulling out the last two of our Vlasic, Original Dill pickles when he noticed something floating in the jar. Infact, there were two or three somethings, bobbing around in the pickle juice. Yes, there were flys in our pickle juice.

It's amazing how something so small can spoil something that otherwise would be so good.

Do you ever feel like the smallest things can ruin something great?
The pickes we had eaten were good, but once we discovered the flies, those last pickles were thrown away. What changed?
It's so easy to focus our mind's lens on what is wrong in life. And when we focus on just that, we let it spoil everything else.

(BTW We emailed Vlasic Customer Service and they apologized and assured us this was an isolated event and proceeded to mail us three coupons.)

Burner Smile

It seems like when I have to boil water, it always boiles over before I can get to it. Well, today was no different. But, when I lifted up the pan, this was what underneath!