An Easter Synopsis

9:00 – 10:00 pm Easter Eve – Momma & Poppa Bunny fill Easter eggs with candy, check to make sure the gifts (books, coloring books, card games, stickers are equal).

10:05 pm Easter Eve – Momma Bunny complains her stomach hurts from eating so much Easter candy already.

10:06 pm Easter Eve – Popppa Bunny is not sympathetic and says, “Well that candy was for the children.”

10: 15 pm Easter Eve – Momma & Poppa Bunny watch the news due to rain possibility.

5:30 am Easter morning – Alarm goes off in Momma & Poppa’s room

5:35 am – Momma & Poppa Bunny check the online weather report. Debate over next move due to lots of green on the radar.

5:37 am – Momma & Poppa Bunny go to the front of the house and put out eggs for littlest bunny.

5:40 am – Momma & Poppa Bunny proceed to the back yard where they lay out eggs for the boy bunnies.

5:46 am – Momma Bunny writes note to little bunnies explaining the layout of the hunt.

5:47 am – Poppa Bunny goes back to bed. Momma Bunny takes dog for a walk since the backyard is now a “No Pooping Zone.

5:59 am – Dog poops on lawn three blocks from home. Momma Bunny surveys the area for any witnesses. Debates about possibly leaving poop on the lawn due to the fact that’s it’s dark outside and no one will know. Momma Bunny begrudgeonly picks up poop.

6:10 am – Momma Bunny and dog return home. Momma Bunny turns on the tv and sits on the sofa.

6:15 am – Momma Bunny has to tell dog for millionth time that she cannot go outside until all the kids wake up.

6:20 am – Momma Bunny retrieves the newspaper and sits on the sofa again.

6:50 am – Middle bunny comes downstairs ready to begin Easter hunt. Eagerly looks out window yelling, “I see one!.” Momma Bunny bursts his bubble when she says he will have to wait another 20 minutes before waking up other bunnies.

6:51 am – Momma Bunny suggests he look for a note to see if the Bunny left instructions about how the yard has been divided.

6:52 am – Middle Bunny finds note. Reads it and notices one bunny has been left off the list while another bunny has been given two sections of the yard.

6:53 am – Momma Bunny curses to herself for writing the note in the dark and quickly explains that the Bunny must have meant something else.

6:54 am – Middle Bunny asks if the note was written by Momma Bunny since it’s on the back of a bingo card.

6:55 am – Momma curses again but says the Bunny must have used whatever paper was available. Vows to buy special paper next year.

7:15 am – Momma Bunny tells Poppa Bunny it’s time to get up. Poppa Bunny looks at the clock and gives Momma Bunny an ugly look.

7:15 and fifteen seconds am – Momma give Poppa a dirty look hoping to convey her wish that he enjoyed his extra hour and a half of sleep.

7:20 am – Littlest Bunny and Poppa Bunny stumble out of bedroom. Littlest Bunny was ready to hunt at 2 am but was persuaded to sleep in Momma & Poppas bed as a consolation prize until morning.

7:22 am – Oldest Bunny stumbles downstairs complaining of lost sleep.

7:23 am – Momma & Poppa explain to oldest bunny that he can go back to sleep and in doing so relinquishes all rights to his candy.

7:24 am – Oldest Bunny decides to have a better attitude.

Continued on Thursday 🙂

Easter Mess

Two days ago we had tornadoes come through the Dallas Metroplex.

Around 2:00 the sky started to look ominous. My oldest was home sick so I went to see if I could get my six year old out of school a little early. I was told the school was on lock down due to the tornado threats; no children were being released. I went back home and watched the news coverage for the next hour, all the while listening to our city’s tornado sirens. I knew my six year old was safe in the school but it was quite nerve racking to not have him in my sight during this time.

Roughly an hour after school should have let out, the school starting releasing students. I picked up my son who enthusiastically told of being stuck in the teacher’s bathroom for an hour with his class. (In my mind, his teacher should receive Teacher of the Year for being in a bathroom for an hour with twenty-two kindergarteners – can you even imagine?)

So… because of the storm…our night activities were cancelled…so….we were able to do two Easter “crafts.”

First off, dying Easter eggs (and yes, Caroline does not have clothes on, it’s cleaner this way for everyone).

Notice the fingers…that’s what happens when your technique for dying the eggs is completely hands on.

Once the eggs were dried, it was time to decorate with stickers.

Just because it was time didn’t mean it actually occurred.

Apparently, peeling your eggs was more fun (I’m looking at it from the perspective that it was a scientific learning experience).

My six year old said, “Oh yuck! These smell like rotten cheese! No, wait. They smell like rotten ham!”

Just for the record, he has never been served either one of those options.

For our second craft of the night, I thought it would be fun to create some No Bake Chocolate Egg Nests which I saw on the Chef in Training blog.

This is what we were going for…

but this is what we ended up with…

but we sure had fun making them…

although I’m not sure if anyone but Mom really completed any nests…

since they were too busy “cleaning up.”

Easter Mess

=’s

Easter Fun

Movie Logic

I took my kids and one of their friends to the dollar show on Monday.

It was President’s Day and the place was swamped.

I had to drop the oldest two off and have them stand in line while I parked the car.

Several movies were already sold out so we made contingency plans in case ours was sold out by the time we got to the ticket counter.

“I only want to see Tin Tin if Arthur’s Christmas and the Muppets are sold out.”

“I really want to see the Muppets but will go see Tin Tin as my second choice.”

“I already saw the Muppets and Arthur’s Christmas so I want to see Tin Tin.”

Thankfully we didn’t need to come to a concensus since our movie was still available.

I ushered us all into the building only to find the concession stand line was enormous.

Not really a problem for us until my son’s friend said, “I want to buy something.”

I left the two of them to stand in line together while I found seats with the youngest two.

Thankfully we got great seats and were settled in no time.

But the 9 year olds didn’t come back.

For 30 minutes!

I was starting to get a neck crick and strange stares from the people behind me since I kept turning around to look for the boys.

The theater was packed by now and I was having to fend off desperate moms and grandparents who were looking for extra seats.

Finally they returned when the movie started and I was able to enjoy the movie.

That is until about three fourths of the way through the movie when my daughter had decided she had seen enough and wanted to leave. I was able to use my mom negotiating skills and convince her to sit on my lap for the next 20 minutes. Some talk of candy when we got home might have been whispered several times.

After the movie I got everyone to the car and congratulated myself on a successful outing. We rarely go to the movies so in my mind this was a nice treat, especially getting to bring a friend along.

As we were driving away I heard the friend say, “I wonder why the movies were so crowded today?”

My nine year old volunteered, “Well, it’s Presidents Day and kids don’t have school. Their parents probably took them to the movies because they didn’t know what else to do with them.”

After hearing that I can assure you that I know exactly what my children will be doing on the next school holiday.

It starts with CHORE and end with an S.

Oh, and me?

I’ll be on the couch watching Parenthood reruns.

Angry Birds Valentines

My six year old requested Angry Birds valentines this year.

I just made them and he is “super” excited to give them to his friends.

If you’d like a copy of the valentines, click here.

Please consider becoming a follower of Big D & Me if you decide to download.

I found the Angry Bird art work on this blog. He has t-shirts and bumper stickers to buy of these super hero birds. I’m thinking those might make a great birthday gift for someone.

 If you’d like something for the younger crowd, I have some Storybook Character Printable Valentines.

michellepaige Tuesday To Do FEatured Todays Creative Blog Making

De-Lish Oreo Treats

This week we made these Oreo Treats for our friends, neighbors, and teachers. Let me just tell you, they are delicious. The best part? They are simple to make.

Chocolate Covered Oreo Treats

Ingredients:
2 packages of Oreo Cookies
2 (8 oz) blocks of cream cheese, softened
4 packages of semi – sweet chocolate (8 blocks in each package)
Any toppings: crushed candy, mints, toffee
 
Directions:

1 – Crush the Oreos into fine crumbs using a food processor or rolling pin & cutting board

2 – Mix Oreo crumbs with cream cheese – best to just get in their with your hands and mix

3 – Roll into balls (1 inch or so) and place on a cookie sheet which is covered in wax paper.

4 – Refrigerate for two hours

5 – Melt chocolate in a double burner (I used use a smaller pot in a larger pot filled with water)

6 – Drop one or two Oreo balls into the melted chocolate, using forks to rotate them and cover them completely. Lift with fork and allow excess chocolate to drip back into pot.

7 – If you are putting a topping on them do so now.

8 – Place in refrigerator again and let them chill.

9 – Pour yourself a large glass of milk and enjoy! Bag them up for gifts!

Are there any sweet treats you are giving as gifts?

Monster Food & Mummy Wraps

We had our second annual Halloween party over the weekend and for the second time I forgot to take any pictures. I set up these photos after everyone had gone home and right before I crashed on the couch. In addition to the new food below, I also served the same food from last year.

Marshmallow Pops: Place stick through marshmallow, dip in chocolate, add sprinkles, thank husband for wonderful marshmallow holder he created, place in refrigerator for 20 minutes

Marshmallow Holder : spare wood with holes drilled into it

Food on a stick is always popular and these were no exception.

Chocolate Witch Fingers – Use a paint brush and melted chocolate to paint the fingernails. Allow to cool in the refrigerator for ten minutes. Fill up remaining space in the mold with different colored melted chocolate. Lay pretzel sticks into the chocolate and cover with more chocolate. Place in fridge for 20 minutes.

Chocolate Grave Stone: same idea as the fingers minus the pretzels

Halloween Cookies (known in our house as the Christmas cookies despite the shape of the cookie or the time of the year)

Alex and Andrew named and labeled all of the party food. Dracula’s Skin was banana bread slices while the Monster Teeth were Rice Krispie Treats. They had a lot of fun creating these…let’s just say the Marshmallow Pops above were labeled Frankenstein Poop. Yes, we through classy affairs around here.

Along with our party boards, there were games and crafts to keep the kids busy. A big hit with the 3 to 7 crowd was my Halloween Bingo, I gave plastic spiders to the winners.

The fourth grade crowd primarily ignored my games in favor of a football game but did decide to stop to play the “Mummy Wrap.”

Kids got into groups of two with a roll or two of toilet paper and wrapped each other as mummies.


That WRAPS up (Ha!) another edition of our Halloween party. The left over Rice Krispies have been eaten by me (about 20 in 2 days – NOT A JOKE!) and the games put away until next year. Hope your Halloween is filled with lots of sugar and dressing up.

He Will Never Learn

My husband will never learn.

We’ve been married 14 years and he still doesn’t get it.

Maybe it’s the fact that he grew up in a family with only two children. He doesn’t have the hoarding tendencies that those of us with many siblings learned.

Whatever the reason, he is still dumbfounded to come home to this.

When there is a bag of Oreos open in our house, EAT THEM RIGHT AWAY!

I tried to tell him. “Dear, I opened a bag of Oreos in the pantry. They are hiding on the top shelf so the kids don’t see them. You need to go ahead and eat some before I eat them all.”

TWO DAYS LATER he goes to look in the pantry and is stunned to find the cookies gone.

I mean, two days later? When I say you need to go ahead and eat some, I mean RIGHT NOW because I am heading to the pantry as we speak.

I know he thinks I should feel bad but I don’t.

I mean, I TOLD HIM.

But, I will try again just like I always do … Derek there is a candy bar hidden on the top shelf of the pantry…go eat some NOW.

 

Halloween Party Food

Last year we held our first ever Halloween party and it was a ton of fun for everyone (a ton of work too but let’s focus on the fun for now).

My husband and I baked, dipped, frosted, stirred, cooled, and heated till we were on sugar overload.

Below this picture of our buffet are four of the treats and how we made them.

Witches Hats: Use Keebler Fudge Stripes cookies as the base, melted chocolate (orange colored), Hershey Kisses on top

Eyeball Cake: Boxed cake mix prepared and baked in a soccer ball cake pan, colored icing

Pumpkin Whoopie Pies: I don’t particularly love pumpkin flavor but I found these irresistible – every time I walked by the kitchen I would pick one up. I found the recipe at Relatively Reagan.

What you need:
Box spice cake mix
2 eggs
1/3 cup butter
1 cup pumpkin pie filling or puree
1/2 cup milk
 
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 F degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
In a large mixing bowl beat the butter and pumpkin with an electric mixer on medium speed until smooth. Add all the remaining ingredients and beat on low speed until combined.
Using a small cookie schoop dop mounds of the dough onto the prepared cookie sheets, spacing them about 3 inches apart.
Bake about 10 minutes and cool completely before frosting
 
For the Filling:
Stick of butter
block (8 oz) cream cheese
3 cups powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla and couple of dashes of cinnamon
Put filling on one pie and cover with another

Oreo Mummies: Dip Oreos into melted white chocolate, place on wax paper, drag a fork sideways through the chocolate, place candy eyes on top, cool in fridgeHere are some sources for candy eyes (I have never bought anything from these companies so I’m not recommeding, just listing) : One Stop Candle and The Baker’s Kitchen. I am using some I found at Michael’s this year.

Do you have any favorite Halloween treats you make?

The 36th Avenue