biker buddies

We just bought Kade and Ky their first "real" bikes and we have been having so much fun with them. The weather has been so cold and wet this spring that we have had a hard time getting out as much as we would like. Ky keeps saying, "I'm sorry I keep wanting to go for a bike ride, I just love my new bike so much!"

Ky's funny joke as he was riding his bike through puddles the other day: He noticed that after he rode through the puddle, that the tires would make a line on the ground back behind him. So he decided that his bike was a "line backer." Get it? Ha ha.

Last week a few friends and I threw our friend Greta a baby shower, just 6 days before she welcomed baby #3, a sweet little girl!

Brittney made these gorgeous, delicious cookies. She's amazing!

Oh, and she made these light, airy, minty meringue drops. Told you she was amazing! And what a fun color too!

These are the coconut lime cupcakes that I made. Aren't they cute? They were yummy too.

We had lemonade with limes and blackberries (in keeping with the color theme, of course)

We first played a fun game that Bryn put together. She had 11 paper lunch sacks with various baby items in each one. Everyone had to feel what was inside and try to guess what each item was. It was so much fun, and some of the items that should have been easy stumped a lot of people.

We had each guest bring a baby picture of themselves and everyone had to guess who was who. It was a lot harder than I thought it would be, but a lot of fun.

And of course, as is standard for me, once the party got started I didn't take any pictures. Which means I don't have any pictures of the guest of honor, or any of the other guests. I don't have pictures of everyone having a good time, and I don't have any pictures of the cute little girl clothes and gifts that everyone brought. Some day I am going to figure out how to play host and photographer at the same time, I hope!

the one with the "friends" party

A few weeks ago, my friend Brittney hosted an awesome Friends (the TV show) party. I love the show and actually felt a little sheepish that I never hosted a Friends party before! Unfortunately there ended up being a huge snowstorm that evening, so I think we missed a few people who couldn't make it that far in the storm (yes it was the end of April, in case you were wondering). But, we had a great time with those that came.

Of course the inside of the front door had to have one of these awesome, iconic frames. Great touch!
So, Brittney asked each of us to bring a Friends inspired treat to share. Once I started thinking about it, I came up with about a gazillion ideas, and had a hard time deciding what to bring. Here are some of my ideas:
~G. Stephanopoulos' pizza
~ the Joey special-two pizzas
~sandwiches (especially meatball subs)
~cheesecake that had been dropped on the floor
~a lasagna with a blue fingernail in it
~ruined potatoes
~fajitas
~mac & cheese
~bowl of cold cucumber mush
~ a side salad-"what would you like that on the side of?" "Why don't you just put it right here next to my water."

I'm sure I had some other ideas, but this is all I can remember now a few weeks later. I was planning on bring a "plate of fries for the table" or the buffer fries, but because of the snowstorm, I wasn't going to make any extra stops.

Once I thought of this next idea (actually to be fair, I think Bart came up with this one, along with several of the above ideas), I knew it was going to be THE one. Okay so remember the episode where Rachel decides she is going to make dessert for Thanksgiving? She ends up making a "traditional English trifle." Or so she thinks.This is what she says as she describes how she made it:
"It's got all of these layers: First there's a layer of ladyfingers, then a layer of jam, then custard-which I made from scratch-raspberries, more ladyfingers, then beef sauteed with peas and onions, more custard, and then bananas, and then I just put some whipped cream on top!"

I loved this scene and so I decided to replicate it as closely as I could.

Doesn't it look yummy? Even with the beef and peas? It was delicious!*

Brittney made flan. Remember the birthday flan? Ha ha! She also made some yummy bread sticks with "squeezed tomato" dipping sauce. Get it?

I also brought Yoohoo and funny straws in Chandler's honor. (As a side-note: I don't think I've ever had a Yoohoo, and I don't think they taste very good).

There were also the yummiest cake balls! Delish!

We chatted, we played a Friends trivia game, which was poorly designed and the instructions made no sense, but the questions were fun, and Brittney and I tied for first! I'm such a geek!

We ended the evening watching my all-time favorite episode: The One With All the Wedding Dresses. I think almost every scene is my "favorite scene," and I just can't stop laughing.

Thanks so much for the fun night Brittney!

* Oh, and please don't be worried. I didn't really put beef or peas in the trifle. The "beef" was Cocoa Krispies and mini chocolate chips, and the "peas" were little Sweetart balls. But they sure looked realistic, at least from a distance.

april catch-up

I have been so bad about keeping up with what has been happening around here. I've just been too sick and too tired to do much of anything. So, here is one big post about what I missed in April.
This picture of Bart and Ky makes me smile. I'm not sure what they were watching/playing on Bart's iPod but it must have been funny! This is what our backyard looked like on April 20th! That's right the 20th! It had been such a cold, crazy spring around here. It had better warm up soon or we are all going to go crazy!

The day before Easter, Bret and Charise and their kids came up to color eggs and have pizza with us. This was the first year that Kade and Ky wanted to keep coloring eggs until there were no more eggs left to color. In the past they have each colored a couple and then I am left alone in the kitchen to color the rest. But this year, between us all we colored 2 1/2 dozen eggs and the boys would have colored more if we had more. It was a lot of fun!

Cute Cooper smiling for the camera

Ky

Some of the finished products!

Easter morning we had a little egg hunt around the yard from the Easter Bunny. Luckily the snow had all melted by then, but notice the boys are wearing boots because it was so soggy!

Too bright!!

At the end of April, the boys and I went to a wildlife sanctuary nearby. I think it was the one sunny, warmish day of the whole month, so we had to take advantage and do something outside.

The highlight of that trip was seeing these cute little baby geese. The boys could have watched them for hours, and they kept telling me, "Take another picture!"

catching the royal spirit!

I loved spending time on Friday watching the royal wedding! It felt so magical and romantic. There were so many times that I had to remind myself that what I was watching was real life and not a Disney movie! I got goosebumps when the two princes were shown riding to the abbey. Seeing Prince William in his red uniform and everything else he was wearing, made me smile! I seriously thought that he looked like Prince Charming--and he is-for real! I loved Kate's dress, all the amazing hats, the accents, the inside of Westminster Abbey, the kiss(es) on the balcony, and especially watching them ride away in that gorgeous open carriage!
Kade and Ky watched a few minutes of the wedding with me, and I asked them if they wanted to be a prince and they both gave me an emphatic NO! But they both decided that they wanted to be the royal guard with helmets, swords and shields. Luckily they each have a little knight costume, so they put that on. Then they told me that they were missing the feathers on top. So, a couple of bunches of feathers, some pipe cleaners and a bit of hot glue later, and here is what we came up with:

Aren't they the cutest royal guards ever?

That evening, we had a service auction at church to raise money for the young women's camp this year. Bart bid on and won a replica of Kate Middleton's engagement ring, which also used to be Princess Diana's ring. I think it's pretty awesome! Now I can pretend that I am a princess!