Easter Nests

I've been wanting to do an Easter playdate for a couple of weeks now and my friend Faith did the cutest one today. She made nests out of noodles coated with melted marshmallows.

She put them in little muffin tins and the kids used spoons to make a hollow in the middle.

Then they put candy eggs and marshmallow chicks in the nest. Adison's chick never made it onto the nest, it just went straight into her mouth!!

Nicolas' chick lasted long enough for me to photograph.

The nests tasted really good and the kids had so much fun.

Twyla and Lucy took nest building very seriously!

Adison just enjoyed eating!

It was lots of fun and now I'm going to try out my usual chocolate cornflake crispy nests and these nest on the kids on Friday to see which they prefer and then I'll make their prefered version for my playdate next week.

Building a TV Cabinet

Soon after we moved in Adam and his friend built me a wonderful set of shelves in the living room, which I instantly filled with books and photo albums. We then bought a set of Ikea shelves for the TV etc which was ok, but our dream was always to build TV cabinet to match the shelves. Now in our friend Kenli we have someone with the skills to make our vision a reality!

I lie away dreaming of more storage in our house, or how I can make our existing storage better, so the thought of having extra cupboards which look nice and stop the kids pulling all the Wii stuff and DVD's off the shelves has had me excited for a week now (yes I am a very sad woman!!)

Adam drew up the plan and Kenli build exactly what we had dreamed of!!

We bought the doors at Ikea so they match all the other cabinets in the house and then Adam and Kenli stained the wood so it looks amazing.

The finished cabinet. Unfortunately the weather on Sunday was awful so Adam didn't get to put a clear coat on, so I have to wait until next weekend before it's finished and on the wall ready to be organized and filled with lots and lots of photo albums.

We were so lucky that the weather on Saturday was perfect so we had a yard filled with children. I love it when the neighbourhood kids congregate in our yard because there are enough kids that no one needs to fight and argue.

Also Jaden was inside for a couple of hours playing lego with Nicolas and when it's just the girls outside there is far less trouble. When the girls play all you hear is " lets pretend you are ......" or "I'm going to be ......" where as the boys always have a weapon in their hand and just want to hit stuff!!

Adison just sits on the side and watches what everyone is doing and then has to be the baby/little sister/baby animal in their game when needed. She just loves having lots going on, as long as she gets her snuggles every 30-40 minutes!

Leo used to not bark - ever, but now he barks constantly when Kenli's dog is around, but after an hour or so he calmed down and went to sleep in the sun. So it was a perfect day for me, but maybe not for Adam and Kenli who had to work (I just watched the kids play and made food for everyone). I am so so lucky to have such a wonderful husband and such a amazing (and useful!) friend in Kenli.

I'm a Church Band Groupie!!

Adam played drums in church today for the first time and I couldn't stop smiling!! I was so proud. He only played one song and couldn't really do to much with it, but it's a start and everyone was so pleased to have him there. He has such an amazing talent that I'm glad he can give back by doing something he enjoys.

Can't wait for April 11th when he plays again.

Oh no.........now he's just shot a squirrel in the front yard, so maybe he's just undone all the good he did in church this morning!! But at least the birds can eat their food in peace without the squirrel attacking them!

Kelly's Birthday Party

I left the rock climbing early and drove Adam's Ford Focus to my friend Kelly's birthday party. I realized I'd not driven a car for at least 5 years! It felt as if every semi was going to crush me even though going at 65 felt like 100 mph!! I love Adam so much for giving up driving a truck for the more gas efficient car. I don't know if he has ever had a car before, let a lone a cheap car like he has now, where even the window won't close!!
Andrea, birthday girl Kelly, Jessica and 'hostess with the mostess' Kathy!

The drive was definately worth it, even though I left the dip I was supposed to bring in the truck. We played Bunco, a game most of my friends play regularly, but it was my first time. It was good to just relax and not worry about the kids and have fun with friends.

I got back home at 11pm after a very busy but fulfilling day.

Indoor Rock Climbing

We are trying to plan more things to do with the kids and also to find non traditional sports for them to try as neither of them will ever be a soccer or swimming legend!

Adam and Woody learn to belay.

I found this place where they do a family night price for indoor rock climbing which makes it much cheaper than if you have to rent all the equipment separately, but it's still pretty expensive. Kirsten is just a natural and climbing anything, so we knew she would love it, but Jaden did really well and Nicolas even climbed too!

Our friends Kenli and Skylar came too and so did Jaden's friends Jeremiah and Lenny. The Dad's and Woody did the belaying (holding the rope so the climber doesn't fall if they let go) and I tried to keep control of Nicolas and Adison. It was great having Woody because he could belay for Kirsten while Adam belayed for Jaden or Nicolas.

Adison was her usual angelic self and just sat in the stoller and ate her snacks while I tried to stop the kids running into other climbers, getting tangled in ropes and generally doing all the things they weren't supposed to do.

It was a wonderful evening and we will definately go back, but it's not somewhere I could take the kids without several other adults to help!

Sklar attempts an overhang and then takes the easy route and goes down the slide!

Nicolas also loved the slide but it gave him a taste for climbing so then he wanted to do what everyone else was doing.

Kirsten makes it to the top of the easy wall.

And then she tried the harder wall.

The place has all kinds of walls of varying difficulty. I've climbed a couple of time so I knew that even the slighted slope outwards is virtually impossible to climb for a novice. The kids all thought that they would be hanging upside down from the roof when we first walked in, and they quickly learned just how hard it is!

I though Nicolas would just climb up and down the little wall next to the slide, but he was determined to climb the big walls too. He did so well and looked so cute and serious as he climbed up. He would get about 15 feet up and then get scared and want to come down but I was impressed with how good he was. It just shows that he's got very little of me in him!
Adam and Woody both climbed a couple of times and were really good. Woody didn't think it would be his new favorite sport, but he enjoyed it.

Nicolas had to have a special harness because he was so little!

Jaden like the boulders best because they weren't so high

But once his friends got there he made it to the top of one of the big walls just to show them that he could!

The climbing instructor, Jeremiah, Lenny and their Mom.

Brothers and Sisters!

Nicolas and Adison now play very sweetly together, with the occasional meanness from Nicolas. Adison loves Nicolas so much and does everything he does.

We went to Ikea on Monday and I bought a couple of new potties and because she has seen Nicolas on his, she wanted one of the potties for herself. She must have spent at least an hour on and off on Monday sitting on it!

If I tell them to have their photo together Nicolas instantly gets hold of Adison's neck and squishes her towards him!

They looked so cute before church last week that I wanted to take a picture. Nicolas is still very attached to 'lovey', but not as much as Adison, her 'lovey' goes everywhere with her!

She is wearing the dress Mom smocked for her which looks beautiful with her eyes.