Easter Fun...

We will be going in reverse order for an Easter update. This picture was taken of the "couple's egg hunt" that dad did. There were random eggs with candy in them and other prizes. No one told us he was going to throw them inside of scratchy bushes and under dead things with stickers in them. I had scratches on my arms from it. However, Ryan and Pam were the most gung ho and ended up finding the most eggs. Andy and I, I think came in last place. We didn't do so hot. However, I think Angie stole a big egg from Andy and he's too nice to take it back from her! :-)

This is Peyton's loot after we did the hunt on the lawn. I think after the Lion's Club hunt and the little hunt we do for him at home, he didn't care how many he got, he just wanted to find the cool eggs.

This is our line-up for the hunt. We had some pretty piddily numbers. However, I believe we have some pictures like this when Sas and Phyllis still started. Mom gave out prizes for certain eggs and we definitely learned why Sas and Phyllis never had her help...They were prizes from her left-over happy meals and some broke upon opening...Let's just say they fit the category of the "Not so Grand Prizes!" :-)

This is Peyton's easter outfit that we got him. I thought he looked just like a cute Easter egg. I'm glad some stores are a little more brave and have "cute" boy clothes!
He definitely strutted his stuff in this picture!

One of my favorite things about this year is how cute Peyton has been at holidays. Five is such a cute age. They believe anything. Well his plan this year was to "catch" the Easter Bunny and take all of his chocolate rabbits. Well I then proceeded to tell him that when I did that the Easter Bunny hid my baskets harder. His eyes got all big but he still was going to catch him. Well needless to say he feel asleep and we put him to bed. We then hid his stuff a little bit harder than we normally do. We also make a bunny trail that you will see below and none of the bunny trails led to where his stuff was. So when he finally found it I told him that maybe the Easter Bunny had heard him talking about catching him and so he hid his bunny hard! This picture is a result of that discussion. I would say it is priceless!

Peyton is the only kid I know who genuinely loves this silly chocolate rabbits. I always thought they were cool as a kid, but the chocolate was crappy. He just loves them. I wasn't real thrilled that Walmart only had a "gangster" bunny, but Peyton took care of all the accessories very quickly and then proceeded to go for the ears. He will probably never finish it, but it was worth it for such a cute picture.

The search is over! He found it after a little bit of looking. I should have done it harder, but I thought I had.

The bunny trail leading to the basket!

We have never done egg dying at our house so this was the inaugural year for this. I wasn't really sure quite how to do it and had to actually read instructions. I also did not know that I had to use white vinegar and so had to bum some from mother. After this, though, I believe we had some great eggs. I only cooked 18 because I thought Peyts could do quite a few and Andy and I could do one or two, however, we went through that 18 very quickly. I think we had enough colors for 60 eggs if not more, but we had a fun time.

As you can see we had an inundation of "blue" eggs. I'm outnumbered and didn't get too many eggs. It got kind of funny after a while because every time Peyts would pick up a new egg, he would find a blue color to put it in.

We went out and hid the eggs for Peyts. I think he thought he had to ride his four wheeler around to find the eggs. I guess that is the modern way to egg hunt! It made us laugh. I believe he actually only ran over a couple!

I love to see Peyton's creativity. He decided if he used his finger he could paint the eggs without dipping them in. We also tried some tape and went a little crazy with the crayons.

The many colors!

These were the winners of the Hamer Easter Egg hunt. Peyton actually won something for the first time ever....if you don't count the "pink bunny" that dad walked him to when he was two because no one could find it. He was very excited until he learned he couldn't pick the prize he really wanted (the one that the kid by him has). He had seen the prizes all week at Mom's and thought he would get what we wanted...but he ended up liking what he found!

I'm sure many people think that dad had something to do with Peyton finding the prize egg, but he didn't. He found it on his own and as I was thinking about, not too many of us have ever won at this hunt...it was almost like we were jinxed! I'm glad he got it because next year, he'll be up with the older kids.

The loot he found in the Hamer Easter Egg hunt!

He was very excited for this hunt. I actually think he knew what he was doing this year!
We had a great Easter in reverse order! Holidays are sure fun with kids. They remind us of our own fun memories we had when we were their age!

Just Like Daddy

So my little boy I'm finding lately wants to be just like Daddy. I guess I'm lucky that I'm married to such an amazing guy. Andy is learning to play the guitar and Peyts is so fascinated with it. He wants to do it just like his Dad. However every once in a while the little rock star on him breaks out. As you can see in the picture below...

Everything that Daddy does, Peyton wants to do it. You can see how intently he is watching him. It makes me think of that poem about little kids watching our every move and emulating what we do. This little boy has made us all think about everything we do and to shape up a little. I have to watch every word I say. We have to think about movies we've watched with him in mind.

This is my most recent favorite on wanting to be like Daddy. If you look close, you will see Peyts with a little missionary badge. I thought this was so cute. I do hope our little boy grows up to be just like his Daddy. He will be a good man if he does.

Pay It Forward

"The first 3 people to leave a comment on this post will receive a handmade gift from me during this year. When and What will be a surprise. There's a small catch though....Post this same thing on your blog and then come back and leave a comment telling me you're in. Remember, only the first 3 comments receive the gift."
I happened upon this fun little game from Monica and Geri it's top 3 only.
be quick!
{p.s. email me your address if you'd be so kind.}

My Two Sweet Valentines...

So there are perks to living in a house full of males. I received two sweet valentines from my sweet valentines. Andy knows that unlike most women, I don't really want red roses. I love, love, love orange roses and I love when he gets them for me. This year, they were a light peach, but they were so pretty. Not to take anything away from the pretty roses, I think this was one of my favorite valentines I've received. I love his scratchy little writing that says "I love you, Mom". I think this was my first gummy lump (read Robert Fulghum). It was so cute, because Andy helped him make it, and he couldn't wait until Valentine's Day to give it to me. So I got it two days early. I now know why Moms love this stuff. It was the sweetest thing I've gotten in a long time. If you look really close, you will see a combine and on the back is a tractor with tracks. I love Valentine's Day!

My sweet husband has been writing a story every year that he adds to and I receive it on Valentine's Day. I'm amazed and thrilled with what he comes up with every year. I sure love him.

Cookies, Cookies, and More Cookies

So twice a year I get brave enough to attempt to make sugar cookies...Halloween and Valentine's. This Valentine's week, I decided to try some new recipes and I couldn't whittle down which ones to use, so I ended up using three different recipes. This turned out to be a five in the evening to an eleven at night project.

. The first batch as you can see were rolled in sugar and they were pretty easy. We had fun getting out all of the colored sugar that I own and rolling these cookies into it. Peyton and Andy even made one that looked like a rubics cube.

Then the real work started and we had to cut out two batches of sugar cookies, bake them, and then wait for them to cool enough to be frosted and decorated.

As you can see this is something that Peyton loves to do. He gets very messy, but does a pretty good job. We have been doing this since he was three, and I must say that this year I was very impressed. His cookies looked great and he was very creative.

This was his plate of lips that he decorated. I thought they were so cute. He said he made them for Aunt Pam because she is smooching so much lately.

These are the John Deere cookies that Peyts thought he needed to do.

Andy is such a good sport. We were both really tired that night, but we got through them fairly well.

I joined a cookie cutter and recipe club a long time ago...and every month they would send recipes, cutters, and sprinkles. I have so many sprinkles that we have quite the party decorating.

These are my favorite cookies that Peyton decorated. He did such a great job. Peyton got bored, and Andy and I had a lot of cookies to finish. The best recipe that I tried was a lemon one. The frosting was lemon and the recipe was lemon. They were to die for. However, at 11:00 p.m. at night we were sick of sugar cookies, from sampling dough, frosting and actual cookies and being on our feet until then, we pretty much gave all of the cookies away because we were sick of them.

What's the Deal?

For those of you that know me, you will understand the message...for those of you that don't, congratulations, Sherry!

Mr. January Organization

It takes me approximately one year to undo all of the fabulous organization that is in my home and done by my husband. That is why January is dedicated to organization for the month. It is what we learn about in FHE and it is what we do for activities. My husband was blessed with a lot better sense of order than I was, and he is really good at helping me organize. I'm very good at making messes but also finding things to contain my mess. I also provide us with some humor because usually by about September, it becomes very dangerous and fun to open our cupboards. It also reveals some interesting finds! So every year, I help him pull out all of the messes I've made and let him work his magic.

As you can see below, this is our pantry. We aren't quite done with cleaning it, but Andy has started and it is already looking better than what you see below.

The next order project is usually my cupboards in my kitchen. It gets to the point after that whole year that some of them don't even shut. I'm very good at messing up the order he tries to create. But I do really well if I can tell him where to put stuff I use a lot. He is so amazing, he has even organized my closet. He did that a few years ago, and for the most part, I do very well with his system. He arranges by color and by style. So pants are all by each other. Dresses and skirts are by each other. Short sleeved shirts are all arranged by color and long sleeved shirts are arranged by color.

These pictures of lovely cupboards that you are looking at, are ones that I've messed up and that don't close very well. This one below was so full that every time you opened it, something would fall out on top of you. Sometimes it did it without even opening the cupboard.

As you can see, the before and after is a very amazing transformation. He takes my mess and provides order. I love opening up this cupboard and finding what I need a lot more quickly than I did before. I even used the lemon pepper that I didn't know I had and spiced up our chicken dish the other night.

This was my favorite messy cupboard. It is above my stove and it is where we keep the medicine, but also my gum, vases, and other random things we don't use very often. However, because I'm a gum addict, I open this cupboard quite frequently and much to my surprise, even though I know it is going to happen, something would fall out of this cupboard. Sometimes it would even fall into what was cooking on the stove. It usually made a huge mess when it did this. This is the final product of Andy's organization.

This shows him in the process of doing the job just so you can see it really is him. I believe he hires out for 100 dollars a house! Just kidding. This is the last cupboard I took a picture of just so you can see. It was jam packed with papers and magazines and other odds and ends and he just whipped it into shape. He cleaned out our game closet so that we can actually find a game to play without pulling out all of the others on top of our heads. Just to make you all very jealous, even organizes my sock drawer according to color. Besides all of his added attributes that I love, I love that he provides order to my chaotic life. I like to think that I not only provide him with a winter hobby but a little random chaos and confusion! :-)