April Fool's

After eating worm sandwiches for dinner (which didn't really fool anyone), I hyped up dessert and went into the kitchen to prepare it.


I came out carrying plates like this (minus the "fish sticks"), saying we were having mashed potatoes and vegetables for dessert.

It looked completely convincing so John walked off with a look of disgust and indignation. It was priceless!

The "mashed potatoes" are really ice cream with butterscotch topping, and the "vegetables" are candy. I used orange and green Starburst to make "cooked carrots" and "lima beans" that were fairly convincing. (Chop the orange ones into dices; soften the green ones in the microwave before making lima bean shapes.) The combination of potatoes and veggies helps the trick look realistic.

March Birthdays

In our family the birthdays are nicely organized: kids in March, parents in April. It's handy. So here are some snippets from each of the boy's birthday parties.

John turned seven and had a party with six other kids. We're glad we only have to have seven seven year-olds in our house once this year.

Playing Twister

Dad's a good sport to join in on freeze tag.

He wanted Dunkin Donuts instead of a cake. Works for me!

Here's how he looked a few weeks before his birthday, missing his two front teeth. 

 

 Liam was sick on his birthday, so we waited several days to celebrate. We invited the families of the children in his playgroup to meet us at the park for a picnic and cupcakes. Unfortunately, none of them could come! We had fun ourselves anyway. It was great park weather that day.

Sampling the frosting for his cupcakes. "Yes, Mom, it's good."

High-impact cupcake eating.

When the ice cream truck drove by playing its music, Liam stopped to dance.

Opening presents. John drew Liam a nice picture.

Going down the double slide together.