Easter Food Traditions

For Easter, we have some random food traditions.  We even learned a new one this year.

We have Jell-o jiggler egg molds that I use every year to make these fun jigglers.  Caleb doesn't even really like Jell-o but they are fun to make.  When I was younger we would use plastic eggs to make these.  The molds most definitely make it easier.

When I was little, my grandmother would make large Easter Bunny rice krispy treats.  I don't remember what she used for the mold but I just remember how neat the big Easter Bunny was.  Three years ago, I was so excited when I found a mold of an Easter Bunny that would work to do the same thing.

So know we can make our own big Easter Bunny treats.  I love them and it is fun to get to do something I remember from when I was little.

This year we were introduced to Resurrection Rolls.  These are a great and easy idea and a wonderful way to help children think about the Resurrection. 

You start off with a large marshmallow.  This symbolizes Christ's body.  Then you roll the marshmallow in butter to symbolize the oils He was anointed in.  Then roll the marshmallow in cinnamon and sugar to represent the spices that were place on His body.

Roll the now cinnamon marshmallow in a crescent roll to symbolize the cloth Christ was wrapped in.

They will look like this.  Now place them in the "tomb" (oven) for 13 minutes (3 days) and bake.

The marshmallow (Christ's body) is now gone because He has Risen! 

They taste delicious and were fun to make.  I love all the great ideas everyone shares so we can do these fun new things with our kiddos!

What fun Easter traditions does your family have?  I love picking up fun new ideas.

March Caleb-isms

Probably my favorite time with Caleb lately is on our drive to and from school.  He loves that time to just talk and talk, so most of his fabulous conversations come from traveling in the car together.

Caleb:  "Mom, were boys or girls born first?"
Mom:  "Well do you remember who the first people on Earth where?"
Caleb:  "Adam!  So he was born first right?"
Mom:  "Well technically he wasn't born, but he was first."
Caleb:  "Then after Adam and Eve came Grandma and Grandpa, huh!"
Mom:  "No, they came much much later."
We then had a long conversation about when Grandma and Grandpa finally came along and how he knew all that.  Then we continued the conversation.
Caleb:  "So when Adam and Eve had a baby.  Was it a boy first?"
Mom:  "Well as far as we know, yes."
Caleb:  "Yep!  Boys are older, huh?"
Mom:  "Well a boy did come first."
Caleb:  "You know, I am old.  I sure feel old!"

During Spring Break, we visited the Zoo for lunch.  While we were wondering around a high traffic area of the Zoo, I notice a little bare bum in a lsmall tree by the sidewalk.  Sure enough!  It was my son squatting down to drop a load in the middle of the Zoo.  I run over, pull up his pants, and grab him to run to the bathroom.. The whole time he is telling me that he can't hold it and he just needs to go potty. We made it to the bathroom, but he sure wasn't embarrassed or anything about his actions.  Because of course we just go to the bathroom where ever we need to.  It must be a male thing!  I was just really glad I didn't have to clean up that mess!

Our neighbors have recently gone through a divorce.  They have 6 and 4 year old daughters.  The father moved away a few weeks ago, and now the mother is moving to a new place.  She has been busy loading and packing over the past few days.  After watching the moving, Caleb asked me these questions.
Caleb:  "Mom, has their dad moved away?"
Mom:  "Yes, he did."
Caleb:  "And now their mom is moving away, right?"
Mom:  "Yes, she needs to move now."
Caleb:  "So does that mean M & B could come live with us now and we could be their family?!"
Mom:  "No, I'm sorry but it doesn't work that way."
Caleb:  "Jesus is never going to give us a baby!!"
Mom:  "Well that may be true but Heavenly Father loves and cares about our family."
We then stopped the car, and Caleb got out of the car.
Shouting loudly up to the sky with arms flailing, Caleb screamed:  "Jesus!  Give us a baby!"  Turning to me he said, "There, Mom, I let Him know."
(Yep, I feel like doing that sometimes too.  Yes, I do.)

After church one Sunday, I came home to find this Facebook post posted by my son's Primary teacher. 
"Today in CTR 5 class one of the little Brethren was so excited I had come to his house last week to bring ice cream and cookies. ♥ So the others wouldn't feel left out, I explained that his mommy had had a really bad day and the ice cream was exclusively for her . ♥ The cookies he shared with his siblings. One little fella piped up, "My mom has bad days ALL of the time, and we like chocolate chip." ♥ Hehehehehe! ♥( Somebody's getting a plate of chocolate chip cookies this week! ;)"
After reading this, my first thought as Primary President was, "I wonder what family that could be and how could we help out this poor mom."  Then I began to wonder if by chance my son would ever say that. 
Wouldn't ya know it, but later that day my son's Primary teacher knocked on my door with two plates of warm chocolate chip cookies and a pint of ice cream "for one of my bad days".  Well I got a good laugh from the whole thing! (Fortunately his teacher is a sweet friend of mine and knows our family well.)
Many people posted on the Facebook book how funny this was and that it should be submitted to the Friend (our church magazine for children).  It is a great story and even better when you can add that the Primary President's son piped up with that response.  Caleb did score us some amazing cookies!

Laughter really is the best medicine for anything.  Our little chatter box sure cracks me up!  Kids really say and do the darn-dest things.

Spring in Full Bloom

Being a true South Dakota girl, it completely baffles me that Spring can begin in March!  Although I am not complaining.  I may be from South Dakota but I am a bit cold blooded, and so I love the warmth here.  Usually we can't plant anything until after Mother's Day, but not in Texas.  The last few weeks for Family Night, we have been working on the yard and getting some plants planted.  It has been a lot of fun to be outside and enjoy the 80 degree weather.  Things are growing like crazy now.  Hopefully this summer will not be as hot as last year, and kill everything.  We keep praying for a wet Spring! 

Our Cute Helper!

He loves planting and watering his plants!

We have a ton of thistles and thorny weeds this year to manage.  Texas is full of random prickly plants and our yard has been invaded.  We have been waging war! 

Sprouts growing like crazy.

Looking good so far.  The grass is even greener now and the rose bushes are in full bloom.  It is so pretty right now and the weather is wonderful in the mid 80's!   I love it!  Anyone up to visiting Texas this year? 

Our First Spring Break

Last week was Caleb's first Spring Break!  We considered taking a big trip, but decided to keep it simple and fun.  Caleb wanted some pajama days and we all just needed a relaxing week.  It was a great Spring Break with play dates, small outings, and even a chill pajama day.

We spent one afternoon at the Zoo with a group of friends.  We packed a sack lunch and a had great time enjoying the beautiful weather. 

Almost the whole crew of kiddos.  Pretty awesome kids!

For Spring Break, Caleb had been given a coupon for Mr. Gatti's Pizza.  We decided to have a fun lunch date with dad and check it out.  They have a descent pizza buffet and then have a game room similar to Chucky Cheese.  Caleb and Dad had a lot of fun playing games together and earning tickets.

Sure do love my handsome boys.  It was fun to get to spend some time with Daddy.  Caleb was sure sad that Daddies don't get Spring Break too.  He didn't think that was very fair.

Our big trip for the week was to Dublin, TX, home of Dr. Pepper.  It is a small town only 1 1/2 hours from here and has an old fashioned Soda Shop.  You can also tour the Dr. Pepper Factory and Museum. 

Home of the Oldest Dr. Pepper Bottling Plant in the World

Just a small little place but really cute

The Soda Shop was great!  They made simple sandwiches but the best part was the soda.  They made it with just soda water and a squirt of the flavoring you want.  The flavoring was made from pure cane sugar, no corn syrup.  The difference is amazing.  It really does taste so much better.  The Root Beer was the Best!

The Bottling Factory

Just recently, Dr. Pepper announced that it will no longer be making Dr. Pepper in Dublin.  They will continue to make a select few drinks, just once a month, but no more Dublin Dr. Pepper.  This Dr. Pepper was made with pure cane sugar and no corn syrup.  After tasting it, it really is a shame they are no longer making it.  The factory is small and old but was educational. 

Here is where the process begins.  The bottles are taken into this huge machine where they are washed and rinsed and cooled in order to be ready to use.

The machine is really large.  You can see a diagram of the process above the kiddos.  All to make sure we don't get sick.

The bottles after they come out of the machine.  They now check for any cracks or damage to the bottles.

The bottles are then filled with soda water and the flavoring syrup before the bottle caps are put on.  This factory specializes in the old fashioned glass bottled soda.

I thought this was a neat machine.  Can you see the bottle caps?

 The bottles are then taken to be mixed.  It takes about 3 shakes to mix and the soda should stay mixed for up to 1 year.

The final inspection is done here.  The bottles are taken off the belt and placed in a 4 container box, where a special light is shined on them.  The look to see if the color and fill levels are correct and if the bottles have been damaged in any way. 

After they are all check out, they are ready to be boxed up and ready to sell!

Love'n the Dr. Pepper Experience!

We were not allowed to take pictures in the Museum, but it was neat to learn the history of Dr. Pepper and the Dublin Plant.  Do you know how Dr. Pepper got its name?  Is Dr. Pepper really made from prune juice?

As part of our tour, we each received a free bottle of Dublin Dr. Pepper.  The kiddos had a lot of fun drinking sodas in the soda shop.  It was a great day!

Just to prove that us moms were really there, we had to get a picture.  So glad that Mardy and Natalee were willing to come with me on our little field trip.  It was totally worth it!

By the way, Dr. Pepper was created by Charles Alderton of Waco, TX.  It is said to be named after the father of a girl Alderton hoped to marry.  To earn favor with the father, he named the drink after him.  Alderton did not marry Mr. Pepper's daughter but the name stuck.  And Dr. Pepper is not, nor ever has been, made from prune juice.  It is just a unique combination of flavored syrups that Alderton came up with while in his own little soda shop.  Dr. Pepper was known as the first energy drink, due to the high content of sugar.  Marketing techniques focused on drinking Dr. Pepper at 10, 2, & 4 to keep your energy up.  Most things in the factory and shop had the numbers 10, 2, & 4 somewhere.  Even check out the population of Dr. Pepper, Texas!

A Fun & Lucky Day

I normally don't do much for St. Patrick's Day.  We don't have any regular traditions other than wearing Green.  But this year, Brydon was going to be gone for a Scout Camp out and Service Project, so I decided to make it a fun day. 

The night before St. Patrick's, Caleb made our first ever Leprechaun trap.  Some of our friends made these so we decided to give it a try.  We hoped we could lure the Leprechaun in to trap him, so we could talk to him the next day.  Caleb made a cute rainbow and we put together a make shift Pot of Gold in a box.  For a last minute idea, I think it turned out well. 

Our First Leprechaun Trap

The Leprechaun was really sneaky and during the night he turned all our chairs over and left a little trail of green paper to some treats.

Caleb was so excited to check his trap in the morning.  He thought for sure he had been successful!  He was very sad to open the box and find out it was empty.  He looked at me and said, "Mom, I really wanted to catch that Leprechaun so he would tell us the magic word to ride the Rainbow.  I really wanted to ride that Rainbow!"

Caleb loved that the Leprechaun magically turned our milk green though.

For a fun lunch, we invited some good friends over, whose husbands were also out of town, for a Green Party.  We had yummy green punch and green "tortillas" for our tacos.

Our Super Cute Green Kiddos

Dessert was a Big Favorite

My super talented friend made these awesome rainbow cupcakes with clouds and I took the chance to make my grandma's pistachio nut torte (yummy yummy).  Can't have a party with out yummy treats!

Then my other artistic and talented friend brought some face paint.  The kids spent time playing, getting their faces' painted, and having their nails painted green (yep even the boys).

Way cute!!  I am most definitely not talented enough to use face paint.

A fun and simple way to celebrate the Luck of the Irish!  What a fun day!