we've been busy, busy, busy

With this crazy early Spring, we have been staying busy around here. Much of our activity is normal stuff- made more fun by the lack of coats and addition of sandals. Matt has already mowed the grass twice and we've had the bikes out and had to wash a lot less socks.

I've been meaning to do a better job of taking picture of my toothless Abby because I know this time of no-teeth-on-top is going to pass quickly and I'll wish I had more pictures of it. So, here we go....

My friend, Nicole, had a baby two weeks ago and we got to take a meal over last week. Baby Sophia is gorgeous. She is the same size the girls were when they were born, and I fell in love with her. -as did the girls!

Here is some of our bike riding practice. Lily and I practiced one day while Abby was at school and Lily got really good! Here is her progress:

Abby's new goal is to get across the monkey rings on our playset. Very hard. But, she's determined. She'll get there, I'm sure.

Last week at gymnastics, her class worked on the equipment that was closest to the parent's seating area. I was so excited because then I could take video! This is her on the bars. The second bar exercise she does was to hold a position for a certain number of counts. She said it was "easy."

And, last but not least, we made caramel corn this weekend. I pulled out our air popper, which the girls loved. I had a post planned with the recipe for you, but the second time I made it last night, for some reason, it burned. Not sure why. Sooo, maybe I'll share after a successful batch (because it really is awesome)!

iPhone Photo Dump

Here are some randoms from my iPhone....

With the insane weather, we've gotten outside some recently. (not as much as we should) Here are the girls trying to manuever their bikes down the driveway to the sidewalk.

We went out to breakfast on Saturday. The girls shared their crayons and colored while waiting on our food.

Lily and I joined Abby at school for lunch.

A different day at Abby's school- I volunteered and Matt picked us up since my car was being worked on. This is us waiting to be picked up. For those of you who only see Lily when she grabs my leg and buries her face when you say hi to her... this is the real Lily:

My new Silpat

I have a new baking toy that I must tell you about. A Silpat Pan Liner. You know, like Martha uses? At least that is what I always think of. I got it for Christmas, but didn't use it until last month.

Let me tell you, there is a reason Martha uses them.

They are magic.

For real.

The cookies slide off of them like butter. (or should I say butta'?) And cook more evenly.

They aren't cheap, this one was from Williams Sonoma (I LOVE that store!), and cost $25 if you are interested. But, seriously, now I want another one, so I can have one tray in and one tray waiting to go in. Privileged people problems, I know.

Wrestling Rules

I have a hair appointment this morning which means its just the girls and Daddy for a bit... which usually means some wrestling time.

Abby wrote out some rules:

Easter Egg Bunting

Lily declared this "Boootiful." I agree. So cute.

(plus, I didn't feel like too much of a thief taking the paint samples)

Tea and crumpets, anyone?

It has been wild around here lately. I think it has to do with the crazy weather, but our girls have been nuts. Seriously. Lily has been in trouble a lot lately and Abby has been super hyper.

Yesterday after school, while we were doing homework, she (Abby) decide that she would read her weekly story in a British accent. Where she learned this, I have no idea. How she does it so well, I also don't know. I couldn't do it, but it IS hilarious.

(Also, I'm trying You Tube out for videos, so bear with me. I want to keep them "private" for security reasons, so I'm trying to figure it all out. If you use it, what setting do you use, private or unlisted?)

Double Sided Fabric Headband Craft

Lily and decided to try a little craft today inspired by a pin on Pinterest. This is the link. I tweaked the pattern a little to make it smaller for little heads. and just used raw elastic, instead of covering it. I now have a VERY happy 3 year old.

Our first step was to choose fabric. I quite a few little girl friendly fabrics, so this was fun. She chose butterfly for one side of the headband, and stars for the other side. For Abby's, we chose rainbow, and a random summer print. I chose the most grown-up prints I had for mine.

It was pretty easy.

This is the original "pattern". The pink/red line is how I changed it. I made it quite a bit smaller, and I didn't use the elastic cover.

You have to cut two to sew together (front and back). You could do the same fabric, but it's more fun to make it reversable and then it's like you have two!

Here is my helper, sitting by my side (with our sample on her head-it's black)...

(here is the headband after I turned it the right side out, before ironing)

Amazing what a little ironing can do... I also topstitched it, because I like the way it looks, and I think it holds it together better.

Here is the other side.

...and our model.

Oh, and in case you want to know for yourself... the whole project- to make three, took less than an hour.

Energy Bites Recipe

We have a new favorite recipe around here. And, shocker, I got it from Pinterest. It's a pretty simple recipe and you can customize it and substitute for allergies as needed. Follow this link for the recipe, but here is basically how we made them (we customized a little).

We mixed a cup of oatmeal, a half cup of peanut butter (but you could substitute for allergies), a third cup of honey, a cup of rice krispies, a half cup of mini chocolate chips, and a teaspoon of vanilla. The rest of the ingredients in the original recipe I either couldn't find (flax seed) or forgot to buy (coconut). We just thought rice krispies would be good. You could mix in other stuff too- craisins, nuts, etc. Refrigerate for a bit, roll into balls, and refrigerate more. Yum.

It doesn't make a ton and they don't last long! :) We call them cookies, but they really aren't.

Enjoy!