Ellie's Baptism

Ellie was baptized last week. She was very excited. Some of that excitement may have been that she got to share the day with her BFF, Izzy. And thank goodness she did. Izzy's mom just happens to be really talented at putting together cute invites and programs and nice finishing touches that I usually don't even think of. Thank you, Izzy's mom. :)
It was very nice because my parents and Ellie's older sister, Ryan were able to come. We thought the other grandparents were going to make it too, but were surprised with a last minute realization that that wouldn't be the case. But, that is another story. Maddie was also absent as she was in a show that night.

Grandma M did make Ellie a nice little baptism dress though. It turned out very cute. Not only that, she made Lauren and Ellie each a new "Easter" dress. Lauren is wearing hers in the picture above. I made Ellie and Izzy's "baptism" dresses. They went to the fabric store together and picked their patterns and fabric. Their fabric is matching, just different colors. I made the cupcakes. The day turned out well. The important thing is that Ellie is now baptized and thrilled to be so. She's so excited to be working on Faith In God goals and trying hard to always choose the right. I'm so proud of her.

Easter

On a super cold, blustery, wintery April day, our subdivision held its annual Easter Egg Hunt and Activity Day. It's very handy because it's basically held in our back yard. There were pony rides, face painting, jumpy houses, burgers and dogs, and the Easter Egg Hunt. There must have been enough eggs filled for around 60+ kids, but because of the weather only about 8 kids (in my kids' age range) were there and I brought 4 of them (2 friends). They ended up rolling the wagon over to the yard area and using that as the "basket". They filled the wagon with candy filled eggs. Literally hundreds of eggs were in there. Thank goodness they decided to drop most of them off at the neighbor friend's house. We only ended up with about 80 or so.
We tried something different for our eggs this year. I colored small pasta and rice and we decorated blown eggs by gluing the pieces on. As it turns out, this project requires more patience than most of my kids had. The younger two ended up just covering their egg in glue and rolling it around in the pieces. Whatever. It was fun and different from the same ol', same ol'.

Twins

For some reason during a week in April we had a lot of twinsiness at our house. Richard and Ellie dressed in their Angels gear for the Father/Daughter day a school.

Then, a few days later, I was in my usual caual attire and next thing I know I have a mini-me.

And so, on that same day, Lauren and her friend decided to be twins too. How fun!

Ellie is 8

Ellie had a great birthday this year. It was an even birthday, so that meant a family party. Her big gift was a new American Girl doll from her older siblings. Wow! Josephina doll is a beauty. Silly Ellie had a few odd requests for her cake. She wanted it to be chocolate and strawberry and it had to say, HI. It also had to use the "8" candle AND the tall skinny candles. So that's what she got. Not the best looking birthday cake, but she LOVED it. Yay!

Talent Show Winners

Maddie and her friends won first place at the high school talent show! It was sooooo good. They sang "I Know It's Today" from the Shrek musical. Of course, Maddie was the part of young Fiona. It just sounded so great! There were some talented kids there, but this performance was pure entertainment. The cash prize of $150 was split between them. They were some cute and happy girls. Way to go, Maddie!

Flower Basket Cake

This is the cake I made for our Relief Society Birthday dinner this year. The theme was "Bloom Where You're Planted." I did a basket weave with Royal icing flowers. I did the flowers this way so that I could make them in advance and then just place them when I put the cake together. It turned out well.

Great to Be 8

I was in charge of our Great To Be 8 (or 8 Is Great) meeting this year and found instructions on Sugardoodle.net for these cute cookies on a stick. They were a big hit!

Wacky Hair Day

Lauren made quite an impression at her school when she showed up like this for wacky hair day. She was thrilled with it. She found out that it wasn't the best hairdo for playing limbo though. :)

Several people have asked me how it's done. Here's the trick: Gather the hair you want for the spike, grab a wad of egg whites and blend it in (especially at the roots), comb into place again, blend in a bit of hair glue (got 2 B glued brand), work quickly and get your spike perfect, hold while you blow dry on low cool until it is stiff. Repeat with all spikes. It may take some time. Be prepared for that.

St. Patrick's Day

My kids love to get into the spirit of St. Patrick's Day. It was a beautiful day and they were having fun. I love Lauren's shamrock skirt.

Art

Just a sampling of some of the cute art projects Ellie has done this year.