April Fools Traditions - SHHHHhhhh!

OKAY so who is ready for some April Fools Fun tomorrow? What do you have up your sleeve? In previous years my kids were completely fooled by the "Rasperry Pie" which was really Shepards pie with red food coloring whipped into the mashed potato topping. Or the "mashed potatoes and gravy" that really were vanilla ice cream with caramel sauce. They liked those "potatoes" so much (who wouldn't?) that they are asking for those again this year. You can't "request" an April Fools prank or we miss the whole point, plus, we have dinner plans this year, so I think this year we will play this fun dinner game on Saturday night to celebrate general family tom-foolery. This is the first year I have had the courage to try it.

For their school lunches tomorrow, I have just finished preparing a fun switch involving whole-grain crackers, M&M's and double-sided tape. I am also using the cute labels I found here at Family Fun.com to disguise some of their other food. I also like Family Fun's idea of adding a gummy worm to an apple, I'll throw that together in the morning.


Simply open the package carefully, empty original contents, substitute even yummier contents of your choosing, include an "April Fool's" message, and re-seal using double-sided tape. I adhered the labels below using double-sided tape as well.

My eldest daughter will get the M&M's in her lunch as well as this "Alien birth-certificate", on which I have attached a post-it saying "Rowan, your father and I thought it was time we told you this..."

Anyway, it should be fun. My kids really do get a kick out of this holiday. This year, at least one of those kids is old enough to start a few April Fools traditions of her own. Uh-oh.

Calling all TEAM MOM's

Are you a team mom? I am not currently a team mom, but I wanted to share some ideas that the awesome team moms of our swim team put together at a recent swim meet. Two of our children have recently chosen swimming as their main sport. They and many of their team mates qualified for a championship meet. This was exciting for them not just because of the actual swim meet at a cool venue, but because they were able to stay in a hotel with their friends! Whoop-whoop! My husband and I were also excited for a mini family vacation, oh and the uh, swim meet.

However, after an extra hour spent driving in circles, with a fussy toddler, our excitement was giving way to road-weary, cranky hunger. So it was with extreme gratefulness that once we finally trudged into the hotel we were greeted by these adorable door signs.


These were made using a Cricut machine but I am sure they could also be made with the Silhouette Machine, or at least I am hoping so since I just recently purchased one from the promotion over at I Am Momma Hear Me Roar. If you want more info on how to make these, let me know and I will find out. My kids were so excited to see these on the door. We quickly unpacked and headed over to the banquet room where subs were waiting for us. The kids played party games while parents had a chance to unwind and socialize, perfect! All the swimmers had goodie bags waiting for them as well! Each with their name, and a quote about them from the coach. Inside were healthy snacks for the meet and a comfy cozy blanket, machine embroidered with the team logo and their name, how cool is that?

Toward the end of the meet, we met for a team dinner, complete with personalized cookies for each swimmer. What could have been a very tiring, difficult weekend turned out to be a lot of fun, thanks to some very creative and organized moms!

St Patricks Day Goodies (That I Should Have Made)

St Patrick's Day was crazy busy for me so I didn't get to do as much as I wanted to. I did however make everyone green french toast with green sprinkles, and green milk. I have a tendency to overdo things sometimes, so this, though not crazy inventive, hit the mark with my kids. Yes, I could have used a heart-shaped cutter to make the bread into a shamrock, but my kids are getting to be bigger eaters so I knew the whole piece of toast is what they needed. It's hard to have function over form isn't it?? Next year, the baby will want a Shamrock-shaped one, yay!

I LOVED the treats that were made over at LITTLE BIRDIE SECRETS however, I'm sure I would have made the time to make these awesome Shamrock Rice Crispie treats had I seen them in time, so cute!!


And the rainbow Twizzlers with the gold coins, ingenious, I even had the rainbow Twizzlers in my pantry, if only I had been reading my favorite blogs that week!!


The treats were so cute and just the perfect thing I wanted to make for my children's lunches vs. the store bought cookies I gave them (gasp) instead!

AND I would have LOVED to give my children's teachers these adorable boxes from The Rachel Berry Blog


I am adding it now so I won't make the same mistake next year...

Bill Bryson

Yes, I know, this is supposed to be a blog about having fun as a mom, but I am sort of obsessed with Bill Bryson right now. I LOVE all of his books and if you have a moment to read anything other than blogs and boardbooks, READ Bill Bryson's books!! They are so fun and entertaining and you may even learn a fun fact or two along the way, whether or not you remember said fun-fact is entirely up to you and what current level of sleep deprivation you are experiencing at present - good luck. I have just finished reading AT HOME and I can't stop bringing it up at every social gathering I go to which is most likely getting obnoxious. But how can I help it, this book is so expansive that it touches upon almost everything we experience in our daily lives. He gives us little tidbits of history and interesting facts about everything, and I mean everything in the building we call home. From the privy to the small crawlspace going into the attic the author wedges himself through in the first paragraph. When did the modern hallway show up in our homes? It was probably later than you think. And if you aren't already aware of Bill Bryson, he is an American that has spent many years living in Great Britain and has mastered the most charmingly humorous writing styles of both cultures. Those of us who read Bill Bryson, have a way of reflecting back to the time we picked up and read our first Bryson book with the same reverent tone we remember those crazy summer days of our teens. The first Bryson book I read, about 12 years ago now, was WALK IN THE WOODS and I have been a loyal reader of his ever since. His books are like armchair traveling with the class clown in elementary school kicking back on the sofa behind you. Not the obnoxious class clown that tormented you with gross noises, but the other one, the kid that knew how to say just the right thing at just the right moment so that even the teacher had to laugh and join in on the fun. I am happily married (today) but my secret crush, besides Matt Lauer and Colin Firth is now BILL BRYSON! Follow this link to the author's facebook page and see some beautiful images of the English countryside that are mentioned in the book as well as hearing the author himself read the first few pages. What was your first Bryson book? http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=478456787656&oid=8620543374&comments

Motherhood Perfected

Okay, I have been trying to find a title for a blog that wasn't already taken for ages now. I have tried every crazy combination of words I can think of and they were all taken! My blog will be about family, motherhood, creating and celebrating. I tried Motherhood Perfected, as a joke, thinking for CERTAIN it would be taken, but no. That is how insecure we mothers are. Not one of us, even the most crazy, intense mothers out there, would DARE say they were perfect mothers. I think that is interesting. I of course wouldn't dare either so I need to think of a way to tweak this title.

I love reading all the wonderful "motherhood" and other creative blogs out there. You have inspired me, cheered me, made me cry and helped me celebrate lifes tiny moments. I don't know any of you personally but I feel like I do, your are motherhood, you are life's important little moments, and you are awesome, THANK YOU for sharing your lives with the rest of us.

I hope that I may be able to contribute a eensie-something to this world of blogging. Well maybe during next naptime...