All Kinds of Sweetness

This is a couple days after the fact, but here is Grey's big "shiner". He fell and hit the corner of something and I swear to you instantly a bump started growing off of his forehead like Pinocchio's nose grows in the movie. It was crazy. The boy will not tolerate any kind of ice compress either so really wasn't much I could do besides try to hold him down and place a cold rag on it. Luckily the swelling faded as the day went on but he had a nice goose egg and bruise for several days afterwards. 

 I swear it's a blessing he's not injured more often because he climbs everything in sight - notice him sitting on something in the picture below. People told me about the boy differences when I was pregnant but it honestly amazes me to see the innate differences between he and the girls with each passing age/stage. 

 So, remember these little gems I made for Avery's birthday? Well, I had lots of leftover cake and icing that I did not want to go to waste. So...I set out to look for a way to utilize my rainbow leftovers. 

 I knew I wanted to try to make cake pops but they've always intimidated me truthfully (not sure why). I found a recipe pretty quickly online and from what I could tell the quantity of icing used was/is key in cake pop success (for those of you who want to know - less is more). Basically I crumbled up all my leftover cake and then used my hands to mash in the icing until it was what I felt was a good "rolling consistency". I put a candy stick into each ball and then popped them cake in the freezer on a cookie sheet for about 15 minutes and while they hardened up a bit I melted the chocolate/almond bark. From there you pretty much just dip each one into the chocolate to coat and then you can do one of two things: 1)put on parchment/wax paper to dry or 2) insert the sticks into some type of form and decorate your pop. I did both just to see which method I preferred for future reference. 

 It kind of depends on what you're going for. If they are just to eat and indulge in for your family I would do the above, but if you're making them for something special doing them as I did below would be prettier. I used sprinkles because I knew my kiddos would dig that, but you could really decorate them for whatever occasion they were being made for. 

 Listen - this was SO SUPER EASY and they were delicious and they were cute (in my opinion). Bottom line: don't be skeered of the cake pop makin'!

 The kids loved them - I'm sure your shocked. 

 What's not to love, right? Because I had all kinds of colors mixed in they were kind of speckled on the inside, but I was thinking (like I did with the jars) you could do pink/blue for baby showers and red for Valentine's day - so many cute options. 

 This boy - he loves a treat. The moment you say treat he starts grinning and giggling. I totally identify with that type of reaction to sugar. Totally.

 Seriously. I love it. 

 I mean, even with mouth full - just the sight of it makes him smile. 

 He's not above sniffing his treats either. 

 Or pounding them as it turns out. That a boy! 

 My babies - they are growing so fast. I took these pictures of the girls when we were outside one day and when I uploaded them later and looked at them my breath caught because I was struck by how BIG both of them look. It really does go by so very fast.

 I'm so thankful for so many things about each of them, but as I've stated before: I mostly thankful for their relationship with one another. I hope they always find joy in spending time with one another. Right now...most of the time...they play well together and I'm so, so thankful.  

 These two are a work in progress when they are playing solo but each week I catch more and more glimpses of times like this: 

 & this

 Grey still isn't really saying their names but the first thing he says every morning when I get him out of his crib is "sissies"? When he sees them he lights up and when we pick Kennedy up each day he squeals with delight when she gets in the van. I love it!

 CHEESE!

 These two are pretty much thick as thieves - they don't have issues often and when they do they are quick to resolve them. This picture cracks me up. Tim and I were out somewhere and Mom was with the kids and she had allowed the girls to go out in the back yard while she fixed supper and could check on them through the window every now and then. Well, they decided to turn on the hose and have a little mud fun. I laughed and laughed when I saw this. I'm sure it was a bit messy to clean up but I bet those memories will last a long time. I mean, I totally remember making mud pies as a kid - do you? 

BFF's

 We didn't really do anything for Saint Patrick's Day, but I did manage to get all my kiddos in green for church that following Sunday. No pinching here please! Trying to get a decent picture of the three of them is challenging...clearly:

 Kennedy does this weird forced smile thing and it flares out her nostrils. It's really lovely. Really. Avery, well - you just never know what's going to happen with her and Grey is actually my most cooperative subject if he's still long enough. Third time was a charm in that scenario. 

 See what I mean, this is K's natural beautiful smile but I'm not sure what my #1 smiling subject is doing here. 

 I usually just keep clicking away and in the end I'm always glad because I end up with sweet shots like this one which I adore: 

 In full disclosure, I felt like you should see this picture because after he almost impaled himself on this flutophone, he then got mad when I corrected his "positioning" and retaliated by whacking his sister with it. Despite their love, they keep it real sibling style too. True story - I just noticed yesterday that it is still on the refrigerator from where I took it away and put it in "time out". I'm guessing a month is long enough, you? 

 Nana was here for a visit around St. Patrick's Day so that Tim and I could have a mini-getaway to Asheville (thank you free business trip...thank you very much). She got crafty with Kennedy and made a leprechaun house. Now, Kennedy had convinced herself that a leprechaun would be coming to our house and that she'd trap it in this sweet little bungalow she created for it. She had it rigged up with a stick and all so that the lid would fall on him after he climbed the ladder and peeked inside. Gotta love the imagination. 

 and the stellar, seasonally appropriate artwork. 

 What's a leprechaun house without frilly curtains and a window box planter complete with flowers. My girl...she thinks of everything! 

 Y'all know I get really into the elf thing at Christmas, so I figured I could oblige a little leprechaun fun. The leprechaun left half eaten green M&M's and Skittles trailing across the kitchen table and to the leprechaun house door. He also left a note and green milk for their breakfast. 

 It was a fun little Saint Patrick's Day surprise. Kennedy wanted to save her house, so he could visit again next year. We obliged. Until next year leprechaun house!