A Very Happy Mother's Day

If it weren't for my lovely little lady and

my dashing lad I wouldn't have had such a wonderful Mother's Day. Love you two!

Best Buddies

 

Today is Nate's best buddy Elise's birthday. Happy birthday Elise! He drew this card of the two of them.

 

He has quite a few girls that he calls his "girlfriend" but they are just girls that are friends. Elise, however, he says he is going to marry. Whenever he is asked if he thinks a girl is pretty he typically responds "yeah, but she isn't as pretty as Elise." So sweet!

Attitude

It's amazing how a change in hairstyle can affect your entire attitude. The way you walk, carry yourself even how you speak. Nate got this hip faux-hawk and immediately became Mr. Cool, swagger and all. I'm going to try an "Alfafa" hairdo (Little Rascals) and see how he reacts.

T-Ball

Nate started t-ball last week. It is hilarious to watch! He doesn't get the concept yet but he is having fun and that is the most important part. The kids see the ball and basically all run towards it.

The bats are for smaller kids but looks giant in Nate's hands. We have the first game in two weeks...should be entertaining!

Tuesday Tips - Transporting Cupcakes

Our neighbor gave us these cute bunny cupcakes last week for Easter. She didn't have one of those fancy cupcake carriers so used what she could find...

a cleaned out disposable fruit bowl! It was ingenious!

Sun

We're so excited that it finally stopped raining. It is supposedly going to get up to 80 degrees this week! Yahoo! Looking forward to some fun in the sun!

MIA

I know I have been MIA lately. I have a million posts to publish but have gotten caught up with all the other projects and crazy life stuff swirling around me. I promise to be back up and running soon. Thanks for your patience!

Love,
Rice Pot Mama

Working Hard

I've been working hard on a bunch of projects the past couple of weeks. Last week I actually worked (at a desk) in Portland. It was a fun change of pace. I've also been wrapping up the preschool photos, Nate's baby book (5 years late), Gabby's baby book (2 years late) and scanning all of Nate's school projects into a book so I don't have to keep the crate of crafts he's done the past two years. I tend to start projects and then get excited about something else and leave everything half done. My goal is to finish all of the photo books I've been meaning to do the past 5 years, that's 9 books total.Wish me luck!

Swinging

Nate learned a new skill this week...How to swing by himself!

It took a bit of time for him to figure out that you go higher the more you lean back and pull on the chains. Once he got it, he really flew high!

He still needs a bit of a boost to get started but is having a grand time swinging on his own!

Ugly Birds

If you read my post from yesterday, we had a few turkeys visit us. Why is it that the females are so plain and ugly? I'm not saying the males were good looking. Turkeys are some of the ugliest birds out there. But the guys had fancy feathers and bright colors.

Despite her homeliness our ugly girl did have two Toms chasing her and showing off their feathers. She just went about her business and ignored them. I guess that's something.

Turkey Surrealism

Nate and I saw some turkeys on the road on our way to school. Gabby missed them. She was really upset. Once we got home she and I sat down to have some tea when the turkeys literally pecked on our window. It's one of those days where you want something to happen and it magically does. She asked for puddles next...I'm guessing it's going to rain now.

The poor Tom turkeys have a dangly piece of flesh hanging off of their beaks. See it flapping in the air as he shakes his head? This is how I felt the past two weeks with my cold. Something constantly dangling off of my nose. I managed to blow my way through two entire boxes of tissue. Both kiddos had colds too but used their sleeves. Lots of icky laundry. I think we're all back to normal. Though seeing the turkeys I have that cloudy head feel I did last week...what a weird day so far.

Butterfinger Muddy Buddies

 

Muddy buddies are one of those treats that you can't make too often. They are so addictive and easy to eat way too much! When I came across a recipe for Butterfinger Muddy Buddies I knew I had to make them for Nate's birthday party.

Start by chopping up your Butterfingers.

In a microwave safe bowl place the chocolate chips, butter and peanut butter. Microwave and stir until smoothe.

Add in the Chex cereal and mix until the cereal is coated.

 

Sprinkle the Butterfinger bits on top. Stir to combine.

 

 

Add the powdered sugar and coat evenly. Spread out on a baking sheet to dry. Enjoy!

 

Butterfinger Muddy Buddies Recipe

Ingredients:

1/4 c. butter
1 (12 oz) bag chocolate chips
1 1/2 c.  Butterfinger candy bars, chopped (about 5 regular bars or about 16 mini bars)
1/2  c. smooth peanut butter
8 c. Chex cereal
1/2 c.powdered sugar

Directions:

Chop your Butterfingers and set aside. Don't chop them too small as you'll want to see the chunks and taste them!

In a microwave safe bowl add butter, chocolate chips and peanut butter. Microwave for one minute and stir until smooth. If the chocolate doesn't melt all the way put it back in the microwave in 15 second intervals. Stir after each microwaving until smooth.

Put the Chex cereal into a large covered bowl and pour the chocolate mixture over. Fold until the cereal is coated. Add the crushed Butterfingers and coat the cereal.

Sprinkle the powdered sugar over the cereal and again toss to coat. Spread out on a 1-2 cookie sheets until the chocolate hardens. Once it hardens it is ready to eat!

Wish List

Nate had a very specific wish list for his birthday. Normal kid stuff...Legos, superhero action figures, etc.

Then...

there...

was...

weird...

stuff...

A Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle Chia Pet

Magnifying Glass (a real one, not a toy)

Work out clothes.

He's such a strange little man. But I love him with all his weirdness.

Ninja Enchilada Birthday

 

Our Nate-Nate turned 5 last week. A whole hand! We celebrated with family with a "Ninja-Enchilada" themed birthday party. Nate came up with that idea himself. He loves ninjas and enchiladas are awesome; it was all the better that the two sort of rhymed.

 

The party favors were these cute little take out boxes. We went to the grocery store and Nate filled the boxes with his favorite candies. Including Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle fruit snacks. Those talking turtles were cool back when I was little and are apparently coming back! Kowabunga, dude!

 

 

We also gave these fierce chopsticks. They served as inspiration for the cake which you will see below.

 

 

In addition to enchiladas Nate's other request was that there would be tons of dessert. "A whole table full." Who am I to argue with that request? Plus, I LOVE desserts!

 

We made cupcakes...

 

Ninja cookies with some awesome cookie cutters that my Aunt Bonnie got us. This was the bad guy according to Nate.

 

This was a good guy.

 

This was a good guy too. By the end of the night we had a lot of ninjas with missing limbs. Apparently our guests didn't want to eat a whole ninja but managed to sneak a leg here and there. Nate said they had been through a battle!

 

 

This was our ninja cake. I used marshmallow fondant. More on that later... It also happened to be red velvet cake. My sister Christina thought it was a bit gory. Ha!

 

It was a fun relaxing day with family and the best part is that Nate thought it was the best party ever! He's already coming up with ideas for his 6th birthday. Can't wait to see what he comes up with!

 

School Picture

I'm in the process of taking pictures of all of the kids at Nate's preschool. I did this last year too. It's a lot of work but fun to get to know all of the kiddos. Gabby has come with me for most of the pictures and wanted her picture taken too. Above is her first "school picture."

Besties

Life has been a bit chaotic for me recently. I pulled my neck and walked around crooked for a couple of days. Then my back was out of whack for compensating for my neck and now I have a cold. Ugh.

I have a lot of posts to catch up on so be prepared to be inundated: my report on marshmallow fondant, Nate's birthday party review, Butterfinger muddy buddy recipe and more!

The above picture is of me and my two besties from childhood. I've known them both for 2/3 of my life! Crazy! We used to occasionally dress like each other in high school and happened to all be wearing stripes at Nate's birthday party. What a fun coincidence! I love you gals!

Splish Splash

 

You will hear a lot of folks around here complain about the rain. It rains to much. It's depressing. Blah. Blah. Blah. What they need is a good day of puddle jumping.

 

 

You get wet. Really wet.

 

 

But it is so much fun!

Birthday Wishes

I make a birthday card for one of my bestie's, Amanda, every year. I think I made the first one in 1998, our freshman year of college (dating myself?). I try to do a different style each year (past examples: 2012, 2013). This year was a simple pen and watercolor of Queen Anne's Lace. I saw a super cute stamp on Pinterest and tried to replicate it but replaced the flowers with fun little hearts.

Jim would argue that Queen Anne's Lace is a weed. Weeds are supposed to be removed. They don't show caring or love. I argue that both Queen Anne's Lace (and dandelion puff balls!) have a certain romanticism and beauty as a wild flower...not a weed.

Tuesday Tips - Coloring Fondant

 

We're prepping for Nate's big 5th birthday coming up. Today we made marshmallow fondant for the first time. I'll be posting the recipe and how to later, if it actually turns out. We learned a couple of things from the process today:

 

#1 - Wear gloves if you are going to color your fondant. Unless you think spotted colorful hands are cool. Nate liked the color.

 

#2 - Grease your work surface liberally with vegetable shortening. Marshmallow fondant is sticky. If your work surface isn't slick the fondant will stick to your work surface.

I'll be rolling out the fondant and cutting shapes in the next few days. Wish me luck!

Carnitas

Carnitas is a Mexican delight that we love to indulge in. Cooking it the traditional way at home can be a hassle as it is typically fried in large vats of lard. A simple no nonsense but surprisingly tasty way to cook it is to simply put a pork butt in a Crock Pot! Place a quartered onion on top and cook on low for 10 hours. Remove the fat from the top, shred and enjoy!

Tuesday Tips - Peeling Potatoes

 

Peeling baker potatoes can be tiresome unless you do this super cool method! First, bake or boil the potato. Plunge into ice water for 10 seconds.

 

This quick cool down will allow you to handle the potato.

 

Put a hand on each end of the potato and pull gently.

 

The skins should peel away into your hands. Be sure to do this quickly as the potatoes are still piping hot! You can see the steam in the above picture...hot potato!

 

If you pull with a little too much muscle you might come away with an unpeeled broken potato. Beware.

MAKit Plates 2014

We had several plate making days with cousins and friends this year. It's such a fun way to chronicle each persons interests and artistic capabilities. Above, Nate was a portraitist and drew himself and dad skiing.

 

Gabby experimented with swirly circles that would shoot off in different directions. She's definitely an abstract artist.

 

Sophia was a cartoonist.

 

Abby delved into colors and textures.

 

Phil dabbled in modernism.

 

Christina did a still life.

 

 

I did stick figures.

 

It was a fun and art filled project. Can't wait to see what next year brings!