Bunny Buns

Bentley loves when The Friend appears in the mailbox and spends hours "reading it". He takes it to bed with him at night and keeps track of where it is throughout the day. When April came a few days ago he put all of his focus on the kitchen craft of the month--Bunny Buns, and has been begging to make them ever since. Today was the day.

The April Friend isn't available online yet, but Bunny Buns are basically orange rolls twisted to make the ears and body and then sprinkles are used for the faces. Bentley helped with the entire process, the mixing, the twisting and the decorating. Somehow he missed out on clean up though.

They couldn't wait until all the faces were on before digging in. In fact Lincoln started licking the icing off before his poor bunny even had a face.

Lincoln loved them, and we have a few bunnies with missing body parts to prove it.

I think they turned out cute and Bentley is super proud of them.

We forgot opening treats!

It's Monday! Do you know what that means, Family Home Evening! And I hope our boys are always excited for it as they are now. The excitement may come from the opening song and dance tradition we have going on. Which usually turns into 3 or 4 Primary songs that our boys dance wildly to as we sing. You can always count on us singing Follow the Prophet and Latter-day Prophets, but we do try to mix in others.

Or maybe the excitement comes because every week just as the lesson is starting Bentley stops us and says, "Wait. We forgot to have opening treats!" And every week we tell him we only have closing treats. But that makes no sense. Opening song, opening prayer, opening treats. That's how it should work in his mind.

But I like to think the excitement is actually because we are spending time together as a family and following the counsel of prophets. I plan on them always being excited for Family Home Evening. And if not, at least we have opening treats to fall back on if it comes to that.

Leprechaun Day

The boys set their leprechaun traps last night before going to bed. Bentley was sure they'd have at least one caught by morning, and he had plans of just what he'd do with the little guy.

After they were in bed, I instant messaged Deidra "its only st. patrick's day are traditions really worth it"

She wrote back that yes, yes they were. So I printed off the rainbow shamrock hunt, dug out our leprechaun foot prints and the green food coloring, and got busy leaving traces of a leprechaun behind.

This morning I was wakened by Bentley yelling "There's a leprechaun leaf on my door!" And jumping on my bed. I sent him to retrieve the said leprechaun leaf and convinced him that we should wait to start the rainbow hunt until Lincoln woke up. Then he Facetimed Chod, "Dad, it is Leprechaun Day, you need to come home. Leprechaun Day is a holiday." Chod agreed that it was a holiday, but he still had to work.

Minutes later Lincoln woke up (I think a sneaky little creature may have turned on his light provoking an early rise) and the hunt began.

It was all so exciting as they followed footprints, hunted for shamrocks, and found treats--but no leprechauns in our traps. Bentley was super grossed out that the leprechaun used our toilet without flushing, leaving the water green. And he refused to use the green milk.

So, I guess Deidra was right. As dumb as it seemed last night, it was totally worth it this morning.

Health Nut

::We were having pot pie for Sunday dinner. Bentley didn't want to eat it because "it isn't healthy" and he wanted to eat something healthy. What exactly? Oatmeal

::Later I asked if he would help me make a cake. Only if it was a healthy one. He agreed to an applesauce cake.

::Tuesday he was all over Chod about flossing his teeth before leaving for work. The harder he pushed the more Chod resisted. He's not going to floss just because a 5 year old told him to. Bentley worried about his dad's teeth all day.

::He asked me where we keep his running clothes. He doesn't have running clothes.

::Today for lunch he had an apple, and an orange, and wished he could have had a pear too. That's all he ate.

Should I be worried?

We're Onto You

Chod refers to Lincoln as our contrarian. No matter what the options are he will always want the one that isn't happening.

Lincoln: I'm thirsty.
Me: Milk or water.
Lincoln: Water
He watches me fill a cup up with water and as I hand it to him he screams, "NO! Milk"
So I dump the water in the sink and as I close the fridge with a gallon of milk in my hand he yells, "Water! I want water!"

Me: "Undies or diaper?"
Lincoln: "Undies"
And as I'm putting his little legs in the undies he screams, "No, me want diaper!"

Shoes or boots?
Coat or jacket?
Peanut butter or no peanut butter?
Legos or trains?
Monster or truck pajamas?
Cheerios or shredded wheat?
In or out of the crib?

Now that we've figured out his game, it is easier for things to happen our way. While letting Lincoln think he is in complete control.

Silly Billy

There's a reason they call it silly string.

Don't Judge Me

Some of the brighter moments in my mothering career, from just this week. 

• The boys were mozying from the library to the car. Getting impatient with their dilly dallying, I told them to speed it up or I'd through snowballs at them. Suddenly getting to the car seemed like fun and dodging snowballs did the trick....luckily the raised eyebrow from the other mom on the sidewalk didn't sink in until we were buckled up.

• When yet another roll of toilet paper was found trailing from the front room, through the kitchen and finally found still attached to the roll on the wall in the bathroom, I demanded payment from Lincoln for the wasted toilet paper. He got a $5 out of his piggy back and handed it over. At that rate he's going to need a full time job by the time he is 3. Feeling guilty, I had him trade me the paper money for some coins. He chose 3 pennies.