An Easter Miracle

My Easter Miracle this year is that I was able to get all five children dressed in their church clothes and actually have time to take a picture of them too! So there you go...Happy Easter!

P.S. Yes, I should have stock in the Children's Place.

So, What's For Dinner?

Okay, I'm putting it out there...I'm SO sick of deciding what to have for dinner! I don't mind making the dinner, I'm just tired of coming up with ideas of what to have that my kids will actually eat! So, I'm asking for your help....give me some ideas....what are you all eating for dinner? Do you have some regulars that keep coming back that are always hits with your kids?

Here are our top five:

Meatballs with red sauce and rice (we could probably have these every night and the kids would be happy, but can you really do that?)

Chili with cornbread (but it's getting warmer, and chili doesn't always sound so good)

Spaghetti

Parmesan Chicken

I can't even think of a fifth right now I'm so burned out!

Help, please!

And Then There Was This....

This morning, the kids took the mattresses in the loft to the next level, and maybe it's a bit too far. However, a day of children playing nicely together like this might be worth the cost of replacing these mattresses when they're destroyed. The jury is still out on this one.

PS - Don't worry mom, I cut Maggie's bangs today after I took the picture! :) I know...they're terrible.

What Passes For A Good Time

This is what passes for a good time in the Brundage Household. Somehow, the children convinced me that it would be so much fun, and that they'd be SO GOOD, if I would just let them pull their mattresses out to the the loft and let them make one giant bed for them all to share. Surprisingly, they were right. It was so much fun, for them. And, they were SO GOOD, for me. They've been sleeping this way for the past week, and we've not had better bedtimes in a long while. So, for me, for right now, it's whatever works when it comes to sleeping. And this is what works right now. So, sweet dreams from the Brundage Family!

You Know You Live In California When...

You know you live in California when the Ice Cream Truck comes to your house on the seventh of March, and your mom actually lets you buy some! You also know you come from a family who LOVES ice cream when your mom OWNS an ice cream store and she still buys you the junk from the Ice Cream Truck! Happy Friday from California!

Most Handsome Person Contest

There was a contest in our house tonight for the most handsome person. Maggie was the judge, and after having her brothers parade down the runway (in Project Runway Style), the award was given to Charlie! Just thought you might enjoy the "certifcet" Maggie made for the contest. (Sorry Darin if that's the wrong use of quotation marks!)

Variety Show Extravaganza!

Here are a couple of pictures from the Big Variety Show! Both kids did so well. Maggie's group sang "Best of Both Worlds", and Joe's group did a dance number to "Funkytown". Joe is on the right in this picture, and Maggie is the Hannah on the left. It was a great evening!

Harry's Dressing Room

This Saturday, Harry came to me with a complaint. "Mom, we really need to get my costumes organized so that I can find them when I need them." Apparently the stuff them all into four large bins and shove them in the closet plan wasn't working for him. So, being a lover of all things organized myself, I didn't want to squelch his desire to organize. We went through a couple of options, one being taking all the clothes out of his dresser and putting the costumes there. But then, where would he put his regular clothes? he realized. Finally, we settled on taking down the shower curtain in the kid bathroom (which the kids never use, so I guess it should be called the guest bathroom), and hanging up his costumes there. This kid really got into it. My job was to hang them on the hangers, and then he would hang them on the rack, organizing them by type of costume. "We'll start on the left and move to the right" was his actual comment. After we got the costumes all up, we started on the hats, hanging them with clothespins onto strings hanging from the towell rack. Finally, we lined up masks on the counter. I don't think the pictures reflect this latest addition. I have to say...it looks pretty cool. He kept saying, "it's like we're making a store, or a movie."And, it actually has helped. He's very good about hanging his costumes back up when he's done, so he always knows where to find them. I don't know what will happen when we next have guests, but for now, Harry's Dressing Room is a perfect addition to our home!

Brooke's February

This post is mosty for my own journal keeping purposes. I want to have it so that I can look back and remember how much stuff I did this month. So when I have something really hard to do, I can remember that somehow, I made it through February 2008!

February 1 - Grandma Carole's Birthday - fun dinner at Madonna Inn

February 2-3: Put up bead boarding in my tv room...painted walls, installed base boards and chair rail. (incidentally, TV has now broke and I'll have to pull off the bead boarding and baseboards in order to pull TV out for service guy)

February 4 - Family Home Evening Group at my house. Twelve adults and 14 children in attendance.

February 5 - Taught Young Women at church to make 20 bow ties for the Young Men to wear to church for Valentines Day.

February 6 - Stake Primary Meeting (my new calling)

February 9 - World Wide Leadership Training

February 10 - Ward Conference in Atascadero - this was really Joe's accomplishment as he took five children to church on his own.

February 14 - Put on Valentines Day party for Maggie's class at school.

February 16 - Joe's 9th Birthday and trip to the aquarium - see related post.

February 17 - Two Ward Conferences in Atascadero - again, kudos to Joe.

February 20 - Blocking for Variety Show

Feburary 21 - Printed and mailed 100 invitations for Activity Day Luncheon on March 8. Bought a new car. Designed Variety Show flyer for PTA envelope.

Febrary 22/23 - Going Away party for the Dupaix Family. Joe's Birthday Party - Also made ice cream for Variety Show

February 26 - Pinewood Derby - Made popcorn for 75 people

February 27 - Dress Rehearsal for Variety Show. Designed and printed 350 programs for Variety Show.

February 28 - Variety Show!

Feburary 29 - Seminary Teacher Appreciation Dinner

March 1 - Employee meeting at Cold Stone

Well, those are the highlights...I'm sure I've missed a few things, but I'm sure glad the month is over!