We all scream for ice cream!

I scream. You scream.  We all scream for ice cream!

I'd been seeing some yummy ice cream recipes on pinterest and thought an ice cream maker would be awesome for making allergy friendly ice cream for our family to enjoy.  I had 30% off at Kohls, so I looked around online and there was a green one!  I took that as a sign!  I ordered right away so it would arrive in time for the kids to give me for Mother's Day.

After getting it ordered, I spent some time pinning dairy free ice cream recipes.  I came across one from Chocolate Covered Katie that I kind of followed to make our ice cream.

2 cups So Delicious Coconut Creamer
1 cup So Delicious Original Coconut milk
1/3 cup sugar
1/8 tsp pink sea salt
1 tsp vanilla

Unbeknownst to the children (since they were with E at his parent's house), I got the freezer bowl out the night before and stuck it in the freezer.  So after they gave it to me, all we had to do was turn it on and pour in the ingredients. 

Then we went on a walk and come home to ice cream!!

It was so super yummy!  We ate every last bit and the kids even slurped the last drops out of their bowls.

Knowing the kids would want to pick something out for me themselves, I directed E to the Wholesale Beauty Supply so they could each pick out a nail polish.  They know how much I love painting my nails, so I knew they would love this and it was so fun seeing the colors they choose.

Kelton picked the green glitter.  Katie the sparkly coral and Konny the shimmery yellow.  I probably would never have picked the yellow myself, but I applied it that night and he was excited to see me wearing it the next morning.

Mother's Day is fun, but for me, everyday is a mother's day.  My whole life is planned for and around these lovelies and I wouldn't have it any other way!

Preschool Graduation

Katie has been attending Learn and Grow on the days I work this year so she could get a yr of preschool in before starting Kindergarten this fall.  Unexpectedly in Feb, Konnor started attending also and while we were super sad to leave Debbie's (the home daycare provider we've had for almost 8 yrs), it turned out to be a positive change.

At the end of the year, there's always a picnic, a program and a ceremony for the preschoolers entering the big K.  Although the picnic was moved inside due to chance of rain, we still had a lot of fun.

All through dinner, Konnor kept telling us how he was going to sing songs.  When it was time to actually go up in front of everyone though, he changed his mind.  Then they handed out the American flags.  All E had to say was...."well, I guess only Katie gets to hold a flag, " and he was right up next to her in a heartbeat!

And he stayed put even after they were done with the flags!

 

Ever protective, Katie made sure Konny didn't get to close to the edge and fall off during their enthusiastic performance...

 

 

After being at school all day, the whole performance was a little much for Konny, so he just sat down and observed the second half.

 

Then it was time for Katie to get her preschool diploma!

 

 

I can't believe my baby girl is going to be in Kindergarten next year.  Where has the time gone?   She is so beautiful and her personality is blossoming more and more everyday.  I just love this girl to pieces!

 

 

Teacher Appreciation Week

Doesn't it take such a leap of faith to entrust your most precious asset in the hands of another person?  We are so blessed to have such wonderful teachers in our children's lives and I definitely wanted to make them feel special during teacher appreciation week this year.

I joined the TAPE committee to help provide a little gift to all the district teachers in their mailbox each day during the week.  I had fun putting together these two little treats....

I also tried to send a little something for Kelton's teacher each day so she would know how much we appreciate her.  The first day was Hands Down, You're the Best Teacher Around.  I had Kelton trace and cut out his hand.  We also did these for Katie and Konnor's preschool teachers.

We also did some gum...

And M&Ms....

For the final day, Kelton took his teacher a cup with some instant drink mixes thanking his teacher for Quenching His Thirst for Knowledge.

 We also couldn't forget to spoil our therapists at Heartspring.  They are Helping Konnor Sparkle!

The kids youth group leaders definitely deserved credit also.  I SOAP they now how special they are to us!

My Sunday school class brought breakfast and mini rose bushes for the two wonderful women that keep our class organized.

As always, I have pinterest to thank for most of these ideas and I've linked to the printables I used, but some of them I created myself.  Plus, thanks to couponing and Dollar Stores, all of these little projects were very frugal, if not free, for me to make!

I have a few cute ideas for end of the year gifts and then I'll already be considering ideas for next  year.  Teachers deserve to be acknowledged and spoiled, all year long!

Here we run again!

Doing races on the weekend is always fun and it's even more fun when the whole family is involved!  Last weekend, we all loaded up (plus one of Kelton's friends) and headed to Winfield for the Sharon K Bird Memorial Run/Walk to benefit CCL.

It was such a bummer that it was only about 40 degrees and rainy!  Thankfully the rain let up just in time for the race. 

Kelton and his friend, Jacob ran the 5K together.  I ran with my childhood friend, Susan (Sharon's daughter).  Katie and Eric ran the mile, while my mom pushed Konny in the stroller. 

*Konny was obviously not cooperative for pics and when I told Eric later that day I didn't get a pic of him, he said....exactly.  Haha!

This was Susan's first 5K and she ran the entire way!  She did fabulous and I'm so proud of her!  We had so much fun and can't wait to do it again next year! 

ANTS!

Kelton received and ant farm for Christmas and while we ordered our ants right away, we had to wait until the weather was nice enough for them to travel through the mail to us.  When they arrived we couldn't wait to get them in their home.

They are sure busy little things....

At this point, I'm not sure we have very many...ahem...live ants left.  Just a couple days in, Konnor took the lid off and we had some escapees.  Thankfully, we taped the lid on because I may have accidentally knocked it off the counter a few days ago.  Oops!

We are all having so much fun watching our ants!   I know this will be something we do again! 

Earth Day 2013!

Since Earth Day was a Monday this year, we were all at work or in school.  We did get some work done in yard the weekend before though and had a special treat that morning.

We planted flowers in the front yard. 

Katie found a worm in the process and named him Golden.

Unfortunately, the flowers were already taken out by the crazy spring we're having.  They didn't last long under loads of hail and below freezing temps. 

Thankfully, Eric has managed to preserve our garden and while we've had to replace a few things, we do have some survivors!  Spinach is coming up and we planted some mint!  I'm envisioning fresh mojitos this summer!

We usually have dirt and worms for Earth Day but I didn't make it to the store for gummy worms, so we had green bread for breakfast instead!  It was quick recipe and super easy to make allergy friendly too!

Aaaand, it was a huge hit.  Seriously yummy!

Plus it made so much, we ate it all week.  Apparently eating ON the table is better than eating AT the table. 

Now if we could just keep our spring weather here, things would be perfect!  We have the garden covered yet again for freezing temps and snow!  SNOW IN MAY!  This is a tad crazy even for Kansas!  Could make for a cold run on Sat morning!