Birthday Boy

My baby boy turned 7! For the longest time Benjamin has requested all of his parties to be John Deere themed. Out of the blue he asked for a Mario Kart party. I was excited about a whole new theme to work with because I am just a little burnt out on tractors.

The kids did a "coin battle" in the backyard competing on who could find the most gold coins. Afterwards, they broke up into two teams and had a Mario Kart tournament complete with hats and moustaches. We had pizza of course and "Mega Mushroom" cupcakes. It was a lot of fun doing something different.

Easter

Easter week was so busy. It was my brother's year to host, we alternate, so at least I didn't have to do the crazy clean the house from top to bottom. Nonetheless, I still squeezed in lots of baking and of course sugar cookies. And since it was Easter, I did carrot shaped for the Easter bunny. They are so fun to eat because the kids joke they are eating their veggies. I was also able to bake some Challah bread and I decided to try a six braid which was insane. I had to watch a YouTube video simultaneously to get the braid sequence right.

If you have been around my family for Easter you know that shish kabob (and grits) is on the menu. My brother Paul did a fantastic job and I think it was one of his best. Check out the photo, doesn't it look yummy!

I didn't get a good photo of Grace in her Easter dress since we were a little hurried getting to church. The one I have of all three kids is a little squinty, they hate for the sun to be in their face for photos, oh well. They looked really cute though.

The baskets were a big hit and the kids had a nutritious breakfast that morning...chocolate bunnies of course. Later that day for the egg hunt, which was our largest yet. Lot's of cousins and extended family this year. Benjamin built his basket out of Rokenbok parts, he is unbelievable in the things he can build. Grace had a great time finding eggs and wanted to open each one as she found them. Josh didn't mess around and was smart to follow behind Grace to pick up all the eggs that would fall out of her basket each time she bent down to pick up a new egg. It was a fun day and the kids were able to finish it off with a Gator ride with Uncle Paul.