Sophie's new love...

We got Sophie her birthday present, a little early. But now we have a problem - if we're holding her, we can't walk past the deck door, or she sees it and cries if we don't take her out there to swing. She's definitely a sun-loving Clark.

 

Don't worry, we'll wrap it up and give it to her in June, we just wanted her to be able to enjoy it the "whole" summer.

DMNS: Take two...

I didn't think that anything would ever rival Hayden's love for animals... Today Hayden said to me, "Mom, do you know which is my favorite, nature or science?" I, of course replied, "Nature." Hayden laughing, replied, "Nope, science. Fooled you Mom!"

Heavy or light, which objects float? Who cares, this is fun...

 

Bugs are really cool... up close...

 

Even Sophie loves the museum...

 

We were all entertained by the thermal imaging...

Dead eggs...

Ana: Mom, I don't want to kill the eggs.
Mom: We aren't killing them, we're dying them.
Ana: I know, I don't want them to die, I want to paint them.
Mom: O.K., let's paint them.

 

 

Hayden: Ana, if you use pink the chicken inside will turn pink.

 

Hayden: Just kidding.

 

Hayden: Mom, that was a good one.

Bum Balancing...

Sophie has this funny trick that she does about 90% of her wake-time hours. At first I couldn't figure out if she was really trying to not fall over, but then she kept doing it... All the time! We think it's hilarious, but anyone else that witnesses it usually runs to catch her, and to herself I know she's thinking...

 

"Psych!"

 

One of those sweet moments... caught on camera...

 

Easter at it's finest...

Let the hunting begin...

 

You found one, Soph!

 

Enjoying the spoils...

 

Thanks everybody for coming to the hunt, it was such a fun day!

M.I.A...

So... if you haven't seen me lately, you're probably not the only one. I've been off chasing a dream, sort of. I've always wanted to enter a cooking or baking competition (call me crazy, but I really get into that kind of stuff). So, I was watching the Food Network and saw a show detailing the annual Pillsbury Bake-Off, and I thought to myself, "I could do that." So I got online a few weeks ago and got the information about the next one, it turned out that the deadline for submitting the recipes was on April 20th. So for the last month I've been getting down and dirty with my culinary side (and with the Doughboy, we've become quite good friends), coming up with recipes containing Pillsbury products. What I thought was going to be pretty easy, turned out to be alot more challenging than I anticipated. Coming up with a REALLY good recipe containing particular ingredients is harder than it sounds. But all in all, I probably tried over 30 experiments and came up with 7 recipes that were worth submitting, and 2 that I think are pretty darn good, if I do say so myself. Rob claims that I have fallen right into their trap: buying all of their products to carry out this ambition. And I say, "So what, would you spend $30 to try something that you've always wanted to? Whether it be sky diving, traveling or entering a baking competition - follow your dreams, you may never get another chance!" Rob wasn't really complaining, he's always my biggest supporter - and he doesn't mind being the taste-tester either.

When my creativity ran a little low, I enlisted help from some crafty, culinary experts: Chefs Amy and Chelsea. They always have good ideas. We came up with a pretty good recipe that day: Apple Streusel Shortcakes. Watch out for them... they, too, could be the next Food Network sensations.

 

 

"I gotta dollar hey, hey, hey, hey..."

The dollar store is one of our favorite places - as soon as the kids earn four quarters from doing extra chores, we head to the good ol' Dollar Tree. These were their latest purchases...

 

 

It was a good, quiet distraction for General conference. We have two rules: 1.Keep your ears open. 2.Keep your lips closed.

April Fools, no jokes here...

April 1st dawned with a very cranky Sophie, no joke there - she was cranky! She cried most of the day, and just when I was at my wits end that evening, I discovered the culprit - a tiny, little nub of a tooth! Her first tooth was totally unexpected, since neither of her siblings acquired any teeth until well after their first birthdays. Way to go Soph - you're ahead of the curve in the Clark family.

 

Sophie, let's see that cranky face again...

 

Day 5: DMNS

The cold continued on Day 5, but we headed out anyway, our destination: The Denver Museum of Nature and Science. All sorts of fun was had with our good buddies, Drew and Brinley. Name That Dinosaur, anyone? Or how about some good, messy fun figuring out how to build a dam? We learned how much we would weigh on different planets, how a solar panel works, and did some good ol' moon rock picking... We learned so much about animals, that Hayden started to turn into one himself. We didn't even make a dent in all there is to see and learn at the DMNS... we'll be back again soon.

Spring Break continues... without the Spring...

Spring Break Day 3: still pretty nice, 60 and breezy, so off to the zoo we went.
Ana decided that this orangutan "is sad because he has a mountain on his head".
Spring Break Day 4: This is what we woke up to... Pretty depressing after you get a taste of spring. But we would not be deterred, fun was to be had, good weather or not. So we busted out our library books (obtained on day 2 of spring break) and got down and dirty with our stash of crafty supplies. Hmmm... what to do first? In order to sustain our energy for all our crafting, we had to procure a snack... Chocolate Nachos - the perfect thing. Pizza cutters are the greatest invention ever - they're not just for pizza in our house - waffles, pancakes, quesadillas, chocolate nachos... the possibilities are endless... A little more butter Hayden, we need to keep up our energy for all those crafts... The finished product, a success! Sophie was enjoying all of the chaos... Sorry Soph, no nachos for you, how about some sweet potato puffs? Mmmmm. It takes alot of concentration to get ahold of those little buggers... By this time, Hayden and Ana were knee deep in their next endeavor... Butterfly Racers. Hayden decided that butterflies aren't very manly, so he opted for a flying squirrel instead. On your marks... get set... GO!!!! And the flying squirrel wins by an ear! We made it through the rest of the afternoon thanks to Hayden's newly acquired reading skills, good entertainment for all... What's the matter Sophie, not your type of book? I've had enough, too, Soph. Day 4, a creative, chaotic success.