Green Chaos!

(Happy Chaos Tip #5: Throw a random party!)

Check out our St. Patrick's Day party for the kids and some of their friends (who knew everyone that was invited would come??)......

Look! It's a wee leprechaun! Hurry. Get her gold.

We had a contest to see who could wear the most green. Too bad I couldn't give the awards to these three. They really went all out! But we chose some of the visiting leprechauns instead.

You probably can't tell by this pic, but Zoe really enjoyed the sprite and green sherbet floats. :)

We also snacked on green rice krispie treats.

Oh no! THIS BOY WAS ATTACKED BY A MOB OF ANGRY LEPRECHAUNS! There's no hope. He's done for. It's the dreaded Clover Disease. uh...Good luck with that!

Hey, I like your hat, wee lassie!

What a sweet green girl!

Uh...Emmett. We LOVE your outfit. You should wear that to school. It looks great. Totally natural.

Check out this little dude's sideburns and beard. Niiiice!

This wee lass is coloring her leprechaun bag. Had to have something to hold all our gold! The kids ran around the backyard playing Band-Aid Tag while the Big Leprechauns hid their treasure(better known as gold-wrapped candy) around the house. My, oh my! Searching for hidden candy is bound to create some craziness! It was a riot!

Oh! NO!

We've been invaded by

little green men

(and women)!!!!!!!!!

They're loud!

Hungry!

And they laugh A LOT!!

Run for your lives!!!!!!!!!!

HA! We had such a blast.

Crazy Silly Valentine's Chaos

(Happy Chaos Tip #4: Do crazy unexpected things to surprise your family! It keeps them on their toes.)

It's long been a tradition that our kids wake on Valentine's Day to find streamers in their doorways with little love notes proclaiming the things we love about them.

We did that for Zoe this year.

Weston was SURE that's what we'd do for them.

Mwhahahaha! I can't resist an opportunity to surprise someone....

Instead, they woke to find simply three strings waiting for them. And then we gave them the instructions. They had to hold on to their string and follow it until the end.

HA! They had so much fun! Their strings wound all around the house....through the kitchen, living room, downstairs and back up again. They laughed and smiled the whole time. Along the way they found love notes.

Weston's notes said things like...."We love how you love to read!", "We love how helpful you are to us!" and "We love your hugs!"

Emmett's said, "We love your big smile!", "We love how happy you are!" and "We love how much you love your brothers and sister!"

Sam's said, "We love how excited you are when dad comes home!", "We love your laughter!" and, "We love how you love to choose the right!"

At the end of their strings they each found a box of chocolate covered cherries, a new book and a small toy.

At one point Emmett said, "Let's do this again next month!"

In the afternoon, while Ryan was preoccupied with outside stuff....I locked all the doors and wouldn't let him back in! And then....

yep, you guessed it! I handed him a string and let him go about finding his Valentine's surprise. HIS string went all around, downstairs, then back up and then BACK downstairs and then up...hahahahahaha! It was quite fun.

At the end he found a dvd player for the tv for our room and the dvd, Lonesome Dove. I figured it was about time we got one for our room so we could snuggle up and enjoy some flicks together in comfort. :)

Later I took a bit of a nap(we were up quite late stringing all that yarn around the house!)and when I woke up I found a strange yarn mess hanging from my doorway and barring my way. heh heh. In the mess I found a sweet card from my cute man and a bottle of Eternity perfume.

When Ryan and I were married, that was the perfume I always wore. I ran out quite a few years ago and never bought anymore. Luckily, he thought to replinish my supply because the scent reminds us of our wedding and honeymoon. Aw, too sweet, right?

What a great lovey-dovey day!

Happy Chaos Tip #3: Make Homemade Pretzels!

Mmmmm, mmmmm, homemade pretzels! The kids had all sorts of fun forming the pretzel dough into loads of different shapes...

This is what Zoe does lately when we point the camera at her!

Check out Emmett's toothless grin!


Ian, your pretzel kinda looks like a cow pie!

Although I must say, the recipe we tried didn't turn out tooooo good. The kids still enjoyed them, but Ryan and I..eh...not so much. Luckily, my most awesome and wonderful, sis-in-law, Shelly shared her tried and true recipe...

Amish Soft Pretzels

(makes 15)

Mix: 1 1/2 C. Very Warm Water
1/2 C. Brown Sugar
1 1/2 TBS Yeast
Let it sit to soften yeast then add:
3/4 tsp. Salt
4 C. Flour

Mix, then knead together and let sit for 15 min.
Form pretzels by taking a small piece of dough (size of lemon) and roll into a "rope."
Form into knot and dip into solution of

1/2 C Hot Water
2 TBSP Baking Soda

Place on GREASED baking sheet and sprinkle with pretzel salt (or you can use Margarita Salt or leave plain). Bake at 550 degrees until browned- bakes very fast. WATCH!!! Remove from oven and dip tops in melted butter (or brush butter on tops) May sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar at this point if you haven't used salt.

Don't those sound yummy?? Thanks Shelly!

Happy Chaos Tip #2: Welcome an extra child into the chaos!

When you're asked if you want an extra kid hanging around for a few days, say......

"You bet!"

Ryan's sister, Shelly and her husband Brian wanted to take a trip to Las Vegas so, we were lucky enough to get to hang out with their wee boy, Ian, while they had a super time together.

They brought him by Sunday morning and he got to go to church with us. On the way there Ryan and I realized Ian could teach our boys an important lesson. HOW TO WHISPER.

The conversation went something like this...

Ryan: "Everyone needs to be quiet."
Ian: whispers something in an extra good and quiet whisper voice
Our boys continued to not be so very quiet.
Ryan: "Boys, it looks like Ian could teach you all how to whisper."
Emmett, now whispering: "I can whisper!"
Sam, now whispering: "I can whisper, too!"
Weston, now kind of whispering: "I can whisper!"
Me: Weston, that's not really whispering.
Weston, NOW whispering: "I can talk in a whisper...see! I can whisper..."

Finally, we arrive at church.

Happy Chaos Tip #1: Silly Robot Fun

Who doesn't want more chaos in their life, right? Starting today we'll be offering our exciting, fabulous tried and true Chaos Tips. You'll soon be learning all you need to know to begin filling your lives with more Happy Chaos!

Alrightee-o, let's get groovin'...

Happy Chaos Tip #1: Make a robot (or whatever your child LOVES)

What does your little one adore? Space? Dinosaurs? Princesses? Asparagus?


Our Sam LOVES robots. He is completly fascinated by them. He got this super great robot book for Christmas. It had a great craft idea in the back so...















We found some boxes, pipe cleaners and paint and got busy!




Sam named him LockerBot.















His head and body are shoe boxes so Sam can store treasure in them! Very cool, eh?





So, go on. Find out what interests your child, ignore the dirty dishes and clothes, check out some books about what they love or find some stuff on-line, find a craft or activity to do and then...


Make some Happy Chaos!