Topless "Strolling"

Thought you could all use a little laugh...we sure got a kick out of our kids pushing each other in a BABY stroller with no shirts on! What were they thinking??? Thank goodness we didn't break the stroller - that is one of Reagan's favorite toys!

Jumping on the recipe-sharing bandwagon!

Following in my sister's footsteps (along with some other blogger friends too!), I have decided to share with you guys a yummy breakfast treat that is HEALTHY and the kids will love!

Who doesn't love a frozen - blended treat and a muffin? I discovered a delicious recipe for Strawberry Muffins (and take advantage while they are in season and on sale at grocery stores!)...add Orange Julius and you've got a yummy treat for everyone! What makes this even more fun is that the kids help me make them...which always ends up an adventure but so exciting for them!

Enjoy!

"Melt-in-your-mouth Strawberry Muffins"

Ingredients

1 c all-purpose flour

1 c whole wheat flour

1/2 c sugar

1 1/2 tsp baking soda

2 eggs

1 c plain yogurt (we used Stonyfield Farm Banilla lowfat yogurt)

1/4 c butter, melted

1 tsp vanilla

1 c chopped strawberries (can use fresh or frozen)

Directions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. In a bowl, mix together flour, sugar and baking soda. In another bowl, mix eggs, yogurt, butter and vanilla. Toss chopped strawberries into the flour mix. Then pour yogurt mix into flour mix and stir. Spoon batter into greased muffin tins. Bake 20-25 minutes.

Mix up a pitcher of orange julius and you have a great and EASY breakfast!

Orange Julius

1/2 frozen orange juice container

2 c milk

1 tsp vanilla

crushed ice

BLEND...so yummy!

*the original recipe calls for sugar but the OJ has enough - the kids definitely do not need it! :)

Summer in April...

On Tuesday, we had record high temps - 91 degrees! So what do we do? GO TO THE BEACH! It was awesome...beautiful weather, sun, and a little breeze! It was a nice preview of what's to come...a FUN summer! Of course, I forgot my camera (bummer!) so I didn't get any beach pics of the kids (note: there will be NO beach pics of me EVER posted on the blog! ha!). I DID capture some really cute pictures of our afternoon playdate at my friend Sarah's backyard. We had the kiddie pool filled, the slip-n-slide running and the outside toys ALL over the yard...we had a blast!

Here is a video of the "girls" enjoying the hammock...

Some pictures of the kids having fun on our warm spring day!

Giggle time

The boys trying to swing high!

Miss Paige

Girl power: Cailyn, Reagan, Charlotte & Kingsley (watch out, Boys!)

Oh boy, they are swinging HIGH!

picnic time

Can you think of a better way to celebrate Spring?

We couldn't...so we hit the Weir River Farm here in Hingham for a special Spring open barnyard on Saturday. We saw so many friends there and had a really good time. Jack and Reagan loved seeing the llama, horses, cows, baby chicks, chickens, sheep, etc but their favorite was climbing all over the John Deere tractors. We were there for an hour or so and they probably spent a good 40 minutes just on the tractors. Here are some shots of the kids at the farm...oh & Reagan got a little red on her arms from the morning sun...so now we tease her that she got a farmers tan from the farm! :)

up close & personal

enjoying a cookie


posing on a tractor

reagan
jack

4 kids under age 5...at the Museum of Fine Art! What???

Um yes, this past Thursday - during School Vacation Week for MA school - I met up with my good friend Trish & her 2 little ones (along with my two little hooligans) at the Museum of Fine Art (MFA) in Boston. Because of vacation week, the museum had some fun activities geared to the school-age and younger kids. We really debated this outing but SO glad we ended up "going for it"...we had an awesome afternoon and the kids were on their best behavior. I think both Trish & I had a little "talk" with the kids before we arrived at the museum...basically telling them about good/bad behavior in a museum.


There we some really fun crafts for the kids to do...and we even took in a few galleries too! Here are some pictures of the little ones enjoying their first visit to the MFA - we might have some budding artists on our hands! yea!

We love our friend, DD!

Reagan loves to "cut" things - especially her hair! :(

Future artist!

Arden being super silly

The girls & their art

Jack made a cool painting (and no, that is NOT his diet coke or starbucks coffee! ha!)

Children's Museum

This is a late post...


Two Fridays ago, the kids & I met Matt at work after the close of the market...then we walked over to the Children's Museum for their Target Friday Nights (it's $1/person to get into the museum - you can't beat the deal!!!!!). We had so much fun...and since it was a VERY rainy evening we pretty much had the museum to ourselves. Jack loved the huge climbing structure in the lobby and Reagan really enjoyed Arthur's world. There are so many fun activities that I do with the kids during the week day but Matt isn't there to enjoy them with us. I thought this was a perfect way for the entire family to have FUN and not have to spend a fortune! :) As you can see from the pictures below, the kids didn't miss a beat! They had a BLAST!

Reagan waiting at the bus stop

Jack & Buster

Future 'Baller

Driving the airplane

Jack & Daddy

Reagan & Arthur

Reagan on the climbing structure

Jack having fun

Surfing!

Oh boy, Jack is HIGH on the climbing structure

Wheeeee, going down the slide

A Hoppin' Easter

The Easter Bunny delivered some cool baskets this year... Reagan & Jack each got cool shades, kites, play-doh, legos (Jack), My Little Pony (Reagan) and of course, candy!!! Our Easter holiday was a very relaxing weekend spend with our little family. We enjoyed sunny but cool weather..just enough sun to keep us a little warm while we flew our kites. Poor Reagan - her kite took a nosedive on the first trip in the air and ripped! That did NOT make her happy...so she pretty much cried the entire time. ha! We colored eggs (for those of you who did this, how come it takes approx. 30 minutes to prepare the activity and about 5 minutes until they get bored & move on to something else!!!!), did an indoor egg hunt, went out to lunch and just RELAXED!!!

Running the bases at the high school baseball field

Flying a kite with Daddy

Yea! Jack can fly a kite! (check out Reagan's casualty)

Coloring eggs

Reagan loves her princess kite

Check out the cool sunglasses from the Easter Bunny!