Does This Make Me a Soccer Mom?

WFMW: Party-in-a-Bag

One of my favorites things to do for kids' parties is what I call, "Party-in-a-Bag."

I take a party favor bag and put in:

a drink (juice box, Caprisun, or mini bottled water)
a fruit cup (or applesauce, or apple slices-to-go) and spoon
a food "treat" (little bag of chips, granola bar, pudding cup, or a snack cake)

a toy "treat" (funny sunglasses, a mini slinky, a tiny coloring book, etc.)

a festive napkin

These Party Bags are fun and easy to distribute and the kids love them. The kids open the bags to enjoy a snack together and take home whatever they don't eat. You can easily supplement the "Party-in-a-Bag" with a slice of pizza or a hunk of birthday cake.

Please leave a comment and then head on over to Rocks in My Dryer for more WFMW tips.

My wild and crazy boys at a friend's birthday party a few weeks ago.

Christ, He Has Risen!

He has risen, indeed!

A little Easter basket fun. The boys were so excited to find that thier baskets weren't baskets at all, but baseball gloves filled with Easter treats. (S's carrot bat and pea ball is my favorite!)

A little egg hunting at church...
Dinner with friends.

...and this cute peeps cake. A littel Easter egg hunt bounty from the hunt at my friend's house.

But, my favorite photo of the day is this one!

Easter Dinner...(Updated with pics!)

Our family is planning on dining at a friend's tomorrow, but we are brining along a few contributions for the Easter dinner. I am making a Highlands salad and a layered mocha cheesecake.

I've no clue if the salad recipe actually came from the Highlands, but I tasted this yummy salad at a teacher's luncheon and begged for the recipe. So, here it is.

Highlands Salad

Combine in a large salad bowl and chill until ready to serve:
1 medium head green leaf lettuce, chopped
4 green onions, chopped
1 can mandarin oranges, drained
1 avocado, chopped (a little lemon juice will keep it from browning)
1 Granny Smith apple, chopped
1/4 cupe dried cranberries
1/2 cup blue cheese (I use crumbled feta)

Mix Dressing and pour over salad when ready to serve:
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1/4 cup oil (I used a little olive and canola oils)
2 Tbsp sugar
1 Tbsp chopped parsley
2 Tbsp white wine vinegar

Toast 1/2 cup slivered almonds and 3 Tbsp sugar (small frying pan over low heat) until the sugar dissolves and the nuts are toasty. Top your dressed salad with these nuts.

I also made a layered mocha cheesecake and you can find that recipe here.

New Hair Products?

Me: What's wrong with your hair, D?
D: I don't know. Maybe toothpaste?

WFMW: Watcha Readin'?

I heart me some Works for Me Wednesdays. Every week Shannon at, Rocks in My Dryer hosts a huge list of tip givers anxious to share their best tips. Oh, everything from potty training to cheap breakfast recipes...

Once in a while Shannon stirs up the dryer a bit with a Backwards Works for Me Wednesday. In this case, the tip givers are tip seekers.

So, as tonight's Tip Seeker I'm looking for book recommendations. I love to read and I'm always on the lookout for a good book, so Hit me with your best book! Watcha readin'? Don't be shy, I'll take any recommendation- fiction, non-fiction, Christian, secular, novels, books for me, books for the boys, parenting books, cookbooks, coffee table books, how-to books,...

Eager readers want to know...

You Want Me to Sleep Where?

This weekend A and I visited the State Museum in Columbia, SC. We went with other Boy Scouts from around the state. We arrived after dinner and we got to spend the night at the museum.

Now, it wasn't quite like that scene from A Night at the Museum with Ben Stiller, but we did have fun. (And who really wants an army of Huns coming after you, anyway?) We were expecting a program on energy, pizza snacks, crafts and walking around all the cool exhibits. Plus, sleeping under the stars... or on a model shrimping boat.

Oh, we were excited about this trip, but I have to tell you that A is a fan of the early bedtime and this late night program was a bit much for him. I, on the other hand, learned lots. By 8 o'clock A was looking for exhibits that featured movie clips and soft chairs. (I now know why indigo was important to the early settlers of South Carolina.) By 9:30 he was putting his head down on the table during craft time. (I now know how to make paper.) By 10:00 he was hitting the sleeping bag. (I now know how the shrimping industry works and it is fascinating how shrimping can be done almost year round off the coast of South Carolina.)

All was not wasted, however, as the next morning while I was looking for a Diet Pepsi machine A was looking at engines, sharks, huge tires, electricity and breakfast muffins.