More random cute pictures

I haven't had a chance to load pictures up lately, so I thought I would catch up a little. Here is Anna sharing an oreo milkshake with mom!

Jack and Charlotte never cease to amaze me with their inventive ways to get into trouble. My mother in law found them like this and came down the stairs, trying not to laugh, "um, are the kids...supposed to be turning that blue blanket into a hammock? They say they're camping?" Fortunately for everyone, the blanket is not an heirloom and the kids were applauded, not punished, for their ingenuity.

This is a picture of us with my sister Sarah's kids, who came to visit the week after Easter for their Spring Break. It was a busy week, and a lot of fun!

This is Charlotte and Grandma, "watching conference" together on Easter. It was a hectic weekend visit and everyone was a little short on sleep and taking catnaps when we could!

Jack's 5th Birthday party

For Jack's 5th birthday, we had a pirate themed party and lots of friends there to enjoy it with us! I made these cute cupcakes for the party (my first experience with fondant) and they were quite a sucess! I had to hide them on top of the cupboards to make sure they weren't taken by our crew of overzealous pirates before cake time!

This is the cake that I made for Jack's birthday--literally a hour before dinner, I sat there with a completed chocolate cake fresh out of the oven and asked, "I'm supposed to turn this into a pirate ship HOW?" But with help from our action figure box and a generous helping of canned frosting, I whipped up a cake that at least a five year old could accept as a pirate ship. Not going to be auditioning for Ace of Cakes anytime soon, though...

Everybody got dressed up for the party, and this is Jack's costume. He took it off about 3 minutes later because it was interfering with his climbing and running and hollering, so I had to take a picture while I had the chance!

One game we played: pirate battle! We turned our lawn furniture backwards to face each other, like two pirate ships, then let the kids pelt each other with balled-up socks. It was unexpectedly fun!