Candied Carrots-Three Jewels Style

While trying to think of some handmade Easter basket treats, I came up with this idea.
Candied Carrots~These aint the kind your Mama served you for supper!

I bought 3 boxes of reese's pieces, separated the colors, filled a cake decorating bag with the orange ones and ate the yellow and brown (I had to hide the evidence...we wouldn't want them finding out the truth about the Easter Bunny)

Then I went on to make some of these...    Pudding Carrots!

Tint your vanilla pudding, fill a cake decorating bag, snip the end and enjoy! *Tip-Use the gel food coloring so that your pudding doesn't become runny.

I'm pretty sure Opal will resent me for taking this picture when he's older, but for now he's still five and loves the bunny ears that I just bought him.

So, until he refuses to pose for pictures like this...

....I'm gonna keep on taking cute snap shots of my baby bunny in his silly rabbit ears while I still can!

When did I become a Mom?

When did I become a Mom?  I mean, technically I gave birth to my first child 7 years ago.  What I actually want to know is, when did I cease to be the self-absorbed, boy crazy, fashionista, party girl that I once was during high school and college?  When did this transformation take place and why did I not notice it happening?
Each day I wake up and realize I have all these new and wonderful responsibilities.   How did I become the Mom, responsible for shooing the monsters from underneath the bed, the Mom who keeps the bath splashing under control, the Mom who crawls under the crib at 2am searching for the dropped pacifier.
I now find myself judging the time of day by what cartoon flashes across the TV screen.
When did I become the Mom who doesn't think twice about holding my hands out to catch my child's 
vomit.
Waking up with extra bodies in my bed has become a new way of life.
When did my biggest challenge become, how do I remove the yogurt covered t-shirt from my 1 year old without getting it all through her hair?
Books like Pinkalicious or Geronimo Stilton have replaced all my college textbooks.
7:00 pm is now the most perfect time of day and the word "bedtime" has become the most beautiful word in the English language? 
Blindfold me and stick me in a room with a 100 crying babies and I'd still be able to distinguish which cry was coming from Pearl.
My showers now last less then 10 minutes and typically involve an audience of 3, I wear slippers so I don't have to feel the Cherrios crush beneath my toes and I put way more effort into my kids' outfits then I do my own.
How and when did I BECOME A MOM and who do I thank for this wonderful and blessed new role?

 

Are You Feeling Lucky Punk? How To Catch A Leprechaun

I hear it's quite tricky to trap a leprechaun!  They're small, quick and surprisingly clever for the amount of beer they drink.  I figured it was time we gave it a go!

After much strategizing, we decided that the Sapphire's dollhouse was a great place to set our trap!  Forewarning, as soon as we started into this project, I was flooded with questions from Opal and Sapphire.  What were we planning to do with him when we caught him?  How does he get into our house?  Why does he like green beer?  Of course all of these questions were answered with lies, lies and more lies!   

We decorated the stairs and hung signs to point him in the "right" direction

A trap is nothing unless you set a lil' bait....

Well, it looks like we're ready for this little punk's arrival! Until then, we'll be keeping tabs on him via the Leprechaun Watch webcam.
Have you ever tried to trap a leprechaun?  Any tips or suggestions?  What should we do with him once we snag him?

Follow Me Friday

Join me for the "Follow Me Friday" Blog Hop over at Still On The Verge!

"Well Done" Necklace

It's tough raising kids!  As a parent, it's often easier to dwell on a child's negative behaviour rather then focus on their positive attributes.  We sometimes need to be reminded to dish out more encouraging words, to recognize even the small accomplishments and praise their good behaviour.

I found these scrapbook tags at the $ store and thought it would be neat to make necklaces out of them!

School report cards came out last week and let me tell ya, I was one PROUD mama!  I wanted to recognize Opal and Sapphire's school efforts so I gave them each a handmade necklace made by Moi.

I've been hanging on to these jewelry boxes since Christmas.  I knew they would be reused sooner or later.  I love to hoard craft supplies as you can see!

Cheers everyone, have a wonderful day!

Kiss The Blarney Stone

Legend says that anyone who kisses the Blarney Stone of Ireland will be blessed with eloquence.
Our family has no immediate plans to visit Ireland, so we decided to make our own Blarney Stone replica.  I tried to explain the word "eloquence" to my kids but they had a difficult time understanding.  In the end I just told them, "kiss it and you'll get lucky"!  Mr.Connell had obviously overheard our conversation because later on that night I had to pry his lips off the rock.
He apparently he really wanted to get "Lucky"! 

A kiss is not a kiss without a little lip gloss!
 

Happy March 1, 2011 everyone!