To honor Dr. Seuss - whose birthday is March 2 - and observe the national event called Read Across America the school had Dr. Suess dress up days. 
Day1-Cat In the Cat Day, wear your favorite hat; Day 2-The Lorax, wear green and learn about Recycling; Day 3-wear you PJ’s and drop everything and read;
Day 4-Hop on Pop, enjoy some bubble gum;
Day5-Fox in Socks, wear your craziest socks.
The kids got two days off of school for bad weather and snow. The first day it was there was no snow or bad weather until about 4 pm.
Since the roads were dry we ended up at McDonalds for lunch and picking up donuts for an afternoon snack. The snow finally started
and it was nasty for the evening into the night. But the next day the kids were able to go out and play in the new snow.
We also made some yummy Cinnamon Rolls. They were sooo good!!!
Vanilla Pudding Cinnamon Rolls with Cream Cheese Frosting, http://www.melskitchencafe.com/2008/09/vanilla-pudding-cinnamon-rolls-with-cream-cheese-frosting.html
Note: to use instant yeast instead of active dry yeast, decrease the yeast amount to 1 1/2 tablespoons instant yeast. Still mix it with the water and sugar but you don’t need to wait for it to proof – just continue with the recipe, adding in the yeast/water mixture where indicated. Also, as with all yeast dough, I never use the flour amount called for in the recipe as a hard fast rule (unless a weight measure is given and then I pull out my kitchen scale). Because humidity, temperature, altitude and a multitude of other factors can impact how much flour you need in your yeast dough, I always judge when to quit adding flour by the texture and look and feel of the dough rather than how much flour I’ve added compared to the recipe. This tutorial on yeast may help identify how a perfectly floured dough should be.
Ingredients
Rolls:
- ½ cup warm water
- 2 tablespoons active dry yeast
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- 3 ½ ounce package instant vanilla pudding
- ½ cup butter, melted
- 2 eggs
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 6+ cups flour
Filling:
- 1 cup butter, softened to room temperature
- 2 cups brown sugar
- 4 teaspoons cinnamon
Frosting:
- 8 ounces cream cheese
- ½ cup butter, softened to room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 3 cups confectioner’s sugar
- 2-3 tablespoons milk
Directions
- In a small bowl combine water, yeast and sugar. Stir until dissolved. Set aside. In large bowl, take pudding mix and prepare according to package directions. Add butter, eggs and salt. Mix well. Then add yeast mixture. Blend. Gradually add flour; knead until smooth. Do not over flour the dough! It should be very soft but not sticky. Place in a greased bowl. Cover and let rise until doubled. Then roll out on floured board to 34 X 21 inches in size. Take 1 cup soft butter and spread over surface. In bowl, mix 2 cups brown sugar and 4 teaspoons cinnamon. Sprinkle over the top. Roll up very tightly. With knife put a notch every 1 1/2 inches. Cut with thread or serrated knife. Place on lightly greased cookie sheet 1 inch apart. Cover and let rise until double again.
- Bake at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes. Remove when they start to turn golden (don’t over bake). Frost warm rolls with cream cheese frosting (combine butter and cream cheese and mix well, then add vanilla and sugar and mix again, then add milk for desired consistency). Makes about 24 very large rolls.
Notes
Freezable Recipe: After shaping the rolls and placing them on the baking sheet, cover with lightly greased saran wrap and a layer of tin foil. Store in the freezer. The night before you want to serve them take out the rolls and put them in the refrigerator. Let them thaw in the refrigerator. Take them out about 8-9 hours after being in the refrigerator and let them rise until doubled. Bake according to the recipe. (If you have less time, you can take the rolls out of the freezer and let them come to room temperature on the counter – about 4 hours, then let rise until doubled).
We decided to spend Spring Break with Mom and Dad Cottrell, Greg had a few days to use by the end of March so it worked out.
We thought it would be fun to show the kids the bridges of Madison County on the way there. They may have thought we were crazy,
but in the end they had a fun 
time. We enjoy our little detours and discover new places.
Madison County originally boasted 19 covered bridges, but just six remain today, all of which are listed on the National Register of
Historic Places. The bridges were covered by order of the County Board of Supervisors to help preserve the large flooring timbers,
which were more expensive to replace than the lumber used to cover the bridge sides and roof. Usually, the bridges were named
for the resident who lived closest.
Lots to do at Mom and Dad’s Nail/tack art, Lego game, cross stitching, reading/rest time, donut making, painting, Eileen doing Sarah’s hair,
making aliens, frozen yogurt, basket weaving, light boxes, card making, etc., etc., etc.,
Adam also built his pinewood derby car at Mom and Dad C.’s.
He spent a lot of time shaping, sanding, drilling, weighing, painting.
His car turned out AWESOME!!
We had fun St. Patrick’s Day/Jeff’s Birthday.
The food was wonderful. Thanks Grammy and Mom.
Lucky the Leprechaun (aka Lindsey) arranged a scavenger hunt for the kids
after dinner. It sent them all over the house, up, down, up, down, and up again.
Funny thing is they went right near the “Pot of Gold” and still couldn’t
find it for a few minutes. They all enjoyed their gold wrapped candies.
We dyed Easter eggs a week early this year since we were going to be
super busy the day before Easter, plus we got to enjoy them the week before.
Lindsey and Isaac took Mom, Kaitlyn and Keira to the zoo while she was her
babysitting them for 4 days. The weather was decent and we had a good time.
We even got see 5 new baby lion cubs….They were so cute.
Adam had his first Flag Football practice. This the first time his played so hopefully
he will enjoy it and have good season. He is playing with one of his good friends for the ward
and his coach seems nice.
We finally had our piano tuned and the key tops replaced.
It was made in 1918 so it was in need of some much needed work.
It’s fun to hear the kids play, Adam has been taking lessons for
3 years and Sarah just started.
The Griggs family in the ward hosted a Easter egg hunt the Saturday before Easter.
2400 eggs + 40 kids=MADNESS.
Good thing 3 and under were in the front yard
5 year olds in the backyard
5 and up started near a school and then into the backyard.
Adam did a AWESOME job at the pinewood derby. His fasted time was 2.8790 seconds.
He got 1st in the Bear Den and 4th overall. (I couldn’t find his fourth heat time).
Greg and Lindsey enjoyed a night out to the Broadway production of
THE LION KING. It was AMAZING and Beautiful!! This was Lindsey birthday
present from a few months ago.
Here the kids are on Easter Sunday 2013. Aren’t they getting BIG!!!
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We just loved it! The company took us on a boat ride at night and it was a sight to see! Shops and restaurants are situated on both sides of the water as well as a sidewalk to enjoy the view. After his meetings, we hopped on a bus for Houston and met up with Marianne and Nic who took us to Nic's favorite bbq spot. They recently got a new puppy, Blazer, who is cute but loves to chew. Luckily, he'd only been in the house about a week so I survived. Next time could be interesting!!! Scott came over and we spent the day at Houston's Water Way: similar to the River Walk but without all the shops. There were big grassy areas for family play or puppy play which I'm sure they'll love. We walked around the Houston Temple grounds. I was shocked to see tulips in February. I forget it's not winter everywhere! Gorgeous! Makes me wonder if our Payson temple will look similar. (Can't figure out how to flip this. It was correct when I tried to upload it. Any suggestions???)
