Easter Projects
Poor Adie got sick the week before Easter and had to miss yet another day of preschool which included the Easter party. Her teacher brought over all the crafts and papers she missed while we were gone in Utah and while she was sick so, we worked on those throughout the week. One of the projects was making a bird beak and feet you could wear. I didn't feel like busting out any paint, but she was pretty content to decorate them with marker. Doesn't she make a stunning bird? Chase was content to hang out and eat Easter candy.
Egg Dying, the Natural Way
Bountiful Baskets offered a natural egg dying kit a few weeks back. I thought it might be fun to try that out. I am all for trying more natural approaches to things. It was pretty cool, but a lot of work, and with young ones, I wouldn't highly recommend it. I think I'll revisit it again in a few years when my kids are old enough to help for more than 5 minutes. I think we'll just go back to our $2 Paas instant gratification dye for a few years. It will save a lot of time and money. The kids were willing to chop up the fruits and veggies in the food chopper for a few minutes though. I still did most of that, boiled the color out of said food to make the dye and then boiled a few eggs with a little vinegar for each color. I used many pots and, like I said, it took a lot of time. The eggs aren't nearly so vibrant either, but I do think some of them turned out very pretty. Here are few pictures of the process and finished product.
Chopping up the food to make ready for the dyes
The dyes ready to be boiled with the eggs
The final resultWe went to a few birthday parties in the last little while, which was so much fun. I should have taken my camera to them all. One especially exciting one was going with Adie's good friend to see Sesame Street Live. Adie was so excited to go and loved it all. Before the performance, the kids ran around outside and made candy necklaces that they got to eat during the show. After the show, we were all a little hungry so we made a pit stop at In n Out. It made for a late night for Adie, which she doesn't get too often, but she had so much fun.
Kite Flying
Adie loves Mary Poppins, especially the song "Let's Go Fly a Kite", and has been asking about getting a kite to fly for a long time. The Easter Bunny failed to find the one he wanted to give her, but luckily, the day after Easter, Adie saw some $1 kites at Walmart. How could an indulgent parent resist? I decided there wasn't much to lose, although I didn't have high expectations. The next day was nice and breezy so we went out in the morning to try them out. Turns out they worked very well. Adie had a blast. Chase wasn't really into it for more than about a minute, but hey, for $2 this kite flying adventure was a total success. The kites are still intact even and we plan to find another time to take them out before it's too hot to even go in the morning.
Nap Times
Adie had rarely been taking naps until these past couple of weeks. The sun coming up so early (due no Daylight Saving Time) wakes her right up at the crack of dawn, meaning she gets 1 or 2 less hours of sleep these days. It's killing me because I am not what you'd call a morning person. I prefer her 7:30 wake up time, not the 5:30 one. However, because of all her early morning wake-ups, she's taken a lot more naps. I just really liked this picture of her napping in her dress-ups. She was determined she wasn't tired enough for a nap that day, but she succumbed anyway.
Sand and WaterI have already mentioned how much the kids love playing their sandbox. They even got some new sand toys for the Easter Bunny which introduced them to the idea of combining sand and water, since one of the sets came with a watering can. They started coming into the kitchen to fill up the watering can about every 2 minutes, so I started placing large containers of water outside for them get their own water and not track sand into the house so often. They love it. They go from the sand box to the water and back again forever. It makes for wet, sandy kids, but they are so happy and occupied so I totally think it's worth it. I think that kind of play is good for kids.
Mischief Not ManagedChase has been one little stinker lately, climbing up onto everything, getting into everything. Ok, that's been happening for a while. Today, he proved his propensity to find mischief once again. We have locks on our pantry door for a reason, but they don't always get locked. While I was in the bathroom, for only a couple of minutes, I came out out to find him in the pantry pouring out the bottle of chipotle chile powder. Later, while playing outside in the sand and water container he wandered over to our garden where I was weathering some squash and melon transplants I had been growing for a month. He picked up the entire tray, I think in an attempt to bring them into the house (Adie was the only witness), and didn't make it inside before he spilled them all upside down onto the patio. I tried to salvage what I could and had an impromptu planting session. I would be shocked if any survived, but I suppose it's possible. I was going to take a picture, but I just wanted to pick the plants up as quickly as possible, so no evidence of this little mishap. However, everyday there are many stories I could tell of his crazy toddler behavior. I guess they mostly all go through that stage, right?
Chipotle all over
Trying to be Dad
