Eggsacting fun

Our Good friday egg decorating thingy.

Easter egg decorating?  Check.

Topiaries and things

Incidentally found this tutorial for making topiaries from jelly beans.  So in my copious amounts of free time (like, from 10 pm-4 a.m.!!) I made a couple.  Nothing better to do, of course.  HA!  But time went quickly, since I was fueling myself on the non-pastel colored jelly beans.  Glue one, eat two, glue one, eat one...

The question now is how do I preserve them from getting all goopy and attracting bugs until next year?

A couple of other things from our table:

Easter bunny napkin folds can be found here.  I found the fabric but didn't have time to hem the napkins, so the edges are raw.  Ah well.  I'll hem them for next year!

The easter egg place setting was done by emptying the egg and decopauging tissue to the shells with Mod Podge.  The tutorial can be found here.  They were great fun to make!  I made the dessert from the egg whites.  The rest of the table was fabric that I found lying around and scrapbook paper that we shredded with the cutter and twirled around pencils.  And yellow plates from the dollar store.  Because they looked so much happier than my white ones and made me so much happier not to have to wash them! 

Add a family of great friends, and we had a lovely evening!

I'd love to hear how you spent your Easter and about your Easter traditions, your table, food, etc. 

Happy Easter!  Happy Spring!

The most exciting thing to happen since the birth of my children

Yes, it's true.  This is homemade bread actually rising.

Which, if you know my bread making history, never happens around here.

I did a dance of joy.

Then we made these:

And we rejoiced.

It was an Easter miracle.

***

recipe can be found here

They look quite petite at the Taste of Home site.

Ours, however?  Were humungous.

Note to self:  Next year, despite what the recipe says, make 'em smaller.

The end.

All I can say is...

YAY!!!!

Melting streams,

emerging leaves,

forts in the woods,

and floppy-eared dogs,

OH MY!

My Adam

This is my Adam-Bean.  Our cheerful sunflower child.

Before he was born, when we told Julia about her new sibling, we said we didn't know whether the baby was a boy or a girl, because it was only the size of a bean.

It stuck.

Which could be a problem someday.  Especially since Julia sometimes calls him Beano. 

Adam has been, from the very moment he arrived, a happy, lively soul.

He smiled earlier than most.  He giggled earlier than most.  This picture, with the smile?  Is typical.  As is the fuzziness, since this kid is ALWAYS in motion!

He loves taking things apart, dumping things out, and building things.  Wrap, paper, cardboard, leftover ANYTHING is a treasure that needs to be kept and used for some sort of building project.

He's the loudest kid I know.  And he talks constantly.  At a high decibal level.

He's my cuddler.  He gives great hugs.  At night, when he's giving me a goodnight kiss, it can be painfully enthusiastic!  My glasses always end up askew as I try to keep from being too roughly tackled.

He's gentle with the cats and rough with the dog.

In the kitchen, anything goes.  In a bowl could be sugar, all the vanilla in the bottle, and a bunch of oregano.  Presented to me with flair.  All the paper in the computer is taken and covered in pictures and the "writing" of recipes, which MUST be placed with the other recipe books.  I have no peace in the kitchen, having constant help whenever I so much as set a toe in through the kitchen entry, and nothing, absolutely nothing, is sacred there. 

He's the most grateful child I know.  He says thank you for EVERYTHING.  Sometimes I'll do something without even thinking about it--nothing much, really--and he'll be all smiles and "THANK you, mommy!" as though I've just done the best thing in the world for him.  I love the positive reinforcement.

He likes playing dress up, pink, hotwheels, trains, getting his nails done (!), drawing, building, taking things apart, making forts, going to preschool, collecting toilet paper tubes, opening mom's mail, leaving the end off the gluestick, squeezing out mom's toothpaste, playing board games (as many as mom or dad will sit with him for--all day if possible), digging in the dirt, and snuggling with mom reading story after story.

Every night he asks, "Why do you love me, Mummy?"

And every night I ask myself:

How could I NOT love this child?

My Julia

Oh how I love this little girl!

She's my prickly rose.  I wish I could see into her head, see what she really thinks. 

These things I do know.

She loves to read.

She's strong in her ability to say no when tempted to do something she doesn't feel is right.

She's a story writer.

She loves her brother.  When push comes to shove, she's there for him.

She's obedient. 

I don't know how many times I've asked the kids to do something, and she's on it. 

Right away.

And then I say, "Didn't I tell you to...oh.  You're already done!"

She's my Family Home Evening alarm bell.

She's not a big cuddler.  When I give her a hug, she doesn't relax into it, rather she tries to grab my neck and climb up my legs. 

But if I take out a book and pull her near to read I can snag at least a book's worth of snuggles.

She loves school, especially the language arts part.

She has developed into a sweet little singer.

She wants to be a mom and an author when she grows up.

Her giggle is the best sound in the world.

She's ticklish.  Very.  Ticklish.  You just have to point your index finger in her general direction and say "tickle tickle," and she loses it.

She's tough.  When she is really hurt, she hangs in there and takes it with nary a tear.

But if Adam touches her, you'd think she was mortally wounded.

She likes animals, books, peas, tomatoes, the scriptures, speaking in primary, helping mom without being asked, going to bed with her music on, soccer, choir, baking, pet society and webkinz, making crafts, scrapbooking, dressing up, talking with friends on the phone, steaming hot baths, and running.

She doesn't like hamburger, being cold, math minute practice, being rushed, and

CHOCOLATE (much).

She needs early intervention.  It's my responsibility as a woman and her mother to ensure that she learns to love the stuff.

She's my joy.

Calooh, Calay! A bookish sort of day!

This past weekend was a Children's Book Festival in town.  Since we loooooove reading at our house (we can spend the whole day reading stories, much to the internal screaming in pain from my vocal chords), attending was not an option!

Highlights:

Each child received a book--and we got a couple of really cooooool ones.

A storyteller told a couple of great stories, and had the kids in stitches.  I didn't want to use the flash, so my photos are a bit iffy, but here they are:

Decorating cookies

Beaded bookmarks.

All in all, a good day!