A Weekend Recap...

I hope you all had an enjoyable and peace-filled Easter weekend. Ours was lovely: just the right amount of busy activity and relaxing downtime. We started the weekend off by attending an Easter "fair" of sorts: complete with a bunny petting zoo, horse-pulled wagon rides, lots of food, games, and face painting (which both of my children refused to have done...I'm not sure why. But the mere suggestion of such brought my daughter to near tears. I guess some kids are afraid of clowns and some have an irrational fear of face painting. Go figure.)

Here is my daughter holding one of the precious baby bunnies they had there. Don't let her serious look fool you, she was on cloud 9 holding that little bun. The fur was like velvet. It's been a long time since I held a rabbit, but I have no recollection of them being that soft. So, so sweet (and so, so tolerant...being passed from child to child a dozen times or more in the 20 minutes we sat in the petting area).

And, of course, no Easter community event would be complete without an Easter egg hunt (or as my daughter kept calling it, an "Easter Bunny hunt"). Before the start of the hunt, she was a little nervous. I wouldn't have been surprised if she had decided she didn't want to go along with it. But, I was so proud of her: she bolted past the other children and went straight to the top of the hill, snatching up as many eggs as she could. Fortunately, my little competitor knew that it wasn't all about "winning" (I saw her give a couple of her eggs to some of the little ones whose baskets were nearly empty). And yes, she is wearing her winter coat and her fleece hat with the ear flaps. We had snow flurries that day, believe it or not. Not the traditional garb for an Easter egg hunt, but there you go.

I really try to avoid the cheap junk at the holidays. I don't see any point filling baskets (or stockings, at Christmas) with stuff I'm going to toss a few days later, just for the sake of making their baskets look "full." So, this year I went with several animal figurines (both wooden and by Schleich), new paintbrushes and watercolors, kitchen gadgets (my little ones love using real measuring spoons, sifters, whisks, basters, etc. to play in flour, sand, and water), and books. I read about the book Zoe and the Fawn on this blog, and knew it would be perfect, what with all the deer we see each day around our yard. Never mind that the shipping (from Canada) cost more than the book itself!

I ended up lining each child's Easter basket with fabric chosen expressly for them (which I will turn into summer outfits, I hope). We attempted to grow our own live Easter grass this year, but on Day 8 (after sowing our grass seeds) Rascal pulled one of the baskets off the windowsill. Wet potting soil and seeds everywhere. Then on Day 11, he proceeded to pull the second basket off the windowsill. Repeat the whole wet-soil-and-grass-seeds-everywhere scenario (complete with much exasperation and grumbling on my behalf). One might be wondering why I didn't move the location of the second basket before its demise. Well, hope springs eternal, I guess. Or maybe it was just laziness. I thought for sure after he witnessed my reaction (overreaction?) to the first basket tipping episode, he wouldn't dare yank another basket off the sill. I was wrong. Regardless, the fabric-lined baskets served their intended purpose (and maybe I've even started a new tradition: a sneak-peak at a future dress/shirt/shorts/jumper or what have you for the warmer months ahead).

Easter Blessings!

If you're looking for a special prayer to say before dining on your Easter feast, join hands and choose one person to recite this one we've been saying for years on Easter:

Red is for the blood He gave,

Green is for the grass He made.

Yellow is for the sun so bright,

Orange is for the edge of night.

Black is for the sins we've made,

White is for the grace He gave.

Purple is for His hour of sorrow,

Pink is for our new tomorrow.

May you be filled with the richness of His love and the grace of His many blessings each and every day. Have a beautiful Easter!

A Peek at Our Batik...

We spent part of Good Friday dyeing Easter eggs. Every year I try to add a new twist to the traditional dye job. This year it was batik. I had scrawled the directions on a piece of paper and found it in one of my notebooks. I think I might have neglected to write down a step, because we had a couple of issues. But, we managed to turn them into our own version of batik.

First, I lit a candle and dripped the wax onto the hard boiled egg. Word to the wise: if you are going to try this, less is more. I repeat, less is more. (You'll see why in a bit).

After dripping the wax, dip egg into the dye. Once you remove it, you want to scrape the wax off. So I took a spoon and I scraped, and scraped, and scraped. And the egg cracked, and cracked, and cracked:

Here is where I realized that the less wax to scrape off, the better your chances of keeping the egg in one piece. My husband tried heating our second attempt in the microwave briefly, before I attempted scraping that one. Softening the wax just slightly helped immensely! Instead of gouging the egg with my spoon in vain, I was able to slide the edge of the spoon under the wax and it flaked off. We were left with a white design where the wax had been. You could either leave the egg as is at this point, or dip it again to color the white parts. We then chose to dip the egg in a secondary color:

And this was the result:

Frankly, this particular technique was a little too time-consuming for egg dyeing with a 3 year old and a 10 month old. So, with our last batik egg, we decided to leave the wax on the colored egg for a groovy, 3-dimensional look:

All in all, it was fun to try something new. Our batik eggs aren't going to win any beauty contests. The technique itself is not bad, it just needs some fine-tuning (or I just need to acquire the patience to scrape gently--a tedious task if you dripped as much wax onto the eggs as I did).

But as with most crafts with kids, if they enjoyed it, I'm happy. And they did enjoy it. Okay, the three year old in our life enjoyed it. What's not to love about colored dye, candle wax, and special egg dippers (like giant egg tweezers)? The 10 month old was clueless. Cute, but clueless. All he wanted to do was get his hands in that dye and eat the candle. :) A fun day.

Spring is (literally) in the air...

Spring makes me think of rebirth, new life, and ....... butterflies!

We did an Easter/Spring craft yesterday that was easy and took very little time (my kind of craft during a busy week like this one). The best part was that my daughter could do 90% of it all by herself. Which is very important with the 3 year old crowd, don't you know? :)

If you would like to fill the air in your home with butterflies, you'll need the following:

*paper coffee filters

*markers (use the real ones (you know, the ones usually reserved for grown-ups, not toddlers. But the washable kind won't "bleed" as nicely, so I don't recommend those for this project)

*spray bottle filled with water

*pipe cleaners

*string, yarn, or floral wire to suspend your butterflies in the air

Start by decorating your coffee filters: the more "blobs" of color used, the better.

Then, use the spray bottle and lightly spray all over the filter (don't worry if they get a little too saturated--my daughter loves water and was a little heavy-handed with the sprayer):

But it's all good, because they just need time to dry:

Once dry, fold each filter accordion-style. Bend the pipe cleaner in half and wrap it around the center of the filter a few times (I don't have a picture of this, but basically you are gathering the filter in the middle and splaying each side out like a fan). Don't forget to curl each end into "antennae." Tie string or wire around the base of the antennae and hang around the house for a festive Spring touch. They look especially nice hanging in front of a window!

Easter Traditions

Roo watching for Peter Cottontail hopping down the bunny trail...

Three years ago, my first child celebrated her first Easter. I took countless pictures. And anyone not related to her would probably say I took too much video footage. But there is something about celebrating holidays once children come along (and, especially, each child's "first" Easter, Christmas, Thanksgiving, etc.), that puts more "oomph" into the spirit and mood of the season.

As it was done for me, so I want to do for my children: I want to steep the holidays with as much tradition as possible. While I was making plans this week for Easter, I realized that we do not have as many traditions for this holiday as we do for Christmas and birthdays.

I thought back to what I remember about Easter when I as young. The standouts for me are:

*Coloring eggs: this was a family affair. Even my dad got involved and he is the farthest thing from artsy/craftsy. I recall using the same white china cups to mix the vinegar and fizzy color tablets every single year. Why did we use my mom's fancy dishes to dye eggs? I didn't wonder back then, but as a mom, I do wonder now. White, fine bone china, for dyeing eggs? Seriously?

My parents moved from the East coast to the Midwest, both leaving their large families behind, to raise us. All holidays were spent with just us, our small family unit. Perhaps since my mom was no longer able to use her fine china to entertain her large family, she put it to use in a new way. The only time I can remember those beautiful white cups seeing the light of day was when it was time to dye eggs.

*Making Hot Cross Buns: I remember my sister and I getting to lick the icing bowl after helping my mom drizzle the cross on each bun. I also remember picking out the raisins because I didn't care for raisins in my food (I still don't).

*Hunting for our Easter baskets: they were never just out in the open, we always had to search for them on Easter morning.

*Countless rounds of hiding and searching for eggs: as we got older and became better "hiders," my parents started limiting the egg hunts to one room only. Otherwise, the hunt could go on all day. I remember one year, we had to encourage our dog to sniff out one lone egg, as my dad had forgotten where he hid it.

*Easter outfits: my mom can sew amazingly well and often made our Easter dresses. Prior to Easter, we went shopping for new white shoes or sandals and, some years, hats. I have seen pictures of my sister and me with little purses and white gloves too. I have always loved dressing up and I think it got its start with Easter.

So, those are my top 5 associations with Easter. I have proceeded to incorporate these traditions with my little ones, but I'm looking for more. I like having options! If any readers would care to share their ideas, I'd love to hear. What Easter tradition do you recall from your youth or what new traditions have you created with your family now that you're all grown up? :)

Pajama Lamb-a!

This little gal is Lambkins. I made her for my daughter two Easters ago. I followed this easy pattern. For the fabric, I chose to use my daughter's first sleeper PJ's (you know, the kind with the feet). She practically lived in that pajama sleeper all winter and I was so sad when she outgrew it. I couldn't bear to part with it, so I wanted to make the pj's into something "permanent." The soft muted colors and fuzziness (from being washed every other day for months!) looked just right for a little Spring lambkin.



It was my first attempt at making a stuffed animal, and I think that is evident by looking at the picture above! ;) Not quite sure what happened to the poor thing's nose, it seems to be non-existent. But, my daughter loves it anyway.


I was thinking about making a second Lambkins for my son this Easter. Goodness knows, he has a plethora of sleeper pj's to choose from (it seems to be my go-to outfit during winter with my little ones). But, so far he has not shown a fondness for cuddly objects. When he sees his sister's Lambkins, he tries to stuff (no pun intended) as much of the lamb's head into his mouth as possible. That seems to be the extent of his enjoyment for stuffed animals. So, rather than add one more thing to my To-Do list this week, I think I'll skip making Lambkins: the Sequel! I do have some ideas floating around in my head with regard to projects made with his clothes, though. Hopefully, something will come of my ideas and I'll have something to show here before long.

In Your Easter Bonnet (and your Easter basket)...

Ah, I love filling the Easter baskets. It's the Easter version of the stocking. At Christmas, I spend a good deal of time and energy coming up with neat and surprising stocking stuffers. I try to do the same for my Easter baskets.

While I'm not completely opposed to giving my children sweets and chocolate, I do try to minimize the amount they consume (of course right now Roo is the only one who gets sweets, as Rascal is still exclusively breastfed). It is definitely a treat, not an everyday indulgence. Usually, my daughter's "treat" is a slice of whatever dessert I've made for everyone at the family gathering (for Easter, Christmas, or birthdays, etc.) rather than store-bought candy to mark the occasion.

I tend to focus on finding non-edible, useful, fun gifts. Here are a few peeks at what I'm planning on this year:

I love these twig colored pencils from http://www.atoygarden.com/ :

As a child, I loved getting fresh art supplies. I wish they had something like these back in the day. Maybe it's the twig component, or the the bouquet of Easter colors, but these pencils just scream "Spring" to me.

I also adored the Little Golden Books when I was young. While I do have several of the classics from my childhood (thanks, Mom, for saving them!) to introduce to my children, I've been filling in the gaps by buying them through Amazon. For Easter, I picked up this one:

and this one:

At just $2.99 each, I can't pass them up! While I find plenty to love about the many modern books I've bought for my children, reading these Little Golden Books transports me back in time. The quaint illustrations, the text, everything about them is a gift that I am so pleased to share with my own kids.

Lately, my daughter can't build enough tents, houses, caves, and tunnels. We've been getting by with strategic draping of blankets and stacking pillows. But, I sense the need for something more dependable and sturdy (understandably, she gets so upset when her "roof" caves in after she's worked so hard to build her elf house). These wooden play clips should do the trick!

As I've stated in previous posts, I have a fondness for birds and squirrels. So, at Joann Fabrics I picked up these cuties put out by the Audubon Society:

All of their plush animals have authentic calls that are emitted by a squeeze of their soft bellies. To keep the robin from getting lonely, I bought him a friendly squirrel whose realistic chatter is sure to get the attention of our real squirrel pals just outside our back door.

To round out the baskets, I have stickers, glitter glue, and watercolor paints. I'll also be stuffing in some needed items like new socks, underwear, and "bug" dishes, like these:

Also at Joann's, I came across these itty bitty pop-up books:





One is nursery rhymes and the other is forest animals (each page has some educational tidbits about the featured animal on that page). We got a pop-up Christmas card from someone last year and Roo played with it so much (open, close, open, close, open....you get the idea) that it fell apart. So, she should love these books. And if they fall apart (or shall I say when they fall apart), it won't be a big deal because I got them out of the dollar bin!!

Looking over this post, I realize it may look like I bought a lot of "stuff" for the Easter baskets. But, most of the items are things I would have bought anyway -- either for educational value or because we needed it. If there is something that my child needs, that I would be buying regardless of the holiday, why not put it in the Easter basket as a "gift?" Believe it or not, my daughter gets quite excited by new socks. So, in essence, they make a great (and practical) "gift." And because I think reading, art, and creative play are some of the most important parts of childhood, I can justify buying items that fit into these categories. I do try to limit buying "stuff" for stuff's sake. I abhor cheap plastic "filler" items. I try to stick with useful, quality products.

As for my husband, he's happy with some Peeps, a chocolate bunny, and a great meal. So easy to please!

So, along with Mass, breakfast, Easter egg hunts, and a fancy dinner with all of our loved ones...it should be a beautiful celebration! Only one week to go (and it's going to be a busy one)!

Breakfast the Night Before

On holiday mornings, I like to serve a hearty, satisfying breakfast. Preferably one that has been all but cooked the night before. Who wants to spend a festive morning in the kitchen while the rest of the family is enjoying the day in the next room?

So, here is a recipe that I made last year on Easter morning. A sausage and cheese strata. I think it's nice to serve something with a little protein on a day that will be infused with sugar. Of course, you might be thinking that the fat and carbs loaded into this dish are hardly a way to balance out all the sugar intake of Easter. You would be right. But it's sooo good. And I don't even like sausage! If you feel you must round out the meal with something a bit more healthy, serve it with a nice big bowl of fruit: strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, and melon or kiwi might be nice. That's what I did last year. And it almost made up for the handfuls (bagfuls??) of these that I inhaled that day:

Oh, Cadbury. First you had me with your Creme eggs, and now these addictive little nuggets!

But, back to the strata. Here is the recipe. Hope you like it!

Sausage and Cheese Strata

NOTE: This makes TWO 2-quart dishes. Divide ingredients by half if you only want to make 1 8x8 (or 9x9) square pan of strata. But it's so good that it disappears fast. I made only 1 8x8 last year and I wished I had made two!

10 cups French bread cubes (about 1/2 inch size)

12 oz. cooked smoked sausage links, cut into 3/4 inch pieces

1 4-oz. can sliced mushrooms, drained (can use fresh if you prefer)

1 cup green sweet bell pepper, chopped

6 oz. (equals about 1 1/2 cups) sharp cheddar cheese, shredded

4 oz. (about 1 cup) Monterey jack cheese, shredded

7 beaten eggs

3 1/2 cups milk

2 Tbsp snipped chives

1 Tbsp snipped fresh oregano OR 1 tsp dried oregano, crushed

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

Divide half of the bread cubes between 2 greased 2-quart casserole baking dishes. Top with sausage, mushrooms, and sweet pepper. Sprinkle with cheeses. Place remaining bread cubes on top.

Combine eggs, milk, chives, oregano, salt, and pepper in a large bowl. Pour half of the mixture over each baking dish. Cover and refrigerate for 2-24 hours (yay! Your work is finished. Now all you have to do is pop it in the oven tomorrow morning!).

Bake in a 325 degree oven, uncovered, for 45 minutes. (Now go hunt for those Easter baskets and munch on some chocolate while you're waiting!)

Check for doneness by inserting a knife in the center. Like a cake, it should come out clean. Let stand 10 minutes before serving it up!