Easter Sweets

Easter morning looked a little warmer and sunnier than it actually was, but even a little chilly sunshine was definitely better than the snow we had on Friday. Yeah. Snow...in April. Sloane and Tagg were jazzed about hunting for the eggs they had dyed a few days before (that was a perfect mess!), for the Easter bunny to come and, mostly, for candy. Candy, candy, candy! It was all they talked about for days. Think we've lost the true meaning of Easter? Not if it's CANDY!

Yes, I'm a horrible mother. I made both kids wear these ridiculous rabbit ears for about 5 minutes in exchange for a Kodak moment...and candy. Tagg has obviously figured out how to pay me back...by giving me his fakest smile for the picture. In case you're wondering, this was the good one.

Sloane and Tagg hunting for eggs at Nana and Papa's. They did a really good job of finding all the eggs and Tagg was really cute about sharing his loot with Sloane. Next year we'll probably actually have to "hide" the eggs, as opposed to just setting them out on the lawn. We're already worried we're going to forget where we put them all so simple is good!

We only had one egg fatality. That one got stepped on. I've never seen a hard-boiled egg look like that. Tagg says, "Mommy...this one is yours." Thanks, buddy.

The paparazzi (Aunt Tiff) were following both kids to document the day.

The paparazzi did not, however, notice that Nana, Papa and the kids were trying to take cute photos while blinded by the incredibly bright sun. We took about 20 pictures like this, with the squinting and the grimaces before we thought...hey! what if we don't stare directly into the sun? That might be easier. And more attractive. In the meantime, all of them especially poor Tagg were nearly in pain. Hey, it was early! We figured it out.

See? This photo? Much better! I'm biased but I think we're a pretty cute little family! Especially when we're not blinded by the sun.

After brunch and the egg hunt, we headed over to the playground - completely disrupting some family's Easter festivity. (hey, you put a bunch of plastic eggs full of candy out on a playground, some other kids might try to take them...it happens) Our little daredevil, Sloane...she must have climbed this ladder 25 times to get to the slides. Take the safe stairs? No way. No spotter while perched 6 feet above ground? Didn't matter. She has no fear and loves a challenge. Tagg, on the other hand, was running laps around the playground yelling "See how fast I am!"

Happy Easter, cousins! The family skype-ing with Brooke and Canyon in Seattle. Can't believe how grown up they are and always wish we could be really together for the holidays, and every days. But happy that we have technology to keep us close.

The kids were kind enough to sit still for about 1 minute to get their photo taken. They were all squirmy and silly in every snap...except for Kayla who was, consistent. I don't think she bought my "work it, girl, gimmee a smile" at all. Or maybe she's scowling at Scott who was jumping up and down behind me like a monkey trying to get four smiles at one time. Either way, hilarious.

My masterpiece! Someone said "bring dessert" so I got all Pinterest-y and Tagg and I made Easter chocolate cupcake nests with little M&M candy eggs. I even used my frosting decoration bag thingie with the fancy tips - for the first time. And then I had leftover frosting so we made an angel food cake, and then loaded it up with so much frosting it got all lopsided. More chocolate M&M eggs ...and it still needed something. So I hacked the legs off Sloane's chocolate Easter bunny and popped him in the middle. Perfection! Bunnies (chocolate, not live) WERE harmed in the making of this cake.

Best gift of the day? And I'm talking about a gift competition that included Star Wars figurines, a Dora doll, toothbrushes and toothpaste (serious about that), new PJs, a bunch of darling clothes, and aforementioned candy. Nope. Winner, hands down - Bubbles. 99 cent bubbles. Auntie Leese has this thing dialed in!

I jest about the candy and the gifts and stuff, but the best part of this holiday, any holiday, is our family. Being able to share these special occasions and traditions and love with such special and wonderful people who are our family and our friends and our everything...that's really, really amazing. There is nothing sweeter.

The Best Medicine

I got slammed by some crazy bug yesterday. At 2pm, totally fine. 2:30 the throat gets sore. 3:30 having a hard time keeping it together...head pounding, skin uber-sensitive, internal temp control impossible. So I headed home for my personal anti-cold/flu prescription which is...sleep. Sleep, sleep, sleep. And lots of vitamin C, echinacea, etc. So I pounded vitamins like a crazy person and slept for a couple of hours before the kids got home.

Tagg was very concerned about me. How cute is that? So my little love bug, the kid who is all about MINE, or MINE MINE MINE!!!! - proceeds to bring me favorite stuffed animal, a turquoise dinosaur. And then Nemo and Wags the Dog. Then his favorite jungle blankies. Then the Cars pillow. And all of his favorite books, including Star Wars ABCs and his Star Wars Lego stickers book. And a fishing pole, a car, a bear, a stuffed german shepard, his Cars sleeping bag. The pile kept growing as my normally "me-me-me" son shared all of his most favorite and cherished possessions with his sick mommy.

I was moved to tears, literally. I've seen him so protective of his 'things' that his genuine giving of those things was super special. In spite of the fact that my fevered self was roasting under all of his sacrificial offerings, I was so moved that his number one priority was to make sure I was okay. "Mommy needs this to feel better" is the next best thing your kid can say to you other than "I love you, mommy." Maybe even better.

Tagg's secret magic worked. I woke up feeling 100% better. And by the end of the day, I was back to normal. Never discount the miracle healing power of love. And a few stuffed animals.

Green Thumbs & Spray Guns

We started another gardening project this year, buoyed by last year's mild success with a few peppers and some basil. I'm in the mood for fresh herbs and veggies that don't cost a fortune and the kids are in the mood for...dirt. We went seed shopping a few weeks ago and Tagg and Sloane picked most of them out, including corn (where in the hell are we going to plant corn?!) and peppers and pumpkins. Yep. Pumpkins. "Giant" pumpkins. That should be interesting.

So we started a bunch of seeds in these little planters. It was dirty business, but we got them planted. And nearly drowned a few in the process. My kids love to pour water on stuff!

And a few weeks later, we have little sprouts! Tagg shuffled all the name tags so it will be a guessing game to figure out what's what, but wow! We're growing stuff!

We had to move our gardening project inside this week due to a cold spell. 80 on Saturday, snowing on Sunday. Not so good for our little seedlings. I say this like I know anything about gardening, which I do not. But it sounds good, so now the little plants are living on our dining room table, all nice and toasty.

You have never seen anyone who loves to water plants as much as Tagg does. It might be the squirt bottle. Okay, it's definitely the squirt bottle. At least for once it's aimed at something productive, as opposed to my mirror, shoes, bed, his sister, the dog, the DVD player...

He is pretty proud of his green thumb. He likes to point out each new little sprout as it pops up and we talk about the differences between the way they look and how fast they grow. But they all need water. That much he knows! Sloane is still just fascinated by the dirt which does not bode well for the plants. Last year, she would pick every tomato, strawberry and pepper she could and start eating them right off the vine. At least she enjoyed our limited crop!

Plant-watering is serious business in our house. You have to FOCUS.

So we may be a little ahead of the planting season, but we've got a long journey to turn these little seeds into a bountiful crop. From a planter. Like I said, serious business.

It's Saturday...Where Did I Put My Cape?

Saturdays are fun, chaotic, hilarious, exhausting...and they certainly require a little "super mom" at times. Scott works Saturdays so it's me and the kids, all day, left to our own devices. < evil laugh >

First things first. Tiff and I go for a long run, about 8 miles. Sounds impressive to some, but this was the first time I had run since last Saturday and it felt like all uphill and into the wind (it was actually really windy, but it might have seemed worse in my head). But we did it!

Looking awesome, smelling fabulous and with a face that most deer would love to get a crack at (get the salt lick reference?), we head to the grocery store and then to the park for a little play time.

Then it's off to lunch. Special treat (because all the groceries are in the back of the Tahoe)...Chik-Fil-A! It is, by now, waaaaaay past nap time so we scoot back to the house and put Sloane down for a nap while I rock out some dishes, laundry, clean up, and put the groceries away. Tagg is patiently playing with his Star Wars sticker book, hanging on to the thread of hope that we can do some crafts while Sloane is sleeping.

Sorry, dude. No dice. She's not sleeping today, apparently. (WHY?! Whyyyyy?! I would kill for a nap right now! How about I sleep and YOU do the dishes? Huh?) So we start our craft project together, two against one. And paint is the weapon of choice. I am in trouble. Oh, and did I mention there's a salad spinner involved? Danger!

I actually bought my first salad spinner for this cute craft idea I found on Pinterest.
Love that site for craft ideas! A little worried that my salad spinner
will never spin actual salad after this.

It took us awhile to get the hang of it but once we did, it was pretty fun. Of course, Sloane managed to dump one bowl of paint out and paint her leg and face blue while we figured it out but nothing hit the counters so all good.

The inside of the salad spinner was actually really lovely
when we were done. Kind of hippie, tie-dye. I wanted to keep it like this,
but I also want to spin salad some day. Not sure why.

And the little paper eggs were beautiful. I have no idea what to do with them now but they're really cute!

The final product!

After that, we decided that since we were already a mess with paint, we might as well try some other projects. So we painted Easter and spring cards with our paints, made thumbprint chicks, and then made purple handprints. We only dumped paint - full bottles of paint, mind you - on the floor twice and then had a clap fest with our purple-painted hands once which splattered me and the entire kitchen with paint. Needless to say, tubby time for the kids came early on Saturday. (for the record, I still have not showered at this point...ick)

Oh yeah. We got some craftin' goin' on in here!

And, because the day is still young, I power showered, got the kids cleaned up and into the 3rd outfit of the day and off we went to Target to get a few things.

Sloane tried out her new sticker book.
One on her head, 15 on the rest of her.

Tagg's awesome shopping outfit, snow boots and shorts.
I had no input on this. And he does not have an ATM card.

And then we went home, made dinner, and I think people watched a movie. I was snoring on the couch by 10pm, dreaming of paint and Easter eggs and spinning salad. In my cape.