Easter Eggs

This year I wanted to try dying eggs with natural dyes. I had read about it in various natural parenting emails and magazines but hadn't ever done it. Let's be honest, most years we haven't even dyed eggs. We always have the intention and it just never happens. This year I was determined. Even though no one joined me in dying eggs, I still had fun.

For supplies I decided on purple cabbage, yellow onion skins, and black tea. I simmered the purple cabbage and the yellow onion skins in water for about 30 minutes. Meanwhile the tea steeped until it was nice and black. I was determined to have perfectly-boiled eggs so I followed Cook's Illustrated's instructions to a T and of course, they turned out perfectly. They don't mess around at ATK.



Some of the eggs I wrapped rubber bands around and soaked for hours, getting a sort-of tie-dyed effect. Some I just soaked. Some got double dunked. All in all I had a blast and thought they turned out pretty. Next year I'll definitely try more random fruits and vegetables for dye.

Shorties for All

As you might remember, one of my New Year's Resolutions was to learn to knit. Since learning, I have become obsessed. What do I want for my birthday? Yummy yarn. What do I want to do every evening? Knit. What do I dream about? Sweaters, wool longies, soakers, etc... T thinks it's a bit nuts. But I digress, I found a pattern for some pants, found some wool, and started knitting. A few tutorials later, they are finished. I still need to get a pic of my babe wearing them (as he looks adorable in them) but I think they're pretty cute. Now onto Boozle's...

Brandbil

Boozle is definitely all boy. We purposely bought toys that wouldn't age and would encourage creativity, i.e. wooden puzzles, wood blocks, stacking toys, etc... And yet, the first car Boozle laid his eyes on sparked an intense passion. I still remember the day very clearly. We were back in Little Rock so we could be there while the movers packed up the house and we went to church on Sunday. We sat by a family with 2 little boys and Boozle was no longer entertained with his cow and horse. He wanted the car and the transformer. I don't know how he knew he was supposed to be enamored with such toys, but he certainly was. Luckily the boys were equally as amused by his horse and cow so the swap was amicable.

The Saturday before Easter there were many Easter egg hunts around town but one was put on by the volunteer fire department and would feature 2 fire engines that the kids could look at. I knew this was the one we had to attend. It was scheduled for 2pm. Right during naptime. Was it worth it? I thought it was. We purposely showed up late because 1. he's only 2 and doesn't need tons of eggs full of candy and 2. we wanted to let him sleep for as long as we could. As we were pulling up, most of the kids were leaving with baskets full of eggs. One of the trucks had already left but there was one left and the fireman was just getting ready to leave. He was very happy to show the truck to Boozle and postpone his departure a bit for us.

At first, Boozle was fascinated by it. (Brandbil [Fire truck in Swedish] happens to be one of his favorite words.) Then the fireman invited him to climb on it which he couldn't decide if it was a scary fire truck or a cool fire truck. Eventually he decided it was cool and he climbed in with Papa. Then he wanted out. Stat. Then he wanted to look at it from afar. After a few minutes, he wanted to climb back in. Then he wanted out. All in all, he preferred standing on it "so high" and touching its shiny parts. He has a fire truck book and was very well-informed about what everything is called so he wondered where the aerial ladder truck was. The fireman was impressed that he knew that his truck was called a pumper. It was a great day.

Love it

My favorite gift I ever received was this sling (Thank you, Kristin). My babes love it and I adore having them close and snug. There is nothing sweeter.

Fun in the Big City

While some of our family was here last weekend we decided to check out what the City had to offer. It definitely had some cold wind to offer, but that's always expected there. It also had delicious brunch from Sarabeth's to offer, a nice stroll around Central Park, and Boozle's first choo choo ride, which he thought was scary and too loud. Apparently he prefers the smaller toy variety.

Blessing Day

This past weekend we finally decided that L's immune system could handle a bit of church so we blessed him. T did a wonderful job and it was tender and sweet. We loved having family here to celebrate with and realized it always makes us wish we lived closer. Maybe someday.

In Case You Hadn't Heard...

In case you hadn't heard, we've gotten a ridiculous amount of snow here in New Jersey. Even 1" is a ridiculous amount, in my opinion, let alone many huge snowstorms with 18" each time. T said he liked snow in December. He was longing for a white Christmas, and he got it. After shoveling approximately 5 feet of snow thus far, he and his back are dunzo with the snow. Boozle, L, and I are also dunzo. We've been cooped up far too long and are just yearning for the sun.

Boozle loves trains and always wants to ride one. There's a fun one that does a little ride around Easter so I told him that when it gets warmer, we can go on the train. Not a day goes by without him reminding me that when it gets warmer, we get to go on a train! When it gets warmer... Now I'm thinking we should change it to if.

Needless to say, I've had to become very creative in coming up with inside activities for a very energetic 2 year-old. I checked out a few books from the library to get some ideas and we've actually had some fun doing the following activities:


snuggling in bed


bundling up and going to New York City for delicious brunch


trying to photo-document this growing-too-quickly sweet babe


hiding in boxes and popping out, making box tunnels for trains & people, etc...

giving Apa (monkey) a horsey ride

playing with water in the sink


singing Happy Birthday and blowing out candles many, many times


and taking naps because all this playing just wears us all out!