Easter 2013

This was the first time I have braved coloring Easter eggs with the kids.  We used Kool-Aid and food coloring because I had those on hand. 

The kids enjoyed it.

And our final products ended up ok.  The brown ones were actually grape Kool-aid.  We won’t use that flavor again; they looked bad and they tasted like grape boiled eggs.  Not good.

Then we went to Papaw’s for dinner and the annual Easter Egg Hunt. 

The Easter Bunny hid all of Kora’s under sticks.

She almost didn’t have a big enough basket.

And then she enjoyed the fruits of her labor in the Gazebo.

Tuck’s were hidden a little bit more challengingly.

I know he circled around a couple of them multiple times.

But he loved racing around the front yard looking for them.

He finally found the one in the mailbox.

And settled in to inventory the booty.

It was a cool day but the kids had fun and we ate like kings, of course. 

Feeding the Visitors

Mandy had been saving melon rinds and stale bread from when we got there to feed the resident deer.  You can vaguely see them in the background under the tree.

The kids were all so excited about the deer being so close.

Tucker in action of tossing a bagel.

This is Limpy.  He has been hanging around the neighborhood for at least 3 years now after getting hit; thus the name Limpy.  There is also Momma Deer, Dottie, and Horny.  Dash is very creative in his naming conventions.

The deer were at the house in the middle of the day about every day.  Mandy irrigates the yard so they have a green oasis that all the wildlife come into.  One day we saw about 20 turkeys too.

Homemade Pizzas

 

The kids helped make them.  They were in charge of the cheese.  Did you notice the overflowing cheese?  They were a hit.

Watermelon Summer

 

Yogurt is Delicious

 

She gave up on the spoon and just went in head first.  I love the evidence on her forehead.

Popcorn Boogers

We love popcorn.  We eat it about every evening.  Kora got pretty into it.

Mushroom Hunting

We have been doing quite a bit of mushroom hunting this year.  With all of the rain and cool weather with random sunshine it has been dubbed “the year” for mushrooms.  I think I read somewhere that the season has lasted for 7 weeks.  Unheard of.

TJ and Tuck have been a couple of times to the cabin.  They have found quite a few, enough to have a mess down there and still bring a few home.

We got invited to our neighbors.  TJ was surprised that I was interested in taking Kora out but I was just so excited to get into that woods.  I have been curious about it for years.  I am hoping Tuck and Kora will be able to spend much time over there in the future.  It has a cool little creek that is just out their back door.  Parts of it are pretty steep.  TJ and Tuck crossed over…

but Kora and I stayed on our side of the creek.  We just listened to the birds and to Tuck asking a million questions.  And we ate peanut butter crackers.

My cheesy ‘lil Button.

I am obsessed with this stuff….

Papaw made the kids a play kitchen this winter.  Nanny got them some pots and pans and a tea set but alas they had nothing to prepare on them.  I found plastic food but I knew Tuck would be hitting Kora over the head with it so this, I think, is going to be so much better. 

This set is actually for a friend’s little girl’s second birthday tomorrow but I have a match set for T and K.

Here is the makings for the sandwich.

Here it is packaged for gift giving. 

And you can’t have a sandwich without a cookie for dessert.  These are light brown on the back.  The idea is that they will be light side up as you cut them and put them in the oven and then flip them over to the “baked” and decorated side when they are done.

And here is breakfast.  The eggs are my favorite to make.  And the sausage is only mildly offensive.  I may switch to patties.

And these are Tucker’s lunch favorite-quesadillas complete with cheese oozing out. These were the fastest since I used the sewing machine.  All the others are hand stitched but only take 15-20 minutes to finish.

I have plans for pitas/tortillas, pancakes, pickles, bowtie pasta, raviolis, pirogues, crackers, more cookies and maybe a cupcake.  I am ate up with this felt food and TJ just laughs when I present him with another course.  I hope the kids enjoy it as much as I have.

Lie to my children? Hell Yes!

So I read all of the parenting magazines, blogs, articles etc and they all say that you should not lie to your children. That this is the worst thing that you, as a responsible parent raising well rounded moral children, can do.  Well, I say: bah.

We are having trouble with Tuck eating.  He complains that he is ALWAYS hungry and yet when dinner time comes he wrinkles that little nose and tells us "Me no like that". 

And yet, if he thinks Daddy shot it... look out, the plate is licked clean even after thirds.  So yes, we lie. 

Did Daddy shoot that spaghetti?  Sure! 

Did Daddy shoot those chicken nuggets? Oh yeah, it's chicken nuggett season right now and we are stocking the freezer. 

You haven't seen chicken nuggets in the wild?  Well, they are nocturnal.  And they tend to co-habitate with the snipes.  Elusive to say the least.