Easter

 Saturday morning egg hunt...

Sunday morning Easter baskets...

Sock bunny

Also...

I pulled a 25-pound turkey out of the freezer to cook for our Easter dinner, and I am now completely sold on the practice of brining poultry. I've been brining our roasting chickens for a little while now, but it was just amazing with the turkey. Totally worth the trouble.

In a couple of pictures you can see some little crocheted chickens. They fit around plastic eggs and I bought them at a fundraiser for our local library (after the boys begged and begged) for what seemed at the time to be a good deal, but five crocheted chickens later I wonder if it was the smartest investment...

Fall has always been my favorite holiday, but Spring is starting to edge it out. I think after these past few years living in the pacific northwest I have come to look forward to spring more since it (hopefully) means an end to the rainy doldrums of winter around here. I have loved planting tulips and snapdragons, and watching our apple trees blossom, and have been generally in awe lately of the beautiful tokens of springtime all around me, symbols of what Easter is really all about.

Building a Bookshelf

 Due to my habit of acquiring children's books, our shelf has become inadequate to contain the collection.  So Paul kindly agreed to make another one this weekend, and the boys were happy to help.

Safety (or sunglasses) first.

Making Valentines

A few days before Valentine's we got out our paper and scissors and went to work on Valentines to send off to grandmas and grandpas and other people we love.  Benjamin practiced writing his letters, copying words I wrote on a separate paper.

To Grandma and Grandpa Duersch we sent this brown heart (mostly) cut out by Benjamin and stamped all over with little green alligators.

He wrote all of the letters of his name... never mind that they're out of order.

Grandma Key got a little pop-up heart number.

He added a tic-tac-toe game as well.

Grandpa Key got a simple cut-out heart (again by Benjamin) and a vertical "I love you."  (Benjamin was getting bored by this point and wanted to change things up.)

He wanted to make his name more interesting as well, writing first the E, then the B, then the N.

When we came to the end and needed to make one for Great Grandma Sanders (who always sends us fun decor to brighten up the Valentine holiday) Benjamin suggested that we just go outside and find some flowers and send them to her in the mail.  But a lack of flowers in February led us to make a flowered paper heart instead.

I was impressed with Benjamin's willingness and his patience for writing those letters over and over.  By the end he was done, but it was fun while it lasted.

Blankets for the Baby

 One of the great parts about having a girl is that I have things to make.  A boy would already have everything he needs because of Benjamin and Rhett.  But while I'm sure a girl would be just as warm and snuggly in a blanket patterned with footballs and basketballs, wouldn't it be nice to have something a little more feminine?

As soon as Christmas was done I was excited to start on some baby projects.  I've only done two so far, and other matters are starting to take precedence, but it's a start and I love how they turned out.

The first is a simple cotton blanket perfect for a nursing cover or letting baby play on the floor.  It should work for swaddling too, if this baby will stand for that.  Paul's sister Marianne first made me one like this when Benjamin was born, and then another for Rhett, and they were well-used.  I think this one will be, too.

I followed instructions and tips from this blog and this blog to make this flowery four-layer flannel blanket. Just like they said it would, it took a lot of time to make!  But it definitely wasn't hard, which was great.  I have the materials to make another one, but I haven't decided to go ahead yet because of the time commitment.  Even so, it was worth it and I hope this blanket gets a lot of use over the years.

Bathtub Art

 With a forecast of major snow heading our way, Paul opted to take our 4-wheel-drive vehicle to work, just in case.  Since that's the car I usually drive the boys' car seats were inside, leaving us home bound for the day.  Something I really need to work on is being more creative with activities for the boys at home.  I too often fall back on PBS Kids games online for lack of better ideas.  But knowing we'd be home all day, and also that I couldn't remember the last time either child was bathed, I pulled this idea out of the cache in my brain (and my crafty bookmarks folder) and tried it out.  It was an overall success, but I'll tweak the recipe next time.

 

Can you tell what the boys' favorite colors are?

Cleanup was simple (even though I still had to do most of it) and even left the tub a bit cleaner than before (definitely a plus).

The basic recipe in the link is this:  Mix 2 T. cornstarch and 1/4 c. liquid dish soap with a few drops of food coloring until smooth.  Then add 2-3 T. water and start painting.  Next time I'll leave out the water so the paint stays on the walls, or add only a tiny amount if it needs it.

Suggestions for other indoor (hopefully non-messy/non-baking) activities would be greatly appreciated!  (I have come to just admit the fact that I have almost zero patience for cooking with small children.  Maybe I'll be better when they're 12.)

Better late than never

I made Rhett's first Christmas ornament today.  It has been in my head for um... almost three Christmases.  I don't know why I didn't do it before.

I got the idea from here except I used Heat N Bond to fuse the letter to the circle, and I totally freehanded the stuff on the back (as if you couldn't tell).  It seems an appropriate way to commemorate Rhett's first Christmas with us since that's about when I began my new sewing hobby, and this was one of the first projects that I remember catching my eye.  For some reason I always envisioned it being green, so green it is.

Snowflakes

 

 

They'll have to do until the real stuff gets here.

Gingerbread Houses

A Duersch Family tradition

Benjamin decided after about four candies he was done building and ready to eat.

My roof fell in with the weight of the candy.  Next year: build houses the night before so the icing has time to set.

Paul's didn't turn out as planned so he took an abstract art approach (my words, not his).  Benjamin, tactful four-year-old that he is, declared, "That looks like a pile of junk!"  (Thank you, Oscar the Grouch and PBS Kids.)

Reindeer and Remodeling

One of the activities in our countdown to Christmas was making candy cane reindeer, which the boys thought was fun (except that I wouldn't let them eat the candy canes--I'm so mean).

 I tend toward the traditional (red nose, brown antlers)...

but not everyone else does.

Benjamin chose red and red (of course--thank you, Lightning McQueen) and Rhett went with a bit more eccentric: purple nose and orange antlers.

Then it was off to the bathroom to help Dada with finishing the shower.