Easter Weekend

Dying eggs:
Posing for the camera before the Easter Vigil:
Playing with treats from the Easter Bunny and grandparents on Easter morning:

Mommy deboning and butterflying the leg of lamb (in gory contrast to everyone else's Easter photos of mommies in sundresses in gardens):
Making a smushed pillow sandwich:
Egg hunting with friends:
Happy Easter, everyone!

Let's Think of Something To Do While We're Waiting

First Ride on a Real Bicycle

In Like a Lion

It's been a strange winter in Maine, as we didn't get much snow at all the February. Then on March 1 we had a snow day and received about a foot of snow. The wind was blowing it around pretty hard, so we all stayed in. Here's a record of what we did to entertain ourselves.

First, here's a shot of the whiteness out the window (Ben is watching it come down at his little table):


Ben spent some time doing the colors activity from his busy box (he really likes the colors and numbers pins), while Chris stretched out on the sofa.
The cat made her presence known.
Then Ben and I did some yoga.
Again, the cat made her presence known. (Gosh, yoga is so relaxing for me.)
Ben generally is really excited to join in in the yoga for the first 5 minutes, then gets bored and looks for something else to do.
Then Ben and Chris sat on the sofa and read quietly while I cooked something.

The True Meaning of Presidents' Day

Sometimes I go a little crazy trying to entertain my child without the TV. Like this time:


"Mommy? Why did you put a bag over my head?"

Yeah, that monster shopping bag wasn't a hit with him, judging from his long-suffering expression, which made me all the more prone to collapse on the floor in hysterical laughter. Then I am met with an expression like this:

"Hmmm. Now I'm suspicious of you, Mommy."

Several indoor activities work well. Receiving presents from grandparents:


Eating Valentine candy:


Reading:
"You think I'm going to put down my books just to hug Daddy? You're WRONG."


And putting puffballs in an old milk jar. As soon as I dump these out, Ben has to sit down and put them ALL back in again. It's serious work. (This is one of many items I'm accumulating for Ben's "busy box," inspired by this post.)


"You think my hair looks like what?"

Reading

Ben has had a literacy boom. He can read just about any word now, and he is excellent at reading simple books (those with just a few words or one sentence per page). This morning he read the word "important" without any help. He has also given up his nap, but it works out perfectly because he's so happy reading and entertaining himself that he just hangs out in his room for a couple of hours every afternoon and has quiet time. I like to spy on him via monitor and keyhole.

Here he is reading a chapter from Arnold Lobel's Frog and Toad Together. Even though he's read this several times and has bits of it memorized, he is genuinely able to read it as well. His favorite chapter is about eating too many cookies--something we can all relate to in our house!

Wild Things Part 2

This week I went decorating and baking crazy, preparing for our Wild Rumpus. First order of business, add some wild things to the house. Here's an illustration from the book for inspiration:
And here are three of the wild things. The redhead looks a bit like a muppet to me, but Ben recognized them all and was pretty excited. It was nice to have a Halloween monster that was also a familiar literary reference, and not too scary for the kids (although I've seen Spike Jonze's movie, and those wild things scared me!).
I carved our pumpkin and Ben lay down next to it, had a conversation with it, and gave it a kiss.

I baked pumpkin spice cupcakes with cream cheese frosting (decorated like wild things) and mint julep brownies (these are the best brownies I've ever eaten). These two recipes had so much butter in them that I'd rather not think about it, but it was great fun to abandon all health concerns and make massive amounts of decadent sweets for a crowd. I also made Nutter Butter ghosts because I thought Ben would love them, which he did.

And I made some slimy mozzerella eyeballs (in balsamic and olive oil), which were yummy and wonderfully funny to look at!
And, yes, I see that misspelling now. Ga! How embarrassing! Even editors need editors.

In spite of the 5-10 inches of snow forecast for last night and a mild cold going around that everyone seems to have acquired this week, we had a good crowd and a lot of fun.
Here's Ben after a few hours in a house filled with people:
Oh, and I wore my mom's German dirdl and went as Snow White (or rather, an aging Snow White with freckles). I put a felt crown on Chris and informed him he was Prince Charming, although I threatened to put scary makeup on him and make him the evil queen if he didn't behave. Here, Mom, I thought you'd like a photo:
Doesn't this dress just make you think of Christmas? Don't I look like someone who resides in a Gingerbread House? Well, in a few weeks I'll be jumping into advent with gusto, and maybe I'll have to pull the dirndl out while we're applying gumdrop buttons to gingys. So many things to do! I love holidays.