Making Cupcakes

Here we are making cupcakes for Easter :)

Mama Raaawr & Baby Raaawr

We were at a friend's house a month or so ago and K did her first drawing with faces

(that she told me about, anyway!)

She did the center character first, and showed me. I asked her what it was and she told me it was a "Raaawr". This could mean a bear, lion, dinosaur, or anything else that she thinks may growl! lol I asked her if it was a bear though, and she said yes... a "mommy raaawr"!

And then, she ran off and drew the baby.

I was impressed. And realized that this piece of paper will probably turn into a much larger collection. And then I thought of the box of my drawings that my mom still has. Oh boy.

Flower Child

K's little friend tucked some flowers into her ponytails.

So cute :)

Chasing Seagulls

Our friends came down from SC for a visit.

What a perfect excuse to head to the beach!

And chase seagulls...

And feed seagulls...

And chase them some more!

And then we went to lunch :)

I wish these friends got to see more of each other! They are so sweet together.

(I miss her momma too!!)

Mani/Pedi Time

So, K got some non-toxic nail polish for Easter.

I thought it would be a good bribe for her to let me cut her nails.

She's getting much better at letting me cut her finger nails,

but she still doesn't let me touch her toenails.

Just have to do it while she's sleeping...

She does let me paint them though ;)

Wordless Wednesday

Easter: Sunrise to Sunset

Easter! A long, beautiful day.

We attempted to get to a sunrise service down by the water... but the sun beat us there.

It was still great though, and gorgeous out. A bit chilly, but such a nice start to the day.

We saw some friends down there and hung out for a bit.

Then we went home, ate, and had a family nap!

(since we got up WAY too early!)

We went to the in-laws after nap time.

K got her Easter basket then.

A new book about springtime, a block puzzle, non-toxic nail polish, wooden eggs for her kitchen, "magic" sprouting beans, nesting eggs, some snack bars, and other goodies...

Here she is enjoying one of the chocolate cupcakes she helped me make (and decorate!)

Checking out her loot.

She discovered the candy! A honey-sesame stick - yumm!

With the Grandmas, and her baby cousin.

And an organic lollypop! (no artificial junk in her mouth)

With her big cousin Zac - ready to go find eggs!

I love her little basket. Have I mentioned that before?

So cute.

I just found out that they have matching mommy baskets... I may need to get one.

With her Auntie K & cousin

They've got a fabulous looooong swing!

Next, we decided to hit the drum circle.

It always makes for a nice Sun evening at the beach, with a beautiful sunset to conclude the day.

I think everyone else around had the same idea! I've never seen it so crowded. It was the end or Spring Break though... I hadn't thought of that before.

It was still a nice time though. And a very nice day :)

Dying Easter Eggs!

I thought I'd have some fun this year and dye eggs with natural "dye".

I googled to find out some things I had on hand that made some basic colors.

There's all kinds of vegetables, fruits, teas, spices, etc that can be used.

I just chose a few for this time, but would love to play around again some time.

Yellow onion skins = golden brown (I added a little turmeric for a deeper yellow/orange)

Beets = pink/red (or brownish if they sit too long :( )

Purple cabbage = robin's egg blue

Pretty already!

I boiled for a while and then added some vinegar to help the color take.

I saw some really pretty eggs online with leaf imprints.

They glued leaves and things on the eggs before dying them and then peeled them off.

K helped me pick all kinds of leaves, grasses & flowers.

She colored on some with pencils and decorated with stickers too.

While I spent WAY too much time sticking plants to eggs...

Unfortunately, they didn't stick once they were in the warm dye bath.

So, we ended up with solid(ish) colored eggs anyway!

It definitely went a lot slower than commercial dyes, but we ended up with a lovely batch of eggs! And when the dye leaked through to the edible eggs inside, I felt no guilt feeding K a "blue" colored egg!