Easter

Easter was really fun this year, since  Charlie is now at the age that she both eats and plays.  When she woke up, I fed her and then got her in to her pretty pretty dress.  Once Tim was up, I pulled out her oh-so-cleverly disguised basket.

The blanket didn't fool her...she didn't even bother to take it off.

 Here she is reading Pride and Prejudice, and making Mommy proud. 

She drew pictures with her new markers for the grandparents, and I made a note to myself to thank Crayola for their Color Wonder products that didn't mark her pretty dress as she dragged the markers across it.

 

After a great church service, lunch and a nap we headed to Papa's, where Charlie was lavished with gifts.  Papa got her lots of food to go with her shopping cart, as well as a stuffed bunny, a wind up bunny (my hand is sore from winding that sucker up so much the last few days) and an inflatible chick and carrot. 

Taking a break from all the play.

I wish this shot had turned out better.  She just looks so much like a baby in it, and I miss that.

Eating a "lime"

Watching golf on the edge of her seat.

I just love this dress.  Look at the tulle!

It was such a pretty day.  This is outside our house in front of our flowering tree.  I love that silly grin.

Our sweet family.

Easter "Baskets"

Growing up, we had the same Easter baskets every year.  They were simple twiggy woven baskets, natural wood colored, and mine had a little purple ribbon tied to the handle.  They were always filled with Robins Eggs, speckled jelly beans, a giant hollow Easter Bunny and a stuffed bunny.  It was perfect.  I've looked for the perfect basket for Charlie, but haven't found it yet, so this year I went with an alternate idea.

The last few months, any store we go into, Charlie hones in on toy shopping carts and gleefully extends the length of our shopping trip by half as she maneuvers her goods through the aisles.  Her favorite, naturally, is the crazy expensive, but easy to steer, Melissa and Doug cart.

I got the idea to use a cart as an Easter basket, and started coming up with ways to make it happen.  Our local kids consignment store carries new M&D items, and the cart costs slightly less there than other places.  So, I sold a bagful of Charlie's outgrown clothes and shoes, and was able to get the cart for less than half the price. 

All that to say, this year's Easter Basket, ready to thrill a little girl:

Another thing I couldn't find was the perfect stuffed bunny, so I just grabbed a sock monkey instead, cause...well...it was cute.

 Also in here:
Twas the Night Before Easter VeggieTales movie from Papa
Elmo color flash cards from the Target dollar bin
Fisher Price Little People - a girl in an Easter dress and a bunny
Pride and Prejudice board book - yay!
Quack Quack Touch and Feel book
Color Wonder Markers (in a Grover cup from the Target $ bin)
Color wonder Paper
Two foam bunny shaped pairs of glasses from the $ bin at Target
A weird spinny light up egg that she latched on to at Target

Now, Charlie isn't the only one who gets an Easter Basket around these parts. 

I found this mug before Christmas, and have wanted to get it for Tim since then.  So, Ron Swanson becomes Tim's basket.  For myself (cause the Easter Bunny tends to forget me) I just got a little mug at Target that looks like a Bunny's hind quarters. 

Throw in some solid white chocolate bunny's, starburst jelly beans and Reece's Pieces carrots, and you have yourself some Easter love.

Easter Eggs

Oh Pinterest, you self deluding, wonderful thing.  I saw these three egg pins, and foolishly thought to myself...I can do that...with a toddler...in an hour.  Riiiiight. 

Pinspiration #1

Baked "Hard Boiled" Eggs

Supplies:

Eggs

Muffin tin

Oven

Check!  So far Pinterest, we're on the same page.





 I baked the eggs for a half an hour at 350.  The house was filled with a cake-y scent, not the normal stink of hard boiled eggs.  However, they had greasy brown spots all over them.

 I immediately put the eggs in an ice bath, and took Charlie for a walk while they cooled.  She killed her first spider while we were out.  Nice.

 One of the eggs cracked in the process, so we sampled it.  Charlie was mildly impressed, I found it a tidge dry, whether because of the crack or the baking, I don't know.  Next time I'll try it at 325.

So, #1 was successful, on to the next!

Pinspiration #2
Kool Aid Egg Dying

Let's just put this out there - vinegar is my enemy.  The slightest whiff of it is enough to get my gag reflex working.  I see (and occasionally re-pin) the hundreds and hundreds of "spray vinegar in any direction of your home and it will be spotlessly clean in an instant" pins, but can't bring myself to do them without a hasmat suit.  So, Easter egg dying was an experiment in having fun while holding your breathe.

Enter, Kool Aid.  Dying eggs to a fruity light scent?  Yes!  Finally! 

Supplies:

The PAAS is not necessary, I just wanted egg cups to put the eggs in.  Probably could have used bowls, but whatevs.

So, add Kool Aid to 2/3 cups of water and stir.  Simple.  So far, I'm with ya, Pinterest.

I cheated and to pump up the colors added the coresponding PAAS color since I had it.  Also, there's no green Kool Aid (that I found at least) so I used lemon juice and water with the green tablet.

It smelled friggin amazing.  Like Skittles.  Mmmm.

 The colors were iffy.  The purple/blue was grayish, which is why there is only one.  I added some yellow to see if it would make a pretty blue green, but it was more like army green.  The yellow was fine, the red was more orange, and the orange was also orange.  But the real trouble was the streaking.

Not so pretty.

Leading us to...
Pinspiration #3

How hard could this be?  Take egg, add glue dots, dip in glitter.  Turns out, pretty darn.

Supplies:
Glitter
Glue dots
Eggs

So, glue dots don't really want to stick to eggs.  I waited until the eggs weren't so cold and finally got them to stick.  I made myself a little pattern and attempted to dip in glitter.  Huh.  There was like, zero glitter on my glue dot.

I dumped a ton more glitter into my dish and was moderately more successful.  Then I used a paint brush to clean off the glitter clinging to the non-glue dot parts of the egg.

Then Charlie woke up, so I decided it wasn't worth the mess to continue to do this to my funny looking eggs, so I started to clean up. 



That's when I knocked glitter over, down my white pants, on the chair and in the carpet.  And I realized that no mom of toddlers in her right mind should be attempting this.  Maybe when I have a sweet teenage girl to help me instead of an impatient non-napping toddler.  We'll see.

Bottom line, I'll bake my eggs in the future, but probably won't revisit the Kool-Aid, and the dots are years from being feasible.  Anyone else try these, more successfully?

Eighteen Months

Somehow my little girl has been here eighteen months already.  It boggles my mind to look at the toddler that my baby has become. 

To celebrate this big day, Charlie has been marching around on her tip toes and singing.

As she gets older, her personality is coming out in spades.  She has her own opinions, and will share them with you (loudly).  Her current favorite things include: cell phones, or anything that can be used as a cell phone, remote controls, dancing, kissing, baby dolls, shape sorting toys, putting on all manners of clothes and accessories (my hair ties are great bracelets.), taking things out of, and putting them back in various boxes, and "helping" me do laundry.  If anything is missing, the first place to look is the washing machine.  She's enjoying milk, yogurt, chocolate, nachos, pumpkin and banana puree, pizza, and veggie straws, as well as anything she can sneak off my plate. 

Whenever she sees the camera, or my phone pointed at her, she makes this face:

She's decided walking is old news, and taken to sprinting or dancing everywhere.



 She is going to be a theme park fan.  She is rarely happier than when someone is flipping her, spinning her, tossing her up, wrestling with her, or running around with her at top speeds.

She's super friendly to strangers, talking to them excitedly - unless they get too close.

She's got a handful of signs that she uses to tell us what she wants: milk, eat, please, thank you, more, and all done.  We're really working on getting her to say Please as opposed to whining when she wants something.

As far as talking goes, she's got the basics (with comprehension)- Hi, Bye, Mommy, Daddy, Papa, Nana (pronounced Nanoo), Wow, Oh no, Uh oh, Ow, Baby, Puppy, and lately, No and Mine have entered the mix.  Whenever she eats something new she says "Mmmmm!"  She'll imitate most anything you say, but doesn't connect what it is most of the time.

She's very snuggly and sweet, and growing into a little spunky person.  I still can't get enough of her, and I'm so blessed to be able to spend all my days with this amazing girl.

The Snow Beast

"Snowpocalypse 2012" is upon us, resulting in something like 6 inches of snow piling up around our home.  It'd been probably about 6 years since I'd really played in the snow, so while Charlie was napping I indulged my inner elementary schooler and made a snow man just her size.

 After she woke up, had some snuggles and a diaper change, I took her out back to meet her new friend.

 It went well.  (Sarcasm, p.s.)  She freaked if I put her down, so these are my attempts at pictures.

 From above, while she clings for dear life to my leg.

 The horror. 

Sigh...maybe next year.  For now we'll hunker down inside, eating mashed potatos and listening to Wicked...not a bad alternative, really :)

Snow

 Admiring the first snow of the season before church

After church, lunch, and a nap, we bundled up and headed out.  Charlie immedietly face planted, but bounced back with minimal whining.

Grandpa came out to join in the fun.

Charlie started to enjoy herself, even if she didn't quite understand what was happening.  PS - look at her mittens.  So cute.

 Snuggles

10 on 10

Cozy feet...

 Christmas candy...

 Monsters...

 Light reading...

 

 Lunchtime...

 Snuggles...