easter baskets

the easter bunny had fun putting the kids easter baskets together this year.  calvin's had a super hero theme due to the fact that he is obsessed with super heroes.

his basket included a couple of batman books, batman toothbrush, spiderman pencils, some mama made pants, a pack of lizards, a little wooden pirate ship to color, a chocolate bunny and these little superhero guys.

maeve's basket was filled with things i thought she would like, no theme for her.  two books (marshmallow and the country bunny and little gold shoes), a rainbow play silk, piggy paint nailpolish and remover, a wooded horse to paint, a set of little clippies for her hair, princess pencils and mama made pants.

everything was put into the baskets from last year.  i love the thick felt and fringed grass of the baskets.  overall it was a successful easter filled with family, good food and chocolate!

a fairytale...

the royal wedding is done. for me, it lived up to the hype. i loved every minute. well, maybe not all the singing. the hats were awesome though. my favorite was princess beatrice. or maybe posh spice.

i love all weddings, partly because of the design and decor, but mostly because of the tradition and commitment and love marriage represents.  even though the royal wedding was full of design and decor, the love and commitment of those two crazy kids shone through all the 'stuff'.  may they live a long and happy life together.

ps. did you know that the british monarchy has a flickr stream? look here.

dough balls!

we usually make pizza on friday night.  it is a meal everyone loves and i like it because i don't really have to plan for that night, which is nice at the end of the week.  i do spice it up by making different kinds of pizza, which is usually a result of whatever we have in the fridge that needs to be eaten.

last week i decided to do something a little different and make pizza dough balls with the kids.  i used a ball of trader joe's dough and ripped it into 9 equal pieces.  i flattened each piece out and let the kids put the toppings in the middle (chopped bell pepper, graded zucchini, salami, grated mozzarella cheese).  once the toppings where in, i wrapped the dough around them and placed the dough ball seam side down on a baking sheet.  i brushed the top of each one with melted butter mixed with chopped garlic.  then i baked them at 425 for 15ish minutes.

after they were done, we dipped the balls into marinara sauce (which was a huge hit!  my kids love to dip!) as we ate them.  (sorry i forgot to snap a pic of the cooked balls as we were eating them and then my husband came home and ate all the leftovers very quickly).  i got this idea from somewhere out there in the internets, but i can't seem to find it to link to, sorry.

ps. if you lived in the dorms with me freshman year, then you might remember calling random people (before cell phones and caller id) and asking them to answer "pizza survey" questions about dough balls.  i was so excited to finally make them! (with the toppings on the inside :) 

Easter bonnet

happy easter!

spring table

we finally set up our spring nature table.  it has been in constant use ever since.  the little nest with eggs i bought here last year.

we have a collection of bird houses.  calvin just made the tissue box one on the right at an art class we are taking.

maeve has a love/hate relationship with the wind up toys.  she wants me to wind them but is scared and cries when they start to go.  i kept the sun that calvin painted and we had in our winter table because i love it and it fits spring too.

the felted eggs at the far end i bought from an etsy shop last year.  i still need to find the books.  for some reason they were not in the box with our spring stuff.

changing the seasonal table is something i so look forward to and so do the kids, i think.  it feels like a rite of passage, especially for spring, marking the end of a long cold winter and the beginning of a season filled with green, outside and sunshine (plus a little bit of rain).

Morningtime

scary spaghetti

we made scary spaghetti the other night.  this is a wonderful recipe for letting kids do the cooking.  calvin cut up the hot dogs while maeve stuck the noodles into the hot dog pieces.  they we cooked it.

it was awesome!

and also kind of weird...  but they ate it and loved it.  my kids did not want any sauce (or gravy as they call it out here) on it,  but i think that would yummy.  fun to make and fun to eat which is perfect for my little ones right now.  

spring sensory tub

i saw this post from notimeforflashcards and i had to make this spring sensory tub.  i haven't made a sensory tub in awhile, so it was very new and exciting for the babes.  i bought beans that were on sale in all different sizes, two sizes of little flower pots and some silk flowers and then just dumped it all in a tub i have laying around.

maeve filled and dumped and filled and dumped the little pots.

calvin was more into sorting the different types of beans and pasta that were in the tub.  he also made little arrangements in the flower pots with the flowers.

they played alone and then together for almost an hour.  they have brought it out every day since we made it.  success!

kites

we went to a local kite festival last weekend.  we have gone every year and it is on the shore and just a lovely small town event.  it is a signal that spring is here and a promise of warmer beach days ahead.  we bought a new kite back in january just for this special afternoon.  calvin picked out a dragon kite.  it flew for awhile and then...

crashed down forcefully into the sea.  as calvin and sam were fishing it out of the water, the town photographer (i didn't know there was one until now) came up to them and asked to take calvin's picture.  perfect timing... he agreed and smiled for the camera, then went back to helping sam with the kite.

although it was rather chilly, it was a perfect afternoon for kite flying.  love this local celebration of spring's beginnings, happy to have added it to our family's spring traditions.