Easter Fun!

Happy Easter! We had a wonderful Easter and time off with the kiddos.  My spring break this year was only two days (last Thursday and Friday) due to all the snow days, but it was still lots of fun to be at home with the kiddos.  My husband took off on Friday and we took a trip to Ikea (more about that on another post).  Here’s a recap of what we’ve been up to…

Will and Harper helped me dye Easter eggs with kool-aid (we got the idea from this post).  I love how easy it was and how pretty the eggs turned out!  To dye the eggs with kool-aid, just mix 2/3 cup water with one packet of kool-aid.  Stir and add the eggs.  I left the eggs in the dye about 5 minutes.  That’s it! So simple! I did mess up a little on the eggs by adding vinegar to the water when boiling them. I usually add vinegar to make the eggs easier to peel (which works well), but when dyeing eggs, it made the shell kind of funny.  And yes, we eat the eggs we decorate.  I hate wasting them and the kiddos love hardboiled eggs.  I make them almost once a week to take to Nana’s for them to eat.  Anyway, the kiddos devoured these kool-aid colored ones…the kool-aid actually soaked through to the egg slightly and made them have a fruity flavor.  It was gross but Will and Harper loved them!

I created an egg carton lunch for Will, inspired from Little Baby Garvin.  I filled up 12 eggs with different foods for Will, including cheese, blueberries, and hardboiled eggs.  Harper wasn’t left out! She had a few plastic eggs filled with fruit! Will loved this lunch and keeps on begging me to make it again.  It’s similar to his muffin tin lunch that I occasionally make.

On Saturday afternoon while the kiddos were down for a nap, I filled 30 eggs with crackers, goldfish, cheerios, animal crackers, and a few with jelly beans.  I took them outside and hid them all around the house.  Will participated in an Easter egg hunt at preschool and loved it, so I wanted to recreate one at home and have Harper participate.

Searching for eggs outside!

Miss Harper looking for eggs.

Harper’s Easter basket!  For a full recap of their baskets, check out this fun Easter basket blog hop.

Will’s basket.

Displaying cards from Mimi and Grandaddy and my aunt.  My aunt always sends Will and Harper cards for each holiday, which I think is such a fun tradition. My grandmother used to send us cards all the time, and my aunt has continued with this. 

I created a mini Easter basket for my husband using a green Easter dollar pail from Target.  I added a few Lindt truffles, some chapstick, and a Starbucks gift card.  My Easter basket was this fun egg crate from Anthropologie that I had been eyeing for a while.  In the crate were some truffles and EOS lip balm.  Don’t get too excited here…I picked out the egg crate and bought the chocolate and lip balm! Ha!

Taking a few pics outside with our Easter baskets.

I attempted to take a few pictures of the kiddos before we headed to church, but it’s almost impossible to get both Will and Harper to look at the camera at the same time:)

This year, I decided to create a new tradition by making an Easter brunch for us after church.  I made an easy chicken sausage and egg casserole, these green beans, and some delicious, super easy lemon cream bars from one of my favorite go-to cooking blogs, Two Peas and Their Pod. I’ve made numerous recipes from their blog, and all of them have been yummy.

Lemon cream bars.

After brunch, we played outside and enjoyed the beautiful weather. After the kiddos woke up from a nap, we played outside more and took a walk to see our favorite horse and donkey, Shadow and Isaac.

Now it’s back to work tomorrow…I’m counting down the days until summertime!

 

Happy Easter!

Easter Basket Fun!

Hello! I’m linking up with Darci today for a fun Easter Basket Blog Hop! How fun! I can’t wait to see what goodies are in everyone’s Easter baskets!

I’m also linking up with Sarah for her Easter link-up!

For Will’s first Easter back in 2011, I decided to purchase a nice, personalized Easter basket from Pottery Barn Kids (like these).  I wanted one we could use year after year, just like I did when I was a kiddo.  When Harper was born, I bought a similar Easter basket for her from Pottery Barn Kids.  I used a coupon and took advantage of a sale that included free personalization and shipping, so it wasn’t too expensive.  Plus, we use them year after year.

I found most of the goodies for this year’s Easter baskets in the dollar aisle at Target. I wanted to keep it simple yet fun.

In Will’s basket, I put some markers, bathtub paint, Annie’s gummy rabbit snacks, a “Little Blue Truck” book (added after this picture was taken), toothpaste and toothbrush, an adorable egg that shouts out, and a few Easter eggs filled with goldfish.

In Harper’s basket, I included the book, “Ollie’s Easter Eggs,” some toothpaste and a toothbrush, a pink talking egg, bath fingerprints, and eggs filled with goldfish.  As you can see, I tried to put similar items in each basket.  What Will has Harper wants and vice versa, ha!

I plan on putting together a mini Easter basket for my hubby and me using these fun tins I found at Target’s dollar aisle.  Any suggestions on what to include in his?

 

5 on Friday!

 

Happy Friday! I’m linking up with Carolina Charm and several other bloggers for 5 on Friday:)

{one} Panera Bread is one of our new favorite spots for eating out with kiddos.  A huge Panera opened up last year near us, and it has a nice play area.  We met a grandfather, his son, and two kiddos there last weekend. The grandfather came up to us and said that his son comes here about once a week with the kiddos, just because of the play area, ha! If you ask Will and Harper their favorite places to eat, they will say, “Depot, Cracker Barrel, Chick-Fil-A, Baja” and now, “Panera.”  The Depot is a local restaurant right next to the train station.  They enjoy eating there since we get to visit the cat who lives in the store next to the restaurant and because we usually head up the hill and over the bridge for a little walk.  This gives us a nice view of the city.  They enjoy Baja, a fresh Mex restaurant since the restaurant has cool doodle pads yummy chips and queso.  Cracker Barrel and Chick-Fil-A are loved for their food, and the kiddos now love Panera since they get to play after eating their meal.  Win for both parents and kiddos:)

{two} Spring is coming!  Below are some beautiful spring and Easter displays at our all time favorite toy store, Pufferbellies. I know I talk about Pufferbellies a lot, but it’s because it’s such a wonderful toy store (and because we go there A LOT!). I love looking at their creative window displays, which change frequently.  I’m loving the hippity, hoppity displays!

{three} Speaking of Pufferbellies, one cool thing they do is have birthday baskets for kiddos.  We started doing this last year when Will turned three. This year was our first year creating a birthday basket for Harper, and we plan on doing this each year. You select gifts your kiddos would like for their birthday and Pufferbellies displays them behind the counter.  It makes it very easy for people to pick out gifts for kiddos, and even out of town guests can purchase items from the wish list online.  The store will wrap the gifts and all you have to do is pick them up (or, they deliver if you are within a certain mile radius).  So fun!

{four} Does anyone else collect/use Fiestware? I went the non-traditional route when I got married and registered for Fiestaware. I initially wanted just a few colors, but after a few years, my collection grew into a rainbow of colors.  Each year, Fiestaware announces a new color. This year, they recently released a picture of their 2014 color, Poppy. While I like it, I was really hoping they would jump on the Pantene color of the year and go with a shade of purple.  However, I will purchase one piece of the new color to add to my collection.

{five} I’m loving Lisa Leonard’s new “My Wildflowers Necklace!” So pretty! She comes out with beautiful new pieces all the time!

 

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Happy Friday!

Five on Friday!

Happy Friday:) I’m linking up with Darci and friends for 5 on Friday!

{1} I’m loving Emily Ley’s products and recently signed up for her newsletter.  As part of the newsletter, she offered this free iPhone lock screen calendar and matching wallpaper.  So pretty!

{two} I hate how stores put out items SO far in advance.  Bathing suits come out in January and snow pants are in the stores by September!  Crazy!  Let’s just slow down and take things as they come-no need to rush.  By the time I get around to purchasing seasonal items, they are all gone or the stock is extremely limited.  That being said, I love looking at all the cute seasonal items at Target.  Surprise, surprise, they have had their Easter items out for several weeks now (I think probably starting the day after Valentine’s Day, ha!).  Seeing all the bright colors makes me want spring to come soon (as I look out my window and see the snow covered ground, and temps at -1 degree earlier in the day).

{three} Speaking of the snow, this weather has been crazy!  It was in the 60s over the weekend and the next day, we had snow and temps in the teens.  We’ve been going outside any chance we can get!

{four} While shopping at Target the other day, both kiddos put on some fedoras and modeled for us, ha!  They love Target as much as their mommy:)

{five} Yummy!  Will and I quickly threw together some delicious  monkey bread the other evening.  If you haven’t had monkey bread, you must make it! I made an easy version and used refrigerated biscuit dough, chopped walnuts, butterscotch pudding mix, sugar, cinnamon, and melted butter.

Have a great weekend!