Saturday before Easter!

Easter is a big event in the Astin household. My feeling is that it should be the second largest celebrated holiday besides Christmas. I know this feeling is not shared with all, as most of the time it comes in after to Thanksgiving. Easter was always such a big deal in my family. My parents had a unique and wonderful way of celebrating the holiday that I plan on doing with my children. We always talked about Christ and the resurrection, but it was more a celebration of all he did for us, a celebration of his life. We also viewed Easter as a time to celebrate life in general, the idea of spring with the plants growing and seeds germinating... it was probably because my Dad is a biology teacher... but that was always a big thing with Easter.

We went to the Thanksgiving Point Easter party. Their was a few sprinkles, but mostly it was just gloomy weather ( better than Mr. Weatherman predicted). Jake's favorite part was the blow-up slides. I lost count how many times that boy when on them. Dan took Derek on the taller slide, which I don't think Derek was too fond of. I went on the small slide with Jake, then he decided he had a good understanding of the slide he wanted to do it by himself, again and again.
The egg hunt was perfect for small children, and Jacob was the oldest in his group. I don't think it would be worth it for older kids, simply dumping a bunch of eggs on a big grass field, but it was perfect for the little ones. Here is Derek just chilling in the stroller eating a snack before the egg hunt started.
They had a few random wood cutouts for kids to stand next to for pictures, I only made Jake sit next to one. Yes it is a weird triangle shaped chicken, but hey, it is festive!
Later that night we went over to the Brainerds and colored Easter eggs. Jake had fun just plopping them in. He has yet to learn the truly amazing art of coloring eggs. I didn't mind this because I figured we would color eggs again on Sunday, so I joined in and simply plopped eggs in and out of the egg die. Okay yes, I did draw an Ankylosauraus on an egg, but that was at Jake's request.When we got home and put the kids to bed, Dan and I got the Easter baskets ready. Okay, it really was just me, but Dan had lots of fun getting Jake's Dino Robot working. We had to play with it to make sure it worked. Lets us say that our Dog is now mortified of this toy.

Grandparent's House!

We went over to my parent's house today and had tons of fun. They are on spring break, making it the perfect time to play with the grandkids. Jake loves worms and transplanted them from one part of the garden to the next. Here is the kids playing with dirt. It was cute to watch Derek try to scoop up dirt and put it into his pot. We had to eventually take his shovel ( aka the red plastic spoon) because he started trying to eat the dirt.After getting dirt everywhere Grandma and Jake made a tower of rocks. It is so much fun living close to them, I think my kids would agree!
Here is Jacob standing next to Grandpa's giant beet. When I asked him if he is excited to eat Grandpa's giant beets he said," We can not eat these, they are only for Giants".

Sugar Eggs and Cookies!

That's right people, it is the season for sugar eggs! I know some think that things like this are pointless and don't see the reasoning behind it. Those are the same people who I call 'scrooge' under my breath near Christmas time. I have always loved making a big deal out of holidays, and now that I have kids it makes it that much better.

I convinced my parents and siblings to join in on the fun. The day before we got together to decorate our little eggs, I decided to make them on my own. This wasn't a brilliant plan. I have never made them by myself and didn't have a "fail proof" recipe. It has been along time since I have been so overwhelmingly frustrated about making something in a LONG time. After trying three different recipes and making a huge mess, I finally found a good one . But by the time I did, I had already wasted a ton of time and sugar and decided to ditch making the bigger 12 inch by 8 inch egg and went with the smaller 6inch by 4 inch egg. This might not seem like a big deal, but all you have to do is ask my sister Rachel how much it effected her and her egg. Next year - we will have the big eggs.
We had jellybeans, chocolate eggs, chocolate bunnies ( which I made - yea I am proud), sprinkles, and tons of other sugary treats to put on the eggs. Dan and Jim decided to support the cause by watching and not making. Dan helped Jake a little with his egg, but Heather made the amazing licorice bow. My mom got extremely creative and crumbled up oreo cookies for boulders... such a realistic outdoor scene. You can see how being married to my Dad for so long has made her naturally try to make thinks more realistic instead of cutsie. I think Heather's looks like a Willie Wonka type egg, the kind you just want to eat. Just covered with jellybeans and licorice goodness. And last but not least Richie...My dear brother decided to look at decorating this egg as a challenge of speed and originality. He finished in a third of the time I did, calling his egg a bunny duplex. Bunnies on top and inside. Dan thought his looked awesome, the only thing he would've wanted to add is a bunny graveyard. I don't really understand, but the more bunnies you put on the egg the more you get to eat ( am going to go with this reasoning sense it is less morbid)

And here is a picture of my egg, I think it is adorable. Thanks for everyone who made eggs with us this year.
I also decided to try to make Easter Linzer cookies. They where a lot of fun to make! Jake thought they where so cool because of the animals in the cookies.Sadly It is the end of pheasant season. Dan and his Dad went for the last time today. Here are some pictures from the past few times they have gone. Here is Dan and Kate. Kate has really turned into quite the hunting dog. She just keeps getting better and better every time they take her. Dan is really pleased with her progression. ( And takes all the credit for training her so well!)Here my Father-in-law is doing an impression of a bird dog! I mean really, who needs Kate when he can do that? Dan shot a bird and it went down on some netting, so he had to go in after it. The only way he could reach it was on all fours! Very impressive for a 64 year old.

We made dirt cups this week for FHE. They are so much fun to make and seemed like a fun activity to do in the spring. Jacob was fascinated by the Oreo dirt... Tasty dirt..... it took a second for him to wrap his mind around it, but once he did he became a big fan of Mommy's activity.
Derek really wanted to join in on the fun, but I really didn't want to have him get covered in chocolate. He can be a super messy eater and I had already given him his bath. Jacob was kind enough to give him a worm. I saw Jake give Derek cookies and candy when he thought I wasn't looking.

When Derek wants something he starts out trying to be sweet and cute. All smiles and happy sounds....
But if he doesn't get what he wants with charm, he turns to crying and becoming upset. The reason for it this time is be cause he wanted the xbox controller from Dan. He loves just chilling on the couch pretending to play with Mom and Dad. The only problem is he has figured out when the controller isn't on and when their are no batteries. He has no interest in a controller that cannot mess up Mommy's lego game.