Dying Easter Eggs

We dyed Easter eggs at Marcie's house but I wanted some more for Easter dinner.  I figured we would have time on Good Friday since everyone was off school.  N2 were thrilled to dye more Easter eggs!  I got a box of egg dye that had bonus neon colors and I have to say that the blue and green are quite pretty but the pink has hardly any color in it.  I actually put 2 tablets in the pink dye and still there wasn't much color!  For some reason my box came with 2 bonus packs!  Natalie was quite over exuberant with her eggs and kept banging them on the table so several of her eggs cracked!  Oh well, they probably all wouldn't have been eaten anyway.  There was a cracked one after boiling them but I let them dye that one anyways.  This time around we didn't end up with any really "pretty" eggs like the one Natalie made at Marcie's house that she dyed in blue and green and yellow and red.  I'll have to get those pictures from Marcie after she gets back.

 Natalie's eggs:

 Noah's eggs:

Easter Egg Hunt

We took N2 to an Easter egg hunt on Friday.  We didn't manage to go to one last year because we were busy for all the ones I knew about and the one we could go to happened to fall on a day that was rainy!  So this year I was determined to go to one.  We met up with my friend Steph and her boys.  I've never really been to an Easter egg hunt so I didn't know what to expect.  It was CHAOS!  And it was frigidly cold!  We needed winter coats and hats which we did not have (I did not realize how cold it was when we left-I just got in the car and didn't walk outside).

We got there and there was a huge bunch of people around a circle where there were eggs scattered all around.  The 1's and 2's go to go first.  Then they threw out another huge amount of eggs for the 3's and 4's.  They were supposed to blog a whistle to indicate the start but some kids just started going so then everyone went!  I pulled Noah into the group and showed him eggs but he wouldn't pick any up.  Some kids came and swooped them up so we moved onto another clump which he didn't pick up.  Finally he decided picking up eggs was OK and he managed to get 4 eggs.  Natalie was the same way and got 4 eggs.  The whole thing was over in less than a minute!  CRAZINESS!  I don't think I will attempt that Easter egg hunt again!

The 5's and 6's were funny because they "hid" the eggs on the hill so it was like a little army charging up the hill.  There were a couple smart kids that made a beeline for the top of the hill to gather all the eggs up there before anyone else got up there since so many kids went for the first eggs they saw.  Quite interesting!

We did meet the Easter bunny and they each got an egg that way.  Natalie would not go near the Easter bunny except to grab the egg.  Noah did pose with the bunny. As we were sitting look at our eggs, a mom and her son came over and said they got too many eggs so they wanted to share with us!  N2 each got 2 more eggs.  That was so nice!  One of my friend's Steph's boys managed to get the 1st place Easter egg and won a cute Easter basket!  Nice!  These are all the pictures I managed to get!

Huh?

When do you suppose this could have happened?  And who could have done it?

If you said that during nap time, Natalie crept out into the hallway, opened the linen closet and lined up Kleenex, you would be right!  Natalie is obsessed with the linen closet and what is inside.  She constantly sneaks out of her room during nap time and plays in the linen closet.  Often times she does this for a while before we hear her.

Sweet Treats

Marcie and I baked 2 different things while we were in Madison and they were both quite yummy!  We found the recipes on Pinterest.  I don't think we got pictures of them!  I guess we'll have to make them again.

I made S'more Bars for a meeting at school.  They were yummy but messy.  I used parchment paper for the blondies and that was a mistake.  There was barely enough batter to cover the bottom of the pan so the parchment paper didn't stay in the pan and it made the batter go up on the sides and burn a little.  I'm also wondering if you need more blondie-maybe 1.5 times the recipe.  I also would suggest putting the marshmallows on first and then the graham crackers and chocolate chips.  I did the graham crackers first and that didn't stick to the blondie!

I made a modified version of Oreo Stuffed Brownies.  I did not have ice cream, so I used the water that the brownie mix called for.  I wanted to put caramel in between brownie layers so I baked half of the batter for 10 minutes and then put melted caramels on top and then put the rest of the batter.  Basically the brownie batter and caramel just mixed together.  You can taste it but it wasn't what I was looking for.  These are yummy but I don't think the Oreos are necessary.  Also the caramel kind of burned around the edges and so they are really chewy.  I need to rethink this idea!

Sledding in the Leaves

These pictures are from the beginning of March but better late than never!  N2 got out the sled when there was no snow and they insisted on going sledding.  There were quite a few leaves on the ground so we were able to pull them down the hill a bit.  They didn't go very far or fast but they seemed to have fun!

More Food

Here are so more food pictures that I made.  First up, Crock Pot Lasanga.  This was very yummy but I'm not sure using the crock pot is worth it except that you don't need to cook the noodles.  I may try this recipe just in the oven.  The pain about the crock pot was trying to get the noodles to fit which is why I was thinking I would try the recipe in a 9x13 in pan.  I also added 2 vegetable purees to the sauce mixture.  I think I added a broccoli and cauliflower puree.  The lasagna was pretty liquidy but still very yummy.  (Sorry it's not the most appetizing plate)

I made Crunchy Baked Pork.  I skipped step 1.  I also didn't have fresh herbs so I used dried.  I did not have Dijon must so I used a different kind (I think I had honey mustard) and I just used a little bit of it.  Mine took MUCH longer to cook.  I think this was a good recipe but I can't remember as it was a while ago that I made it.

I made another pork chop dish and this was not as successful.  It may not look too appealing either.  I'm not ready to throw out the recipe though.  It had good flavor but was not crispy at all.  I'm not sure why you needed to add the liquid when you move the pork chop to the oven.  This recipe is called Buttermilk Soaked Baked Parmesan Pork Chop.  I did not have Panko breadcrumbs so maybe that would have helped.

I made Chicken, Pancetta, Asparagus over Couscous.  I substituted bacon for pancetta.  This recipe was kind of bland.  I don't think I will make it again.

I'll show you some sweet recipes soon.

Picnic

N2 decided they were going to have a picnic the other day.  Can you guess where?

Yes, you guessed it.  On the stairs.  They are fascinated by the stairs and I often find them playing on the landing.  It's not the best place to play but the picnic was harmless enough.  And you may notice Noah's outfit.  We got bags of clothes from a friend of mine and he found all those pieces in the bag and put them on. His pants are on backwards.  He's kind of obsessed with sweater vests.