holiday update– thanksgiving

Hello blog readers.  I haven’t fallen off the face of the Earth, my computer time has just dwindled to near non-existent these past few months.  That is actually a pretty good thing in general, but not so good for blogging.  Right now I’m going to post some photos from our time in Boise with my family for Thanksgiving.  I know Thanksgiving is old news, but that’s where I’m starting with my catching up intentions.

backyard football thanksgiving 2012

I sure married the right guy.  I love that one of his main goals in life is to have fun.  On Thanksgiving morning he insisted that we all head out to the backyard to have our own Turkey Bowl.  It was everyone else against us Crokers.  We got creamed, but it was super fun and funny.

backyard football thanksgiving 2012

I see a lot of these pictures of this game and think “Man, I have a lot of hair.”

backyard football thanksgiving 2012

And this picture– do I think I’m going to catch that ball 15 feet above my head?  Very silly.

backyard football thanksgiving 2012

It was lots of silly fun.  These pictures were taken by my mom, but she was in there a bit too.

Afterward we cooked and ate a lot of good food, but I think this was the memorable part for me.

family photos Thanksgiving 2012

We also trekked over to the playground for a family photo.

all the cousins

the baby girls

Look at these perfect cuties.  Less than 2 weeks apart in age, but miles apart in hair and size!!

I love my family.  I wish we lived closer…

Other random catching up news:

-We are moving to the Washington DC area in July.  Do you know homeschoolers in the area?  If you do, let me know!!

-I’m going up to yoga teacher training next week.  I will not have to cook a meal, change a diaper, or ignore screaming for a week and a half.  I’m completely excited and terrified all at once.

-Eva regularly climbs onto top bunks, empties drawers, and colors on herself with markers.

This week I will post some homemade Christmas goodness.

Next week I will post from my phone thoughts about yoga.

See you here soon!

halloween 2012

the pumpkin clan

I have such a love hate relationship with Halloween.  My kids love it, and I do love their imaginations and love of dressing up.  But EIGHT pumpkins?  That’s a lot.  Couldn’t 3 or 4 be sufficient?  All the candy?  It drives me crazy.  Gore and evil?  Hate it.

I do love happy excited kids, though, so I guess I’m not too down on Halloween.  They had a lot of fun just getting into their costumes (and character) and trick or treating.

pose

bug

the elf costume

elfish

i have a lot of photos with this face

fighter pilot

salute

black ninja with a bug

kia!

!!!

karate kick

pumpkins in the dark

dr. green eye

lit up

my pumpkin

Was that enough photos for you?  I think the funnest thing about Halloween for me is looking back through the photos of past years and seeing how my kids have changed and grown.  I mean, look at my Brenna.  My big, beautiful, grown up girl.  She’s always had very strong opinions about what she’d be for Halloween.  Never again will she be a hermit crab.

hermit crab of 2003

If you just haven’t had enough here are some links to past Halloweens:

2011

2010

2009

2008

2007

2005

naturally dyed Easter eggs

Just in time for Easter I received a copy of Naturally Fun Parties for Kids by Anni Daulter with Heather Fontenot to review.  It gives plans for seasonal parties for kids using all natural and recycled stuff including instructions for how to make everything from the invitations to the food and games.

all 18

It wasn’t really time to throw a party (I’m still recovering from the gaggle of 10 year old boys I hosted immediately followed by a well attended baby shower) but we decided that since it was Easter time we’d give using natural materials to dye eggs a shot just for us.  Directions are given in the book for making all sorts of colors.  We picked red cabbage (blue), turmeric (yellow), and paprika (orangish) because we had them all on hand.

dying with turmeric and cabbage

Making the dye baths was a pretty odoriferous endeavor.  Our house smelled like spicy pickled cabbage well into Easter morning because to really get the color out of the cabbage it had to boil in water and a little vinegar for several hours.  I boiled the spices in other pots at the same time, with a little vinegar as well.  Spicy, cabbagey steam wafted throughout the house.

crayons and cabbage

Then the kids colored some eggs with crayons and we stuck them in our jars of dye.  It was kind of magical how it all worked.  The cabbage dye looked purple, but was supposed to turn the eggs blue.  The turmeric was clearly yellow.  Since yellow and blue make my favorite color green we made a jar of cabbage and turmeric mixed.

cabage and turmeric-- we called it

It looked this orangey color, so we called it “not green” and were completely skeptical that we would get any green eggs.  We let the eggs sit in the dye for a long time.  Some for an hour, others a little longer or shorter.

naturally dyed eggs

They turned out really beautifully–so earthy and rich in a way that store bought dye just can’t duplicate– worth the stink I think.  The paprika dyed eggs were a little disappointing.  We could have just bought some brown eggs and they would have been prettier, but the yellow and blue we so, so lovely.  And the “not green” really turned our eggs green!

hidden

hiding

Easter breakfast

pretty shells

They made our lovely day-before-Easter morning egg hunt all the more lovely.  (We do the egg hunting the Saturday before Easter to make getting to church easier, and to focus on the Savior on Easter day.)

Back to the book– it is full of lovely photography and inspirational ideas.  I don’t think I would ever do a whole party from beginning to end just as it is laid out, but I’m sure I’ll refer back to it for ideas now and then.  Logan is really intrigued by the Knight party.