Pumpkins

We won't be in our current house for Halloween.  Hopefully we'll still find something fun for Little Sir to do on the other side of the state (hopefully we aren't so exhausted from the move that we don't feign a complete lack of knowledge of the holiday.)

Before we knew we were going to be moving so soon I had started a makeover on my small nod to fall.  I finished it up today (as I'm trying to finish all of my in-progress projects before we pack up our lives.)

Little Sir LOVES pumpkins.  In fact his very first outing ever was to a pumpkin patch.

This is him at just over a year.

 And last year.

I'm betting that there will be a fun place near Omak to find pumpkins this year, but in the mean time, we can enjoy some that won't spoil if I forget to unpack them!

The biggest one was at Target, must have been left over from last year, as it was in their clearance section for a dollar.  I just dusted it with a little gold spray paint.
   

 The middle one I found at Ross.  It was kind of country-ish colors so I spray painted it copper and then dusted it with gold as well.
 

The small one came from Joanne's.  It was your typical orange resin decorative pumpkin.  Not my style, so it got a couple of coats of cream paint, then a dusting of copper, and finally some glaze.

With the delightful enthusiasm of a three year old, Little Sir thinks they are wonderful.  I kind of like them myself.

Easter Eggs

So, we did almost nothing for Easter this year. The Duke did find a ham steak in the freezer and cooked it along with some eggs and hash browns. I had started to fill Easter baskets before our lived devolved into hospital food and snot. (the Lion Baby got RSV, we spent 4 days with him in the hospital, I then got it and I'm praying for my head to just get it over with and explode all ready!)

However, Friday while Little Sir was napping, I boiled a dozen eggs and got out some food coloring. Here's an interesting fact. If you fall asleep for 30 min after you put your eggs in the dye cups, they turn out really pretty!



When Little Sir woke up he was so excited to have, in his words, "fancy eggs." Eggs are one of his favorite foods. I had intended to be done with the dying before he woke up, but my "I just need to lay down to rest for a minute" turned into a solid nap. I was just happy he came to get me off of the couch instead of exploring the kitchen first. He sat on a chair next to me while we experimented with a few other techniques.



This is what happened when I put more dye in the dye cups and didn't mix it in very well.



Both of these eggs have been tie-dyed. I dripped dye onto a paper towel, wrapped the egg in the paper towel, and then wrapped the whole thing in plastic wrap. The one of the left I also partially covered in electrical tape after it had been tie-dyed and submerged it in a dye cup. The parts covered in tape do not accept the dye. That worked very well.

Hopefully next year we will have better health for Easter and be able to have more fun with eggs. Actually, who says we have to wait for Easter, come to think of it? Little Sir and I both loved hard boiled eggs. :)

Gather the Gopher Wood

Well, Little Sir and I made it through the crazy downpour here. We were lucky, the only stress I experienced due to the deluge was the anxiety I felt at not being able to help my friends and neighbors who were flooding. So frustrating. I felt better after the Duke got home and immediately headed out to help people. He's such a good man (as are the many other men we go to church with who spent the day soaking wet and moving heavy water logged furniture.)

Now, moving on to a more cheery topic. . . Melissa at Banana Migraine is hosting a no stress Holiday Traditions Festival. Periodically throughout the month she will be posting about some of her favorite holiday traditions and has invited all of us to do the same. She has provided a central link location as well so we can easily share our beloved holiday pastimes.

The Duke and I (like many of you) purchase a Christmas ornament each year. We look during the season for one that captures something that will remind us of the previous year. This year was marked by the miracle arrival of our son. It seemed appropriate to us that we celebrate that event with an ornament that depicts the miracle birth.


We also add one more to our collection of Christmas books each year. This year I chose a beautifully illustrated book that tells all about Santa Claus. It is called Santa Claus, written by Rod Green and illustrated by Jon Lucas and Carol Wright.

Here is a small sample of the elaborate illustrations.




Thanks to Melissa for hosting the Holiday Traditions Festival. Click on over to her blog to visit other participants in the Festival and be sure to post about your favorite traditions and add your post for other's to enjoy.