Easter Visiting

Easter afternoon, we went to visit Gramma and Grampum, and the girls discovered that there were more eggs hidden over there! 

Gramma asked them for some egg hunting help, and the girls were happy to oblige.

They sorted through the contents of the eggs, and then hid them over and over and over again until we left several hours later, hardly taking a break for supper. 

Grampum read Miss A The Cat in the Hat, using the voices Daddy remembers hearing when the book was read aloud to him as a kid. 

The girls also got to try a few notes on Grampum's piano.

I was still eating my cheesecake at this point, and sadly could not treat the assembled to my awesome musical abilities.

Well, actually, they were spared listening to chop sticks.

It was a very big piece of cheesecake, and I need some extra time to finish it, but I did. 

I defeated Mount Cheesecake.

It was delish!

- - - -

I'll show you a few other Easter crafts the girls made this year...

Each girl made a Resurrection set, which I found on this blog.  

They were asking a lot of questions, and this was a kid-friendly way to explain the Easter story. 

The girls used water colour paints to paint the sets, then I laminated them, and taped them with white electrical tape in the back.

Miss G came home from school with this on Thursday, before the Easter weekend.

Me:  Miss, G, what is this?

Miss G:  It's a tomb.

Me:  Oh.  Did you make it with Mrs. F.?  It's very nice.

Miss G:  Yes.  I painted it black.  Open it up.

Me:  Oh, wow.  Look at that.  It's a beautiful angel.

Miss G:  Thank you.

Me:  Miss G, why is Jesus not inside the tomb?

Miss G:  (Exasperated by my stupidity...) 

Mommy, Jesus is gone. 

The angel came in and yelled,

"WAKE UP!"

So, He did. 

I think He went to see his Dad in Heaven after that."

There's the Easter story, according to Miss G.

Scenes from our Hoppy Easter Morning

Hoppy Easter, everyone!

Our girls were PUMPED for Easter morning. 

Miss G woke up at 6:30 am.

Wake up time here is 7:00 am.

Typically, the girls know to check the clock and to stay quietly in bed (reading with a flashlight is okie dokie) until the 7 is in the hour place on the clock.

Last night, the power went out.

So, the girls' clock was blinking, and in a panic at 6:30 am, Miss G ran into our room to check our clock (which resets itself if the power goes off). 

She didn't want to miss Easter! 

She immediately saw the pink Easter buckets waiting outside the bedroom door, and a trail of Easter eggs leading to the kitchen.

Her squeal woke up Miss A.

I couldn't believe it, but they both waited until 7 am.

They jumped in our bed to watch the clock. 

The egg hunt was a success.

All around the house, the Big Bunny, with some help from Twofour, left chocolate eggs in pairs all over the place! 

The girls hopped around with their bunny ears (a pretty permanent costume fixture in our house... I stock up on bunny paraphernalia this time of year). 

The girls ran over to show Twofour how the egg hunt was coming along, and he wanted to join in.

They are totally impressed that Twofour gets to help out the Big Bun. 

Twofour sweetly supervised the girls as they oohed and aahed over their Easter trinkets.

The girls got lots of new books, including a new Clifford picture dictionary, which Miss G LOVES for finding words she wants to spell.

They also got a few Fur Real pets, including a cat and dog with bunny ear headbands.

Some craft supplies (pipe cleaners, googly eyes, fun foam and jewels), Playdoh, a Kinder Egg, and a chocolate chicken each were also on the table.

Sidewalk chalk was notably the least purchased spring item in the stores in Yellowknife...

Weird.

Gee.  I wonder why.

Maybe because the snow covers any potential sidewalk canvases, and it was about -20 degrees this morning?

Nah.  That can't be it.

Twofour was very satisfied with the girls' joy this Easter morning, and the girls wanted to thank him by giving him a carrot for breakfast. 

Hope you got lots of loot.

My Easter Bunnies

Bunnies all over the world are getting ready to help the Big Bunny out on Easter Eve.

Here are the special buns I've had in my life.

Thumper

Ah. My first. Thumper came into my life the day before my 19th birthday, and I've had at least one bunny ever since.

Thumper LOVED carrots (especially fresh ones from the market) and bananas.

Thumper is the first owner of the bunny voice that I "do."

When young Hopper came along, he would copy EVERYTHING Thumper did...

Thumper always had one ear up, and Hopper would try (though his were quite floppy) and he would make the opposite ear go up.

Thumper is also know as "Miracle Bun 2003."

Eli is the official sponsor for dishing out mucho dinero for the vet bills to save a bun who should not have survived the illness she had (but she did!!!).  

Hopper

Hopper is my longest living bun (11 years) and had the most companions: Thumper, Hershey and Scooter.

Hopper was obsessively clean, and had the biggest, friendliest personality.

Hopper could tuck all his feet under his fur like this, and meditate.

If you touched him (and therefore contaminated his fur), he'd have to begin his grooming all over again!

Hopper had HUGE feet, and was a star at the school when I would take him in for an Easter visit.

In fact, he motivated more kids to write than any other technique I used (they would write Hopper letters, and he would write back... usually asking for carrots and the like).

Hopper was the perfect companion bunny to other bunnies, and loved human contact too.

 Hopper loved both Thumper and Hershey, and tried to pass on his wisdom to Scooter.

Hershey

Poor little Hershey.

Likely the cause of most of my bittersweet bunny heartache, though, true to his name, always more sweet.

Hershey was a beautiful gift to our family after Thumper went to the big bunny green in the sky and my friend Tammy was moving overseas.

She needed an adoptive family, and Hershey was a PERFECT match for Hopper.

Together, Hopper and Hershey were completely inseparable.

I called them the Old Retired Bachelor Buns.

 Each used to different companion bunnies, and they bonded to one another instantly and strongly.

As Hershey aged, he developed cataracts and an inner ear problem that made him hop in circles "Go left Hershey! Left!"

Hopper would be Hershey's guide bun and bring him everywhere he needed to go... food, litter box, you name it.

Hershey was a snuggle bun, and loved snuggling his best bunny friend the most.

 Scooter. AKA Scooterlicious.

Scooter became Hopper's wing bun in Hopper's later years, but you could tell that Hopper thought he was a young whippersnapper who needed to be "learned."

Hopper would diligently teach Scooter to groom, hop and chew with his mouth closed.

Scooter tried to be a good helper bun to Hopper. They really got along well.

Now, prior to Fiver's arrival, I planned to have ...Scooter fixed for obvious bunny reasons.

My friend Ainsley is a vet, and I made an appointment with her.

I dropped Scooter off to Ainsley at the clinic, and once I got home, Ainsley called....

"Um, Scooter's a girl."

What???

Poor Eli never really got used to calling Scooter "she" after years of calling Scooter "he."

Little Fiver

Oh, Fiver was a cutie. I had her name picked out (from Watership Down) for years.

She was the runt of her litter, and a cutie pie.

So lovable and snugglable.

Unfortunately, she had a congenital problem, and didn't make it past 12 weeks, but I was so happy she was ours!

Twofour (pronounced too-fur)

Well, Twofour is the last bun standing at the moment, and we affectionately call him "The Bun Who Almost Wasn't."

Twofour hitched a ride into town with his runt sister Fiver when she was being delivered by her breeder.

The lady said, "I know you only said you wanted one female, but this little male is looking for a home, would you like him for free?"

Uh, YEAH!

Anyone who knows me knows I can't turn away a bunny in need.

So, we got him "two-for" one (first pun of his name).

The name was actually chosen because he's my sixth bun, and rabbits can only count to 4 (consult Watership Down... all buns know this).

So, 2 + 4 is Twofour.

He's handsome, and smart as a whip.

He only rivals Hopper in intelligence.

He follows me around the house like a dog and stands on his hind legs in front of the fridge (AKA the carrot provider).

He's super social and tolerates the girls following him everywhere he goes in the house.

In fact, I think he initiates most "Chase the Bun" games in the house! 

Twofour is also the most travelled bun we've had, as he had a bird's eye view from his cage from the back our out car as we travelled across Canada to Yellowknife.

Hoppy Easter, everyone!

Sometimes When I'm Not Around

Miss G loves to draw, and whenever she gets free time at school, she is always with the crayons.

No idea where she gets that from...

Anyway.

I love it when I get some of Miss G's free drawings in her back pack.

It's exciting to see what your child does when you are not around.

I would like to start by saying how much I love this picture.

Here is what Miss G says about her masterpiece:

 I made it at school. 

There's a chick. 

It's a chick. 

A chick Easter. 

It makes eggs. 

It makes eggs. 

The little one is me,

and you (me- Mommy, the big chicken) keep an eye on the nest. 

In case you are wondering the purple tree with the grey is the nest, and there are four purple eggs in the nest. 

They are all girl eggs, according to Miss G.

Please take note of the eyelashes.

Miss G loves eyelashes.

Miss G:

This is the sister (big chick),

this is the little brother (little chick),

this is the sun,

this is the flower with the seed and little roots,

and I made them at school. 

Little baby chickies. 

Also, while I wasn't looking one day, Miss A pulled the dining table bench in the kitchen.

I asked her to bring it back, but she said she was busy, so I watched.

But, first, I grabbed a camera.

She got Froggy, Patchy-Patch, Stitch and Eeyore, and they sat on the bench. 

Eeyore left (you'll see), and Mommy Froggy joined along with Grey Elephant, Toopy and Puppy.

Miss A then, promptly gave them all weather words.

I'm told these are tickets.

They are playing soccer! 

Eeyore is goalie, only you can't see the goal because I'm standing beside it.

Miss A was so proud of herself. 

At preschool, Miss A knows you have to wait on the bench until it's your turn,

so she was teaching the toys to be good listeners and patient players.

She's so smart!

Twenty-six Egg-cellent Pictures

So, it was bound to happen.

Mama got sick.

I spent most of this week huddled in my house, trying not to sound like a barking mad seal, but I do. 

I really do sound like a barking mad seal.

Luckily, I only got Miss A's throat thing, cough and fever.

That's enough germ sharing, thank you very much.

I may have simply willed away an nasty stomach bug.  I hate feeling sick.  Blech.

Anyways, today was my second sick day in a row.

I was coughy and oh-so-achy, but my fever broke yesterday, so today was much better.

I only feel like I want a new throat.

Eli picked up the girls from school and brought them home to a very special craft.

I had been feeling a bit guilty for lounging around, encouraging movie marathons while our house was in the grips of a frozen bout of illness, and sometimes if you pretend you are not sick, you feel better... So, I prepared a craft.

The girls were pumped.

This is a super inexpensive way to decorate eggs.

In fact, I bet you have everything in your house right now.

I added food colouring (primary colours only) to a wee bit of water in a small glass. 

It was lots. 

The trick is to add a dallop of rubbing alcohol. 

The rubbing alcohol helps to "seal" in the colour on the egg. 

You can also use a bit of white vinegar instead. 

I've done it both ways before.

The pretty coloured water alone was enough to get the girls excited. 

They patiently listened to the directions, and did very well.   Such good listeners!

Note, they are wearing their smocks with no shirts...

The rubbing alcohol-food colouring mix might not wash out of clothes!

I hard boiled the eggs (I put the eggs in cold, cranked it up to MAX, and left it for about 15 minutes). 

Instead of letting the eggs cool off, though, I carefully dried them off (one by one!) with a dish towel and delivered them to the girls HOT. 

The other eggs stay in the hot water until they are ready to be decorated.

As you can see, I cut up a toilet paper roll to be out eggie holders.

Why on earth am I giving my girls the extra challenge of colouring a warm egg? 

Because the heat off the egg helps to melt the crayon onto the surface of the egg for a more vibrant creamy look.

Genius.

Miss G is nothing if not thorough.

I've seen this done many times before (and have done it a few times myself), but you'll find lots of ideas online like this.  I cannot take credit. 

The girls were very into it.

Look who is hanging out under the table! 

Hi Twofour!

Are you excited about the Big Bunny coming?

Oh!  He is!!  

They were very focused, and thought this was a very fun canvas to draw on! 

But, those colourful glasses... they are just so exciting!! 

A wee bit of waiting, and... 

Delight.

They each got to design and colour four eggs each. 

I think if we had done more, they would have rushed and not enjoyed it as much. 

Four each was a good number.

Miss G's first egg, the obsessively complete purple crayon covered egg, may have somehow affected the blue dye. 

I wonder if it was too hot when we put it in there. 

I think that it's possible that the plentiful wax crayon was not dry and affected the blue's ability to "seal." 

We tired for purple here, but the blue didn't dye.

I think next time, we will just bring a few extra glasses and do the colour mixing in them with the girls.

They love mixing colours.

You could, of course, draw white to seal in a layer of colour and dip again, but my girls were very happy with this process. 

This egg got cracked while bubbling and boiling away.

I told Miss G that it was unique.

So, she wanted it. 

Miss A is in the zone. 

So, the eggs were waiting in the bot of still hot (but not still boiling) water waiting for each girl to finish her previous artistic endeavour before another was brought out of the pot.

Mmm.  Melty. 

Here, Miss A is demonstrating how to flip an egg over to colour the other side.

I LOVE this picture. 

The girls asked me if we could colour some more eggs another day.

I told them, "Of course."  

In the meantime, these eggies are going to live in our fridge. 

(I just saved an empty egg carton and cut it up, so each girl would have egg holders.)

The girls are anxious for the Easter Bunny to see them, and they wonder if he'd like to hide their eggs for them. 

Twofour will diligently pass on the message to the Big Bun.

Did you know that Twofour likes to help out the Easter Bunny each year?

He does!

Many pet rabbits do.

I'll tell you all about it sometime.