Easter Eggs

Not only were the kids busy with Easter crafts for the past few weeks, they've also been dyeing and decorating Easter eggs.

Even Thomas got into painting an egg. It was his first time painting anything at the daycare. He was very gentle and careful with the hollow egg, and it turned out great!

The bigger boys liked the activity too. We also got these special egg paint sticks. They look like Q-tips, but have coloured dye inside that makes it easy to paint the egg with. I've gotta say that Dollarama was a really great place to get arts and craft materials, as well as games and treats, this Easter season.

I believe that is where I got these fun fishing sets (either there or Walmart). There is a magnet attached to the end of each fishing line, and three fish with magnets at their mouths. Oscar and Thomas both loved going fishing in their little ponds.

Then we got out some other sea creatures we have tucked away and it became more like an ocean. Noah and B. enjoyed the same activity in the afternoon when the little guys were sleeping. Maybe they can go fishing in the wading pool this summer!

I set up an Easter egg hunt (just plastic eggs, no chocolate) for when we came back from school with the big boys. They all picked up their baskets at the front door. Noah and B. knew they were only allowed to collect 10 eggs. After that they had to start helping Oscar and Thomas, or find some eggs to give to Leila.

It turns out Oscar was very skilled at finding the eggs, and gave the bigger boys some tough competition!

Thomas was not too interested in the egg hunt. Leila thoroughly enjoyed taking each and every egg out of her basket and throwing it on the floor.

Her game looks fun too, no?

The older boys and I made chocolate egg-shaped cupcakes to serve at Leila's little daycare birthday party the following day.

During this activity, I remembered, as a kid,  my mother giving me the egg-beaters with icing on them, after she had baked a cake. I couldn't then, in good conscience, restrict them from the same delight. They enjoyed licking their spoons. Ha! Okay, well, in B.'s case, a ladle!

I think the little princess appreciated all their hard work. By the end of it, Noah and I couldn't stop laughing at what she had done to her sweet little face! It doesn't look too messy here, but she really did end up painting one whole side of her face, and good chunk of her hair, with chocolate!

Happy birthday again, pigtail Jane!

One

We had Leila's family birthday party a week early, since it would have been difficult to get everyone together on the Easter weekend. It was a huge success, mostly thanks to a nice long nap she had had that morning.

But also thanks to all the family who were there to celebrate with us!

Dan always prepares a perfect brunch, and this was no exception! There were eggs, cold cuts, and many different kinds of breads and cheeses. Oh, and most importantly, smoked salmon.

Even the youngest (and most scrutinizing) eaters enjoyed the food!

Leila was very shy and clung to mommy and daddy for the whole party. She was such a little princess! She really did enjoy trying to grab the balloons from up high.

She was very interested in opening presents. What impressed her most was the tissue paper. She was very grateful for this! Big brother Noah was a great help with gift opening, and did a really good job at sharing the spotlight.

Leila got lots of beautiful clothes, her own china set from Tiffany's (big sister Emily loves to spoil!) a wooden xylophone and drum, a wooden stacking toy, a little musical bear, and a beautiful hand-made bear by Jacob's girlfriend, Monica. (It even has "Leila" stitched into the foot!) Oma and Opa also gave her money for her education fund, and a gold bracelet with her name engraved in it.

The best (and most emotional) moment for me was when we all sang "Happy Birthday" to her. I can't believe what a beautiful little 1-year-old girl I have! We are so blessed to have her in our lives.

Though not as earnest as her big brother had been, she seemed to like her first taste of cake.

And...big brother still earnestly enjoying his cake, to this day! (He takes after his mommy!)

Here are some great pictures of the family that came to celebrate Leila.

Bottom left photo: Big bro Jacob, big sis Emily, and their mother, Joanna.

Bottom right photo: Monica, Jacob, and Emily.

Bottom left: Dan's Auntie Doreen, and my mother, Alice.

Bottom right: Emily and her boyfriend, Dave.

Cousins Mackenzie and Kacey.

Auntie Krista and Uncle Scott.

And here are some more of the Belle of the Ball.

Happy Birthday, my gentle, beautiful girl! You have such a sweet soul!

Easter Crafts

The daycare has been busy with kids doing Easter crafts. One of the crafts we did last week was potato print Easter eggs. This is the same craft we did a couple of years ago.

I helped the kids to mix the paints to make pastel colours. Then they dipped cut potatoes into the paint, and stamped them onto Bristol Board, shaped like eggs.

They came out very well and our apartment is decorated with the work of the young artists!

We also stuck foam shapes onto Bristol Board eggs.

Noah has been so crazy about crafts lately that I had to keep looking for new ideas. I found the woven basket idea below. I used construction paper for the basket, and three little eggs cut from Bristol Board.

One of the cutest crafts we did entailed painting one of each kids' feet yellow.

They then stamped their foot onto plain white paper. Once the footprint had dried, they glued on a beak, a googly eye, and feathers. Ta-da!

Last but not least, the bigger boys made a chick breaking out of an egg. This was made by gluing a cut-out shape of a chick onto a sheet of construction paper. They then glued on a beak, 2 cracked egg shapes, and googly eyes.

Hope you enjoy the quick update!

Winter Fun!

We had a lot of fun playing outside after picking the bigger boys up from school today!