Oscar Stew

It’s that time of year again! Time to bore readers with holiday traditions like dying eggs. If you aren’t directly related, you might want to skip this post. just sayin’…

Apparently soaking eggs in dye requires intense focus:

This is how an almost 3 year old dyes eggs. No cracked shells, minimal dripping, easy clean up! I’m talking about the eggs here, not the kid…

The more senior artists had some fun with freehand design. Looks like this painter is really senior! Is that gangrene setting in?

I think we’ve got a rhythm down now…dip…

…check for authentic color…

…and decorate! I think this egg wanted to be green & yellow. That would explain why it’s “crushed”! 

Ok, let’s try this again. Dip…

…color authentication…definitive and flawless!

Decorate! Hey, who let you have the paint brush?!

Look at our budding artist enhancing dyed chicken eggs with rabbit feet stamps!

Sharing is caring! Or not caring. Depends if you’re the share-er or the share-ee. Thanks for being a good sport Binnie! 

Brinley says this one looks like the Earth. Does Summer last longer on that planet?

Eleanor discovered that if you eat enough candy it starts gravitating towards you. wowowowowowowow…

Don’t you love the ‘do? We had Stake Conference on Sunday. Like any other Sunday, there comes a time when Eleanor doesn’t care about anything except letting you know she’s missed her nap…The last hour of the conference was a rough one, but that didn’t squelsh the excitement of hearing L. Tom Perry speak or having the opportunity to shake his hand afterward. Easter-Awesomeness!!

We tried to pad Eleanor’s easter basket with healthier options. What the?! This isn’t candy! Normally bananas are my favorite, but not today! Pblbleh! How dare you trick me!

So you’re trying to keep me healthy on Easter, eh? I’ll show you what I think about that idea…go long! No really long! Like on the next continent long. See ya!

Oops I almost forgot about the other children. They were moving around the yard at supersonic speed, so can you blame me? It appears the Bunny knows Rowan well. I didn’t know Dora could lay eggs…

Nice haul! Are you sure you got them all? Especially the real ones???

Aaaugh! Watch out! It’s a drive by food-ing! She’s gonna throw bananas and hard-boiled eggs at us! Run!!!

A couple of months ago Drew & Brinley were told not to come to school. It wasn’t a holiday, snow day, bad behavior or sickness. What could it be? It was the cold. It was so cold outside that school was cancelled for two days!

Now, we’re not going to sit around and watch movies all day, right? Of course not! We’re going to make our own custom-fitted jammies, caramel popcorn and then watch movies all day…right!

“All day” is a relative term, of course. You’ll notice that bed-head of Drew’s suggests that “someone” might have turned off their alarm clocks in the interest of more sleep…

Ah! The reveal! Are you sure those pants are environmentally friendly?

The work is almost finished. Give us a preview Brinley!

Elastic waistbands, buttoned up shirts, high waistlines…feels like a fashion show for old people. Comfy! But I’m not too sure how snow boots fit into the style…

But the models seem confident that this look is hot!

Now while we’re all impressed, this post has to take a detour in time for a moment…Almost a year ago Drew & Brinley decided they weren’t going to let Mommy be the only one in the house who could make a quilt. So they picked out some fabric and got to work…

These little quilts aren’t just for looks; the fleece underside keeps them warm on days when…well, on cold days when school is closed!

Hold on, we’re not quite finished with our wrinkle in time yet. The quilts have been used for months now, but Drew & Brinley wanted to proudly display their finished masterpieces before continuing. It just so happens that this day was Crazy Hair Day at school, hence the upside-down punk-piggies…

…and the super-wave-dave faux hawk. Sweet homemade blanket, dude! Ok, back to the story…

At last, the premiere of a movie they’ve seen 20 times before finally arrived. Were they still excited? Yes. But that was because they got to eat caramel popcorn in the living room on their own quilts and watch the movie at the same time! 

Eleanor was pretty excited to be able to chill like the big kids with her very own bowl to snarf.

The animated feature droned on, and Eleanor’s attention wavered. She was out of popcorn! How to solve this dilemma? Find the biggest bowl of them all. Hey! That’s my popcorn!

The problem with this was that the popcorn in her bowl was hand-picked for baby-sized mouths. Drew, do the Heimlich! Bleh!

Ther were a few days during Spring Break that allowed us to break out and enjoy some fresh air. What exciting and amusing activities would we pursue? How about some bone-crushing, back-breaking manual labor? Yay!    

First project: Gold mining! Ok, it might be fool’s gold, but it sure makes the grass look nicer and greener once you rake all the dead stuff out.

Think there’s any gold in there? Only a fool wouldn’t check from time to time!

All the miners earned their wages. In life, there are some jobs that are harder than others, ain’t that right Brinley?

Take this job for example: Holding up a tree is very difficult when you’re only 1.167232876712…years old!

Aw Rowan! We’re not doing that kind of gold mining! Yeah, yeah…grass flew into your nose blah blah…whatever. We’re still going to show this picture to all your boyfriends!

Alright, you little miners go have fun playing at your friend’s house; Mommy & I are going to go enjoy a gold mine of flavor in honor of her birthday. Oh yeah!

We enjoyed the warm weather on yet another letterboxing adventure, and discovered that our very lives were at stake!

It’s not too hard to believe that letterboxing is a dangerous hobby. There were kids throwing rocks… 

…fields full of spiny, prickly plants…

…don’t even mention the horned dwarf elephants running rampant through the brush!

Horned dwarf elephants? That sounds kinda funny!

Well, it’s supposed to be a letterbox adventure, but these monkeys have been pawing through the grass for a while and still haven’t found the treasure. Keep looking! 

Ah ha! I knew there was a horned dwarf elephant stomping around here somewhere! Is that a magic leaf to help you stand up?

That’s right Ellie, we caught you standing up! What are you doing over here all by yourself? Soaking up the sunshine? Playing in the grass? Grazing?

I think the answer to all these questions is yes. She seems to be at ease in this natural environment…

…and so do the monkeys. I guess that means they found the treasure. Onward!

Look closely, this rare creature is signing! I think she’s saying she wants another chance at stomping through the brush!

Speaking of sign language, Drew doesn’t know any. No offense Boulder, we’re just throwing rocks! 

For being such a cute eleaphant, it sure seems like the wind could knock her over.

Thanks for the help Drew. Sorry about the horn in your ear. Ha!

What?! We’re leaving? Noooo! I’m an elephant, in my element! I will show you NO mercy!

Well, looks like all the kids had a good time. Oh Drew, horn in the nose! Arrrgh!

Since we’ve been living in our house for over a year now, nothing we do at home is exciting anymore. Turning on the sprinklers for the first time this year? Boring!

That’s a pretty good impression of what the guy on his shirt is doing, no?

If the grass wasn’t brown you could swear this was the middle of summer. 80 degrees…in March!

Ah yes, another clue that it’s not summer yet…ice cold mountain water in the pipes! Brrrr!

Not everyone seemed to mind. Brinley looks like she’s being carried away by the water. Hold on tight Drew!

Daddy hasn’t adjusted the sprinklers to keep them from watering the rocks yet. There’s no escape Eleanor!

Nope, you can’t fly over the water either Drew. He actually got drenched a lot faster this way…

These kids aren’t hippies. They’re Yippies. Take a bath…Yippie!