Oscar Stew

Have you recovered from your egg hangover yet? We enjoyed an entire protein filled blood pressure raising week of Easterness. It’s really quite lame to enjoy any holiday for just a day, when the fun can be drawn out until you never want to do it again…

It was warm outside at the beginning of the week. That calls for an outdoor Easter egg hunt with friends from the ward 5 days before Easter! Woohoo!

Nice work! Hey Binnie, turn around I see another one. Hurry quick before Drew beats you to it!

Even if it was just mommy that hid these eggs, finding candy is still fun no matter what. To avoid confusion (and allergic reactions) all the eggs at the park came with a “personal touch.”

Hey this one has my name on it too!

I think Rowan is hiding eggs in her cheeks.

Enough of this fake plastic stuff. Easter can be so superficial. Let’s get down and dirty with the real deal. Rowan was pretty excited when she thought she could get her hands on the egg dye.

Curses, Mommy has foiled my evil plot! I’m laughing in agony!

Permission to dunk: Granted. 5…4…3…2…1…

 Wow this egg dippin’ thing is totally wicked! Totally.

You dip them in the color water and the color stays on them! It works every time!

At first we had quite the variety of colors. This is a blue egg…for now.

We got out the paintbrushes and things got intense. Sometimes egg decorating can be a challenge…

Awaaaha ha ahaha ha! Rookie!

Drew’s blue egg is now a psychedelic egg.

The finished product. No green, yellow, or red eggs to speak of. Just a whole bunch of purplish brown ones. I guess we let them take the whole egg dying/painting a little too far.

The real reward is the black eyes, bloody noses, and dyed fingers. Egg decorating is a contact sport!

On Easter Eve Drew & Brinley made sure to set out a nice big carrot. Why? D&B said that the Easter Bunny doesn’t have a sled like Santa, or wings like the Tooth Fairy, so hopping to all the kids houses would make him tired. Sounds good to me! The Furry Home Invader left plenty of stuff to remind the kids of the true meaning of Easter, plus more candy.

Easter morning looks to be a success!

It wasn’t over yet. We sped up north to see baby cousin Logan be blessed, and spent the afternoon and evening enjoying great company and a fantastic Easter dinner at Aunt Marsha’s house. Unfortunately I forgot my camera, so that portion of the day remains undocumented. It’s a shame. Better luck next get-together!

This last weekend was General Conference. Drew and Brinley quickly became experts on the do’s and don’ts of conference. They’ve even written a book on it, due in stores this October. Here are a few samples:

Make sure you start the day off right. Make yourself some whole-wheat-yet fluffy-truck-stop-style pancakes, complete with froot loop and raisin flair. The whole wheat is important, especially for Daddies. They need the extra oomph to keep those heavy eyelids open.

If it’s cold, snowing, and windy outside, don’t get mad. Make a pancake that reflects the weather.

These old guys are really smart, and have a lot to say. It’s ok if you can’t sit still for eight hours; there is plenty of work to do…

To keep you and your sister occupied, you should do lots of different things, but be sure to share! It’s also important that you wear your jammies all…day…long. Maybe even into the next day. You get bonus points if your shirt is on backwards.

It’s really fun to make a pancake out of Play-Doh, and then stick your pencils and crayons in it so it looks like a birthday cake. It also makes it easier to keep track of the colors you’re using.

Trust us, “conference homework” is more fun and easier than school homework.

What is conference homework? Well first, you have to color the ties. It’s ok if you don’t stay inside the lines.

If someone is talking that isn’t in your conference book, you should play Raisin Bingo. First one to get 5 in a row gets to eat the raisins! I wonder why mommy won’t let us use M&M’s?

To make your Mommy and Daddy know that you were listening, write down words that you hear the old guys say. Work, Savior, talks, life, gospel, God, prophet, spirit, prayer, Book of Mormon, Christ, principle, Joseph, Latter-Day Saints, kind, temples…you get the idea.

On your conference homework you get to color their hair and faces too. It’s OK if your sister gives President Monson blue and green hair. He used to be in a rock band.

Uh-oh. Don’t tease your sister too much or you could get sent to your room.

Say your sorry and that will make it better. Then you should make bead rings, bracelets, necklaces, whips, chains, and cat toys.

Make sure you use all the beads. Mommy will buy more.

For all the babies out there, make sure you smile a lot, and take naps during sessions. That way we have our best shot of actually listening and enjoying the talks. Nice job Ro-diggity!

I think Drew’s face explains it all: What the heck am I doing shoveling snow on Spring Break?! 

Were the kids upset? Nah. They just roll with the punches. Being outside is fun, no matter what the weather. Due to the 70+ degree days we had been enjoying, most of the kids’ heavy winter gear had already disappeared into dark shadowy corners of the basement. Brinley was able to round up her coat, Drew’s gloves from 3 years ago, and a toasty warm Chicken Little hat. bok bok!

All the snow in the backyard was swirling and blowing in a whirlwind. It really was a “snownado!” The drift was over three feet tall, and made for some fun tunnels and canyons for the…ummm…”kids” to create.

No, Drew isn’t decapitating Brinley with the snow shovel. Brinley wasn’t even fazed with all that snow in her face either; she was too busy punching and chopping the snow.

It’s OK Brinley, if you get too cold, Rowan has the secret to thawing your frosty appendages. However, that secret will have to be pried loose from these slobbery jaws.

Victory! The outdoor fun went in rounds. Here Brinley the Abominable regroups after round 1.

After Round 2 Daddy rediscovered his car in the driveway, draped in ice-sickles. Hey D&B, want some frozen water sticks sprinkled with dirt? Mmmm, the perfect low-sugar snack!

Brinley after round 3, with a full March Moustache in effect. She’ll be shaving soon.

That’s enough fun in the cold for a while. Next we moved on to entertainment of the cerebral kind. Drew & Brinley were joined by their best buds Hayden and Ana at the museum. First they worked on dinosaur species recognition. This is very important, because knowing whether you’re being attacked by an Allosaurus or T-Rex could make all the difference between being chewed or swallowed whole.

Yeeeeeeah dirt! What kind of boy or girl doesn’t like making a mess? Ana and Brinley had a blast building their princess castles in the erosion box even after they had to switch from Cinderella to the Little Mermaid.

You’ve heard the story of how Moses parted the Red Sea? Well, in Andrew 6: 27 you can read about how Drew parted the Red Mud.

Spring Break wasn’t all fun and games…ok it was. Even though it wasn’t the fun we were planning on the kids still had a great time.