An Easter egg coloring suggestion is from one of my crafty sisters. She sent me a great idea for making Mosaic/Collage Blown Eggs. They sound like lots of fun. I wish I had the time to try it, but I won't...with the getting after the kids and all!

April 10, 2001
I have always loved the tradition of coloring Easter eggs. There's just something about stinking up your whole house with the smell of hard boiled eggs and vinegar...When I was younger and still lived at home, we always sat down as a family and dyed eggs (and lots of them). When I "grew up" and moved out, the tradition changed but still existed. It became a new tradition to have a friend or two over, buy a 12-pack and sit down and color eggs until the last one was done (I'm not talking about the eggs). This usually resulted in under cooked, cracked, and funky-colored eggs but hey...it was tradition!
Now that I have a family of my own, we have our own traditions. We spread newspaper all over the table and let the boys go crazy with a few dozen eggs. It's not that we particularly like to eat hard boiled eggs, we just love the heck out of coloring them. When they're finished everyone receives "their" own egg...with their name, picture, or a special message on it. Then we have all the multi-colored eggs (Marks specialty) that have been dipped half in one color, half in another. Then of course we have all the "what the" eggs. These are the ones you look at like what the heck is that supposed to be. Our eggs sometimes look less than edible, but I have yet to see someone turn down "their" egg.
Oh...the tradition doesn't stop there, that's only half. Usually the night before Easter "The Grandparents" come over and we go through the whole ritual again. I usually just sit back and enjoy this one. Taking pictures, cleaning up messes, generally just soaking it all in. It's a special time...it runs a close second place to decorating 10 dozen Christmas cookies!!!

From now until Easter, I'll try to share some decorating ideas from the wonderful sea of knowledge we all have at our fingertips. The one I found for today is from In Season. It contains natural dyes for Easter eggs. "...truly amazing to see the colors hidden in the plants around us." If you use red cabbage you'll get a dye that is robin's egg blue. Using onion skins will make your dye reddish brown. And if you use the inner bark of apple branches your eggs will be a beautiful bright yellow. All you have to do is boil the plant material until you have a good rich color, strain the dye, discard the plant material and return the dye to the pot. (These dyes were verified to be safe through the Poison Control Center.)
Hey, no mention of the use of vinegar...that can't be all bad then.

April 9, 2001
Happy Monday!! I apologize for the lack of entries lately...I just haven't had the amibition to post anything in the last couple of days. I could tell you that nothing has been going on here to write about, but if you've read any earlier entries, you'd know I was lying!
Our trip to see Blue's Clue's Live yesterday was quite an adventure. We never told the boys where we were taking them, only that they needed to be quiet in the van because it was a long ride and Jackson needed to take a nap. They were very good about not asking the dreaded "are we there yet?" and seemed to enjoy the ride. It was a beautiful day for a road trip.
After driving around the same few city blocks about 10 or 12 times a couple of times, we finally asked someone for directions. A woman, a woman carrying boxes, a woman who obviously didn't know her way around the city any better than we did. So around the block we went again. Finally Mark yelled out at a couple of young guys who were crossing the street while we were waiting at a red light. He asked "which way to Devos Hall?" just as the light was turning green. I heard "Take a right...at the next light...then go...". We were in the left turn lane.
But we found our way. Our seats were great. Right down in the front. Orchastra section, sixth row back from the stage, right smack dab in the center. Our lack of navigation skills didn't make us late, but there were a lot of people already there and in their seats so we had to do one of those "excuse me...oops sorry, ugh...oops, excuse me...oh, sorry" things all the way down to our seats. I don't know how many people's feet I stepped on and I was trying not to...I can just imagine how many feet Thomas and Gabe stepped on.
The show was, in a word, AWESOME. I think Mark may have even liked it, I caught him smiling a couple of times! Thomas was a little shy about the dancing and singing, even though he knew all the words to every single song, and was singing them quietly. Gabe on the other hand, was not. He sang, he danced, he shouted out the answers to all of Steve's questions! He would've stood in his seat, screaming at the top of his lungs if we would have let him. He was amazed...and amazing. The looks on their faces is one that I won't soon forget.
So after the show, all the way home, and for the rest of the night, we talked about it. They loved their "surprise"! (Gabe was sure we were going camping.) They loved the show, they loved Steve (even though he's not the same one on t.v.), and they loved Blue. They told us over and over what their favorite parts were and "how cool" it was when steve flew. How did they make it snow? How did Steve fly? How were the planets up in the sky? How come tickety-tock had a head? How come shovel & pail never came out from behind the curtian? Why were Mr. Salt & Mrs. Pepper so big...and on and on and on. It was a day they won't soon forget. None of us will. I think it was just what we all needed.
So...if you have children who are fans, and this comes "to a town near you", go see it. You won't regret it. If for no other reason then to see the look on your childrens faces. Awe, reverence, joy, delight, pleasure, amazement, and that's just to name a few. I love making my children happy...and yesterday, they were definately happy!

April 6, 2001
Blah...That's how I feel today. I'm tired. I'm depressed. I'm broke. I have nothing...no cool links, no tip of the day, none of my mostly not-so-funny humor. I'm sorry...come back tomorrow and I'm sure I'll be feeling better.
But now...I'm going outside to see if anyone will share their scooter.

April 5, 2001
Have I mentioned that we're taking the boys to see "Blues Clues Live" this weekend? Woo Hoo.. No really, I'm excited to see how they will react to it. Mark on the other hand, is not.
Big night for us "Survivor" fans. Any bets on who gets the boot tonight? Since Jerri's untimely departure, I really don't care...I just wanted her gone. As I've said before, I'd really like to see Rodger win the money (or Elisabeth, or Colby, or Nick). Mostly Rodger. My guess on the rice deal, for those of you who give a rats behind, is that they have to trade their fishing gear for rice. They may as well, they're not going to catch any fish anyway. You can expect them to lose all their gear soon anyway...once the big monsoon hits. Thanks to Jerri and her know-it-all ways, I'm sure the camp will be gone. But that's just my take on it...
Speaking of rain, it looks like it's going to start to down pour any minute now. Either that or snow. Probably rain though, because when Mark got home he started re-organizing his garage/shed. There's stuff spread out all over the yard, and he took a break to run to the store. I like the rain, but I don't like the muddy mess it makes. Looks like the boys will have to find something else to do other than the scooters tonight.
Here's a couple of interesting links to keep you busy for a bit...

"Mrs. Beasley" Need I say more?

Hmm...if I had a hundred extra bucks I'd get me one of these.

Okay, just because I'm considered a hick by some, I don't know nuthin' 'bout no cow tipping! (But I'm sure my father-in-law does!)

Not that you care, but if you're interested, find out what's inside Jeremy's wallet.

April 4, 2001
It looks like spring really is here. I saw a robin yesterday, the first one I'd seen this year. Today the sun is shining and the little mound of snow we had left from the plow is almost gone. I shouldn't say anything about the weather, I'm sure to jinx it. Then tomorrow I'll be ranting about the six inches of snow that we got over night!
The boys are enjoying the weather. They've been out on those new scooters every chance they get. We only have one long side walk in front of our house that Mark finished last summer, so they're anxious to take them to the trails in town that are paved for miles and miles. I think part of the reason for that though is the Dairy Queen. Last summer it seemed like everytime we finished our walks, we went for ice cream. Doesn't make a lot of sense does it? Go for a walk and THEN get ice cream. It probably should be the other way around.
Im anxious to get some spring cleaning done. I sit and look around here and think "ewwww". An ideal day for me would be for Mark and the boys to go away for about 6 hours and leave me here alone to clean. Walls need washed, curtains need to be taken down and mended, windows need washed inside and out, and I won't even start on the closets! I guess the clutter and messes should be expected with three small boys constantly here and into stuff, but it still makes me crazy.
Mark's shop changed his hours to 5am-1:30pm. That means my quiet afternoons are no longer in existence. I'll no sooner get the kids down for naps and he'll be home to bother me. He's not one to sit still for one minute. To him, there is always something that needs done. A job that needs finished, some tinkering to do, or something. He just will not sit still. It drives me CRAZY! Now he'll be in and out all afternoon. Going here, going there, doing this, doing that. Ugh...I get tired just thinking about it! I shouldn't complain, at least he's not one of those lazy good-for-nuthin' husbands who park their butts on the couch as soon as they get home and bark orders all night!
As a matter of fact, he's due home now. So I'll leave you with a little something about the our hunkiest survivor.

Seems as though Colby's coral pilfering may get him into a little bit of trouble. Imagine that...I didn't even know there was such a thing as coral pilfering.

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