Easter Eggs! (round two!!)

   Our dear friend Bill came up with the idea for round two! Shaving cream eggs. Another easy and fun way to decorate Easter eggs with stuff you probably have around the house.

Here are the materials! Shaving cream, food coloring, and of course, boiled eggs.

Simply add drops of the desired color to the shaving cream.

Then plop an egg on in and swirl it around.

It is messy, be warned. But a GREAT sensory activity.

It is best to make a party of it.

Maybe an outside party. 

Love this color combo!

Then just plop your shaving cream covered eggies in the carton and wait!

Blow bubbles.

Make peep s'mores.

When the shaving cream looks deflated and crusty, it's time to wipe them off with a towel (paper works best, guess who forgot paper towels??? This gal!)

Tada! Beautiful, marbled, pastel Easter eggs. We discovered that less shaving cream was better, especially with the bluer tones. More shaving cream created muted tones. If you want bright eggs, more color-to-shaving-cream ratio!

    

Easter Eggs (round one!!!)

    We love eggs here! This means that even though we are a secular family, Easter is a big deal. We celebrate rebirth, the beauty of Spring, crafts in abundance, eggs, and most importantly, memories.
    Today we made our first round of Easter eggs. Though we do have chickens, I usually buy the eggs we boil. We eat our chicken's eggs just a few days after they lay them, which means that they are always very fresh. Eggs that are nearing their expiration date are the best ones to boil. As eggs age, the membrane surrounding the white begins to loosen from the shell, making them easier to peel. Hard-boiled fresh eggs are a messy affair.
    Typically I color eggs a few times around this time of year. We often hard-boiled eggs for snacks, take them to work, and put them in the kids' lunches. If I'm cooking them anyway, they may as well be pretty. Eggs are a super-food! They are one of the most nutrient-rich foods available. Despite earlier studies indicating their role in high cholesterol, they actually help tackle obesity. They are full of amino-acids and vitamins, including vitamin D. Can never have enough vit D in the gloomy Pacific NW!!!!

    I prefer to buy whites to color because the the dye is more vibrant on a white background. These are almost-expired white, organic free-range eggs that I got for cheap because they are nearing their date. I tossed a fresh, brown egg in there to show the yucky business of peeling one that the hens laid just yesterday. I bring the pot to a rolling boil, quickly turn the heat to low, then let the pot sit for 15 minutes. I then drain the eggs, immerse them in cold water for about 10 minutes, drain again, and then refrigerate. 

This is how peeling a fresh egg goes down. Not cute! But it does allow you to see how pretty and yellow the yolk gets (no green slime!!) with the boiling method I use.

Today we are making tie-dye eggs! As you can see, you probably already have all the necessary materials around the house. Liquid food dye and sponges are all that you need. Gel food dye also works, though not as well.

Place several drops of food coloring on a sponge.

Then just roll! 

Voila!!

It's smart to remember rubber gloves. I did not remember them. Also, black is best color to wear while dying. Sophisticated and practical. I find that 90's dance music also helps the process along ("Be My Lover" by La Bouche, was a complimentary tune,  "Push It" by Salt n Pepa, was slightly awkward). Just some helpful tips.

So lovely and so easy to make.

   

Ocean Eyes.

   Josh and I have a joke that I had nothing to do with the kids, I just carried them. They have his coloring, his height, his looks. I have brown eyes, Josh has ocean eyes. The kids have ocean eyes as well. They have what is called central heterochromia. This occurs in irises with low levels of melanin. The area of iris around their pupils is a golden-brown sunburst, this is the area effected by heterochromia. The outer circle is green, or blue, or gray, depending on the light, the weather, of what they are wearing, this is the true eye color. The color changes like the ocean changes with the weather or season. I love my children's eyes, though I do sometimes long for a brown-eyed baby (it isn't happening).

These are Flynn's. His eyes typically have bluer tones than his sisters'. The sunburst is a dark goldenrod, the powder blue center ring fades into such a deep cobalt blue. Also, I think Flynn is secretly Peter Pan. Just look at that lovely mischief.

These are Poppy's. Hers are almost hazel-looking upon first glance. Her inner sunburst is a raw sienna. The viridian inner ring fades into a dark slate blue. Poppy certainly makes up for the low melanin levels in her eyes with some incredible freckles.

Avalon's are much like Poppy's, though softer and maybe darker, I think, with fewer green tones. Her sunburst is bronze. Light charcoal blue fades into the same slate blue as her sister's. Avalon also has the perfect little dash of mischief in her eyes.

    There are other kinds of heterochromia. Complete heterochromia means that both eyes are completely different colors. It is quite rare, though Avalon's Tsuki-cat has one golden-green eye and one blue eye, which can be common among white cats. There is also sectoral heterchromia which causes patches or blocks of different color in the iris.

    Heterochromia can be an indication of a disease, injury (David Bowie!!!), or genetic mosaicism, but in the case of my children and husband, it is simply a very cool inherited genetic trait. Like brown eyes, central heterochromia is an autosomal dominant trait, which means that it is expressed even if only one copy is present. If Josh carries two genes for central heterochromia, the theory is that they would have heterochromia regardless of the genes I contribute. I am really not sure how two autosomal dominant eye color traits would battle it out, and I am not sure what the likelihood of me ever having a brown-eyed baby would have been. Apparently, in my children, his eyes won!

I Love Where I Live!

On the way to the grocery store, we can do this!!!

Weeeeeee!!!

So, so beautiful.

It was super windy.

And cold!

Love the dune grass.

Gma and Avalon.

I love how her hair is the same color as the dune grass this time of year.

Handsome husband, looking all festive and red-haired for St. Patty's day.

Spring Chickens!

A few weeks ago we bought some new chicks. They are now in that awkward scrawny-raptor phase and are feathering out. I moved them outside today with a heat lamp (they are approx 5 weeks old) and took some photos of them, and the rest of the flock.

This is Voodoo, She may be a little funny-looking, but she is the best layer in the flock.

She's got....... personality. 

Here are two of the babies. 

Snowball and Penny, sweet bantams with the cutest little eggs.

Bubbles, and Iowa Blue (AKA The Chick That Lived). She is also a great layer, despite surviving being mauled by a cat as a chick.

Another baby. This one miiiiight be a rooster :/

Nikkou, pretending not to give a shit.

    We are getting lost of eggs now, and by the end of the Summer, we might be looking at 9/day or more! Yikes! Lots of egg salad, omelettes, frittatas, and quiche in our future.

A new friend!

    Our family has grown! A few weeks ago, I was visiting the shelter. Like always, there were so many wonderful pooches there, but no one really stood out for me. Feeling a bit disappointed, I began to leave, but as I was rounding a corner, I saw him. He was wet, and small, a little terrier mix, and I fell head over heels in love with him at first sight. I bolted to the front desk and inquired about the scruffy fellow. He was a stray, from out of county, he had come in only an hour before. He was in impound and would not be available for adoption for 15 days (aaaaaaargh!). So I put in the paperwork and waited. I visited him after work every few days, and gradually he began to recognize me. Finally, on Wednesday, he got to come home with us! The first day was rocky (he's a runner, apparently). But we are in love with him. He is between the ages of 1-2 years old, and is already housebroken (score!!!). He is sweet, and funny. He gets along with the kids and other animals. He is snuggly and smart. After a few trial names, we settled on "Sir Didymus" after the brave sheepdog-riding terrior in The Labyrinth. He appears to be the muttiest sort of mutt (yorkie/corgi/schnauzer/chupacabra??)

    Pretty freaking cute, amiright??? He is perfect, and is healing our hearts. We really, really love him.