Easter!

 

We had a really lovely Easter this year.  We have tried to create some of our own family traditions related to this holiday.  We celebrate the religious reason for Easter, but we also incorporate eggs and a special Easter breakfast.  We don't do Santa Claus, Easter Bunny, Tooth Fairy, etc around here.  We don't eat a lot of sweets around here, either so we have tried to avoid the candy-filled Easter Eggs.  Lila's second Easter (when she was about one), Cam snuck into her room Easter morning and had a big spread of beautiful cut fruits and flowers.  He set it up to look like her dolls were going to partake of it, too.  It was really cute.  So, we have stayed generally with that idea.  This year, we took the cut fruits and put them on... a sugar cookie crust with cream cheese icing.  I said we didn't eat "a lot" of sweets around here.  Give me a break.  =)

Easter Fruit Pizza

 We colored eggs this year and both the girls really enjoyed it.  Maggie kept saying "ta da!".  It was really cute.

Lila studiously coloring her eggs

Hunting Easter Eggs

Hard-boiled Chicky Face

I got this idea from a website that I don't remember.  Ooops.  It's a sliced hard-boiled egg with poppy seed eyes and a cheese beak.  I thought it turned out really cute.

 

Lastly, we finally got a family picture!  I really didn't realize it, but the only family picture in existence (I think) was a horrid church portrait where Lila is 2 and refusing to cooperate.  I wish I could find it to scan.  It really is a gem. Ha ha.  Anyway, this one turned out well.  Happy Easter.

Giddy up!

The weather has begun to warm up, which means it's good riding weather! Cam saddled up Bocephus, or "Bo" for short, in the round pen.  The girls each got a turn riding.  Lila and Cam have gone riding several times together.  They like to go to the Forestry in Harrison County and ride the trails. 

 

Lila normally rides on her saddle (the black one that sits behind Cam's), but Cam let her ride all by herself.  She was soooo proud of herself to be have complete control.

 

This was Maggie's very first time up on a horse and she also felt like pretty big stuff.  She really enjoyed being up there so tall.  

 

All three of my sweeties got up and rode around for a bit.

Bocephus, up close and personal.

Training Pants

Maggie is getting closer to being potty-savvy.  We cloth-diapered both girls successfully, but the past few months, I've had Maggie mostly in Pull-ups.  They are so much easier to deal with when she wants to use the potty.  However, they are pricey and terrible for the environment.  So, I decided to start her in training pants.  Or, "Big Dirl Panties" as she calls them.  I had a 4 or 5 pairs left over from Lila.  She was thrilled at the prospect.  The first day, she went through all that I had in about an hour.  When I had washed and dried them a couple days later, she was jumping-on-the-bed-happy to be able to wear them again.  "Me pee pee in them." she said solemnly while shaking her head "no".  (Interpretation- I won't pee pee in them.)  Everyday she wears them, she seems to do a little better, but I was still running out of panties quickly!  So, I broke down and bought some more.  They're not that easy to find AND they cost $8 for *3* pairs! Which, ok, is still a lot cheaper than pull-ups in the long haul, but that just seemed exorbitant.  So, I set out on a quest to make some.  I found a free pattern on-line.  I bought 2 yards of knit fabric from Hancock that was on sale for $4/yard.  And, Voila! "Big Dirl Panties"!

Now, looking back, I realized I could just use old t-shirts for the material.  But, it wouldn't be all cute and flowery.  I double-layered the pattern for extra absorbency and also added a piece of an old cloth diaper in the crotch.  I  expect the 2 yards to make  6 or so pairs.  I finished the waist with FOE (fold-over elastic) that I had on hand.  I would say I maybe used 1/3 yard on each pair.  I added a bow to make it easy to tell the front from the back with scrap ribbon.  I thought they turned out cute and Maggie is tickled pink and hopefully dry-pants bound!