Easter Treats on Friday

Humoring Momma While
Picking Out Colors

Last year, the day after Easter, I went to Target for 50 percent off Easter baking goods. I got this awesome bunny head pan for $2. I have waited almost an entire year to bust that baby out...and Friday was the day!

Xander has a bit of a cold and is a grabby little monster, so Ainsley and I waited until his nap to make the treats.

Doing the sticks. A keen eye will marvel
at my Roger Waters TShirt

I've become an old pro at making Rice Krispee treats. For my other busy Momma friends, I've found  it's much more manageable for you to make treats that are certain shapes if you break the recipe into thirds. Then Ainsley gets to pick multiple colors for her Rice Krispie treats. This particular time, Ainsley just *could not* decide between blue, green, purple, and brown. Thirds is easier because all of the items easily break that way... 2 cups cereal, 1 T butter, 3.5 oz marshmallow. But I love my kid, so I broke out the calculator.

Testing the Quality of the Purple

Then I got distracted by Draw Something: "Are you done with math, Momma?"

Silly Billies

Ainsley's job was to hand Momma sticks and help put them into the bunny heads. She proved moderately successful at that job...except for the stick we had to discard because she decided to put it between her toes.

Each batch made 6 bunny heads with a little left over. Ainsley, of course, was more than willing to test each batch. She, also of course, found the blue to taste best, as blue and yellow are her favorite colors right now. She was actually allowed to pick any color for the treats and yellow was one of her choices, but I vetoed that as a waste of coloring. I have to say I was pretty surprised at the choice of brown.

1) This is how X sits sometimes.
HILARIOUS.
2) What happened to my BABY?!

After Xander woke up, we decided to let him help decorate. Mostly Ainsley fed him sprinkles and he ate them. When we tried  to get him to put M&Ms on the treats he was all "Fool, why in the world would I put this M&M on a treat if I can just eat it? You are crazy people."

He ate about 4 M&Ms and then punked out to go watch Chuck and Friends on Netflix. Ainsley, on the other hand, was ALL about decorating some Rice Krispie treat bunnies!

Bunny noses and bunny eyes

I told Ainsley to give the bunnies pink noses and eyes that matched (though really I knew I didn't need to tell her that. We're on the same wave length, my lil' one and me). Every treat she decorated got blue eyes. My kid loves blue...she's obsessed. I did have to let go of my Mommy OCD issues in that she absolutely refused to put the M&Ms face side down. When I was telling her for the second time to put the words face down I had that moment of "Why?" in my head... I wasn't selling these. They weren't for show. Who cares? I'm pretty proud it only took me 2 times to come to that. (Plus, I put icing pupils on the bunnies to hide the M&M lettering anyway...my will be done. Buahahahah!)

Cuteness. 

The treats turned out pretty well. I had some green left over so I decided to try making a little Easter basket with M&M eggs. It turned out alright. I have to say, I think the sticks seem unnecessary, but I also think the kids would beg to differ. LOL.

Deliciousness at
the Speed of Light

After dinner, the kids bust into the Bunny Treats. Ms. A attacked her treat. Xander ignored it for a bit, then used it to drum for a while...and then somehow he managed a bite...discovered the deliciousness and It. Was. On. I still haven't tried one, but the wee ones seem to approve.  It took them quite a bit of time to eat their treats...they laughed and chewed and licked and had a generally good time. And then Xander started playing peek-a-boo with his. The cuteness became overwhelming. Video evidence below. Ainsley, of course, felt the need to perform for the camera...so have fun with that.

The Rice Krispies treats of our labor

Please to enjoy: The Stewart Children in Rice Krispie Treat Peek-a-bo

Putting up the Christmas Tree

This year while Xander took his nap, Ainsley helped me put up the Christmas tree. She was moderately excited to get going. As Sean brought in the Christmas bins, she was indifferent.

"Licking" the lights. Weirdo.

As I put the tree and lights up and Sean shopped Black Friday, she was moderately more interested, but still pretty indifferent. She'd take moments to help me by getting branches out of the bin...or pretending to eat the lights.

FROSTY BREAK!

Break Time!

Sean made a lunch run and returned with Frostys for Momma and child. We had a yummy time eating our treats and taking the break. However, after the Frosty break, once the ornament bins opened up, it. Was. ON. She couldn't stop digging around.

Special Ornaments

Deciding what to hang up

Last year after Christmas, Sean and I went ornament shopping. I'm all about creating a tree that has ornaments that mean something to us on it. So, Sean has a ton of Star Wars, Star Trek, and Indiana Jones ornaments.

I have ornaments with pictures of the kids on them and a set of golden bulbs that hung on my Grandma McGhee's Christmas tree since I was a little girl (I used to lie under her tree and just touch them...the reminded me of gold coconuts. She gave them to me last year.).

Loving the Yum Yum.

For Ainsley, I grabbed some M&M ornaments, as she has an undying love for Yum Yums. This year, I think she needs a Little Mermaid ornament.

At this point, all of Xander's ornaments are Baby's 1st. Not sure yet what to get for Xander beyond that. Probably Sesame Street. Or grapes maybe.



Lessons The Kids Teach Us

Showing her the ropes
Feel free to covet my Christmas PJs

As I've expressed to many of you, one of the biggest lessons that my daughter is teaching me is to let go of my ideas about control. I spent a lot of time talking to Ainsley about the ornaments we were hanging up, and why we put certain ornaments in certain places. Of course, I have a system for ornament hanging and general tree decorating. I thought it'd be helpful to teach her my way...but she was too excited to listen, of course.

The red icicle branch
OK, I Get. It

So I let her go and do her thing. We have these icicle ornaments red shiny, red glittery, green shiny, and green glittery...about 12 each. Ainsley's "thing" was to put all the red shiny icicles on one branch. It took everything in me to not tell her she was doing it "wrong." Instead, I decorated the rest of the tree and secretly rearranged the branches later.

These are not the princesses
you're looking for...

As I opened the ornaments we purchased last year, we discovered some Disney Princess ornaments that Grandma and Grandpa Stewart picked up for her. I put the hooks on the ornaments, turned my back, and she was GONE.

She'd grabbed all the princesses, climbed into an empty basket, and pretended she had NO idea what I was talking about when I asked her what happened to the princesses. She still hasn't put the princesses on the tree.

And Then Xander Woke Up

WTF?

I was really excited to show Xander our handiwork. He was pretty nervous about the tree at first. He approached it as if it may have jumped out an bit him.

After a while, he became more interested in the sparkly, dangly things that he could pull off the tree. Very exciting indeed.

Bossy McBosserson

Ainsley's reaction to Xander's attempts at helping to hang ornaments was pretty hilarious. She got her serious boss on if he did anything she felt was inappropriate.  Xander, per usual, ignored her bossing. This picture here of her bossing him has to be in my top 10 pictures of Ainsley. So. Funny.

What?! I love this tree.

It took us a while, but we finally got everything put up and started to get a little Christmas tree enjoyment in.

Mostly enjoyment manifested in taking ornaments off the tree, running around, then putting them back on...or making me put them back on. Then the under the tree shenanigans began.

The best way to touch ornaments
is with your feet, natch.

I both love and hate the Christmas tree. I love to see it and I love the mood it sets in the house (which is why it goes up immediately after Thanksgiving). I hate that my hardcore OCD manifests when I put the tree up.

I admit I was better this year...more willing to chill. Maybe in the next year or two, I'll be able to just enjoy it. *fingers crossed*

Happy Holidays!

So It Begins...

Ainsley (on the couch, drops Tickle Seebee): Xander, pick up Tickle Seebee!

Xander (doing a puzzle): *ignores her*

Ainsley (gets off couch, runs past Tickle Seebee on the floor to Xander, grabs his hand, leads him to Tickle Seebee on the floor): See, here it is. Get it.

Xander: *turns and walks back to his puzzle*

My Puzzle Pieces!

Action shot

So, for those of you wondering where the blog has been, you should know that I'm taking a daily class in Muncie over the next few weeks while I'm teaching for IPFW.  So, ya know, pressed for time.

We spent this weekend—what I've dubbed Pajama Weekend—recharging. Sean ran a bunch of errands, one of which was a trip to Target that resulted in a new puzzle holder.  Ainsley's gotten VERY into puzzles lately, and in an effort to keep her stuff together, we got her an organizer.

Now, mind you, these puzzles and the organizer are for Ainsley and Xander. But if you were to ask Ainsley, it is hers.

When Sean came home, this exchange occurred:

Sean:  This is for you and Xander to hold your puzzles.

MY PUZZLE PIECES!

Ainsley: It's MINE.

Sean: Yours and Xander's. You have to share it with Xander.

Ainsley: Yeah, MINE.

Rinse and repeat for about 2-3 minutes.

Cut to our post-pool hangin' out session.  Ainsley is playing with the puzzles, and Xander has just woke up.

Because everything Ainsley does is awesome, Xander makes a bee-line for her.  Of course, that results in Ainsley screaming "MY PUZZLE PIECES!" at the top of her lungs in that weird dolphin-decibel squeal.

How Xander plays puzzle

We convinced her to share a couple puzzles with Xander. At first she gave him the boring shapes puzzle until we convinced her that she'd have a better shot at his not bothering her if she gave him a more interesting one.

So she gave him the farm.  To the right is Xander's answer to "playing puzzle." NOM NOM NOM NOM

Happy Easter!

We had a pretty awesome Easter this year.   

Xander's Loot

Ainsley's Loot

The Easter Bunny brought lots of fun things for the kiddos.  Since this was Xander's first Easter, he got a BIG bunny (it's as long as he is!).  He also got some board books and Little People to play with.  Ms. A got a pig (which I think will end up being named Piggy), Peeps (yellow chicks and purple bunnies: "I eat EYES first!"), Strawberry Shortcake coloring book and Easter book, a Slinky, a Mrs. Potato Head, and Playdough. EB got pretty sneaky with his hiding places.  The boot was my favorite.

PlayDough Bunny!

Ainsley and Xander slept in pretty late today. (Sean has been playing Fallout 3 into the wee hours of the morn lately, so he wasn't going to be up any time soon.)  When she finally did wake up, she was excited to see her Easter basket. She immediately knew which basket was hers, and she was digging into it with careful purpose. She initially grabbed the little people things that had Playdough in them.

Slinky!

The Slinky became an element of particular interest.  She probably played with that for about 5 minutes.  I tried to show her how it works on stairs, but she was having none of that. She just wanted to hear it make its Slinky noise.

We grow nerds. Proudly.

She lined up her Peeps so they could watch her. Then she then broke into her books.  This was for sure my favorite part of basket discovery. She got three books (a Curious George Easter on top of the Shortcake booty).  She wouldn't do anything until she looked through each of the three books. 

I love you most of all
Piggy.

Next Piggy was found and given an obscene amount of lovins. She then demanded that Mrs. Potato Head be opened so she could play.  She didn't really get the idea behind Mrs. Potato Head, but she was obsessively playing with her—to the extent that she took Mrs. Potato Head to bed with her at nap time.

Can I haz Little People?

All of Ainsley's shenanigans finally woke up Xander.  He was particularly interested in grabbing his Little People egg. I wondered why the EB didn't unwrap the Little People from the packaging (and Mrs. Potato Head too for that matter).  I'll have to send him a note for next year.  I was ultimately proud of EB's thriftiness; I'm pretty sure I saw some of these toys on clearance last year at Target.  So, I suppose I'll forgive EB this transgression.

His first shiner

I gave Mr. X his bunny.  He was very happy with it.

*side note* Yes, that's a shiner on Mr. X's face. Last night, in a post-egg-coloring fit of energy, A and X decided to start wrestling.  This, of course, could only end in sorrow.  This time, the sorrow manifested in Ainsley somehow clocking X in the face with her Disney Princess chair.  I am looking into professional wrestling association training camps for Ainsley.

Big boys smile for Mommas

Once I freed all the Little People, Xander was very happy.  He's also entered into that awesome phase of babyhood where he's realized that he's supposed to smile for the camera, but doesn't yet recognize that his smile is power and hold it against us (I'm looking at you Ainsley!).

Xander also got some board books—one of them is a touch and feel book.  Ainsley the Book Destroyer decimates all of her books (this is a huge issue for me, by the way), so this was his first experience with a touch and feel book.  He digs it. A LOT.  He spent at least 5 minutes touching and feeling the lamb, duck, and bunny.

Touch and feel

I let the kids play with their Easter loot for a while...and then Ainsley discovered one of the hidden eggs.

Ainsley: "I found egg!"
Me: "That's right! Remember that the Easter Bunny hides eggs inside when it's wet outside.  I think I saw some in the dining room and living room."
Ainsley: "Let's find them!"

Discovering the egg

We left Xander to his Little People as she started gathering eggs. One of the eggs was structurally unsound and when she touched it, the candy popped out. 

I don't know if I can properly express to you with words how Ainsley reacted when she discovered that the eggs were packed with candy.  The closest I can come is this: it's similar to that scene in Scarface when Pacino does the HUGE PILE of coke combined with that scene in Over the Hedge when the squirrel drinks coffee.

Basket OCD

At first, Ainsley was putting the candy in the basket in order—the bunnies went with the bunnies, the Twix with the Twix.  However, as she realized exactly how much candy she was amassing, she went kinda crazy.

Mostly it involved her running around "I find eggs!", finding an egg, smashing it open "CANDIES!", and throwing the candy and egg husk into her basket.

Action shot...candy falling
into the basket

Xander, for the most part, hung around playing with toys on the floor; he just didn't really care.  When he did make a move for an egg, I thought Ainsley was going to scratch his face off.  I convinced her to share the empty eggs with her brother.  She did but with hesitation.

I can only imagine what this is going to be like next year, when I believe that Xander will be larger than his sister and will accept no such shenanigans.  At this point, she should be thanking her chosen deity that Xander doesn't know what candy is because I swear that boy will KILL you for food.  KILL YOU DEAD.

Xander: Not Really Caring

After a while, X found some joy in chasing Ainsley.  She became more and more Golum-esque with "MY BASKET!"  She would run with the candy and basket and try to keep it from him.

This sharing thing is a bitch and I want it to end. Thank you very much.





For your enjoyment (and because Sean was sleeping), I took A LOT of video of the egg hunt. Honestly, it was cracking me up.  In this video, she tries to be lazy and get me to an egg for her, discovers the boot egg, and shows the world that she has been cursed with my hair. So, here you go, enjoy!

MESS!

After egg hunting, there was PlayDough and breakfast (at noon), then Momma/Babies bath, then precious, precious nap for babies.  I snapped this picture right before I went downstairs to have a beer and some candy.  The only real work I did to clean up was put the PlayDough in zip lock bags so it'd stay soft.

One final note: