Braided Easter Bread and Painted Eggs

Kelwyn and I made some Easter Braided Bread today. It was our first time making bread together. I think Kelwyn liked licking the leftover honey best of all and crushing the eggs shells into pieces. He kept asking for more eggs to crush. I will have to save the shells for him from now on. He was not too into kneading the dough. He gave it a little push and I did the rest. It turned out delicious, and especially good warm with butter. You could not see the the braids too well after it was baked. I am not sure if the braided look stays or not since it was my first time with braided egg bread.
Adeline was watching us make the bread and waiting for her carrots.
A few weeks back I went to my Waldorf handwork group for egg decorating. My friend Emily has a nice write up on the techniques we used and decorating on her blog, Golden Sun Family. It was so much fun and they turned out really nice. I cannot wait to try some of the techniques out with Kelwyn and Adeline when they get a little older. I hung them on some Forsynthia branches I forced to bud last week. The blossoms are just beautiful and bring such a bright and cheery burst of color to our table. We will dye some eggs later in the week to get ready for the weekend. I think Kelwyn will enjoy dipping them and watching them change color.

haircut

I just love Kelwyn's new haircut! He looks like a little boy now and too precious. This almost 2 1/2 year old is growing up quick! He is still my baby though.

Spring has sprung!

We were so happy to welcome Spring this past weekend. Oh how we long for the days of warm sunshine in our faces, green grass under our toes, buds bursting from the trees, bulbs awakening from the earth, spring wildflowers to smell and pick, long walks in the forest and rock throwing in the creek. Today Kelwyn and I enjoyed The Story of the Root Children, a sweet little story, and have been changing our nature table from winter to spring.Adeline was enjoying the bright spring sun and the warm breeze on the beautiful Spring Equinox, while Kelwyn helped his Daddy in the yard."I knew when Spring was come-
Not by the murmurous hum
Of bees in the willow trees,
Or frills
Of daffodils,
Or the scent of the breeze;
But because there were whips and tops
By the jars of lollipops
In the two little village shops..."

6 months old

Our little Adeline Rose is 6 months old! It seems like just yesterday she was born and sleeping in the sling all day. Now she is laughing, smiling, cooing, rolling, playing and grabbing everything in site. It really is amazing how quickly they grow! She has changed so much in 6 months and I know when she reaches a year she will have changed completely again. She is a sweet baby girl and has brought us so much joy and love. We are truly blessed to have her in our lives and our family feels complete.

Kelwyn and I decided to bake a cake in her honor while she was getting her beauty sleep this morning. We made a Sour Cream Banana Cake, and it turned out delicious. I had a hard time keeping Kelwyn from eating the batter.


After her naps we had a little photo session. I just have to share some of the shots. They are just too cute together.

We love you precious Adeline!

Bird watching

Kelwyn has really enjoyed watching the birds lately. One morning we filled the feeders, flipped through a bird picture identification book and talked about the different colors and types. I drew the birds we see most often at our feeders an hung it up on the window, which has a nice view of our feeders. Kelwyn will see the birds and call them out by name; Cardinal, Tufted Titmouse, Black-capped Chickadee, Goldfinch....... It is really cute and I am impressed that he recognizes them by name.
So, over the weekend I slathered peanut butter on pinecones and he dressed them in sunflower seeds. It was a fun activity and Slater helped us hang them up outside when we were done for a tasty winter treat.
Slater had a good idea of hanging them on the clothes line so the squirrels could not get to them.
We hung one up by our bird feeders, which has squirrel access, and it has disappeared. I believe mischeivious Squirrel Nutkins ran off with it. It has been a challenge keeping him out of our feeders. Back to our bird/squirrel watching.

Winter sunshine

We enjoyed feeling the sun on our faces yesterday. These past few days have been such a nice break from winter and a sneak peak of spring. We have been getting outside as much as we can and Kelwyn has been more than thrilled. We took a nice little walk, watched the birds and looked for signs of spring. I saw a little bit of green coming up in the garden; chickweed and winter cress. I cannot wait for an abundance of chickweek to bring inside for some tasty snacks and salads.
The snow has finally started melting and Kelwyn found a nice little puddle to throw rocks in.
There was also lots of splashing and jumping in the puddle.
Adeline seemed to enjoy being outside too and was wide eyed at all around her and watching her big brother run and bask in the sunshine.
Come on spring!

Oraganizing

I have been meaning to organize my pantry and place all the bulk dry goods in glass containers. They will store better than being kept in the plastic bags they are bought in and better to use glass over plastic. I also needed an activity to keep my toddler busy. Kelwyn was a very good sorter. I poured almonds and peanuts into bowls for them and he placed them in the glass jars one by one. Maybe tomorrow we will fill 2 more jars and move closer to the well organized pantry I have been dreaming of.
Adeline has been a happy little baby lately. She has enjoyed rolling around on the floor, watching Kelwyn the whole time of course, and playing in her jumping jack.
Kelwyn and I giggled watching her jumping up and down. It was too precious when she figured out what to do.
She has also been grabbing everything and putting things in her mouth. Lots of giggles and smiles.

Snow and knitting

It started snowing this morning and did not stop until this evening. We got about 8 inches of beautiful, fluffy, soft snow. At times it came down in huge clumps and covered absolutely everything. The trees look lovely. Slater said it looked like pieces of cotton on the limbs and has a very delicate look. Like little white, sparkly crystals. It has been an amazing winter this year, as far as the snow is concerned. I guess King Winter is playing another game on us before spring comes. Will this be our last snow?
Slater had to leave work early and barely made it up our driveway. Kelwyn was of course overjoyed to go out and play in the snow with Daddy. We did a little sledding and snowball throwing too.
I finally finished my Bonbori shawl/capelet I have been working on for quite some time.
I knitted it twice. Yes, twice. It took me about 2 months from start to finish, start to finish again. I will always check my gauge!! Well, I bought a book at a local yarn shop that uses Noro yarns and Noro designers. (I absolutely love this yarn! My first time to work with it ) The pattern I picked out called for a specific Noro yarn and size 11 needles. Even the lady at the store helped find the yarn and needles and stated I was all ready to start my new project. I did not even think twice about testing a gauge swatch, since I was using the exact size needles and yarn the pattern called for. Well, let me tell you...... I kind of thought it looked a little big, but I figured it would all work out in the end. When I finished my last stitch, sewed it up and tried it on it looked pretty ridiculous on me. It fit Slater (6 foot, 200lb) very nicely. He was not too keen on fashioning it to work, so I unraveled the whole thing and started over. **sigh** I will from now on always and forever check my gauge! I ended up using size 9 needles. But, I am very happy with the finished project, learned my lesson, and love all the different beautiful colors it forms. It is also keeps me very toasty.

After the completion of my shawl, I knitted up a quick cabled beret hat to have some quick satisfaction. I am now working on some gifts for Kelwyn and Adeline's Easter baskets and a spring bonnet for Adeline. Oh the joys of knitting.