Fun with confetti eggs!

We were a day late on making our confetti eggs this year. It just kept getting away from us. And this was the first year to attempt dye with the kids. It went okay. Not too big of a mess.


How to make confetti eggs, or cascarones, as our friends to the south call them. (But you have to use proper Spanish pronunciation. It's more fun that way.)

1. Hollow out the eggs by poking a hole in the bottom and pouring out the whites and yokes, preferably into a frying pan. (When I was little, my friends and I would pour the insides down the sink drain. Do you know how mad I would be if my kids did that!)

2. Dye the eggs.

3. Stuff confetti inside. Don't fill it up too much or it will be hard to crack the egg later. (We make our own confetti too. It's a GREAT busy activity for kids!)

4. Glue a piece of tissue paper over the hole.

And there you have it. Your very own homemade confetti eggs! Now for the fun part...!

Everyone got to have a turn at "surprising" Daddy with a crack on his head. Although, I'm not sure how much of a surprise it really is when Daddy has to bend down to your level.

Our eggs were really hard for some reason (and we filled some too much) so you had to crunch it in your hand at the same time you cracked it on the person's head. Sloane didn't get that concept so she would just bang it on the top of your head, waiting for it to crack. It never did. And it hurt.

Blair also didn't get the concept. She would THROW it at your head, it would bounce off and fall to the floor, cracking open. So then we'd have to pick up the confetti and spread it around the person's hair. You can see the egg heading to the floor in this picture.



7th Annual Red Sox-Rangers Weekend: Family Time

When we weren't at the baseball game, we were hanging out with Jer's family. As I mentioned earlier, his aunt and uncle came to town for it, as well as his sisters, brother-in-law, niece and nephew (who is Reid's age so you know it's going to be crazy when those 2 get together!). It was a mini-family reunion! We always have so much fun when we all get together. And there's never a shortage of Corona...or boxed wine. :)

Can't go to Texas without stopping at a DQ!

Amy, Angie, Elise, and Kristy

Pool time! The kids favorite part! Kristy and Sloane swimming.

Maren sunning by the pool

 

Elise got to get out of her stroller for once! The water was really warm (for a swimming pool), so she loved it. She didn't make a peep.

Sloane apparently thinks she's royalty and needs to be carried as such by Aunt Amy.

Blair and Aunt Angie became fast friends.

The whole crazy bunch of us.

Speaking of crazy...we have our very own yellow, red, and blue M&Ms right here (as referrenced by Uncle Joe's shirt)

For Aunt Amy--thought you would like these. That's your offspring right there!

And unfortunately, my offspring too.

If you can't beat 'em, might as well join 'em.

7th Annual Red Sox-Rangers Weekend: The Game

In August, we made our 7th Annual Red Sox vs. Rangers trip to Arlington. (Click here for last year's trip.) The biggest weekend highlights for the kids are the hotel swimming pool, the shuttle that carries us to and from the game, and peanuts and cotton candy. Can't get much simpler than that! Jeremy's aunt and uncle from Delaware (they are also Red Sox fans) and his sisters joined us this year, so we had a lot of fun hanging out with them, and the kids liked seeing their cousins again. And we only got one call from the front desk telling us to keep the kids' noise down, so we considered it a successful weekend! However, the weather was extremely hot this year, so we figure Elise's main parental-related complaint when she's 20 years old is going to be "You took me to a

 baseball game--where it was 106 degrees--when I was FIVE WEEKS OLD???" Well, she may have a point there. But, in our defense, we kept a cool wet washcloth on her the whole time and she was constantly being fanned. Throw in someone feeding her grapes, and she could have been confused with a Greek goddess. (And actually, the temp had probably dropped to a chilly 101 by game time, so why is she complaining anyway?) :)

The game goers

Our usual Daddy and kids picture--this group seems to grow larger every other year :)

The shuttle was crowded so big brother had to hold little sister on his lap. I thought it was too cute and couldn't resist taking a picture of such loving siblings.

First order of business: LARGE bottles of water for everyone! (Sloane LOVES wearing her hat. She asks for it regularly...when playing outside, going to school, going to the grocery store. Jeremy loves it!)

Can't go to a baseball game without playing games. Unfortunately, we left our seats after the 3rd inning and never got to return to them.

Home Run!! (You can see the white speck of a ball above the picture of the crowd.)

Even Sloane got to play games this year. She likes hitting the ball so maybe we have another little ball player on our hands!

Our annual family picture at the game.

Cute little Blair enjoying some cotton candy. Aunt Amy's poor pig tails are barely hanging on by this time of the night. 

Reid with a cotton candy mustache. This boy can never take a serious picture.

Wow, are they actually sharing nicely???

"Matchers" as Blair likes to call them.

The last hurrahs of summer

The last fun "summer" days of August:

A swim party at our church

You have to keep a very constant eye on this little fish. I mean, I am fully aware that you have to constantly watch little ones at the pool, but with Sloane, you can't even blink without her jumping in the pool unassisted (which is a big change from her previous pool visit in which she wouldn't even get in). After the second time and two stern lectures, I realized I had to literally walk in her shadow...and stop blinking. Thank goodness I didn't have to sneeze! :)  

Sloane LOVES this frog on our neighbor's porch. You can't even say "frog" in the front yard or she'll run over to his yard and sit on this frog and refuse to leave.

Fun with bubbles. (And yes, I realize there aren't many pictures of the other kids...they won't stand still long enough for me to get any!)

This tree always sheds leaves in the late summer, so we raked them up and jumped in them.

One last trip to the sprayground and playground.

Reid splashing through the water like a Transformer, I think it was. Or robot or superhero. Can't keep them straight.

Sloane doesn't like the water. She'll walk in the puddles, but if the water actually sprays ON her, she freaks out. Which is strange considering her tendency to dive in a pool without a second thought.

Elise, as usual, spends her time in the stroller.

Two Months In

We're now 2 months in with a new tiny girl in the family. I was wanting to carefully choose and sort and organize pictures in a logical, chronological order, but who has time for that nonsense??? So here's some pictures. Enjoy!

First, here she is at 1 week and again at 8 weeks.

"Um, a little help please." 6 weeks old

First day of the big ones being in school so we got to sit outside in peaceful solitude on this beautiful day. If we'd had a hammock, we'd have been in it! 6 weeks old

Same day. Sloane getting to play without anyone bothering her.

8/25 Just Mama and Sloane (and Elise, of course) heading to the park to feed the ducks.

Sloane's a hair-twirler. As soon as the thumb goes in her mouth, the finger goes in her hair. I've cut out more than one dreds that she's unintentionally formed! Today she came running to me saying, "Mama, my finger's stuck!"

Blair was doing her own hair one day. I told her to leave them in for a second so I could take a picture. Well, by the time I got to the camera, I found about 8 pictures just like this one that she had taken of herself. We owe these mini photo sessions to Aunt Kristy for teaching Blair how to take her own picture by holding the camera out at arm's length! :)

I'd be crying too if my hair looked like this!

Sloane's first day of school. (She actually lets me put her hair in a ponytail...as long as she can still reach the ponytail to twirl.)