And Speaking of Chickens. . .

This Easter season I did something I have been thinking about for a long time.

I dyed eggs.

Without dyes.

Start with this:

Add some vinegar, five 3 year-olds, and let sit for. . .a bit.

Then, you get this:

We used blueberries, tumeric, carrots, spinach, onions, chili peppers, and beets.  My favorite results came from the berries, onions and beets.   Try this site for some instructions to try it on your own.  I really want to try some natural dyes for cake frosting.  Maybe this weekend.  Chris has a birthday coming up. 

The girls loved it (almost as much as I did) and had only slight issues in choosing which eggs to take home.  I am definitely doing this next year, it was way more fun than regular food dye (which is just so. . .predictable!).  Plus, I had little tasting bowls of all the ingredients for the kids to snack on while we dyed each kind.  Well, I skipped the tumeric bowl and hot chili bowl.  I know, so boring.    Next time I want to try orange peel, grass, some flowers (maybe dandelions?  The kids could pick them in the yard. . .if we celebrated Easter in May. . .hmmm) and herbal tea. 

**Oh and a tip:  if using carrots or spinach, you really should boil them.  As per the instructions.  I got bored of boiling stuff.  They didn't really work well.  The carrots were really faint and the raw spinach did nothing. 

The Nilsson's Welcome Baby Juliette. . .

And Rosie, Minnie and Tulip.  Sorry about the continuing jokes about the baby!  I just cannot help myself. . .bwah ha hah!  It is just to easy to make jokes when you are in your final weeks.  But the real announcement is:  We finally got our chicks and they are so cute!  Lily loves to check on them everyday and I am starting to think this was a really good transition to prepare her for the baby.  We loved picking out the little babies and Lily loved playing with the Mama's and Aunties on the 'chicken farm'.  For now, we have the chicks inside (hence the weird heat lamp picture) but soon they will be able roam the yard and sleep in the new coop (still to be completed).  We hope by the end of summer to have some nice, fresh eggs in a rainbow of colors.

40 Days and 40 (sleepless) Nights

If I do one a day. . .it just might happen. . .

1.  Buy a carseat
2.  Buy Lily a bed.
3.  Set up Lily's bed.
4.  Set up crib for baby.
5.  Wash baby clothes.
6.  Paint bedroom.
7.  Move Lily's clothes to. . .somewhere?
8.  Move dresser to closet and fill with clean baby clothes.
9.  Prepare for preschool yardsale.
10.  Make slideshow for preschool graduation.
11.  Clean . . .EVERYTHING.
12.  Convert tri-folds into all-in-ones (cloth diapers, people)
13.  Organize closets, mostly mine.
14.  Mail Mother's Day gift to my Mother-in-Law (sigh. . .late)
15.  Dig up daffodils.
16.  Get my hair cut.(it has been since last July)
17.  Order my favorite baby soaps and lotions.
18.  Clean out the kitchen lazy susan cabinet.
19.  Clean behind the fridge.
20.  Clean behind the stove.
21.  Put weed barrier down in "The Pit".
22.  Set up the baby swing.
23.  Sterilize bottles and pump.
24.  Clean out fridge.
25.  Clean out freezer.
26.  Buy a stroller that fits the carseat from #1.
27.  Organize storage area and find the rest of the baby gear.
28.  Buy some pacifiers in hopes that this kid will take one.
29.  Buy tile for the cabin (more on this later!)
30.  Buy tables, chairs for the preschool.
31.  Paint the small wall of the preschool.
32.  Plan the first few months of preschool.
33.  Fix the towel ring in the upstairs bathroom.
34.  Sew shower curtain for downstairs bath.
Nag Chris about the following:
35.  Finish the chicken coop.
36.  Dig and bury cement barriers to keep the neighbor's nasty dogs out of the chicken coop.
37.  Secure the slide in the backyard.
38.  Put boulders down in "The Pit".
39.  Move furniture out of the preschool.
And, last, but not least,
40.  Pick a name for this baby.