Dying Easter Eggs

Our first attempt..until he touched the Cool Whip

I love when I have this wonderful image in my mind of an activity that Callen and I are going to do together. It's going to be fun, entertaining, and occupy at least an hour of the day. And then reality hits...Callen will have nothing to do with the activity, and I end up spending more time prepping and cleaning up than he spends in total playing. That was us with dying Easter eggs today! I knew Callen would be easily bored or make a complete mess with the traditional method of dropping the egg in colored water and waiting for it to be ready. I could see him tipping over the cups, dunking his hand in a bright blue color, or drinking the water. While reading different blogs, I saw several posts talking about using shaving cream or Cool Whip and food coloring to dye eggs. Simple technique...spread the shaving cream or Cool Whip in a glass or ceramic dish, drop a few drops of food coloring (2 colors is best), swirl the colors together, and then roll the eggs in them. You allow the eggs to sit for a while and then wipe off the exterior. Viola! Colored Easter eggs. 

I thought this would be great for Cal and me to attempt. I figured it would be a good interactive activity and allow Cal to actually color some of the eggs on his own. I opted for Cool Whip in case Cal decided to take it to the mouth. I had everything set up on the back deck and Aunt Kimber and Ella came by to help with the activity. We were ready to go...until the kiddos touched the Cool Whip! Instantly hands were jerked back and trying to shake off the Cool Whip that had made it on to the fingers. I tried to show Cal that you could eat the Cool Whip thinking he might touch it if he knew he could eat it. He didn't fall for that trick unlike Ella! She was all about eating the Cool Whip!

After handing Cal an egg and letting him play with it for a little while, he finally dipped it in the coloring mixture and swirled it around for a second. I feel lucky that he dyed ONE egg on his own. Ella and Kimber did a few, and I was left to finish the remainder of the 18 eggs I had hard boiled.

Taste testing the eggs before dying

Finally going in for the dip

The eggs after the dye

I put them in the fridge for about 4 hours before wiping clean. One thing I learned...wipe clean with a paper towel and not rinse with water! You are left with white eggs if you rinse with water!

The finished product!

Even though this activity did not go as I had thought it would, I still enjoyed it. I think it will be a fun technique to use in years to come for Cal as he can help choose the color combinations and help make the egg to look like he wants it to. For now, this was a good sensory experience for the kids and a reality check for mom that nothing goes as planned!!!

Books and Puzzles

We have read books to Callen since he was a teeny tiny baby. He would lie in our arms and we would read whatever kid book that was nearby. Neither Doug nor I are the best about reading...we read while traveling and that is about it. We both know the importance of reading and have really tried hard to instill the love of reading in Callen. Once Callen became mobile, his desire to sit in our arms and read quickly dwindled! We would pick out a book to read, he would sit still for about a page, and then off he went to play. However, over the last few weeks, Cal has taken a greater interest in books. He has a stack of about 7 that he loves. Most of the books are about trucks or animals, but one of his favorites is a book full of pictures of babies doing everyday activities (eating, sleeping, crawling, walking, etc.). He always asks for his 'kid' book, and will stand at his chaise lounge and flip through the pages for a good 5-10 minutes at a time (that seems like an eternity for this child!). Other favorites include Goodnight Moon (love looking for the mouse moving around on each page), My First Truck Board Book (he wants to know the name of each truck on each page), Fischer Price Little People Let's Go to the Zoo book about the zoo (he enjoys lifting all the flaps and making the sounds of each animal), and Little Blue Truck (he loves looking at the dump truck and making the sounds of the animals in this book too). We recently started naming all the 'kids' in his Little People book after the kids in his Kindermusik class. It is so cute to see him point to each kid after I ask who each one is. He loves his little friends! 

Cal will either stand at his chaise lounge and flip through the pages on his own, or curl up in your lap and read the books with you. I used to fear what I would find if I left Cal alone for a few minutes and did not hear the pitter patter of his feet. Now when I don't hear any noise, I go straight to his room to find him standing and reading.

Good snuggle time with Grandmom

Loved showing Nana and Oupa one of his favorite books

Not the chaise lounge, but it is a place to perch his book so he can read!

He has also taken an interest in puzzles. He is getting really good at them and can do a puzzle that is aged for 3+ with just a little bit of help. He cracks me up doing the puzzles...he knows where each piece goes, so he purposely puts the pieces in the wrong places and says 'nooooo' and moves it to another incorrect spot and says 'nooooo' before putting it into the correct place. Cal recently got this puzzle to try and advance his puzzle solving skills. He hasn't been able to take every piece out and put it back together yet, but he can take out 3-4 pieces and put those back in place. I have a feeling he'll be doing a 1000 piece puzzle with me at the beach this summer (one of my favorite traditions from family beach trips!)!!!!!

Cal uses the coffee table as his puzzle table!

Friday Fun

I am so sorry for the lack of blogging the last two weeks. Doug was out of town all last week, and Cal used that time to wake up every night and stay wide awake for a good 4 hours. He sleeps pretty well most of the time. However, when Doug has to be out of the country for a week, he chooses to party hard in the middle of the night! I spent nap times and any down times resting and catching up...or in preparation for what was to come the next night! This week has been spent enjoying the warmer weather and getting outside as much as possible. Also, Cal has decided that he no longer likes his 2-3 hour afternoon nap and would prefer to be up all afternoon. NG...no good...for this momma! I am sure it is a phase and he will be his old self soon, but it makes for a long day and one tired mom!

One of Cal's favorite things to do is to go on a laundry basket ride. We started carrying Cal in the laundry basket at an early age when we would go downstairs to the basement to do laundry. At first it was a simple ride in the clothes up or down the stairs, and then get tossed onto the bed. Next it became a ride around the living room before dumping him on the bed. It eventually evolved into just riding in the laundry basket through the kitchen and living rooms...over and over and over! Cal loves for Doug to race him around the rooms and have me jump out and scare him. While Cal should have been napping this afternoon, he ran into the kitchen and found the laundry basket that was waiting to go back to the basement. He carried the basket in to his room and climbed in it so I would take him on a ride. There is so much enjoyment on his face with each ride that we can't deny him this fun.

In this video, Doug is racing Callen around the front rooms and I am jumping out to scare him. Notice at the end that he is asking for 'more please' (this was already about the 20th time we had done this with him!). Doug was one tired daddy.

This is what you call one wild party at the Morris Household!

Trying To Stay Entertained...Cold Weather Go Away!

We have been stuck indoors most of the week due to the freezing temps and Ice Storm 2015...this makes for one stir crazy boy (and momma)! Cal and I were able to make it to gymnastics on Monday before the bad weather moved in. Thank goodness for that activity or else we would really be going crazy by now. We have been doing our best to keep Cal entertained with new activities as well as playing things he enjoys. Doug worked from home yesterday so that was also a nice diversion for Cal, and he even helped make a few phone calls and business decisions. 

Here are just a few of the things we have been up to the last few days...

 Running through the house like a ghost!

Boooooo!

Dressing like dad does to work on projects

Knee pads on...check

Tape measure in place...check

 Building forts with daddy

No Girls Allowed!

 Riding 'motorcycles' through the house

I'm bad to the bone!

 Helping daddy 'work'

Yes Bib, I've got it all under control!

Fun at gymnastics...this is an hour where Cal can run wild and play as hard as he wants!

Walking the balance beam

Choosing to play in the chalk and not jump on the trampoline

Starting a 'ta-da' but only captured the hands going up

Running through the mats

Playing in the ice

Playing with his best buddies!

On his belly to eat the ice so he wouldn't have to pick it up with his hands!

Cal has several winter hats he can wear outside. While I was getting stuff for me to wear, Cal reached into my drawer (without me knowing) and pulled out the hat he has on in the pictures. This was my mom's hat that I kept and love to wear. He came running down the hallway with this hat on his head and ready to go outside. I tried and tried to put on one of his hats, but he insisted on wearing this hat. I had to laugh because it is girly and way too big for him, but loved the fact that he wanted to wear my Momma Lou hat!

After all the fun, he couldn't even make it to the crib to fall asleep!

All Boy

We have a large oil tank buried in the backyard that is no longer being used. Our plan is to build a garden this spring off the side of the back deck (over where the oil tank is located). To make sure the ground didn't give way at some point to the rotting oil tank, we decided to have it removed. First thing Saturday morning, the trucks rolled up to the house. We had a dump truck full of fill dirt and and a mini excavator in the yard. We also had one very happy boy in the house on the back deck supervising!

Supervising!

Cal spent the entire morning in the backyard or on the deck watching what was going on. We kept apologizing to the guys for standing over them the entire time. We just knew that we would not be able to take Callen inside while they were there. Cal really enjoyed all the activity and stayed interested until they were finished, about 3 hours later. Once the guys were finished, we asked if Cal could sit on the digger. They were happy to let him, and Cal was very timid about getting up in it at first. Doug carried him and sat with him, and he was still 'shy' about being up there. However, once he and Doug climbed down, Cal wanted right back up. Any shyness he had before was now gone! He climbed right up into the seat, started playing with the controls, and acted like he owned the machine! Cal was climbing on and off the digger nonstop until the guys finally had to move it to pack up. 

Checking out the equipment

Watching the dirt being poured

Lots of activity going on!

The oil tank

Driving with daddy

He's got it all figured out now and doesn't need daddy's help

Once the guys were gone, Doug started packing the dirt to prepare for the coming rain (we didn't want a mudslide in the backyard). Cal was right there with Doug...stomping, shoveling, and packing the dirt. There were several times Cal rolled down the small dirt hill and he even started carrying handfuls of dirt from one pile to another. Before we knew it, he was covered from head to toe in dirt, and loving every minute of it. 

Getting ready to help dad

Need to put on my work gloves

Shoveling

Stomping

He was back out there yesterday doing the same exact thing. He is all boy playing in the dirt and mud. I am pretty sure Cal will be taking a bath everyday this spring and summer...

Rainbow Falls

With the weather not cooperating over the Christmas holiday to get out and hike, we have been looking for a good weekend since. If we've had nice weather, we already had plans to do something. If we didn't have plans already, bad weather was called for. Finally, this past weekend we were able to get out and enjoy the beautiful weather in Jones Gap State Park. We really enjoy waterfall hikes, but all the ones we have been on lately have ended at a waterfall with no sunshine...leading to a very cold Callen! I had told Doug no more waterfall hikes until the spring and summer, but the reviews on the Rainbow Falls hike had me wanting to go see it. The hike was only 2.5 miles (5 miles total), but had an elevation change of about 1200 feet. The hike up was fairly difficult, especially when you have an extra 30-35lbs attached to your back, but very enjoyable. The views and scenery along the way are beautiful and the 100' falls are amazing. 

View from our lunch spot

Rainbow Falls

Smaller waterfalls on the hike

Cal enjoyed the ride on the way up, stopping only a few minutes for a snack. We wanted Cal to stretch his legs and walk a bit, but he seemed to be afraid of the narrow trail and only wanted me to hold him. Once back on the trail, he passed out in the pack and missed the waterfall and lunch stop. He slept about half way back down the trail as well. Once he woke, we took him out of the pack again to 'hike' in a more forested area. He had a blast here. He climbed and 'jumped' off rocks. He crossed small streams...and then went back to play in the water until Doug took him away because it was too cold! Callen's favorite part of the hike was crossing a narrow bridge. It reminded me of a balance beam, so I told Cal we were going to walk the balance beam like we do at gymnastics. As soon as we crossed over to the other side, he turned around and headed back across. He did this several times before I finally had to pick him up and carry him away from it. We would have been there for at least another 30 minutes had we not picked him up!

Snack Time!

Poor Doug...

Tired little guy...and tired daddy!

Slept right through the lunch break

Playing with rocks and sticks

Walking the 'balance beam' bridge

Enjoying the view of the rapids below

'Jumping' off the rock

Doug and I joke that on hikes before Callen came along that we would see how fast we could make it back to the car. Now with Callen, we stop and let him 'hike' which adds at least 45 minutes to an hour to our trip time. But, it is well worth it to see how happy he is walking in the woods and playing in the water. We want him to appreciate the outdoors and respect nature. Hopefully by taking him on these trips now, he will grow to love the outdoors and find joy in the small things...sticks, rocks, and the sounds of nature.

Taking time to chill!

I keep a running list of places I need to take Cal on rainy days, summer days, or days when we just need to get out of the house. Jones Gap State Park is now on that list. Only a 50 minute drive from home, we will be able to spend a full day there in the summer walking part of the trails and playing in the river. He can get as wet as he wants without fear of freezing!