easter fun at home

Last year I didn't do a lot at Easter, actually I don't think I did much of anything. No egg dying, no cards, no crafts, no cookies or sweets, I think we hid a few eggs around for Lance to find, pretty lame holiday last year I must say. I have a good excuse though, I was pregnant which made me tired, easily grossed out, overwhelmed, impatient, and not a lot of fun to be around. So this year we had some fun, and having Lance older made the activities easier to do and more fun.
Last weekend we made Easter sugar cookies. Lance had a blast cutting out the shapes and sprinkling the colored sugars. I was tempted to decorate them with icing all fancy and pretty, but I have realized that Lance decorating them is special because it is something we can do together. I am learning to let go of my perfectionism and embrace my little helper.

(lance got fancy, two handed sugar application)

Last night we made Easter cards for the family. Lance helped a lot on those, he cut the paper into small squares, glued the squares onto egg shaped cards, and wrote his "name" on all the cards. The cards turned out nice looking and it was fun, especially since Lance could do so much on his own.

(our finished card)

This morning we dyed Easter eggs and that was a bit chaotic. We set out all the cups, he put the tablets in, he poured in the vinegar, and then he did not like waiting for the tablets to dissolve, and got quite impatient. He kept trying to pour in the additional water before the tablets had dissolved.

(lance using his favorite scissors to open up the package of tablets)

Setup for dying was hard, but once we introduced the eggs, things got even harder. Gentle isn't a concept he seems to be familiar with.

(lance wanted to do everything himself, even attempt to remove the eggs from the dye)

He kept trying to drop the hard boiled eggs into the dye which cracked a few of the eggshells because they landed with a thud. Once they were in the dye he would pull them out immediately and then want a new egg. He lacked a lot of patience in this whole project. It was hard to dye the egg, help him get the eggs in gently (he wanted to do it himself), convince him to let the eggs sit for a minute or two, help him get the eggs out without getting dye everywhere, and to leave the eggs alone while drying. As the eggs were drying he kept trying to pick them up, getting dye all over his hands, it was a bit hectic since I was trying to finish dying the eggs.

(showing off his dyed egg)

The eggs did turn out nice looking, not Martha Stewart quality, but good for a toddler.

(notice the finger prints on the pink one? on the green and blue I tried to do a design with a crayon, but was a little too harried, but they are fun)

We had a couple of causalities, but for the most part we have a quite a few to enjoy. He was quite proud of himself and I think he had a good time which is what it is all about.

(i took this right after he dropped an egg into the bowl breaking the shell of the green egg on top, as you can see- gentleness isn't something we have mastered yet)