We love our nature center...

Some of the things we have been a part of recently have been The Owl Prowl; where we learn about the owls in our area and then go out in the dark and call for them (and they really do call back!), made bird houses for the bluebirds in our area (although ours still remains empty), snowshoeing, pulling sleds (of course) and now Easter Egg Dying! 

Apparantly the juice of a few berries can go a long way.  We dyed eggs using remnants from cranberries, walnuts, onions, and rose hip.  Some gave great color, others did not.  I liked the walnuts the best.  It gave a real 'bird's egg' look to the egg.  And it was just pretty.  If it wasn't a hard boiled egg I think it could be a deoration.

While we waited for our eggs to be dyed we did a few crafts like the flower you see in Matthew's hand above.  Ella Jane is hard at work spelling her name here which is why her mouth is open.

We colored...

and said "Ta Daa!" (this really is what she is saying here)

And perhaps the most favorite craft of the night was of course these little jelly bean carrots.  Does her face not crack you up?  When I pulled this picture up I just loved it.  It still makes me smile.

We are almost never out at night because the kids go to bed at 7:00pm (and this event took place in the evening) but this was well worth the extra effort!

Dying Easter Eggs...

We're off to our Nature Center tonight to learn how to dye Easter eggs without using the store bought dye.  Sounds like it'll be interesting and I'm looking forward to sharing it with you through pictures and stories.

In the meantime, we've been having some wonderful spring weather which reminds me that I need to get on the ball and update my header.  No more mittens and snow for us! 

And now that it is so warm we are taking advantage of the fact that we live really close to our elementary school (a few blocks) and preschool (a mile).  Unless it's SUPER cold or we're running late we walk Matthew to school in the morning's.  And now walking Ella Jane (and picking her up) to her preschool has become a regular part of our week.  What a great way to fit in a little exercise and Matthew gets the independence and experience of riding his bike on a sidewalk.  It's been a great start to the season.

Because I love the colors...

I love how bright the snow is when the sun is shining and how vibrant Ella Jane's hat looks.

Back when we had snow I took to pulling the kids in the sled.  A friend let me onto this idea and boy did we have fun with it.  We even had a snowfall once where the plow didn't come to our neighborhood until close to 10:00am.  We had a whole street full of snow to traipse around in.  (usually they come in and salt the roads during the night so by the time you're ready to go out the pavement is already exposed).

A few steps back...

To when we had snow...

I took all three kids to our Nature Center and pulled them on the sled.  Lately we've been spending a lof of time out there.  It's such a fun place to be. 

We had a lot of fun, but I may have gotten the sled going a little too fast and tipped it a teeny tiny bit.  Which caused a few tears.  Well, a lot of tears because Sara was the one that went toppling off.  Fair enough.  If I had snow in my face and down my coat I'd probably cry too.  I'm not very tough that way and I hate being cold.

But I didn't get any pictures of that because I had to scoop up poor Sara who had decided she'd much rather be at home than out in the wilderness.  We managed to pick ourselves up (literally) and get going again but not before we had a few more meltdowns.  Oh well, it still was a really fun day.  I'm looking forward to doing it again next year.

Matthew's Magnificent Magnetic Creation...

I had some helpers...

Saturday was the first official day of spring and it still snowed but at least it was gone by the end of the day and we are seeing warmer temps. again. 

Right now we are loving...

The sandbox, touching the flag, walking, wagon rides, riding bikes and scooters and gardening.  Just look at my little helpers today.

I really love this time of year.

Apparantly...

We needed to wear our helmets to lunch yesterday...

Pasta night!

Ever made your own pasta noodles? Neither had we until we took a field trip to our friend's house! Not only did we have yummy pancakes at the Maple Syrup Festival, learn how maple syrup was made, and ooh and ahhh over worms making compost in the basement, we topped off the night with some homemade pasta noodles.

First, we had to assemble the machine.

Next, we put the dough through...

Then, we let it rest while Ella Jane sprinkled it with flour...

Finally, it was time to put it through one more time...

We handed them over to Donna who cooked them up real nice...

YUMMY!

Thanks Pasta Team!

Worms...

We love to visit the worms every time we visit Bill and Donna.  They are hunkering down in their basement where Donna takes such good care of them.  In turn, they provide her with super rich soil for her garden.

Oh how the kids love to feed the worms!

Here is Ella Jane grabbing a handfull of eggshells from Donna's hand.

These are worms hanging down from the first tier.

Look at those faces!  I told you it was like going on a field trip.

Next up?  Making pasta noodles.

We took a field trip...

When I knew Jim was going to be out of town for the weekend we chose to visit a nearby friend.  She has so many wonderful things to do at her house that it's almost like taking a field trip.  First off, have you ever been to a Maple Syrup Festival?  We hadn't either until a few weekends ago.  I love going to things like this! 

Learning how things are made and exploring local attractions is really fascinating to me.  So we donned our winter attire and off we went to stand in line, eat and eventually learn about all things maple syrup.

The kids even got to try their hand at hammering in the little metal lip that goes into the tree to draw out the syrup.  Here is an old used up tree with a lot of holes from kids' testing.

Next up? 

Worms.  But probably not the way you are thinking.  Wait and see.