It’s been awhile since my last post…I’ve been up to my neck in plastic Easter Eggs!
Two years ago I took Nathan to his first huge egg hunt that one of the local churches held. There were hundreds of kids there, baskets in hands, being held back by the neck of their shirts, ready to pounce as soon as the horn sounded to start collecting. Nathan literally got trampled, and when I finally found him coming up for air, he had one measly little plastic egg in his hand. Granted he thought it was the best egg in the world, but I was horrified by the rudeness of the some of these parents pushing kids out of their way and hoarding eggs for their kids. As far as I was concerned I would be more than happy to never take my kids to one of those events ever again.
That year I decided I wanted to start having our own egg hunts for the boys and their friends as a yearly tradition. When I was younger our neighbors always threw candy and eggs in their yard for their children and friends. It was something I always looked forward to, and thought it would be fun to continue this for my own boys. All my mama friends bring a Springy snack to share, and I throw a couple hundred plastic eggs in the grass with goodies inside. Here are some pictures from this year’s fun!
As for yesterday, we had a nice, quiet Easter at home as a family and Auntie Marissa. Nathan and Shane dove head first into their Easter baskets, had another little egg hunt in the backyard, and then decided to go for a run as a family since it was so beautiful out. When we came back the boys played outside in their new Power wheels Escalade. Well, new to them….our neighbors are moving and asked if we wanted it since their daughter had outgrown it some time ago. Score for the boys!!! They love it so much!
I put together brunch and mimosas and we sat outside and ate in the beautiful sunshine. Not too long after finishing brunch I popped a ham into the oven that we enjoyed for dinner. Just like every other holiday we spent the whole day eating and enjoying one another’s company. It was a great Easter week/weekend! Hope those of you that celebrate had a wonderful one too!
I’m pretty sure most people recap their weekends right after the weekend happens, but we do things late around here. I think Sunday nights would probably be a good time to catch up on what we did over the weekend, upload some photos and write a new post…however, I was in bed asleep by 9:30 Sunday night from a full day of fun (and too many mojitos!). At least that is evidence of a good weekend right? And then of course I could always try and write a quick post on a Monday, but the boys were in rare form yesterday. I’m almost positive Shane is transitioning to only one nap a day. That would be fine if this one nap lasted more than 45 minutes. Needless to say I chose eating my lunch instead of getting on the computer during my “break”.
Anyway…I personally like to think the weekends start on Friday, especially when Daddy was traveling all week for work and was flying in during the early afternoon. Before he got in, we met our friends at the mall to try and get a photo of our kids with the Easter Bunny. To say Shane was scared of the Easter Bunny would be the understatement of the year…he was petrified! Shaking, screaming, inconsolable and wouldn’t even look at him (it was a pretty creepy looking bunny so I’ll give him that). I thought his phobia of Santa was bad!! At least with Santa I could get the funny photo of the baby crying on a strange man’s lap….but this time I couldn’t even get within 5 feet of the bunny. My friend’s oldest daughter Ella also isn’t a Santa or Easter Bunny fan so she sat this one out too. Oh well, Nathan got to take his photo with Ella’s new baby sister Lilah.
Saturday I made it to Turbo Kickboxing in the morning. I’ve been doing TKB for over 8 years now and still love it as much as I have from the very beginning. I actually get excited to go, which I really can’t say for any other workout I have ever done. After I got home Nathan went to his swim lesson, and hurried home so we could walk down to the neighborhood Spring Celebration. We ended up meeting several of our friends there and had an awesome time. Here are some photos from the day.
Yes, that is Nathan pictured with his best bud Carson instead of his own brother with the Easter Bunny. Despite there being a less scary looking bunny Shane was definitely not interested! After the festivities the boys went down for naps, and I ran out to The Home Depot with Nana again. I am now obsessed with our tiny little garden and just had to get out for more supplies. We bought some hanging flower pots, got a large pot for my tomato plant, and added a kumquat tree! I really hope I can keep everything alive!
Sunday we woke up early and met our neighbors for our weekly run. Our neighborhood has a facebook running page and we reluctantly joined it a few months ago. I would always see them meet for a run on Sunday mornings and never thought I would actually join them let alone, ENJOY going. After the run we went out for brunch, and then got ready to head to our neighbors house for another fun-filled Easter afternoon. The parents indulged in yummy drinks, March Madness and a BBQ while all the kids dyed eggs, decorated cookies, and tossed around water balloons. We actually ended the evening with a huge water balloon fight in our driveway….adults included. It was such a fun way to end an awesome weekend! Already looking forward to the next!
If there is anything you will come to learn about me it’s that I am wreath obsessed. I have them hanging all over our house, and I will change up our front door with each passing holiday and season. While I could go crazy and transition my Valentine’s Day wreath into a St. Patty’s Day one and then an Easter wreath…I’ve decided to keep things simple and make one I can have up for all of Spring. See how easy I made that for you? And in the spirit of saving time and money I will go ahead and say this is one of the simplest ones I have made in both effort and supplies needed. It also just so happened to turn out to be one of my favorites too!
All the supplies I used were from Michael’s. You will need:
1 large twine wreath (I believe this is a 16″)- $5
1 bag of Spanish moss- $4
1 large roll of burlap- $6
1 wooden birdhouse- $1
1 branch of Easter eggs- $1 (you can use whatever kind of egg you like. I just picked these for their size and because they were the least expensive)
1 birds nest- $2
1 small bottle off white acrylic paint- $.50
Of course I used some coupons, and took 50% off that burlap roll. I ended up spending less than $15 for everything. You will also need a hot glue gun, glue sticks, scissors and a paint brush.
I started with painting the bird house and 3 of the eggs in the off-white paint. You can get creative here with color or you can go the more simple route like I did. I also cut off the rope from the bird house and painted over where it was originally connected.
Then I made a huge mess and started glue gunning on the moss. I would add a pretty good amount of glue and add moss in about 6″ sections. 1 bag will stretch nicely across this size wreath. Use the whole bag and shape it when you are finished, filling in some patches you may have missed.
I then used my glue gun to attach the eggs inside the birds nest, and then attached both the nest and birdhouse to the wreath with the glue. You could also use wire to attach these items, that way you can take them off if you would like and add other items with the changing of holidays.
Then take your burlap roll and cut a really long piece that you can trim after you are done according to the length you want to hang it. I cut about a 9′ piece. String the burlap through the wreath and pull it right to the center so the wreath is dangling from the middle point of your burlap ribbon. Hold the burlap on both ends and tie a knot about 12″ up from the top of the wreath. This is where you make a bow and pull the loops out as big as you would like them. Fluff them out a little and shape them to the size you would like. Let the additional burlap hang down and trim the ends so they are even. Then cut again at an angle to give it a more finished look.
Hang on your door with a wreath hanger from the point of the bow’s knot. This will make sure it is securely attached to your door and at a strong point on the wreath. Stand back and enjoy your beautiful new wreath that took about $15 worth of materials and about 15 minutes of your time! Happy crafting and bring on that Spring weather!
`Let’s Connect
Hey! I’m Lauren Rene
I'm a So Cal Mommy of 2 boys, and wifey to one handsome fella! Interior Designer by trade, but SAHM by choice. I spend my days loving my family, getting crafty, cooking clean, exercising, snapping photos and sharing it all with you.
My Instagram photos
