We had a lovely weather weekend. It was in the 50’s here, which feels great after a cold winter. The children were so busy playing that they got too warm and shed their jackets. Some even shed shoes.
I am sick with the common cold, common yet bothersome. I don’t know how many times I woke up last night with my mouth so dry. Ethan also has a bad cold. Seems like every change of seasons brings some sort of adjustment to our immune systems.
I can’t complain, though. It’s been a nice weekend and today is also sunny and beautiful.
Rich took me for a little date to Anthropologie on Saturday, just the two of us. One of my favorite little memories of the weekend was when we were picking me out a new pair of earrings. He was holding them up to my ears and we were talking and laughing together. I got the prettiest pair of red flower earrings.
I also got this sweet egg holder for my fridge. I love the robin’s egg blue color of it. For the photo, it is displayed on a vintage tablecloth that my mom gave me.
Flowers are coming up in the garden. Grace was just as excited as I was. Today or tomorrow our crocus’ will be opened.
The boys have been very industrious at the pond. They are mining ice crystals. Rich and I sat and watched them for a while on Saturday.
They break the ice off the edge with a rake or a shovel or a stick, and scoop it to land.
See the texture of the ice…….
It breaks right apart into pretty crystals. We think they are beautiful and the children nibble on them, even Seth. He got really mad when his hands started freezing, though. I never dreamed pond water could freeze so clear and clean looking.
Davy did some ice fishing. He chopped a hole in the ice and made himself a fishing pole out of a train piece, yarn, and a hook at the end.
There was some play in the sandbox, too.
I caught Ethan drinking out of the stream.
Now that skating is done for the year, the boys have been throwing things on the ice. An occasional stick or rock is fine, but we had to draw the line at……tires. I made Ethan go out and get it. We were all waiting by the edge, watching….don’t worry, if he had fallen in it the water was not over his head at this point in the pond. It was still really exciting, though. He made it there and back again, safe and sound.
Rich and the boys cleaned out the chicken coop and put down bags of fresh wood shavings. Grace watched the chickens out the coop windows.
And guess who lost a front tooth?
A new look for Davy……..
He was thrilled to discover sap dripping off a tree branch outside, and he enjoyed tasting it. (He is standing on a rock to reach the branch). He was playing under the tree and felt the drops hitting his head and that is how he discovered “that wet stuff that we saw dripping in buckets at that farm we went to”. Sweet tasting sap. Want some?
I can’t believe that spring is arriving. We had all sorts of tell-tale signs of it this weekend, and it felt wonderful to get so much fresh air. Soon the ground will get soft and we will be dealing with lots of muddy clothes and feet. Oh and guess what? I was so happy to hang clothes out on the clothesline again, too! The sheets smell wonderful after drying outside in the crisp air.
Thank you for the interest in the glittery eggs. The winner of them is Sep1. I wish I could share them with each one of you.
How about some directions? They are so easy to make. I poked pea-sized holes in the bottom of each egg with a metal skewer from the kitchen. Then, I shook out the contents into a bowl, and scrambled them up for breakfast.
After rinsing them off (and out) with water, I let the empty eggs sit and dry for a day (not sure if it is necessary to let them dry that long). I used a glue pen to color on the glue, and then shook Martha Stewart glitter (from Micheal’s craft store) all over them. Some of them are just lightly glittered, so that we can still see the original color of the egg, underneath. And that’s that! Now you can make your own!
I probably won’t be blogging again until I am feeling better. I just wanted to hop online and record our weekend memories, and announce the winner of the eggs…..my cold is all up in my head and I am not feeling very well at all. I will probably spend the next day or so resting as much as possible and taking care of the children.
Love, Shanda
Good to be Home 
When I was pregnant, the one thing that would be more bothersome than almost anything else was the common cold. My doctor said that for some reason, it was harder for pregnant women to shake it off than the average person. I never knew if there was scientific evidence for that or not, but I know that it is a good excuse to REST, REST, REST. So do that, darlin’ and do all the things that you should — maybe even some Airborne would be helpful. I have used it all winter to keep well, and (Thank God) I have been so healthy. It has lots of stuff that will boost the immune system, and even though people tell me it doesn’t help at all, my husband and I both have taken it twice a day since October and we have been around H1N1 and various colds and flus and both of us have been so happy to not catch anything! (We’ve prayed along with it, and that is a big thing, too.) Anyhow, for whatever it is worth, I hope you feel better really soon. Take care!
Sounds like such a nice weekend. I pray you feel better soon.
yesterday i was reading a house and home magazine from the UK, and as i turned the page i immediately thought of you. There was wallpaper advertisement that had a chicken coop that had each egg laying part decorated with a nice bit of wall paper for each chicken. i was like…oh how great would that be, although i’m sure the chicken’s wouldn’t really care. As well i also read something else that reminded me of you. I was reading somewhere…i think it might have been online that some farmers have found special smooth rocks that are pale in color and round and have placed them in nests. They have said that the chickens will see this as the ideal and produce eggs that are similar to this, or it will compell them to lay more. I think it was more of an old wives tale but i thought of you as soon as i read it…not that you need them to lay more since they are already giving you such a beautiful abundance. i can’t even imagine the joy and excitement each morning of running out to see the new beautiful offerings. i’ve never had taht experience in my own life, perhaps one day i shall. I adore anthropolgie. To my knowledge we don’t have any of the stores here in Canada, and the closest one to me right now is in Detroit. I had longed to go there and buy something special for my 30 birthday but found that most of what i longed for in their store was way out of my price range. Although looking at some of their new stuff it still warms my heart, so i might have to go there. It sounds like you and Rich had a wonderful time. That egg holder is a fabulous idea. i’ve seen it used in people’s houses as a jewelry holder as well.hope that you are feeling better soon. I shall miss you until you return. may the week ahead be blessed.
May the good Lord bless you and heal you Shanda. Hope you feel better soon…rest, rest. Get some good soup or tea in you, the hot liquid is good to loosen things up. I know when I was pregnant it was so hard to get sick. cute header in the sandbox. Glad to see signs of spring coming your way! Pretty egg holder and tablecloth.
Your blogs and pictures are a breath of spring air to me this time of year. I love where I live, but I can get a bit discouraged about the snow this time of year. The tablecloth really caught my eye. I have been contemplating making a quilt in red,white, and turquoise. The tire on the ice cracked me up! I’m praying that you feel better soon. Get as much rest as you can!
Pretty earrings…reminds me of a springy day.I pray that you feel better soon and get lots of rest. Sending a long distance hug!!
Hoping you are feeling better soon! The eggs are gorgeous and I’m sad that I didn’t see that post until this morning. 😦 The weekend pictures are wonderful and we are seeing signs of spring in Pittsburgh as well… Mid 50s to low 60s this week. YAY! Feel better soon!
I ADORE the photo of the children you ave as a header!!! They are as fresh and dear as early spring, full of light and energy
Great pics! Feel better soon!
so wonderful you two could go on a date and I enjoyed reading about all your weekend memories. Hope you feel better soon and we will miss your updates until then for sure!!
Yes indeed, a very lovely weekend. We had the best of both worlds here … went twenty minutes away from our house into the mountains to play in the snow on Saturday, and Sunday reveled in the sunshine right where we are! We aren’t advanced enough to have crocuses yet—how exciting to watch them and wait for their burst of colour!Feel better soon, and enjoy the warmth and the SUN!
I can’t imagine why it is called the “common cold,” since one feels uncommonly ill when one is afflicted with it. But hope you feel much better soon…it’s no fun to be pregnant and sick.Love your new egg holder! Very pretty with brown eggs against that shade of blue. Your husband has the right idea of where to go on a very cool date!!! 🙂
I love that egg holder and tablecloth. That color of blue is one of my favorites. It’s getting nice and spring-y here too! We took a family walk yesterday. My hyacinths are coming up too! Hope you’re feeling better soon!
Love that egg holder! I too have that miserable cold. I am doing laundry today and went grocery shopping with a headache….tomorrow I’m not doing a thing (yeah, right…but, a girl can dream).
So sorry to hear about your cold. I hope you are able to get some extra rest and feel better soon.
What a lovely weekend, thanks for sharing.Praying you feel better quickly.{{{{{{hugs}}}}}}
Cute header! Hope you’re soon”all better!”
Ethan drinking out of the pond is the very best!!! So great!Your glitter eggs are so pretty! And the picture you took with the eggs on the tablecloth was charming, isn’t it fun to make pretty pictures?!Your days must feel easier and more free now that you can open the door and send the kids out to spend all their energy! So sorry about your cold!lost of love,JO
What a great springy post ~ gets the blood flowin’, doesn’t it??
Yay for Spring!! Hope you feel better soon. I love your egg holder–VERY cute 🙂 LOVE the new picture at the top of your blog !
I hope you are feeling better very soon. Oh, and if you see me on your footprints a lot, I appologize! I was feeling a bit down, and needed a pick me up. Your blog puts a smile on my face, and in my heart. I also now have a huge urge to buy some fiesta ware!
Sorry about your cold! I hope you are able to get enough rest and shake it off. I enjoyed your pictures of Spring and your beautiful, busy children.
Sounds like you had a wonderful lovely weekend!! 🙂 I’m glad that y’all are enjoying the weather- the sun is out more often here too which I’m happy about. I hope you feel better really soon!!!
LOVE the cute egg holder! (and the wonderful fresh eggs!)You have such a sweet family…probably has a lot to do with having a sweet momma 🙂