Happy Easter! ...Great Day for an Easter Egg Hunt

Unfortunately, illness had been going around the household around Easter.   Eric came down with it the day before we were to leave for Nana and Bumpa's.  So, I headed up north with Connor and Ramsey.   Riggs stayed home to keep Daddy company.

We had a wonderful time, spending the evening and next day with Nana, Bumpa, Sarah, Troy, Sadie, Isaac, Cory.. and the puppies.

Sunday was the day of the big Easter Egg Hunt.   Ramsey had never gone on an egg hunt before, so we were curious to see his reaction during this "first" for him.   And, Connor is never too old to hunt for goodies from the Easter Bunny, so he was looking forward to it too.

Here's the crew, right before "go time".

 Here's Go Time!!

Ramsey got a lot of help, especially starting out.  He had to get the idea of what this hunt was all about!

 Along the way, he had guidance from all of us.  

 And sometimes, he was just happy doing his own thing, discovering the colored treasures.

 Hunting high and low...

And sometimes finding fun little places to hang out....

Ramsey must have been proud of this egg, as he had to show it to Cousin Isaac.

 Isaac was like a sleuth, searching for eggs.  He scoped out the wood piles... many nooks and crannies.  He looks like King of the Mountain here.

 I guess there weren't any eggs hidden behind the shed.  Hmm.    Ramsey found a stick though.  He grew quite fond of it.

Auntie Sarah got some cute pictures of the boys too!  Thank you, Auntie!

 The hunt went on for quite a while.  There were 67 eggs to find!  Each one of the kids found an egg that had money in it.  Bonus!

Uncle Cory and Bumpa had a pretty nice place to hang out and watch.  :-)

The kids were happy to dissect their eggs and check out their loot!

Look at these super cute cousins!  They really had a wonderful time.

 After we'd returned home from our trip, the boys found the goody baskets that the Easter Bunny had left them too.   Connor's was mostly chocolate and gum and Ramsey's was Star Wars toys and a little bit of chocolate.

Happy Easter!!!!

Off to Church We Go

I just had to throw a pic on the blog of Ramsey in his cute little navy blue bow tie and sear sucker blazer.  :-)       We were on our way to Palm Sunday church service.  

During the service, we sat behind an adorable little two-year-old girl (Veda).  They were starting to become chums!   I'm guessing they'll get to know each other better next year when they're in Sunday School together.

My New Fermented Foods Craze

In the last few years, I've made my fair share of homemade goods.  I started out with body scrubs, hand soaps, and body butters.   Then, I moved up to homemade (and, more importantly, NATURAL) laundry detergent, cleaning products, deodorants, shampoos, body wash, facial serums, cleansing oils, healing salves, sunscreen, make-up, diaper rash creams, bug sprays, face (skincare) masks and exfoliators, and natural room deodorizers.
In the spirit of healthier living, I became a little bolder and added two new things to my list of homemade items (in the food world, this time):  Kombucha and yogurt.

I love a good challenge, but creating either sounded like a daunting task.  In true Kara fashion, I decided to do both at the same time!   I dove right in and bought a yogurt maker and a SCOBY (Symbiotic Culture of Bacteria and Yeast), the starter culture for the Kombucha.    After rifling through a myriad online blogs, how-to videos, etc, I dug in and got to work!

I made my first batch of Greek yogurt using my handy dandy counter top yogurt maker.  It turned out beautifully!  I flavored it with vanilla, Stevia, and cinnamon.  It tasted like a cinnamon roll.  Yum!    The yogurt maker only makes small batches though and since we eat a TON of yogurt here (especially in our daily smoothies), I decided to make a large batch (using a whole gallon of milk)!    That time, I used the crock pot method.   Another home run!  

Nothing has gone to waste in the process; I use the strained whey protein for an extra protein punch in smoothies.  I've been researching other ways to use it too.

To be thrifty, I store it in old yogurt tubs.   For the cup on the left, I prepared a triple berry coulee and mixed it in.   The tub on the right is straight-up plain yogurt.    Voila!

My Kombucha-making was easy!  Here's how I did it: HOW TO MAKE KOMBUCHA.

After I had brewed my batch of Kombucha and let it ferment for about a week, it was time to bottle it for the second ferment (to make it extra fizzy).   I admit, I had a really tough time figuring out how I was going to get my SCOBY out of the glass gallon container; I didn't dare harm it (need to use it again for more batches) and I certainly did NOT want to touch it!  It didn't smell great and it's a large disk of bacteria and yeast (ew!!).    Finally, I had to do it though.... with my own bare hands.  Growing up on a ranch, assisting in delivering baby calves and "cleaning up" after show cattle, I reminded myself that I've touched yucky things too many times to count and never thought twice about it.

After Mr. SCOBY was removed (I'm so brave- haha!), I strained the Kombucha and added some of the triple berry coulee that I had made to flavor the yogurt.  Though the newly-flavored tea was warm (room temp), it tasted wonderful!   I divvied up the Kombucha into my new Grolsch-style bottles to let them sit and get fizzy. The second round of fermentation took about four days.

Here's my finished product: Triple Berry Kombucha, packed with tons of health benefits.  

The best part: It...tastes... fantastic!   I can't wait to try new flavors.  I'm thinking a good Chai spice and a ginger grapefruit are next in line.  :-)

Bye Bye Ice! Hello Spring!

I always envied our [former] neighbor Penny's morning photos of the lake.  (We miss you Penny!!!)

She would get the most glorious pictures of the sunrise.  

I don't get up early enough!  :-)

Saturday afternoon, the ice started to come off of the lake.  By Sunday morning, it was completely gone. 

On Monday morning, it was foggy and still.  I had to get a picture.  Spring is here!!

Now, the grass is starting to turn green and the trees are starting to bud.

Our goal for the weekend:  Get the boat serviced and put the dock in the water!

The Deck: "The New Fenced-In Yard"

With our hilly landscape by the lake, it's nearly impossible to have a fenced-in area where Ramsey can run freely, playing outside while it's nice, and not getting into too much "trouble".    As of the last week or so, the top deck has proved to be the perfect solution!

So far, he's been able to play ball with Riggs, have tons of bubble-blowing/catching time, play Star Wars, etc.

Riggs loves catching bubbles just as much as Ramsey does... maybe more!  He jumps around trying to chomp them with his mouth!

Ramsey's new idea was to expand his Star Wars play onto the deck.  He carried each of his large figures outside and played.  Daddy helped.  :-)

 He dragged Yoda outside by his ears!  ...good handles!

I've also placed his Little Tykes slide, push-mower, tricycle, and basketball hoop on the deck for him!

For now, only one of his little feet can reach the pedals at a time, so he scoots along on the trike.

Each night, after supper, we have to bring all of his toys inside.   He presses his little face and hands against the glass and cries because the sun is going away and he can't be outside anymore!  So sad!  

May The Force Be With You Ramsey

Daddy's daily Internet news skimming provided an idea for a fun new gift for Ramsey; a personalized Star Wars book!

One half of the book is all about Jedi knights and masters.

The flip side of the book is all about Siths!

On the inside cover, Daddy was able to insert a picture of Ramsey (with Darth Vader of course) plus a quote, "I find your lack of chocolate Teddy Grahams disturbing." ~ Darth Ramsey.

This book is such a fun interactive activity to do with Ramsey.

Page by page, he shows Daddy his favorites.

He seems excited that he is part of the book too!

Each page is personalized for him.

...such a fun treat!