Deep breath...

Making my way through stacks of papers toward the end of the semester.  Enjoying quick adventures to the pond between rounds of grading.  Taking lots and lots of deep breaths...

Spring festivities...

We love to celebrate Easter in a "Spring Bunny" kind of way around here (emphasis on celebrating the season with colorful eggs, bunnies, scavenger hunts, chocolate, and jelly beans)!  It is one of my favorite holidays for sure!  Here is the breakdown for this year's fun...

Eggs!  This year we colored hot eggs (still warm/hot from the boiling process) with crayons so the wax melted as we colored.  Then dyed them (super easy, not too messy, and lovely!)...

We also made some tissue-paper egg lanterns (at Shakori Hills).  They are beautiful and are such a sweet way to decorate for the holiday!  I think we'll keep them up for a while...

This year I decided to make some yummy zucchini/carrot bread for the Spring Bunny (to go along with fresh greens, carrots, chamomile tea... those little bunnies must get hungry running all over the world like they do)!  The recipe can be found here... it's delicious with lots of nuts and chocolate (YUM!)...

It simply wouldn't be Easter around here without a good old fashioned scavenger hunt... I learned this art from my Dad and it is one of my favorite things to do for my kids.  They get so excited and I love watching them work together to find the clues that lead them to their Easter baskets (or buckets as we tend to do around here)...

And last but not least, I stitched together these little bunnies for the occasion.  They have brown felt backs with button tails on their butts (my favorite part).  I love how they turned out...

In the garden...

Right now the spinach, bok choy, kale, lettuces, snap peas, and potatoes are happily growing and thriving in the early spring garden.  I love this time of year... each day is a little present.  I study the plants and delight in every inch of growth... and I love seeing green exploding in every direction.  And what's more, our chickens have been cranking out the eggs... we're getting five a day!  It is crazy awesome!!  Last night for dinner we had spinach omelettes with a spinach/baby greens salad on the side.  Spring is here and I love how even our kitchen knows it!

Portland...

I headed out to Portland, Oregon (my home state!) for a conference.  There was lots of coffee, rain, bridges, beer, and blossoms!  Most importantly, there was an abundance of love from family and friends (my bucket is so full!).  It was an awesome adventure on many levels...

Adding to the flock...

Sadly, we were down to two hens around here!  So last week, we added four girls to the flock!  They have settled in quite nicely (it only took Salt and Roxie a few days to adjust... just some loud complaining for the most part).  It is nice to see a full coop again... and at least one of the pullets has even started laying!!

The current state of the coop.

Introducing Penny, Piney, Pokey, and Pixie!

Our first pullet egg... so delicate and adorable!!

First day of spring...

I have never needed a glorious, shiny, bright, sunny, warm day to mark the Spring Equinox quite as much as I did this year... and today totally delivered!!  We met up with some friends after school to play at a park... and one of the mamas brought a roll of duct tape so the kiddos could make Spring Bracelets.  It was such a simple idea... with such lovely results!  We basked in the sun while the children frolicked.... it was dreamy. On this Spring Equinox, I was truly in awe of the beautiful signs of spring abound. Thank you Universe!!

1st Day of Spring Bracelets!

Nothing says spring like "yarn-bombed" trees with cheerful colors!

Wild plum blossoms... oh they smell divine!!

And snap peas... need I say more?!

So many rubber bands...

My daughter has been making rubber band bracelets like crazy for the past six months or so... and I finally figured out what to do with them (because finding them strewn all over the house has been making me crazy)!  This doesn't mean that our floors aren't still covered in a layer of rubber bands, but at least I'm not stepping on the bracelets anymore... hurrah for small victories!  And I really do think this pop of color is a nice addition to the window sill above our kitchen sink...