This is a quick Easter craft that you can do with stuff you probably already have around the house!

You will need:

-embroidery thread, thin elastic, or dental floss
-scissors
-a tapestry needle (the kind with the big eye)
-peeps, jelly beans, any other seasonal candy your heart desires

Directions: Using the needle, thread (carefully) the candy on the floss/thread/elastic in whatever pattern you wish. Tie (carefully) around your neck. EAT!



Anouk needed a little help with the needle but mostly was able to complete this craft herself. Gus helped by sampling the jellybeans and throwing all the black ones onto the floor where the dog also refused to eat them. I DON'T GET IT EITHER.

Little Bunny Foo Foo bout to get his.

We've been trying to have our friends over to dinner one night a week and last week, Molly brought PIE FACE, which holds the current title as messiest and also funnest game in our repertoire. Basically, the idea is Russian roulette but with whipped cream -- you roll the die, turn the lever the appropriate number of times and hope that you escape without pie (whipped cream) on your face.

The best part is that every single person who plays makes the same face while playing their turn. You can see it up there. That squinched up wait-for-it face. Makes for the best pictures.

What are you guys playing lately? HAPPY WEEKEND!

 We're fans of illustrator Taro Gomi's work (Bus Stops, Everybody Poops) but lately we've been getting super into his doodle books with their charming open-ended illustrations that are prompts for kids to tell stories through their own works of art.



Right now we're working our way through his Story Doodles book (the thick-paper pages are meant to double as place mats) but there are several more to choose from, including one of postcards for kids to design and a puzzle book. We can't wait to collect them all (and we think they'd be great birthday/holiday presents for little ones, too).

Way back when, I did an internship with the DC area food bank and one of the tasks I was given was coming up with easy, healthy recipes that people who came to the food bank could make with the food they were given. The recipes had to use ingredients from the boxes they received, and they had to involve minimal cooking (since many of our customers didn't know how to cook or have access to stoves). One easy recipe that could provide a nutrient punch? Trail mix.

In the years after my time at the food bank, I worked as a camp counselor, student teacher, and now a mom, and have had plenty of time to refine my trail mix recipe. And I learned: there's a formula for making the perfect trail mix and it looks something like this:

3 cups grain (think pretzels, puffed rice, cereal, cheerios)
1 cup nuts
1 cup dried fruit
1/2 cup something sweet (think mini marshmallows, white or dark chocolate chips, m&ms)
1/3 cup seeds (pumpkin and sunflower are our faves)

Trail mix is one of mine and A.'s favorite things to make at home, it involves no real cooking but lots of measuring and stirring (which feels like cooking to a little kid). And she can pick the ingredients she prefers, within the parameters of the recipe, which is also big deal for my independent "I'll do it myself!" toddler on the cusp.

The trail mix we're currently snacking on is 3 cups pretzel chips, 1 cup pistachios, 1 cup dried cranberries, 1/2 cup white chocolate chips, 1/3 cup sunflower seeds. Yum!

Do you have a favorite trail mix recipe?