Easter.

Since It is Friday night,

Since I am all hopped up on Nutter Butter Frozen Peanut butter pie,

with no sleep in sight,

I thought to write  quick jaunt about our Easter weekend.

But first,
Check out the pie.
It's as awesome as it sounds.
As a kid I ate this often.
Mom got the recipe from the inside of a box of Philadelphia Cream cheese.

Nothing like watching the kids enjoy a recipe from your past.
I can regrettably claim to have eaten over half of that puppy.

Since it is only one week late,

And around here that's not bad right?
Back to our Easter.

I was inspired by this picture a little over a year ago:

Isn't is lovely?

 

My problem last year was that I didn't find this in time to sprout my own grass.
So I saved it for this year

This time, 2 weeks before Easter,
Still no time for grass growing
I almost threw in the towel.

Almost.

 

Whilst contemplating an alternate plan,

It hit me:

I have nearly an acre of already sprouted foliage!

Complete with those cute little daisy weeds and everything,

 

Insert voice in my head:

I can do this!

 

All I need is a big round Tera cotta tray.

One that I would most likely use,
Then store,

Then hopefully dig out in one piece for next year.

Actually I think I need three because the Peeps won't want to share such small spaces,

And who can blame them?

 

Hello!
This is the sensible you talking here,
Stop buying so much junk and

Use something else!

 

So I did. 

I used a cookie sheet big enough for the three kids to share.

Who needs three troll sized gardens
 Floating around the house?

No One!

 I am learning.

 s-l-o-w-l-y
.
.
.

The first week,

The tomb was just empty:

 

 

Then on good Friday,

Which is the day observed for Christs death,

We wrapped our Jesus

(a daddy figurine we had from a dollhouse)

in cloth

(toilet paper)

then covered the tomb.

Then on Easter morning,

We made 'ressurection rolls.

Best described here

and uncovered the tomb,

removed Jesus from the cloth,

And put the empty cloth back into the tomb:

Wow what a hit!

At no extra charge to me!

 

Kind of made up for the rack of Lamb I bought that was too tough to chew.

 

So Since it is Weekend,

And since I am sort of on a blogging roll,

 

I am stoked to punch out

 The few unwritten ways we observe Easter.

Because the best thing ever offered to humanity

Is celebrated on this day:

 

New life.

 

On a side note,
You probably happened to notice the adorable fuzzy baby bunny in Silas' arms,
We were the proud new owners of three cuddly little yard hoppers.

That lasted for three days total.

Then had visitors.
A thieving cat and dog duo
 Came a' rambling through the neighborhood
And had their way with the poor little cotton tails.
It  was a fun three days,
And one sad traumatizing day to find them to be gone.

We are also the proud owners of many firearms.
Specifically a BB gun named
'CatandDog.'

I feel like I am taking spring cleaning to a whole new level.

The Pieper home has undergone some major overhaulin'

Mom has been a schedulin' fool.

The house is gradually staying cleaner (Even on weekends!),

And money is being saved.

Folks, this is huge.

Referring to our home life: making a conscious effort to inspire my husband, my kids

with encouraging words and new ideas.

My kids are already full of their own ideas,

I have been trying to take "Mom, I'm bored"

And kick that fool to the curb.

After living with a broken tile for a couple months or so,

Silas finally got out his glue stick and put it back together for me.

This tile has been especially annoying.

When kicked at a certain angle, the pieces would slide across the living room floor.

We figured this would probably happen because we have not finished the floors,

Or put a guard on the edges.

Daddy tried to tell him that it wouldn't stick, and I chimed in,

Telling him that it probably wouldn't, but that he should try it anyway,

Why not?

I have reached a point in school, being a mom, and basically life in general,

Of knowing how things go, and then focusing on letting go.

Let me explain.

I am king of facilitating. I'll see my kids doing something and get this urgency

That they need my help and instruction.

Without request, I jump in and take over the show.

Lauren especially does things differently.

She does everything backwards from how I would do it.

It may be the difference between right and left handed preferences.

Example:

I put her head through the neck of her shirt first, then put the arms through.

Lauren puts her arms first, then her head.

She takes a task, and figures out how to do something in a way that to me, is almost unheard of.

The shirt is a small example, but it turns out,

When she puts her head in first, her shirt is usually backwards.

Go figure.

I have found amazing things when I stand back and watch.

Its crazy to be learning new tricks from my own babes.

Honestly I too was skeptical of Silas' glue job,

but I am here to tell you that three weekends later,

It still still sticks.

We were all surprised-even Daddy.

So thrilled that his plan worked.

There's nothing like seeing my Man Child made, confident by his own work.

This is my newest thought.

That the monster named bored need not visit our home and inhabit my kids.

Not because I am going to work harder to entertain them,

Because a positive reaction on my part, could inspire enough creativity to change his own attitude.

He is learning that HE is in control of his thoughts and attitudes.

HE chooses to

1. Do something and entertain himself

2. Not do something, continuing to be bored, but not allowed to complain about the choices he makes.

Here's where I come in.

I am still working on this, so don't take it as advice, just follow along with me.

I need to be more available for scooter rides and war games.

I have to have my "junk" together so I can help ward of the boredom.

Even when I am up to my elbows cleaning out the bathtub.

I need to make sure that there is plenty of things that he is allowed to do,

And REALIZE that it might (almost always) make a mess!

My goal is to tell him "yes" to more of his requests.

They're often good ideas, just inconvenient for me at the time because I can foresee the work it takes when the fun is over and there is a mess to clean.

They are learning that a mess that gets made,

Even if it is a million little wads of dirt thrown on the side of the house

(true story, Last Thursday, they were everywhere, even way up high)

gets cleaned by them, no matter how long it takes.

They're learning, I'm learning

And that's what this revolution is all about.

Counting down to simple.

As things are slowly but steadily starting to return back to normal this week

after Grandpa was sick,

I have gathered my thoughts, my house, my children, and priorities.

I have made lists, Checked them over and over.

I dropped off six trash bags full of stuff to the thrift store.

Simplified my meals and decided to start making food in double and triple batches to freeze some for later dates (and to send some home with Grandpa).

Last week was pretty much the longest week ever. It felt like it lasted a month!

I am happy to report, that I have regained my sanity,

and that Bob is steadily recovering. He's almost back to full speed.

This week is different.

Positively different.

While I am still purging out stuff from my house,

I am also making changes in our home life too.

Like t.v. We don't have cable, but you can imagine how many times we watch the same movies over and over.

So, No t.v. in the morning before breakfast.

Instead, we get dressed, make beds, then eat.

Can you believe how much time this saves us?

Atleast an hour.

T.v. puts the kids in a funk and makes them work uber slow and uncoordinated.

It interferes with the brain receptors, making them do things slower

than an uphill slug race.

They need some serious roto-rooter to the brain on the mornings when t.v. is allowed.

Also, we've had a rule for a while now that we don't watch t.v. until Daddy comes home from work.

Dad goes to work, we go to work. Thats how its always been.

Dad comes home, we relax. Up 'till now, this has always equaled t.v. for Peeps so Mom and Dad can get in a word.

Now, Daddy comes home, Peeps choose a game to play in the bedroom (their only time without baby Peep) and Dad and his glass of vino, sit in the kitchen with me while I finish cooking dinner.

Really!

Sounds peaceful right?

It can still be loud, and may be temporary, but I'm lovin' it.

Also, we have had more time to enjoy this nice weather we've been having.
The kids got some canvas boards for Christmas and we took off to the beach.

They found things like:
feathers, rocks, plants, sticks,
and turned them into paint brushes.
Included in the agenda of my decluttering lifestyle,
We will be utilizing my ever so expensive,
Kitchen Aid timer.
There was a time in our lives when money flowed free-er
And 17$ was worth getting my favorite brand of kitchen appliance.
Not any more.
I remember those days and sig, wondering how much of that could have gone to this or that,
But instead, It has cluttered my home, and out of desperation, I am donating it all.

The timer is a love hate thing for the kids.
They love beating the timer when there's a job to complete.
I love when they beat the timer with a job because it means they're doing what they're supposed to do.
Its a hate thing when they're feeling lazy, and five minutes isn't long enough to
MAKE ONE SINGLE BED!

I too have become slower and lazier with my time on a job,
Taking twice as long, and missing out on my chillins'

So, as I type, my house is clean, laundry is almost done, girls are sleeping,

Silas's is whittling at a stick,

And I nearby outside (thank goodness for laptops and wireless Internet)

Am blogging and lovin' on the sunshine.

Ask me how its going next week.

Seriously, I need the encouragement.

This painting day was so cool.

It is always interesting to see the likes and dislikes of the kids.

I parked Claire in the sand, and sat the big Peeps on a rock above to paint.

Claire wanted up, Silas wanted down.
He was more into turning sticks into guns and saving the world.

I figured that Claire would atleast eat a handful fo sand and want to come up the rocks to poke around.

Apparently she is more of a people person than that.

Love that child.

Lauren kept saying,

"One more paint, then I will get down and take care of Claire".

She's such a little mommy,

She's like a hen to her chicks,

Bossy, protective and knows whats What.

A good little Mommy.


I fear I have lost too much of my kids to the things that busy me.

Things I don't really want to do but need to get done.

I declare no more!

There will be a lot of batteries necessary to replenish my timer.

There will be much restraint needed to make me not throw it across the room...

I will conquer this one.

My timer is my friend, my timer is my friend, my timer is my friend.....