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.'

Gingerbread in June.

So summer is in full swing in other lands.

Not so much here lately.

We have only camped once.

The fog stays every day till 2 or 3.

And we are all ready for some good solid sun up in here.

Luckily, were about a 15 minute's drive from the rays.

This is how screwed up things are around here.

In June, we busted out some gingerbread boxes from Christmas.

They kept quite well in the freezer.

Although I'm not quite sure it even needed to be frozen.

Many sample tests were conducted.

They were actually quite tasty.

Not much of the goo made it on the cookies,

So what turned into something to do on a foggy morning,

Turned into a full blown photo opp.

We were totally one with the gingerbread boys.

Candy lips.

Something small to brighten the fog.

Man Of the Wooded Harp.

One day Silas met a man at the soup kitchen.

His name is Rudi.

Either way, Silas was fascinated.

Seven foot tall bean pole with a heart of gold.

And a jaw harp.

Boy fancied Rudi.

That tall glass of water always had a country hat,

Bandanna, boots, and cowboy shades.

Not to mention, really long mountain man hair.

Trimmed by a raccoon,

Combed by a pine cone.

He was way back woods.

Rudy returned the keen feelings and bought him his very own jaw harp,

Which alone, he learned how to play:

That video is Silas in his classic element these days.

No shirt,

Middle of winter,

Harp in the animal skin bag on his hip.

Then Rudy invited him to a 'jam' session.

It was the

GREATEST.MOMENT.IN.HIS.PAST.SIX.AND.ONE.QUARTER.YEARS.

He was telling everyone that he was in a band.

It was pretty convincing.

Events like these are the kind that you wait to reveal to the child,

Until 15 minutes ahead of time.

Mostly because the awareness of time, slips away.

And every five minutes is five minutes closer to his inauguration.

He had 5 days notice.

His head was the size Texas.

Finally, when the 5 tumultuous days were up,

We headed over to the Senior Center.

Finally.

Without any more talk,

Here's a clip.

Famous song:

"You Get A Line, I'll Get A Pole Honey."

The thing I love about 'back woods' music is that it includes the whole story in it's title.

There were song books and people gathered around singing at the tippy-tops of their rusty-brass lungs.

Then they started taking request from the folks on the outside of the circle of talented people.

It was my turn.

I mistakenly requested John Lennon.

Let It Be.

No really, just leave it alone.

Seriously,

So embarrassing.

But, the day peaked

when I saw my boy pickin'

my absolute favorite song of all times (at the moment).

No more talk.

Just listen:

My boy and John Denver.

That song tied our heart strings

(All Three of Us)

Happier than a hillbilly on a cheese bed.

That's what this Mama was.

Johnny D. would have been proud.

I know I was.

Bombed.

This picture is perfect.

I feel like the entire holiday season has swooped in and is nearly out.

We have squeezed every breath of life out of this years season.
Probably best year yet.

Yesterday, we chose to start and finish the bomb site trail.

We tried once before, but the rain made puddles,

and the puddles made boys.........

Wet.

So we gave in to the elements and went home.

It was still overcast, but a perfect day-after-Christmas jaunt.

So here's the scoop:

On August 15Th 1945 Japanese bomber Nobou Fujita bombed our forest.

It was an act of retaliation, 4 months after we raided Tokyo.

The intent was to ignite a large wild fire.

I should say there are two scoops:

On August 15Th 2005, My little man rocked this neck of the wardrobe

Just by being born.
Did I mention that his name means

"wooded man" or "man of the Woods"

Indeed his name predestined him for glory in the forest.

Funny thing about our timberlands:

They're really really wet.

Little damage was done,
And nobody was hurt.

Later, Fujita returned to Brookings and made peace.

The kids were massive storm troopers this go around.
They blazed through the woods like it was their own backyard.

Like the back-of-your-hand sort of familiarity.

A new and still unidentified mushroom.

Assuming that 'bright yellow' wasn't a good sign,

I smacked down a "no touching'' rule and shot a photograph instead.



Grandpa joined us for the adventure.

It was a bit exhausting, but he made that trail his victory.

A slog through the forest doesn't brake this old Piep.

Wouldn't do it without a proper walking stick though.

Looks a little like a screaming Nerf football right?

Massive Rhododendron.

Salamander of the woods,

Meet man of the woods:

Pointing out the mushrooms

Some of the trees are indescribably large.

And made us look like like little toadstools.

chainsaw tree branch.

Oh yeah baby.

Myrtle wood trees:

Absolutely breathtaking in person.


Of all the things we enjoyed over Christmas break,

We'll mostly miss having Daddy home.

A Catch All.

I have no stinkin' idea why my blogs won't center anymore.
Plus, spell check doesn't work.
Bare with me here.
Its a joke....... get it?
Let me know...


My computer also has a mountain of viruses.
Its supposed to be better
Meaning I can blog more frequently,
because I shouldn't get booted of the net.
Making me want to throw my computer on the floor.
My 'A' button now sticks thankyouverymuch

Id like to re-cap on the great things I didn't get to post wilst my computer was sick.

1. guess this berry:
Any idea?
New discovery.

How about a Madrone berry?
http://www.superfoods-for-superhealth.com/madrone-berries.html

Looks straight from Mario Brothers right?

I couldn't help but post this creepy picture of my boy in such an awkward light.

Cracks me up.

The homeschool group visited an outdoor wildlife school.

Made complete with a couple of Rangers. The wildest part of this trip was that

I could totally picture Silas as a ranger.

They really liked each other.

Not exactly the dream his Daddy had for his only son. HA!

The theme of the trip was called 'forest needs'

All the things the forest needs to be.... well, the forest.

They gave everyone a magnifying glass.

Pure genius.

Also,

The soccer season came and went like a flash.

Silas was a total leader, and a team player.

Lauren came in like thunder,

Then, after a while, she always ended up playing goalie.

She didn't know that 'goalies' were against the rule for her age group.

And I didn't ever get a chance to tell her.

Also, she loved her time spent on the bench.

Now the hard question is choosing which sport to choose.

Soccer or t-ball?

I'm singin "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" ya know?

Ultimately, its up to them.

Its so great to be able to post past events.

It makes me realize that we actuall DO get out!

That school really DOESN't consume our lives!

We can do COOL!

Rat trap experiment.

That's right.

Literally.

A home made Rat trap.

Silas has a book all about boy stuff.

Except its stuff boys did like 100 years ago.

Random Cool how-to's

From pioneer-era boys.

Its pretty handy to have an old old dungeon style garage

When your objective is to catch a rat.

A while ago, a neighbor told me she had seen evidence of rats in her garage.

I assumed that naturally, they probably visit us on occasion.

Well, all that said,

Rico found this experiment and had to try his own.

Here it is.

A stick covered in peanut butter and wheat berries.

hovering over a paper 'trap door'
Just in case the rat needed a boost,

Silas made a nice little stair case:

This was exciting for like a week,

Because on day 3,

The bait was completely gone.

Daddy had his doubts about our shenanigans,

But even he got excited when the stick came out clean.

We decided to set up camp again.

EXCITEMENT RAN HIGH in the Pieper house.

Day three of the second bait:

I woke up early in the morning.

An early start on breakfast is always a rewarding task.

Standing at the kitchen sink, peacefully watching the glow of the rising sun.

The door to the garage was opened just enough for me to see the stick swaying a little.

I thought for a second.

Should I wake up Boy?

Let it be?

Wait it out?

This is way to exciting to let be.

Upon further investigation,

I ended up chasing away

A seriously obese cat.

It was just fitting that it was colored like a big oreo cookie.

It had finished off the p-butter.

It did NOT in fact fall into the trap door.

So now,

I need to find a cat trap.

Because we have cats,

Not rats.

House guests

We don't get stay-in guests very often.

But this weekend was a change.

Our little pint sized guest was Silas' friend

and accomplice for round about 36 hours.

(I had to open 4 packets of Cheez-Its just to find a "J" Guess I can thank the 'used food' store for that one)

First things first. I wooed the boys with

meat cheese and crackers.
On a platter.

The way to a man's heart.

They were especially excited to see

Bear meat

and Deer meet.
Pretty sure that was a first for Jacob.

Bear sticks.

I think it worked.

They even drank out of

'king goblets'

Fishing on the river.
It was our out.
Fits in the 'Fun For Cheep Cheep!' category
I just have to say,
*In the sweetest tone ever*....
Four kids is a doozy.


Jacob scored the only fish this day.
According to the man child,
it was his first experience ever.
I must say,
He is a pro at casting and waiting.
The only patience I have ever seen in the boy was
When he was waiting for the fish to bite.
He didn't want to stop after this.
He asked all weekend to go fishing again.
And I wanted to take him

Again and Again.

His spontaneous and and demonstrative personalities
were hardly contained when added to my incredibly
effervescent Peeps.
Oh by the way:
HE CAUGHT HIS FIRST FISH!!!!!
Its the most exciting (and for Jacob, curious)
Fishing trip a boy will ever have.
I was thrilled to be able to share that with him.


The first night of sleep (or sleep-less),
The noise maker broke down.
Four kids in one room
With no background noise?
Let me set the stage:
For those of you who don't know,
Our house is 500 square feet or something like that.
I may be exaggerating with this one.
Not quite sure because I was never good with math or measurements,
Or a lot of other things,
But I am likely to guess something to be 50 feet,
When really its more like 150 feet.

Anyway,
the direction I was aimlessly shooting for,
Was that my house is immeasurably small,
Because
I can't measure.

So,
No background noise
Meant the kids were in bed by 8,
But asleep by 10,
And awake by 5.
Silas and Lauren on top bunk,
Jacob riding solo on bottom,
And Claire in her pack-n-play
Because I still have not found the bag of screws
To assemble her crib with.


Needles to say,
The beach was our second "fall back" location.
It was a great night.
Weather was awesome.

Silas announced he wants a brother named
Clive.
I am not planning on giving birth to a goat any time ever,
So he may end up heartsick.
Sorry boy.

Jacob comes out with:

" I wish the whole world were made of candy!"
and

"I love your living room, can we eat in it someday?"

Here are the reasons we decided the world should not be made of candy:

1. We might eat the world and have to move to the moon
-Jacob

2. There aren't any trees on the moon.

No air.

-Silas

( Impressive right?)

3. The sun might melt the candy

-Mom

4. If the sun melted the candy, We would be walking on a

sticky ground.

That gets old.

Fast.

Experience talking here.

-Mom again

That's about all I remember.

It was an intelligent conversation indeed.I wish I had a paper to write down every funny thing those boys said to each other,

But I didn't, and maybe that was meant to be too.

On our last morning having Jacob,

I was to take hime to school, and our visit would be done.

His mom was on her way back into town, and we would not be needed anymore.

He asked about 20 times on the way to school: "Can I come back after school?"

Ahhh, the cheese and crackers did work!

I reminded him that

Grandpa was to pick him up after school.

I was a little contented that he was not happy with this,

Realizing that I was cooler than his Grandpa.

I just couldn't resist, taking a picture of him just before I dropped him off for school.

He just looked so stinkin' cute.
Plus, It was my first time dropping a kid off for school,

And that is surely picture worthy.

Look at the cute reflection in the window!

The weekend was a success.

sometimes disorderly,

And time-outs were had all around,

But it was achieved,

And I walk away with memories,

And no regrets.