The Stars at Night . . .

We had a very all-American, Texan, Pee Wee adventure this weekend. We went to our first ever professional Baseball game. The Houston Astros were playing the Colorado Rockies. We weren't very happy with the outcome of the game - the Astros lost, but at the beginning of the 7th inning, everyone stands up and sings, "The Stars at Night, shine big and bright (clap, clap, clap, clap) . . .". We probably would have never known about this song except for Pee Wee's Big Adventure, but we were glad we did and could sing right along with all the other Texans there. 

These baseballs line the entrances to Minute Maid Park so we took advantage of them while waiting for our friend Tom and his daughter Emma to show up.

I liked the Texan flag flying over Texas street sign.

The sweet potatoes waiting for the game to start.

It got cold towards the end (in the 60's) so Grace and I were sharing our warmth.

The kids loved watching the game, but I think the highlight for them was eating peanuts (ok, peanut M&M's) and Cracker Jacks . That's why I loved going to games when I was little!! Akshee, I still do!

Grace's 6th Birthday

Grace absolutely loves Chuck E Cheese for birthday parties, so this year was basically a repeat of last years party, but with different people and a different location. I have learned my lesson about making cakes for the kids parties since the guests don't care and usually don't even eat much of it anyway, so we got her a chocolate cake with chocolate frosting and strawberry mousse filling that she was really excited about. 

Grace has always loved Clifford, the big red dog as you can tell. . . 


More fun and games. Jon was too busy playing to be taking pictures etc.

The gang eating . . . 

Ukrainian Easter Eggs

I don't know when, but at least 10 years ago my mom, the craftiest and most talented person with her hands I know,  learned the art of Ukrainian Easter egg dying. These eggs are either raw or have a hole pricked in the end and the inside blown out. They are then dyed in the most elaborate and detailed patterns imaginable. Of course Jon jumped right on board because he is the ultimate Renaissance Man, artist and designer and he can do all the detail that makes me want to pull my hair out. To me it's utter frustration. I am a perfectionist and if it doesn't look PERFECT, I get so frustrated and mine never do look perfect. My only one that did got dropped right after I finished it. 

Anyway, we have our Ukrainian Easter Egg boxes (2 now) of gear and a whole room dedicated to it for about a month around Easter. The kids really got into it this year. Collin seems to be following Jon's footsteps with the geometric designs and Grace was into swirl and bug motifs. My personal favorites are of the one Collin did of me (at the top of the basket - there is a close up of the basket at the bottom) and the one Jon did for me - the littlest egg in there full of detail that took him about a half hour to do. The rest of the pictures are pretty self explanatory . . . 

These are some of the eggs drying. You coat them in wax to keep the color you want left before you put it in the next dye, so these still have the wax on them.

An up close shot of the different designs. The black with white designs is one Collin did of a popcorn being popped in a popper. Not the most traditional, or very Ukrainian designs, but they reflect our style.

P.S. The kids made Egg Books of dozens of different designs they wanted to do, but ran out of time and eggs to do them all. I guess there's always next year!!