I love my husband. When he was a children's pastor, he'd always find the coolest things to do with our kids, and I'm happy to say that hasn't changed. I love the kind of dad Adam is. Involved and creative and usually pretty even-keel even when I'm not.
We tend to trade off on bad moods or lack of patience, which is good because on the rare occasions we're both losing it at the same time, it's like WW3 in here. Not really. That was a joke.
Just before Easter, Adam "stumbled" (do you know stumbleupon.com?) upon an idea for a new way to color Easter Eggs. He was so excited about trying this, but I assumed that by Friday he'd forget all about it. Not so.
So, Saturday, we gathered our supplies, ran all over God's green earth looking for a glass or enamel pot (we never did find one) and finally got down to it.
In spite of his enthusiasm, our kids weren't exactly cooperative, so I'm not going to lie and tell you it was all bunnies and roses here. It wasn't. It was mildly frustrating and at times, frankly, just annoying, but we worked it out in the end...
So here's what you do.
1. Gather your supplies: Silk ties (we bought them at Good Will), scissors, an old white tee-shirt or sheet, eggs (not hard boiled), twist ties or string, water, vinegar & a big pot (apparently you're supposed to do glass or enamel but we used metal and it was fine.)
(A better blogger would've had a photo of this. I just have an orange-tinted photo of our messy table.)
2. Cut the ties. You want strips big enough to wrap the egg in.
During this step, you may begin to question the hand eye coordination of your left-handed child...
...despite the "Great Chop Job of '08" in which he demonstrated on his own hair that he does, in fact, know how to use a pair of scissors.
Yeah. Good times right there.
And, about this point, your Hobbit may begin to wonder why he had to turn off Spongebob, because for Pete's sake, he sure can't use scissors.
(Don't worry, his meltdown is JUST around the corner.)
After you've cut the ties, you'll have what looks like a big, fat mess. No worries. This is common in the Walsh house. At least on the art kitchen table.
Next, you just roll the eggs up in the ties...
...or pose with them, whichever...
Then use a twist tie (or a piece of yarn if you forget to buy them in spite of your husband's reminder calls and texts while you were standing right in the middle of Target...)
I'm nothing if not resourceful.
Once you're done, you've got a big pile of tie-wrapped raw eggs.
So, next, take an old white T-shirt or sheet and cut it into pieces big enough to wrap the eggs again.
And then do that. (Good instructions, no?)
And wrap a long piece of yarn all around the egg...
About this time, you're exhausted because you procrastinated all day and it's way past the kids bed time. Take a deep, cleansing breath. It's about to get worse.
While your husband rifles around in the cupboard for vinegar (which you know you have SOMEwhere,) you go put the kids to bed. They will argue with you about what they're wearing to church for Easter because you didn't get them new outfits. It's okay. DO NOT storm out of their rooms, throw a towel at your husband and say "You deal with them." This never works in your favor. Especially when you take over the vinegar hunt and come up empty-handed.
Hypothetically speaking, of course.
Once you find your composure hiding somewhere else in the house, you boil the eggs in water and at least 1/4 cup of vinegar at a nice simmer (about 20 minutes). If you have an electric stove, good luck. Electric stoves do whatever they want.
Oh, and your house is going to STINK. So, just be prepared.
Then plop down on the couch and watch TV till midnight so it's impossible to wake up on time the next day.
When you finally get home from church, revisit your little eggs...
Endure your children's complaints about how badly they smell. They'll get over it in a minute.
And do not, by any means, announce your skepticism that any of this is going to amount to anything...
Because, well, you'll be eating crow...
Because the eggs are pretty. darn. cool.
And this one is my favorite...
A huge success! And totally edible, so figure out how to make egg salad and you're good to go...
