Signs of Spring

It poured the other day. You may think that typical of Oregon weather, but for us high desert Central Oregonians, rain is rare. In fact our little town boasts "300 days of sunshine" each year. We joke that we really have two seasons: Winter (snow and lots of sun) and Summer. If we get a week or two of Spring and a week or two of Fall we count ourselves blessed. So when it started to rain, we just had to play outside. And it was glorious. The earth dark and damp with tender, green shoots. The air smelling of fresh rain and perfumed with wet juniper. The kids rode their bikes giggling and splashing in puddles. Oliver grabbed the snow shovel and began "shoveling" the water that was beginning to flood our front garden bed where the water was coming down in torrents from the rain gutter. Rain play was followed by hot baths and a hearty meal. I love the rain. It was heartwarming to see my kids loving it, too. 

Then today, in preparation for Easter, we made some lovely colored eggs. Dad hardboiled them, and right after naptime we set to work. It was the first time the kids had done this, so they were of course fascinated with the colored water and kept trying to poke their tiny fingers into the bright pigments. We used a very simple recipe and the eggs are absolutely beautiful. The hardest part was waiting those 5 minutes for the eggs to soak. Oh, and of course having to wait until tomorrow to eat them:)

Simple Colored Eggs:
(recipe measurements from Real Simple magazine online)

Hardboiled eggs

Mason Jars (one per color)

Hot Water (1/2 Cup per color)

Food Coloring (about 20-30 drops per color)

White Vinegar (1 tsp. per color)

Simply fill each mason jar with 1/2 Cup boiling water, 20-30 drops of food coloring, and 1 tsp of white vinegar. Gently place hardboiled egg in jar and let "soak" for 1-5 minutes (depending on depth of pigment desired). Carefully remove colored egg with a spoon and let dry (we used the egg crate for drying).