Tavin's First Egg Dyeing

I have had eggs ready for this project for the past 10 days, but we have been in such a holding pattern in pretty much every aspect of our lives just waiting to get Koen better that we haven't had a chance to do this annual Easter tradition.  Finally, this morning Koen woke up in great spirits, with a great appetite and hopefully far enough removed from the illness that he is no longer contagious.  Although I've kept the brothers separate most of the day, during Penn's morning nap I decided to set them up in the kitchen (far apart at opposite ends of the island) and finally engage in an activity all together again.  Amidst the running up and down the stairs 80 times as has been this week's routine with caring for kids I'm trying to keep from breathing on each other, I forgot to hard-boil the eggs in advance.  So, I had the two boys all set in their seats and realized this and was so frustrated!  I rallied and got those things to boil while the boys colored.  Tav wasn't impressed, but Koen was super excited to be out of bed and acting like a normal kid again that he happily took part.  Here he is working on a train for Tavin.

He was also super kind in letting his brother use his big kit of supplies which got Tavin a little more excited about my stall tactic.

Finally when the eggs were boiled and quick-cooled, it was time to start!  

Tavin was excited, but really had no idea what this was all about.  Koen, the experienced older brother led the way, calm, cool and collected.

Tavin wasn't able to do a whole lot of the dropping in/scooping out, but he really enjoyed the process.  It was so cute the first time I took one out of the dye, he said (in his way), "oh my goodness!" after witnessing such an exciting transformation!  I'll have to hold that one in my mom pocket of examples for Christ's transforming work in us through his death and resurrection, but I think it would've been lost on these 2 today.  We just talked about how eggs represent new life like the new life God offers us because of what Jesus did on the cross and in his resurrection.  And with no further adieu, here's their finished products.

And big brother's too...

Here's the finished product...didn't they do a nice job?

Now, Tavin was headed to watch a little show using his DVD tickets, but Koen has watched so much TV this week with his inability to do much else, that I was racking my brain for something else he could do for awhile during Penn's nap.  I also was sad to throw out perfectly good vinegar/water dye.  Then I had a fantastic brainstorm and dumped a bunch of baking soda in a 9x13 pan again for Koen to make volcanoes.  He was very happy to play around with it for awhile and Tavin even enjoyed watching it before he headed for his little DVD treat.  

This all ended up being a great way to occupy and interact with the boys this morning.  I've so missed our normal routine and even more so missed my Koen Douglas.  It's so great that he's finally bouncing back.  Now, tomorrow, we HAVE to get out of this house!