Day 110

Today was one of those days when I lived in the moment...and forgot that I'm a scrapbooker! Good for me, not so good for the preservation of memories!

Today was a great Easter! Mom had a lovely ham dinner, and the Padens, Lillies and Rob and I all met over there with our sides and desserts in hand. Funny thing was, when I went to put my dessert in the fridge, that exact dessert was already in there!

I said that I would make a lemon-something for our dessert. I chose a deliciously moist lemon poke cake courtesy of Pinterest (you can find the recipe here). We just put a little dollop of whipped cream on top, and wow...yummy and refreshing. But yesterday, I was thinking that we also needed something else, so I looked up the recipe for the strawberry jello dessert, with the pretzel crust. Well, great minds think alike, because Billie did the exact same thing! I couldn't believe it. She too thought we needed a little something else in addition to lemon and looked up the strawberry pretzel dessert - some even call it a salad, either way it's light and refreshing - and a great combo if you enjoy that salty-sweet combination. (If you haven't had it, you can also find a recipe for it here.) For only 8 people, we had more dessert than you could shake a stick at!!

Kennedy, of course, received several Easter baskets today...the Easter Bunny was certainly good to her. Grandma Judy got her an I-Spy game, complete with game boards and a fun buzzer. First Fred, Christy and Mom all sat down and played several rounds with Kennedy - who turned out to be a pretty good spy! Then Aunt Billie took a turn...but shortly after it got kind of quiet. And when I looked over, I found that just Mom and Billie were the only two still at it...die hard I-Spies I guess!

It's a shame that these are really the only pictures of what was truly a wonderful Easter. It was so good to spend the afternoon with family, all of us together on this most joyous day! I hope God blessed you with as wonderful of an Easter as He did me.

Day 109

Rob has a very rare weekend off...both Saturday and Sunday...Easter weekend. How nice for us - I can hardly believe it. So this afternoon, the two of us goofy adults tried our hand at coloring Easter eggs. For really no reason other than for the fun of it. First, I tried a new method (thanks Pinterest) for cooking the eggs...I baked them in the oven. They turned out very nice, not one cracked, or damaged in any way...made for very nice coloring. The only thing that wasn't so great was the actual color itself - not like either Rob or I remember as kids. Not very dark, and trying to draw a design with a crayon...not so good. But oh, well, at least we can say we did partake in the age old tradition of dying eggs! And when all was send and done, they didn't look half bad.

Day 107

After work tonight, Mom and I stopped by a couple stores so I could finish up Ms. Kennedy's Easter Basket. I found her an Easter activity book, a stuffed Peep, some silly putty, and some pretty good candy treats to go inside too. When I got home, I put it all together in this cute little pail I had also found, with brightly colored Easter eggs all over it...too cute! Can't wait for Easter with the Padens.

Day 95

It's that time of year again.  Actually, it's well beyond that time of year!  I can't believe it's the 5th, Easter is in two short weeks and I'm just now getting around to putting out my decorations. Considering my Valentine's and Saint Patrick's stuff didn't make it out at all this year, I guess it truly is better late than never.

Jenn came into town today, and we visited for a bit, and went out and grabbed a bite for dinner. But she had somewhere to be for the evening, and with Rob at work I took the opportunity to rearrange the furniture and put out the springy decor. The house is now adorned in pastels, with bunnies and eggs and lilies and tulips...at least for the next two weeks!

Day 103

This is my little chocolate Easter bunny. I took his picture this morning, because I'm sure he (or she) will not be around much longer.

Mom was so sweet and brought Rob and I an Easter basket full of goodies on Easter Sunday. It was filled with all kinds of stuff for each of us - coffee gift cards (Dutch Bros. for him, Starbucks for me), gift cards for grooming (Men's Zone for him, LA Nails for me), treats (Pistachios for him, Jelly Belly's for me) and a few other odds and ends. We even got his and her bunnies...Rob's was milk chocolate, while I got my annual favorite - this white chocolate one. Not being all that fond of chocolate, there was one of these little buggers in my basket every year. Yum!

I have gathered up all of the Easter decorations, and they are ready to be put away in the tote, and once this little bunny is gone, I think Easter will officially be over.

Day 98

Today is Easter Saturday. Since the Paden's are visiting, and will be wanting to get on the road early tomorrow morning, we are celebrating Easter today.

Ms. Kennedy made a haul from the Easter Bunny, getting a basket of goodies from everyone who loves her! It was almost like Christmas. Rob and I gave her a bucket filled with some crazy straws, a candy necklace, a kite, and some other candies and Easter treats. One of the candies was a sucker, that when she put in her mouth gave the effect of a bunny nose and teeth. Aunt Billie gave her rabbit ears too, but we didn't get a photo of the two of them together.

Mom and I had a great afternoon over at Billie's visiting and catching up with Fred, Christy and Kathy. Then we had a great meal of ham, baked beans, potato salad, pea salad and frog eye salad. For dessert I was charged with making some carrot cake cupcakes, and our layered lemon dessert.

It was a wonderful day, and a great way to kick off summer...a little early.

Day 95

With Easter just around the corner, this will probably be my last sharing of decorations. Soon they will be put away until next Spring.

I've had this little grouping for years and years. I made them way back in the day when my craft of choice was ceramics. Of course I didn't actually make them, I just sanded, painted and had them fired.

Nonetheless, I still really like them even today...my umbrella candy dish, my tulip votive cups, and my little bunny family.

Day 84

It's Saturday. It's another quiet (a.k.a lame) weekend at our house.

What in the world do you take a picture of when you don't DO anything? Don't get me wrong, we got some things done today, but nothing you would want to take a picture of....I mean who wants to see a picture of me doing laundry, or Rob picking up the lawn furniture strewn about the backyard, yet again? Or even a laughable photo of the two of us trying to work as a team to clip Lucy's toenails?? B-O-R-I-N-G!

So, here's another of my little Easter favorites. It's a mint green tin bucket of sorts, with six pastel painted wooden Easter eggs lying on a bed of paper grass filling. Currently, my coffee table centerpiece.

Only two weeks until Easter!

Day 78

Here comes Peter Cottontail,
Hoppin' down the bunny trail,
Hippity, hoppity,
Easter's on its way! Yay!!

Even though yesterday was St. Patrick's Day, I gathered up all of the decorations...not that there were much of them to gather. None the less, it had to be done. There is little time to waste, Easter is only a couple weeks away.

So, today the Spring tote came out, the St. Patrick's Day stuff was put away, and out came the pretty pastels of Easter. The house looks so cute, with little bunnies and eggs all around. It makes me happy to stand back and see everything looking so fresh.

On my ladder shelf are two of my favorite things...things I'm pretty sure I picked up just last year...a dozen pastel speckled eggs, and a ceramic momma and baby bunny.

I'm sure this won't be the last of me sharing my Easter decor. On a day when I can't think of a thing to photograph, I'll shoot another one of my favorites.

Another Easter Come and Gone

Even though Easter is a thing of the past, I just had to post two other cards I did. I'm not quite ready to pack away my Easter decorations yet either. Their colors are so bright, ushering in Spring, I'm simply not done enjoying them yet! Soon though, I'm sure. Can you believe that today is the 105th day of the year? That's nearly 1/3 of the year already gone. But no dwelling on what's not to be...what about what's just around the coner? More sunny days, warmer nights, fresh cut grass and barbeques! Yeah!

Easter Eggstravaganza

Here are my first two Easter cards...just getting started. I bought this {My Minds Eye} Bloom & Grow Paper Kit that I thought would be perfect. Nice and springy, but without going into those cliche' 'Easter' colors of mint green and lilac...not that there's anythng wrong with that :) I was just looking for something different. This is also my first card using my very first A Muse stamps that arrived the other day...got this one on clearance!