Easter

My lovely little egg hunters! It was a wonderful occasion as always, but extra special because of all the friends and family that came out this year.

Here's the Easter attire for 2013. Smashing, no?

With bellies full of festive breakfast they hunted eggs. There were four dozen hard boiled eggs and over 100 plastic ones. We filled the plastic ones with small toys, fruit snacks or yogurt covered raisins. I was proud of my candy alternatives, but upon reflection it may have been a bit too hot for the raisins.

Here's my stolen moment to eat (in my awesome Cinderella apron!)

Not to worry, I did not host a party and then cook an Easter dinner. I got an email that kids eat free on Easter at Outback and we walked over to take advantage. It was so novel for the kids trotting along in their Easter clothes. Dinner was wonderful too.

My dinner.

It was a lovely day start to finish. Happy Easter Everyone!

Lara & Matt

Love

Jason Angelini Photography

Marriage

Baby

Fairy Tale

Jonathan Fanning Photography

♥ My Sister's Love Story ♥

An Egg of a Different Color

It's egg dying time again! I ended up hard boiling 4 dozen eggs yesterday (most of which were free or just over a dollar). I sent half a dozen to school with Roo this morning to color there. Here's her artsy eggs:

They used an egg dying kit with stickers and glitter. They even marbled some with shaving cream. Pretty, aren't they?

Preparations

Last year we decided there HAD to be a better way to dry eggs. I think we always punched the the discs out of the back of the egg dye kits for egg drying when I was a kid. Mike and I always use food coloring and never buy egg dying kits. I did some Googling and found this: egg drying rack. Now in my example picture the pins are a little too far apart. Push them down as far into your foam as you can for stability.

Other than the drying rack we switched my pretty fabric table cloth with a vinyl one. Make sure to put a dark towel under your drying rack as well. Each kid put on an apron, picked a whisk (for egg dipping) and was given some eggs. We mixed color in mugs. We put a roll of paper towels on the table, a wet wash cloth, paint brushes, 2-3 sandwich bags, glitter, food markers, and plastic cups.

Another clever thing Mike did for Roo was to put a bit of foam into a color as floater. That way she could leave an egg in one color and then flip it over and color the other half the same way in a different color without having to holding her egg half suspended in color. It worked wonderfully.

Make Art!

Soap bubbles make cool dinosaur egg looking patterns, but it's best left to grown-ups as my tables been flooded with colored soapy water in the past. Painting the eggs with a glue and water mixture and rolling them in a baggie of glitter was fun, but those shed glitter (they'll probably be tricky to peel). Rubber bands worked well, easy and effective. I used rubber bands to make a Ninja Turtle egg. I tried marbling with olive oil and a few drops of red and blue. It came out like a jaw breaker! Those stay oily to the touch though. Foam floaters and food markers where a big hit with the kids.

Finished Product

Easter Bunny Visit 2013

I told the kids we didn't have to go this year. My big motivation for Easter Bunny pictures is to make sure we (the grandparents and I) get a picture of the kids every spring. This year we'd gone to a theme park in February and purchased pictures of the kids with Big Bird. They gave me wallet sized copies and gave them to the grandparents. I just wasn't sure if it was worth it to the kids and I could have easily passed. I was stunned when they both insisted we go. It is tradition, after all.

We donned our spring-y attire (bunny ears and bunny purse included) and invited Grandma. Last year, Riley flat out refused to sit next to the bunny without Mommy. I really wasn't sure what to expect. It wasn't an issue of fear this time. Riley's going through this unpleasant phase where she'll smile and say cheese all you want, but she will NOT look at the camera! Grrr...Remarkably the people the mall hired (two awkward teenage boys) got the best shot. I got two packages worth of pictures for the price of one and a digital copy! I was pleased.

It has also become tradition to get a pretzel when we visit the Easter Bunny. I had a coupon for buy two pretzels get one free and my stamp card. The kids split a cinnamon pretzel and a lemonade. It was very special stuff, a mall picnic.

Last stop, those stupid 50 cents a ride rides. I forgot my change purse (I know I'm 80yrs old) so we let her sit on them and made sound effects. The kids were very pleased with the trip.

Happy Easter!!

Wedding Card Album

Now for a change of pace, more crafts! This time it's a wedding related one. I've been wanting to make an album of all the lovely cards we received from the wedding. Here's my inspiration: Card Album Tutorial at Something Turquoise. I'm not going to do my own step by step on this one so definitly click the link if you want to make one. Instead, I'll show you how it turned out and give you some tips.

First things first, the album ring. I searched Joann's and Micheal's stores and websites for that silly thing. Every employee and crafter swore they carried them, but alas no longer seemed to. They only had album kits containing an album ring, card board, scrapbooking paper, plastic sheets and embellishments. It seems some of the companies that make these have gone out of business. At any rate I obtained a pack of 3 from Amazon in the end. I wanted a couple so I can do Christmas card albums later.

Other than finding the ring most of the project was pretty straight forward. I think my ring was 1.5" and I wish I gotten a slightly bigger one. I used less ribbon than she did because it was my last piece of ribbon from the wedding. I would have put grommets in the covers, in hindsight. Don't you love my little vine on the inside cover? The whole thing took me three nap times so in the neighborhood of 6hrs.

I'm completely thrilled at the end result! It's totally worth the time it takes.

Our Paper Anniversary

We've come to the end of our newly wed status (not that we ever really were). One year married. We made all kinds of plans for what we would do on our first anniversary, but life happened. We were going to eat at the lovely restaurant where we had our rehearsal dinner, but with Leeloo only one day post-op and all the stress lately I just wanted a low key dinner near by and a couple of drinks.

It took three tries to find a restaurant close to home without a ridiculousness wait. Forty-five minutes to an hour, really? On a THURSDAY? I know not all of those people were married on Wednesday a year ago. Third time was the charm and we waltzed in and were seated immediately. It was even happy hour. We had a lovely dinner. We toasted...um...something...I think maybe we just said Sláinte! It means "to your health" in Irish. We were just so relieved to take a moment for ourselves. Once we'd had our fill we decided to take a walk.

After our walk we were both ready to get home. I'd given Mike his present as soon as it came in. I ordered him an LED shower head. We've nicknamed it the "rainbow shower." It's a big hit with Mike and the kids. My gift was an upgrade to my engagement ring setting, but my current side stones didn't fit so that's on the back burner for now. When we got home the kids were still awake watching Wreck it Ralph 3D in their jammies. So, I told Mike to cut everyone a piece of of cake from our top tier.

I was very nervous. Year old cake...um...yum? I had even threatened to throw it out once or twice because it took up valuable freezer space. I was completely reassured by how beautiful it still looked. Can you believe that was in the freezer for a year? I mean look at it! It tasted as good as I remembered. Mint chocolate cake with chocolate ganache. Everyone was pleased. I fully intend to contact our baker and tell her so. Once the kids had their cake and brushed their teeth it was off to bed. Mike and I had a quiet evening of old Sci-fi TV. It was lovely. Bring on year two!

Puppy's Procedure

I know this will be one of those posts that garners eye rolls, but for anyone else with as much empathy as I have for surgical procedures here it is. Leeloo turned one recently and we scheduled her to be spayed. It hadn't occurred to me that I would feel any emotion over this. When receiving the instructions from the vet over the phone I began to cry! I felt awful signing my poor fur baby up for a scary painful experience away from me. In the irrational part of my brain, obviously. I couldn't get over how distressing the thought was for me.

I hadn't felt any of this when it was the cat's turn. Mike pointed out that the cat was always independent where Leeloo is very dependent. Such a baby still. Now I have an idea how my mother must have felt dragging me in for orthopedic surgeries. I dreaded the surgery day. I pampered and fussed over Leeloo and hoped it wouldn't come. I worried all day and night before we brought her in.

Unlike me and my poor mom, Leeloo went willingly and happily. It was over so quickly too! One minute she was there and the next they had whisked her away. With all the papers signed we went off to pretend it was a normal day. I ran a quick errand after the vet's office. When I got home I tried to step out of the car and in my haste I tangled my crutch in my purse and went over backwards in the driveway. I fell HARD too. It had been so long since anything like that had happened, I was stunned. Damn, gravity!

While I laid there, pain reverberating in my skull and blood trickling from my skinned elbow, like a turtle on it's back my phone rang. No joke. Ka-boom! Riiiiiiing.
Mrs. [LAST NAME]? This is [Vet's Office]
Hello.
I'm calling to tell you, Leeloo's out of surgery and doing fine.
Oh good!
Just give us a call tomorrow after 9 to find out when you can pick her up.
Ok, thank you! Bye.
Goodbye.
That's how it went. Then I called Mike's cell phone from the driveway and asked him to come help me up. Yup, I was like the old lady in the commercial: "I've fallen and I can't get up!". Once I knew the procedure was over there was just a night with out her to get through. Tomorrow, will be our first wedding anniversary and we'll get to pick her up in the morning. Breath in, breath out, don't fall down!

St. Patrick's Day 2013

I find reaffirmation in the strangest places lately. When Isaac was little we always did a leprechaun trap. I think the first one was for school, but I know a few were for fun. The last year or two we didn't do a trap and I didn't make the kids shirts and it occurred to me that Isaac might have grown out of a few traditions. It didn't worry me too much, but this year when I realized Roo was old enough to begin the Leprechaun trap tradition I was THRILLED!

I got a bunch of fun books on clearance recently and one that we've thoroughly enjoyed (and I highly recommend) is The Night Before St. Patrick's Day. After we'd read that one a few times Miss Roo understood the motivation to catch a leprechaun.

We started with a cardboard box. I let her paint it first, she chose green and purple paint. She wrote "messages" too (Welcome Leprechauns, Gold Inside). Mommy wrote "Not a Trap." (notice Isaac completely uninterested in the background).

While the paint dried I worked on shirts for the kids. Here's the first set I made:St. Patrick's Day shirts. The next year I made shirts for my kids they looked like: this. I took some time off from shirt making after that because they hadn't grown out of them by the following year. This year I touched up the crackled writing on Miss Roo's "Mommy's Little Leprechaun" shirt. She was thrilled! I broke out the puffy paint and made Isaac one at the last minute too. His says "Let the Shenanigans Begin!" They weren't my past paintshoped, printer transferred creations, but everyone was happy.

Once the trap was dry Mike gave Riley a gold dollar for bait. They built a ladder out of Construx (she just inherited these from her brother and she loves them) so the Leprechaun could get in, but not back out.

As you can see she was beaming with pride when her trap was done. In the morning the gold was missing, but there was no Leprechaun in the trap. It looked like he pushed the little car Riley had built out of Construx the night before over and used it to stand on so he could throw the ladder into the box before he went after the gold. Tricky, tricky! She was so bummed, but by naptime she was convinced she'd get one next year.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!!

Spring Wreath!

Last night I ran out to the craft store armed with some decent coupons and a gift card I got for my birthday. I had two projects in mind, but ended up only finding the supplies for one. Not to worry though it came out beautifully! Here's my Pinterest inspiration:Spring Baby Grass Wreath from Capture the Details. Adorable, isn't it? Generally, I like to pick projects that I already have most of the supplies for, but when the stars align for a guilt free trip to the craft store I don't pass it up. I came home and got cozy in bed for this one. A little less than an hour later, it was done!

Materials

• Foam Wreath Circle (floral aisle)
• Bright Green Fun Fir (yarn aisle)
• Simplicity daisy trim (ribbon aisle)
• Pealized Pins (that match your flower middles)
• Spring Embellishments
• Ribbon

A quick word about the supplies, I chose the medium sized foam ring and it took the whole skein of fuzzy yarn to fill. I recommend two skeins of yarn if you go bigger. Joann's only had white flowers with pink centers, white flowers with yellow center, yellow with brown centers (sunflowers) or hot pink and neon green alternating petals and centers. I bet there is a vast selection online though. Also, the butterfly I used for mine literally fell apart in my hands coming out of the package. I bet you could make a sturdier one than they sell.

Tie a knot around the foam and then start wrapping. I would pull a length of yarn loose and then double it and wrap that way. It makes the grass thicker. When I got to the end I wrapped a single piece so there would be a slightly flatter area for my butterfly. I HATE repetitive tasks in my day to day life, but I love crafty repetitiveness. I didn't have think about anything, but wrapping yarn for a while and when I was done the cuteness was overwhelming.

Next, you unroll your flower trim and cut them apart. I used the whole roll for my wreath. Just arrange them and pin through the centers. I pulled any loose bits of yarn up and pinned flowers over them to keep it tidy. Watch out for the seam in the foam, it'll bent your pins. Other than that go nuts!

The blogger from Capture the Details embellished her wreath with a tiny "barefeet welcome" sign. I wasn't a fan for two reasons: One, I didn't actually want kids running barefoot in the yard looking for eggs. Two, little pieces of paper sticking off wreaths don't stand up to my 10yr olds' door slams very well. I bought a butterfly made out of feathers from the craft store instead. I removed the alligator clip on the back and put 3 pins through it to secure it on. I absolutely love it!

Here's my finished wreath. Just tie a thick spring colored ribbon to hang it or use it as a table centerpiece. Happy Easter!