Easter Cookies

One of the things that we didn't do this year that I missed was our cookie decorating party. We've done them for 2 years in a row now - the first year was at Christmas when our wonderfully talented friend Amy taught us all the wonders of cookie decorating. (Her website is linked under my creative blogs list - she's the creator of all my special occasion cakes, including the baby cake shown in an earlier posting for my sister's baby shower) Last year I had purchased a special 3-D cookie kit that I was anxious to try, so we all got together and decorated cookies to use as the centerpieces at the church. Since I wasn't blogging back then, I thought I would re-visit our special day and show off our work! I haven't figured out how to caption photos yet, so hopefully in order these are my friends Amy, Kathy and Jane. Despite the fact that I love decorating them, one of the reasons I ran out of time to make cookies this year is the temptation of eating them! They are really GOOD!

So, today was the last day of Spring Break and we spent it working on a
report that Jason has to complete by Thursday on the poet T. S. Eliot! I swear-what they think these kids can handle these days in 6th grade. I wonder sometimes if these teachers are realistic - I mean really, who does she think is typing this when he only started taking typing in January? And despite the fact that we have to include 4-6 poems in the report itself, he only gets 5 points toward the grade -for all that typing!!!! Fortunately, you can find many of them online to copy and paste.

So, compared to last years trip to CA during Spring Break, this year's combination of weather, poetry, mom's surgery, Dave's trip to Cleveland (oh did I mention he was GONE for the first 3 days!) and funerals has been somewhat of a downer! That's why I was looking at last years pictures~! Hope they make you smile too!

I'm dreaming of a White Easter?

Yes, that's right. Despite the fact that it was almost 70 two days ago, we've had snow flurries off and on all day today, which made it seem more like Christmas than Easter! No spring flowers yet, and all egg hunting had to be done indoors. Lauren was freezing in her pretty dress, and I had to find something pastel, but warm!

But we refused to be kept from celebrating in spring fashion! We had a wonderful breakfast at the church this morning, complete with Jello eggs - and the service was lovely. I played in the Bell choir today and we sang all the traditional Easter Hymns with the fabulous high descants that I love. Mom and Dad didn't make it due to her hand surgery. She is getting better, but still can't do things like her hair! Jason was a crucifer today - they had two, one for the cross and he carried the Bible.

Then we came home and looked for eggs. The Easter Bunny must know that our kids are getting older - less candy this year, and more money in the eggs! Lauren got the Enchanted video that she wanted, and Jason got a book in the series he likes, and some Crest Whitestrips that he wanted! I guess he's wanting to start impressing the girls with his smile!

We did get to see my parents this afternoon for ham dinner. We talked about Amy and Tyler and her struggle to find a nanny. The kids got to hear Tyler on the phone for the first time. He was one month old yesterday! He told them how much he's looking forward to his Aunt Susan coming to visit soon! He seemed very upset that I hadn't come yet.

My friend Jane took this photo of the kids and I in front of the altar and I thought it was really good! Rare to get us all smiling at once!

Blitzen spent the day trying to make sense of all the silly nonsense. He couldn't seem to understand why the kids were looking for eggs, but got really excited hoping it eventually had something to do with playing with him!

I have some other Easter / Spring things that I've been working on, but these are the candies I made for the baskets on the dining room table. I put one at each place. I covered the candies with address labels that I had stamped. They were really pretty. The bunny is a template using the Round Tab punch from Stampin UP! I used an old retired, but much loved set called Funny Bunny for the face.

Hope you all had a happy Easter with those you love!

Lauren's First Communion

Today was a very big day concluding a very big week for Miss Lauren! On Tuesday, she sang a solo part in "Tomorrow" from Annie in the Spring Concert! She did a fantastic job and we are all really impressed with how lovely her voice has become. When I told her that she had a God given gift, she made me laugh by saying, "No it's a MOM-given gift!" I had planned to put the video out on YouTube and link it here, but on Wednesday Dave called me from work sounding terrible and said he had something awful to tell me, and it turns out he had recorded OVER her solo when they went out for ice cream after the show! He was so upset about it! I am hopefully getting a copy from one of my friends whose daughter also had a solo in that song, but it hasn't come yet! So all is not lost yet!

Today was a proud day for us as parents - except for the face Lauren made when she drank the wine! She did really well, and has really taken this commitment very seriously. I think she was a little surprised at what a big deal people thought it was. Her godmother and Aunt Laura (and family) sent her a wonderful care package of goodies, people from the church gave her money, and her fellow communicants all exchanged gifts! And my Aunt Nanu, who was in town for her sister in laws funeral came to the ceremony. My cousin and her family were supposed to come, but had a sick child this morning so they headed home. My uncle joined us at our house for a brunch before rejoining his sister's family prior to heading home. So, we had a family filled day! It's amazing how quickly they grow up and today was a reminder that she is fast becoming a young lady!

Introducing....

It's hard to imagine the Easter is only 11 days away! I spent part of last week beginning to decorate the house for spring. I hosted my Bunco group Friday night, so of course I had to have something new....but I made this from things I already had, and I thought it turned out really pretty. It's hung over my mantel in the family room.


Meanwhile, outside the weather was doing THIS! The kids were home from school enjoying another of the many snow days we've had this year, but regretting that at this point our summer vacation will be moved to later. We got so much snow! Over 8 inches! And of course, Dave was out of town again in SLC. So, I've become quite proficient in shoveling! Jason helps take off some the top layers too! Can you believe that 2 days before this snow it had been 75 degrees here! Weird freaky weather! All of the rivers are very full, and they predict flooding when the snow north of us starts to melt in the real spring!

And, the most wonderful thing! My sister (actually her husband) finally sent me this wonderful photo of my new nephew, Tyler Matthew! Isn't he a doll? I heard him hiccuping on the phone the other day! Jason said, "I just want to hold him" Maybe he'll get a chance this summer. I'm going out to see him in a couple of weeks. YAY!!!! I'm certain he's absolutely brilliant, since this photo seems to indicate him smiling at only 2 weeks old ;-). I think he looks like his daddy. Look at the red in that hair though! That's definitely from my dad's side!

Spring Stamping Samples

I really don't know how all those bloggers that I browse manage to update on a daily basis! I guess mine is going to be a twice monthly update at best! My life is just too busy to find time to update more often, even though I would like to. Well, first some cards and then I'll post some family updates.

This is a bottle pouch that I created for a hostess this month. I filled it with those on-the-go water flavor pouches. I used Stampin UP!'s Fabulous Flowers - I love that large flower and depending on how you ink it, it can look like a dahlia, mum or peony. This time I went for the peony and inked my flower in Almost Amethyst, then I smacked it with the brush end of my marker with Ballet Blue, and then i misted it with water before stamping it. It offers a really soft watercolored look to the image. I stamped it 3X then cut out different layers and popped them out with the dimensionals. The pouch can hold a single serve popcorn envelope as well, so it makes a great gift over a soda for hostesses when they're getting they're lists ready. So many uses - maybe over a baby bottle with single serve formulas? I hated giving this one away!

Now to another fun project I did at Valentine's that would work for mother's Day, or any special occasion! This is a candy bar pull that holds one flat chocolate bar. Simply pull the ribbon - no need to untie, and the candy comes out. I wanted to use the new felt flowers that Stampin UP! offers. I sure hope the come out with even more colors soon! The stamp set is Time Well Spent, which is a level 3 hostess set, but SU! gave this to demonstrators for Christmas! YAY! I water colored the flower using my aqua painters. Later, I'll post the swaps that we made using this set and some polyshrink. We made them for Lauren's Girl Scout party celebrating the birthday of their founder, and they swap pins at the celebration. I don't want to show them until she has given them out!

That's it for now, but I have a bunch more pictures to load, so check back often- I will continue to try to increase my posting frequency!