Easter 2014

I hope and pray you all had a blessed and beautiful Easter. We sure did here in our cozy country home. Here are some pictures of our Easter celebrations...

Saturday we hosted a small Easter gathering with my mother, my sister Margie and her husband Chris, Steve's sister Sally, her husband Greg and son Tyler, and a couple of our dear friends. It was our first holiday without my dear father, and without my brother-in-law Greg's father, who passed away suddenly one week after my father passed. I asked Greg to pray the blessing before we ate, and we remembered our sweet fathers in our hearts.

Before our guests arrived, we set our festive Easter table...

with a new Easter tablecloth and four sweet arrangements in colored mason jars filled with fresh flowers and tied with raffia ribbon. After dinner, I invited each family to choose one to take home. : )

Our menu was yummy, and easy as well. We prepared most of the things Friday evening.

We took a few pictures before our guests arrived...Flynn sat perfectly still for her picture with her Peyton...

and had some fun taking pictures with Mommy. : )

My favorite. Ever.

And a super sweet one with Grandma and Aunt Margie. : )

After our guests left, the kids changed into their new Easter jammies...

and set out some carrots strawberries for the Easter Bunny. Because everyone else sets out carrots...and because a certain Mommy forgot to buy carrots.

And then we posed for the traditional night before Easter empty basket picture. : )

Easter morning we awoke bright and early, put on our finest, and headed to Mass...because as much fun as that bunny is, our Risen Lord comes first. : )

My Flynn loved her Easter dress...

and her big pink Easter hair bow.

After we returned from Mass, we changed back into our jammies...because that is how we do it around here...and hunted for baskets... Madison's was filled with beauty products, coffee, and perfume...

Peyton's was filled with true crime books, lotion, and retro television DVDs...

Rhett's was full of video games, movies, and books...

and Flynn's was filled with all things pink, some princess figurines, and her favorite...a "REAL" Handy Dandy Notebook from Blue's Clues.

 After the baskets were found and dumped and reorganized, we had a light breakfast at our Easter table...

we enjoyed some yummy cinnamon rolls...thanks for the help, little Pillsbury Dough Boy...and a big bowl of  delicious fresh fruit...

which I added to counteract the excessive amount of brightly colored festive chocolate!

 After breakfast, we settled in to enjoy a day of playing with new toys, watching new- to- us old shows...(my kids love The Munsters!) and sleeping off a sugar induced coma...me!

Hope your Easter was filled with family, fun, and lots and lots of chocolate, my friends!

Weekend Plans... Easter 2014

Easter is here. When Lent begins, Easter Day seems so far away. Somehow it comes quickly, whether we are ready or not. Friday is Good Friday. We will spend a quiet day reflecting and praying The Stations of The Cross together. Friday night we will have a simple fish meal for dinner and spend the night here at home, preparing for our Easter dinner on Saturday.

Years ago, Steve and I made the decision to reserve holidays for our own little family. We spend Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Day, and Easter Day here in our home...just the six of us. We choose keep our children in their own home on these special days, rather than running here and there. It works for us...and I am glad. So...we celebrate with our extended families before or after. We usually host Easter here on Saturday evening. This year, the first holiday without my father, will be a small family gathering. My mom, my sister Margie and her husband Chris, and Steve's sweet sister Sally and her family will be joining us for ham dinner. I am looking forward to a simple, family evening. Afterward, we will set out our carrots and wait for the Easter bunny!

Sunday morning...Easter Sunday...we will attend early Mass together and celebrate the Risen Lord. After that, we will come home and hunt for baskets and surprises. Sunday's meal will be leftover ham and fixings...with some chocolate bunnies, I hope! And the rest of the day will be spent here in our country home together. : )

That is what we have planned for this weekend of Easter, my friends. I hope yours is blessed, and happy, and peaceful...whatever your plans may be. Thanks for visiting!

My little Flynn goes everywhere with me...she rides along when we take Madison to work everyday. : )

She has also become quite the little baker...

Peyton has taught her well!

Homeschool perk! Taking a break from studies to whip up a batch of chocolate chip cookies...because...well, Flynn asked them to. : )

We finally saw some signs of spring this week...this is what I saw early one morning when I took out the puppy...

and this is what I saw later that afternoon. She was soooooo happy! She has been waiting for her swinging days to start forever. : )

Simple fruit salad makes every meal better. : )

We have this in the refrigerator all the time.

One of my very favorite things in the whole wide world...my baby girl...with freshly washed hair in braids. I want to remember these mornings forever...

and these afternoons as well...

baking with all four of my children. Little Flynn rolled out the dough this year, and she was so proud!

We made bunnies...

eggs...

and carrots. We made crosses too, but I think they were long gone before I snapped theses pictures.

: )

(And if these carrots look red to you...it's because they are! I put way too munch red in and ran out of yellow!)

And I'll leave you with a selfie from last Sunday...

Me and my Rhett.

Happy and Blessed Easter, friends!

Time Goes Too Fast Tuesday

Time does indeed go too fast. And here are a few pictures to prove it...

Easter 2011

My Rhett and my Flynn...

Back when my littles all wore matching jammies... : )

and when a little one year old could check out her own Easter basket...

and new sippy cups were all the rage.

Happy Easter!

A Touch Of Easter

The sun was shining the day we packed up the shamrocks and leprechauns and pulled out the Easter box. It  finally seemed like spring! Here is a peek at our Easter decorated country home. : )

The Easter mantel...

 

 

with this pretty wreath my sister Margie gave me last year...

 

 

and a few sweet touches around a Bunny Cake candle. : )

 

 

These little guys are hanging out nearby, right near the chair where I drink my coffee.

 

 

The sideboard holds one of my very favorites...

 

 

and a few cute signs as well.

 

 

The family room smells wonderful thanks to this yummy scented candle...

 

 

which rests right near our Easter movie basket.

 

 

The holiday tree...which I moved yet again...is decorated in vintage looking décor...

 

 

like bunnies and

 

 

chicks and carrots. : )

 

 

And we enjoy burning this sweet smelling Bunny Cake candle every spring evening in our country home.

 

 

Happy Easter time, my friends!