After a third night of not being able to sleep, due to a head cold, my brain is dead. Therefore, I declare today a good day to share a few photos. These were taken during Easter, but I haven’t shared them.
Here’s a photo of two of my three favorite little people. They are our grandchildren (and cousins to each other), Maddie and Cade. The trampoline is one of their favorite outdoor activities! Notice those nice, sturdy steps (complete with hand rails) that Maddie’s dad and Ed built to go along with the trampoline…Sure beats using a chair!
After the children got bored with the egg hunt, they jumped on the trampoline while the adults continued to search for lost eggs. We still have five eggs unaccounted for, by the way! Anyone feel like hunting eggs???
Those sturdy steps also make a nice place to rest and take a “Skittles Break”! Cade’s Skittles were inside one of the eggs he found. Cade loves to eat candy–just like his daddy!
Here’s my other favorite little person, known as “baby Chase”. He is Cade’s little brother, and the newest member of our family. These photos show what Chase was doing while everyone else was hunting eggs on Easter…E-pa was sitting close by keeping an eye on him!
The adults hunted eggs so long that baby Chase soon went to sleep! I’ll bet he won’t sleep through next year’s egg hunt!
Last, but not least, here’s a photo of little Alex, the baby my daughter keeps each day. I took this picture on the Friday before Easter. I wish you could see his beautiful blue eyes, but I couldn’t get him to look at me! The little stinker!
Although some days are still challenging, Alex is continuing to grow and do well–and, of course, we consider him one of the family, too. We rejoice in every pound that he gains, and each milestone he achieves. Have I mentioned how “busy” Alex is these days?
That’s it for me today, but I’ll be back tomorrow with the Hodgepodge. Hopefully, by Thursday, this cold will be a fading memory, and my brain will be working again! Have a great Tuesday.
I survived a very busy Easter weekend, and here I am on Monday to tell the tale! So much to tell, and so little time, but I have to start somewhere!
So, let me begin by saying, I’m joining in a brand new meme! It’s hosted by Heather from Acting Balanced. This meme consists of four questions which I am supposed to answer, followed by a fifth question that you are supposed to answer in my comments section. Sounds like fun to me, so let’s give it a whirl and see how it goes…
1. Which three words would describe you best?
Determined, faithful, compassionate
2. Describe your favorite place in the whole world.
At “home sweet home” (with hubby, Ed, by my side). If I have to choose a different place, it would be a white sandy beach somewhere, preferably with clear, blue water along it’s edges!
3. Sunsets, Sunrises or Full Moons?
I can’t watch sunrises or sunsets from home because we have trees on either side of us–so those are out. We usually have an excellent view of the full moon from our yard though, and we’ve been known to go outside and admire it!
4. If you were to get reincarnated what or who would you want to come back as?
I tell Ed this all of the time…“I’d love to come back as one of your pets!” Ed’s quite attentive to the collection of abandoned pets that I’ve taken in from our local animal shelter– cats, dogs,rabbits, and even fish– he worries over them all. And now we’ve added six chickens to the collection, too! (I’ll be updating about them tomorrow!)
Now, here’s my question for my visitors:
5. What is your favorite Easter family tradition? (mine is our family egg hunt–it’s quite entertaining!)
My Weekend Wrap Up-
It was a fun, activity-filled weekend around our house, with lots of food, family fun, and laughter–three days of it! We gathered together on Saturday evening to dye eggs and decorate Easter cookies. Afterward, we ate pizza and laughed a lot!
Judging from the amount of food consumed on Sunday, I’d say our Easter cook-out was successful! Ed was in charge of grilling the chicken, while son-in-law, Clint, took care of grilling the ribs. Both did an excellent job! I enjoyed the break from baking the ham, too!
The family egg hunt, on Sunday, was great fun, as usual, probably because the adults get in on the fun, as well as the children! We had one exception this year. Clint decided he wanted to help hide the eggs, so he didn’t get to hunt. The grandchildren got a five-minute “head start”, then the adults were able to join in the search. With $27.00 in prize money on the line, the heat was on!
Our oldest son somehow managed to find both prize eggs this year! As usual, his wife found the most! Christina can search out eggs like a hound dog can find a bone! Granddaughter, Madison, found thirty eggs this year–the most she’s ever found! After about ten minutes of searching, the grandchildren declared “we’re tired”, and went to jump on the trampoline! Thirty minutes later, the adults called it quits, too, leaving seven eggs unaccounted for. Someone did a great job of hiding those eggs!!!
What would a holiday be, without a family portrait? Probably a lot less chaotic, but we gathered in the backyard and took one anyway! This was our first one with our newest addition, Chase, included. Here’s the best of three takes:
That’s a wrap on our fun Easter weekend! Don’t forget to tell me about yours, and what your favorite family Easter tradition is! Thanks, Heather, for this fun way to start out the week!!!
P.S. I almost forgot to mention that I celebrated the third “blogiversary” of this blog on Saturday, April 7! My how time flies when you’re having fun
It’s a busy time right now, and I simply don’t have the energy to write a “themed” post. Today I’ll simply let my mind wander a bit and jot down a few thoughts. Lately, I’ve given myself permission to skip a day or two of blogging along and along. Some days I just can’t get everything done. Becoming more “self-sufficient” is hard work! I’m beginning to realize just how complacent we’ve become–until now.
I began yesterday at 8:30 in the morning, by hoeing in the garden for an hour and a half! After that, I fed and watered the chickens, then got them settled. Following a shower, I made a trip into town, to pick up my granddaughter from pre-K. Most of the afternoon was spent vacuuming and mopping the house, followed by cooking supper. I ended my day by watering the garden, and settling the chickens for the night. Whew! I plan to write updated posts about the chickens and the garden, but I’m saving those for another time. However, I’m happy to report that our chickens are now living outside in their “chicken palace”!
Thankfully, my daughter is finally over “the crud” which kept her sick for well over a month! Three doctor trips, two prescriptions, and five shots later, she is feeling a lot better. I don’t know exactly what she had, but I sure don’t want to catch it! It began as a head cold, then went into her lungs. Somehow she still managed to keep baby Alex most of the time, except when she had doctor’s appointments.
Speaking of baby Alex, I wish you could see how much he’s grown! He’s growing by leaps and bounds. I have no idea how much he weighs, but he’s wearing a size 6 months now! (He wore a size newborn when Brandy began keeping him three months ago.) Alex still has some good days and some bad days, but he seems to be thriving. Food continues to be an issue, but some days are getting better. His parents are currently pursuing cochlear implants, but I’m not sure when he’ll have this done. He’s already had one appointment concerning this, and will have another in a few weeks.
At the moment, I’m trying to concentrate on getting ready for Easter. I have lots (193 to be exact) of plastic eggs to stuff with candy (for our egg hunt), as well as a Sunday meal to plan. We’re taking a break from the “ordinary”, and planning a cookout this year! The weather here has been in the 80′s for days and days. It’s simply been too hot to think about baking anything in the oven! Instead of ham, we’ll be having ribs and chicken ( but shh…don’t tell my chicks!) on the grill, along with whatever “cookout foods” everyone decides to bring.
Thursday evening:
It’s now after 9 pm on Thursday, and I’m just now getting ready to publish this post. It’s been another busy day! I went to the doctor to have my routine lab work done, then attended an egg hunt at my granddaughter’s school. After the egg hunt, my granddaughter, Madison, helped me begin to stuff candy into those 193 plastic eggs. ( I just finished that job!) Tomorrow I’ll get the grocery shopping done for Sunday’s meal. Saturday I’ll be baking some goodies, then later in the afternoon the grandchildren and their families are coming over to color a few eggs! It’s a busy, but fun time.
In case I don’t get another chance to blog before Easter, I wish each and every person who reads my blog–A blessed and happy Easter! For now, I think I’m going to call it a day!
It was a busy, fun-filled weekend… The house is strangely quiet, after all of yesterday’s activities. If the noise level was a sign that everyone had fun, then we had fun! It’s time to pack away the plastic eggs for another year, then spend the rest of the week eating Easter left-overs! Easter, 2011 is now just a memory…
Our Easter weekend began on Saturday morning–in the kitchen, of course! I began by baking a pound cake, followed later by two pies. I rarely make pies, but for some reason this year, I was in a pie baking mood! I couldn’t help but think about my mama as I prepared the coconut and lemon meringue pies–because pies were her specialty! My pies turned out pretty good–the cake, not so great. I used a new bundt pan, so I’ll blame it on the pan!
When all was said and done, and everybody brought their food on Easter Sunday, we ended up with four pies, one cake, and a basket of Easter cookies. Apparently, I wasn’t the only one in a pie baking mood! I did get a complaint from our oldest son, though, because there wasn’t a pecan pie!
The Easter fun continued on Saturday afternoon, when “the girls”, gathered around the kitchen table to color Easter eggs. The grandchildren, Madison and Caden, joined us for a very short time, but soon decided they would rather run off and play! Eventually, the grandchildren went outside with the men folks, while we finished the eggs–but not before making a mess…
The grandchildren returned just in time to put a few stickers on the finished eggs–and to admire the decorated eggs! Dying eggs is so messy, but so much fun, too. I just wish I was more creative! There’s a talent to creating beautiful Easter eggs…I did’t get that talent! Thank goodness for stickers and egg wraps to hide mistakes.
Following the clean-up of our egg coloring project, the family gathered for a delicious supper of barbecue sandwiches, baked beans, and potato salad–with Easter cookies for dessert!
Our daughter, developed a new hobby this Easter season–making and decorating Easter cookies! We enjoyed the results of her hobby very much, and hope that she will continue with it for future family get-togethers! Including the cookies for Madison’s school party, she probably baked and decorated close to one hundred cookies!
Easter Sunday morning began early for some of our family. Our youngest son, Brad, went to church around 5:30 am to help set up for the sunrise service. Brad’s been attending Jennifer’s church for about a year now, and I was so happy to see him taking part in the service, even though Jennifer had to work! The rest of our family went to regular Easter services, while Ed and I stayed behind to cook Easter dinner and hide one hundred and seventy-two plastic eggs!
Finally, the Easter meal was cooked, all eggs were hidden, and everyone arrived to eat around 12:30. It only took three attempts to get a decent ” Annual Easter Family Photo”, then after that, we ate. We were all starving! After we finished eating, the grandchildren opened their Easter gifts, and then it was time to hunt eggs!
You may remember from a previous post, that our grown children enjoy hunting for eggs, as much as the grandchildren do. We stuff plastic eggs with candy and money, then give everybody a small bag to hunt eggs in. I don’t know if it’s because of the candy or the money, but the adults search for eggs long after the children stop…Notice in the photo below, the children aren’t hunting anymore, but the adults are!
It took FOREVER to find the last prize egg! My husband hid two prize eggs, a gold one and a silver one, with candy and a five dollar bill inside of each egg. Daughter-in-law, Christina, found the first prize egg, almost immediately. That girl is one serious ”egg hunter”! She always finds the most eggs–forty this year! Our son-in-law, Clint, finally found the other prize egg–hidden inside of my kitchen mop– hanging near the outside of the backdoor! Sometimes persistence pays off! By the way–there are still two eggs, with one dollar bills inside of them, hidden somewhere in our yard! My husband is a GOOD egg hider!
Lots of food, family, and fun… It just doesn’t get any better than that! We were thankful that Ed’s mom was feeling well enough to join us for Easter, too. She even managed to find an Easter egg before having to sit down! Speaking of sitting down… today I think I’m going to just rest.
Have a great Monday, everyone!
P. S. The “highlight” of my Easter weekend activities included making this hilarious video of some of our family members. In case you missed it on Saturday, here it is again!
Easter is brightly decorated spring displays in the middle of the mall…
Easter is shopping with your mom, and stocking up on Easter goodies…
Easter is watching children hunt for Easter eggs…
Easter is a brightly decorated dinner table–silently waiting for the family to have Easter dinner around it…
Easter is attending sunrise services and celebrating the “good news” with other believers, while the sun rises slowly in the east…..He is risen!….Easter is awesome!
…I am celebrating my blogiversary during the month of Apil. In celebration of my first year of blogging, I will be having a drawing for twenty dollars in cash on April 30. To be eligible to win, just leave a comment, and let me know that you would like to be entered… No limit on the amount of times that you can enter! Good luck!
Thanks to Brent Riggs for hosting this blog hop. Just click on the list below to share favorite photos of other bloggers.
Click here to enter your link in the blog hop and view the entire list of entered links…
contents of the gift bag...memo pad, dish towel, Easter cookie cutters
Last Friday I asked you to share your favorite Easter tradition, and I gave away an Easter themed kitchen set. This weekend I will be giving away an assortment of Easter items tied up in a gift bag. To be eligible to win this gift bag,justtake a moment to share a favorite Easter memory. I enjoy reading your comments so much, and I appreciate everyone who takes the time to leave one. I’ll get things started by sharing one of my favorite Easter memories…
One of my favorite Easter memories is that of my first Easter sunrise service. Believe it or not, I was a middle-aged mother when I attended my first sunrise service. I remember how moving and impressive the simple service was. The morning was cool and damp as we gathered outside the church facing the east. Our church organist played a portable keyboard and we sang along. As our pastor gave the message, the sun slowly began to rise in front of us. It was a beautiful experience…and truly celebrated what Easter is all about.
I’ll be taking comments all weekend. The winner will be announced on Monday morning! Good luck!
It won’t be long and Easter will be here! I love to decorate for the holidays. I’m decorated for St. Patrick’s Day at the moment, but in about 2 weeks, I’ll decorate for Easter. Would you like to have this Easter themed kitchen set for your kitchen? If so, just leave a comment telling me about your favorite Easter tradition. To get you started, I’ll even tell you mine…
Each year at Easter, my favorite tradition is coloring Easter eggs. I’ve colored eggs for as long as I can remember. I always buy two or three different kinds of egg decorating kits, and try them all out! My egg decorating partners have changed through the years…from my mother, to my husband, to our children when they were growing up, to my grown daughter and daughter-in-law, to my grandchildren! I’m getting excited just thinking about it! Granddaughter, Madison, will be three and a half this year, so it should be lots of fun!
Just leave your comment, telling about your favorite Easter tradition. I’ll be taking comments all weekend. On Monday morning, Random.org will choose the lucky comment number, and I’ll announce the winner. That’s it–how simple is that? Good luck to everyone! Kathy
