A belated Easter

I know that it is a little late for an Easter post, but that's how it goes sometimes. It was such a pretty day, I wanted to share it, even if it's late. The night before Easter my mom convinced the boys that they needed to dye Easter eggs. My little boys. Don't tell anyone, but I think they liked dying eggs!

Easter arrived along with a beautiful morning sky. The clouds looked ominous, but the day turned out sunny and warm.

There were dark clouds to the East....with the sun trying to peek through.

And there were dark lines of clouds leaving streaks over the top of it all.

And the beauty of being out in the country is that you can go outside in your pajamas to take pictures and there's no one around to see it.

After church we took our annual family picture in front of the church window. This one is actually taken at a different window, it wasn't as bright so the lighting wasn't as harsh.

But for traditions sake, we bravely squinted into the sun to get the shot. When did I get so short?

We've been taking pictures in front of the same window for quite a few years now. This one is from 2006. If you want to see the rest of them, just click here for last year's post.

After church we went to my mom's for the Easter feast. The table was set, pretty pink flowers and dishes.

Little Easter touches here and there....

....busy hands in the kitchen. My mom prepared a beautiful meal....

...with some help with Eric's mom Barb, and Eric cutting the ham. I peeled potatoes, does that count?

The boys relaxed and wondered what time we'd eat. Unfortunately Eric's dad wasn't feeling well and only was there for a little while.

Isn't the table pretty?

We ate and we talked and we ate some more....and then....then....it was time for the pie.

No one makes a pie like my mom....from apple pies to lemon meringue....if you are lucky enough to have tried one of mom's pies, you are lucky enough! Yum!!

Pie and coffee and Easter blessings.....

....I hope your Easter was beautiful too.

The Peanut

Last week we had a pair of visitors. Baby Avery and her mom Stephanie came over. I realized that I didn't even take a picture of Steph....but I was just so distracted about this little peanut! Sorry Steph! Hi little Avery, are you waving at me? I think that you're the cutest little thing I've seen in oh, 15 or 17 years! You are a little peanut, I think your great grandpa Pete would have called you Peanut too. Hi baby, wave at great auntie.

Look at all of your pretty dark hair, and those blue, blue eyes! Can you smile for your auntie?

Peek-a-boo...so happy to see you!

But what was that noise over there? So much to look at. Hmmm...you don't look so sure of him. It's ok, it's just your great uncle Eric.

That's right sweetie, you stick by me, I won't let that big hairy guy scare you. Hang onto my finger tight!

So sweet, so alert....just look at all of this cuteness....

...here...zoom in and crop out the old person....that's so much better!

Your great uncle Eric wants to hold you now. He is a little scary with that red beard.

What do you think of him Avery? Hmmm.....it looks like the jury is still out.....

...either that or you're going to need a diaper change....but that's ok, Eric doesn't mind.

It's ok Peanut, you'll see that he's one of the good guys. That beard sort of scares me sometimes too. :-)

Catching Up

Did you know that I have a blog? Yep....but apparently I've forgotten that I have a blog from the looks of it. Did you know that it's almost the middle of April? How did that happen? I guess it's time to catch up. Might as well start with the April pictures of the day.

April 1st - Molly lounging in the open window. The weather has been so nice.


April 2nd. A lava lamp night light in Billy's room. I found it when I was doing some spring cleaning. Part of my reason for not blogging....had to find the floor in Billy's room.


April 3rd - a blue scilla blooming in my mom's yard taken on Easter weekend. Beautiful, delicate little flowers scattered around the yard.

April 4th - Easter morning sky at the farm. The picture didn't quite capture how beautiful the clouds really were.

April 5th - a silly female duck in our front yard. We don't live on a pond. I took the picture through the screen of an upstairs window. Quack.

April 6th - the new rug in our basement. Another reason for not blogging...we've been cleaning and re-organizing the basement. It's about half done, I ran out of steam.

April 7th - Bright blue sky and red buds...spring has sprung. Last week the boys were on spring break, we mostly hung out around here. Another reason that I didn't get much blogging done.

April 8th - we had a very sweet little visitor last week. Baby Avery and my niece Stephanie came and spent part of the afternoon with us. What a treat! She was cute before, she's even cuter now. Such blue eyes! She's going to give her daddy some sleepless nights when she's about 16 and the boys are calling. :-)

April 9th - Molly napping on an unmade bed.

April 10th - Billy was excited to have his trampoline set up after the long winter. How did he get it full of leaves so fast??

April 11th - the bluebirds were busy at the farm on Sunday...such a beautiful bird.

April 12th - a confused chickadee in my back yard....sitting on top of a shepard's hook pole that holds one of the bird feeders.

With that I think we're all caught up. Spring break is done, things should get back to normal....and maybe I won't get so far behind. It feels like I've been busy, but I don't know what I've been doing. When I feel that way I always think of my old neighbor Martha....she would sweetly say...."I sure am busy, but I think it's because I move so slow!" So true.

Easter Eggs in a Nest

We're scurrying around today getting ready to celebrate Easter, but I wanted to take a couple of minutes and share a cute recipe today. I found it on The Pioneer Woman's Tasty Kitchen Blog. The Tasty Kitchen blog is a fun place to find recipes. This one is called "Easy Easter Egg Bird Nests". And they are easy, but messy, to make. You can head over there for the full recipe, but the basic ingredients are Chocolate chips, Almond Bark, peanut butter, Chow Mien noodles and malted Milk Ball eggs.

You melt it and mix it and drop them onto wax paper, then add the eggs and voila, Easter Egg Nests. Cute and tasty....and fun to share for Easter.

On a different note, my friend Tonya has started a new blog. One of her jobs is working for the Minnesota Twins baseball team. She is planning on sharing stories about the Twins and their first season at the brand new Target Field. I made the header for her. If you are a baseball fan, check out her blog...I think you'll like it! It's at http://www.twinstidbits.blogspot.com/

Now, back to scurrying around and trying to figure out what everyone is going to wear tomorrow! Have a wonderful Easter.

Out Front and Molly

The view out front hasn't changed very much, but the weather sure has been unseasonably nice! Upper 70's both yesterday and today. It's been warm and dry...so dry that the flood warnings have changed into fire danger warnings. Crazy. Things are trying to get green...a little rain and I think things will take off! A month ago it was boots....today it's bare toes.

The delphiniums are coming up. It would be nice if this weather would stay, but it's supposed to start turning tomorrow.

For now, Molly has been enjoying the warm breeze coming through the opened windows. She sits, she looks, she naps, and then she looks some more.

Molly....what do you see out there??

....oh, it's a red bird in the tree. Hello mister cardinal.

Molly....hey cat...you can't get that bird, there is a screen between you!

Molly, I have some more bad news for you....you know that nice opened window you are sitting in??

Tomorrow it's going to be closed! No more window sitting for you....

.....NOOOOO! Hey cat, no crying....and don't yell at me, blame the weather guy! Sheesh.