Week in Review

After a Spring Break week that both the kids and I thoroughly enjoyed, they'll be heading back to school Monday morning, and I will be back to posting on a regular basis.  I hadn't planned on the blogging break, but sometimes you just have to put the camera down, step away from the computer, and enjoy your kids.  Here's some of what we've been up to during our week off.  Our in-laws are getting ready for the cottage expansion project by taking down a few trees.  The chain saws were buzzing for most of 2 days.

The boys helped with branches, and WD stacked logs.

We had a roaring fire going for days.

Maybe a little too big.

In between all the tree related work, we still found time to dye eggs,

and stage an egg hunt.

SB practiced his swing in preparation for the little league season starting up,

WD had 2 lacrosse games this week.

Wednesday, his team fought a very good Horseheads team as well as some crazy weather.  It rained, snowed, and hailed during that game all with bracing wind gusts.  At halftime, the ref said, "If this was baseball, I would have called it 20 minutes ago."  With SB deciding he likes baseball over lacrosse, I only have a couple more years of freezing on the sidelines.  No pictures from that game, because I was sitting at the scoring table as a spotter.  2 days later he played a home game that was a lot easier on the spectators.  We like 70 and sunny.

Our hyacinths are finally blooming.  Because of our home's elevation, we have to wait a little longer to see spring blooms.  I cut a bunch to bring inside and the smell is just heavenly.

I took SB and the Princess to the zoo and Story Garden during their week off.  Even with a broken arm, P decided they were going to be "miners."

And no week around here would be complete without some dessert.  Here's the fruit tart and fruit salad that I brought to a barbecue yesterday.  I love making fresh fruit salads for warm summery days when I may be drinking a few too many calorie-laden beverages.

Thanks for popping in and spending spring  break with us.

Happy Easter

Earth's saddest day and gladdest day were just 3 days apart. - Susan Coolidge

I hope everyone has a wonderful day today filled with family, laughter, and candy.

Sweet, Sweet Bunny

We're heading up to the cottage today for the Easter weekend.  My MIL will be hosting Easter dinner there, and she requested that I make SB's fave "Flat Potatoes."  I can't go anywhere without bringing a dessert item, too, so I made another of SB's faves - Bunny Cupcakes.

Just like with my Shamrock Cupcakes, these start with chocolate cupcakes and creamcheese frosting.  I cut regular sized marshmallows with scissors.  The pressure from the scissors will create pinched petal-like shapes.

Dip a cut side into some sanding sugar,

and add some jelly bean eyes under the ears.  Funny story - when I had assembled my decorations, CG walked through the kitchen and said, "Jelly Bellies!  Where are you hiding Jelly Bellies?"  He has a tough time identifying a dirty sock on the living room floor, but he can spot Jelly Bellies from across a room.

Add a pink m&m nose and some mini marshmallow cheeks.

We packed up a dozen for the cottage, and brought some others to a friend's house.

Thanks for popping in and cupcake decorating with me.

Easter Baskets - Want, Need, Wear, Read

It's almost Easter, and I've just finished putting together the boys' "baskets."  Some year's I'll do the typical basket where they receive an actual willow basket full of goodies,

and some year's I'll fill up a wagon,

or a dump truck.  That way the "basket" is part of the gift.

We've all seen the commercial baskets that are full of random plastic toys destined to be quickly broken, and discarded.

That's not how I want my boys to celebrate Easter or any other gift giving occasion.  Back before Christmas, I came across an article about making Christmas more meaningful by giving just 4 gifts.  One Want, one Need, something to Wear, and something to Read.

Image via

I love that concept.  My baskets this year have 2 from each of those categories + some candy.  SB still believes in the Easter Bunny, and until he stops believing, we won't be discussing giving limits.  And you can't very well have 2 from each category in the one basket and not in the other, so WD will be receiving 2 from each category, too.  Here's WD's "basket" for this year.

Needs: New lacrosse bag & Tool Kit.

Wants: One movie & one XBox game

Wear: Yankees jersey & Ball cap

Read:  The Book of Moe & Whatev's

And here's SB's "basket."  I couldn't open it up without having everything spill out, but his 4 categories read a lot like WD's, only with books more suited for a 7 yr old.  The carry-on bag will be SB's first formal piece of luggage as he's always traveled with just a backpack.

And here's the labels I use.  I use my photo-editing software to add names to the tags, print them out, punch holes in the corner, and add a length of ribbon.  You can print out your own by right clicking on the tags, and saving it.

How do you handle Easter baskets?  Is it a chocolate explosion? A new iPod?  We live in an area where some of WD's classmates are expecting iPads(with an a) for Easter.  I'd love to know if I'm on track, being a miser, or even too generous.  Thanks for popping in and talking baskets with me.

Yarn Ball Eggs

It always surprises me which posts continue to be looked at way after they've posted.  One of my more popular posts from last year was these Twine Ball Yarn Eggs.  So I figured I'd repost them for all my new readers.

 I wanted a twist on the classic twine ball and came up with these yarn eggs.  I started by grabbing some water balloons from the boredom drawer.  Water balloons are perfect for this project because they're small and egg shaped.

Blow up your balloons and tie them off.  Ever have a tough time tying a balloon?  Here's a tip: if you wrap the end around 2 of your fingers, you can pass the tail between them and pull it through.

Mix up white glue & water in a 1:1 ratio.

Cut off several yards of yarn(I used some fun Easter-y colors.)

Dunk the yarn in the glue, and squeezing out the excess, start wrapping your balloons.  You may want to tape the one end of the yarn to the balloon if you have very small helpers.  I didn't, but SB is a fairly experienced crafter.

Continue wrapping the balloon until you're happy with the amount of yarn you've used.

When all the balloons have been wrapped, lay them out to dry.  You can set them on top of plastic cups or just lay them on a glass or plastic surface.  I had an extra sheet of glass.  Make sure to turn them every now and again.  The glue will pool on the one side of the yarn egg.

When the yarn is completely dry, prick the balloons with a pin.

The balloons will deflate and you can remove them through the side of the egg.

I actually need to make more of them this year, because I could only find 2 of them in my packed away Easter stuff.

Thanks for popping in and crafting with us.