Happy Homemaker Monday

Good Morning Dear Friends! 

Finally taking a minute to sit down and work on this post. We had a wonderfully blessed holiday weekend, but I'm playing catch up around my home this AM. Plus, I have a sick kiddo at home too. I hope you had a wonderful Easter weekend as well! 

 In the morning we attended mass, along with my Mom.  We had my Mom and my MIL & FIL over in the afternoon for dinner.  We'll be doing a belated Easter with my Dad and step Mom during the week. I forgot to take pics of the family around the table and just sat and enjoyed the meal.  But I was able to remember to take some pics of the table set up the night before. And we took some family photos after church. We had such a lovely day! Then last night I got some rest time after a first round of dishes loaded and snuggled with Ruby and watched an old movie (love those!) of Easter Parade with Judy Garland and Fred Astaire. I was in my pj's early and it was another great holiday in the books! 

THE WEATHER OUTSIDE IS:

Gray and cold. Blech! Tomorrow looks like rain. And rest of the week only 40's and low 50's. However next weekend so far looks great with each day near the 60's and sunny! Let's hope!!

ON THE BREAKFAST PLATE THIS MORNING:

A piece of toast with lemon curd on top. Part of a banana and some coffee.

RIGHT NOW I AM:

I'm listening to some Praise & Worship music along with nature sounds of birds singing. ;)  

AS I LOOK OUTSIDE MY WINDOW:

Icky, gray and was sprinkling earlier. Our back yard is sure getting nice and green though!! Haven't spotted any bunnies and no birds on the bird feeder yet this moring. Maybe everyone is sleeping in today? 

AS I LOOK AROUND THE HOUSE:

I've done 2 loads of dishes so far and have one load left. Holidays are so worth it, though, and I love cooking and baking for my family! And my Hubby actually did the 2nd load for me. ;) I have laundry going and lots more to catch up. My kiddos did some deep cleaning in their rooms over the weekend and lots more laundry "materialized". ::sigh:: Everything else still pretty  clean from getting ready for Sunday dinner over here.  And I tidied up a bit this morning too. 

ON TODAY'S (& this week's) TO DO LIST:

Things on my list this week include: both kiddos' soccer, Annie volleyball,hubby's hockey stuff, taking my Mom to her eye appointment, projects on my list, running errands, determined to work on my legacy box and start my Grandpa's album work.

CURRENTLY READING:

I keep bouncing back and forth between several books - if I actually focus on something I'll let  you know :P Lol! Also, magazines as usual. 

ON THE TV TODAY:

I did watch Call the Midwife last night. So good! I'm excited as it's Disney night on Dancing with the Stars - love that one!! I have a new show to watch: The White Princess. I watched The White Queen series several years ago and liked it. It's about the Tudor period in England - the War of the Roses and all of that history. It's basically how the women were the ones really running the show (of course) to have the power in Europe. Like a soap opera and lots of fun! The White Princess starts where that series left off. I have the first one taped and haven't watched it yet. Some cooking shows catch up yet too. I love watching the RV shows - where they show the awesome blinged out RV's and folks looking to buy them. I dream sometimes about a life one day like my dear Friend Doreen. (winking at you Lady) ;)  

ON THE MENU THIS WEEK:

MONDAY: break from Easter leftovers and doing parmesan chicken, pasta and veggie side dish

TUESDAY: ham and scalloped potatoes in the slow cooker (using up leftover Easter ham) 

WEDNESDAY: no Blue Apron this week either - will start back next week. Out this night with my Dad & step Mom

THURSDAY: stuffed pork chops, baked potatoes, salad

FRIDAY: Annie night? not sure yet

WHAT I AM CREATING AT THE MOMENT

Etsy store albums and canvases 

Legacy box stuff  

My Grandpa's heritage album  

My Mom's album & my family album catch up

NEW RECIPE I WANT TO TRY THIS WEEK:

Not sure - maybe something new on Annie's cook night

TIP OF THE WEEK:

FROM THE CAMERA:

Annie and I set the table all up Easter Eve.

A random shot of the fruit pizzas Annie made for yesterday.

Traditional after mass Easter photos.

I'm not this short - Lol! I'm bending over a bit behind my Girl. ;) 

Family totem pole? They always have to ham it up!

Rare shot of the elusive teenager that hates getting his picture taken! :P

After all the festivities - it's time to rest, right Ruby? 

Maybe a fun old movie??

"Oh sure Mom, I love this one!" 

PRAYER, INSPIRATIONAL QUOTE OR DEVOTIONAL:

I'm sharing this with Sandra of Diary of a SAHM for Happy Homemaker Monday.

Easter Eve

Greetings and Happy Easter Eve from the northwoods Friends! Thought I'd pop in (even though it's late evening) and share some images from our day and getting ready for Easter tomorrow. 

The house has been all cleaned up and is decorated with lots of Spring things and bunnies galore everywhere! 

Goodies have been baked and food has been prepped for tomorrow. My favorite tablecloth was steamed by my sweet Hubby ( I love the embroidery and it's so Spring-like). I might have taste tested the lemon bars - for safety sake of course ;) Tomorrow the table will be all set and we'll gather with relatives and dig in! (I'll share more on Monday).

The Easter bunny always visits us Easter Eve -  as Easter day is set aside for worship and family gathering and eating yummy goodies.  As you can see, it's not just all about bunnies. I like to make sure my Kiddos understand the true meaning of Easter in our home. 

And all kinds of other treats and toys, like these,  were left for our Kiddos to find. Annie's favorite this year was Starburst ice cream flavors jelly beans! The orange ones taste like dreamsicles. 

Since this is the first year Annie "knows" about the Easter bunny - I thought it would be fun to shake things up with a scavenger hunt for them to find their big gift. So I printed off several clues (6 different places for them to find). I found these clues on the internet! And then the final clue led them to an envelope with one clue for each kiddo to find their main gift, each in a different specific location.

Annie's main gift - a sweet handmade French box filled with little treasures and a Barnes & Noble gift card. Plus a sweet extra soft bunny. 

And Aaron's contained money (a driving teenager is always looking for extra $!). And an authentic hockey puck that was on the practice ice in a game between his favorite team (the Senators) and his buddy's favorite team (the Sharks). He collects special and signed pucks and has a nice case in his room. 

Annie and I might have had a little fun playing around with some of her selfie goodies after the hunt.  :P  We even got Ruby in on the action!

Wishing you a beautiful and blessed Easter day filled with the ones you love most! xoxo

Annie in the Kitchen

Hello my Friends!  

I've been out running errands and gathering my Easter groceries! Think I'm just about all set. Now on to the cleaning, prepping and baking. Lol ;) But first of all prayer time. This is Holy Week to me and tomorrow is Good Friday. A somber day with my Jesus - so I will not be posting or be on any social media tomorrow. However, I hope to actually post a little on the weekend - so see you back again then. 

Now on to what I wanted to share today! My Annie has been helping more and more in the kitchen with her old Ma. ;)  We try to have an "Annie makes dinner night" often....but in between she's often my sous chef and I love it! So helpful!! And I love that I'm helping inspire a love of cooking in her too. I have several of the fun Gooseberry Patch cookbooks - and this one is really great!:

And there's a whole section in there just for cooking with kiddos! Here are a few of the recipes Annie and I have marked to give a try soon on some of her nights to make dinner. 

The bread recipes will be nice accompaniments with soups - especially tomato soup (one of Annie's faves)

I love how Gooseberry Patch always has some cute illustrations and helpful tips on most of their pages. 

Even a yummy fun dessert! If you need us - we'll be in the kitchen! xoxo

Wednesday Wonder

BUNNIES AND MORE

Ruby wants to get those bunnies! I hope she doesn't scare off the Easter bunny this weekend!

Getting Easter bunny ready. Plus, this is a new Pioneer Woman pitcher that jumped into my cart the other day. ;) 

Speaking of  new - so is this pretty little etagere I fell in love with from QVC - yep that's right I said QVC!! Perfect plant stand for my tiny corner in my tv room. 

And just for fun - our patterned front door making pretty patterns in our front foyer.  Have a blessed day Friends! xoxo