Easter Weekend

No guilt in life, no fear in death
This is the power of Christ in me
From life's first cry to final breath
Jesus commands my destiny
No power of hell, no scheme of man
Can ever pluck me from His hand
'Till He returns or calls me home
Here in the power of Christ I'll stand

I simply must start by linking to the sermon our pastor, Jean Larroux, preached Easter morning. I promise it'll be worth your time!

Our Easter weekend was full. 

Kicked off Saturday with an egg hunt and picnic at one of our neighborhood parks...

Still not thrilled about the group picture. Although, an improvement from last year (please see 3rd picture down).

I love that a single starburst in the first egg is enough to sit down in the middle of the field.

Three cheers for peanut free holidays.

Easter morning we had our family living room hunt and little baskets with bubbles and peeps.

J's Easter bunny wisely put a mini oreo in his eggs.

After church Chris and ML had us and Momo & Popo over for lunch.

{Please excuse the editing on AP's monogram, but I think she means every bit of that face.}

Here's a good one of the little dress I made for Bean-nation. Please don't look too close..... that being said, I had a BLAST making it. Know who else made it? My Mom. From the other side of the country- thank you, Mom. Thank you, Iphone. 

I'm officially hooked on sewing. If you've ever posted an online tutorial for baby clothes, I probably tried it this weekend.

Typical.

After naps, Bean indulged me some Easter pictures. The Roosta did not. Again, excuse the monogram "fuzzing". I assure you that Laura did a great job on that part!

This one is getting framed somewhere. 

Hope your Easter weekend was wonderful, and full of the hope we have in Christ's resurrection.

Happy Easter

"And he died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for Him who died for them and was raised again." 2 Corinthians 5:15

 

 

Our Easter eggs lasted an hour and a half in between boiling water and egg salad. That has to be some kind of record.

Happy Easter to you all!

The Boys

Yes, those are swim diapers. They have Nemo on them after all, and also serve as excellent hats. Speaking of swim, anyone have any experience taking a two-year-old and a nine month old to the pool? Products? Leashes?

I've also noticed that 99% of the pictures posted of J lately are of him in his Woody pj's. We do occasionally put clothes on him, however, J has been battling horrible allergies, eczema and a sinus infection. A trip to our doctor and the allergist have turned things around, so you just might see him dressed and outside sometime soon.

Hugs. Sweet boy.

The next day, Maggie the cat snuck inside while we were out and peed on that rug. 

I suppose bare hardwoods in the bedroom are better for allergies anyways.

That's all I have for now. Roosta did get his mane cut on Saturday, looks quite handsome. 

Catch All - Trip, Sewing, Desk & Potatoes

I am so behind on blogs- my own and your's. My reader says I have 78 unread posts. No wait, 79. I've decided it makes sense to update my own before reading about the Pioneer Woman's cows.

In my last post I talked about our upcoming weekend away. We had a fantastic time, just the two of us. {Thanks, Momo and Popo!} Nell and Joseph hosted us in their new GORGEOUS house. It looks like they've lived there 15 years, so homey. You can read Nell's post about her sister's beautiful wedding here. 

Friday night we arrived in time for a dinner date and then headed over to the Peabody for a drink. We just sat there and enjoyed the peace and quiet, feeding only ourselves. Then we bought J a duck. 

Sadly, this is the only picture we have from the weekend, taken by Anderson Humphreys whom we visited with in the Peabody lounge. A real "Ad Man".

He said Don Draper isn't very talented.

Backing up a bit and switching gears... my birthday was also Friday, and on Thursday a sewing machine arrived in the mail from my parents:

I think it is the second machine I have truly loved. {my camera being the first}  I have talked about wanting to learn how to sew for a long time.  I was skeptical though, thanks to an awful pair of shorts I was forced to make in Home Ec in 7th grade.  Three years ago I got the itch and bought a $20 "shark" mini-sewing machine at Target. It was a disaster. M had to thread it for me, and I developed a mental block and irrational fear of bobbins. I returned it 2 days later.

However, when my mom emailed and asked if I'd like a sewing machine for my birthday, I thought, "I do. I really do."  Instructions are hard for me. I get impatient. I like to "wing it". But, thanks to being married to a man who does not wing anything, I am learning to take the time and do it right.  I committed myself to sit down. Read. Understand. Practice.

What do you know- I LOVE IT.  I hemmed some jeans, and almost finished up a dress for Bean. It's riddled with mistakes, but that's okay. The pattern was more challenging than I wanted, but it did force me to learn. I have called my mom 5 times a day this week asking things like, "what's a top stitch?". Thanks, Mom.

Try not to be overly inspired by my organized workspace. Maybe someday M will build an elaborate desk with cubby holes. Hint, hint...

Backing up even further our yard sale with Chris and ML was the weekend before last weekend (what?! a bit ago). It was a success, and great to get rid of some things. Chris and ML pulled this little charmer out of their rental's attic (their landlord said they could have whatever was up there):

Three of the legs were falling off, the wood was breaking away in some places, but I saw potential and I've been wanting a little "planning desk", so they let me have it. Thanks, guys.

I'm really happy with the way it turned out! For those of you interested, this process is not hard, just time consuming.

Glue. Wait. Sand. Prime. Wood putty. Wait. Sand. Prime. Wait. Sand. Paint with oil based enamel. I'm certainly a self-taught beginner, but if anyone wants more specifics let me know.

Here it is all gussied up, doing it's job- collecting clutter. Please notice that the "colors" (aka: pens) are in the center so J cannot reach them. This was in vain, he now just moves the desk and walks behind. Sigh.

Oh, wait- here's a better picture of it... {smile}

Anyways, the take-away is: if you get too close to me, I might sand and paint you.

I read somewhere that my generation is being called (among other things I'm sure) "the DIY generation". I think that's great. I have tons of friends doing amazing things with their time. Of course, to me this is not limited to "crafts" or "projects", it's more an attitude of engaging. Wonderful hosts, musicians, gardeners, decorators, friends that make time for coffee and a chat, friends that simply like to take a drive with the windows down.

I am so relieved we were not ruined by Wal-Mart and Nintendo as predicted.

Lastly, an EASY weeknight dinner. Baked potatoes with chicken and broccoli. That's it. Zip the potatoes in the microwave, finish in the oven. Layer with butter, sour cream, diced (cooked) chicken breast (leftover is great), steamed broccoli and cheese.  Put it all back in the oven till melty. 

Top with more sour cream and chives, if that's your thing. The Roosta had about a half a cup on his. This picture also proves that anyone will like it. And that it's time for a haircut.

Happy weekend to you all! We plan to do nothing. Can't wait.

Bean Bop

It's gonna be a busy, fun and early start to the weekend tomorrow, so I gotta get some Bean on the blog.

We went to the park last Saturday and she was wearing a sun hat.  How can something so simple be so adorable. 

{Forgive me those dang shadows}

I realize that those last few were all pretty much the same picture.

I'll finish it up with one with Dad. By the way, Dad makes that expression all the time.

So. We just let him eat our fingers, now?

 Happy (almost) weekend! I know we're excited!

Windexing, Furniture building and Pasta cooking

J loves a mess. He'll make one just to clean it up. This day I put him straight to work.

{Size comparison. J is about 3 generic Windex bottles high}

While helping me get that dang histogram (I'm so hoping that's the right word) thing off my camera's playback M accidentally turned this picture "sepia". 

It makes J look like he's tending a saloon in the 1800s. We had a good laugh.

You may have caught a little something in the background in those first photos...

the entertainment center is FINISHED! {media center? everything sounds 80s.}

M did a fantastic job. Built it from the earth. Well, from Home Depot anyways.

We had to do some rearranging. 

Joey Tribbiani's words kept ringing through my head, "You don't own a TV? What's all your furniture pointed at?"  Well. At least we can now watch Fox and the Hound as Disney intended.

Suggestions for what to put in that corner are welcome and requested.  A tall lamp would be nice, but is that odd by a TV? 

We also have Bean issues. She plays by the outlet a lamp would use, so it'd be nice to keep it empty. {Pictures behind the TV will be moved. Someday.}

I'll leave you with the pasta we've been eating on all week. I adapted it from the back of a pasta box - target, I think. 

Sicilian Pasta Salad

Ingredients

1 package tri-color spiral noodles

1 tomato, seeded and diced (totally forgot this- you should put it in)

1/2 cup diced mozzarella cheese (or, your child's string cheese)

1/4 lb. salami, cut into cubes

2 oz. sliced pepperoni (28-ish), cut in fourths

1/2 green bell pepper, diced

1/2 cup chopped green onions

1 (2.25oz) can sliced black olives, drained

Dressing, recipe below

Directions

Cook pasta, rinse in cold water to chill; drain.

Combine all the ingredients with the pasta, toss with dressing

Chill before serving

Dressing - Vinaigrette {use a bottle, I just didn't have one}

3/4 cup olive oil

1/4 cup red wine vinegar

1 tea sugar

1 tea lemon juice

*whisk together*

Served our's over fresh spinach. Enjoy!