Feeling Blessed

I couldn't resist....just a few pics of our Easter.

Our day was full of...

Delicious food...

 Dainty dishes...

Simple, but beautiful decorations...

 Presents from loved ones...

 3 egghunts (which equals out to a mouth full of cavities, grrrr)...

 Scrumptious desserts...

And most importantly...good friends who just happen to be family!

 Hope you all had a great Easter!

I know we did.



Ashley



Our Easter Day!!

Our morning started like most Easter mornings....

    Marli, Mia and Lily.....in Easter "stuff" heaven!!!


Our Mid-morning was "dress-up" time, like most Easter mornings....

            My Beautiful Girls!!!

Late afternoon for us looked like this....

Such gorgeous weather, they couldn't resist!!!

Hope everyone had a wonderful Easter!!!

                     Kirsten

Happy Easter

Christopher, Bryce, and Chloe would like to wish everyone a Happy Easter!



Sarah

Just a Little "Tail"

Vintage, handpainted Easter egg courtesy of VivennesAttic on Etsy.com

Meeting the Easter Bunny
by Rowena Bennett

On Easter morn at early dawn
before the cocks were crowing
I met a bob-tail bunnykin
and asked where he was going.

"Tis in the house and out the house
a-tispy, tipsy-toeing,
Tis round the house
and 'bout the house a-lighlty I am going."

"But what is that of every hue
you carry in your basket?"
"Tis eggs of gold and eggs of blue;
I wonder that you ask it.

"Tis chocolate eggs and bonbon eggs
and eggs of red and gray,
For every child in every house
on bonny Easter day.

He perked his ears
and winked his eye and twitched his little nose;
He shook his tail -- what tail he had --
and stood up on his toes.

"I must be gone before the sun;
the east is growing gray;
Tis almost time for bells to chime."
-- So he hippety-hopped away.


Happy Easter!!!

Kirsten

Ashley's Easter Baskets

So, I'm the last to post pics of Easter baskets. You would think I'd have it the easiest, with two kids (two and under) who don't yet understand the concept of holidays, the Easter bunny and especially searching for eggs. Poor Sarah and Kirsten had to hide their baskets all week and quickly work on them while the kids were looking the other way. I, on the otherhand, was able to shop for and assemble these baskets with the kiddos having front row seats! Even still, it took me about two weeks to complete them...thanks to all the diaper changes, temper tantrums, binkie hunts and just plain keeping them entertained and busy with all of the rain we got last week.

Here they are, I hope you like :)

Ella's First Easter Basket

A closer look...

Yes, I almost died when I saw these...

Christopher's Big Boy Basket

A closer look...

Happy Easter!

What's in your Easter baskets? I'd love to hear!



Ashley

Italian Easter Bread

Easter bread is yet another tradition in mine and every Italian family. Many many varieties of Easter breads have been created depending on what part of Italy your ancestors have decended from and how the recipes have evolved through the generations.

The most popular of the varieties.....

where raw colored eggs are cooked right into the bread. Makes for a beautiful center piece...with a candle sometimes placed in the center of the larger of the round breads.

Then there's the more religious approach....

where dove or cross shaped spring-form pans or paper molds are used. This process usually has several steps and involves up to 18 hours of waiting for the dough to raise before baking. These breads are usually studded with candied fruits or almonds.

Some have a sweeter touch...

with a sweet glaze or icing and adorned with colored sprinkles or almonds.


Now I should probably get to my family's Easter bread recipe....which is different from all the rest!

You'll first need to cream together* 1 1/2 cups of sugar and 1/2 cup (1 stick) of butter. Add 6 beaten eggs and mix well. Next add 6 cups of flour, 6 tsp of baking powder, 1/2 cup of milk, 2 1/2 tsp lemon extract and 1 1/2 tbsp of lemon rind.
*cream together means to blend together using an electric mixer on medium speed until smooth and fluffy

The mixture will look like this when all combined well. Form 2 egg shaped ovals on a greased baking sheet and sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar.

Don't they kind of look like Easter eggs??!! Bake at 350 degrees for approx 30 minutes. Check with a cake tester or butter knife to see if the inside is done.

         I displayed my breads on an Easter Lily platter.

And then I enjoyed a piece with a cup of Tuscan Lemon Black tea and a good blog read.
Best served warm accompanied by your favorite tea or coffee.

               Happy Easter and Enjoy!!!

                      Kirsten

*some photos courtesy of Taste of Home, bon appetit, and The Italian Dish

Components of an Easter Basket!

For Easter this year I opted out of baskets, and chose to use pails instead. We are moving, so I wanted a new approach on storing toys in their toy room... Instead of buyng new baskets, I figured I'd buy pails in place of the baskets! Plus I think they are just as nice!

Here are the components of my daughter Chloe's, Easter Pail! It was so much fun to finally be able to use pink, girly things!!!

In her pail, I put a V-tech baby book and an Easter book, a rain coat, a dress, a chocolate bunny(Easter bunny thought of mommy!), a flower head band, and my favorite find... A cloth doll from Pottery Barn Kids named Chloe!!!

Here is the tag to her "Chloe" doll...

All put together...


Here are the components of the pail for my orange boy, Bryce...

  He really wanted spy gear amongst many other things! I also included a roller hockey ball, a reusable drink cup, an orange spray bottle, a spongebob toothebrush and toothepaste (for all that candy!), and a miniature bowling set!

All put together...



And last but not least, the components to my future artist, Christopher...

I found a Manga drawing kit for Chris(he really enjoys drawing those types of figures), a frisbee, a miniature golf kit, a reusuable drink cup, and a spongebob toothebrush and toothepaste!

All put together...

Here are the chocolate Easter Bunnies I forgot to add for the individual shots!

I also bought each of the boys an Easter book and a J-Crew tee that I forgot to add! What can I say, I have very little time to put these items together, can't remember it all!!!

Enjoy!

Sarah

Assembly of the Girls Easter Baskets!

The first step to putting together my 3 daughter's Easter baskets was finding the actual baskets I wanted to use. I chose to stick with the traditional wicker style baskets in 3 different sizes with handles....and add my own touch.

I added brightly colored basket liners to each one using the same color palette but different patterns.

Next I added colored Easter grass. I like to use the recycled or natural grass...this year I found some that was made from corn.

The big girls needed new sandwich containers....I found these at Old Navy of all places. Instead of filling plastic eggs with Jelly Belly jellybeans, I filled the sandwich holders for a fun surprise!

Lily's "Nature Girl" Basket!! (she'll be happy to get the Pillow Pet she's been begging me for the past few years)

Some details of her basket included bug gardening gloves and brightly colored rubber snakes...

A jump rope (in her fav color)....and some traditional candy!!

Mia's "Girly Girl" Basket!!

Details of her basket included a book of her newest interest and real nail polish strips (that just stick on! how easy!) adorned with pretty butterflies....

A girly pink jumprope....and of course, the traditional candy!!

Marli's "1st Easter" Basket!! As simple as a first basket should be....with an Easter bib, a new sippy cup, a soon-to-be 1st Birthday book, and a watering can. (I'm sure she'll attempt to dive into her big sister's baskets too)

Can't wait for them to see what the Good Ol' Easter Bunny brought to our house this year!!

May all your Easter mornings be filled with sweet smells and bright surprises....and of course a bit of creativity!

               Kirsten