easter

Every single year, I have this unfulfilled Easter dream. One day, perhaps surrounded by grandchildren, I will have easter baskets with natural grass growing in them. I will have beautiful dyes for the boiled eggs, I will have made hand-smocked dresses for the girls, I will have lilies on the table for a centerpiece. Someday. This year was actually quite pleasant, unlike our memories of the disastrous Easter 2008 .

Each year I poke a little at this vision. Sometimes we get eggs dyed, some years we get a nice dinner, some years we get pretty easter baskets. Never all of it, but pieces here and there. The last time the girls had matching dresses was in 1993. And yes, they were hand smocked! I told my mom that year that I had done this great project that I was very proud of, but it consumed so much more time than I should have spent on it. I told her I probably won't do that kind of emboidery again until I was a grandma and had some extra time on my hands. I still remember her laughing at me for that comment. (Is there ANY time in our lives that we might have a little teeny bit of leisure time?) Earlier this year, Melanie mentioned that it is her last year living at home (good luck with that Mel, . . . that is what the other kids have said too) and she thought it would be a good idea if she had a homemade easter dress for the occasion. I agreed that it would be a good idea and I would see what I could do. Unfortunately, it was prom week and we had to do a lot of alterations on her prom dress which took all the spare sewing machine time for the week. But . . the dress was finished by mid morning on Saturday so I dashed to the store to get some spring colored floral fabric to at least whip up a simple skirt to fulfil my duties as a caring mom on this last year of parenting a minor child. We went to a ward picnic at noon, at 3:00 I cut out the fabric and started doing some speed sewing. Melanie had no say whatsoever in the fabric choice, colors, or design. She was busy grooming her beautiful self for prom. Our conversations through the day included how I always want Easter to be so nice for everyone and then as conversations go in silly directions, we decided to make Brady an Easter tie out of the same fabric to match Melanie's dress. They were both good sports this morning and wore their Easter outfits for their Mommy! This picture is a goofy pose, but Melanie was excited that the pocket was big enough for Lexi to fit in.

We all go to church at different times and places, so only 3 of the 4 still were here for pictures. Rachel looked equally beautiful in her springtime attire today.

The kids got some sun catchers in their Easter baskets and had some quality arts and crafts time this evening. Saturday night, Melanie headed to Prom out in Scottsdale. This is the first of 2 proms this month. Her date was from out of town had some unforeseen difficulties and couldn't come, so she headed out with a group of friends and had a great time. She always has a great time wherever she goes.

I hope everyone had a pleasant Easter with some time to worship, enjoyed some beautiful easter baskets and and a bouquet of Easter Lilies on your table.

april fool's day

I forgot it was April Fool's Day today until I spotted a photo on Facebook. My cousin drew mustaches on her girls before they woke up this morning. Hilarious!
By the time I realized what day it was, it was too late to buy supplies - scrape out the filling of oreos and fill with toothpaste, clear nail polish on all the bars of soap, filled donuts full of mayonnaise etc.
Since we had already discussed our April 1st failure, we only had Roxanne to pull a prank on. She called and was on her way. The girls and I had 20 minutes to prepare. All we could think of was to mess with her lunch. We filled bags of popcorn to enjoy during conference. The roach covered baggies weren't as realistic as we'd hoped. We got a chuckle out of her, but not any screams. Melanie salted her bowl of chocolate pudding. That was a tasty surprise. She was gagging on her way to the kitchen sink with her mouth full of "this pudding tastes like ocean!".
That was it. It was the best we could do. Next year I will be prepared.
We enjoyed a relaxing day. We loved conference. The weather was perfect, we had all our doors and windows open all day. Then we stopped by the park to fly kites and go for a walk for a few minutes. We ended the day with waffles for dinner and visiting with some neighbors. It was a great day. Wish we had more days like this.