Spring has Sprung

Our whirlwind Spring Break trip to Indiana consisted of two egg hunts in two days. The kids were beside themselves in Easter Candy joy.

The Gallagher Cousin Chaos was a sight to behold. Mr. and Mrs. Easter Bunny even made an appearance



An impromptu egg hunt ensued with the Kiley Cousins. Small, intimate but challenging, the hunt seemed to scratch their egg hunt itch.



Or so we thought...

...Presbyterian College has a community Easter Egg Hunt the Sunday before Easter. I thought it was the perfect opportunity for a yummy Spring Brunch before the hunt. After all, we live right across the street from the college and if the kids get to fill their baskets with candy shouldn't we parents get something out of it too. I have to say, I went a little overboard on the whole brunch thing. Plus, I was scarily organized...just ask the Professor. Those of you who know me know that isn't one of my strong suits.

The table setting was being guarded by two lovely lime green gnomes. Know that I am strongly resisting the urge to use the word "tablescape". That word is like nails on a chalkboard for me but thanks to Sandra Lee on "Semi-homemade" it has become THE word in my head to describe how I decorated. But I won't use it...I am remaining strong.



Every plate had an adorable chocolate chick...from Aldi's, no less.


And the menu was yummy too. It had some healthy options for those watching their weight. And some not so healthy options for those who wanted to indulge. A veggie fritata and a spinach quiche didn't make it in the picture.



The Pineapple Bliss Cupcakes were a hit! Who knew that healthy and delicious can co-exist? Check out the blog, Skinny Taste. It won't disappoint...I promise.



So we all enjoyed a lovely brunch and then headed over to Presbyterian College for the hunt. Even the Easter Bunny showed up. Help me understand this because I can't wrap my head around the whole Easter Bunny thing. Now, Santa is a believable holiday character. There could be a jolly old man that leaves presents at your house. But how freaky is it that a giant rabbit leaves Easter baskets for kids and hides eggs? Do kids really fall for that one? Did I? I guess my girl does.



There was face painting, jump houses, and cookies-n-punch at the Egg Hunt. It was quite the affair. Then the scary hunt began...it was an onslaught of screaming children practically clawing each other to get the most eggs. AND...there were 3 golden eggs. You know there were a huge amount of disappointed kids and 3 very happy ones.

Anna's best friend, Rachel was there. They are so cute together.



You can really see the bond they share. Childhood friends...so sweet.


The day was beautiful. The kids were happy. The grown-ups were content. A nearly perfect day. A nearly perfect Spring.

Chartruese: It's the new black for Spring!

Imagine you're out for a run one fine Spring morning in South Carolina and you come home and your shoes look like this. Well, Zero to Boston runs daily training for marathons and this is what the god awful pollen looks like on his shoes. Now...imagine the inside of your nose looking like these shoes. Welcome to Spring in South Carolina. Is it yellow? Is it green? My preference is "chartreuse". Never having experienced allergies before, I used to scoff at those seasonal complainers. Not anymore...no, not anymore. We are surrounded by clouds of pollen dust. It isn't pretty.

But, there are a couple of blooming plant life here in the Southeast that we don't get up North. My favorite is wisteria. Sure, in Indiana there is the errant vine here or there. In South Carolina, it's a freakin' menace practically but a beautiful menace I must say. Here's a house down the street from our little house with a beautiful wisteria.



Another sign of Spring is Easter, of course. We started a week early with Presbyterian College's annual Easter egg hunt on Palm Sunday. Anna and her itty bitty twin girl got a chance to wear the dresses Aunt Laurie got them last year as a gift. They looked adorable.



It was bound to happen. But I was in denial. Our son is growing up. No longer did he want to be seen at a public Easter egg hunt with an Easter basket. Just a plastic grocery bag would do it seems. What's next? Oh, please, don't even tell me. Let me be blissfully ignorant.





How does a parent even slightly logically convince a child that a gigantic rabbit brings Easter baskets on Easter Sunday? I mean, at least Santa is a human being! I struggle...truly.



We walked back home to our little house which I have begun referring to as the "cardboard box" we live in. Anna, skipping along, so proud of that egg and Gavin, deep in thought about all the eggs he got.



Easter was low key. We got together with another family and hunted eggs at their house. Take notice, that Gavin had no problem with an Easter basket in a private setting. I've got some time still. Then a few more families arrived and we all celebrated Spring's arrival with a cook out. Of course, given that the pollen came uninvited, my nose and eyes were wishing they were inside.



It was the start of Spring break for the kids. And the official start of Spring for Mother Nature too. Here's to Claritin.

Spring Break Hoosier Style...Part Deux...

Image via Wikipedia

As I said, we were up for it. Up for what? An Easter Egg hunt, of course. Now, I feel the need to give you a little background for those who don't know how much I abhor egg hunts. I have always choked under the pressure of the hunt. I have a competitive spirit and it usually serves me well. But when it comes to Easter egg hunts I suck. Plus, now that I'm a mom I live empathetically through those little ones who come back basket empty because some quick little sucker was faster then they were. So I suggested the color coded system last year and my dear families got on board. Each child is assigned a color before the hunt and that is the only color they look for. It's a fabulous cooperative event if I say so myself. The bigger kids end up helping the littler ones instead of yanking an egg out of their sweet hands. This year Grandma Cece in addition to the colored eggs hid foiled wrapped eggs (4 per hunter). They looked like baked potatoes but they had money in them instead of sour cream and butter. I myself never participated in such a hunt just your basic jelly beans and peeps were hidden inside my eggs - what few I found that is. Gavin ended up with $35 and Anna $8! I'd say the Easter Bunny was quite generous this year given the economy and all.

The Kiley Cousins had a great time together. Lots of noise ensued after the hunt along with general mayhem. Cousining is a loud activity. The pictures don't do the noise justice. In fact, the pictures (thanks to Aunt Laurie who got some great shots) could imply some idyllic childhood scene instead of the pure chaos that it really was.



The Gallagher Cousins' Easter extravaganza was at Uncle Sean and Aunt Cindy's house. Missing was Papa Tom who was in the hospital fighting an E. coli infection courtesy of his earlier prostate cancer treatment. Everyone had fun but all the adults were keenly aware of his missing presence. It was so good to have our Family Easter at Sean and Cindy's so we could be close to the hospital and take turns visiting. And as always, Sean was able to capture the essence of joy in his photographs. Grandma was a trooper and the Easter Bunny, once again, made Easter a special memory for the cousins.



Easter was a small part of our visit though. I think we broke the record for the number of people visited in the short amount of time. So there is a part trois. Okay, no heavy sighs! I promise no more after that one...really.

Spring Break Hoosier Style...Part 1

Now that we're back and I'm certain no law enforcement officers are going to be showing up at my door any moment, I thought I'd share how things went. Unlike Patrick, I'm not a morning person, so mama didn't leave at four in the morning when the kids are sure to sleep for hours before they wake up somewhere in North Carolina. Oh no, I left at the sane hour of six a.m. (please acknowledge sarcasm when you read it...6 a.m. is not sane in any way) thinking they'd still be sleepy enough to knock off. But the cruel joke was played on me. This was because these kids were wide awake like daddy had secretly fed them double shots of espresso before plopping them in their booster seats and waving buh-bye to momma. Oh yeah. Not only were they wide awake in the car the minute I backed out of the drive way but they managed to start arguing by the time I pulled onto the highway. In the first fifty miles I had to pull the car over two times threatening many things that I could have never followed through with. Thank God I didn't have to blow my own cover! I think the fact that I was willing to pull the car over on the highway not once but twice in less than a hour put the fear of Mama in them. They both got very quiet....wide awake but quiet. Peace ensued. If that had not occurred it goes without saying that felonies would have.

The sun rose and we had a, cough-cough, nutritious breakfast while I continued driving. After ingesting enough carbs to put down an elephant there was serious napping in the back seat of our little Honda Civic . And, being the good safe Mama that I am I took a picture of them while driving. Yeah, that's right, get the award polished for me!

Being from "back in the day" I just gotta say, I love digital cameras! Thanks to them I know I captured the perfect picture without sacrificing anyone's life. Thank you Sony.

After lunch at a playland, I surprised them with the portable DVD player a dear friend had let me borrow for the road trip. It saved the afternoon. You see, there it is again, technology saving our lives. When we travelled as kids we didn't have anything like that to entertain us. We had to, oh - I don't know - read? Please that is so 70's. So I'm driving along and this RV passes me. Now it's not everyday I grab my camera to take a picture of an RV. But it's not every day you see the Blessed Mother airbrushed on the back of one either. Sweet ride, huh?



You'll have to take my word for it that it is Her (after all these years, I'm still capitalizing). I may have risked life and limb to get any closer to that enormous moving vehicle. This sighting came shortly after passing the twenty story high giant cross right next to the Adult XXX Store. I couldn't get a picture of that but jazer at flikr had...


He couldn't capture both in one shot, but imagine the people in the back seat looking back and saying something like, "Oh, man, I can sin and be saved in one exit!". That's how close they are to each other.

Somewhere in Kentucky the kids decided they had had enough of technology. We started actually talking to one another, singing crazy songs, and getting excited about being so close to seeing our family and friends that we had been missing something awful for what seemed too long. We were giddy.



And I've got the picture to prove it once again. Yes, we survived this one too. I have to say no more picture taking while driving occurred after this. So calm down grandparents and husband. We're all safe but not so sound at home now.

But, I did talk on the cell phone every now and then. Hey, a girl's gotta do something in that ten hour drive! I only talked on it while driving if someone called me though. Aunt Laurie called to see if we were ready for an Easter egg hunt in about two hours (we were about two hours away from their house). Hey, running around looking for plastic eggs filled with candy after being stuck in car for ten hours is a great way to stretch those muscles don't cha' think? We were up for it....

...continued in part duex.

Homage to Bakerella & her amazing Cake Pops

Forget Wilton cake decorating classes. Kiss Martha Stewart goodbye. I've found some Easter goodness that explodes on the cuteness meter. I want to introduce you to the preciousness that is Cake Pops. Cake Pops by Bakerella, I believe, might be the answer to the Middle East Conflict. It could bring down the barriers between Democrats and Republicans. It will at least make you the hit of any holiday or birthday party. The "awwww factor" with these babies is enormous.

Introducing Bakerella's Easter Cake Pops...(drumroll please)

Can you stand it?

Can you say, "Buh-bye Martha!"

And "Hello Bakerella goodness!"?

By now some of you are thinking, 'I must make these!". Well, you are in luck because she gives you a full tutorial on several different posts. I would recommend reading about her Cupcake Pops first to get a really good idea of the process. Hmmm, I wonder if while I'm visiting family there might be an opportunity for us to try our hand at these babies?

Well, what are you waiting for? Click on all these fabulous links and get your butt over to Bakerella's. She's my cuteness muse these days...Anna's birthday is gonna kick birthday butt.