Easter Treats

Easter is not usually a big holiday for me. I suppose it was when I was a kid, though- wearing a new Easter dress, hunting for hidden eggs to place in my pretty spring basket, sifting through all the goodies the bunny brought with my sister and cousins...

That's what it's like for Lily now, and in Davidson County, where we live in NC, Easter is kind of a big deal.

For starters, Lily went to five Easter Egg hunt events this year. FIVE. We have so many plastic eggs, we could run our own county-wide hunt next year. So many jelly beans and Tootsie rolls and other junk candy resides in my house at this moment. Much will be thrown out, but not before enough is eaten to keep our dentist in business.

I think she also received about eight chocolate bunnies. EIGHT. Stop the madness!

When I stuff her eggs for the ones she finds at home on Easter morning, I do a 50-50 candy to small toy ratio. This year she got a few Shopkins, a few new collectible Lego figures, and a bunch of Jelly Bellies, the latter of which I have already eaten a good percentage of...

...Did I tell you I was pregnant? Did I tell you this little bean sprout growing inside of me has a taste for sweets and grease? Can I tell you I now understand why people have personal dietitians and life coaches???

I digress...we had a very nice Easter. Here's how it went...

Ready for the egg hunt

Bounding off the big bouncy slide

Thank goodness for cookie decorating, or mommy would've starved!

We kicked off Easter week with an egg hunt extravaganza at another local elementary school, hosted by our neighbors' church. They had bouncy rides, games to play, crafts, face-painting, and, of course, a HUGE egg hunt at the end. No food though, which left me feeling a bit disappointed...however they did have cookie decorating...

Waiting patiently at the egg hunt gates

And they're off!

Returning with her haul

So many eggs!...So many cavities!

Needless to say, Lily had a fantastic time at the Egg Hunt Extravaganza. And I was officially pooped by the end of it. The weather was gorgeous and Lily was happy, so I was happy.

During the week we (me, Grandma, and Lily, while Paul held down the fort) drove up to visit family in Virginia. My cousin and his wife had a second baby in March, so we got to meet the little nugget! Out of respect for their privacy, I won't post any pictures, but we had a lovely, drama-free time, which included lunch in town with my aunt, hiking on all the wilderness surrounding my uncle's estate, shopping for baby with Grandma, dinner and family time at my cousin's, and fun lunch and ice cream on the journey home. 

My aunt's dog, Cinnamon, ready for action

Ready for our morning hike

Old horse trailer

Loving the new kitty purse Great Grannie gifted her

"Let's go, Cinnamon!"

Easter weekend arrived and on Saturday we went to Grannie's church for another egg hunt (the two others were held at Girl Scouts and at Lily's school), along with a fun suncatcher craft, Jello treats, activities, and Bible study. We are not particularly religious, but I am fine with exposing Lily to all walks of life, spiritual paths included. She had plenty of questions about Jesus' resurrection, and I'm sure is still a little confused, and maybe now thinks that Jesus is a zombie.

Thinking about Jesus eating brains (God forgive me)

After returning from Grandma's church, we got down to our own Easter crafts and baking. We saw this cute little video for making egg spirit animals and that is all Lily wanted to do. I did not get any pics of her making them, but they are pictured below with all of our completed Easter treats. I also came across a video for Springtime Rice Krispie Nests- SUPER CUTE! -so we made those, too, along with dying our eggs this year the old-fashioned way: with food coloring, vinegar, bowls, and spoons, and not buying a kit! I also made an Orange Zest Bunny Bundt cake of my own creation, the particular kind of cake being requested by my neighbor who was hosting Easter dinner. It was a busy, fun-filled day.

Stirring the marshmallows and butter for the nests

Our baking creations and our spirit animal eggs!

Cute and tasty!

But the cake was the big hit!

It wasn't easy getting Lily to bed that night so I had to wait until way after 10 to set up her basket and for Paul to hide the eggs. I, for one, had no trouble falling asleep that night.

Lily was up with the sun Easter morning, babbling about a few of the hidden animal eggs she'd already uncovered filled with Shopkins. I was promptly dragged out of bed; Daddy, that clever bastard, went to sleep in the basement family room, so he could not be attacked first thing in the morning..!

That hair...

Ready to find some eggs...again

Jellybeans!

That sneaky daddy, I mean, Bunny hid an egg across the creek

The proud huntress with her catch

Lily was happy with her basket (pics don't lie). We got right to the egg hunt after she went through it (we got Daddy up), and then I made breakfast of scrambled eggs, bacon, pancakes, and fruit. Then it was time for church. Like I said before, we are not religious, but we knew it would make Grandna happy if we joined her at Easter service on one of the Christians' most momentous days. And the service was lovely. Good vibes were felt by all...until Grandma had a fainting spell when we went outside to continue prayer service in the sun. Luckily, an EMT was present and he helped her come back to her wits well enough that we could just take her home and not to the hospital (this time). So, the remainder of Easter was spent in bed for poor Grannie.

As soon as we got home, after getting my Grandma settled, I got to finish decorating the bunny bundt cake and putting the rice krispie nest platter together, then we went over to our neighbors' house, where their extensive family already was arriving. Easter dinner was a feast of ham, corn, broccoli salad, spring mix salad, green bean casserole, pistachio salad, and warm rolls. Lily cleaned her plate then she and all the kids dove into the bunny cake, shortly after scampering off outside to burn off all the sugar (and get covered in dirt, but whatevs).

Adding a flower to the Easter cross at church

My pretty girl

Despite Grandma not feeling too well, it was a good day. A good week. We are so grateful to be here and be able to spend it with good friends and family, even though we left so many in NJ, PA, and NY. BUT, guess what!- my mom will be here later today, so yay! Life is good...

Happy spring, ya'll!

New Year, New Post

It is 2017. So much has been going on for the past 2 months, which is why I haven’t been posting. I could go into it, but I’ll be here for a quite a while and probably lose your interest in the process. Let’s just say my grandmother returned from a disastrous trip to Washington that has now left her in more need of daily assistance than ever, and I have been her nurse maid all of late November through December. She’s getting better, now, but will unlikely ever be able to live on her own again, or even drive. Her body is just giving in to the trials and tribulations of getting old- she is 82, after all. The best way for me to put how much time and effort she required from me these past 6 weeks is to say it was like having a newborn in the house, only fortunately she can speak and I didn’t have to change any diapers.

It’s a new year now, so it’s time to get back on the ball. My real estate aspirations were shelved after realizing my time was going to be limited with Grandma’s care being a priority for a period of time, but I am back to hitting the books and will hopefully pass the State Exam to get my license in NC. I took the test prior…and failed. It was quite defeating. Turns out, North Carolina has one of the highest fail rates on their real estate exams- YAY! So, at least I got to walk away knowing it’s not just be, others have failed, too. Repeatedly. Six times, according to one broker I met. Can’t wait.

Paul is in the process of getting his bus drivers license, which is also proving to be a much more daunting and drawn-out task than we were originally lead to believe. One of us will have to start working somewhere by the end of the month if things don’t start moving faster soon.

Lily continues to thrive and she is now a Daisy (Girl Scout) and recently earned her first yellow stripe in Kung Fu! I have also been taking adult classes 3-4 times a month, which has been a lot more awesome than I ever expected. I hope to boost it to 6-8 classes a month soon, but for now, that is all my time/finances will allow.

Proud Daisy the night she was officially added as a member

The adjustment to Carolina living continues, and I’m finding out about all kinds of political strife and undeveloped social acceptance in this state I used to just consider beautiful and easy-going. They are living in the past in so many ways, and just not very open-minded and ethical at all. Really sad, but, I can’t worry about that right now. We have made this commitment, and we are sticking to it. We still love where we live and the quality of life still tops NJ, so we ain’t heading over yonder jus’ yet!

We had an awesome Halloween, which i really wish I had posted about because we took a trip to Old Salem for their Halloween event, and i got a lot of great pics. Here's one of Lily in front of a haunted house:

She went as Mulan !!!

Thanksgiving was crazy, but fun. We had between 10-15 visiting for a week during that holiday, and it was tolling on all of us, but worth every second. It was especially nice having loved ones with me for my birthday, which was on November 26. Christmas was quiet, but I was stressed anyway, mainly because of all the other things I had teetering on my plate. I have shed all of that which was dragging me down as I stepped into this new year, so I am doing my best to keep my head up, stay focused, and continue to do what is best for me and my family. What else can I do, really?

One thing is, I am really starting to miss my friends. This was the first NYE that I did not receive a single call or text from anyone at midnight. However, I did receive a few calls and texts earlier in the day, but not right at midnight. I know it is actually because most of my friends and family were sleeping already (we getting old!), but I couldn’t help but make this sad observation. It’s not like I called or texted anyone myself, and I would’ve slept through the ball drop as well had Paul not woken me, so this may just be the norm now. We’re in our thirties and can’t be bothered to stay up until midnight. I think a lot of people were sick, too. Lily had a stomach bug most of the day on New Year’s Eve, so we weren’t about to do anything too exciting.

Still, noticing this change- the lack of a social life, that is –is a bit disheartening. I hope it changes soon, and I know it will. Once I get back to work it will. At least I have Toastmasters and Kung Fu to fill in those spaces when I feel as if I am about to burst from just the thought of having no one but Grandma and Paul to talk to most of the time. I feel despicable and ungrateful just stating that, but I can’t help how I feel. I was always on the go back in the tri-state. Now I am just a homebody. Not really for me, but I have to remember I can make changes and control that if I really want to. I just know Grandma needs me, but she’s getting better. Everything will get better and be wonderful once again.

Also, I will try and post more. It’s therapeutic.

Shots from Christmas...