Easter Fun

We enjoyed a beautiful Easter Sunday with both of our daughters and their families.  We attended their church with them, and enjoyed the beautiful music with orchestra that their large church enjoys.  We left church to the wonderful song "Oh Happy Day" ~ wasn't that perfect to dance your way out of church on Easter ~ the happiest day of all!?!

We had our big meal last Sunday, so this was just a simple Easter brunch, served in the kitchen with the everyday dishes.  But still springy and fun.  I notice that I cut off the pitcher of yellow tulips that tied this whole table together ~ photographer I am not!

But, before we could sit down, we headed out to search for some Easter treats.  The bunny is very careful to leave each child their own color eggs, it makes the hunt last a little longer and makes it fair for our littlest hunter.


Cooper spots a pink one, and I caught him yelling for Elizabeth!

Grandpa helps Jackson search for his orange eggs, his were filled with bunny crackers.

We ended our egg hunt with cascarones.  I have never seen these anywhere we have lived, except Texas.  It is a Mexican tradition, I think, of coloring real eggs and filling them with confetti.  I bought a dozen for each child {big ones too} and they had fun cracking them on each others heads.  Silly fun, the kind that I hope memories are made of.

Colorful fun.

I hope your Easter was filled with blessings and the joy of family celebrating the gift of the Risen Lord.

So Sweet

On Palm Sunday we went to church as a family at our daughters' church.  They go to a large church and we had the whole big production, complete with Jesus riding on a donkey.  

They all came here after for dinner and Easter baskets.  

Cooper and Jackson

They made some cute bunny cookies for the cousins.

Attempting to get a group shot.  It's always pretty funny to see the results.

Jackson just wanted to get away!

They had to hunt for their baskets from Grandma and Grandpa.  I always put these silly lip suckers in their baskets.

And ~ another favorite basket treat is silly string.  Hmm, don't know if that's the smartest thing when they are all dressed up in their Easter finery!  They had fun though.

Wishing all of my blogging friends a very blessed Easter.

A Little Bit of Easter

I finally put a few little things out for Easter.  I have never decorated much for Easter, I think in part because I have always decorated my house in some shade of red and green, and the pastels of most spring decor just don't look that great in my house.

But, I can't let the holiday pass completely undecorated!  So here are a few little touches found around the house.

An arrangement that I have had forever, with my 2 favorite spring color combos ~ yellow and purple.  

                            

  Love the little bird nest, and my little birds {from Nell Hill's} that sit out most of the time.

The little table that acts as an entry hall table near my stairs.  

I love this little needlepoint pillow with the sweet ball fringe.

I put a real ivy in a yellow pot.  I'm trying to substitute real greenery for some of my faux.  I know you aren't supposed to use the fake, but I have the worst luck with real plants.  I put out 3 real ivy's and 1 fern and am down to 2 ivys.  I know I will continue with the faux, I just go through this phase every now and then when I have to give the real a chance!  

 Sweet little bunny plate.  I bought 3 of these a few years ago at Ross and have looked for more for the last 3 years.  I check TJMaxx and Home Goods frequently but never see them anymore. :-(

The guest bath gets a thing or 2.

                            Easter egg soap for the grands.

I love oil paintings, and this little one of bunnies is especially sweet.  It has several different homes, but I thought for now I'd hang it here.

A narrow shot of a chair in the family room with its new needlepoint pillow.  

The other chair has a new similar pillow ~ love them both, and they will be staying out all summer.  They look great with my colors in the family room.  I found the pillows when my sister and I got out shopping for a bit a few weeks ago.  She got a pillow too, and we both got the little black and white bunny you see perched on the red books.  He is spotted, but I didn't get a very good picture of him I guess.

This little guy is on the same table, facing the door ~ and he holds treats for my 4 little visitors.  I have to get the colors just right you know.  Pink for Elizabeth, Cooper's favorite color is green, Ben has decided on green too, and Jackson gets the left over color!!

I am joining Marty at A Stroll Thru Life for my very first Tabletop Tuesday.  I do Bible study on Monday nights and always get home so late, but I've always wanted to join in the fun.

Also joining Kim at Savvy Southern Style for Wow us Wednesday.

The Hills Are Alive

This very famous song runs through my head every spring when the wildflowers appear.

We live next to a "pond" that provides my grandchildren with ducks to feed, fish to catch, and it provides Bob and me with the soothing sounds of the fountain {lit at night} and the occasional "creature".

We do love it.

Especially when you remember we are from the Land of 1o,ooo Lakes and are now living in a semi arid climate, this little dab of water is a very welcome view!

But I never love it more than April when the wildflowers appear.  I am sad to say I don't know any of their names, except for the bluebonnets, and they are on the opposite bank.  I will learn though ~ promise.

 I know these pictures are kind of far away and only give you a glimpse, but today was just a beautiful day, and I had to take a couple of pictures.  I was luckily housebound today, and had to take a book and sit on my patio and stare at this ~ poor me!!  It was delightful.

 Then, this afternoon I had to make a quick trip to pick up a kindergarten girl and take her for ice cream. She can't possibly be 6 years old!  But she is.


                      Where did this baby go so quickly?

 She's still my baby girl, but they grow up even faster than your own kids did!


                               Happy Birthday Elizabeth!!


                                       You are so loved. 

Parade of Homes

 Andy at Poppies at Play is hosting a Parade of Homes.  That is always one of my favorite weekend activities ~ visiting model homes in our area.  My sister and family were just here for a visit and we managed to visit a few.  So much fun, although it sometimes makes me want to sell everything I own and start all over!! lol


How fun to be able to visit a Parade of Homes in my pj's with coffee in hand.  This is a great idea ~ thanks Andy!


*I also decided to link to Sherry @ No Minimalist Here for her Open House party.  That's always a fun party too!


So, grab your cup of coffee and come on in!


We live in Texas, land of the brick and stone homes.  

We don't have a formal entry hall, this is your front door greeting.

The dining room is to your right as you enter and the living room is to your left.

Down the hall, sharing the see through fireplace with the living room is our library.  It is very small and cozy.

Our guest room is at the end of the front hall.  It has an attached bath, that also serves as the guest bath for our main level.

The only non Christmas picture of our bedroom I could find!  Probably because there tends to be an ironing board front and center more often than I would like to admit.

Upstairs, the previous owners turned a 5th bedroom into a theater room.  We changed out the carpet and painted.  The color is not quite right in this picture, it is not as orange as it appears.

 This is the grandchildren's favorite spot ~ candy counter!

 This room has an attached bath.

Under the back stairs in our house is a wonderful deep closet.  I am sure you could store all manner of wonderful things in it, but its convenient location right next to our family room made it perfect for storing games and toys for the grands.

At the back of the closet, we hung a cafe rod and curtains to make a wonderful hiding place.  I wanted our home to have several areas where the grandchildren would love to play.

Here is another grandchildren spot.  Our sweet little play house in the woods.  { our woods are technically 4 trees clumped together ~lol}

And our newest addition and very favorite spot to sit and relax.

So, there you have it.  You have probably realized that the one room that we actually live in ~ the kitchen/family room is absent from these pics.  I don't have any old pictures to share, and the room currently has several shades of green "auditioning" on the walls, and I am in the midst of cabinet and pantry cleaning so no current pictures can be taken!  I will confess that this is the space that gives me the most trouble too ~ with furniture placement, paint, etc.  It will take a blog post all of its own!

I want to thank Andy for hosting and encourage you to pop over and check out the other homes in the parade.

Thank you for stopping by.