Actually there hasn't been too much excitement around here as far as any house/DIY projects go. We've been on a spending freeze (more on that in another post). I would say we've actually acquired "hermit" like tendancies by simply just enjoying the sunny days in the comfort of our own home. We spend most days lounging around on our three season deck (yes even when its raining out):
2hottys been golfing as much as he possibly can squeeze in, and I've been just bummin/dreamin about vacation/pinning inspiration/ and really anything else that has to do with being unproductive. Ya.....so ultimately a whole lotta nothin goin on! (I will try to get around and post my March highlights whenever I can, but I make no promises....I can promise you that. HA!)
Speaking of lounging around and enjoying sunny days, I wanted to share our Easter weekend......you know before it gets to be Memorial Day weekend and nobody really cares what I have to say about bunnies, nephews, and/or Polish sausage (and not in any particular order). :-) We received a special treat from the Easter bunny this year when this little birthday boy payed us a visit:
Yup that is my little (actually he aint so lil anymore) cutey patootie nephew, Nathanial, who just happened to turn the big ONE year old the week before Easter. His birthday was sock monkey themed and super duper adorable! Needless to say we couldn't wait to make the three hour trip to Illinois just so we could party our socks off (no pun intended!) with him! Before I get to Easter highlights I wanted to show a few pictures from his birthday. Because no party is complete without me DIY somthin outta somethin (if you know me you would understand). :-) I made Nathaniel his birthday hat and banner:
You can see the stuffed sock monkey wearing the DIY birthday hat in the picture below:
I found a great tutorial to follow that showed me how to make these fun birthday hats on this BLOG (I simply just searched "sock monkey parties" on my beloved Pinterest acount.) Here is the hat she created (and I so shamefullylessly copied):
The banner was just a yarn wreath I quickly came up using a mini wreath form and some red and cream colored yarn. I also made fun yarn pom poms to add to the garland and the number 'one' (I just cut out the number out of cardboard and wrapped it with some more yarn) to tie in with the theme! I am nothing if not milking a theme until its bone dry!!! (I don't really think that meant a whole Lotta sense but......ya. HA!
You can sorta see it in the picture below (top left):
Don't all of the treats look yummy! Can't have a monkey party without bananas because that would be well.......bananas (it's bananas....B-A-N-A-N-A-S.....sorry love me some Gwen Stefani!!). I'm not sure how the the life savers were suppose to tie in (maybe they were meant for the parents! :-)
Lucky for Nathaniel.....he survived his first year with the two people raising him......AKA my brother and SIL.......more specifically my brother. HAHA!!!! I'm totally joking......my brother and sister-in-law have done/are continuing to do such a beautiful and wonderful job when it comes to raising my precious little munchkin Natey Nate and I am totally taking mental notes when it comes time to having a little cupcake of my own. :-) Great job guys, you totally rock at it and make it look so dang easy.
Speaking of his parents......lets take a peek at the Easter highlights shall we. Here they are all dressed up, getting ready to bless the Easter baskets Saturday afternoon:
Blessing of the baskets is one of our Easter traditions that we do every single year. My mom fills it up with yummy food that will be eaten for breakfast Easter morning. Food such as Polish sausage, dyed hard boiled eggs, a round loaf of bread, lamb butter (Mmmm my favorite), chocolates, mini babkas (cake), and other things I'm sure I'm forgetting......get filled in a beautifully decorated basket. On Saturday morning we take the basket full of yummy treats to church and set it up in front of the alter (along with hundreds of other beautifully decorated baskets) for the priest to come around and bless with holy water. Its a tradition that I look forward to every year (except for this year...shucks... because I unfortunately had to work so that I could bring home the bacon.....er um or in my case the Polish sausage. HA!) and cannot wait to pass these same traditions along to any future mini 2hottys. :-)
Speaking of little 2hottys......Here is me and my little 2hotty after Easter mass dressed in our Sunday best:
I totally forgot to bring along "Mr.Sexy Canon".... AKA my camera. I know GASP! But lucky for me I have a SIL who just so happens to be a PRO!! Ya I know. YAY for beautiful "EDITED" pictures!! Holla!
We had such beautiful weather too. It was wee bit chilly, but the sun was shining bright and more importantly we did not get any rain!! Alleluia to that.
Another pic of us and a picture of my parents AKA proud grandparents with their ray of sunshine:
Check out those chubby wubby pinchable cheeks this guy has (and NO I'm not talkin about my dad, Frank the Tank. HA!) And if you think his cheeks are squishy cute, you should see his squishable thighs. He must get that from his aunt (although his are much MUCH cuter and mine well they could really lay off the chips and brownies!):
If you think his grandparents are gaga over Nathaniel..... you should see him with Uncle Scott:
Just makes my heart want to burst (and maybe even my uterus! HA!) with how much I adore seeing 2hotty with him (actually with any child). He will make such a wonderful daddy one day!! Tear.
After Easter breakfast (our belly's were full as can be......my mom did not dissapoint...as always), 2hotty and I headed back home so we could set up for Easter dinner. This year we were the ones hosting it and my wonderful mother-in-law was the one cooking it!! Yup that is right.......I did NOT have to do one bit of COOKING this year (actually I've never had to any Easter cooking......EVER!). Yes I know I have the bestest MIL in the world (sorry you can't have her so don't you dare try!) who still treats us as her little kids and not only cooks us the whole entire meal, but also brings over a basket full of goodies (that I'm sure my thunder thighs lurve her for!) just like the Easter bunny once did when we were younger. I know BANANAS right?!?!
Check out how cute these cookies are:
Oh and who could forget my FIL, D, who is also is the bestest! He gifted us his "like new" riding lawn mower so we didn't have to shell out the extra moolah this year (they are dang expensive), especially after having to replace our washer machine that wimped out on us last month (ya more on that in another post!). We are so GRATEFUL and will definately work for it in anyway they please. Can someone say "deck staining" like pronto. HA! It's a John Deere kinda like the one Nate-Dog is sporting below:
I actually decorated the house really REALLY late this year. Like I said I cannot get my life together right now. Its a hot mess. I think I went to JoAnnes on Good Friday quick after work to pick up some fake flowers to make my house look more "springy":
I just popped them in my large glass vase that I'm sure you've seen so many times before. I've used it to hold branches and ornaments for a Christmas centerpiece and also burlaped it for my Valentines Day centerpiece. And now here for an Easter display:
A wine table (using this for now until I can find something better) holds my holiday decor. It's the first thing my guests see when they walk in. (It's actually more as a distraction in hopes they wont notice my messy kitchen. hehe.) Ultimately I would like a wooden table with drawers (hello can you say storage) bur for now it works just fine. Oh and the candle holder thingy is a thrift store find. I wasn't going to get it at first but I'm glad I did.....it works so nicely in this space:
Besides the flowers I didn't really have to purchase anything:
I filled some candle votive holders with dried split peas for a more natural "springy" feel. It brings in a pop of color in a more subtle way. My little bird also finds his way into all of my holiday displays some where.....some how:
Free printable art/quotes are my "go to" when it comes to jazzing up a holiday display. It's fast and cheap (just the way I like em...haha!) and I just love the beautiful wording on this one:
As far as the table scape goes.......it was done in a hot minute and on a dime!
I wish I would've taken a picture when the whole table was set but I unfortunately did not think of it until it was too late. Bad blogger....BAD!!! Here is what it looked like more or less (now times that by five. HA!):
I added just a few things purchased at various times during trips to the thrift store, craft store, and grocery store and put them all out on display at the middle of the table.
The basket filled with eggs turned out pretty cute.....I likey. I found the basket at a local thrift store for a couple bucks and filled it with some newspaper to add height (because I wanted to fill it with eggs). To cover up the newspaper I covered the top with moss (found at Joann's) and added a bunch of fake speckled (freckled?) colored eggs:
(The colors of the eggs are washed out in the pictures below but they were mainly neutral colors with a few turquoise ones mixed in.)
The white ceramic bunny was also a thrift store score (it was 2 dollhairs) and I think he so cute (reminded me of something similar I remember seeing from a PB catalog!) and the hand painted egg I bought at a grocery in Illinois when we were visiting for Mr. Nates birthday.
As far as the place setting I just kept it simple with a pop of color using everything I already owned:
Actually my sister-in-law was in aww of where I shop for all of my stuff. I buy mostly everything on sale (like major sales)!! I bought the white plates at Walmart (they were seventy-five percent off after Christmas), the yellow plates were from World Market (bought on clearance after Thanksgiving), the napkins were from Tar-jay (again on a super sale), and the napkin rings I purchased at Goodwill (got a whole bag of them for a buck....nuf' said!). So bottom line I bargain (I mean like BARGAIN) shop but I try to get pieces I can interchange year round and that don't skimp out on style and cuteness.....know what I mean?!?! I don't want to just buy something because it was ninety percent off or somthing crazy like that (well maybe I would if it was ninety percent off...HA...but you get what I mean!):
So ya besides stuffing my face with yummy treats and ham we had an pretty layed back family filled weekend. Just look at this deliciousness.......there's nothin I enjoy more than my mammas homemade bakin and cookin:
(I am so salivating all over my laptop right now!)
Oh BTW I think I have started quite the
Please let me introduce to you Mr. T.....my new sugar bowl I found at a local kitchen boutique just a few weeks ago. I love him......isn't he so cute?!?!:
So wow that's a wrap!! Holy cow I forgot how much I miss posting and documenting. Sigh! I'm going to try and figure out how I can keep a consistant schedule but in the mean time tell me "how was your Easter weekend?!?!" Did you eat tons and tons......like I did?!?! Theres nothing like eating Easter breakfast at my parents house every year......so nostolgic to me!! Anyone procrastinate with holiday decore (that is my middle name after all)?!?! Lets talk.....I miss you guys!
xoxo Joanna D.
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