click on

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Happy Friday, lovelies. I hope you have a fantastic weekend. Here are a few links to tickle your fancy…

  • Attention, knitters! Calling all cherry lovers! And a special shout out to all expecting Mamas! All 3? Woah. You will totally flip over how ridiculously cute this pattern is. I swear I could feel my baby kicking just by looking at it. And I don’t even knit! Or know the gender. So yeah, click on.
  • Thinking of mowing down those dandelions? Stop! Make dandelion jelly.
  • Not sure what to do with all that dandelion jelly you just made? Dandelion macarons, silly.
  • Excited about asparagus season? Kick it off with this delicious easy-peasy asparagus frittata. You won’t be sorry.
  • I love when people do something special to mark a baby’s amazing changes month-by-month, don’t you?
  • I’m also amazed when people with a lot of kids (6!) find ways to make each child’s birthday special. Check out the balloon garland!
What blew your skirt up this week, lovelies? Send me a link.
XO ash

Mom love

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We zipped on downstate this past weekend to visit with my Mom and a bit with my Grandma too for Mother’s Day. In addition to lots of Mom love, we were blessed with gorgeous spring weather (no coats!) and a virtual feast for the eyes: all the flowering trees were in full bloom. Fields of endless dandelions. Tulips, tulips and more tulips. Absolutely lovely.

Poor Chris was sick with a yucky cold AND pink eye so he wasn’t in the best of spirits, but somehow he managed to tackle a huge project for meine Mutti, for which I know she is incredibly grateful. It sure helps to have a handy son-in-law!

Speaking (err, writing) of meine Mutti, she just hasn’t changed. Check out this photo of her from about 30 (!) years ago and then today. Amazing!

And Grandma! Isn’t she just adorable? Almost 90 and she was in a pretty darn joyful mood because the Tigers had a no-hitter on Saturday. Woot woot! And she got to snuggle with the little birdie for a bit. A rare treat with the squirmy little lady.

I’m so very grateful to be a Mom. There was a time when I didn’t think I would be able to have children and I feel so blessed to have a happy, healthy, beautiful, funny, feisty daughter. And even more blessed to be expecting another child this year. I love this precious, exhausting, wonder-filled time as a Mom, even though there are moments when I just want to punch out at the end of my shift. No such thing…!

To all the Mamas out there, thank you for all that you do to make the world go ’round. We all live in a better world because of the tireless work you do. XO

that kind of week

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Murphy’s Law of Parenting #359 says that as soon as you take your focus off of your toddler to clean something in the other room, the child will create another mess for you to clean up. Sigh.

How’s your week going, lovelies?

p.s. “They” say the ability to draw straight lines and not just scribbles is a developmental milestone so, yeah. There’s that.

a squirrely game

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Have you seen this squirrely game? Too cute, right?! For ages 3-5 and runs about $20. I know a few wee (and big) ones who just might really like this… do you like to play games in your nest? Does this look like too many small parts to keep track of to you? Feels like we’re just coming out of the game-playing season and into the running through the sprinkler season, but perfect for next Christmas! Bookmarked.

the wedding

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This morning, I woke up at 3:30 a.m. to head to the State Theatre for a live broadcast of THE wedding. Along with about 500 other people! I had a blast.
Here are a few thoughts on the big wedding…

  • Pippa stole the show. That dress? Gorgeous. I’m a bit concerned about her tan though…
  • The Queen looked just darling in yellow, didn’t she? I wanted to squeeze her soft, fleshy arms and give her a big hug, but I think that might be frowned upon.
  • I love scones with strawberry jam. And earl grey tea. And mini cornish pasties. And mimosas.
  • This inescapable urge to wear hats more often just won’t go away.
  • Harry is a lot cuter than William. And I feel a bit sorry for William. Losing his hair before age 30? Yikes!
  • My favorite part? Hearing William and Kate’s voices while exchanging their vows. I’m not sure I breathed. It really WAS just like a movie.
  • My prediction for the most popular baby names for 2011-2012? Pippa, Kate, Will.
  • I guess I’m a sucker for tradition, pomp & circumstance. Didn’t even know it!
  • Wondering how heavy those big black hats are that the Buckingham Palace guards wear? And how do you store one of those when you’re not wearing it?
  • It goes without saying (err, writing too) that Kate looked absolutely stunning. Although I think the eyeliner was a bit too heavy.
  • The music was beautiful – I just love those boy choirs. But I was concerned that so many of the young boys were already wearing glasses. What’s up with the British eyesight?!
  • I got to sit next to a real live princess: Baby Margo! I’m so glad my good friend, Kristen, invited me to go. What a memorable event!
They are just too cute, right?! And at 3:45 a.m. too!
Did you watch the wedding, lovelies? What did you think? Is this all just ridiculous? Yes, a bit. But it’s fun, no?!

wonders of Easter

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We had such a wonderful Easter this year. It was sunny and felt so springy. New life! We spent most of the day outside when we weren’t eating one of our decadent meals or chomping on chocolate bunnies. The weekend was full of wonder for the little birdie (and us!), beginning with a real bunny sighting in our backyard on Saturday morning. Bunny!!!! Another highlight: Peeps? This is really a food? I just love the expression on her face below. Classic.

We also colored eggs this year using the simple McCormick food colors and the colors came out beautifully vibrant on the white eggs and deep and earthy on the brown eggs. It had never occurred to me that I could even use simple food coloring. Until I saw some beautiful pics over on Not Martha and wondered how she could achieve those amazing colors. Food coloring, duh! Last year I tried doing all-natural vegetable dyes and they came out all blah. Throw some “safe” chemicals at ’em and voila!

But wait, there’s more.

Magic seeds! We started a new tradition this year that we borrowed from my sister-in-law’s family. The day before Easter we planted “magic seeds” all over the lawn. We used grass seed, as I had plenty on hand from my egg cup project.  We checked on them several times over the course of the afternoon and evening and made sure to also say goodnight to them before bed. In the morning, we went outside to check on them and the seeds had bloomed (boom!!! says the birdie) into 200 Dum-Dum suckers!

And a little costume change for the afternoon… a pretty little Easter dress. Piddy dess!!! Oh, and another sucker. That would probably be number 6 for the day?

How was your Easter, lovelies? Full of hope, renewal and chocolate bunnies?! And a few sugar-fueled meltdowns to round out the day? What are some of your favorite Easter traditions? Will you send me a picture or a link, or share a story with my readers in the comments section? Please and thank you!

‘dama’s Snow Bunny

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Wren just adores her ‘dama Judy. They do such fun things together every week, like going for walks to Morsels, Wren’s favorite place, and making a snow bunny! We’ve already lost a lot of snow from earlier in the week, but there was plenty of wet snow left for making a snow bunny. Isn’t it adorable? I didn’t feel much like sculpting anything else with snow this year. I just wanted to sit inside, read books and eat popcorn. Thank goodness for ‘dama Judy! We feel very blessed that we have family who live nearby and take such an active interest in the little birdie’s development as a snow sculptor.