"Salutations!"

It was an extra-ordinary miracle...in just over 2 months time, with most of that time only requiring Saturday rehearsals, our stake put on a wonderful musical, "Charlotte's Web." Christina hesitated to try out, so Wayne offered to try out if she would. He was cast as Fern's father, John Arable, and Christina was cast as a "townsperson/fairgoer/judge." Thomas and Grace participated as well. Thomas was a townsperson/fairgoer, and Grace was Nellie, one of Charlotte's baby spiders that arrives at the end of the show. I took Wesley and Caroline to see the 2pm matinee and we had a ball. There were quilts on the floor in front of the audience, so the little ones could sit front and center and interact with Wilbur and Lurvy. It really was a perfect show for kids and for families.

We loved seeing our 4 stars perform & stretch themselves in developing their talents...they did great & clearly had fun participating. Wayne hit some notes he didn't know he was able to during his 2 solos, Christina came across as a very discerning judge of Wilbur, Thomas obviously had a blast at the fair (& was happy to make a new friend too!), and Grace loved getting her face painted and having a few lines of her own. The little spiders' scene with Wilbur was an adorable way to end the show. I was so impressed with the caliber of performers we have in our stake, the amazing set designed by my friend, Carolyn, and how everyone really gave their best and pulled off a wonderful show for all of us to enjoy. Bravo!

"Do you want to see the miracle?"....

PS. I could listen to this song ALL DAY LONG. I love it!

Anticipating Easter

I love, love love Easter, but it drives me nuts how because it's not on a certain date it seems to come and go way too fast each year. After having Easter within a week of St. Patrick's Day last year, and feeling short-changed, I decided to get a head start decorating for Easter this year (not that I have a lot of Easter decor, in fact, this is pretty much it!). For the record, this year Easter is on April 12, so there's time to really give this special holiday the attention it deserves.......

Last year I found these ribbon-wrapped Easter eggs on clearance at Pottery Barn. Want to make them? Simply wrap grosgrain ribbon around styrofoam eggs, pinning the ribbon inconspicuously and strategically into place (or use craft glue) as you wrap the ribbon round and round the egg. It's going to take a lot of ribbon, so be on the look out for discounts at Michael's or your craft store. The ribbon hanger is simply glued down with hot glue. I know this because Wesley pulled the ribbon off of an egg and I could see the hot glue blob. Easy fix. My Easter eggs have a little ric rac and ribbon trim glued around the middle too. To display them I put some styrofoam in a glass vase & put the shredding that the eggs were packaged in around the styrofoam, and the twigs are from the backyard. We're all for re-purposing in this family. I just might make more eggs using this tutorial featuring plastic eggs and strips of fabric instead of ribbon, and throw them in this adorable basket. I'm sure I don't have time to make that basket, and probably not the eggs either, but they sure caught my eye. Here's another tutorial using double stick tape, pins, and buttons for trim. I know some little hands who would love this project....hmmm, I may just have to find some time somewhere.

Lemon Whippersnappers

Handmade Cards

I'm excited to be able to celebrate a couple of cute little tots this weekend who are dear to my heart.  I get to be their Aunt forever!  They both are close to hitting the 1 year mark...1 year of adorableness, accumulating rolls and chubby cheeks, coos, & smiles (sometimes HUGE, and always contagious).   I'm so happy to play with them this weekend (& their parents too, of coarse).

I thought I'd share the cards I made.  They are super easy if you've got some heavy cardstock, fabric scraps & a sewing machine.  For Ceseley's card I played with a "fancy" stitch, but really, these were easy peasy, impossible to mess up cards.

Give them a try!

Snow Day

So much for a spring welcome.....

Monday we got a foot of snow!  Wesley napped while I worked on a project, and Wayne took the rest of our crew sledding.  They met up with some friends at a hill in Marlborough and didn't seem to mind the hike up the hill after each sledding run because they were gone for at least 2 hours.  From what I could gather the families that went worked on a nice sledding trail, and despite a couple of kid-to-kid, and family-over-someone-else's-kid crashes, they had a ball....

OK, I've changed my mind.  We need to go sledding as a whole family and THEN all of this snow can go away 'til next winter.

And the Winner is.....

Ri!

Congratulations!

I'll drop you a note today with some order details.

***Since my "welcome, spring" post we got a good foot of snow and it's been chill to the bone cold. This IS New England, so it's not surprising, but....

Dearest Spring,

Please come soon!  I miss you & am ready for your sunshine, for green, and the pretty bulbs you bring.  We'll have great fun once you're here, I promise!