my blessed life

My "chocolate" bunny has finally come out of storage!  My kiddos were beginning to think I'd stopped decorating for the holidays (the Valentine's Day box never came out this year) .   I have been busy planning for our Easter weekend.  My family is coming back into town (yea!) and I'm so glad because I love our family Easter dinners together.  I've been having so much fun planning our meals for this weekend.  Apparently Easter dinner was just what I needed to jump-start my menu planning because I've been in a major slump in that area.  It's going to be a yummy weekend this year! Easter Sunday Dinner ***** Deviled Eggs Sesame Almond Salad ***** Grilled Chicken Mashed Potatoes Roasted Asparagus Roasted Carrots Homemade Bread ***** Carrot Cake Cupcakes Strawberry Cream Pie Birds Nests Do you have big plans for this weekend?

Yes, we are still schooling this week.  My kiddos won't get their Spring Break for a couple more weeks. However, we are taking it easy this week.  We ALL have Spring Fever!  Plus there's just a lot going on right now in preparation for the Easter weekend.  So I decided to cut out our regular school schedule. We are instead focusing on some really cool review products this week.  The great thing is that these products cover Bible, science, history, math and writing!  How awesome is that? So in between playing in the treehouse, with our puppy and just enjoying the beautiful weather in general, we are having more fun than usual in our homeschool this week.  Whoo hoo!!

Actually, I'm going to try to make a 2-week plan for the first time.  My hope is this will cut down on grocery shopping some--and maybe even save some $$--and also cut down on some stress for me. Monday {Apr 2} ~Co-op classes ~Dinner: Tuna Cornbread Cakes ,  Macaroni & Cheese , and Roasted Asparagus Tuesday {Apr 3} ~Homeschool ~Dinner: Creamy Spring Pasta Wednesday {Apr 4} ~Homeschool ~Library field trip ~Girl Scout meeting ~Dinner: Quiche and Salad Thursday {Apr 5} ~Homeschool ~My parents and sister come for the weekend ~Dinner: Spaghetti & Meatballs Friday {Apr 6} ~Homeschool ~Dinner: BBQ Beef Sandwiches and twice-baked potatoes ~ Worship Team practice Saturday {Apr 7} ~Lowe's Build & Grow ~Easter Eggstravaganza at church ~Dinner: Rotisserie Chicken w/ white sauce , baked beans and potato salad Sunday {Apr 8} ~ Easter Sunday! ~Easter Luncheon at home:   Deviled Eggs, Sesame Almond Salad , Garlic-Lime Chicken, Make-Ahea...

We are having beautiful spring weather here!   And it's hard to stay inside and stay focused on schoolwork. So we're making the most of our spring fever... yesterday school was done in our not-quite-finished treehouse. How do you handle your spring fever?  

Well, apparently I DO live in the bowling ball capitol of the world!  We are home to Ebonite International which produces 1,000,000 bowling balls a year.  Yep, a million!   Our homeschool group took a tour there this past Friday and it was SO MUCH FUN!  Really one of the best field trips we've taken.  Ebonite went above and beyond in their tour--they were well-organized, interesting and it was just the right length of time: not to short and not too long:)  (Mr. B holding a cup of the *plastic cement* that forms the core of a bowling ball) We got to see the process of making a bowling ball from start to finish...and I must say it was incredibly interesting!  I had no idea the amount of engineering that goes into creating one.  It's quite a scientific process!   ( our great tour guide, Brian) For instance, did you know that a bowling ball must be designed off-balance?  This way it will be in-balance when they dr...

 Can't believe my sweet girl turned 9 today!  I am so proud of the amazing young lady she is growing into! We had a lot of fun celebrating with her today.  Here are some of the moments that I captured: She wanted breakfast in bed...even though she was already up & dressed:) She woke up to find a ceiling fan in her room--the exact one she's been wanting from Lowe's! We spent the morning on a very cool field trip to Ebonite International learning how bowling balls are made. She chose to have her special birthday lunch with Nana & Papi at Logan's (she loves those peanuts!). I love this {rare} loving moment between brother and sister (he was almost as excited about her birthday as she was!). Her birthday "loot";) She requested finger sandwiches for her birthday party with her girlfriends so we had chicken salad and cucumber. She also requested these pink meringues. This was her birthday cake request: yellow...

I have been meaning to show you this room for months now...and it just hasn't happened.  Every time I thought to take pictures some part of the room would be a mess, you know?  But this week I finally got pictures! First of all we have to start with these gorgeous old doors: When we moved at the end of last summer we had sold our four-poster bed beforehand, wanting to buy something different that wasn't so difficult to maneuver around ceiling fans.  After shopping around and not finding anything that 1.)was in our budget or 2.) wasn't backordered for months, I told Vince I wanted to do something totally different.  I wanted to upcycle something old for a headboard.  He wasn't so sure when I started rambling about things like old doors or wrought iron gates, but the next week he was driving by our favorite *junk* store and saw this pair of doors.  We snatched them right up! Look at these beautiful door knobs on them!  And the keyholes...so pret...