A New Look

 Watch out world! Abigail has a new look - - 

and it's new, fresh, bright - - 

while being feminine and sweet --

and totally Abigail. 

And she donated her gorgeous strawberry waves to Kids with Hair Loss. 

We spent the day whole day ohhing and ahhhing over her new hair and wondering what it would look like when it was NOT blown out all slick and straight. 

I liked it even better after she washed it and let it dry - waves, flip on the ends and fun! 

So fun for her! 

Easter 2021

We celebrated Good Friday with beautiful art and Stations of the Cross at home. Scott found art from around the world - it was moving and the perfect way to 'wait' for Easter Sunday. 

Let's start with dessert, shall we? 

Yes, dessert was awesome: banana pudding cupcakes. 

Picture this: 

✨yellow cupcakes

✨hallowed out and filled with banana pudding (yum)

✨the 'frosting' was heavy cream with confectioners sugar (all whipped up til soft peaks formed) (so different than 'frosting') 

✨then a dusting of vanilla wafer cookies on top... amazing! Trust me! 

Okay, back to the morning. The girls woke up and enjoyed seeing what was in their baskets. Always so fun! 

A spring in New England can be anything really. Some days are quite warm, beautiful sunny and 70 (my favorite weather, after snow that is 😉) Easter morning was chilly but when the sun came out and it warmed up it was lovely. 

When I was a young mama I used to think that I could never find sweet things to fill a basket when they were 17 and 13 but I always do and love to bless them each year. 

Anna can't have chocolate so Munson's white chocolate for her. 

Abigail can't have dairy so non dairy 'chocolate' for her. 

And lots of other sweet things in there as well. 

There always needs to be a bit of an egg hunt. 

After eggs and baskets and all of that we participated in our regular 10:00 Mass livestream and it was wonderful. We can't wait to get back in our church one day but are grateful for the livestream. 

And then we cooked all of the last minute things. (We prepped a ton the night before) 

We decided that we wanted to serve our big Easter meal at 12:00, about an hour prep after Mass. 

This way we would still be all dressed up for our dinner and then we'd have a looooooong, cozy, afternoon and evening with all of the 'work' done. 

When it is a holiday just the four of us we always opt to eat early early early and then just enjoy relaxing the rest of the day. 

I love creating menu's and gathering recipes for brunch. 

Our brunch can't have a lot of sugar. I'm super sensitive to sugar - so lots of veggies, ham, two different kinds of homemade quiche, homemade dinner rolls, salad (and then one - but only one spectacular dessert) 

A family Easter picture around our table. (more on how I loved decorating that table back here) 

Dessert!

After dinner we were relaxing, watching The Easter Parade and doing our puzzle allllll day. It was so nice to be all done with the 'work' in the kitchen! 

The girls and I love this movie so much! 

My favorite pictures of the whole day, books, sunlight, Anna back in her cozy clothes... ahhhhh! Easter afternoon. 

Later that evening I had planned ahead to have amazing left over Easter sandwiches. I took out my bunny plates, we had egg salad, ham, swiss cheese, onion sandwiches... so so good! 

Happy Easter everyone! 

Our Easter Table

We spent Easter just the four of us. I wanted to really put a lot of thought and time into our table. I find that when there isn't company and I "don't have to" I really dig in and do even extra because I wanted to make it a really special celebration for our family. I looked for ideas online but ended up getting inspired all on my own. I found one piece at a time and really loved how it all came together. 

I chose to not do the normal spring time bunnies (yes, I still love that look) but wanted something 

R E A L L Y different for us this year. 

The photo below shows our dining room looking into the kitchen. 

We get a lot of morning sunshine in this room and I love the shadows it makes on the walls... dreamy... 

I chose to not cover the table with a table cloth. I love the look of the wood on our antique Hitchcock table. 

Hitchcock was the furniture craze of 1825. And the inventors and creators were from Connecticut. All of the furniture (best known for their chairs) was made in a factory in a small town on the river. We have visited it many times. Once for a Christmas Getaway and other times as well. (back here) (back here) (this post has my Christmas Hitchcock chair) I get a kick out of the fact that I don't follow any of the 2021 decorating crazes but I adore the decorating crazes from way back in 1825. 

When Anna first saw our Easter table when it was all done she said, "I love your Natural Classroom table". So true, ha! I've slowly transitioned my sweet fourth grade classroom into less color and more natural tones for a more peaceful environment. I suppose some of that is sweeping into our home as well. I love these natural woven large placemats. 

And I didn't use all of the flowery china that completes this set. I just wanted a Wedgewood white plate. 

I chose the pretty crystal water glasses and I used thin wooden crosses at each place setting. The ribbon I used represented the resurrection  - 

held by river stones to hold the cross to represent the stone that rolled away. 

How I love sunlight in this room and the shadows on the table and walls. The walls are a creamy white color with bright white trim - that, plus all of the wood makes me feel peaceful and happy. 

Usually Scott picks up flowers at Traders Joes for me when he goes on Thursday night after dropping Anna off at orchestra but I wanted a really specific look on the Easter table... and these from a local garden shop were just what I was looking for. 

Faux lambs ear greenery I tucked around the wooden candle base because He is the Lamb of God.

Wooden candle sticks because He was a carpenter. 

For God so loved the world ... John 3:16