The Adventure Starts Here: Easter

Showing posts with label Easter. Show all posts

Tuesday, March 21, 2017

Decorating for Easter

With Easter less than a month away, I thought it was time to decorate the house for Easter. I have to admit it felt a little strange pulling out all my bunnies, eggs, and pastels when there's still snow on the ground. But I figure why not make it feel more like Spring, even if it's only on the inside. And the best part is, after Easter is over, I can remove the bunny and egg decorations and still have some really pretty decor perfect for all of Spring.

Last year I shared how I decorated for Easter, and honestly, most of it is the same. I added a few new pieces and moved some things around, but the general feeling of it all is the same. When we first moved into our house I was experimenting with what I liked and was constantly on the search for new decor. But now I'm pretty happy with what I have and don't feel the need to switch it up every year. And Chris is thrilled since it means I'm spending less money ;)

When decorating for any holiday, I usually stick with the living room and dining room and add a wreath to the front door. First up is the living room. When we lived in an apartment I couldn't wait to have a fireplace. Not because I wanted to sit by a roaring fire (we have never used this one for it's real purpose), but because I was desperate to decorate a mantel. And I'm happy to report that I still love switching up my mantel decor based on the holiday/season. Just like last year, I hung my egg garland, put up my blue candles and pots of fake grass. But this year, I switched out the vases for these pink ones I got for my birthday last year. I love how the pinks and blues from the garland are repeated in the candles and vases.

metal pots and fake grass
candles (Target) | candlesticks (Home Goods) | garland (old Pottery Barn Kids) | vases (old Crate & Barrel)

Over the years, we've collected quite a few stuffed bunnies. They really are the perfect addition to an Easter basket. Many of these are from Pottery Barn Kids, but the Jellycat bunnies are some of my favorite... and softest! While we don't keep them out year round, I love pulling out these super soft stuffed bunnies (and sheep), and displaying them as some kid friendly "decor".

As for our dining room, I kept with my favorite decorating formula. Since we use our table for much more than dining (think game boards, puzzles, and Lego making), I prefer not to "set the table". Instead, I cover the table with a seasonally appropriate runner and add my new favorite gold tray filled with pretty decorative accessories as well as the necessities, like a box of tissues (cause Noah always seems to have a runny nose when we are in the middle of a game!).

I've had this bunny candy dish for years and love filling it up each year. It must be a popular item, because Pottery Barn still carries it at least 6 years later! I'm actually shocked I haven't picked up any Easter candy yet... I definitely plan to remedy that situation as soon as possible! And can we talk about this runner!?! Another gift for my birthday last year that I was so happy to take out this Spring. I love the delicate material, but my favorite part is definitely the beautiful floral print.

gold tray | bunny candy dish | runner (old Crate & Barrel)

Another repeat decor item is my cake stand topped with a nest of eggs. If you'd like to make your own, I shared exactly how I made mine in last year's post. And if you are extra crafty, you could even paint your own eggs!

placemats - Ikea | cake stand and bunny - Home Goods

Another piece of decor that I bought last year is this pink wreath. I knew it had faded when I was putting it away last year, but I didn't realize how much until I compared these photos side by side. While I love the amount of sunlight our house gets (especially for indoor photography reasons), I have a real problem with fading wreaths. My boxwood wreath looks so horrible after one year that I am embarrassed to use it again. While I love how vibrant this pink wreath was when I bought it, at least this one looks like it could have been light pink all along. I wonder what it will look like by next year!?!

Here's the blinding sun I was talking about...

Do you decorate for Easter???

*affiliate links may be used, please see my disclosure.

Beth at Our Pretty Little Girls | Pinterest | Facebook | Instagram

Crystal at Hall Around Texas | Pinterest | Facebook | Instagram

Stephanie at Wife Mommy Me | Pinterest | Facebook | Instagram

Tina at Go Big or Go Home | Pinterest | Facebook | Instagram

Whitney at Polka-Dotty Place | Pinterest | Facebook | Instagram

An InLinkz Link-up

Monday, March 28, 2016

Easter 2016

scarf | shirt | jacket | jeans | shoes

Noah's shirt | jacket | jeans

Easter weekend. I feel like we went full speed for three days... to say I'm exhausted is an understatement. It's been a few years since my brother and his family have come down for the holiday weekend. Since we only see them a few times a year, whenever we get together with them, we plan a lot of fun activities to do with the kids. And holidays always seem to add to the itinerary. They arrived late Thursday night and we spent all day Friday and Saturday doing lots of fun Easter themed activities. The Easter bunny "visited" my parents' house on Friday when we were at lunch (my mom stayed back). As usual, my mom went a little overboard and got so many cool things for the kids. In addition to a basket filled with chocolate and little Easter themed goodies, they got a few larger gifts. Noah's 5 year old cousin got lots of Legos (his current obsession), his 3 year old cousin got the Air Patroller and a few Air Pups (Rocky & Zuma), and Noah got a few Miles toys (Legos and spaceship) and a new Transformer. The living room looked like a bomb went off (or like Christmas morning) after they were done opening their baskets. It's definitely more chaotic when the four cousins are together... very different than Noah's normal only child life!

baskets | liners (teal, plaid)

One of the things I love to observe is how much Noah likes to play with his cousins. Noah's cousin who is his age is very independent and often likes to play on his own. But Noah's older cousins (5 and 8) are quite happy for Noah to follow them around. When we first went over to my parents' house on Friday morning, Noah was a little shy, but as soon as Kaitlyn asked if he wanted to play, he went off and never left her side. It was so cute to see him show her his Transformers and her read him a book. Later that day we went to the Bounce Factory, and while Noah wasn't as physically able as his cousins, he was very eager to try. He was constantly asking where Matthew was so that he could follow.

On Saturday, we had a very busy Easter filled day. We went to two egg hunts, one at Noah's school in the morning and another with our MOMS Club in the afternoon. We really lucked out with the weather. Even though it only made it to the mid 50s, the sun was out and it was a beautiful day... especially since Easter in March can be so unpredictable! My brother's family and my parents came with us to both of the egg hunts. It was interesting to see Noah balance playing with his friends and his cousins. There were times that I had to remind him that he could play with both at the same time because I could see that he was torn. This is the first time it has ever really been an issue.

Noah's shirt | jacket | jeans

Apparently we didn't think two egg hunts were enough. So in between, we took everyone to our local pizza place and frozen yogurt shop... our personal favorites. We then hurried home to dye some Easter eggs and decorate sugar cookies. We weren't expecting the kids to be so interested in the actual dyeing part. My experience is little kids usually think the process takes too long and is boring. But the kids were obsessed with dyeing egg after egg and we wished we had hardboiled more than 30 eggs! While we waited for the dye to dry, we decorated some Easter cookies with the prettiest icing colors I've ever mixed! Wilton sure does come up with amazing products!

tablecloth

^^^ we used regular food coloring instead of the egg dyeing kits. The box of my food coloring gave instructions on how to much water, vinegar, and food coloring to use for eggs.

Noah's shirt

These grasping spoons were such a hit... we wish we had bought more than one pair! We tried to get more last minute but our store was sold out :(

^^^ he had to taste his creation!

^^^ wherever we go, the kids gravitate towards Chris... probably because he's so much fun!

^^^ going over with Noah that they were allowed to collect 5 eggs, but he was more interested in telling us he was 3 :)

Noah's shirt

plates | bowls

kids' placemats (plates, bowls, and cup from PBKids)

We had a little break from the cousins on Easter morning. My brother and his family went to church with my parents while we did our own thing with Chris' family. Before heading over to his parents' house, we had a quiet morning at home complete with another visit from the Easter bunny. Noah came downstairs to find his basket and some hidden eggs. While his immediate reaction to the mini muffin game was less than thrilled, he loved it once we opened it and showed him what it was about. He said the scooping tongs were like a hippo :)

Noah's shirt | scissor skills - a huge hit!

Then it was off to Chris' parents' house to meet up with our usual brunch crew. Each year, we go to the country club for a huge brunch buffet. I love getting to dress up and catch up with the family each year... and the food is pretty great too! Noah was shy at first, like normal. But he quickly warmed up to his Great Gram when she brought out her collapsible cane. It literally provides Noah endless entertainment... we were calling him a magic man whenever he'd "put it back together"! We were also shocked at how well and how much he ate! Before even leaving for brunch, he ate a whole bowl of orange bell peppers and a scrambled egg. I honestly didn't expect him to eat anything at the country club. But he surprised me by eating lots of fruit, bread, and a whole glazed donut!

My dress - Talbots, 2 years ago | Chris' shirt - Tommy Hilfiger | Noah's shirt - Gap, no longer online

^^^ I love that he went over to chat with Granddad and Great Gram all on his own while Chris and I went to get more food. He told them all about school and our recent vacation... he's getting so grown up!

^^^ he was a little bummed he couldn't go for an actual ride on the golf cart

After brunch, we stopped over at my parents' house for one last visit with Noah's cousins before they headed home. While all they wanted to do was play with their new toys, I did make them pose for a few pictures in their beautiful Easter outfits. I'm such a sucker for flowers, plaid, and pastels!

After such a busy and wonderful Easter weekend, I'm sure we will be happy to take it easy this week.

How was your weekend?

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Friday, March 25, 2016

Five on Good Friday

Happy Good Friday! I've been looking forward to this Friday all week. Chris was away in Seattle for business and landed this morning (he took the red eye home). Noah's cousins arrived last night, so Chris is taking the day off and we hope to do some pretty fun stuff with the four kids. And of course, I'm looking forward to the Easter weekend. I wish you all a wonderful holiday weekend :)

One

In case you missed it, here's a recap of this week's posts. And in case you missed our Easter Basket Link Up, don't worry, because there's still time... the link up will be open until Wednesday, March 30th!

Our Weekend in Photos

Traveling with a 3 Year Old | Ten on Tuesday

Noah's Easter Basket | Easter Basket Link Up

Turks & Caicos - What To Pack | Mommy Style (Vacation Edition)

Two

Baseball season is about to begin, and while I personally don't get excited for the sport, I love any excuse to dress Noah up. Chris is a huge Mets fan and loves to show his team pride with Noah :) Some of my favorite blogging friends are hosting an Opening Day Link Up from April 4 - 10! Here's your chance to show off some team pride by sharing a photo of your loved ones in your favorite team's apparel :) Don't forget to tag your social media photos with #hoorayitsopeningday !

Chris and Noah from last year :)

Three

We are in full Easter mode this week! Being that there was only 10 days between St. Patrick's Day and Easter this year, I feel totally rushed! I made sure Noah wore his bunny shirts nonstop this week and will continue to do so this weekend... I made sure to do his laundry last night! And on a side note, I love that he's started wearing his hair spiked again. Each day I ask him if he wants it up or down. He either says "up like Ryder" or "down like Rubble"... who knew Rubble wore his hair down?

Gap (last year) | Gap (this year)

Four

Noah's class had an Easter party yesterday. Each parent sent in 6 eggs filled with treats for their kid to find in an egg hunt. I filled Noah's with a bunch of his favorites...

squishy lizzards (Target dollar spot) | Easter stickers (Michaels) | temporary tattoos | matchbox cars

I was also in charge of the healthy snack this week. And since they were having their Easter party, I decided to send in some baby carrots (because bunnies love carrots) and some flower shaped cucumbers (because they are just so spring like and cute!). I know Noah loves both veggies, so I hope the other kids did as well... if not I'm sure they enjoyed the Easter dessert ;)

flower cookie cutter set

Five

I'm so excited that Noah's cousins are visiting this weekend for Easter! I hope to have lots of fun activities to blog about next week! We haven't seen them since Christmas, but we did get some St. Patrick's Day photos texted to us last week :)

Today, I'm linking up with The Farmer's Wife and September Farm for "Oh Hey Friday" and with A. Liz Adventures for "Five on Friday"!

*affiliate links used

Wednesday, March 23, 2016

Noah's Easter Basket | Easter Basket Link Up

It's that time of year again.. another excuse to give our kids lots of little treats! I grew up where your birthday and Christmas were the only two big gift giving holidays. Now it seems like Valentine's Day and Easter have become bigger deals. And don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining. I actually love an excuse to pick out some cute new toys and goodies that I know Noah will love! The part I struggle with is finding things that will fit in his basket! So what I've ended up doing is filling the basket with cute little things (like books, toy cars, and candy) and then wrapping the bigger items separately. While it may seem like a lot, most of the gifts are borderline educational that we'd get him anyway. This way it's just in a pretty basket :)

Melissa and Doug Scissor Skills

Duck & Goose Book of Opposites

Curious George at the Zoo

Zeg (from Blaze and the Monster Machines)

Spring spoon and fork (from Target dollar section)

Funny Bunny (Chris found this "pooping" bunny at Walgreens and though it was hilarious... I'm sure Noah will too!)

2 Bunny Pez | Eggs filled with candy and small goodies (from Target dollar section)

Basket | Liner (similar)

In addition to the little things in his basket, the bunny will also be bringing a few larger gifts. I went with things I view as learning toys. I knew I had to get this Mini Muffin Match Up when I saw it on Stephanie's blog. And I'm a firm believer that you can never have too many puzzles or legos (or books really). While this Butterfly Puzzle is meant for older kids, Noah is really good at them and does well with the 48 piece ones. And on the other end, the Duplo Rocket Ship may be a little young, but Noah loves rocket ships, so I think he'll love it just the same.

Mini Muffin Match Up | Duplo Rocket Ship | Butterfly Puzzle

The bunny will be coming to our house on Sunday morning, leaving him his basket, wrapped gifts, and a few eggs filled with M&Ms and Skittles. We will be hiding the eggs, which for a three year old really just means placing them in plain sight. We also have a lot of fun Easter activities planned this weekend. Two official egg hunts on Saturday, another casual egg hunt at my parents, dyeing eggs & decorating cookies with his cousins, and getting even more Easter goodies and baskets from his grandparents. I have a feeling this kid will have consumed his weight in sugar by Sunday evening!

*affiliate links used

And don't forget to link up your Easter Basket posts below! We'd love to see what the bunny will be bringing to your house this weekend! The link up will be open starting today, until next Wednesday, March 30th. Hope you have a wonderful Easter weekend!