Happy Easter!

We had a fabulous Easter!

 We spent a couple days with David's parents, grandparents, and brothers, then went a bit further up north to visit my grandmother. Ava could not have had more fun, she had a perma-grin all weekend. The baskets full of candy and gifts were the icing on the cake (notice in the photo she wouldn't even stop eating candy long enough to smile). She got a darbie in her basket, which she named Jessica Heightens and always refers to her with both names.

One of her favorite parts of visiting my Grandma is getting to see cousin Kory and her black lab Zoe. This is the dog that Ava tells everyone is her's. I tried to get a photo of Ava and Zoe together, but they were both moving too fast.

Hope you all had a wonderful Easter as well!

Counting my blessings

I've been trying to have this attitude lately.


I love this song (and this movie).

Easter Nests

The first time I remember eating one of these was on a visit to my Great Grandmother's house. I must have been about eight and I thought it was the coolest thing I'd ever seen. This is the first time I've made them myself, but if I had realized how easy it was I would have tried it a long time ago.

Just a few simple ingredients: Fiber One bran cereal (or similar branch-like shaped cereal), butter, marshmallows, non-stick spray and Cadbury Mini-Eggs.

Melt 3 TBS butter over low heat, then add 5 cups mini-marshmallows and stir until completely melted. You could also add some chocolate chips at this point if you the kids might be put off by the bran flavor.

Remove the pan from heat and slowly add 6 cups cereal. Stir until well coated. Spray your muffin pan with non-stick spray, then fill each cup with the mixture (it may help to spray your hands as well.

Next, use your fingers to push out the middle and create the nest shape (it's a little hard to see in this photo).

Then, just add a couple eggs to each one and you're done!

My taste-tester says these are delicious. We're taking them to her friends tomorrow, so we'll see what the others think.

Girl's Day

David was still filling pretty under the weather Saturday, so Ava and I decided to have a Girl's Day and do all our favorite things. But when we went outside we had a bit of a surprise. After a week of 60 degree, sunny days, this is what greeted us Saturday morning.

We braved the snow anyway and made our way to our first stop. A library book sale (of course). The books were a little more than usual ($2 for a hardcover, $1 for a paperback), but the selection was really good.

 Then we grabbed lunch and headed to our next stop.

Our first ballet! A performance of Cinderella by the West Michigan Youth Ballet. It was incredible, especially since the performers were all between the ages of 6 and 18.

Ava loved it. Obviously.

After the ballet, we stopped in at our favorite toy store (this stop was all Ava's idea, but it was girls' day so we went for it), where we found a couple new books.

The Color Kittens was one of my favorites when I was little, but I had completely forgotten about it until I spotted it on the shelf. Note that Golden Books now labels it "classic" -- ouch. What I didn't know was that it was written by Margaret Wise Brown, who also wrote Goodnight Moon.

Then, to make a good day even better, when we got home these were waiting for us.

Then, we did manicures before bed (with a sparkle polish top coat).

Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a box of Thin Mints waiting for me in the freezer.

Book Review: Alexander and the Dragon

Alexander and the Dragon is about a little boy who is afraid of the dark because when the lights go off, he begins to imagine the things in his room are terrible things.

Most terrifyingly, a shadow right under his bed that he thinks must be a dragon. His father tells him there are only two ways to deal with a dragon: scare it away or make friends with it.

So, Alexander bravely confronts the dragon.

I won't give away the ending, other than to say that Alexander no longer needs a nightlight.

I remember this book from when I was a kid, and it's one of the ones Ava wants us to read over and over. What I didn't realize until recently is that the author, Katharine Holabird, also wrote all the Angelina Ballerina books (also favorites in our house). A Chicago native, Holabird summered in Michigan as a child. About her childhood, Holabird reportedly said, "TV hadn't become a fixture in every home, and we created our own imaginative world." Hmmm, something to think about

Ups and downs

Ava has been fighting a nasty cold virus this week. David and I have taken turns staying home with her and Wednesday was my day. After waking up in the middle of the night because of a coughing fit that ended in throwing up (and a visit to the doctor resulted in an eye infection diagnosis in addition to her cold), I thought she could use some sunshine, fresh air, and a little fun.

I couldn't believe how fearless she was, she climbed up the ladders, slid down the biggest slides, and even climbed the big kids' rock wall. It really hit me at how big she's gotten, seemingly overnight. Didn't she just learn to walk?

But, I think we may have overdone it a bit, because after a short nap she had a meltdown. Sobbing huge elephant tears because Daddy wasn't home to help her put Darbie's clothes on (despite the fact that I had offered to help).

This was so unlike my usually easygoing little one, I had to take a picture. Which set off a whole new batch of tears. "Don't take my picture, I'm crying."

In other news, I think Ava's watching too much TV. How do I know? This was the conversation her dolls were having yesterday:
"Are we clear?"
"Claritin clear."

I just have to get David on board with this ban, as he's as big a TV fan as Ava. I don't want to give up movies, though, because I am totally addicted to watching Masterpiece theater online.We watched 39 Steps last night and it was so good. (David hooked up the computer to the TV with so we can watch it on the bigger screen.)

The film is based on the book of the same name by Scottish author John Buchan, who, honestly, I've never heard of. But, I'm really interested in reading the book now and there are apparently four others in the series.

Now that Ava is feeling better, David has caught her cold. He stayed home today and she went back to school, but she was doing everything she could to convince us to let her stay home and watch cartoons (see, she's addicted!). When she and I were finally in the car on the way to school, she looks over at the car next to us and says, "Her little girl isn't in her car. Her little girl is home with her daddy." And sticks out a little pouty lip. She's 3.5 and she's already trying to guilt me...I'm dreading the teenager years...

Bad day, good dinner

After a windy, rainy, cold weened, today was beautiful, sunny and nearly 60 degrees. Unfortunately, I was cooped up at work with no windows and it was a really, really long day. One of those days when nothing is easy or seems to work out right. So, when we got home, Ava and I decided to try a new quick and easy recipe.

We tried this Gimme Some Oven recipe for gnocchi with asparagus and pesto. I'm not a big seafood fan, so we used organic chicken and apple sausage instead. It was so delicious. It took about 15 minutes to make and tastes like something that cooked all day.

 After dinner, we decided we deserved a little treat. (update: Ava calls these Orioles)