Happy Easter!!!

Hello Everyone!!!! We have all been enjoying a wonderful Easter week and Spring Break! We have broken away from the everyday and so has the weather!!! It was actually warm and sunny which is practically unheard of this time of year! See the flowers basking in the morning sunshine???
I had to capture the tulips in bloom....I love tulips!
And of course some daffodils!
These new flowers remind me of the newness of life and how important Easter is to all of us! We headed out Saturday morning for the egg hunt in Cape May. I had thought we were doing a different hunt and in retrospect we really should have....see story below!
I made a tee for Sarah and a tee for Devon...and Brooklyn wore her Easter dress!
Happy Easter! We arrived early and stood near the entrance for the little kid's hunt. Sarah was too old for the hunt so she decided to help Devon. Well, 15 minutes later half the world arrived! I looked down the line of hay and wondered how many eggs could there be???
I started telling the girls ahead of time that they were only going to get a few eggs each and that we would have a big hunt the next day! More people arrived! And then they finally started the hunt....
off they went...Brooklyn was a bit shy to dig through the hay but Devon picked up two eggs....
We found one for Brooklyn and than we started looking through the hay....all the kids were....and that was about it folks....
check out this poor little face.....
I tried to cheer the kids up by involving them in the playground equipment...and meanwhile a man was dropping eggs and Brooklyn picked up another egg. And it was over!!!! Here is Devon's sad face.....
But then we got them on the swings and life was better already.... my kids LOVE swinging! Brooklyn will not ever get off; you actually have to talk her out of staying on!
Then we did the slides and they were back to happy!!!!

So lesson learned....not that my kids "needed" eggs but to put out maybe 100 eggs is a little cheap..... this is always a well attended annual event! It's not like they didn't know. So anyways, we came home and had lunch. My next task was to start going through the closets and organizing clothes for the spring. I also needed to pack for a little get-away. The girls played and then Aunt Mary came over for a quick visit!

Brooklyn had crashed after playing and so she slept through most of the visit...opps! Aren't they cute when they sleep?
We loved having Aunt Mary over and she even brought a special treat......
Iced cookies and an Easter Egg Cake!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Notice the Easter Lily bloomed as if on schedule??? It smells so good....can you smell it? It smells like Easter!!!! That Brooklyn is such a ham!
So after the girls went to sleep the Easter Bunny hopped on by! I added a few of my own treats to the girl's bags! Then the bunny decorated with their stuffed animals...doesn't it look festive?
Sunday morning! Happy Easter!!! The girls found their surprises!
This pic is for my friend Marlo who LOVES peeps!!!!
The girls each had a clue in their baskets/bags for a treasure hunt inside...this was at the request of Devon who LOVES hunts with clues!
Brooklyn holding up the first clue!
The girls then proceeded to run around the house to find all of the 16 clues...
...the last one ended at the front door...which is where we discovered that the Easter Bunny had hidden more eggs outside! Whaaahoooo!
Posing on the kitchen table with their chocolate bunnies....this year Sarah had a special bunny made with Ferrero Rocher truffles....do you like them? They are Sarah's favorite!
Devon loves eating the ears first....I let her have a one bite before breakfast!
And Brooklyn...she is not so into chocolate. Could she possibly be my child? She decided against donuts too.....she specifically wanted cinnamon toast! So toast it was!
Then the girls threw on clothes for our Easter Bunny hunt outside! Yaaaa!
Ready....

Set.....
GO!!!!!!!!!!!!
Please excuse the lawn....Edmund hadn't cut it yet so it's crazy at this point...we have had tons of rain so everything was still pretty wet and waterlogged at this point in the week!
Scurrying around!
There's one Brooklyn...get it!!! Daddy was taping and I was taking pics!
Running to the front!
More finds!
And some in the garden! Sarah was being so good by skipping lots of eggs so the little girls could find them!

Sarah did find a few out of reach though!
Gotta love those smiley faces!!!



The girls then went around the entire house a few more times finding missed eggs!
Brooklyn found one under the deck!

They finally finished the hunt and came inside..
They piled all of their loot into one big bowl and Sarah started gathering the eggs...
She made an egg tower....funny girl that Sarah!
What other day can you eat candy for breakfast???? They were allowed a few pieces and then we had to go get ready for the rest of our big day!

Our next stop was the Wildwood Boardwalk....with their new pettiskirts! Lime Ricky's was having an Easter Egg Hunt and lots of prizes!
The girls took their bags of quarters and played a game or two...
...and of course a round or two of skeeball! Brooklyn broke 200! I was impressed!

Then we went outside to the beach. It was still warming up and the beach itself was cold so there was a layer of fog forming and blowing over the beach. I tried to get a pic of it! Can you see the Atlantic in the distance????.....the beach here is wide!!!
So we found Jonathan in his bunny ears running the egg hunt. He just cracks me up...really gets into the part! Each participant received a stuffed animal and bucket/shovel of their choice!
Sarah picked a red bucket and bear....
and so did Devon...
and Brooklyn picked a blue bucket and elephant!
And then they started digging for their eggs! Each person was allowed 4 eggs....
Sarah found some already!!!
Devon was sure if she kept digging she would be successful and she was!!! Yaaaa!
Brooklyn figured out to dig in the sand where the piles were and sure enough she found her allotment of eggs as well!
We headed up to a bench to examine our loot! Each egg contained coupons for skeeball or points or free ice cream and some had little toys! What fun!
Did I mention how nice out it was??? The day was absolutely gorgeous! Sunny and warm! We were just soaking it up. Our friends called and said they were parking and meeting us!
Waiting.....and then we discovered someone else decided to come to the boardwalk....
The Easter Bunny!!!! Of course, Brook was the only one who wanted a pic with him. Devon spied him from behind me and Sarah wanted no part....hahahahahaha!
Our friends arrived and we had some fun! He even won a bear...green of course! We also ate pizza and enjoyed walking up and down the boardwalk! Finally, it was time to go.....where are we headed next??????
Edmund had planned a whole hotel/waterpark adventure in Mt. Laurel NJ as a combination birthday present and Easter getaway. Sarah's birthday is just around the corner....she's going to be 12!!!! So we piled in the car and headed up there. We checked in and our room wasn't ready yet so we went out for an early dinner. It was about 4 pm. We found a mexican restaurant and decided to eat there. There were soooo many choices of places to eat and shop! I was in overload! Here is everyone waiting for dinner to arrive....
Then we headed back to the hotel. Our room was ready so we brought our stuff in and relaxed for a bit! I remembered to take pics before we made a mess!


Then the girls started begging to go swimming! Attached to the hotel was an indoor waterpark. We let the girls swim and play for two hours and they were exhausted! It was a little crowded because it was the weekend and there were some parties going on too. The next morning we woke up and did it all over again! This time I took my camera with me so you could see what it was like! We arrived on opening in the morning and the place was clean and not crowded at all!

Our pics before we got wet!!!

And off they went! See this yellow slide? Brooklyn went around and up the steps and down the slide about 7123561-237234 times during the course of our stay! She loved it! Devon was a bit more brave and went on two other longer slides. Sarah did it all! She is so good with her sisters!

There were lots of different water play areas around the larger structure. There were lifeguards all over the place. They paced back and forth. At one point the management threw in a "dummy" face first in the water and timed how long it would take the lifeguard to notice. The kids who came around near it were amazed and looked at it to see if it was real. The lifeguard found it within a minute so that was reassuring. I still keep an eagle eye on my kids in the water though. The main pool area was zero entry and only went to a depth on 1 foot. Water squirted out everywhere! Here is Devon coming off of a slide...
Here is Brook by the waterfall area....I wish I had a boat for her to send down the falls!
...and then back down the yellow slide...lol!
Here are the larger slides and steps up to them. You carry your own tube to the top. There were two tube slides and one body slide. Here is Sarah getting her tube!
....meanwhile....Brooklyn went down the yellow slide....hahahaha!
See where the girls hands are? They turn the wheel and the whole thing spins water above them...
Devon on the play structure!
Watch out for the wave!!!!
Then we all went over to the basketball pool area. It wasn't too crowded and the depth was about 3 feet! Here is my favorite pic of daddy and his girls!
There was also a lilypad crossing section. Devon and Sarah tried it out....

Yaaa Devon, you made it!!!
Sarah's turn!

Here is the exit of the two tube slides. One is made with translucent plastic and the other is opaque! Too dark for me!!! I tried the lighter one! The body slide was also dark...but that didn't bother Sarah or Devon! We all stood and cheered for them at the exit! I love when the girls show bravery and master something a little scary.
Here are the three tubes which leave the building and wind around outside!
And cordoned off for adults only is the most interesting hot tub I've ever seen. It actually started inside and went outside!
Here is the outside part! Since it was such a nice day people took advantage of the fresh air. Speaking of which....after an hour the chlorine filled air was giving me a headache!!
Here is the eating area....not opened yet since it was early....
I climbed the steps to the second floor to get a pic of the water play structure...can you see Brooklyn...she's on the yellow slide!!!!
On the second floor they have another shallow pool with a large screen for movies (the mast of the ship). Course it was picture only....no sound. They had another slide here for little ones and a cool little swing structure for babies. Which there were not a lot of here...it seemed like most of the kids were 3 to 10 years old.
Another view of the structure...it wasn't as dark in here as my pics would make it seem....you know how terrible my camera is indoors.
Off to the side there was a lazy river....oh boy did we have a great time in that. We raced each other and just laughed and had fun!
These red and blue slides were great for the 6+ set of kids...just enough but not too wild!
Another pic of the eating area...there was pizza hut and also other food. We never ate here so I don't know if it was good or not. Overpriced as expected.
Back to the Basketball pool and then we went on the lazy river!

I love this pic too!!!!

By 12:30 pm, we dragged everyone back to the room to shower and dress for the afternoon. We were starving so we headed to the Cherry Hill mall area. We decided we were in the mood for hamburgers and so we found Cheeburger Cheeburger. Next to it was a Hallmark store and look....Brooklyn happen to match the sign!!!!! It's Pipsqueak!
What a fun place! The girls food came in these neat old cars done in cardboard....and who stays up all night making these??? Edmund and I got cheeseburgers and shared a fry! The soda came in jelly jars! Isn't eating on vacation fun??? No holding back and no dishes to do either!!! Yaaa!!!!

Dig in!

We saved room for dessert too! The girls got ice cream and Sarah and I got a shake! Yummo!!!
Bellies full, we drove over to the mall. What a cool place. I am such a country bumpkin I tried not to walk around with my mouth open too much. I had a gift card to Bath and Body Works so we went in there. We bought some yummy smelling goodies! Then we checked out the Apple store. I should have taken a pic of the girls trying out the iPad. What a great instrument! I really want one!!! Here we are ready to head home!
We relaxed in the room for a bit. Believe it or not there were kids outside and they didn't seem to be supervised much. They knocked on our window several times so we ended up having to close the blinds. While I am at it I should mention that at the water park, the pattern continued. I saw one little girl need constant warnings from the lifeguard while the mother sat back and watched her child break the rules. I saw one little girl in shorts and no top at all. Yikes. I only saw her pass by me once at the beginning of the day so I think they were told to put a top on her. Ok, end of rant! LOL!

So here is Sarah and Devon playing math war. This was great practice and fun for Devon! Can you see her counting on her hand?!
Brooklyn played Polly's and we watched a little tv too!
Edmund reminded me that morning that it was our anniversary! So, we headed back out for an anniversary dinner to celebrate! We picked Carrabas and had one of the best waiters! Very intelligent and personable. He stopped to chat with us a few times and the food was delicious!!!! Brooklyn picked pizza and Sarah picked ravioli.
Devon had pasta, Edmund had sausage and penne. I had manicotti! We also had bread to die for and salad! Everything was just delicious and we really enjoyed our dinner out!
Here we all are! Our waiter took the pic!
We headed back to the hotel and the girls went swimming again until the place closed at 8 pm. We showered and went to bed after watching our one of our favorite shows.....Undercover Boss. Have you seen it? The next morning....we got up and packed. The girls went swimming again for a few hours and then we showered and checked out! It was a fun little getaway and so nice to see something other than boring old Cape May...hahahaha! I know people pay thousands to come here and we are always trying to get away!

On the way home we did find an interesting ice cream stand....anyone recognize this???? The girls got a big bowl of ice cream with sprinkles/jimmies. Ok who say sprinkles? Who says jimmies? Big debate in our household!

Notice the car in the background getting towed....flat tire or something...

We arrived home safe and sound. The girls went out for bike rides and I unpacked and started the laundry. Fortunately the house was clean from before I left! I think we had like peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for dinner...hahahaha.

The next day dawned sunny and beautiful again. This was like the forth day in a row. I had set this day aside to hang out with my friend Alice and her kids. We decided it would be a great beach day and all the kids could find something to do at the beach! So we packed a picnic lunch and put on our suits and headed over to Cape May Point beach! I slathered on sunscreen on the kids pretty well....and me not so much.....oppss!

They played and played and stopped for lunch....
And then back in the water.....which is freezing cold by the way. They were allowed in just under their knees. They also ran and walked the beach and played in the sand and played ball too! Fun for all!



Now about the lack of sufficient sunscreen on mom....ouch! I got a little burned....nothing major just a little too much color for me. Oh well. I will be a little more diligent next time.

So we hadn't taken a break all week and it was time. The next day I finished organizing the girl's closet and I ironed all of their spring clothes I made. The whole top rack is mostly Disney stuff and the bottom rack is hand-me-downs and some of last years stuff. I love hand-me-downs and bargains from Good Will. But I did need to get some tops and shorts for the rest of the school year. We went shopping for them today. I also had picked up some fabric on the way home from our get-away trip. I made some board shorts and capris with denim. Very simple but comfortable for school and running around the playground!
And that pretty much sums up our week so far. Sarah and Edmund are going to a treasure hunt tomorrow. The girls and I are probably going to the zoo/park and I am also sorting/purging the playroom to get ready for the yard sale....still lots on the To Do list. I should probably find my capris and put away my sweaters. Course then the weather will turn down-right cold again! lol

I haven't any sewing projects except my quilt to finish this week. I did buy some fabric from a friend which should be arriving soon. I would like to participate in the disboutique Big Give soon.

Other big news is that the Marlo Top was released this week! This is the adult version of the Cathy Top for children. Carla and Jennifer named it in honor of my friend, Marlo! It's such a cute top don't you think? Also, Jennifer gave us a sneak peak at her spring fabric line, Poodle ....hopefully it will be out very soon! Isn't it lovely? I love how the colors and patterns work together. I would love to make some summer clothing or a quilt with it!


Finally, I am sending prayers to many friends and families....as cheerful as this week has been for us...this is not so for many people. One of our Wish children earned her wings this week and I know there are many struggling over the sadness of this including myself. Life is unpredictable and often times short...cherish every moment and don't take anything for granted. Isn't this what Easter is all about....Jesus took our place so we could live with Him forever. I pray that everyone would come to a saving faith in Christ.

And that's about it for this hugely long post! You made it to the end! Congratulations! Have a nice weekend everyone!
Love and hugs,
Cathy

Happy Spring!

Hello Everyone!

How are you??? We have gotten a LOT of rain and wind. There is a lake between the two elementary schools that stretches from one parking lot to the other!!! Pretty hard to play soccer there these days! But we have had a few days of wonderful glorious sun!!! Yaaa!!! On April 1st, we all headed over to Rita's Water Ice for a free sampling of the new flavor...Peeps...very sweet and yummy! We all picked our favorite flavors of water ice and chatted with a guy about his motorcycle adventures! LOL!

Devon also changed out the clings on the front glass door. She does the whole thing by herself!!! There are lots of little pieces and parts and she designs the whole layout!

Last weekend, Brooklyn attended a gymnastic birthday party of one of her preschool buddies! They had a lot of fun doing all kinds of activities. There were snacks and cake too!!!
Enjoying her cake! Brooklyn is actually only an icing-eater type kid!
The teacher lined all of the kids up and did each activity with them!
Here is Brooklyn trying a back-bend, flip move with a rolling barrel...so interesting and what a great tool to teach kids with!
Here is the birthday girl!!! Happy 5th Birthday Dominica!!!
Brooklyn loved the teacher. I was watching Brookie from the sidelines. I was happy to report that she listened and followed directions and didn't follow the other kids when they got up and started running around. Good listening Brooklyn!!!
Dominica opening Brooklyn's gift! (More about the gift below)
Earlier that day we attended an Easter party! Unfortunately it was pretty drawn out and the egg hunt was at the very end....(two hours later) and we couldnt stay due to the above party. The girls did enjoy the indoor games and facepainting though!



The only volunteer to sit on the bunny's lap this year....
The next day we dyed Easter eggs. I've been enjoying egg salad sandwiches and salad with these eggs all week !
We covered the table and the girls mixed up the dyes! Here is Sarah's first egg...
Devon had the patience to do a half and half egg!
Brooklyn's egg being dipped...
Waiting and waiting....
Half way done...
All done!
Then we had Palm Sunday Dinner....we had yummy ham and all kinds of veggy's and pie for dessert!
And what have we been sewing this week?

We also got a cozy bed for Jilly the hamster...(I called the mom and she had Jilly already!)
And I made colorful capri easy-fits to complete the ensemble!
Here is Brooklyn's tee...her pet is named Pipsqueak!

I still have to make one for Devon this weekend! I ran out of time! I also completed the second Easter dress for the girls. I had this coordinating fabric for a while and never made a dress with it. It is perfect for spring! Unfortunately it is very thin fabric. I am so used to working with gorgeous Jennifer Paganelli fabric so I guess I am spoiled!
I got the idea for the applique from SWAK! I did it by hand and it says...Grown With Love.
Twirling!
Here is a close-up of the front...
And the back....
It was so windy outside I had to come in to get a still shot!
Sarah also had a chance to sew this week! She used Carla's Easy-Fit pattern to craft some cute pants for the girls! She has sewn in the past but got frustrated with the commercial pattern and directions....hummmm.....that makes TWO of us!! So this was the first time she tried sewing with my new machine, Katie. Having Carla's clear directions and diagrams made all of the difference!!! Here she is cutting the fabric...
And stitching the cuff....
And within an hour...whalaaa...all done!!! Love it!!!!
Great job Sarah! Brooklyn like them so much she wouldn't take them off for bed and slept in them!!!
What do I see here? Is that fluff? Why yes...it is!!! Miles of it!
The purple one is Devon's....she picked all of her colors. The mint green one is Brooklyn's...I picked her colors since she was napping when I ordered them. I wanted them coordinating but not identical...
And here is Devon holding up Sarah's. She ordered an adult one and its just amazing...I think Teresa said it was made from 40 yards of material....which is a combination of chiffon and organza!
They are having trouble staying out of them until Easter Sunday though...here they are goofing around...that Brooklyn cracks me up with her faces!

And today, Sarah's friend came over! What a fun day!! They played outside and inside. We had lunch. Then we walked down to the bay and hung out in the sun for a while. Then we had slushies in the blender and now they are playing pictionary!

I also got some time to work on my quilt...yes, the same one I've been working on for over a year. I am done 10 of 12 blocks though! I am hoping to finish the last two blocks and start assembling them this week. Each block has to be assembled from several different fabric blocks, and then applique and designs are added on which is why it takes so long. I have absolutely no idea how to quilt...so when I have to assemble the quilt and actually start quilting I may need some help from anyone who has quilted before.

Last night I read a bunch of Easter stories and several chapters out of the girl's Choices Bible story book. I love it because it retells the Bible in enough detail to get the whole story across. It also shows how each person has lots of choices to make and that there are good and bad choices. Sometimes its hard to make the right choice but they see the consequences of both. The Bible offers a lot of illustrations about choices and consequences. Devon is always full of questions and I think the most wonderful part about being a parent is sharing God with your very own child. What a blessing!

Easter is a pretty powerful and moving time...I am hoping everyone can draw close to God and experience His love and peace and forgiveness!
Happy Easter!