More Cards!

Aren't they cool? My friend, Tracy, designs them and has a bunch of girls over to her house to make them. We talk, we eat and we make cards. It is great! Tracy is a Stampin' Up Representative, so if you like what you see and you are local, let me know, and I'll put you in touch with her!

Knorr's Veggie Dip

This was served as appetizer at an event I just attended. The dip was Knorr's Vegetable dip. I hear you can throw shrimp in it and it is super tasty. It was a crowd pleaser. YUM.

The hostess also had small individual sized ranch dressing cups for the kids, so they could have their "own" ranch to dip in. We didn't have to worry about double dipping. I thought that was pretty thoughtful.

I don't like it.

One time one of my children told my husband that she was having a tough time enjoying having people over to our house. I thought that was kind of funny, b/c she loves having people over. Apparently, one of her parents, I am not going to say which one, is really not very much fun to live with the day before people come over. Apparently, said parent is "grumpy and mad".

Here's the deal...she is talking about me. But in my defense, Easter weekend was quite busy. There was Easter grass from the baskets all over the floor and laundry to be done. There were Easter decorations to put away and lots of leftovers shoved in every corner of the fridge. I hadn't really had time to clean, so things were pretty untidy.

In my defense, there was a lot to do. But I don't want my child to grow up with this complex that the house has to be a certain way for people to come over or for her to abandon the whole idea of having friends over to her home, just b/c she has such bad memories of a crazed mother the day before company arrived.

I am pretty sure that we all suffer from this problem in some form or another. What do we do about it? I remember my parents fussing with us to clean when folks were coming over.

I think on a practical level...I need to give her a zone. This is her zone to clean. She just has to keep this zone of the house clean and ready and she's set. She doesn't have to worry about pitching in anywhere else. I also need to make sure I am not fussing too much. This another classic example of me making having people over about "me" and not about the company. Yes, the house needs to be tidy...but at what cost? The words that we use when we are angry/worked up/stressed/mad are far more harmful, than a guest seeing a dust ball in the corner or a scuff on the wall. Am I fussing b/c of my perfectionism or do I have a real complaint?

This is one of those things where I just have to push it on to God and say "I give up. I am perfectionist. I scrub my baseboards and fuss at my kids when someone is coming over for 3 minutes...please forgive me. Help me." Two things are bound to happen here..I am going to learn how to trust God with that crazy long clean up to do list and my kids aren't going to have to suffer with listening to mom rant about the house being clean.

Fancy Dish

This is a fancy dish that I got for Christmas. It's amazing how a display can "fancy" things up. I bought $1.50 worth of strawberries and $2.50 in grapes and put them on the dish...and it was a nice inexpensive addition to a meal with friends.

My Favorite Salad

This is my favorite salad for the moment.

Red Romaine (mostly green with a reddish/purplish tinge at the top of the leaf)
Green Pepper (Chopped)
Cherry Tomatoes
Carrots (Sliced in circles or shredded)
Crutons

Paul Newman's Italian Dressing or Hidden Valley Ranch Dressing.

Always, a hit with guests!

Cool Stuff

Place holders for the table/treats from the hostess for all the kids in attendance of the Easter lunch we went to today. The little baskets were in the $1 section at Target. Filled with a few goodies and print the name on the basket and they make really fun place holders!


Sugar Cookies from our Easter Celebration! Aren't they cool? Our friend picked them up at a local bakery.



Not a great picture. Sorry about that! The red egg shaped thingy is an egg timer. It was a stocking stuffer gift from my dad and mom in law, a few years ago. We love it at our house. Can't believe we didn't have one before. You put it and the eggs in a pot, cover with water, place on the stove and watch the timer for whether the eggs are soft, medium or hard boiled.

Easter Cupcakes

Check out these cupcakes my friend, Wendy, made for an Easter gathering we had this week. I love the petite cupcakes that were for the kids and the big cupcakes for the adults! Yummmmmm. Soooo, good.

It was super easy to arrange the cupcakes. This was my first stab at something like that. But basically I took easter basket grass, which I already had and placed it around the tray and cake stand. Bought 88 cent Peeps for accent.

My sweet grandmother, Mimi, use to have the most amazing cupcakes and cakes for Easter. She always had candy laid out for us in baskets and the cakes and cupcakes displayed so beautifully. She even had Easter Eggs that hung from her trees outside.

I hope that your family enjoys a wonderful Easter weekend. And I hope that you might know or be reminded of Jesus' love for you.

"The angel said to the women, "Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He is not here; he has risen, just as he said." -Matthew 28:5-6