Happy Passover!

My friend Caroline just sent me this video of a family's Seder dinner from a PBS special. I love the tradition that they share in their faith. As Christians, we have celebrated the Seder in the past but I'm sure never like the real one. I just love this little video... here's a link to where you can find it on the web.

preparing for the easter bunny

I actually don't think my kids should still get Easter baskets. They argue that they should. So... with a little chocolate, I'm putting these pencils in them-- a little encouragement each day! If you want one for yourself (and I know you do) you can find them here.

Today is Palm Sunday and I love the service... reading through the whole story. It strengthens my faith every year.

still here...

This print is by Stefanie Beyeler. She was featured in Storque on etsy and I was intrigued by the way she does people. And then animals. And then I was inspired. I'm just too lazy lately to make a space in my messy studio to actually work. It's only messy because there's a mile high pile of cookbooks with no place to go! Yet.

I'm actually in the middle of a super huge cleanout of the guest room closet and Caroline's extra stuff in the guest room (yes... her room is clean because MY room is a mess!!!). I went through winter coats and shoes to bring out the spring and summer things. We have had a few days of gorgeous 70 degree weather over the weekend. It's raining today but the last few days I've let the breezes float in through open windows and the daffodils and forsythia bushes are blooming yellow all over our property. Everything smells fresh. We spent the afternoon picking up sticks all over the yard from the winter. I love to watch the kids drive the tractor.

On Saturday it was Nathaniel's 12th birthday and he had a big party with all of his friends. He said it was one of the best birthdays ever, so that was a good way to end his "childhood" and usher in the following teenage years. I was looking through old albums at earlier years of him and just am amazed at how fast everything has happened. I think everyone probably feels this way, but it's easy to regret not enjoying the earlier years more... I guess we're so busy parenting that it's hard to see just how darn cute they really are! Maybe that's why being a grandparent is so rewarding. You can definitely appreciate every stage because you're not in there every day doing it all.

We've almost got our family room/kitchen all painted and then we're putting up crown moulding... a huge project! But it looks so nice. I'll take some pics soon... probably even before it's finished.

We watched "Mr. Holland's Opus" last night with the kids and it made me miss teaching. I'm happy just doing what I'm doing right now but there is always a part of me that wants to give something to the community. I was trying to think of where that part of me came from and I guess it was being a part of a youth group growing up and realizing that everyone has something to contribute to make the world a better place. Teaching kids and seeing them excited about being able to do something new is one of the best feelings. My favorite part of the movie is when Mr. Holland is upset about the school cutting the art and music budget and he says that Reading and Writing are important but WHAT are the students going to read and write about???! Of course it's another movie that I cry all the way through! I have to stop watching those!!

I made lots of things for fajitas yesterday (Nathaniel's favorite meal) and so we'll eat it again for left-overs! Here's a really good way to give some flavor to sour cream: Mix a cup with a teaspoon of lime zest, a 1/4 cup of chopped fresh cilantro, a 1/4 teaspoon of pepper and an 1/8 teaspoon of salt and put it all in a food processor or blender. Blend until smooth. This cilantro-lime sour cream is so cool and good with a hot spicy salsa! I'm getting hungry just thinking about it!

Hope you are having a good Monday and enjoying the first days of spring!

xo ~ Bethany

Caroline's Room Redo

BEFORE...
During the massive white cover-up!...

AFTER...



All the furniture is from IKEA (except the purple desk chair). The daybed is pretty cool because it's also a trundle and has three large storage drawers in front too! The curtains, the duvet, the plants and most of the lights are also from IKEA. Even the little "bear skin rug"! We felt like we were on a Trading Spaces episode with X dollars to spend and a big transformation. The paint is "Lily Lilac" from Benjamin Moore. Now she also has a shelf for all of her collectable plushes, mostly from etsy and some good friends:Di, Eva, Stacey, Fanja. I made the bulletin board out of hemosote from the hardware store and covered it in white linen fabric. She can pin up jewelry or pictures and it's an easy way to change things when she gets new things or is bored of this arrangement...

I had bought this print on etsy over a year ago and it was perfect for her! She just started guitar lessons and yes-- her guitar is purple also!

IKEA makes nice cardboard storage boxes and now her closet is so organized, it's almost sparse!
Caroline is having her two best friends over to spend the night and to enjoy her new teenager room! Hopefully they'll go to sleep. We are going to try to see "Alice in Wonderland" tonight also which I am SO excited about!

Now that this room is done, we start all over on our main room of the house: the kitchen/dining area/family room! phew....

good bread

The bread was a success! I think this book will be really good (and especially the breads)!

yarn love

I thought I'd show you my progress on the recreation of the sweater from Bright Star... while I was sick, I crocheted these little Granny Squares with Pearl Cotton yarns and a small hook. They are a lot smaller than a normal Square for an afghan but you can see that they are not small enough! So I researched yarns some more and realized that tatting yarns are what I'd need to do something so small. And the smallest hook I could find which is something like a 00. And then I had to find tatting yarns which I did on Purl Soho (Laura Normandin's bracelet pattern which is posted on the Pearl Bee helped with that search!). Of course after I ordered this special Valdani yarn, I realized that you can find yarn cheaper on etsy... of course. I don't know why I didn't think of that but at least I supported Purl who was the reason I found this out in the first place. Now I'm looking at other variations on the Granny Square to see if I can make it a little prettier than this.

And as for baking news... I finally made my dough from Healthy Bread in Five Minutes a Day, yesterday afternoon. Today I found a baking stone and a pizza peel (which is what that paddle is actually called.) My first loaf is rising and then I'll bake it and we'll see how it turns out! I'm not sure what else I'm making for dinner tonight... I've just been too excited about the bread. Man can live on bread alone, can't he?