Weekend "Hop"penings

I'm afraid I have caught the same stomach bug Landon has had...boo. But, I wanted to make sure I did a post on our Easter before its forgotten. We went to Nashville to celebrate this Easter with Ash's family. We attended one of the most beautiful services I have ever attended at West End Methodist and afterwards celebrated with lunch and friends and family over at Aunt Nancy's house.

Right before everyone else arrived, we were able to squeeze in a few family pictures.

The weather was gorgoues, although someone mentioned there was a tornado warning about 20 minutes away, but it satyed clear from us and we enjoyed sunny skies all afternoon. We started the festivities with an easter egg hunt. The dad's were in charge of hiding the eggs...

while us moms tried and contained the kids...

we were desperate for ideas and ended up lining them up in age order aka the stairstep picture.

Once we got word that all the eggs were hidden, the kids ran outside to find them...

And Lucy was a pro once again. While all the other kids were on one side of the yard, Lucy made her way to the opposite side and hit the jackpot...

and Lynlee watched all the fun from the sideline.

It was a glorious day and we had fun celebrating with everyone! 

Happy Easter with a Recipe or Two

I wanted to squeeze in a quick post before we load up to go out of town again.  We are heading back up to Nashville to spend Easter with Ash's family.  My goal was to head up right after Landon's game today, but I still have laundry to do, clothes to be ironed, packing for everyone, etc, etc.  And speaking of my sweet boy, he has a little stomach bug thats been messing with him and he stilled played lacrosse in the game for most of the game last night.  What a little trooper!!! 





He We payed for it on the way home when he threw up all over the backseat.  And then I nearly threw up all over the front seat.  :)  Anyhow, I am way off topic.

Lucy had her school easter egg hunt the other day that Lynlee and I got to.  And Mimi got to meet us over there too.  Luckily, Mimi was able to help me with Lynlee...






They were watching through the glass from the room next door.  :)  The easter egg hunt was done in the classroom due to the yucko weather that day.  And Lucy was a pro at hunting eggs.   I'm not sure how she knew exactly what to do either since this was her first hunt of the year but she had it down...




She put her basket in the middle of the room and  ran to eggs, grabbing 3 or 4 at a time...




and then ran to her basket to "unload" before starting over again.



And nothing could stop her! If she couldn't reach it, she'd pull up a chair...



She did pretty good and ended up with a basket full of eggs!





Now completely switching topics, I wanted to share a recipe that I make every year for Easter and is also the perfect spring/summer dessert...Lemon Berry Trifle. It is so good and pretty easy to make, especially if you buy store bought lemon curd as opposed to making it (hint, hint) :) Anyhow, enjoy!



Lemon Berry Trifle

6 large egg yolks
1 cup sugar
4 lemons, zested and juiced
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, cut in chunks
1 pint fresh strawberries, stemmed and halved lengthwise
1 pint fresh blueberries
1 pint fresh blackberries
2 cups sweetened whipped cream
1 prepared lemon pound cake
1/4 cup Limoncello or Grand Marnier
Fresh mint leaves, for garnish

To make the lemon curd: Bring a pot of water to a simmer, simmer over medium-low heat. Combine the egg yolks, sugar, lemon juice, and lemon zest in a metal or glass heat-resistant bowl and whisk until smooth. Set the bowl over the simmering water, without letting the bottom touch, and continue to whisk. Keep working-out that arm and whisk it vigorously for a good 10 minutes, until the curd has doubled in volume and is very thick and yellow. Don't let it boil. Remove the bowl from heat and whisk in the butter, a couple of chunks at a time, until melted. Refrigerate until the custard is cold and firm.
To build the trifle, put the berries in a mixing bowl and toss them together so they are evenly distributed. Fold the whip cream into the chilled lemon curd. Line a glass trifle bowl with pieces of pound cake to fit. Drizzle or brush the cake with the Limoncello, spoon a layer of the lemon curd over the cake, and then a layer of mixed berries. Repeat the layers until the ingredients are used up, the last layer looks best if it's the berries. Chill before serving. Garnish with fresh mint.


And I shared this the other day but wanted to repost here too...Bunny Cupcakes.




Bunny Cupcakes

A cupcake (baked from your favorite recipe)
White icing
Shredded coconut
Pink decorators’ sugar
mini marshmallows
large marshmallows
jellybean, m&m's or other candy to decorate

Frost a cupcake (baked from your favorite recipe) with white icing and sprinkle on shredded coconut fur.  Cut a large marshmallow in half widthwise. Squeeze each half slightly to give it an oval shape, then decorate the sticky side of each one with pink decorators’ sugar or icing and set them in place for ears.
Add blue m&m's or jellybeans for the eyes and place them with a bit of icing on the back to hold in place
Add a jelly bean nose (I forgot to buy jellybeans at the store) and mini marshmallows for cheeks. For a finishing touch, draw on decorators’ gel pupils or whiskers if you like.   You can also use twizzlers (the kind that peel apart) if you can find them.  Just cut them down to size.




I hope you all have a wonderfully Happy Easter!

   "Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead..." 1 Peter 1:3

Round Round Get Around

Our sweet Lynlee is getting around now.  She has been rolling all over the place for a while now...









 But tonight I caught her crawling  and I caught it on camera.  I figure in a week, she will have it down and be all over the place and into everything.  I love this age and seven months seems to be a big month for my kids...thats when they start to do everything...get teeth, eat food, crawl, pull up, etc, etc.  Here is a clip of sweet girl crawling.  Please ignore my high pitched baby talkin voice, its rather embarrasing.  :)

and Again...this time Nashville

Last weekend we packed up again and headed north to Nashville. This was an even shorter trip, leaving Saturday morning and coming back Sunday afternoon but we made the most of our time and squeezed a short visit in with more family. So off we were.



Ash's dad had called months ago asking if we would like to see Boz Scaggs in concert. Well, I said sure even though I had no idea who Boz was, so I did a quick google search and recognized a few songs. My parents were so excited for us, so obviously Mr. Scoggs is a little before my time. But none the less we were in and that was the main reason for our trip. We arrived Sarturday around lunch and ate and visited with Ashley's grandmother. And around 6, we made our way to the historic Ryman Theatre.



I didn't think camera's were allowed so I didn't bring mine in, so unfortunately, I don't have any pics of the show. In fact the only pic I have of the night is of Ashley's sister, Jessica and her date for the night, Jennifer.



Well the show was fun, but I think I had the most fun watching Ashley's dad. :) I think it's safe to say he was having a great time. And we did too. Thanks JD for the tix!!

After the show, we made our way to 2nd Avenue to have a drink and hear some more music, but somehow ended up at the Palm, which was dead.



But we enjoyed each others company and another drink before calling it a night. And thank goodness we have sense to call it a night when we did, because these girls of ours get up pretty early. We enjoyed the morning with Ashley's grandmother before packing up to head home. We made a quick top to catch cousin Jackson's baseball game.



Lucy mucked it up with the team for a while...



before making some other friends...



and then we were on the road again, back home for Birmingham. We are staying put this weekend, thank goodness. There is a ton to do around the house and Landon has a lacrosse tournament this weekend. Hopefully, the bad weather will push on through today and the sun will be back again tomorrow! Have a great weekend!

On the Road Again...

In the past month we have been out of town every weekend.  Ash and I start whistling Willy Nelson's "On the Road Again" every Friday as we pack the car...it has become our theme song.  Anyhow, after our Memphis getaway, we headed up the following weekend to Paris for a trip to grandaddy's.  We decided to surprise him (April fools styled) although we broke down an hour away and told him we were on our way.  We knew driving up it was going to be a quick trip arriving Friday night and heading out Sunday morning but we realized it had been six months since we had been up last and we were overdue for a visit.  In usual grandaddy style we were non stop the entire time.  The minute we got there, the grill was lit and the kids played outside...






These two couldn't quite climb the tree so they found the next best thing...



Lynlee just sucked her thumb and took it all in...



The evening was spent playing, eating, visiting, movie watching and enjoying the awesome weather.  At one point I spotted this!



It was a late night, but that didn't seem to matter...everyone was up and adam on Saturday ready for the day's activities...



Lucy is obsessed with stickers lately and somehow found some that morning...



We ate a quick bite and packed up and headed out.  Lucy and Landon got an extra treat and got to ride in grandaddy's new convertable...Landon thought it was pretty cool and asks us daily if we can get one...hmmmm.   :)



Our first stop was the skating rink.  Landon got the hang of it quickly....








Lucy tired quickly...



but nothing a snack couldn't take care of...



even Ash gave it a shot...



and got into it  :)



Afterwards, Lynlee and I headed to my sweet friends house so Lynlee could meet her new friend.


they were so funny sitting there...not sure what they are looking at...



We can't wait for more playdates with B!!!



I met back up with Ash and headed to another sweet friends engagement shower.  It was a blast from the past and I got to catch up with a lot of friends I havent seen in years.



The couple (plus one :))  T and B have been dating since high school and finally bit the bullet.  I am so happy for you two and can't wait for the wedding!




Ash and I had a late night but were again up bright and early along with everyone else...




some were harder to get moving than others...



We had a quick breakfast and hit the road by 9...we had a game to catch for this cutie



he is pretty awesome at this game and is loving it!



And we all love watching him...




look at this sweaty baby!



There he is #17.



He had 10 attempts that game and not one shot went in...however that all changed the next game!  But I am running late so I will post about Landon and Lacrosse another time.  I am off to get our day started...have a good one!