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Monday, April 9, 2012

Home for the holidays

I am participating in the Blogging From A-Z Challenge. Each day in April (except the last 4 Sundays), I will post topic themes that begin with the letters of the alphabet, from A-Z. Today's letter is G.


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As I mentioned in a previous post, my mother-in-law sort of passed the torch to me for the holiday gatherings. We typically have Christmas dinner at our house, but this year we hosted Easter in our home, too.  (After last year's Thanksgiving madness, Mom-in-law said she was done hosting all holidays.  If she sticks to that, we'll be doing Thanksgiving, as well.)

Every time I host a big function, whether it be a birthday party or a holiday gathering, I'm this crazy ball of nerves right at the end.  The mad dash to get everything done right & on time both stresses me out & invigorates me.  You'd think I'd dislike that pressure, but I love it.  No, not everything turns out as planned, but whatever improvisation or flat-out change I have to make works out just fine.  Though I'm unbelievably exhausted when it's all over, I'm always anxious for the next time I get to do it again. 

It helps that I love Justin's family & am so glad to be a part of the fold.  I take the dysfunction with the closeness b/c it's a package deal & the dysfunction part isn't that bad.  It's mostly comical and always interesting. :)  But I digress.  

This year, I was hostess of Easter. Everyone came to our home for food & egg hunting. There was a little family rock band (my Mom-in-law even played drums!), lots of chatting, and the kids ended the day w/ a crazy water fight in the front yard. Rather than re-hashing all the details, here are a few picture highlights.  Enjoy!!

My kiddo & oldest nephew hunting eggs


Deviled chicks


Flower-shaped carrots (only half are fancy; I got tired of cutting!)


Peep S'mores or "smeeps" as the kids called them


My niece soaking wet from the kids' water fight

15 comments:

  1. Oh my goodness! You are brilliant! I love the deviled chicks and the peep smores. Now I'm hungry! Fabulous stuff!

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    1. It's all pinterest's fault! I see so many great ideas on there, I just have to try them. Mine never turn out as good as the ones I find online, but it's fun anyway. :)

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  2. Hi...I'm hopping over from the A to Z Challenge. Lovely post...good luck with the challenge. I'm a new follower!

    Donna L Martin
    www.donasdays.blogspot.com

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  3. I was stumped on what to have for dinner tonight, not anymore!! Deviled chicks & smeeps! I will say though, gonna roast my peeps first, I love me some carmelized sugar!

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    1. I put our smeeps in our toaster oven & set it on the lighter toast setting. It worked out perfectly. They're messy if you use a whole peep like I did. If you rip that peep in half, there's not as much mess. Either way is tasty, though. :)

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  4. Oh yeah...the chicks are so cute! The smeeps, maybe on the grill to melt those little chickers! LOL
    Great post...and looks like a great day at your house. ♥

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    1. I popped our smeeps in the toaster oven. I thought about lighting up the fire pit out back, but I was afraid the peeps might fall off in the fire. *lol*

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  5. Yeppers, the deviled chicks are cute.

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  6. Oh how I miss those days of big family gatherings! Now we're spread out to the four corners. I miss everyone so much.

    Hey, I LOVE those deviled egg chicks! How totally cute!

    It's nice to meet you. I'm a new follower via the A to Z.

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    1. I love big family gatherings. None of the ones we've had lately compare to the holidays w/ my mom's family. She's 1 of 12 kids, so when they used to do the big family get-together, they'd have to rent a building to fit all of us. They were always a blast! But that side of the family is all scattered across the U.S. & everyone has families of their own, so those big shindigs are few & far between these days.

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  7. The deviled chicks and Peep s'mores are brilliant! Next year, I'll be making those, too!

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  8. Sounds like you had fun :) love the eggs, I might do them soon :)

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