An early Easter

 Easter Egg Hunt

My Aunt Linda and my cousin Krista came home for a few days this past weekend so Will (2), Krista's son, could meet Great Grandma. While they were here, Aunt Carol planned her Easter gathering early so they could attend. Aunt Carol's Easter egg hunt and dinner is a huge undertaking that normally involves hundreds of candy filled colored eggs spread out over a third of an acre. It's always the Saturday before Easter. Audrey loves it! What kid wouldn't? This year it was limited to only the little kids and they each got 7 eggs. This was Allie's first year participating and she did quite well considering I don't think she knew why she was picking up eggs. It was humorous to watch her take her first egg out of her basket, discover that it opened and then look twice as there was actually something inside!

 The sunshine and warm air kept us outside all day. What gorgeous weather, considering the never ending winter we've had this year. I actually worked up a sweat walking around and considered sunscreen a time or two.

Aunt Carol made her famous chicken and noodles which someday I will learn to make gluten free. I took a cake stand filled with strawberries and dark chocolate and my sister in law made a rockin' gluten free chocolate dessert (recipe below). Easter weekend won't be the same without Saturday night at Aunt Carol's this year, but seeing family we don't see every year made this year even more special.

Aunt Carol (left) & Aunt Linda (right) Yes, they are twins

The War in Wardrobe

The war that broke out over wardrobe in our house that day was close to monumental. Audrey likes to dress herself. Audrey is quite independent. I know I need to pick the battles and that clothing typically isn't an important one. But, the outfit she had on was from last year. It didn't fit. Not even a little. The skirt was so short she was showing her princess panties and the once short sleeved shirt was barely covering her belly. She had new clothes. Plus, I already had a bunch of photos from last summer with her in that outfit and I didn't want more. (Petty, I know). She was holding her ground. Jeremy couldn't believe how clothing was posing such a battle. If it had been WWII, he would have been Switzerland. When I come home from the store, we had 30 minutes before we were to leave. Audrey still had on the outfit from last summer. Desperate, I tell her that I'll buy her the Tangled movie if she puts on the outfit I picked out. She stops, looks at me, clarifies what I said and then says, "Ok!" I knew we already had pre-ordered that movie and that it would be arriving in 7-10 days. Bribery at it's finest. Don't judge. While in the potty at Aunt Carols she asks, "Can I change back into my other clothes when we get home?" At this moment, I didn't care. She attended the family gathering in the cute outfit. And not more than 20 minutes after we got home that day she was out playing with the neighbors, wearing the mini skirt and flashing everyone her princess panties.


Recipes

Gluten Free Berry Chocolate Dessert
(Autumn did not add any berries or jam, and it was delicious)

• 2/3 cup sliced almonds, toasted
• 1-1/3 cups semisweet chocolate chips
• 2 packages (8 ounces each) cream cheese, softened
• 2/3 cup sugar
• 1 carton (12 ounces) frozen whipped topping, thawed 
• 1 cup each fresh raspberries, blueberries and blackberries
• 2 tablespoons seedless strawberry jam

• Place almonds in a small food processor; cover and pulse until chopped. Sprinkle into a greased 9-in. springform pan; set aside.
• In a microwave, melt chocolate chips; stir until smooth. Cool completely. In a large bowl, beat cream cheese and sugar until smooth. Beat in melted chocolate; fold in whipped topping.
• Spread cream cheese mixture evenly into prepared pan. Mound fruit on top. Microwave jam on high for 15 seconds or until melted; drizzle over fruit.
• Cover and refrigerate for at least 3 hours. Remove sides of pan. Yield: 12 servings.

Sarah