Strawberry Picking!

JB got to plant strawberries last Fall during a field trip to Greene Acres Farm, one of favorite little spots in our rural area.  This Spring we headed back over to pick them!

The farm (and we) took lots of precautions with U-Pick, due to the pandemic and shelter-in-place orders.  Fortunately, when you're in a field, it's very easy to social distance.

The kiddos picked two big buckets of beautiful strawberries, and then we enjoyed some delicious homemade ice cream.

After we got home and washed all these beauties, it was time to come up with recipes to use them. We made strawberry bread, strawberry muffins, strawberry cobbler, strawberry ice cream, then ate and ate what was left!  The skillet strawberry cobbler came from a Garden and Guns recipe, originally created for serviceberries (what the heck is a serviceberry??), but absolutely delicious with strawberries. It will be my new go-to dessert during berry season.

We love this family farm and can't wait to visit again. Blackberry season should be here soon, then peaches in the early summer.  This farm is the last in Georgia to allow U-Pick peaches, mostly because it's not easy work and takes time and (tedious) effort.  However, I think it's good for these kiddos to appreciate what it takes to grow all this great fruit they enjoy - so up into the trees they'll go! :)

New Easter Decorations! That We'll Keep FOREVER!!

Maryn's sweet PreK 3 teachers (Mrs. Mary and Mrs. Stacey, just the sweetest, best teachers and we miss them so much!!) have posted all sorts of fun activities for families to do as they find themselves quarantined and looking for ways to not go crazy keep entertained.

Earlier in the month they shared an idea for salt dough ornaments for an Easter tree.  Seemed cute and easy enough!  The bigger kids and I jumped on it.  I ruined the first batch of dough, despite the fact that it's merely flour, salt and water.  What can I say, I've never been much of a baker... :)

By the second batch, we were cooking with gas.  JB's homeschool curriculum for the week asked us to practice with a ruler, so there. you. go. Done and done (totally rocking this teacher thing...)

After the ornaments baked and thoroughly hardened we painted them all sorts of pretty Spring colors (thank goodness I keep a pretty big craft closet). 

Oh, and side note:  we had no events or school parties to show off our embroidered Easter shirts. :(  #firstworldproblems, I know, but I still feel the need to show them off. Are you even a Southern Mama if your child is not in monogram during a holiday season??

But back to our Easter decorations.  After they dried and I put a little pizzazz on them with a white paint pen, we hung them up so we could enjoy them for Easter.  And, TBH, they are still on our chandelier (a week after Easter) because Mama just can't bring herself to take them down.  You better believe we're keeping these decorations forever and ever.  Every year that I put them up, I'll remember how we made them during the strange and uncertain Spring of 2020 spent in lockdown!

A Beautiful Easter

What a blessed and special Easter!  Even spent all cooped up and isolated away from our friends and family.  I hated when people on the news would talk about 'Easter is cancelled this year', as that is not what we felt.  Sure, we weren't at church, we weren't in our Easter best (for long, anyways), and we didn't host a big Easter brunch like we normally do.  But we still celebrated our risen Lord, light winning over darkness, and the promise of life that we have in Christ.  In times like these, that is a message we need to let sink down into our core, more than ever.

The day before Easter we dyed some eggs (which James managed to find at Piggly Wiggly - since necessities are scarce right now!)  The kids had a blast, and I managed not to lose my mind with all the mess, chaos, mixing of colors, spills, etc.... :)

Grammy and Gran Gran sent us a box of Easter goodies from Texas: Peeps, blocks, books, and cascarones!!! We sure do love confetti eggs (and they're not easy to find around here...)

Wesley prefers to break them over his own head -  he hasn't quite gotten that cascarones are for ambushing others when they least expect it!

The next morning the kids woke up to very full Easter baskets, boobytrapped by a maze of dominoes.    Matching shoes are always a hit, plus special goodies for each kiddos (any so much chocolate!)  The kids immediately emptied their baskets and headed outside to find more loot.  All this was done before Mama got a picture.

The Easter Bunny hid some cascarones in the yard, and Wesley would find them and smash them on his head.  So funny.

The kids were very clear with me that I was not to touch the Russel Stover marshmallow eggs. They know they're Mama's favorite... :)

I made homemade bagels in the air fryer for breakfast. Cinnamon sugar for the kiddos and "everything" flavor for us.  Delish.

Then, like so many other Christians around the world, we celebrated together with our family of faith safely from our living rooms. Our church played all the favorite old and new Easter hymns and worship songs, and Rev. Barry gave a wonderful sermon.

Afterward I made everyone get dressed in coordinated outfits and head outside. Yes, there is a global pandemic going on; yes, nothing is normal; but no, we're not going to miss out on a family picture!  

This last one makes me laugh because each of the kids - plus the dog - is giving their "I'm over this" face, hahaha.  But they gifted me with the two great ones above.  Love them.

Ms. Therlon joined us for lunch, since she's part of our quarantine crew.  The kids loved having her over, and we enjoyed the extra company. It feels strange to have such a small, quiet lunch on Easter! The Country Club made the meats and mac-n-cheese, with me only cooking some lima beans to round out the lunch. Easiest holiday meal I've ever hosted.

After nap time, Daddy carried on his usual tradition of hiding another round of Easter eggs, filled with goodies that he picks out.  We had to wake up all the kids in order to start that hunt, as the clouds darkened and storms brewed from the West. They were a little grumpy at first...

Then they got super competitive and the games were on!

Daddy always fills one egg with a big bill ($5 - big for them) and Wesley quickly saw it hidden in the tree. In fact, Wesley did the best job of seeing the eggs hidden throughout the yard, but unfortunately couldn't get to them fast enough!  This led to some tears and tantrums as his siblings beat him to them.

These kiddos love the second hunt.  And they love their Daddy.  Such a special tradition for them!

And, yes, your eyes do not deceive. James is sporting a quarantine beard.  He and Enda are matchy matchy with their rusty coats. :)

So not our normal Easter, but still a beautiful one and a blessed on.  One we'll always remember!