April Fool's Day!

I think April Fool's Day is the perfect day to finally post about last Christmas, don't you?
Of course!

Once again, I had The Best Christmas Ever. All our kids were home, and everyone enjoyed being together, and we did lots of fun things, and I never cooked, because the kids did it all!

I started by posting a photo on Instagram each day, a photo of something that was helping to set the mood for the holiday. I enjoyed the positive feedback I got, and I hope I can get others to do it with me next time!

The fun really started when Bethany and Poppy and Kathryn all arrived on the same day! Here we are stopping to see the miniature horses at the Quicksilver Ranch.

Then we played at the park for a while,

And we admired some of Solvangs's wares including this giant gingerbread house:

It was cold at the beach, but that didn't stop us from having fun!

The PCPA was performing The Wizard of Oz, and Poppy sat in the front row, where flying monkeys and Winkies menaced her, and she looked like she was part of the action at times.

There was some hiking,

And some more beach play.

There were pigs dressed as reindeer!

There was fun with fire,

and with trains,

and with cookies.

Of course, presents on Christmas morning were especially fun!

But the best part may have been Poppy's horse riding lesson with the gifted Isabella and Lucy.

Followed closely by a fun day of mini golf and arcade!

Okay, so maybe I'll post Easter pics for the 4th of July!

I won again!

I follow a number of blogs. Most are sewing/quilting blogs, but there are others I follow because they are charming. One delightful blog is polkadotponie, where Jone Hallmark creates lovely little things in Santa Fe, New Mexico, and also shares her love for family and friends, and life in general. Go ahead, go on over there and look around, then come back. I'll wait for you...

 Did you see those colorful, hand painted eggs Jone made? Did you see that she offered to make one for a lucky reader?

She made the rubber stamp for the card!

That's me! I'm the lucky one!

There's so much tiny detail on this little cutie!

Right now it's nestled into the pussy willow branches by my front door. 

After Easter, it will live in this little wooden bowl on my desk, accompanied by two wooden darning eggs, and next to a bowl full of buttons. Both bowls are places where I leave my glasses, and this little bit of brightness will be frequently admired and appreciated.

P.S. Yes, I made pysanky eggs again this year; Cris joined me one evening while our husbands watched basketball, and yesterday John and his girlfriend played along. I wish I'd remembered to take pictures of us at work! Here's a pic of this year's additions in the basket with all the rest.

Pysanky style eggs; ours are free form!

Pysanky!

Yesterday it was time to get out these:

Some friends came over, and we made some of these:

John made these:

I made these:

We all ate most of these: