1 Family x 12 (April)

 

Typically my monthly family photos only include the 4 of us, but I couldn't pass up the first opportunity to post all 10 of us, back together again, for the first time in nearly a year.  This group hadn't been together since we camped in Iowa last summer, but with the majority of us fully vaccinated there are better days ahead.

This past weekend also included my first trip back to Wishful in well over a year.  When the pandemic first hit and our new reality finally started to show itself I said that one of the first things I wanted to do when things got "back to normal" was to go to Wishful with all the regulars that I missed so much.  This past weekend it was just Mom, Dad and I (well, the kids too) and it was exactly what we all needed.  Next time I hope our group is bigger and includes Ryan and many of the Mom and Dad's Freeport friends.  I miss the Mulligans, the Pinters, Deb and so many others so much!  I can't wait to see you all soon.

Easter

 

Easter 2021 was SO refreshing and fun and happy.  First off, check out our new dining room table, with room for EIGHT.  Since moving into this house we've planned to get a big ol' table for the dining room...and the plan was that Ryan was going to build the table himself out of an old oak tree cut down in my parents hard.  We've already had the tree milled (cut into boards) but the process if drying is turning out to be much more complicated (and well, longer) than we expected, so we finally decided to just buy what we wanted and we'll figure the rest out later.  Back right after Thanksgiving we ordered this custom table/chairs and buffet (not pictured) and just a few days before Easter it showed up.  I even pulled out the china and this might just be the best looking table I've set yet!

What's better than a beautiful table spread and new dining room furniture?  Having the people we love most sitting around the table, all together...in person....!  And, that's just what happened on Easter Saturday.  For the first time in over a year, we were finally able to all get together and there is nothing better for my heart than that.  

We celebrated our big Easter meal on Saturday because Ryan flew out again on Sunday afternoon.  Doing it on Saturday let everyone enjoy the day to it's fullest without feeling rushed or dreading the time when Ryan had to get in the truck and head to the airport.  Sunday afternoons are quickly becoming our least favorite part of the week.  But, just a few more months and the majority of the travel should finally be over.

Sunday morning the Easter Bunny came and for the first time since the kids were born we were able to do Easter eggs outside.  Easter weekend this year was beautiful.  It was nearly 80 degrees and sunny both days and while we've slipped back into the mid 50's now for the foreseeable future, we were glad to have a few days that felt like summer.  The grass is green now, most of the trees are fully budding, if not leafing, our spring flowers are popping up color everywhere and the kids play outside most every afternoon.

Easter was wonderful.  The prefect amount of family and food and fun, mixed with lots of time for just sitting around socializing and enjoying the beautiful weather.

This is how Erin and I felt about a 6 am wakeup for Easter Eggs....but...the kids were just too excited to wait.  We found all the eggs, ate chocolate for pre-breakfast before having a big brunch and then spent the rest of the day drinking Margaritas, playing Yahtzee (we taught the kids), doing Kiwi crates and just enjoying our Sunday.

Spring Knitting

When I look back at my blog posts/books over the years, I notice that my knitting doesn't get featured often.  I think it's because the projects are completed over the course of weeks, often months and progress is slow.  However, much like my reading, I'm typically working on two "handy crafts" at any given time.  Usually one knitting and one quilting and slow and steady I have completed projects to gift to new babies or for Christmas presents.  In order to have presents ready and wrapped under the tree, I'm usually knitting/quilting year round.  Handmade gifts are not fast, but they are filled with love.

So - in this post I'm doing a round up for some of the things I've knit since Christmas.  First up, these ADORABLE bunnies.  They came up as a suggested post on Instagram (they know me!) and I'm now addicted to this little shop based in Madison, Wisconsin.  Back when I first started knitting, Joey bought me a knitted animal pattern book and I've used it for baby gifts since then (in fact, there is one of these posted further down in this post).  Most often patterns for animals like this are crochet which I never really picked up.  So, when I saw these adorable knit bunnies, I knew they'd be perfect for Hazel...who loves bunnies more than I can tell you....and for Easter.

They are small, no bigger than 8 inches tall, so they are a relatively quick knit.  I got one done and quickly moved to the second (blue) in hopes that I could finish them in time to gift for Easter.  I made it with just a few days to spare!

The blue bunny turned out a little bigger than the pink because I used some cheaper yarn from Joann's instead of the nice yarn that the kit came with.  Lesson learned...won't make that choice again!  I was much happier with the finished product of the pink bunny....and the yarn for the blue was a pain to work with.  

Up next, this strange alligator - if I'm honest, he's not my favorite pattern from the book.  But, over the last 10 years now I've worked through all the super cute ones and it was time to try something new.  He turned out much bitter than I expected!  I bet he's 18 inches from nose to tail and while I see mistakes when I look at him, I have a feeling some future baby boy will love this guy.  He's been added to my "to gift" pile and is just waiting on a new baby to love him.  

Lastly - it looks like I've got a little crafter in the making!  Abby got this cute first sewing project kit from Grandpa one weekend when she and Hazel had a sleepover with him.  It was the prefect size for a first project.  Small enough to complete easily within a few sittings but soft and fuzzy enough to be loved once it was finished.  Abby actually ended up gifting this project to Hazel which made this Momma very proud.

Working together through this she learned some valuable lessons.  Knotting, threading and probably most important, what to do when you make a mistake and have to go backwards.  There was more than one mistake and maybe even a few tears of frustration but it was a good experience and she's onto making her third sewing project as we speak.  

1 Family x 12 (March)

 

For some reason I always struggle with getting our monthly family photo in on time in the early months of the year.  Once summer hits it's like we're always onto something!  So technically we snagged this family photo on Easter, a few days into April.  But, I'm posting it for March and the photo police can take it up with me later - LOL!.  

Looking Back - Mom in Grade school

*pre-school

My Aunt Jane has been going through out family pictures scanning them to make them digital and she's been sharing them with Mom as she's working through it.  These are her school pictures through 7th grade.  I wanted to make sure I had these printed and saved forever so I'm getting them into the blog book. 

*Kindergarten

*1st grade

*2nd grade

*4th grade

*5th grade

*6th grade

*7th grade

All the Easter Activities

 

Well, before Easter comes and goes I figured I better get this blog post posted to share all the things we've been doing around here to get excited about the holiday!  If you're wondering, yep....we were back at it with sugar cookies!  And guys, I think we've finally mastered it.  We figured out the food coloring that works best, the best piping bags, the right sized cookie cutters, the best number of dough and frosting batches to make.  We've nailed it and now we're pros!

I think these are my favorites of all the cookies we've made over the last 6 months or so.  The cutters were adorable.  The frosting came out great and probably best of all, we had the perfect amount of cookies to not be exhausted at the end of decorating.  We had enough to share and eat and we didn't toss a single one. 

Honestly, we made these a few weeks ago and they are long gone and I'm wishing we had another batch on the calendar for sometime soon because I could eat at least 3 right now!

OMG!  Aren't they darling!?!  I think we could go into business.  Erin?  You up for that?

We didn't stop with just cookies though.  Last weekend we mixed up a batch of Bunny Bait.  A great recipe that a work friend told me about last year during quarantine that will forever and for always be a tradition in our house now.  Google it, I think everyone needs a batch in their life!

And of course, we dyed Easter eggs.  Well, to be fair, Erin did most of the activity solo with the kids.  Ryan and I were working on cutting some dead trees in the back yard (springtime in the McGrath house...).   There is something about dyed eggs that just makes me so happy.  I mean, why don't we dye them all year long?  When you crack open the crate of hard boiled eggs and see bright happy colors shining back at you, it's hard to not smile.  

Easter is just a few short days away - it'll be here and gone before we know it.  But, that just means we get to start planning the next holiday activities, which, is SUMMER.  We sure can't wait for warmer weather and more outdoor fun.

First Family Ski Trip

A few weeks ago, JUST as the weather was starting to turn warmer here, we loaded up the kids early from school one Friday and headed out on our first ever family ski trip!  Ryan has been wanting to take the girls skiing for the last year or two and we finally felt like they were old enough to maybe actually enjoy the process.
 

And, maybe even more fun than the skiing part was the part where friends joined us!  Real live friends...it was really quite lovely and such a fun change after just nearly a year of basically everything being canceled.  We rented a house near the Dells with Jamie and Zach and Chris and Brenna and we had the most lovely weekend.  Of course, 5 little girls between 8 and 2 made it a fun adventure for the littles too.

Since Abby was 1, we've planned a trip to the Dells each spring, usually with my friends Mike and Kristina and their family, along with Jamie and Zach.  That was canceled last year and Ryan threw us our very own pool party right in the garage, and while that was fun (at least the kids loved it!), this was better!  And, honestly, even though the pool wasn't a huge water park, we all felt much safer in this version of water park.  Just one normal hotel type pool (in the lodge just up the road) and a hot tub.  Even though there wasn't a huge water slide or play area, I honestly think the kids had just as much fun swimming here than they did in the big water parks.  So, win win!

The girls and I and the Brackemyers left work early on Friday so we had a few hours of hanging out poolside solo before the rest of the crew got there.  The pool was totally empty except for us and we even had a good old fashioned Wisconsin Friday Night Fish Fry from the little bar/restaurant that was attached.  It was the perfect way to spend a Friday night and one of the best nights we've had in a long long time.  We drank too much, I laughed until I almost pee'd and my cheeks hurt the next morning.  Of course, the gin gimlets helped!  We stayed up until 1pm (yes, even me!) and we really had the best time just hanging out laughing.

Our trip happened in late Feb and there's no way we could have guessed that it was likely the last good weekend of skiing for the season.  That Saturday it was nearly 50 degrees and the sun was out in full force.  Jamie/Chris and I didn't end up getting lift tickets (figuring someone was going to have to hang with the little kids) so we spent the afternoon at the bottom of the bunny hill sitting in the sun, with a cooler full of snacks and drinks.  It was really quite lovely!  

Stella and Abby were old enough to go to the official ski school lessons so we enrolled them and headed to the bunny hill with the littles.  The ski school was happening right there in the same spot so we got to watch all four kiddies which was nice.  I give Ryan all the credit for working with Hazel.  I didn't help her on the hill one time - which sounds lazy, but I think the kids just loved having Ryan around and were happy to get a break from me.  The feeling was mutual - LOL!

All four kids did such a great job.  I think Hazel might really have been the best of all four, she was fearless and wanted to keep going.  By the end of the afternoon Ryan had her steering and stopping, doing pizza and French Fries, and really, what more do you need at 5?  Both kids asked if we could buy them ski gear and go again next year, so I'm thinking we'll try to get another few weekends in next winter and maybe Ryan will get his wish after all - that we become a ski family.  I think he and Murph are already planning trips to Colorado and Banff.

And, with this final post, I'm hoping we're done with pictures of snow in the background.  I'm ready to move onto spring and outside activities that don't involve snow pants, gloves, hats, mittens, boots and all the other things!  I'm ready for sun, boats, tubing, camping, the pool and all things summer!  Admittedly wishful thinking for mid March in northern Illinois, but a girl can hope!