Easter Sunday

It was a wonderful day from start to finish. We started off, of course, with Ethan's Easter basket and an indoor egg hunt. We weren't sure how much he would understand or enjoy the egg hunt, but turns out he LOVED it. He had no trouble finding the eggs.

 

The basket was a big hit!

 

 

And of course, so were the truck books!

 

 

Mmmmm, this one had M&M's in it!

 

 

 

After a fun filled morning, we headed off to church. I would like to add that we actually arrived EARLY. WHOA. This never happens.

 

 

This was the ONLY good family photo I could manage to get. Apparently Ethan is very anti family photo.

 

 

Then it was off to Mimi and Gdaddy's house for an outdoor egg hunt and a quick lunch. I can't get enough of that adorable outfit he has on!!!

 

 

Again, he rocked the egg hunt!

 

 

 

After that, we headed back to our house. Ethan and Evan took naps while I prepared for our Easter dinner with family.

 

 

My mom, dad, sister, and her boyfriend joined us. It was a wonderful meal with great company.

 

 

Since I forgot to take a picture of the entire spread, I decided to take a picture of my plate instead. We had honey baked ham, yeast rolls, pineapple casserole, steamed broccoli with hollandaise sauce (not shown), deviled eggs, and cheesy crock pot scalloped potatoes. And of course...

 

 

A homemade coconut cake! Perfectly decorated for the occasion with peeps, and Hersey's candy coated colored eggs. Out of all the items on our menu, this was my favorite one to make! :)

 

And lastly...

 

 

The very large Caterpillar dump truck that my parents got Ethan for Easter. He can fit in the back of this thing. This, of course, was a MAJOR hit. Along with the garbage truck he got that actually dumps trash cans off the back of it. Needless to say Ethan wasn't the slightest bit interested in eating Easter dinner with us after opening this awesome rig. I think it's pretty safe to say that Ethan had a pretty great Easter. Thanks to all our family who helped to spoil him!

 

We had a fantastic day with all our family, and hope that you did too! Easter blessings to you and yours!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Easter Eve

It's been a great day in the Boutwell home today. Ethan slept in until almost 8:30 this morning (this never happens). Evan takes Ethan to father & son breakfast every Saturday morning together. I love this little tradition they started. But I also love it because every Saturday I can count on an entire morning of quiet, peace, and a little extra sleep. So, not only did Ethan sleep until 8:30 which is a bonus in itself, I then got to doze back off until about 10. What mother wouldn't wake up extra chipper on a night of almost 12 hours of sleep?! Because lets just face it, Erika on little sleep = someone you really don't want to be around. It's almost as bad as Erika when she is hungry. :)

Anywho...I was able to get most of my cooking done this afternoon for tomorrows Easter dinner. My parents, sister, and her boyfriend will be joining us. Anyone who has a toddler can appreciate and understand that leaving all the cooking to the day of, is a recipe for disaster. No pun intended. :) I will elaborate (with pictures of course!) on my Easter Dinner menu in my Easter Sunday blog post. So, be looking for that post later in the week.

Ethan took a 3 hour nap today.  Double bonus. So I actually got done everything checked off my cooking "to do" list while Evan worked on planting our spring plants that we all picked out yesterday. Multitasking and checking things off the "to do" list = my happy place.

 

With all the Easter cooking...NOTHING else can fit!

 

 

Buffet table in the dining room- all set for Easter

 

 

My favorite décor in my dining room- Easter Tree!

 

 

 

 

 

 

My added Easter decoration this year. I decided to place them on our mantel. How in the world could you NOT buy something that cute?

 

 

So after all our hard work today, we celebrated with ice cream at Dairy Queen. We have a weakness in this house for a good ice cream at Dairy Queen. Notice this picture does not show my very large hot fudge sunday.

 

 

 Before putting Ethan to bed we all talked about the Easter bunny. Ethan went to bed super excited that "Easter Bunny leave eggs." Before he went to bed, he looked around his play room and out in the hall and said "I don't see any eggs", already searching for them. So, now the real fun begins.

 

 

We put his basket in the playroom on his table so he wouldn't see it before breakfast. (or he would never eat!)

 

 

Two Tonka Truck books, 2 Tonka trucks, Goldfish, & toothbrushes. This child is so in love with "truck books" as he calls them. He will read them 129384091345 times over and over. I have all of them memorized, word for word.

 

 

Let the egg hiding begin!

 

Not sure who is more excited, me and Evan, or Ethan. We are excited about tomorrows adventures, and enjoy these traditions as our son gets older and can enjoy them with us.

 

 

So, as I am writing this on Easter Eve at 9:30pm I would like to wish all of you a wonderful Easter. But most importantly, in our home we remember the real reason we celebrate Easter. The life, the death, and the rising of Jesus Christ our Savior. May each of you be filled with the joy that comes with remembering the reason we celebrate Easter. Today and always.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Skinny Girl Banana Chocolate Chip Cookies

This is an amazingly simple and delicious cookie recipe from Skinny Girl. Why do I love these so much? They taste like I am eating banana bread straight out of the oven, and they only have 3 simple, and healthy ingredients. These cookies always satisfy my chocolate cravings. Did I already mention they are REALLY good? I say this again only because most "healthy" sweet recipes are usually less than appealing.

Yes, that's right. Only 3 simple ingredients. Ripe bananas, uncooked quick oats, and chocolate chips.

How to make them:

2 bananas mashed
1cup uncooked quick oats
1/4 cup chocolate chips (I usually add a few more)

Mash the bananas in a bowl, add other ingredients. Stir until well blended and bananas are a smooth texture. Preheat your oven to 350. Spoon a tablespoon of the mixture per cookie on a cookie sheet. Bake for 15 minutes.

A side note- I usually double my recipe to yield more cookies at once. I can usually get around 15 cookies if I double the recipe.

These are great warm, or room temperature.

 

Enjoy!

 

And Happy Friday!!!

A Case of the Rainy Mondays

So, a quick re-cap on last week. What a wonderful week Ethan and I had. It was sunny, warm, and good attitudes all around! We spent every waking moment that we could playing outside. Going for walks, playing at the park, pushing Ethan's "big dump truck" up and down the side walks...you name it, we did it. Looking back, I wish I had taken some photos of our outdoor adventures for this post, but maybe next time. All that fresh air resulted in good naps, which meant mom had a bit more free time. 

I have to take a few seconds to brag about Ethan. His behavior the past 2 weeks has been awesome. He has been listening, using his manners, eating well (and trying new things!), and just overall being super sweet. NO timeouts here! There is one thing I know for sure. Time spent outside means one very happy toddler. Spring, we would really love it if you would stick around! :)

In Other News...(and onto todays post)....

After a week of absolutely beautiful weather, todays rain and much colder temperatures were an unwelcomed way to start off our week. Not to mention my car is in the shop having some work done, so we are trapped. But don't worry! We found ways to have fun.

 

Baby wipe boxes make great cars!

 

 

Thanks to Ethan's "G-daddy" he has an entire newspaper that specializes in trucks. Dump trucks, cranes, tractor trailers, farm equipment, bulldozers, ect. This has been a favorite since Saturday.

 

 

And of course, Monday means garbage day. Ethan loves to watch the garbage truck collect the trash. But today, we watched him go up the street, and then back down again. Our garbage man has learned over time to look for Ethan. He usually honks his horn and waves...which of course he thinks is the coolest thing ever.

 

 

Even though he desperately wanted to play outside today, Ethan was a trooper. He really entertained himself and never complained. I was even able to get a little baking in, as well as some spring cleaning.

 

According to the weather forecast, the mid to later part of the week looks nice. We will both be excited to resume our playtime outdoors!

 

Happy Monday!