Easter at The Gosling House

Dear Girls,

I am always amazed and ecstatic at how quickly winter fades and Spring begins. It makes me envision trips to local nurseries and scrounging for extra bucks to buy ........ PLANTS. The green grass, birds in flight and hostas poking up in the yard are better than Christmas for a "quasi" gardener like myself. It also means that the munchkins will be outside playing and not hanging from ME!!! Spring also means ... EASTER TIME. So bust out the plaid Izod clothing and bring on the peep candies. Well, actually ... peeps didn't make a showing this year but a few other things did. In this family, if you do something once you have to do it 3 times. I like to keep the Easter baskets simple, USEFUL and affordable. I find that the older the kiddies get, the more practical I become with gift giving. 3 (almost) identical easter baskets were found in our living room this April 8th. Next year, there will be 4 ...... So here they are ...

Bubbles, penny drops, spiderman socks, sticker books (essential for church and hoping for at least 20 min of focus ..... optimism is KEY)

We also made some Easter bunny fireplace hangings. Admittedly, I don't always bust out the scissors, elmers glue and mass amounts of cotton balls ... but who can resist a big fluffy Easter bunny?

Speaking of Big Fluffy Easter bunnies. Well here at "Hotel Simplicity" we always find a reason to have a family friend dress up as a fleece character to make 1, 2 or ALL the chitlins cry on a joyous holiday. My sisters' friend was the sacrificial lamb (huh?) for this holiday. She was a sport! Hiding in a shed, couldn't see the entire time and all after 3 "heavy on the bubbly" mimosa's. Thanks Julie!

Best Quote of the Day: "Hey Mom, how come the Easter bunny has on skinny jeans and sneaks?!?"

Hope you all had a nice weekend!

Mrs. Kelly's Baskets

Hey girls,

As promised, I'm sending some pics of our baskets.  The Easter basket for babies is always kind of amusing. I think I, er, the Bunny, left a basket for the baby just so the sibs wouldn't suspect something rotten in the state of Denmark, or um, New York. You will notice that the lighting is dark in my pictures. That is because I am a procrastinator and these were assembled late. Here's the breakdown: Baby Bubba: One chick basket retrieved from the basement, one Elmo bunny also retrieved from the basement and miraculously unnoticed by older siblings who also received said Elmo, two jars of carrots (not chocolate but a step up from rice cereal) and this fun bib from Tumble Bumble Tots so he can look chic (or chick, haha, get it, because it's Easter) eating those carrots. Oh and before I forget, two Easter books.

Blondie: We went with a pink theme. You know I love me some themes. Pink rain boots, a Pinkalicious story (she LOVES these books), Disney bath toys from TJ Maxx (aka the Bunny's Den), princess gummies, chocolate bunny, cheddar bunnies, a new pink shirt and handful of jelly beans thrown in for good measure.

Professor: Phineas and Ferb themed basket. Nothing says Easter like a platypus. Phineas and Ferb book, P&F shirt, P&F figures, chocolate bunny, cheddar bunnies, gummies, jelly beans and dot paint. My kids love the dot paints (which incidentally I had to hunt down. Good ole' Michaels).

Finished Products:

There you have it!
Happy Easter,