He Has Risen Indeed!

What a blessed day! 

Today I joyfully celebrate the day that my Saviour, Jesus, rose from the dead 

and washed away my sins. 

Feeling grateful for my freedom today.

It's been a beautiful day to spend with my family and church and reflect on the 

many blessings in my life. 

God is good. 

Hallelujah! 

An Easter treat my friend made for me

Beautiful Idea! 

 I pray that you found some time to stop and reflect with God today. 

Happy Easter! 

{JOY}

Easter Cupcake Hunt!

So, I briefly considered doing an Easter egg hunt for my husband.

Very briefly considered. 

And then I realized that we are adults. 

I can have plenty of fun with this stuff when we have kids right?!? 

Then I was looking at the new mini cupcake molds that I had. 

I was already working with candy melts that day too, thanks to the delicious Easter egg strawberries. 

So I concocted a new plan. 

Don't have chocolate eggs... use something else! 

Don't want to make a grown up run all around the house (not to mention he'll probably get bored and hate me, and he doesn't crave sweets anyway... lol) - only hide 5 treats! 

This was  a great plan. 

AND here he is hunting for Easter chocolate cupcakes on a lovely Easter Sunday morning... 

{love}

Easter Egg Strawberries

If you don't think that these Easter coloured, candy-coated Strawberries look amazing...

...then we can't be friends.

Since I love all things related to all holidays... I was looking for an Easter themed treat to make. 

When I saw these Easter egg strawberries I HAD to re-create them. 

They actually taste delicious. The candy coating almost has a white chocolate taste to it. 

PLUS, they're made with strawberries! So they're practically healthy snacks :) 

One of my friends was just as excited as I was tackle this mess as I was. 

So here's how a lovely Good Friday afternoon was spent with my friend.... 

Strawberries washed and ready to be transformed into a colourful mess

Candy Melts!
(Made by Wilton - bought at Michaels)

Dipping the strawberries

All dipped and ready to become Easter eggs!

Let the creativity begin!
(We just used ziploc bags and cut a small hole to allow the candy to drizzle out nicely)

The extent of our decorating skills :)

Finished product!

Can't wait to share these with my family at our Easter dinner! 

AND

... now I'm thinking of all the candy-coated possibilities... 

... baby showers... wedding showers... birthdays... holidays... 

This may become a trend in my home... good thing Mr. A enjoyed them! 

Rainbow Cake

Hello friends! 

Last week my niece and nephew were here, and we wanted something fun to do... 

... so I found something UH-mazing to bake together :) 

The pictures are self-explanatory I think... 

Enjoy! 

{yumm}

Stitch 'N Bitch

So... I've mastered knitting (well, maybe more like attempted...), and I've attempted crocheting, and Ive enjoyed both thoroughly. 

I have this crazy need to attempt EVERYTHING though. 

Some friends of mine introduced me to double pointed needles (see below). 

This requires FOUR needles at once! 

It's daunting to say the least. 

But I have some great pro-knitter friends, so I decided to try :) 

My friends have set me up with an "easy" (their word) baby hat to try.

I spent 2 or 3 hours learning the first couple tricks. 

Spent the whole time feeling clueless. 

Holding double pointed needles feels FAR more awkward than holding just two needles! 

This is all I have to show for it so far.... 

....two measly rows :( 

Hopefully I'll have a finished project to share eventually! 

For now I'm just sharing the awkwardness of attempting to use FOUR needles at once. 

This will take some getting use to! 

On another note... 

Here is a picture of one of my pro-knitter friends! 

Almost ready to pop! 

(sorry for the blurriness)

Everyone looks gorgeous when they are pregnant :) 

Would you believe she's only 36 weeks! 

Guess that's what happens when you're 5 foot nothing and pregnant, hehehe. 

Here are some amazing hats that she knit for her newborn. 

Pink for the girl or green for the boy. 

[ Caveat: Mine will look no where near as good as these! ]

{joy}

Busy Bee

I'm busy as a bee these days... 

Here are some snippets from my busy weekend. 

More to come.... stay tuned! 

{fun}

Scrapbookin' Again

Here are a couple more creations of mine :) 

They were all made for the same person! 

Obviously that person is a good friend of mine. 

Aaaand she appreciates nice scrapbooking crafts - so I have to share them with her! 

This was a thank you card for watching our dogs while we were gone: 

This was her birthday card :) and the gift bag that matched (housing some scrapbooking necessities!): 

(Sidenote: I had so much paper left over from my Chantilly workshops, even after I made these AND these - so I decided to use some here too!) 

{create}

Nifty Banana Trick!

I read this somewhere, and then I tried it, and it worked!! 

Did you know.... that if you open a banana from the back, it opens perfectly, and you don't get ANY of those crazy stringy bits?!? 

We have clearly been opening bananas incorrectly! 

Tears of Joy

Those of you who know me and my family, probably know that we are going through some tough times right now. My father-in-law is battling a cancer, and there doesn't appear to be any treatment options.

It's so difficult to watch the people you love suffer through pain and discomfort. I've been extremely fortunate in my life. I have not had to see or witness the death of anyone close to my before. I've hardly even had to witness people I love in pain. This is breaking my heart.

My father-in-law is a rock though. He's so strong for the whole family. Cancer is a cruel disease that brings pain, and discomfort, and tiredness. But you wouldn't know that from the temperment of my father-in-law. I believe his faith plays a huge part in this comfort. It's clear from any conversation with him, that he is confident in his love of God, and has faith that he will be joining Jesus in heaven when he leaves this world. His faith inspires me. None of us know how long we have on this earth - but all of us have the opportunity to love and accept God into our hearts and lives. Dad is at peace.

Perhaps the most diffficult part of this process thus far has been the fact that we learned about this presence of the cancer only two weeks before the wedding of my brother-in-law. The thought of Dad not being able to attend the wedding of his son still brings me to tears. We did everything we could to prepare for this day. Booking wheelchairs, oxygen tanks, disability transportation, etc. But in the end, Dad was not healthy enough to attend. Fortunately, with the help of some amazing hospital staff, we were able to set-up an internet connection for him as a back-up plan.

This was the first virtual wedding I have ever witnessed. I was honoured to be the one to hold onto our iPad as the ceremony began so that Dad could watch the entire event live along with us through FaceTime. It was a very emotional day for everyone. Not just because we were watching our brother marry the woman he loves, but also because we all wished Dad could have been there in person. Still, I praise God for his health and happiness on that day.  It was an honour to see the joy on his face throughout the wedding ceremony. Many tears of joy were wept that day.

{love}