Bunny Bait

First of all, thanks to everyone who participated in the Easter Basket 2013 Link Party! It was the first party I've hosted and seeing all of your baskets just made my day! I love having such wonderful readers and making great friends along the way. The party will still be open for another day if you'd like to get yours listed. 

Also, just had to share this fun little easy recipe! 

My parents are in town for a few days and brought this to try with Drew. 

He loved it and assisted Gramma every step of the way. 

It's a great recipe for toddlers or little ones to help with! 

Ingredients: 

   - 2 cups pretzels

   - 1 bag of popped white popcorn

   - 1 package white melting chocolate (I'd recommend Godiva!)

   - 1 bag of festive M&M's

   - 2 cups Chex cereal

   - 1 container of festive sprinkles

Directions:

   1. Mix pretzels, popcorn and Chex in a large bowl. 

   2. Melt the chocolate per the instructions and drizzle over the mixture.

   3. Stir gently to coat evenly.

   4. Add sprinkles and then set aside to harden for a couple hours.

   5. Break apart and stir in the M&M's. 

   6. Eat until your heart's content!

Easter Baskets 2013 Link Party!

Welcome to the 2013 Easter Basket Showcase link party!

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So I didn't go all overboard for Drew this year, but here are a few items that were in his Easter basket...

1. The Bunny Hop book

2. Washable Sidewalk Chalk

3. A huge Peeps Marshmallow (but surprisingly only 100 calories)

4. Gap suede moccasins

5. Green Eats cups (LOVE these!)

6. Children's Place light orange button down

NOW IT'S YOUR TURN! Show off your Easter baskets by linking up below!

April is in 6 Days?

Hear that snow? 

You have 6 more days to GET. OUT. 

And then there will be serious consequences should you decide to come back.

Easter. Bunny. Fail.

I wasn't the biggest fan of the mall Easter bunny the year Drew was born, but last year we luckily found an awesome venue, Pancakes with the Easter Bunny, for his 2nd year seeing the Easter bunny. It was casual, slow-paced and so easy that we vowed to return every year.

My hopes were set way too high.

Yesterday was our breakfast with Drew and it was, just like my worst fears, a nightmare. We eased into the room and found our places at our table pointing to the bunny and showing Drew how harmless he was. And then we figured we'd try to get our pictures done before pancakes hit our table. Easy, right? Um.... no. Screaming quickly ensued. We weren't even within 5 feet of the bunny when the tears started flowing and "no, no, no" could be heard a mile away. I had to even take him out of the room to calm him down it was so bad.

This is the best picture we got for Easter this year. Out of focus, not even on the bunny's lap and a sad, sad face on Drew.

Awesome.

Thankfully, the pancakes quickly helped him relax and we had a decent time with our friends who also have a toddler, Charlotte. She and Drew enjoyed stealing all of the eggs with candy and running around with their balloons. Isn't she a doll?

Photo credit: Virginia

Needless to say, I think it was just a rough year because he's only 2. Next year, he'll be almost 3 and a quarter and my hopes for a good picture should be met, right?

At least we got a good family picture, right? Ugh.

And Then They Were Gone

You know that feeling in your stomach the last day of vacation? It's the absolute WORST. I whine to Derek every time I feel it and as much as I try not to focus on it, it's always lurching in the back of my mind.

What's funny is that now that I'm a mother and have my own family, I actually get that same feeling when it's the last day our extended family is in town. It's no secret that we're 13 hours away from our families so we cherish every second when they come up here to visit. Knowing we'll only get to see them a handful of times a year means we don't take a second for granted. But it also means that this feeling will hit me like a ton of bricks that last day they are in town. Hard.

Yesterday was that day for me. I knew it was coming to an end and I couldn't do anything about it. Mid-morning rolled around and goodbye's were exchanged with Derek's family before they drove off. As much as I love having 'normalcy' back in the household, I miss them. Brownie points for no tears shed this time at least!

But rather than focus on that dreaded feeling, I'm going to count my rainbows instead of my thunderstorms (as my new friend Jess would say).  And in the end, my friends, we had one awesome week with them here! We did our favorite Cleveland stops (Westside Market, Sweet Moses, Velvet Tango Room, Eddie 'n Eddie, Rock n Roll Hall of Fame, The Melt, etc), but mostly enjoyed time together.

 

And the best part? We only have a few more days and then my parents show up for a week! Yeah for spring visits!

Google Reader Change - Don't Stress!

FYI to those worrying about Google Reader going away on July 1st, don't fret too much! Just to clear up a lot of confusion I'm seeing out there, let me try to explain what's going on.

Essentially, if you only read blogs through Google Reader, HOW you read will be effected (or is it affected?!).  If you read blogs through your blogger dashboard reading list like below, YOU ARE OK! You won't lose your list of the blogs you read and nothing is changing on that front!

Also, you will still have your follower list available and people will still be able to click 'Follow This Site' like normal. You will NOT lose followers and people will still be able to follow you like they've been doing for years!

Really, the only concern is if you used Google Reader to actually read blogs. If you don't like the dashboard format in Blogger, you'll need to find some other host reading alternative like Feedly or Bloglovin.

Does that help?

Family

Sorry blog, we have family in town. That means you don't get a lot of my time. I still read every comment and check up on the blogs I follow, it's mostly just my writing time that gets eaten up. I'd rather be savoring the moments with our family and enjoying their company. Next week, though, you'll jump back into the front seat of my life... don't you worry.

For now, bloggy world, I'll leave you with a few pictures.

St. Patty's Day Recap

Derek's parents, sister and her boyfriend (who's conveniently named Patrick) arrived late Friday night and we're so excited to have them in town for a week!

St. Patrick's day morning began with green pancakes for all, followed by finishing touches on my guacamole salsa and green rice krispie treats that we were taking to our party later that day.

(guac recipe to come sometime soon....)

And then the real fun began. Friends of our hosted a St. Patrick's Day party in their downtown loft where we would drink way to much, eat delicious food and then walk down to the parade. Drew was happily at home with his grandparents and we were excited to have some 'adult' fun with friends sans a toddler around.

And how do I feel today? Like S-H-I-T. Ohmygod my tolerance is so bad, and it didn't help that my friend Caitlin kept handing out shots. We had an absolute blast despite the weather being a freezing 31 degrees and am I'm now in love with corned beef, thousand island dressing and swiss cheese together. Ever tried that combo? SO good. But I'm mostly thankful for having amazing in-laws who completely took care of Drew while I passed out at 7pm and slept for 13 hours.

So what did I learn yesterday?

1. I can't handle alcohol anymore.

2. People CAN go for 20 hours without food if they are drinking.

3. I have the BEST in-laws ever. Free babysitters AND chauffeurs. Love them.

4. I can't handle alcohol anymore.

5. St. Patty's day parades are the best for people watching.

6. It's so nice to go out with friends and party it up, but I sure did miss my little man. 

7. I'm never drinking again in my life.

Hope you had a great St. Patty's Day also!

Easter Link Party Heads Up!

Are you proud of what's in your Easter Baskets this year? 

Want to show it off?

I have your solution.

On Thursday, March 28th, I will be hosting a link-up party for everyone to show off what's in their Easter baskets! Mark your calendars and start working on that post now! 

Don't have kids? Show us what's in your pet's basket.

Don't have pets? Show us an Easter Basket decoration you have around the house.

It's open to all and will be a party to explore other blogs and gain new readers to yours!

Just insert the image above with the html code here on your post: 

<center> <a href= www.sarahandderek.blogspot.com /><img border="0" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-dg1L7O01ypw/UTj9iA3fpzI/AAAAAAAAIL8/q_-7z6CU4ao/s260/Easter+Basket+Final+Button-002.jpg"/></a></center>

 Questions?

She's a Teaser

Mother Nature. 

You sneaky tease, you.

You just had to come and give one day where the temperature rose to 64 and then walk away, didn't you?

And now? You left us with highs of 38-41 again with chances of snow this week.

Not Cool. 

You see, this family craves the summer and being outside. We loathe your winters.

Let's get back to the 60 and sunny when possible. mmmm, k?

Luv, your warm-weather-loving, winter-jacket-hating, pasty family.

Jayhawk Watch Party!

When we moved to Cleveland from Kansas City, we were sad to see that there wasn't an Alumni chapter that we could get involved with up here. You see, Derek and I are die-hard fans having both been raised as Jayhawks and graduate from there. All of our siblings have also graduated from there with various degrees and we hope that Drew will consider the fabulous school someday as well.

Over the past 3 years, we have met only a few Jayhawks, one being a sorority sister of a friend of mine. After some discussion in January, she and I decided to host a basketball watch party! (For those of you who aren't familiar with the University of Kansas, we are a HUGE basketball school and are very proud of our team!) We teamed up with the Alumni Association and official invites went out to every Jayhawker living in the Cleveland area. The RSVP's were slow to come in but once we hit a dozen or so, the excitement increased.

I was able to snap just a few pictures, but there were about 24 of us in attendance last night! I was even told by a lady who's lived in Cleveland for a long time that this was the best turnout she'd seen in 40 years! (Ultimately we decided Drew would have more fun staying at home with a beloved babysitter than trying to deal with mom and dad's entertainment while being confined to a highchair for two hours. Babysitter FTW.) 

We ended up having representation from so many decades including a couple that graduated in the 50's as well as this current decade! It was fun to socialize with so many Jayhawks and meet so many wonderful people who live in our area. Although KU lost, it was a great time and I can't wait to get another one together again soon!

Look What I Can Do

So you thought I was just a nerd who liked doing puzzles? 

Oh no, my friends, I have other talents as well.

Example 1:

My Lego Zoo.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -


Example 2:

My Coloring Skillz.

Puzzler

First off, I was so excited to read that so many of you enjoy doing puzzles too last week. I'm glad to hear there's other nerds out there like us who sometimes prefer a good puzzle and a drink over a crazy night on the town!

Secondly, guess who else seems to have a fondness for adult-sized puzzles? I caught our little stinker several times recently sneaking away to the table and forcing pieces together.

He didn't think anyone was watching and am pretty sure he was oblivious to the camera shutter as he was concentrating so hard. I couldn't resist trying to capture his little fat fingers working so diligently.

I just love that he didn't destroy the puzzle.... instead, he wanted to help and tried his best to match pieces. So smart.

I heart my sneaky turtle.

What I'm Loving Wednesday

Today I'm linking up again with Jaime from This Kind Of Love for her Wednesday weekly fun!

Here's what I'm LOVING this week!

1. My surprise Stella and Dot earrings courtesy of a sweet friend!

2. That we are all booked for Vegas!!

3. These amazing Wigwam socks I got for my birthday. 

4. THIS weather coming up! No more 20 degrees for the high!!!

(you know it's been a rough winter when you're excited to see 47)

5. Delicious blueberries.

6. My ELF lipgloss from Target.

7. A new ring dish I found on etsy and had personalized with "d+s"!  

8. My gorgeous clivia that decided to flower this week for me!

9. But I'm mostly loving this face.