Tag: easter

Posted in Monthly Musings

Monthly Musings

Posted on by jgalvinwhite

Hello and happy Thursday!

Well where has the month of April gone?! Remember when January felt like an entire year? Now, it’s almost May!

Since it’s the last Thursday of the month, I’m linking up with Holly and Patty for Monthly Musings.

This month’s topic is…spring hosting, decorating and gardening.

1. Do you celebrate Easter, Passover or another holiday in the spring?

We celebrate Easter. I love the tradition of dyeing the eggs, and we had a lovely morning at church followed by lunch at my brother’s house.

2. Do you plant a garden? Any tips?

For a couple of years, we did plant a garden, but we haven’t the past few years. It was fun getting cucumbers and peppers out of the garden to use for meals and snacks.

3. How do you decorate for spring?

I always put a few Easter decorations out a couple of weeks before Easter. Then, I change out my door hanger, garden flag, and a couple of decorations for Oaks/Derby.

4. Desserts that just say spring to you?

Once the warmer weather hits, I think of strawberry shortcake as a light, easy and delish dessert.

I’ve made Shay’s Fruity Pebble bars, and they are a fun treat too!

5. Favorite spring flowers?

I love all flowers but especially hydrangeas, tulips, and peonies. The cone shaped “panicle” (I had to look this up!)hydrangeas (top left pic) bloom in our yard, and I love cutting them and putting them in a vase in the summer.

One of our neighbors has a huge flower garden, and she cuts flowers and puts them in tiny vases to share (bottom right pic)…and then we just return the vases to her.

6. Best tips for hosting spring events?

I wish we hosted more, but if we do have people over, I do prefer to do so when it’s “patio weather,” and going outside is an option. I just like people to be able to spread out and not feel confined in the house.

As far as tips, I’d say keep it easy, ask people to help and bring a side dish or dessert, and just go with the flow!

7. Favorite beverage or cocktail that makes you think of spring?

In the spring and summer months, I lean more towards a White Claw or the Trader Joe’s canned Rose’. Sometimes at the pool, I will get a skinny marg. Well, now I want it to be pool weather after seeing this pic!

8. Vegetable garden, flower garden, both, neither?

Like I said above, I’d love a vegetable garden, but we just don’t have a ton of space for it. After seeing my neighbor’s flower garden, it’s so pretty, and that would be fun to have in the yard.

9. Favorite Easter candy?

I love these dang Cadbury mini eggs. I did notice that my Kroger didn’t seem to have the mini bags this year. So, I did buy a couple of bigger bags, and that was our Easter treat the past few weeks.

10. Marshmallow Peeps? Gross or yes please?

Peeps are just ok…I also put some in the kids’ Easter baskets, but I don’t even think they care much for them.

Well, Easter is over…and before we know it, it will be Memorial Day weekend!

Posted in Holidays

Easter Recap

Posted on by jgalvinwhite

Hello and happy Tuesday!!

How was your weekend? Ours was busy, but also Easter filled, and I’m recapping that today!

On Friday, I shared a look back at Easter in the past…

and…thankfully, they kids still oblige with our egg dyeing tradition.

Saturday night, cousins joined in on the fun.

My mom was in town, and she had the genius idea to tape off parts of the eggs before dyeing them. We had one egg that looked like a watermelon and another one Hadley put a cross on it. Anyway, it was a good thirty minutes of fun.

Sunday morning, I hid the eggs around the house. The kids still think this tradition is somewhat fun, so I’ll take it!

I still love putting together their Easter baskets. In their baskets, I put lots of candy. I also gave them both a Raising Canes gift card, and I put Chomps beef sticks in Hayden’s basket and an Alani in Hadley’s basket. Next to their baskets, I put a couple of other items like a golf shirt and golf balls for Hayden and a tennis skirt and hair towels for Hadley. They appreciated it all!

Then, we headed to church. It was a beautiful service as always.

(We were a little early, and I took this pic before everyone piled in…we were elbow to elbow by the start of service!)

Afterwards, I took that kids’ pic…

Unfortunately, the cherry blossoms were out last week, but not this week. I guess that’s what happens with a later Easter. I still love the pics of the kids…looking so grown up!

…and we got a family photo which I always appreciate.

We went back to the house to change, and we headed to my brother’s house for Easter lunch. I made this Graham Cracker Pudding dessert that I haven’t made in quite some time. I got the recipe from Trav’s mom, and it’s one of my faves.

My sister-in-law had the table set so nicely…

…with a bunnies, flowers, and personalized place settings…

Lunch was so good, and then we took a couple more family pics with my mom and the grand kids.

The little kids did a front yard egg hung, Trav and Hayden left after a bit to do yard work, and Hadley and I hung out at my brother’s house for most of the afternoon.

Usually, we travel to E-town to see Trav’s extended family, but this year worked for us to stay home. My mom was in town, and I appreciated my brother and sister-in-law inviting us over! It was a lovely Easter Sunday.

Posted in Friday Favorites, Holidays

Friday Favorites {#254}

Posted on by jgalvinwhite

Hello and happy Friday!

Wow! Where did this week go?…I really feel like April is flying by.

As always, I’m linking up with Andrea and Erika for this week’s Friday Favorites.

Well, this week’s favorites are pretty short and sweet…

Stromboli is my first favorite! When Andrea shared this meal idea, I thought it would be a great option for last Saturday’s dinner! I’ve never purchased this dough before, but I let two loaves defrost, and then I followed her instructions and made two cheese and pepperoni strombolis.

They were a hit for dinner and then we had leftovers for lunch on Sunday. I will definitely be making these again and will try some different ingredients too.

After a little break, the kids are back to running. They had a meet on Tuesday night. Both of them are also running this weekend, so on Tuesday, they only ran one relay each. Hayden’s 4×800 team came in 1st and Hadley’s 4×200 team came in 4th. Great relays for both of them. Hadley’s calf is bothering her a bit, so hopefully that doesn’t turn into something more.

Really, we haven’t been up to much else, so today, I’m also taking a look back on Easter through the years…

Because having high schoolers makes me nostalgic…here’s a little…

…Easter edition:

The cherry blossoms at our church are always so pretty, and we’ve gotten Easter pics there for the last few years:

2024:

2023:

2022:

2021:

2020:

Of course, Easter 2020 looked a bit different for all of us. We were home, but we still dressed up for Easter brunch and a front yard egg hunt!

2019:

2018:

Easter egg hunt fun at Trav’s aunt’s house:

2017:

Well, we took the front porch pic and then Hayden told us he wasn’t feeling well. He ended up having a fever, so I stayed home with him while Trav and Hadley traveled to E-town for Easter with his family.

2016:

2015:

The first Easter in our current house…

2014:

I loved this dress that Hadley wore…and I love those little cheeks.

2013:

Too cool for school! The Easter Bunny left sun glasses and water bottles that year…haha

2012:

Really struggling to smile in 2012…haha!

2011:

Oh! They were on the move this year…into everything, and clearly not willing to both look at the camera at the same time!

2010:

First Easter …so tiny and so cute!

Favorite Mom Meme:

Uhhh…mine are the same age!

Weekly Recap:

I had a few posts this week!

Share Our Lives
Spring Break recap
Fashion Files: Spring Break

I hope you have a wonderful Easter weekend!

See you on Monday!

Posted in Friday Favorites, Holidays, Travel

Friday Favorites {#201}

Posted on by jgalvinwhite

Hello and happy Friday!

Well, the last Friday of break sure hits different.

That being said, I am happy to be home and sleeping in my bed after a few nights away for spring break.

I’m linking up with Andrea and Erika for this week’s Friday Favorites.

Here are some favorites from the week:

This is basically “Friday Favorites: Easter/DC Edition” recapping last weekend and then sharing a couple of pics from our few days in DC.

Easter:

Last Saturday morning the kids dyed a dozen eggs per tradition. They still have a good time doing this…but I’m the only one that eats hard boiled eggs. haha

Saturday evening, we went to our friends’ house for dinner and egg hunt for the kids.

I brought pasta salad and this cute cake from Kroger.

There are plenty of little kids in this group, so the big kids were warned to not hog all the eggs…but everyone had a good time.

Sunday morning, I put the kids’ Easter baskets out. When they woke up, they looked for the eggs, had breakfast, and went through their Easter baskets.

Then, we went to church. My favorite part of Easter service is when the little kids walk down the aisle to flower the cross.

The dogwoods (I think?) were in bloom this year (they weren’t last year!), so we took a couple of pics…

…a family one too…before heading home.

We packed up the car and drove to Charlottesville, VA to pit stop for the night.

On the drive, I made my April book trackers, and saved them to an Instagram highlight. Here’s one of them:

DC:

We were in DC Monday-Thursday, and had a great time. Shew! DC is a lot of work – planning, walking, etc…but we did a lot.

We took a night time monument tour Monday night.

The cherry blossoms were still in bloom, and Hadley snapped this pic on rainy Wednesday.

I’m sure I will recap our trip. We were able to see quite a bit, but, of course, there is still so much more to see and do.

*While we were gone, our area got severe storms with confirmed tornadoes nearby. All is good in our neck of the woods, but others close by lost power and had trees down. I received a few messages; thanks for checking in.

Favorite Mom Meme:

Today, all I’m asking of my kids is that they get their suitcases unpacked! I need to give myself that same pep talk.

Weekly Recap:

This week, I still had a few posts to share:

Prime Purchases
March Workouts
Pinned on Pinterest

Share Our Lives:

On Monday, we’re having our April Share Our Lives post. The topic is Favorite Make Up and Hair Products. We’d love to have you link up and join us.

What are your weekend plans? I’m going to savor the last few days of break. As much as I love a trip, you know I love getting back home. I hope to have some downtime to unpack and get my life in order as we prep to go back to school. That being said, we also have Monday off because of the eclipse.

Spring break…the gift that keeps on giving!

Posted in Holidays, Weekend Top 5

Hello Monday + {Easter Recap}

Posted on by jgalvinwhite

Hello and Happy Monday. How was your weekend? We had such an amazing one! Both Saturday and Sunday were super busy but in the best way!

I’m linking up with Sarah and Holly for Hello Monday.

Here’s what we were up to this weekend:

Friday, right after school I took the kids to their annual checkups! Hayden has caught up to Hadley on height, but was still disappointed that she’s officially half an inch taller than him still. haha I keep telling him he will pass her one day!

After their appointment, we got ice cream, per tradition! Then, we picked one of Hadley’s friends who came over before I took both girls to a sleepover.

Then, I went to Target, Ulta and Oldy Navy while Hayden and Trav went to my school’s Varsity baseball game. After my errands, I picked up Jason’s Deli for dinner and watched an episode of Real Housewives OC. I enjoyed a little “me time” before they got home and then it was time for bed.

I actually slept in a bit on Saturday. Hadley was picked up pretty early from the sleepover (after getting only a few hours of sleep!) and then went to church to help with the pancake breakfast and Easter egg hunt for the younger kids. With the lack of sleep, I will give her credit for following through with her commitment to helping out.

After enjoying my coffee, I went to the gym to work out while Hayden had baseball practice.

Then, Travis and I went to Keeneland with some friends.

More on that tomorrow, but it ended up being a beautiful day, and we had the best time.

After the track, we came home and ordered carryout dinner. While Travis went to pick it up, I got everything set up for the kids to dye Easter eggs. I told them I will carry on this tradition until they are 18. Hadley said, “Well, what happens while we’re 19?!” I told her I’d be happy to have her dye eggs then too!

They did a great job, but always seem to end up fighting about who has dyed more eggs. You’d think it would be six each, but somehow one of them tends to end up dyeing one more! I’d make more eggs to dye, but I’m the only one who eats hardboiled eggs. 😉

They turned out so pretty.

Then, we watched some TV before bed. Guess who was the first in bed by 9:00….hint: the one who had two hours of sleep the night before!

Sunday, was, of course, Easter.

I woke up around 7:30, and then woke the kids around 9:00. I knew they needed to sleep in, but I also wanted to get in our Easter family time in the morning.

When they woke up, they found their Easter gifts and candy.

They each received clothes and a book. Hayden got another Gatorade bottle, and Hadley received some bracelets. Both seemed to love everything.

Then, it was time to find the eggs that were hidden (by the Easter Bunny?!)…which took two minutes!

Then, I made breakfast. I was going to make the cinnamon roll bunnies that I’d seen so many make, but that was a fail. Every time I tried to unroll the cinnamon roll, it fell apart. So, I pieced everything back together and just baked them in a pie plate like usual. I also scrambled some eggs and cut up some fruit.

Then it was time for church.

We enjoyed the lovely service, and then snapped a few photos. They looked so grown!

I always appreciate a family photo when we can get one.

Then, we went home to quickly change our clothes before heading to Elizabethtown to celebrate Easter with Trav’s extended family. It was good catching up with everyone, some of whom we hadn’t seen since Easter 2019.

We got back to Lexington around 6:00, and it was time to make a grocery list (because, again, I didn’t get my Clicklist order in for earlier in the weekend), do laundry and finish up this blog post. We had leftovers from Saturday night and wrapped up the weekend watching American Idol.

I hope you all had a blessed Easter. See you back here tomorrow.

Posted in Holidays

Easter

Posted on by jgalvinwhite

Hello and happy Wednesday. As I mentioned in Monday’s post, our Easter looked a bit different this year (as, I’m sure, was the case with most everyone!) We did take advantage of beautiful weather on Saturday for an egg hunt in the front yard. Thankfully, it didn’t take much convincing for my kids to put on Easter clothes for some pics before the egg hunt. I guess I was technically bribing them with candy, and somehow taking the photos took twelve minutes longer than necessary! haha.

They certainly are growing up on me! I did ask them that morning if they even wanted to do an egg hunt…I just didn’t know if they were “too old” for that now. They both said, “We will never be too old for candy!” (And, bonus –a few eggs had a dollar bill or two in them!)

Before quarantine began, I had seen Erin post about this Amazon dress that she had bought for all four of her girls. I bought one for Hadley, and it’s so cute and such great quality…and only $18! She can definitely wear it more than just on Easter Sunday.

Hadley’s dress from Amazon

Some outtakes from our Easter pic sesh:

Tik Tok dances are all the rage 😉

We usually go to Trav’s aunt’s house in Elizabethtown where there are lots of kids and a big egg hunt, so I thought the kids would still want to do that. I thought this activity would take five minutes. Well, it took more like 20 minutes because Travis did such a good job hiding them! On two eggs each, I put a star, a rectangle, and a circle and told them they could get one of each of those. Those were the ones with money in them, and the rest had candy.

Picture with Homer!

And, then…we had a pleasant surprise with a family friend stopping by as the Easter Bunny. We heard a knock on the door, and Hadley said, “Mom! There’s an Easter Bunny at our door!” It was the highlight of their Saturday.

After lunch, we dyed Easter eggs in the sunroom.

Finished product

Then, we decorated Easter cookies. There are a few local ladies who have their own cookie businesses, and I love when they offer cookie kits. This kit came from One Smart Cookie here in Lexington.

There’s no such thing as too much icing! (Just ask my kids!)

We always leave the eggs out for the Easter Bunny to hide as well as some carrots if we have any. Then, this year, we also left him a cookie! As you would expect, Homer ended up stealing the cookie off of the plate, so I had to leave a different cookie for EB.

The kids know that the Easter Bunny hides the hard boiled decorated eggs and brings them some candy. The rest of the goodies come from mom and dad.

I try not to go overboard and thank goodness for Amazon and other online shopping. Every Easter, the kids get new spring/summer pjs, flip flops, a swimsuit and a few other goodies. I try to be practical and purchase things they will need for summer anyway plus a few other surprises.

Easter goodies from mom and dad, in house egg hunt and a pic of the replacement cookie after Homer ate the bunny one.

After the indoor egg hunt, we had breakfast (pancakes & bacon) followed by a game of Jenga and then watched our church service online. Last year’s service was so beautiful; we certainly missed being there in person this year.

The rest of the day was spent lounging around. It was cold and rainy which was perfect weather for reading and movie watching.

We ordered Easter dinner from a local place, Minton’s, and it was so delish.

We had ham, potatoes gratin, brown sugar glazed carrots , brussel sprouts, and cheddar biscuits. For dessert, we had graham cracker pudding cake (I will share the recipe tomorrow) that Hadley helped me make.

We pulled out our China for dinner…& by that I mean that I had to go find the other place settings besides the two I have on display in my cabinet. 😂We found them in the garage, so clearly we don’t use them very often.

Once I put the napkin rings on, I wondered if I could make a cute name tag. Thanks to Pinterest, I found a little bunny tag, took white paper and put it up to my computer screen to trace the small bunny. Then, I outlined the bunny using black marker, and used some raffia to tie a bow. Hadley wrote our names and glued a little cotton ball to the tail. Then, I attached them to the napkin rings with a small piece of tape. Quick project that turned out so cute.

Using what I had, I made a quick centerpiece using the tray from our coffee table, candles and holders I keep in our cabinet, one of my bunny decorations, grass from the kids’ baskets and some of our dyed eggs.

I love trying to use what I already have in my house to add little touches here and there.

After dinner, we played a couple more rounds of Jenga, enjoyed our delicious dessert and headed to bed pretty early since Hadley had woken us up at 6:50 ready to start the day 😂(which is very unlike her! She tends to sleep in!)

Of course, we missed being with family on Easter but it was also nice to just be home as a family…since holidays usually have us driving here, there and everywhere.

See you back here tomorrow with a delicious dessert recipe.

Thanks for reading,

Posted in Holidays, Let's look

Let’s Look – Easter at Your House

Posted on by jgalvinwhite

It’s time for another Let’s Look link up with Shay and Erika; make sure you check out their posts too.

Well, needless to say, Easter will look a bit different this year. I’m actually thankful this post came around when it did to remind me of some of the traditions and activities that I still do have control over right now.

Here’s a look at what we typically do for Easter.

Well, of course, the kids have to wear cute Easter outfits every year. Shhh! Don’t tell them, but I’ll probably ask them to put on some nice clothes this year to at least get the cute Easter pic. Plus, I’d hate to miss out on the tradition of fussing at Hayden because he doesn’t want to wear nice pants! 😉

Here are some Easter outfit pics through the years.

2010 is just the sweetest. First Easter (and they shared their candy with me!)
2011, 2012, 2013 (Sunglasses were all the rage then), 2014 (Hayden should be smiling bigger because it must have been warm enough for him to wear shorts!)
2015, 2016, 2017 (Poor Hayden was sick—we took the pic before Hadley had Travis left for family Easter), 2018 – braces 🙂
Easter 2019

When I was kid, we always dyed Easter eggs, and left them for the Easter Bunny to hide. Then, my brother and I would search for them throughout the house. We do the same now with Hayden and Hadley.

Here are some pics of the egg dyeing through the years.

Only within the past year and a half have we found our church home…so a new tradition for us is the pancake breakfast and egg hunt at church. Also, attending Easter service has become a new favorite and important part of our family tradition. It’s difficult that Easter does look so different this year, but we will make the most of it.

Pancake breakfast and egg hunt at church with cousins last year.

Before bed, we leave the eggs out for EB to hide as well as some carrots if we have some (and a cookie or two!)

Last year, Hadley wrote EB a note!

In the morning, the kids see what the Easter Bunny has left them and search around the house for the eggs.

I try to make a special breakfast on Easter morning. Cinnamon rolls, a breakfast casserole, etc. One year I made these cinnamon sugar bunny rolls for Easter breakfast.

After church, we head to Elizabethtown for Trav’s side of the family get together. The kids are always excited to see their cousins. Travis has a very big family with plenty of cousins, himself!

Cousin time!

So that’s a look at Easter at our house…

Next month’s topic is Let’s Look At…Your Weekend. Why do I have the feeling my post will be about how my weekdays and weekends look quite similar these days?! I’m hoping we are somewhat back to normal very very soon.

Thanks for reading!

Posted in Weekend Top 5

Weekend Top 5

Posted on by jgalvinwhite

Happy Monday! How was your weekend? Ours was very low key which I assume is how it is for most of us these days!

I have a calendar (paper/pencil) that I use to plan out blogging ideas. Well, a Weekend Top 5 post is what I had scheduled for today. I didn’t really think about changing topics, but I did stop to think, “I wonder what I will be able to post about…” My Weekend Top 5 posts usually include kids’ activities, family visits, Trader Joe runs, etc. That being said, I decided to embrace the simplicity of our activities and how we are spending our days during this time of social distancing. If anything, that’s what this time has forced me to do. Stop and appreciate what I have and now I have the time to pause and take it all in. I’d say that’s quite the blessing.

Here’s a little of what we’ve been up to!

Drive thru lunches. Who doesn’t love a Cherry Limeade from Sonic?!

Time to actually make lunch! haha I made a snack plate for Sunday’s lunch.

Time outside! I live in a pretty active neighborhood, but it’s amazing to see so many more people out and about (but, of course, keeping their distance!) walking dogs, or just getting fresh air.

The kids found time to play outside, and we even went for a bike ride Friday afternoon. (Yes, y’all, I’m starting this Weekend Top 5 post with Friday afternoon activities 😉

Arts and crafts. I plan to share more about our watercolor sesh tomorrow, but here’s a peek at an awesome idea I got from Andrea.

I spent time in my Sticker by Numbers book. The kids have a couple of these books which I’ve found on Amazon. I bought myself one a few months ago. I find the sticker book activities relaxing, and I always love the final outcome.

I decided to put up Easter decorations. I don’t usually put out much, but I love an Easter Bunny here and there.

It is difficult to think that Easter most likely won’t be celebrated in church this year, and it may just be the four of us out for an egg hunt, but I thought the decorations could help us get in the spirit a bit.

This weekend, I finished a book, Small Great Things, and started new one,The Secret to Southern Charm. Also, about two summers ago, I watched season 1 of The Crown. I enjoyed it, but just didn’t find the time to watch season 2 (and now there’s a season 3!) Anyway, I watched a few episodes of season 2 this weekend, and I can’t wait to watch more!

Other thoughts…

As we navigate this time of uncertainty, I’m having a hard time slowing down. It’s really taking me some time to downshift and pause. I’m so used to be on the go.

With that, comes time for reflection. So, some things for which I am thankful: sunshine and fresh air, online church, extra time with my family, a warm home with food to eat, and my family and friends —even if we can’t all be together right now.

I hope this post finds you happy and well, and I hope you have a great week.

See you back here tomorrow!

Take care,