2 front teeth?

Today Olivia pulled out her other front tooth...it had been hanging loose for quite a while. It's so hard for her to eat (I had to cut up her cantaloupe even), but so darn cute, isn't it?

Watering the garden together. The lettuce is in the cold frames...almost ready to harvest the first batch!

I was tagged in the Crazy 8's meme by Sylvia.

8 Things I am looking forward to:

1. Meeting new nephew (Andrea, my baby sis is due in July)

2. Sunday (it's my namesday)

3. Going to Squam Lake in NH this summer

4. Having ice cream tomorrow (today is a fast day, the first one since Pascha)

5. Sewing with the kids in my class

6. A conservative president (maybe in 4 more years?)

7. Eating out of our garden (lettuce is growing well)

8. Knitting group (next one is Sat May 9th)

8 Things I did yesterday:

1. Finished off the last of the kulich

2. Went to the pre-school

3. Made paper airplanes

4. Cleaned the house before Olivia's friend came over to play

5. Admired the birdhouses the girls painted

6. Talked with Rob about the swine flu pandemic

7. Ate some chocolate

8. Drove to my class at Cincinnati State

8 Things I wish I could do:

1. Go to Hawaii

2. Homeschool using my own curriculum

3. Paint icons

4. Get some chickens and cows

5. Scrapbook all my photos

6. Oust the current president

7. Finish sewing my green polka-dot dress

8. Practice the guitar everyday

8 Shows I Watch:
There's really only 1 thing I watch on a semi-regular basis, Nature, with my husband and girls...Sunday nights on PBS at 8pm!

Eggs

My sister's friend raises chickens. Susanna gave me this beautiful dozen eggs...I love the natural variety! Here are the girls at Grassy Run Heritage Rendezvous (an example of live history). It was a great learning experience! It was sultry and hot...yeah, 80'F Friday, Saturday, Sunday and today, too! I love all the sun...and the shade.Today we got a new vehicle (since the Jeep was deemed "totaled" a few weeks ago)...it's a Toyota 4Runner. It's going to be driven mostly by Rob, but I really like it (leather seats and a sun roof...and a GREAT price)! I'll share a photo soon.
My little lilac bush blossomed. They smell so sweet...I think I could almost eat them!!!

Bright Monday

My sister, Susanna, sewed these dresses for her 2 girls and my 2 girls!

I have used several different recipes for cheese-pascha, this year I actually made homemade cream cheese, which is like creamy ricotta, by using whole milk and buttermilk (set it on low for an hour or two in the crockpot ).

I also made lemon cheese, by adding the juice from 2 lemons to a half gallon of milk then heated it to 185-200'F, until there is a definite separation of curds and whey. Pour into a colander lined with cheese cloth (I put a bowl under to save the whey, it's a great source of protein, you can use a cup of it when you're making bread...our dog laps it up like it's the best thing she's had...and lastly, I'll pour some on my rosebush with any extra). Tied the corner of the cloth up and let drain 1-2 hours.This year I used the recipe my mom uses:

Cheese-pascha

3 lbs farmer's cheese (instead I used my homemade cheeses)

1/2 lb salted butter (softened)
1/2 c. raisins (I didn't put any in my cheese-pascha, just decorated it with them after)

1/4 lb finely chopped almonds (didn't use them this year)

1 3/4 cups sugar
3 egg yolks (I made macaroons with the left over egg whites)

1 whole egg

1 cup cream
1 tsp vanilla extract (scraped the seeds from the center of a vanilla bean instead)

Cream together butter, sugar and eggs. Combine with cheese (adding nuts and raisins, if desired) and cream. Cook in large pot over medium head until mixture bubbles, stirring occassionally (about 1/2 hour). When cool, add vanilla, place mixture in mould lined with cheese cloth. Refridgerate and allow to drain, unmould and decorate! Spread on top of kulich and enjoy!!!

Here's the recipe I use for kulich:

https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmSrFV_ZXYte7xrJb1Yf80YKEXA3MeXFEZo6yDyaFvn8bByfOlJxA2xBvEmW7KwdLULu7SLN3tFj1IRq3bhGhoPJaSFEzGcB1hfp10_mI-BIMAux81wFgNsKazZZGTbC8vD_rldclaBi4/s1600-h/Pascha+kulich.PNG

This is my basket with cheese-pascha and kulich. I also dyed the eggs using onion skins, they turned out beautifully.

Pascha

Today is the feast of feasts...the day the Orthodox Christians all over the world celebrate Pascha, the Lord's Resurrection and shout joyfully "Christ is Risen" in greeting to one another!

my {craft it forward}

Did you want to see what I got from {craft it forward}? Thought so. Julie knit this beautiful scarf out of yarn made from bamboo 80% and wool 20%. It's very soft. I'm going to look for some of this yarn for myself! Hannah and Olivia love it, too. I look forward to seeing those who got the packages from me...

This week, there are many church services as we prepare for Pascha. It's my favorite time of the year! I'm making lots of kulich...with golden raisins, but one without for my husband!

I was in a car accident. We are doing fine with just 1 car (Rob has his old CJ, but it's not warm and it's open on the sides, so when it rains it's impractical), but hoping to find a decently priced replacement for the Jeep, which our insurance agency said was totaled. Here's a photo of it a day after the motorcycle hit us:
It's really not THAT bad, but it would cost more to fix it than it's worth.

Last week, I got sick...fever, chills, sleeping twice as much as usual, feel so much better now, but blowing my nose a lot. I'm so thankful for my usual good health. It has made me more sympathetic towards those who are sick.

Make it personal...

I had the perfect photo of my girls to cover up Dora with...

The girls love playing with this so much more now that it's personalized!