Oh, that wascally wabbit!

Look where the Easter Bunny hid Kiddo's basket this year:

The Easter Bunny is clearly employing the same strategy he used way back in the day, when my Easter basket was found after a lengthy search (and ultimately several "you're getting warmer/colder" type hints from my dad, who had located it already) neatly taped to the ceiling above the dining room chandelier.  Yes, I walked around the dining room approximately 800 times that morning before I ever found it.  It's a miracle we ever made it out the door to church that day, considering that back in the 70s we used to go to the sunrise service for Easter.  (I asked my mother earlier this afternoon if she and Dad were planning on attending the sunrise service tomorrow.  She laughed maniacally before informing me that no, they'll be going to the 10:30am service instead.  Oh, how I would've loved a 10:30 church service back in my youth instead of the crack o' dawn!)

The butterfly in front of the basket is one Kiddo made and always hangs from that plant hook.  This hook is located directly above the area where Kiddo currently has her Littlest Pet Shop/Star Wars/safari animal Empire spread out on the family room carpet.  Anyone want to hazard a guess as to how long it'll take her to look up and spot it?  I reckon it will either be something she spots instantly when she comes down the stairs into the family room (she has heard the story of the year my basket was on the ceiling before) or she'll never spot it at all.  I sent the picture to my parents and asked them how long they think it'll take her to find it.  Dad's answer? "Fourth of July."  Considering this is a kid who can't find her sneakers on the kitchen floor when she's looking right at them, Grandpa might be pretty accurate...

Stay tuned!

(And never fear, these

aren't in there yet.  The Easter Bunny won't hide them until after church tomorrow, so they're still safely in the fridge, where they have been tempting both Hubby and Kiddo since yesterday afternoon.  Easter is the only time of year I ever hard boil eggs.  I do not fancy hard boiled eggs in any form - plain, deviled, saladed - so they each get six a year.  Kiddo is already salivating in anticipation of Monday's lunch.  Hard boiled eggs and a bologna and provolone sandwich - she'll be quite popular in the cafeteria, I'm sure.  Heh.)

Where's the most creative place the Easter Bunny ever hid a basket in your house?

Happy Thanksgiving!

As a photo-obsessed mother of an only child, I have, over the past 6.5 years (6.5 years *today* actually!), taken many, many, many pictures of Kiddo. Over time, certain traditions developed. There are the typical ones - Kiddo with Santa, Kiddo with the Easter Bunny - and then there are the ones that might be a bit more unique to our family.


Case in point: Tom the Turkey. Tom is a Thanksgiving centerpiece that my aunt made (along with matching Thanksgiving placemats) and gave to Hubby and me back when we were still newlyweds, in anticipation of the first ever Thanksgiving dinner that Hubby and I were going to have on our own. (Hubby worked in radio back in those days, and living where we were in the Middle of Nowhere, NH, it was impossible due to his work schedule and the distance to get back to NJ for Thanksgiving dinner with the family.) On a side note, my aunt had brought this little craft project with her as she, my uncle and grandmother went on their annual Leaf Peeping tour through New England, stopping off that year to visit us since we were then living smack-dab in the middle of their tour route. She was finishing up Tom in a hotel room prior to their arrival at our house, and ran out of stuffing for him. So, apparently Tom has an extra souvenir inside him to remind us of our time living in NE and that particular visit: some washcloths from a hotel in White River Junction, VT. I've never cut Tom open to verify the tale, but I do think of it each year when I take him out of his storage box...


Now, flash forward almost a decade. Kiddo joins our family and at the age of six months, is celebrating her first Thanksgiving. In a moment of inspiration, I plunked her onto the couch and set Tom the Turkey next to her for a photo op.





The following year, I did it again. And thus, the Turkey Pic tradition was born.





It wouldn't be a very good tradition if I didn't keep it up over the years...














So, it seems only fitting to share the latest of the series "Child with Turkey" (snapped just this morning!) as my way of saying Happy Thanksgiving with you all now!





Hope you and yours have a wonderful holiday, and if you are not celebrating Thanksgiving today 'cause you're not here in America, well that's no reason not to pause for a moment and think of those for whom and that for which you are thankful, right?


Now, it's time to turn the oven on.........