Cause we need a little Easter.

I'm busy going through all the photos from our Easter celebration, but in the meantime, I thought I'd post about the preparations leading up to Easter.



While I have my Christmas decorating routine, I'm still working on one for Easter. I wasn't satisfied with my Easter tree ornaments, so I decided to make my own, which were inspired by the talented Etsy seller, maryimp.





Sometimes, I get asked how I have time to do all this stuff. The secret is that very rarely do I make things alone. I usually have a little helper who actually helps me or just does her own thing that keeps her busy while I work. Since Lauren doesn't know how to sew yet, I just gave her some fabric glue to use so that she could make her own eggs.



Mine didn't come out nearly as good as maryimp's, but I think I'm finally satisfied with my Easter tree. Next year, I think I'll try to make penny rug to go underneath it.



I took the day off on Thursday so that Lauren and I could have some mommy & me time. I decided to use that bag of Betty Crocker Sugar Cookie mix that I got free with a purchase of a dozen eggs.



The cookies aren't good unless you get a little flour on your face.



Since this was a special occasion, I went crazy this time and made five different colors for frosting. Usually, I'm all about no frills baking, and the recipe really has to be worth the effort if I have to dirty more than one bowl.



Lauren pointing out her favorite cookie. It's the one we ate first.



On Friday, Lauren and I made these little treats from Jello and Cool Whip. This time, we had three bowls going at once: strawberry, lemon and lime. I truly don't know what's come over me. I guess I'm trying to make up for all the laziness from when we were sick during the entire month of March.



Lastly, although he doesn't count as a homemade, I couldn't resist sharing a photo of this year's newest addition of store bought decor. Normally I'm not into either Disney or the animatronic toys that Hallmark sells each holiday, but Donald is just so cute and fun that I had to get him. If you pick him up by the ears he has a complete melt down and yells "PUT ME DOWN!" until you comply. If you press his foot, he sings and dances to "Polly Wally Doodle." Good stuff.

Lucky seven.

I'm super busy with Easter preparations, but I wanted to share a quick post about Lauren's first soccer practice. Our local league seems huge - there are six teams made up of 10 - 12 kids in Lauren's division (Under 5) alone, and I think the teams go all the way up to high school ages.

Since this was our first activity, we weren't sure what to expect, but Lauren took to it very quickly. So much, in fact, that we had a tough time getting her off the field for the water breaks! It was amazing to see that by the end of the first hour, the kids understood enough that they were able to play a mini practice game against each other.



Since she's big into blue these days, I was a little worried that Lauren would be put off by her team's color, but she wore the orange proudly. Go orange!

Profiles in Courage and Crafting.

Lauren was supposed to start soccer this week, but for some reason, the township wouldn't permit the soccer club to use the fields yet (I assume they're still muddy from the snow melting.). So her first practice has been postponed until next week. She's already outfitted with a matching ball, shin guards and cleats. The coach says that at this age, they just attempt to get the kids to kick the ball around and keep them from crying too much.



Don't let this mild mannered puss face fool you because on the inside sleeps a vicious tiger. Each weekday morning, one of the first things that I do is feed Beavis, and this Monday was no different. As soon as she hears me approaching, Beavis usually comes out of her bed meowing her kitty version of "Good morning!" but lately, she has been feeling her age and doesn't come out immediately. However, Monday was just like old times and she came happily over to see me. As I walked over to get her food, I noticed something on the basement floor that I could not identify. I went to get a closer look when I realized that the strange black fuzzball was what was left of a dead mouse and instantly proceeded to get the heebee jeebees (Or "willies" if you prefer.). Of course, I left it for Mark to dispose of.

Now the bizarre part of the story is that I had last gone to the basement just the evening before to put a bottle in the recycle bin that was sitting right next the carcus, but I swear the mouse was not there at the time.

What could have happened to that mouse? Could Beavis have actually had her way with it? Even though she's declawed and the age equivalent of an 85 year old? Did it just drop dead there? Was it already dead, and she just wanted to show it to mommy? The world may never know.



These are the first stitches of a daunting embroidery project that I've just embarked upon. It's going to be a sampler, that is, if I ever finish it. Expect photos sometime in May of 2012.

Anyway, after I saw the awesome cross stitch projects in Rainbow of Stitches, I wanted to try my hand at it, but I didn't have any cross stitch fabric. One quick search on Etsy and I turned up a store called Sandy's Supply Center that was selling some second hand. When the package came a couple of days later, I was confused because the seller included a note signed by "Rob." I checked the profile of the store and found this:

My name is Rob. When my 49 year-old sister Sandy died in the summer of 2007, just six weeks after diagnosis with Stage IV colon cancer, she had been planning for a craft-filled early retirement just a few years down the road. Now her advance planning and shopping savvy can be your savings opportunity.

So, so sad, but a great reminder to do the things you love today because there may not be a tomorrow. So this sampler will be dedicated to Sandy, a woman I never knew, but consider a sister in crafting.

Nine out of ten sock monkeys prefer the taste of banana walnut chocolate chip cookies over real bananas.

This weekend, you could tell that I was feeling myself again because I had the overwhelming desire to cook something. That and the fact that I couldn't have come up with the sock monkey photo a couple of weeks ago. A photo like that is born out of my happy place. Oh, the Banana Walnut Chocolate Chip cookie recipe is another one from the Martha Stewart cookie book. Although I used very ripe bananas, I didn't feel they had a very noticeable banana taste. You had to know beforehand that they had banana in them to really pick up on it. Still, the bananas made the cookies very moist.



Mark made fun of me because I made enough pancakes on Sunday morning to feed the Waltons. So I took a picture of them. Come 'n git, John Boy!



Mmmm...this is my new favorite recipe - One Pot Chicken and Brown Rice from Everyday Food Magazine. It takes a about a hour and a half to make, but almost all of that is cooking time because it's otherwise very easy to assemble. I've really learned to enjoy dark meat lately. I'm the only one who will eat the turkey leg at Thanksgiving!

***Begin American Idol blabbering***

By now, it's old news that Season 9 will probably go down in history as one of the worst, if not THE worst season of American Idol ever. I have been holding out hope week after week that it's going to get better. After all, each season starts out rough until the less than stellar contestants are weeded out and the cream rises to the top. There's also a tendency to think that the current season's crop will never compare to your favorites from the last season, but then you discover a new favorite and suddenly, it's the Best! Season! Ever! I even pushed through the disappointment when my potential favorites like Tyler Grady and the boy with the unfortunate name and even more unfortunately haircut, Alex Lambert, were untimely eliminated.

But after last night's catastrophe, hope is no more. I've resigned myself to the fact that there is truly little, if any, cream available, and since I don't drink coffee anyway, I shouldn't let it get me down. So here are my thoughts on a few of this season's group:

Siobhan Magnus: I am a couch cougar no more because, YES! I! CAN! ROOT! FOR! A! FEMALE! (By the way, I myself coined the term "couch cougar," which is defined as a middle aged woman who would never actually go out and score a younger man but instead sits at home and crushes on them while watching television. Please feel free to use it in casual conversation so that it catches on. For example, "That Tim Urban - he turns me into such a couch cougar!")

Back to Siobhan. I just find her absolutely adorable and want to adopt her as the little sister that I never had. On top of that, she's interesting, fun, works the stage and can sing, all qualities that are sorely lacking in this season's contestants.

Crystal Bowersox: It's no secret that she's the favorite (Cause Simon says so!). I can't deny that Crystal is probably the best this season has to offer, but I also can't help but resent the fact that she's standing still playing guitar week after week and not getting called out for it like Jason Castro. Crystal is also a lot like Brad Pitt to me. I can tell Brad is a good looking guy, but I much rather look at Josh Holloway. I can tell Crystal is a talented singer, but I much rather listen to someone else. Maybe it's because I don't like Janice Joplin (I know, SACRILEGE!).

Casey James: Speaking of the poor man's Josh Holloway, Casey is golden...in theory. He's got the look, the name and the locks. He sounds pretty nice too. However, there's just something off about him. I think it's the vapid smile that he wears every time he performs. He could be singing about how on the way to the studio the limo he was riding in accidentally ran over his dog, and he would smile his way through it. Plus he picks songs like "The Power of Love." Step away from the Huey, Casey!

Andrew Garcia: I don't really understand why the judges rip him to shreds each week because, to me, he's doing exactly what he did in his auditions. I like Andrew's voice, but there's something about him that turns me off. The combination of neck tattoo and Danny Gokey glasses doesn't help.

Didi Benami: Megan Joy 2.0 with improved singing.

Katie Stevens: Poor Katie. A few seasons ago, the judges would be drooling all over her. She's a smaller scale Katherine McFee.

And lastly, Tim Urban. I thought that he had nerve when he stole a page out of Jason Castro's playbook and sang "Hallelujah" during week three of the semi-finals.



Then I realized Tim stole my father's haircut.



You're dead to me, Tim. DEAD.

Alive and kicking.

Since a month has past now, I guess it's about time I resuscitated the blog. Hopefully my handful of loyal readers didn't fear the worst and think that I gave up blogging!

Unfortunately, all three of us have suffered varying degrees of illness over the past month. In fact, during the past week, we've all had to visit the doctor. Going into my third week of respiratory hell, I finally threw in the towel last week and sought medical assistance. I was diagnosed with bronchitis and was administered a breathing treatment in the doctor's office, followed by a cocktail of three prescription drugs that I just finished today. Lauren continues to have a cough and a runny nose that comes and goes. And now Mark has pink eye in both eyes.

Anyway, since we were sick, we weren't doing anything that was worth blogging about, and even if there was, I was too despondent to do so.

But let's recall happier times before the plague descended upon our home! Speaking of alive and kicking, at the very end of February, Grandma Gert celebrated her 91st birthday.



I asked Grandma to smile for this one. She replied, "There isn't anything to smile about." Isn't she an inspiration to us all?



Aw, that's better Grandma.



We had Lauren take this one for us. She is too cute when she takes photos with the "big" camera. She even used the Rule of Thirds. What a natural!

That's all for now - I need to ease back into blogging. Tomorrow, it'll be just like old times with some food photos and my thoughts on this season's American Idol!

Cause it's Ross-craft, wicked Ross-craft.

Recently, Lauren and I had a couple of mommy & me days where all we did was craft. She has little interest in anything else these days, so I'm very thankful that there are so many wonderful websites (Like Nick Jr, which provided the means to make these Kai-lan paper lanterns that Lauren absolutely loves to crank out.) with great crafting ideas for kids. And Lauren should be thankful that her mommy has amassed so many craft supplies that we can pretty much make anything we want on the fly!



Lauren had her first experience with perler (or hama) beads at pre-school, so naturally she want to try some at home too.



This super cute bird collage idea came from Kaboose. The nest is made from basket filler that I had left over from Christmas.



Some of the crafts that we've stumbled upon have been a little advanced for Lauren, but they're so irresistible that we have to give them a go anyway. Take this little yarn octopus, also from Kaboose. Lauren picked out the colors, but I did all the heavy lifting, thus defeating the purpose of it being a kids craft. I'm not ashamed to admit that I struggled a little with it myself. Remember: fiber and fabric crafts typically hate me.



I too have found myself to be a little craft obsessed lately, although I don't get much of a chance to craft for myself. One of these days, I will settle down and read this big stack of Marie Claire Idees. These are fairly tough to find (It is published in France afterall!), so I count myself very lucky to have found someone selling the last year and half worth of issues. Also lucky for me is that I can read a bit of French, but besides that, there is so much eye candy to enjoy in each issue that I probably won't even bother to break out the old French-English dictionary.



I also picked up a few books in English. Rainbow of Stitches is written by a Marie Claire Idees contributor. Once I cracked it open, I had to immediately put it down for fear of being driven insane by all the adorable embroidery inside. Each chapter is dedicated to a color: red, pink, green, and blue. Just about everything is stitched on white fabric. Very clean, very simple, very Martha. Love it.



The New Handmade contains directions to make several stylish bags. Lauren has already picked this one out for herself. I'll have to add that to the list after the giant strawberry pillow.



Lastly, I've finally found a form of knitting that even I can do: loom knitting. This iPod cozy was my second project (The first was a newborn sized hat that Lauren uses as Mommy Elephant's sleeping bag.). Some of my stitches were wonky, but that was fixed thanks to the amazing process of felting. After two times in the washer's hot cycle, I was thrilled that my pouch shrunk to just the right size. I want to tackle a larger bag after I get my hands on some more yarn.

On a figure skating note, I'm so excited that Lysacek won the gold medal! Somewhere in Canada right at this moment, Plushenko is still whining about it. Maybe this means that the curse is lifted and that my AI Season 9 pick will win too!

Exciting developments.

Okay, maybe these aren't exactly exciting, but when your life is as routine and uneventful as mine, you have to get your kicks where you can find them.

As you can see above, we were thrilled to discover that our first feathered tenants have taken residence in our birdhouse.



We are also proud to announce that Marcus caught a ball in mid-air not once, but twice. However, he still lets cheese, cereal and other bits bounce off his nose, so I don't know if he'll ever reach Daisy's level of proficiency when it comes to catching food.

Lastly, remember the movie Miracle on 34th Street (Although it seems silly to have to say this for a 63 year old movie, consider this a spoiler alert if you haven't seen it)? Attorney Fred Gaily was able to prove the existence of Santa Claus because a government agency, the U.S. Postal Service, recognized Kris Kringle as the one true Santa Claus by delivering Santa's mail to him at the courthouse.



It's official, as I too have been formally recognized by the U.S. Postal Service, but as "The Ross Trendsetter"." And before anyone asks, yes, they meant me because Mark doesn't shop for women's clothing and New York & Company doesn't sell anything in Lauren's current size. Don't worry - I won't let my new title go to my head.

On an unrelated note, I am very stoked for the men's figure skating finals tonight, even though there's no way I'm going to be able to stay awake until the end. I get such a kick out of Evgeni Plushenko's Soviet style posturing, but I'm totally routing for Evan Lysacek (Tall guys with dimples for the win!). Unfortunately for Evan, usually the person that I route for in this situation tanks, so we shall see!

(Alright, maybe this post was just really an excuse for this...)

***Begin American Idol blabbering***

After weeks of enduring the seemingly neverending audition episodes, we finally made it to my favorite part of the show - the Top 24! Actually, for me (for you, for me - TM Randy Jackson), Top 24 through Top 8 is my favorite because that seems to be when the most memorable performances occur. After that, I think the contestants (and me) start to burn out from the stress and strain.

I feel AI has gotten back on track this year. Returning to the top 24 format alone is enough to redeem the show in my eyes, but the quality of the contestants has also improved. At this point last year, there were no less than four people that made me want to throw stuff at my tv (Norman Gentle. Tatiana Del Toro. Nathaniel Headband, anyone?), but this year, everyone is fairly likable. I also appreciate that we've actually gotten to see and hear the majority of the Top 24. Usually, there are only a handful that are shoved down our throats, giving the poor unknowns with little to no screen time a big disadvantage to overcome.

So, in an unprecedented move, I'm going to try to predict who will be in the Top 12. Here we go (in no such order):

Andrew Garcia
Tyler Grady
Casey Jones
Michael Lynch
John Park
Aaron Kelly

Crystal Bowersox
Ashley Rodriguez
Haeley Vaughn
Lilly Scott
Katie Stevens
Didi Benami

(That last one was a really tough pick because all the blonde girls are running together for me.)

A few more predictions:

Season 9 Winner will be...a blonde girl. ;)

Guy Who Will Sing Last on Top 24 Night: Andrew Garcia

Girl Who Will Sing Last on Top 24 Night: Crystal Bowersox

Contestant Most Likely to Annoy Me:

Right now, Todrick Hall kinda gets on my nerves, but someone else could certainly pull ahead of him. The field is wide open!

Contestant Most Likely to Earn My Obsessive Support to the Point of Irrationality: Tyler Grady

Come May, let's see how well I did!

Gimme some lovin' (and cupcakes).

Mark surprised me with a two super Valentine's Day gifts - a cupcake carrier and Martha Stewart's Cupcakes recipe book. The least I could do to repay him was to make some cupcakes, right?



I've discovered that, unlike cookies, cupcakes can't really be made on the fly because they require ingredients such as cake flour and buttermilk that I normally don't have in the pantry. In fact, I went out and bought a box of cake flour expressly for the purpose of making cupcakes, and what did I do? I unconsciously grabbed the all purpose flour and used it instead. Unbelievable. As a result, the cupcakes came out tasty, but dense. These are white cupcakes with Fluffy Vanilla frosting. I went with Fluffy Vanilla instead of the Swiss Meringue Buttercream (which I prefer) because the Buttercream called for five egg whites, and I already used five egg whites in the cupcakes themselves. That's almost a dozen eggs!

In spite of all this, I am undaunted because there are so many different varieties to try. Plus, I can spread the joy of baking far and wide with my handy cupcake carrier!



How I miss the days when Lauren wasn't so self aware. Now, every time I try to take a photo of her, she sticks her tongue out at me. And it's not just a little "Bronx cheer" tongue, this is full blown Gene Simmons tongue.



I tried very hard to get a nice photo of Lauren modeling the cute top that Cousin Noreen sent to her, but it wasn't meant to be (Thanks, Noreen! Lauren looks adorable - you'll have to take my word for it!). Aside from the tongue sticking out, this is the other option. I call it, "The School Photo Smile."



Lauren says, "Valentine's Day is boring. Nothing exciting happens on Valentine's Day."

Oh, you say that now little one, but if you only knew...

Did someone say...snow?

Yes, we got a lot of snow. About 21 inches give or take. It's old news now, but that doesn't mean anyone has stopped talking about it. One thing that I've found is that all this snow makes me feel very lazy. And it makes me want to take up knitting (Which I have, but we don't have time to talk about that now...doncha know that there's TWO FEET OF SNOW OUT THERE?!).



This is what I saw when I opened my eyes on Saturday morning. Well, at least the shadow of it. The blinds were down at the time.



Marcus, still in his puppy-hood, gets a big thrill from the snow.










Good thing we invested in a pair of boots this year!





The winner of this "snowcase" wins this prize, and others, if the Price Is Right!

Don't bother me. I'm thinking.

I was going to post these yesterday, but since January was such a washout, I thought I'd start February on the right foot.

I admit that the dogs get most of the attention here, so let's take some time to get to know our very little seen cat, Beavis.



Poor thing. Saddled with such a dumb name, only because I started calling her that one day, and it stuck. I guess it's a step up from "Kitty." We adopted Beavis from Grandma Gert all the way back in 1998. A local woman had left her with Grandma because her mother was coming to live with her. Even though we lived in an apartment that didn't allow pets, we took her in anyway. We didn't feel too guilty - the woman that lived above us had a bird and the couple below us had a dog.

Beavis was very shy at first. She spent most of her time living in our bedroom closet. I blamed this on the fact that her former owner had her declawed on all four feet. Who does that?! Her feet were also unusually small, which I speculate was due to her being declawed at a very young age. Anyway, in spite of these handicaps, Beavis proved herself to be very adept by catching two mice while we lived there.



Unfortunately for Beavis, we decided that we needed an apartment upgrade, and this time, we weren't going to be able to skirt the no pet policy. So back to Grandma Gert she went. A year and a half later, we moved to our first house and was able to reclaim her. While she lived with Grandma, she put on quite a bit of weight, so for awhile we had to refer to her as "Fat Beavis." She also had to get used to living with not one, but two dogs. Later, she'd also have to share her space with another cat. And still after that, a baby. Nonetheless, Beavis carried herself with the attitude of the one who was here first.



We have no idea how old Beavis is. When we took ownership of her, Grandma Gert told us that she was 8 years old, which would make her 20. I find that hard to believe, because to me, she looks the same as she did 12 years ago. And don't be fooled by her ornery appearance - that's just her normal expression. She's actually the sweetest kitty you'll ever meet. Even when she's throwing up in Mark's shoe or howling at 2 o'clock in the morning.

I took some extra photos this weekend, so I hope to update again mid-week. Not tomorrow though, because Tuesday is a big night for tv - Idol and the season premiere of Lost!