This past month has been an absolute whirlwind of activity!

One month ago was Easter. My 4 little ones looked

very sweet in their Easter attire:

What an adorable little cutie we have!!

He makes me smile! (He's just about 10 months old here).

Then on April 18 my sister Haylee was married to Kevin Kolkoski.

The girls were flower girls. We had a great time being

together as a family. I never realized that Las Vegas

has such a beautiful, clean side to it!

When May rolled around, we celebrated because we

had tickets to WICKED!!!

And of course we were celebrating for two girls

who were both born on Cinco de Mayo, only

three years apart.

Happy Birthday to

7-year-old Sarah

and

4-year-old Eliza!

Eliza got to have her first-ever friend birthday party. Princess, of course.

We went to Pizza Factory for our traditional birthday dinner-out.

The girls like to receive their free (that's the part I like)

birthday-number pizza (yum yum!)

As usual, we also had our traditional birthday cake.

Sarah always likes a surprise. I was going for

movie star/Hollywood star/Sharpay-Fabulous-ish.

It turned out kinda plain. Oh well.

Eliza wanted a princess cake again (surprise, surprise).

Well, we've never done Sleeping Beauty.

In honor of Cinco de Mayo,

we had to have

a Pinata!

A few days later, we participated in a one mile fun run

(a fund-raiser at our school). We were surprised

to discover that we have RUNNERS in our family.

(Sarah was first in her age division, Emily was second in hers, Nate was first in his--

Nate wasn't really trying, he was just running alongside Sarah to help her along).

(They don't get it from me, that's for sure!)

I've since signed them up for another 1 mile race

on Memorial day.

Last, but oh definitely NOT least, on Monday the 11th,

my little sister gave birth to her first child.

A daughter named Sienna Susan Palmer. Isn't she the

most precious thing you've ever seen?!

Congratulations to Tamara and Ryan.

I can't wait to hold her!

Need I say more?

Congratulations....

...to my sister Haylee, and her new husband, Kevin Kolkoski! We just returned from Las Vegas where we attended their wedding yesterday. It was such a nice wedding ceremony, reception, dinner, etc. We had a great time seeing all the family. It was fun hanging all together Saturday morning while Haylee had her hair and makeup done. Kevin is such a nice guy, and we are so happy that Haylee has found someone wonderful! They are both very deserving of each other. I'll post some pictures a little later.

Okay, okay, I'll take a break from sewing to update my post. It has been awhile, I know.

On Sunday, Skyler turned 9 months old!! Where has the time gone?! He woke up Sunday morning with his first tooth!! He's dressed in his jammies for his 9-month pictures because I forgot to take them until after he'd been put to bed. What a sweetie!

Also on Sunday, we had our traditional corned beef and cabbage dinner, followed by a viewing of Darby O'Gill and the Little People starring Sean Connery (I love that movie!) because as you know, yesterday was St. Patrick's Day! For some reason my kids think that this is a really special holiday, so I decided to go all out and make it extra fun. I REALLY wish I hadn't forgotten to chronicle the day with some photos. For breakfast, we had green toast (I bought a loaf of green bread from the bakery), green eggs, and green milk. For lunch, green sandwiches (more bakery green bread), kiwi fruit, and green jello. For dinner, a totally green salad (lettuce, celery, avocado, broccoli, and cabbage), green grapes, asparagus (so yummy with a little sesame oil drizzled on), and we finished off the green bread. For dessert, pistachio pudding.

At school, Sarah tried to catch a leprechaun (1st graders all make leprechaun traps) but that sneaky little bugger left green footprints all over everyone's traps and no one caught him! Eliza told me she was afraid of leprechauns (because they pinch people?) so I told her they were just pretend, but I think Sarah really believes in them. Emily, of course, is more knowledgeable about those type of things now that she's in on the big S.C. secret (wink). Although I'm not sure she ever actually believed in leprechauns. (I don't think I've ever hinted that they really existed). Oh well, the magic of childhood!

And now, back to the sewing. For those of you who haven't checked out my store http://www.peanutbutterprincess.etsy.com/ (I had my first sale this week!), here are some pictures of some things I've made lately.

My New Hobby

Lately, I've been busily sewing. Yes, I've been spending all my spare time at the machine and I've been burning the candles at both ends. I started sewing (all those aprons, and the bag and a quilt for Skyler that I haven't posted) and realized I was really enjoying myself. So I thought maybe I can make some money while I'm doing this. I opened an Etsy store: http://www.peanutbutterprincess.etsy.com/. I haven't sold anything yet, but here are a few items that I've made. Eliza is really benefiting because she gets the "sample". I did make Emily an apron, but I'm really hesitant to make anything for Sarah because she is so hard on clothes. It's harder than I thought it would be to find the time--constant interruptions from kids, etc. My best time is after they go to bed--thus burning the candle! Oh well!

Missing Jennie

Our good friend Jennie died this morning. She's been in our family for just over four years and she was such a special companion. Boy, did she put up with a lot from our kids [Sarah]! And from me, actually, since I've been impatient with her the past year. But she gave her unconditional love and devotion through it all. We love you and will never forget you, Jennie!

Gotta Love Good Food

In case any of you didn't realize it, we have a food blog called "Gotta Love Good Food" co-authored by some of my sisters. The recipes on there are some of our favorites that we've just got to share. I just posted a yummy bean recipe, and the tomato soup recipe is to die for! (Even if you don't normally like tomato soup). Haylee's hamburger recipe is great, too. In fact, they all are! Check it out!