Going to the Chapel...

As I mentioned in recent posts, one of my favorite sisters is getting married on Saturday. Hannah is a flower girl in the wedding and so there has been much talk around here about Bekah's big day.  Hannah practiced being the bride...

but then I told her that she has many many many looooooooooong years of living under her mother's roof before that ever happens.  So she began practicing for her real job on Saturday...

This is her first wedding to attend and boy is she looking forward to it!

PS. Bekah - Hannah is hoping you will have jell-o pudding pops at the reception...

Weekend Recap

We had quite an eventful weekend here at the Brown house.  Matt spent most of the weekend getting in some good quality daddy time with Hannah and Lily while I worked at the Junior League's Bargain Carousel.  He did a wonderful job and I came home both Saturday and Sunday evenings to a clean house, children fed and dinner waiting on me.  Makes me think I should get out more often! :)

Bargain Carousel was a huge success...we had over 3500 people through the doors in the first four hours alone! I never would have imagined after organizing all of this for months...

that we would be left with only four tiny little boxes of things that did not sell.  These photos are only from my home decor section...there was also linens, electronics, art, books, furniture - you name it it was there.  It was a big job but well worth the effort because it will fund many wonderful JLB community projects around town.

We did find time to squeeze in two quick trips to the ONB Magic City Art Connection this weekend also.  On our final visit on Sunday we picked up a little something for Lily's room.  It is a mixed media work on paper that incorporates old sewing patterns and vintage buttons into the piece.  I won't show the entire work yet because it is not framed but here are some peeks...

It is by the artist Lisa Norris, aka made by one girl, and I can't wait to share it with you once it is framed and in its new home on Lily's wall.

After such an eventful weekend you would think it would be time to slow down but oh no no.  We are gearing up for an even more exciting weekend beginning this Friday...my sister Bekah's wedding!  We have been anxiously awaiting this weekend and can't believe it is finally here.  I still have much to do to prepare but am looking forward to a weekend filled with family and fun!

I think that this photo pretty much sums up life around here...very busy but...

This Weekend

Do you have plans this weekend?  I have two great suggestions for those of you looking for something to do here in Birmingham.

The first is the most wonderful art festival around...the ONB Magic City Art Connection.  I have worked with this festival in many capacities over the years and hold it near and dear to my heart.

I blogged about the Magic City Art Connection one year ago here in my very first ever blog post at Our Little Brown House.  This art festival is full of amazing artists, great food and the most wonderful children's art area - the Imagination Festival.  So if you are looking for a great outdoor activity this weekend look no further.  You can find out more info on their website here.

Next up is an activity for my many friends in search of a great bargain.   This coming weekend marks the 30th year of the Junior League of Birmingham's Bargain Carousel.  It is basically a HUGE yard sale and includes items donated by over 1000 members of the Junior League.  I attended the preview party a couple of weekends ago and was able to do some early bird shopping.  I found some great stuff including this chandelier...

It now has a new coat of white paint and will soon be hanging in Lily's room...

I also found these three little pots...

They are brand spankin' new and are from a little boutique shop in downtown Homewood.  I got them for the bargain price of $1.  They were originally $9 each.  I planted some herbs inside and they are now ready for a spot in my kitchen...

There are several more of these little pots for sale and many more bargains to be found.  The proceeds from this sale support the 37 community projects that the Junior League sponsors around Birmingham.

I will be at both of these events this weekend and I hope to see some of you there too!

four

My sweet girl turned four this past Wednesday and we have been celebrating all week long.  Those are the best kind of birthdays if you ask me.  The kind where the birthday revelry keeps going and going.

Hannah woke up Wednesday morning to these lining the floor...

She followed the trail of candles from her bed all the way to her chair at the kitchen counter...

Once she climbed in to her chair she was greeted with her first Happy Birthday song of the day and these for breakfast...

She is so excited to be four and I am pretty sure she told everyone she saw that it was her birthday.  I loved that all day whenever anyone told her happy birthday her reply was "Happy Birthday to you too!"  I tried explaining that a thank you would do but she was just too excited and continued with her response.  I, of course, didn't continue correcting her because it was just too cute to listen to her reply.

After supper she had what might be every four year old's dream cake for dessert...

A mint chocolate chip ice cream cake topped with lots of sprinkles, whipped cream and oreos and under all the ice cream was a layer of chocolate syrup and chocolate graham cracker crust.  Good good and more good!  Nana was here for this birthday celebration and Hannah was thrilled to share her cake with Nana.

On Thursday Hannah celebrated turning four with her classmates at school.  She came home with this little bear as a prize and I am pretty sure that you could not have made her more happy if you had given her the moon.

The third and final celebration was yesterday with Bebe and Grandad.  We topped off a good lunch with these yummy cupcakes from a bakery down the street.  They were hands down the best cupcakes I have ever eaten and each was handpicked by the birthday girl herself.

It has been quite a fun and special week for all of us.  I love this little girl so much and there is nothing better to me than celebrating such a wonderful, beautiful life.  Four years ago I could never have imagined how much more fulfilled, more challenging, more fun, more loving life could be.  I am so thankful for Hannah and all the love and laughter that she has brought to our family.

Granny's Lemon Squares

I am spending a lot of time this week in the kitchen as I have dishes and baked goodies promised to Hannah's school almost everyday this week. Thankfully mom is on her spring break and is here the first part of the week to help with her favorite granddaughters. I spent today baking cookies and lemon squares for Hannah's Ultimate Author Day at school on Wednesday. The cookies are good but it is my grandmother's lemon squares that take the prize.   They are amazingly easy to make and are the best thing that I have put in my mouth in recent months.  **Bekah and Rachel - I am posting this for you so that you can add this to your cookbooks if you don't have it in there already.**

All you need are these ingredients for the crust.

Mix 2 cups flour, 1/2 cup confectioners sugar, and 2 sticks melted butter together and spread this out evenly in a greased 9 x 13 baking dish.

Place it in the oven at 350 degrees for 15 minutes...

While the crust is baking pull out these ingredients for the filling...

Take your pretty lemons...

and grate 1 tablespoon of the rind...

then cut them in half...

and squeeze out 1/3 of a cup of lemon juice.

Dump both in a bowl along with 4 eggs, 2 cups sugar and 4 tablespoons flour.  Beat this all together until combined...

Your crust should be ready to go by now so pull it out of the oven and pour this mixture on top.  Bake for 25 more minutes at 350.  Once it has cooled, slice into squares and top with some confectioner's sugar...

Very sweet and very tangy and oh so very yummy!...

Thanks Granny for sharing!!  Please say a little prayer that I survive this crazy week.  Most importantly this week my sweet Hannah turns 4.   I am really having mixed emotions about what a big girl she is becoming and just how quickly time passes!  I will be back with more on this special birthday soon!

Celebrating Easter

We had a wonderful Easter and I hope you all did too.  There is nothing like singing that first Alleluia at Mass on Easter Sunday if you ask me!

I love that our dogwood tree fully bloomed the week of Easter.  Dogwoods have always been one of my favorite trees partly because of what they symbolize.  In case you aren't familiar, legend has it that the cross on which Jesus was crucified was made from a dogwood tree.  After Jesus' crucifixion God decreed that the dogwood tree would never again grow large enough to be used to make a cross.  Forevermore the dogwood became a small tree with symbolic flowers that bloom around Easter.

The flower of the dogwood has four petals which resemble the shape of a cross with a notch at each tip reminding us of the marks of the nails, brown with rust and stained with red.  The center of the flower reminds us of the crown of thorns that Jesus wore upon his head.   Certainly a special tree full of meaning and beauty to mark Easter each year and we are blessed to have one in our very own yard.

We had a great Easter morning with Hannah and Lily waking up to find some treats left just for them...

Hannah's jellybean jar was a big success throughout Lent and she was excited to see the white jellybeans, representing God's grace, appear on Easter morning.

That afternoon we had family over for Easter lunch, an egg hunt and picture time.

Happy Easter week to each of you!

Good Friday and More

Hannah has been talking about the arrival of Good Friday for the past week anxiously awaiting this very sad day.  She woke up late this morning, walked into the kitchen where her sister was eating breakfast and announced "Lily does not look sad!"  After breakfast we did a little reflecting on Good Friday and the events that led up to Jesus' crucifixion.  We pulled out our paper and crayons to put images with our words...

We began by tracing our feet and hands and talking about the nails that pierced Jesus' hands and feet..

We talked about the crown of thorns that sat on Jesus' head...

and the cross where Jesus was crucified and died...

I have been completely amazed this Lenten season at how much a 3 year old can understand about the death and resurrection of our Lord.  I have learned that it is never to early to start developing a child's faith and knowledge of God. 

After our Good Friday drawing session we went outside to enjoy a beautiful day.  Bekah gave Hannah and Lily cute new dresses covered with white and yellow flowers....

We decided to go on a flower hunting excursion to celebrate their new attire.  We took the camera and began a search for all the white and yellow flowers that we could find on our street.  We did not come up empty handed...

Thanks so much for the dresses and the inspiration for our flower hunt Sister!!  We were very successful and had lots of fun.

Before I leave you I have to tell you about my April Fool's joke I pulled on my dear husband.  It involved these...

I should preface this by saying that yes, I am 33, even though you might think I am 9 after I tell you this.  Okay back to my story.  So last night after I brushed my teeth I took our tube of toothpaste...

and inserted a raisin...

Now I knew Matt had not brushed his teeth yet, so after I put the raisin in I hopped into bed, pulled the covers up, giggled and waited.  Matt went into the bathroom and there I was under the covers trying not to laugh out loud waiting for his scream.  I am not sure what I thought he would think the raisin was when it came out of the tube onto his toothbrush, but I had a few guesses.  Anyway, next thing I knew Matt came quietly out of the bathroom and got in to bed.  No mention of anything unusual.  So I quickly reacted with a "Did you brush your teeth?"  Matt: "Yes! Why?"  Me: "Just wondering..."  Matt:  "Why?  What's wrong? Does my breath stink?"  Me:  "No no it's nothing.  Good night."  I couldn't believe that my plan hadn't worked, but I didn't say anything in hopes that it would be an April 2nd joke.  Well this morning Matt came out of the bathroom and said "Guess what was in the toothpaste tube!"  Me, laughing:  "What?"  Matt: "A raisin!"  Me, now dying laughing: "A raisin?!"  Matt:  "Did you put that in there?  I almost gagged!  I thought the toothpaste had molded and I knew the toothpaste tasted really weird last night!"  Me:  Nothing because I couldn't stop laughing.   I am still laughing right now though I have been promised payback.  It was totally worth it and you should try it on your husband the next time he brushes his teeth.  I have laughed all day long thinking about it.  Ok, again I promise I am 33 not 9.