Ummm....yeah, it's me. For real.

Holy unintentional blog hiatus, Batman!!! Eeek!

I really didn't set out to be away from my blog for so long. And I really don't know why I was. Just didn't have the mojo to write, I guess. The good news is, you didn't miss much. It has been a looong cold winter here in New England, which, thankfully, is O*V*E*R!

So, to catch you all up since my last post...no we still haven't replaced either my Pampered Chef bowl or the cheesy plastic one. We're real get it done people here can't ya tell?! ;-)

The month of March brought birthdays for two of the loves of my life....

Bailey turned 7 on March 1...

...and of course he got cupcakes to celebrate!

And of course her pretty much inhaled them!!!

Then, on March 26...

...my brother turned 38! And once again I had delusions of being a cake decorator. I swear to you when I write on paper my handwriting is much neater!!! I wrote "Dad" on the cake so my nephew could give it to him! And "P" is what my brother's friends have called him since they were kids. Our last name (well, my maiden name) starts with "P."

My brother and my nephew...the best of buds!!!

How cute is my nephew!!!

Let's see, what else? Went to my fifth Cool Crops with Mom and the girls at the beginning of March and we had a blast as usual!!!

I will share more of these pics in another post. And I suppose I will explain the paper... ;-)

And I have been baking a lot of bread!

Again, more on this in another post. In our attempts to eat cleaner and healthier I am making more and more of what we eat from scratch. This is resulting in a lot more time in the kitchen...some days I don't mind that, some I do. But I feel so much better knowing that I have control over what we are consuming.  There is just so much extra crap in mass-produced food. Yuck!!! And I found a great book that makes having fresh wholesome bread super easy and not time-consuming at all. I think more people don't make their own bread because of the time they think it involves.

And along those line of eating clean, now that it is April and spring is here.....

and these are popping up thru the ground....oh hello little tulips!

My thoughts have turned to what else but G*A*R*D*E*N*S!!!!!! 

I am sooooo super overly excited to garden this year!!! I know I know, I get this way every year, but this year is different. This year is more exciting than the previous. This year we will have a real true garden! An extensive garden!!! A huge garden!!!

Last fall we had two enormous trees removed from our yard. Though they were lovely and provided cooling shade, they were way too close to the house, the roots were just about at our foundation, and with the high winds we have had in recent years, if they were to topple over, or even if just one of their huge limbs blew off, the damage could be catastrophic. So, now they are gone and what we are left with is a gloriously sunlight flooded back yard that gets full sun all day long!!! Ginormous garden here we come!!!

I have a plan sketched out and I am just waiting...waiting rather impatiently, for the ground to dry up and the temps to warm up more so we can start putting this in to action.......more on this in a later post!

So that should about catch you all up. I am still determined to make this my year of change and I am working on that daily. One step is the cleaner eating I mentioned above. I am asserting my independence more and more. Each day I am trying to do things I love to do. This all sounds so simplistic but it is not. But it is a process I need to go through, and one that I am still fully embracing!

Now for the daunting task of catching up with all of you, my lovely blog friends that I have missed so much. In the coming days I will be popping by your blogs to say hello. I plan to read everything I have missed but please don't be upset if I don't comment on each and every post. I want to make time for all of you!!! Mwwwaaahhh!!!

xoxoxo