3 in 30 April Goals - Update #2

At the end of the second week of the April, I have done the following towards my three goals in the 3 in 30 challenge:

1 – Prepare and host an Easter gathering. Since the last update, my focus was on making the food for 17 people, transporting it 50 miles to my mom's home, and getting it set-up (for both the dinner and dessert parts of the meal).

My mom with her nine grandchildren (in front) and

three children (standing on the couch).

Sophia (in the pink shirt) and Olivia (in the blue dress)

are on both sides of their grandma,

and I'm standing directly behind Sophia.

The Easter meal included the following items (the items with a * by them are ones I didn't make): ham, BBQ ribs*, scalloped potatoes, sweet potato casserole*, vegetable casserole, croissants*, banana bread, zucchini spice bread, applesauce, asparagus-strawberry tossed salad, deviled eggs, lime-mint jello, and jello in the shape of eggs.

Some of the food for dinner was on the counter.

The rest was on the tables.

We made fresh vegetable wagons with two types of dip. Olivia saw the instructions for the wagons in a recent Taste of Home magazine. She thought they'd be nice to have for Easter.

Two skewers are put through four cucumber slices.

Four slices of celery are laid on top of the skewers.

The rest of the fresh vegetables are piled on top of the the celery.

Dip is served in bowls on the side.

For the deviled eggs and jello eggs, I used a ceramic plate that Sophia painted a couple of years ago in her pottery/ceramics class at the homeschool co-op.

Jello eggs and deviled eggs on

a ceramic platter that Sophia painted.

(Under each egg is a different spring color.)

For dessert, we had key lime bars, mounds bars, and peanut candy bars. (The first two were the favorite ones.) There were a variety of Easter candies and mixed nuts available as well.

My sister and mom by the desserts.

There was also a cake in the shape of a lamb which Olivia and I make each year.

Olivia with the lamb cake.

Oh...and Peep-mobiles! Sophia and Olivia made a bunch of Peep-mobiles this year. Family Fun magazine had the idea several years ago. I've wanted to make them, but never did. With all the young kids at Easter, I thought it would be fun for them to see (and eat) a Peep-mobile. The girls had so much fun making them.

Peep-mobiles that Sophia and Olivia made for Easter.

I had made lemon curd tartlets with fresh raspberries and mint on top, but forgot about these in the refrigerator since they needed to be assembled right before eating them.

To drink, there was a red punch, juice, and water.

Olivia making the punch. The recipe came from the

Five in a Row Cookbook that we're using this year

as part of her homeschooling.

I also filled 99 plastic Easter eggs with one coin (if it was silver) or two (if it was copper). Some of the eggs were hung on the crabapple tree, as my Mom and Dad had done for many years. The rest were hidden around the front yard.

Sophia choosing an egg from the Easter egg tree.

Melissa also filled about 30 Easter eggs with candy so the children had quite a few eggs to find on the Easter egg tree and around the front yard. My mom was able to watch the children do the Easter egg hunt from the inside front window.

Sophia and Olivia with two of their cousins

finding Easter eggs in the front yard.

It was an enjoyable afternoon for everyone there. Of course, in the back of my mind was the fact that this was the first Easter without my Dad. I'm sure others there had similar thoughts about how their Dad/husband/Grandpa wasn't there. Hopefully, gathering together and sharing a meal help lessen the loss a bit for us all.
2 – Clean half my office. I cleaned two more of the ten shelves in my closet (that makes four now). There's still a long ways to go on this project because there also are areas on either sides of the shelves as well as a smaller shelf to go through.

In addition to the closet, I worked on cleaning the remaining two-thirds of my desk top by filing items or placing them back where they should have been put in the first place. It's nice to have it looking more organized again.

There are still a couple of small stacks on my desk of things I want to go through. They need to stay on top of my desk because these are things of immediate importance that need to be addressed.

3 – Clean the blue room. I still have not worked on this goal at all. With the homeschool conference this weekend, it looks like this goal will need to be worked on during the last two weeks of April.