Graduation Preparations..

Besides cleaning to get the house ready for the party (cupboards, windows, walls, doors, baseboards, ceiling fans.. besides all the regular cleaning), I have been crocheting an afghan for Eli for a graduation gift.  It's almost done. I'm going to crochet until that skein runs out, then do an outside border of dark khaki green. I'm also almost done with a photo album of "Eli's Life".  :)  I didn't have all our pictures with us (they were in storage), so once we got all our stuff back, I could work on that some more, too.  :)  

I saw some things at Walmart for 2015 graduates and had to buy some!  I was wanting to get some 2015 streamers (that hang down from the ceiling), so I was super excited to see they had some at Walmart.  And the plates and napkins, and the banner.  

 I still cannot believe he is going to be graduating. Three weeks from tomorrow. I am freaking out here!!!...    :o

...A sneak peek at the graduate. :D   He got his cap and gown, a couple weeks ago and tried them on himself. And, he actually smiled!!  He *had* to tone it down for a picture (sigh...), but..   Doesn't he look handsome?   

Easter

I hope everyone had a nice Easter...   We just spent it by ourselves at home, as usual.  :)  I wasn't even going to do much (except maybe a chocolate bunny for the boys, and dinner).  But when I asked Eon if he wanted an Easter basket this year, he shrugged his shoulders. (I knew that meant yes, but he couldn't say so because Eli was in the room. Lol) Then I thought, "Even though he said he didn't want one, I'll make Eli one, too." I finally decided to do these. I had seen this idea a few years ago on Pinterest. So I decided to do it.  The candy is the basket.  :P  Then I filled it with mostly non-candy fillers...   Wallets for both of them, and other stuff..

I crocheted them both Egg Bunnies.  I thought they were so cute!  It was a CAL on a facebook group I'm in.  I even made one for Eli... (And he said he liked it.)  

I made a mini-one, too (the green one). To fit in the little plastic egg.  

I had been wanting to try a recipe forever...   (Kulich.)  I bought these cans specifically with this recipe in mind...  :D

The dough has to sit in the pans for 2-3 hours to rise...

With a towel on it.

The bread is done. :D

And, ready to eat..   For the topping, you use one egg white and four ounces of powdered sugar. (Huh?...)  It was a pretty vague recipe. But then I thought "Oooh....   Maybe like when you make a meringue? You have to beat the egg whites with regular sugar to make it stiff..."   I probably could have beat it longer. But, it worked.   The bread was good. But not as good as I thought it would be.   It just tasted like raisin bread.   But, I had been wanting to make this. So... Now I have.  I will probably make it again.  I will have to buy more cans though. We opened the bottom, so the bread would come out. So. My "bread pans" were ruined..   :P         My Aunt makes pumpkin bread in big old coffee cans. She re-uses hers.  I'll have to ask her how she gets the bread out without it getting ruined..

Kulich Recipe I used.  Oh, a couple things:  I didn't use cardamom. Because it costs like $13 a little jar. I used half cinnamon half nutmeg instead (I read online you could use that as a substitute). I also didn't soak my raisins in rum. (We don't have any, and I didn't want to buy all these expensive ingredients to make this. So...) I soaked my raisins in boiling water and drained the water before putting them in.   Also, the recipe doesn't state when to add the vanilla. I looked in one of my cookbooks for another Kulich recipe, and it said to add it with the milk.  I also just greased the cans, didn't use wax paper. Just thought I would share that.