So, we went pattern shopping and the closest we found was this...well, it's a start anyway!
I actually took Jill out of school for a day to shop for the fabric! We were running out of time to order fabric, so we had to know if we could find something in town. Thankfully we did! The cameo pink silk dupioni came from Mesa Sales, and the embroidered and beaded netting came from JoAnn's. 
Now, I have a lovely sewing room complete with a cutting counter thanks to my darling David, but when it comes to cutting out more than 2 yards we use the living room floor. We laid out the 8 yards of silk and bravely made the first cut... 
A day of sewing and the basic dress was ready. Now for the hard part - the wrapped bodice and sleeves. I don't have any pictures of the process, I was way too focused on figuring it out to take any! We actually put Jill in the dress, and wrapped, pinned, marked and cut the pieces on her, then took them off and sewed and gathered. It took about 5 times longer and 3 times more thought than I expected! This was the most challenging sewing I have ever done! 
We were finally getting close to finish, but hadn't found the jewels for the bodice pieces yet. Lucy and I had hunted out the Mesa antique stores but hadn't been inspired by anything. Luckily, our saving angel came in the form of our dear neighbor, Cecilia Basilotto! She had been watching out the window during dinner, and when Jill never came out she began to wonder what was going on. So over she came, found us up to our necks in last-minute sewing, and said "Come with me Lucy, I have just the thing!" She showed Lucy an amazing box of vintage jewelry and they chose the perfect brooch for the top, and found a bracelet with little jeweled roses that we took apart for the other pieces. It turned out perfect!! 
When Jared arrived her hair, makeup, and long gloves were ready - but no dress! 
Jill pinned on his boutonniere (she had made it herself from roses and jasmine in our garden). 
Finally! The dress was done (not without more drama - the zipper broke as we were putting it on - I hate those nylon invisible zippers!! We actually had to sew her in to the dress! Next time - buttons). Jared gave her a sweet wrist corsage and they were ready to go at last.
Out the door! They had a great time at the dance - Jill's dress was the prettiest, of course!! She was so happy and so beautiful! 
I had thought we would celebrate the day by finishing the work in our garden - moving the rest of this compost pile and planting the beans and lettuce. But, things don't always work out as planned. Instead, I spent the morning cleaning out goat stalls so that Princess doesn't catch us unprepared (she isn't due until May 4th, but she's enormous!) And then I spent the (too hot to work outside anyway) afternoon finishing the tidying of my sewing room so that I can get started on Jill's Prom dress. (More about that later!) Don't even ask about homeschooling! Ok, so they did both do some really nice reading aloud, found and identified a caterpillar, discoverd hummingbirds in both the front and back yards, and they helped take care of our poor goat, Dancer, who hasn't been feeling well and needed some extra love. So if it seemed that it was just an ordinary day, well, I can smile with the realization that every day is Earth Day around here!
After the goat show on Friday we all took some fun time and rode the rides. David loves this time of the fair as he can ride all the scary rides with the kids. I usually just do the tame rides with Elsa as I am really, no I mean REALLY not in to being spun, dropped, and turned upside-down!
Jesse's only entry in the goat show was his LaMancha doe, Pirouette. He bottle-raised her from a baby when her mama rejected her last spring. If you go to our goat blog you will see him feeding her on the blog banner. She won first place in her class of senior yearlings.
Here are all our goat ribbons! The biggest excitement of the day was our little Merci, who took Grand Champion Senior Doe and Grand Champion Nigerian Dwarf! Hers is the big black and gold ribbon. 
Remember our lovely Tom Turkey? Well here are all the prizes he brought home!! I guess I'm not the only one who thinks he's a handsome devil! He won a blue ribbon, Champion Turkey, Class Champion, and a trophy for Champion of all other fowl. He actually won more awards than any other bird at the fair!!
Robin and Elsa are totally fascinated with "their" new 
My Mom requested that I post the recipe for the altered carrot cake cupcakes I made on Easter. They were made with 100% whole wheat flour, and no sugar - just applesauce and agave nectar.
Every year we put a few new Ostheimer figures in the Easter baskets. Here are the ones from this year. All the kids love these - even the teenagers! I think their warmth and beauty and spirit are so special. I love having natural and beautiful toys for the kids for many reasons, but one of the best is that looking at them brings joy to everyone. It is almost like they are playing with art, and when the toys get left laying around it is a beautiful mess rather than an annoying one!
Here is Papa duck and the two mamas - Jude is the pretty grey mallard cross, and Jemima of course is the white appleyard. 
The "Easter Egg Warriors" are ready for the hunt.
Some of the eggs were hidden really well. Each child had 16 eggs to find, color coded so they knew which to pick up. It actually took about 1/2 an hour to find them all! The last egg was Robin's, I wish I had taken a picture of it. It was a shiny gold egg hidden up in a branch of a peach tree. Looking up it reflected everything around it, so was very hard to see!
It was a beautiful warm, sunny afternoon. Funny, the day before was cold and rainy. Everyone stayed outside to inspect the contents of their eggs - chocolate, stickers, tiny animals, tops, etc...
David got in to the fun by showing the boys how to toss a chocolate egg up as far as you can throw it and catch it in your mouth!
And I just laid back in the grass and listened to happy kids, birds, and wind in the pine trees.
As it was Good Friday, Jesse had his birthday off of school. He started out the day with blueberry and raspberry muffins (the traditional hot cross buns are being delayed until Easter Morn this year.) and opening his presents. He spent the day playing his new game, then had some boys over for dinner and cake, "Apples to Apples" (hilarious with 13 year old boys!) and an "outdoor adventure game". As soon as it was dark, the boys divided in to groups and were dropped off at the nether ends of the neighborhood. The challenge was to return back to the house by 8:00 without being spotted by Jill and Uncle Jared and his girlfriend Jenny. Everyone came tumbling in laughing and mostly triumphant with tales of bravery and narrow escapes and ready for cake and ice cream right on schedule. It was a great day!
A whole box of fun Easter goodies! Ornaments, lavender soap and spray, Mary Engelbreit notepads & magnets, cute fabric pom pom pen made by Desiree, German Easter eggs....
A darling bunny candy dish filled with my favorite chocolate malted milk eggs (these have always been the "taste" of Easter for me!)
