Hello Monday Afternoon

I didn't have it in me to blog Sunday night, and then had some things to do here this morning, so going to try to catch up now. I took very few pictures this weekend which is partly why I put off doing my Hello Monday recap. I feel like these posts need pictures. 

Honestly I'm not sure what I did on Friday. The kids spent their first official night sleeping in their own beds in their own house Thursday night so we woke up to a quiet house Friday morning. When they pulled out of the driveway on Thursday hubs was a little sad and my daughter laughed and said, 'see you tomorrow' because that's life now. 

While it's nice to return to our quiet morning coffee routine we are also missing the hugs and chatter and big smiles we've been greeted with first thing every morning since mid-January. We'll get used to it. 

I think hubs and I went out to a little local 'dive bar' for dinner Friday evening. I only know this because I took a picture of one half of my BLT, which hubs thought was funny (as in odd), but I told him that's how I remember things now. Sad, but sort of true. 

Plus it was delicious. This place is tiny and low key but the food is homemade and tastes like your momma made it. 

I do know hubs spent the entire day on Friday cleaning both my car and the boat. And the dock too, because why not? I'm getting new tires put on my car as I type,  and hubs says you can't take a car for new tires without washing it first. 

I mean I could, but he couldn't.  

He came home from washing the car and said he was just going to clean the boat which is a job in itself since it's been covered all winter long, but he cannot ever do just one thing so he went ahead and waxed it too. 

With his sidekick of course. Then,  since he was there and had the power washer going, he also cleaned the dock. 

She's all ready for her first voyage of the season.

Now we just need the weather to get with the program. We have a rainy few days in the forecast, but hopefully later this week we can go for a spin. Ride? Cruise! 

Saturday I picked my daughter up at her house which is 3.7 miles from my house (just sayin'), and we drove a little over an hour to a baby shower for her sister-in-law. 

The shower was in a friend's home and the hostess did a beautiful job with the decorating, the food, and all the little nice touches that make an event feel special. 

It sprinkled on us a little so we ended up opening the presents inside, but it was a lovely event and a fun day. 

The hostess had these sweet little favors which are wildflowers on seed paper. You actually plant the paper and flowers will grow. 

My daughter rode home with her mother-in-law because her hubs was at their house with the kids so they could have an early Mother's Day dinner together on Saturday night. I came home and kind of wanted to flop on the couch, but hubs said he'd been 'lazy' and wanted to go out so we did. 

fyi-my hubs is never lazy. 

We went to a local place for Mexican food and a margarita which was fine. 

Sunday morning we went to church with the kids. We've been going to their church the past few Sundays and I really like the pastor. The messages we've heard have been excellent and they're going through 1 Corinthians one chapter (sometimes less) at a time. So so good. 

We arrived before the kids did and it's so sweet to see them running towards us. The kids come into church for the first part of the service, then go to their own classes before the preaching and Max held hubs hand the whole time. After church we went to breakfast/lunch with the whole crew. I always order breakfast, but the boys had lunch so everyone was happy. 

My daughter brought me the cutest hat as a gift and the sweetest cards. Hedgehogs are a thing for my girls and I so they always try to find me hedgehog cards when they can, and I appreciate it.

I haven't mastered the selfie. Carry on. 

Daughter2 sent her gift earlier in the week, and I knew I'd love it because it's from a company I order from myself-The Rifle Paper Company. They have hand painted designs...stationery and home goods, and I think they even do wallpaper too. The quality is so good. She sent this pretty tray-

And a stationery set (yes, I write notes and letters) in a pretty box-

There's a nice pen, pretty paper, and envelopes with fun seals that I can't wait to use. 

It was a gray rainy day so we came home and I put on my comfy clothes and spent the afternoon reading. Hubs had booked us a table at a nice restaurant in the 'city', but we decided before church to cancel and just go to brunch with the kids instead. We watched a couple of movies that evening and just chilled, all of which made for a very nice Mother's Day.  

And that's pretty much the weekend that was. Hope yours was filled with lots of happy moments too. 

Linking a bit late, but not too late, with Holly and Sarah for their Hello Monday weekend recap party. Have a nice week!

Showered With Love

We have had the craziest start to the new year. End to last year? I cannot believe it's almost February and I still feel like I'm racing to catch up with the calendar.  

Is it annoying when people go on and on about how fast time is passing? 

It's flying y'all. I cannot seem to get my foot on the rung that is this new year. 

We have a new granddaughter joining the party (yes, we're a party) very soon. We're anticipating a  February arrival, but she may make her appearance sooner, and how in the world is it already February???

Technically it's not, but I've already made the leap into the next month because this one has me bamboozled.  

Also, I'm getting another granddaughter (insert all the heart eyes and emojis here).

Hubs and I trekked to Tennessee Thursday afternoon so we would be available Friday morning for baby's momma to visit the doctor without her toddler in tow. Remember when going to the doctor, followed by a stop at the grocery store by yourself was a real treat? 

We spent the morning indoors because it was something like nine degrees outside. We stacked blocks and read books and played 'baby pretend to go night night' in the great big blanket, and then Nana did 600 laps behind the tricycle on the living room-dining room-kitchen circuit. 

Little man sat so quietly and was so happy on that trike seat that we just kept doing the loop. At one point I asked hubs to take his picture and we discovered sweet baby J was sound asleep. Sitting up on his tricycle.

He is so precious. 

My daughter's in-laws arrived Friday afternoon and my son-in-law grilled wings and we had them with a nice charcuterie for dinner. Saturday morning we girls headed out in the bitter cold to attend a shower for baby girl. My daughter has the loveliest, kindest, most wonderful friends who made the morning so very special. 

They started the shower by going around in a circle and reading scripture and prayers for momma, dad, and baby. Not only for her physical health and development, but each one also tied to her spiritual health and development. They were very specific and absolutely beautiful. Made me quite teary actually. 

We had tea sandwiches and a pasta salad along with fruit skewers, baked brie, and a delectable assortment of sweet treats too. 

My daughter is so very fortunate to have these friends, and even though my baby is having a baby she's still my baby. I love that there is a circle of friends to support her and to be 'on call' should any need at all arise. 

 

What a gift! 

While we were at the shower the men were out doing manly things lol. They had Mexican food before coming home and little man was napping when we walked in the house. We spent the afternoon reading, chatting, and watching basketball, then dined on some super delicious ribs my son-in-law grilled. 

We headed home on Sunday and are now playing the guessing game as to when baby girl will celebrate her birth-day. I have plans to go back sooner rather than later so I'm in the house with the soon-to-be big brother. Having your second is easier in some ways, fewer surprises at what your body is capable of, but then so many feelings about your first born too.

I want to remind my daughter of her big sister's reaction when she first laid eyes on this new little person who was suddenly part of her life. The big sister who became her very best friend for always. Who knows her like no other. Who has loved her since she was rolled into the hospital visitors room and we were quickly commanded to 'gimme dat'.

Be still my heart. 

May this new little one be loved so well. 

Showered With Love

What a fun, full, fantabulous weekend we've just had, with friends and family here to shower the momma-to-be with love and diapers and lots of baby blue. What a treat to have both my girls and my grandsons in the house all weekend long.

Their husbands were working so it was just the originals for a few days, which is marvelous and rare. The originals plus the grandsons which is also something special. 

The mancub photobombed almost every picture snapped this weekend which was hilarious and precious. Baby Max was having none of it. He was too busy making change and ordering 'cleanup on aisle 4' through the microphone on our Barbie cash register, circa 1990-something. I found it while rifling though some boxes last week and it was a big hit. 

We took a boat ride Thursday afternoon, everyone but the baby momma who at almost nine months pregnant was not up for a cruise. 

The boys took turns playing captain and the mancub did his best to try to talk us into letting him go for a swim. We finally let him put his feet in and he decided for himself to wait for next time. 

Friday we spent the day doing the final prep for our Saturday celebration. Hubs brother and sister-in-law arrived with his mom late afternoon and after an easy pizza dinner we girls got busy wrapping up the food and decor, and laying out the umpteen hundred dishes, serving utensils, tablecloths, bowls, platters, and glassware we were going to haul up to our clubhouse Saturday morning. 

We made twenty two hundred trips to the car to get it all loaded and then another twenty two hundred trips from the car to the clubhouse to get it all unloaded, then did it all again in reverse once the shower wrapped up. Whew! I could not have done this without daughter1 and my sister-in-law who are rock stars when it comes to this sort of thing. 

The shower was darling. I could not have loved this theme more and all the little details came together so sweetly to make a really lovely day. 

the grandmothers

Once I discovered daughter2's wallpaper from the very first house we brought her home to some 30+ years ago I knew I wanted a Peter Rabbit theme. I love the stories and soft colors and the garden setting so that's what we did. 

Daughter1 found the cutest printable on Etsy, a giant book taken from the Tale of Peter Rabbit, but personalized to the mom and dad to be. She ordered a poster sized print, had it professionally mounted on some foam board, and set it on an easel with fresh greenery added both top and bottom. 

We used A Beatrix Potter Treasury as our guest book, and set up a mini-garden, complete with Peter's little blue sweater hanging on a stand my brother-in-law made. 

We used fresh cabbage, radish, a watering can filled with hydrangea, and some marigolds and terra cotta pots to complete the look. 

There was a jar filled with cottontails for everyone to guess the number and lettuce seed packets as favors for our guests. 

Lunch was a 'make your own salad' from Mr. McGregor's garden served on my china, my grandmother's china, and daughter2's mother-in-law's china which all felt extra special. 

We had green salad, pasta salad, chicken salad, fresh fruit salad, and pimento cheese served on a combination of my sister-in-law's beautiful cabbage dishes and my Italian vegetable bowl and platter.

 Guests were also served a cup of carrot-ginger soup and there were yummy cupcakes for dessert. 

We played a fun game and oohed and ahhed over all the cute baby boy clothes and gear she was given. Baby gear has surely come a long long way since I birthed mine and that's a good thing. 

the great-grandmothers

The best part of the weekend was seeing Daughter2 surrounded by so many people who love her so dearly. Friends and family who have supported her, rooted for her, and prayed for this precious little boy she and her hubs are adding to our family. 

We don't know him yet, but we already love him more than words can say.

Time For The Hodgepodge

Another week, another Hodgepodge. Just a reminder there will not be a Hodgepodge next week (3/30) as I need a breather. We'll be back the following week, April 6th. Time flies doesn't it? 

Anyhoo, we're here this week with a brand new set of questions. Answer on your own blog, then hop back here tomorrow to add your link to the party. See you there! 

1. What's something you never seem to have enough time for? 

Big organizational projects. Do I not have enough time or do I not make the time? Hmmm... I suppose I have all the time in the world but I prioritize other things over these things so they don't get always get done. For one thing I feel like a need a big chunk of time for these projects and I don't often have an uninterrupted big chunk of time.  I have an hour here and a couple of hours there and I don't like to try to do a big project in tiny little pieces. 

I need to learn to like doing big projects in tiny little pieces. 

2. If you could turn back time and relive just one day in your life, which day would you choose and why? 

This is a hard question. For starters I would never want to actually turn back time. The idea of that is a little bit frightening, knowing what we know, playing timekeeper of the universe when the universe already has the perfect Timekeeper. For the sake of answering though, I'll play along. 

When I started to really think about this question it felt familiar. Then I remembered I had written an entire post on this topic seven years ago (seven!!) so rather than re-invent the wheel I'll link it here. I re-read it and the sentiment still rings true. Here ya go-

Play It Again Or Maybe Don't 

3. Something you enjoy making that takes a long time to prepare/cook? 

There's a buttercream candy I make at Christmas time that takes a long time to put together. Each piece is hand dipped and you can usually tell which ones were towards the end of the process because they are somewhat less than perfect.  The recipe makes close to 100 so I generally run out of patience before I run out of chocolate. 

My family says they're worth it. 

4. A time recently where you needed/gave yourself a 'time out'? How do you do that? 

A time out for me generally involves filling my bathtub all the way up with steaming hot water, dimming the lights, and soaking until all the crankies have dissolved. It happens at least once a week. A hot bath is good for what ails you, the physical and the mental. 

5. Something you've done recently that you'd describe as a 'good time'? 

We had a fun weekend showering Daughter2 with love and baby boy goodies. I wrote about it in a post here- Shower The People You Love With Love

Y'all didn't have anything to do today but read my blog, right? 

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

One fun thing I forgot to mention in my shower post was my wrapping paper. Stay with me, because it was super special. 

When I was going through my gift wrap station (aka the bags and bins in the attic) my eye landed on a roll of paper that looked familiar. I pulled it out only to discover it wasn't wrapping paper at all, but rather a roll of wallpaper from a baby girl's very first bedroom. The one we brought her home to. The one my dad spent one whole entire day getting the pattern to line up just exactly right. 

This one-

I don't know how this roll ended up in the gift wrap 'station' but what fun it was to wrap baby boy's gift in his momma's nursery wall covering. 

Happy Wednesday everyone! 

Powered by Linky Tools

Click here to enter your link and view this Linky Tools list...

Shower The People You Love With Love

 Guess what we did this weekend? 

You guessed it. 

Friday afternoon hubs and I trekked to another corner of our state to daughter2's in-laws home. It took forever and a day to drive 116 miles in the pouring rain on a highway that's been under construction I'm pretty sure since my girls were in uni. We passed two accidents but managed to avoid having one ourselves, which was quite the feat. 

We made it eventually and enjoyed a lovely dinner while we waited on the 'kids' to arrive. The in-laws next door neighbor and her daughter were hosting a Saturday morning brunch and baby shower for Daughter2 at a local restaurant so we headed there first. They had a woodland animal theme which was darling and the food was delish. 

So many thoughtful gifts were given and of course we grandmothers did what grandmothers do...

We put our hands on the momma-to-be's belly waiting for a kick. This is the in-laws first grandchild and we are excited for us but we are also so excited for them. Daughter2 was positively beaming and it was an all around wonderful morning. I took very few pics because I was there soaking in it. 

We headed back to the house to regroup before heading to shower #2. High school friends of my son-in-law hosted a BBQ in their beautiful home that afternoon and the weather was absolute perfection. 

The whole day was really. The hostess had the cutest 'guest book', a wooden cloud frame with baby boy's picture inside. Everyone wrote their name on a wooden raindrop then dropped that into the frame. 

It was a relaxed fun afternoon spent mostly on the big porches and out of doors, feasting on BBQ and baby bundt cakes which were both adorable and delicious-

Again, I did not snap many pics (although I somehow managed two with the cakes! ) and I neglected to take a single photo of our wonderful hosts or the hubs (hi hubs! you were there too!), but I did get one with the besties. These friends who once upon a time introduced baby boy's mom to baby boy's dad, so not a small thing, right?  

Sunshine and smiles spilled out and over everywhere all the day long. 

What a treat it was to celebrate with so many who adore this little one's parents, and who will shower their baby boy with that same kind of love.