Grad ParTAY on Sunday

Lions,and tigers and bears, OH My! It is a whirl wind here. My hubby did floors and windows today. Huge job, beautifully done, dear. I did Dr. Yeh with Max, got groceries, made 5 batches of chex party mix, 3 batches of artichoke dip, 3 batches of PW's Chili con Queso Dip Amped Up, made more lists, did laundry, went to class this morning, ran around forgetting what I was doing. Tomorrow Costco and Trader Joe's, then more cooking and cleaning. Attend a wedding in the afternoon and then gear up for Sunday's graduation party.
I can't complain, my hubby has helped, I am getting two for one as Sam graduates from high school and Max from 8th grade, and I have Shella Flora lined up for Sunday morning. Some people in our area call Bella Flora in Bellingham to do flowers for events, I call my friend Shelly. I brought her numerous vases to fill and she will. It's great, I have done it for her and will do it again. It's a good trade and just makes the house look so nice. Last year I did the flowers for my nephews' party. It is just one less thing for the hostess to think about...and that is a good thing.

Desperate Housewife?

Went to class this morning, my quads are screaming, and then came home to some heavy duty parenting shmarenting. Teens will try anything once. All before 7 a.m. Lovely.

My hubby got my bike ready for summer yesterday. I like to ride to work. I wore a skirt today and was fine unless I went against the breeze. So, I zig zagged home.

Our wisteria popped this week, love it! Now, I'm wondering if I am a desperate housewife living on Wisteria Lane? Don't answer that. My hubby is home tonight. I think we'll grill a turkey breast, some asparagus, toss a salad and open a bottle of wine. The End.

Shade Garden

This little shade garden between our house and garage is happy this spring. I have several hellebores, four varieties of ferns, four or more varieties of hostas, solman seal, white violets, lily of the valley, lady in the bathtub, two different trilliums including the one pictured below. The only thing missing is my jack in the pulpit, I loved that plant. Always later than everything else so I just kept hoping my jack in the pulpit would show up. Definitely a no show. I usually plant white flowers in the box because we can see this garden from the patio and I like to have white for at night. I think the dreary, cold Spring we had got to me and I went for the color this year.

Sunny Sunday

Just a nice Sunday, church this morning, my hubby grilled some steaks for a late lunch, we chatted with Danny on the phone(yes, he is back from Kosovo and in Grand Rapids), napped on the patio , finished 'A Cure for Modern Life',by Lisa Tucker, walked (I got new running shoes and had to try them out), visited with my sis Jodi and nephew Alex, and niece Hana for a bit. A relaxing day before a busy week. We have a cemetary visit planned for tomorrow morning and then yard work. Sam and Max are having fun with friends tonight so they can help us tomorrow too. Lucky.

Happy Birthday Max

Our baby is fifteen today! Yipee, I get to have teen guys at our house tonight. Woo Hoo, YAY!
Max is such a gift for us. He is such a fun kid, and he works hard too. I never have to tell him to do his homework, he just does it. He loves his horse, his dog and the heifers and cows he shows at the fair every year. He still likes to do projects with his Mom, and that is so special for me. Love you Max, have a fun day and a great year kiddo!
Visit http://thesnapsisters.blogspot.com/ to see the great 8th grade grad pics the Snaps took of Max!

Finding Balance

I had several titles for this post, 'Law of Averages, Murphey's Law, Skinny Chicks Have Dirty Houses, No One Can Do It All', etc. etc. Let me back up and tell you where I am going with these titles.
You may have thought I'd quit my toning, sculpting, sprinting class because I haven't blogged about it for a bit. NO, I am going three mornings a week, getting up at 5:20 a.m. and working hard. I have come to a realization this week though. If I am working out with Robb and classmates three mornings and walking the other days I don't have time to clean my house. I am not a skinny chick. But I have learned those girls can't be doing it all. Their houses must be dirty. So, don't envy them because they have a flat tummy rather look at them and think they have dust bunnies, their shower looks like a campground shower, they have dirt, slime and yuk in their homes. No one can do it all.
But this weekend I am going to try. We're having the boys' graduation party next Sunday and I. must. clean. up. this. pit. I started last night, and it is not pretty, but it will be. My hubby will wax the wood floors for me. I get a lot of help from my hubby but this 'move more' is making for a dirty house. We'll get it done. Not sure I can walk this weekend though...
Oh, and here is another law, when my poppies bloom it rains and beats them to the ground. Every year.

A Lunch Date

My hubby went with our friend Adelene this morning. They went to her radiation appointment and for lunch at Anthony's. Ad is going to begin having two radiation appointments per day on Friday. We want to spare her the drive twice and drive her to some of her appointments. I get to go Friday.
When Ad and my hubby were cooking up this lunch date, Ad wanted to know if I trusted them to go without me. She then added it's fine to be single, she just doesn't want to be single and non-threatening. No, she is not that, much too charming, vivacious and funny to be non-threatening.
Ad has some heavy radiation to get through in the next few weeks. We covet your prayers for Ad.

Happy Birthday to my Hubby

Happy Birthday! I've been working on his gift for a few weeks now, had some technical difficulties. I hope he likes it. We are going on a date (lunch, walk) today and then dinner at home with the boys tonight. Just want him to have a relaxing, fun day and a great year. love you-

Patio Addition

Friday Morning

Prep Work

InstO-FactO PatiO

Daddy-O PatiO

Thanks honey!

Just What I Always Wanted

Last summer my sis, Kathi and I took a road trip to her sis-in-law, Joan. We helped Joan with her tag sale. We had such a great time, visiting, finding treasures, and the journey too. Joan's gardens were just gorgeous. I'm not a garden writer so I can't really do them justice. Joan is a precision pruner. I coveted her straight, sharp lines. I am not a precision pruner, in fact, I am no longer a pruner. We have many hedges here at the stone house but my hubby now maintains them. You see, we just can't afford to have me do the pruning. I have cut several cords in the past, ok, many more than several...Last summer, my hubby said, "that's it, you're finished, we can't afford it!" Actually it's a win win for moi. I don't have to prune and he is a precision pruner.

A Prepared Visitor and her Brother

Last night I had some visitors, one came ready for rain.

Emilyn showed me what was in her purse. She explained everything too. Two pairs of sunglasses because one is for when you want to look cute, like at the beach and the other pair is for like when it really is sunny and you need the sun out of your eyes. Makes sense to me. She had earplugs too. I don't, however; I think it is a great idea. Three things of lip stuff, me too. Jewelry, money, pretend phone, water balloons (another great idea, never know when you'll need those), a hairband, pens and other assorted items.

Wii had fun! Sam and Caleb aka gaming zombies.

Emilyn and I frosted a cake and the kids and I took it to church to share with the choir since it was their last rehearsal for this year. Caleb and Emilyn are still going to come over sometime because it was too wet to make s'mores and sit in the hot tub last night. So, the fun is not over.

Happy Birthday Kathi

Happy Birthday to my sister, Kathi! Kathi is a very sweet sis and I hope she has a nice day. She was born on Mother's Day. Kathi is a very caring and sharing person. She has been a travel agent for 25+ years and loves to plan trips for her family too.
She is a hostess with the mostess. I hope Kathi has a relaxing day as she is a busy wife and Mom. Have a great year, Sis!

Bits

THERE IS NO PHOTO FOR THIS POST. Thank goodness.
*Yesterday was Monday and Robbelinda, my work out Nazi made me do the stairs again. My brain can't do it and neither can my body. Particularly with the 5:20 wake up time. I also stepped up and used heavier weights. Dying today.
*Then the Snap Sisters called and asked if they could use our house for a photo shoot. I had a BIG mess which I totally disguised, threw in closets, and hid in one hour. They were coming with pregnant gals, plus one pg Snapsister so I scrubbed the bathroom figuring they will use it.
*Sam and Blake came home to eat lunch and dress up for Senior Presentations. Made a caesar salad and pasta and sent them out the door.
*Sam, now at his Senior Presentation, forgot his lap top, called me and needed it asap. My hubby had called an hour before and apologized because he took all vehicle keys to work, so I was stranded, which at that point it was fine. The snap sister that is my sister didn't have her vehicle so I took the other snap sister's vehicle, without my license, peeled out twice and delivered the lap top in the nick of time. Parked illegally, half on the sidewalk at school, went to leave and could not start the Honda Element I had borrowed. I had my cell, called the Snapsister's hubby on the job site, gave him a brief, frantic summary, he made some calls and then told me to use the other Honda key on the key chain. DUH!
*Came home, fed the Snaps lunch because they were appreciating my photo shoot site and offered to take some pics of Max, our 8th grade grad. I didn't do that with Dan and Sam but hey, they offered, he was home. So, made him put on his dressy clothes and have a shoot. My Brother-in-Law, the saint, left his job and came to tie Max's tie because I couldn't do it. At this point I have interrupted his day three times, a wrong number( he is the first name on my cell and sometimes I accidently call him), the Honda key and now the tie. Not sure how the guy is going to make a living with me in the picture. They also did some casual shots with Max's horse, Little Bit. Cute! No, I mean cool. (Sorry Max). Max has since reminded me that I owe him BIG for using his early release from school for a photo shoot. He did admit that he had fun with the Snap Sisters. I think everyone does.
*While all this was going on, I did a laundry room FULL of laundry, ironed, worked on graduation invitations, created several prototypes of invites for my In-laws 50th anniversary, wrote a stack of sympathy, thank you, and just general cards.
*Then my hubby and I went to Lowe's to create more projects and havoc in my life. Successful mission, I might add.
*Ate a very late, unhealthy dinner and quite frankly washed it down with a glass of wine.
*Ran around doing I don't know what. Totally scattered. Looked at the calendar to schedule a nervous breakdown. Fell into bed and called it a day.

Mother's Day

On Mother's Day my sisters and I take turns holding a brunch for our family. We make the food and that is it. The guys eat in separate room, they serve us. When our kids were babies they fed them, that was a big deal back then because we had a lot of babies at the same time. We just got our food and shut the door. We still do it but the kids can feed themselves now.
My sisters and I having brunch. I didn't get a good picture of my Mom yesterday, I know, it was her day...

Kathi framed sweet photos of Jeff and his Mom, Peg, Kathi with her boys and one of her and our Mom. She had these on her island where we set up the buffet. I thought it was such a nice touch as it was the first Mother's Day for Jeff without his Mom.

Kathi set a beautiful table. Her sis-in-law, Joan is the china queen. I had the pleasure of visiting her home last summer and it left me speechless. She had more dishes than me. She sent Kathi the cream and brown set, Gardens of the World. Ohhh, it was so pretty with the green and the burgandy. I'll be reliving that for days.

What a nice day. My guys were very good to me. Later this week I'll post some brunch recipes.

Happy Mother's Day

My Mom is a wonderful and supportive Grandma for my boys.

My Mom is a loving wife for my Dad.

My Mom is a good friend.

My Mom is an excellent cook, she has friends and family over for a meal weekly, she has brought so many meals to friends, family and church family over the years. I don't think I know many people that haven't eaten her food made with love.

My Mom likes to have fun.

I have been blessed with a loving Mom.
Happy Mother's Day to all of my guys' "Moms"- the aunties, Grandmas, the friends who look out for them everyday! Thanks!

Where in the World?

This week I had a visitor to my blog. All the way from Istanbul, Turkey. That morning I told my hubby, "I know where in the world Danny is this morning." Most mornings I don't. Those TV ads that ask, "Do you know where your child is?" Ummm, no, not our Dan. We did get an email from Dan and he is traveling right now and then back to Pristine, Kosovo to finish school. After that he wrote that he will fly to Chicago and his friend Annalise will pick him up at the airport. YAY!
We hope to see him this summer since he will be stateside. I can't wait to hear about all of his adventures. Dan, stay safe, have a good experience and then come see your mama. A friend asked me if I worry. Nope, not really, gave worries to God long ago and Dan has a good head on his shoulders. I would like to see him though...

Field Trip

A friend and I went looking for inspiration this morning, gardening inspiration. First stop was for coffee at Avenue Bread in Fairhaven, south Bellingham. I love Avenue Bread, everything they make is delicious. That was inspiring to start. We walked to the small nursery on the corner and then drove down Chuckanut Drive to an absolutely gorgeous gallery and garden. Very inspiring plantings, water features, gates and doo dahs in the garden and beautiful dishes made from recycled glass inside the gallery.
Next stop was Padden Creek Nursery, a favorite stop with very pretty plants. Stunning pairings and some unusual choices. Their peonies selection was huge as were their prices for the peonies. I think we should all just share what we have in our gardens.



Last stop was Quel Fromage, a shop for some tasty cheeses. If I go on a field trip I like to bring something home for my hubby, he'll be happy with cheese and Avenue Bread. Love it that on the receipt they tell you the wine pairings for the cheeses you purchased. Love that! Mindless entertaining, folks.
I am now inspired and will get gardening,

Went to the City

Max and his Aunt Laura at UVill in Seattle. The boys always wanted to pass up Aunt Laura in height. I think Max made it.

Yesterday the Hubby, Max and myself went to Seattle. Max had a follow up appointment at Children's Hospital, it had been exactly one year since his last surgery. He got an all clear, looks good, play football, go ahead from the doctor. Happy day! The doctor is not very tall and so he had plenty to say about Max towering over him even though they removed his growth plates. I can not say enough good things about the Children's Hospital and staff. We are so blessed to be close to this medical facility.
Before the appointment we took Max shopping for his clothes for 8th grade graduation. Our school holds a graduation ceremony for the 8th grade. We got him all decked out-very sharp. After his appointment we went to University Village where we met Hubby's sis Laura. She works at the U of W hospital and had agreed to meet us for dinner. Yummy food, a cosmo and some shopping, makes me a happy lady. On the way back to her house we stopped at Dick's Drive In, a Seattle restuarant since 1954. Their hot fudge sundaes are made with hard ice cream and the best hot fudge. I think this was my cheater day, Robb.
*I went on a field trip today too! Watch for more details.

It's Mine

Pretty bench, huh? It's mine. Sam made it in shop class. I am so impressed. And, you are probably jealous. I always wanted someone at my house to know how to weld. Opens up a whole new world of garden ornaments and gee gaws. Thanks Sam!

Breakfast of Champions

It's my blog and I'll whine if I want to, whine if I want to. You would whine too if it happened to you. Same song, second verse.
I'm OK, really, just a little sore, as in I can hardly use the stairs the regular way. I ended up going on a WALK/run last night with Max and the horse. What was I thinking? Oh, I wasn't...
I am still happy I am taking the class, I am scared silly for tomorrow morning, I am eating the protein right away in the morning, just having a little ibo and excedrine cocktail with it. It's all good. We received an encouraging email from Rob yesterday afternoon-love that! It's good. I just keep telling myself it is good and pretty soon, I'll believe it too.

Back to School

New school supplies:

A friend and myself are taking a class at our alma mater, a toning and sculpting class. At 5:45 A.M., three mornings a week, which any hour before 6:00 A.M. is considered the middle of the night by myself. Outdoors- rain or shine. We use weights. We run. Push-ups. Okay people, all of that I can do, barely.
Then our instructor, Rob, a very nice and encouraging young man told us we would now do the stairs. He kept mentioning motor skills and how great this was for our motor skills, I maxed out my motor skills in kindergarten. That is it. Don't be too hard on me, we had to JUMP up the stairs, on the football field bleachers. Over and over. I. could. NOT. do. it. Rob mentioned that guys on the football team SKIP stairs. Don't hurt yourself, but try it before you are too critical. It is not easy especially if your nickname, while growing up, was Grace. Especially if you are afraid of height, the bleachers make me crazy anyway.
Aside from the stairs it was great, though it will be a miracle if I can lift my arms tomorrow. I got my guys out the door and went directly to the hot tub. I don't dare to ask Rob if that is a bad idea, what if he says no hot tub? Should I ask?

Cheater Pie

Personally, I think those frozen pre-made pie crusts can be icky. Not always, so don't be insulted if that is what you use. My friend says, "they are gumpy". Not exactly sure what that means but it fits. I prefer a flakey, homemade pie crust. Anyway, the frozen pie crusts are nice when I'm busy or lazy. Not sure what I am today, but I thawed one. Threw in some peach pie filling, that I froze this summer, made a quick topping of 1 cube butter, 1 cup flour and 1/2 cup brown sugar. Chopped it up and tossed it on top. Into the oven, 50 minutes later-insto-facto fresh peach pie. Tastes like summer. Really. The guys are all working today, it doesn't feel like summer so I thought this might be tasty to come home to tonight.

So Handsome and So Beautiful

Sam has JSB/Prom Night tonight. He went with his good friend Chelsea, they have been buddies since freshman year. I know they will have a good time because they're friends and can relax. I'm a little biased but I think they look fantastic, the dress, the suit, the tie and the flowers are good together too.

Chelsea's parents gave them the car for the night. They must really trust Sam letting him take their daughter and the porsche.
If the Moms and their cameras could step away from the car...we'll be going now.
Don't you just love a girl that is so easy going about her hair that she'll let Sam leave the top down?

Yes, It's Me

I made some changes to my blog today. What do you think? Is it easy to read? Hard to read? Too much change? Let me know... I can take it.

Blushing Bride

The batter is carmel-like, I'm guessing because of the two cups of brown sugar.
The color of rhubarb reminds me of a blushing bride. It makes me want to paint a room rhubarb. Or find a skirt with those colors. Or set a table with those colors. Or give a party using those colors. Or all of the above.
Yep, it's good. The whipped cream is pretty weak though, I'm guessing the guys went to finish it off when I wasn't looking. I have one of those handy whipped cream gadgets, I just add cream, vanilla, sugar and a cylinder of air. Same "air" as the guys use for air soft or paint ball guns. And voila, whipped cream, fresh and yummy. It keeps well, if you can keep the guys from eating it on everything.