April shower powers

She's expecting our sixth grandchild

It was a rainy day and although I regret that my guests had to drive through rain to attend our shower, I liked it once they all arrived safely to enjoy the occasion with me.

I love a rainy day and I especially like festive occasions on rainy days.

My sister drove the farthest: two hours from Greenville!

It's the Pearl

But she made it safely to my door and safely back again to hers -- the rain had stopped by then -- and we were honored to have her here with us.

Also our Stephanie had come, arriving the night before and staying in the guest room, along with Melanie and Allissa.

Little Andrew stayed back at home with his dad.

My beloved big sister drove from Greenville to be with us

So as I told you before, our theme was nautical. Erica loves the nautical theme and had even decorated the spare room of her house with nautical pictures and items.

That room will now be the baby's, and the theme will be adventures of the land variety, but she'll figure out something to do with her seaworthy decor.

At Hobby Lobby I found a long length of delicate blue gauze, on sale in the spring shop. So I made that look like water going down the middle of the table.

A starfish and a pirate ship and a lantern, and twinkling lights

Just go with me on this. I really DID make it look like water. You've got to believe.

Of course, my heirloom-quality Jenny the Pirate statuette, hand-carved for me in 2014 by Mari's Bob (I call him Bon; short story and I guess you had to be there), took pride of place at the end of the table where the expectant mother would sit.

I put twinkling battery-powered candles here and there beneath the sea length of blue gauze.

Jenny the Pirate

There was a tiny child mermaid, and a starfish and lots of shells, and a lantern, and my pirate ship salt-and-pepper shakers from Cracker Barrel.

I even found a ship in a bottle with Black Pearl on its base.

Allissa helped me position a long strand of party-colored fairy lights on my ledge, which, I promise I have not forgotten that I need to tell you about. My ledge, I mean. 

Piracy was our only option

Be patient.

I like to have as many points of light as possible in a party situation. I think it adds to the charm like nothing else can.

And on a rainy day? Shut the front door! Open the back door! Let the dogs out!

Speaking of dogs, Rizzo was consigned to his crate downstairs in the sun room, for the day.

Invitations were by The Invite Lady on Amazon

I'm pretty sure he slept through the whole thing. When most of the guests had gone, we freed him and gave him his daily allotment of green beans, after which he went outside.

Rizzo will not go outside in the rain but it had stopped raining by then.

For our pirate nautical-themed fare, we had lots of things.

None of which were seafood.

We used Twizzlers to make nautical knots around the flatware

For starters, as soon as the guests arrived they were offered a cup of blue punch. I'd bought a fetching glass beverage dispenser for thirteen dollars at Walmart.

To me, it resembles a fish. If you don't see it, just keep that to yourself.

The punch was made with Hawaiian Punch in Berry Blue Typhoon flavor, mixed with pineapple juice, and Canada Dry ginger ale with zero sugar.

It was delicious. Also we all had blue tongues. 

Pirate punch

There were cans of Bubly sparkling water too, in raspberry and cherry flavors, on ice in my giant galvanized pail.

As for our beverage dispenser, at one point I had to say: Apparently there's a leak! But it was a small one and a towel strategically placed took care of the problem.

Along with the punch was an appetizer of just-popped theater popcorn served in nautical theme boxes that encouraged Smooth Sailing.

We filled these with theater popcorn

The actual lunch commenced once everyone had had a chance to visit and take pictures with Erica in front of the nautical backdrop, while noshing on their popcorn and punch.

For the meal I had made my famous-in-the-family Sweet and Spicy Cranberry Meatballs which, while not being in any way nautical, are always a big hit.

Trust me, if you have not made this recipe yet, with from-scratch meatballs, it's time you did.

Here's looking at you, kid ... I mean, crabby croissants

(FYI the recipe calls for two pounds of ground sirloin but I use three pounds, and I double the amount of sauce. This makes about 70 meatballs if you use a cookie scoop making them uniform in size.)

I had also made my ham salad, and stuffed it into mini croissants, into the top of which we put candy googly eyes on toothpicks (I personally glued every eye onto every flat toothpick), transforming them into crabby croissants.

Those were pretty much the hit of the party because just to see them inspired laughter.

Allissa installed the toothpicks while I sang I Only Have Eyes For You

I made my trademark extra-stuffed deviled eggs and transformed them into sailboats by putting a Cool Ranch Dorito on top of each one.

I got that idea from pictures on the internet. They turned out super cute, sailing on their blue plate.

Rounding out the savory part of the feast was Seven Layer Salad, and I know this will amaze you but it was the first time I have ever made that dish. I'm sure you're all way ahead of me.

Dorito sails in the sunset

The recipe I followed was this one and I must say, simple as it was to put together, it was extra fresh and delicious.

TG loved it and ate the leftovers (there wasn't much) with great enthusiasm. I will be making that again, soon. Probably for Memorial Day.

To have something cool and sweet, with lots of color, I made Honey-Lime Rainbow Fruit Salad and it was so tasty! Zingy, even, and an ideal couterpoint to the savories.

Seven Layer Salad sailed the seven seas

That was it for the luncheon menu. But wait! There's more! 

There were desserts.

I ordered cupcakes from Publix because their cake and buttercream frosting is sublime.

The cupcakes were twelve in number: six vanilla and six chocolate. Six had red frosting and six had blue; all had silver sprinkles.

Rainbow Fruit Salad with Honey Lime Dressing ... limes and rainbows have nautical connotations, no?

They were just-baked soft and so scrumptious. I ordered them online and TG picked them up that very morning, when he went to Dollar Tree for the balloons.

OK so that brings me to what I good-naturedly refer to as my fail whales.

I found this recipe for Ultimate Rice Krispie Treats and, apparently wanting to make things as difficult for myself as possible, I decided to make them.

The cupcakes

They're like a kicked-up Rice Krispie Treat and while there's nothing wrong with that (and a lot right with it), it just makes for more sticky material to manage.

I made the huge tray of treats on Thursday, and left them to set until Friday, when my plan was to use oversized cookie cutters in the shape of whales, starfish, and shells, to make the treats.

Then I planned to dip or cover one edge of each treat in blue candy melt.

That all sounds good in theory. But then there is the execution.

The fail whales ... don't mock

First of all, even though I had spread out the Rice Krispie Treat material on a huge jellyroll pan, it was still very thick. Thicker (in height, I mean) than a normal Rice Krispie Treat would be.

Now, my cookie cutters were, as I said, oversized. But pushing them down into the Rice Krispie Treat pan and pulling them back up and getting the treats out, proved a challenge.

As in, the starfishes' delicate points got mangled when I pushed them out of the mold.

Our Candy Bar

The whales were having a hard time holding together at the narrow point between the body and the tail.

The shells didn't look like anything at all, much less shells; the delicate scallops did not translate when you stamped them out of Rice Krispie Treat material.

The pirate was becoming frustrated. 

Dessert Nation

I sailed walked away for a while, to think, and started working on a few other recipes. There was plenty of time to figure it out.

Eventually I decided to start over and make only whales, and do the best I could with the fact that the tails wanted to break off.

I ended up making thirteen whales, melting the blue candy and drizzling it thickly over their tails, which technically may have made them stronger at that point.

Oyster cookies with candy pearls

But they looked dumb and I knew it. I also knew they would taste phenomenal, so I just put them out and we all had a laugh at my whale fail.

No one is perfect ... least of all the pirate.

Probably my favorite project dessert-wise was the oyster cookies.

No actual oysters were involved.

The cute outfits just kept on coming

It's where you take two round cookies and pipe some icing around the edge of one, and put a white spherical candy in front and top it with another cookie.

Like an oyster with a pearl poised in its partially open shell, hanging out with other oyster-like confections, all resting on a bed of turbinado sugar "sand."

Not only was it easy and cute, but those shortbread cookies (I got them at Dollar Tree) were outstanding. And with the icing? Another level, my friends.

He'll be one of the boys of summer

I had also made Muddy Buddies -- special baby shower edition, white with blue candies, plus a recipe of chocolate ones -- for everyone to take home and enjoy later.

And we had a "candy bar" on offer in my crystal jam jars -- mini Swedish Fish, blue Sixlets, and silver-wrapped Hershey's Kisses.

The whole eating part was a blast. The laughter and conversation came in happy waves.

He'll get a workout with these

After lunch I made a big pot of coffee, which was enjoyed by several of the guests, as we had our dessert.

At last it was time for Erica to open her gifts. Dagny stationed herself at her aunt's right elbow.

I can't believe how cute all of the little clothes and the little toys are. And how generous everyone was!

Dagny helped read the cards

Little Mama received several very nice nursery supplies and so many darling outfits! 

Being a baseball lover, I fell in love with the tiny romper that said My First Season. 

Reveal, of sorts: My grandson's initials are RGP. I know what the R stands for but I cannot tell you just yet because Cherica are actually still debating the first name -- two choices, each beginning with the letter R.

They're ninety percent sure, but still. Not time to tell yet.

It's a boy and his initials are RGP

I can tell you that his middle name is Gregory -- after both grandfathers, who share that first name, and after his own dad, whose middle name is also Gregory -- and that his last name is Porter.

I'll just call him Cutie Peanut most of the time, I imagine.

After the party we sat around and talked for a long time with a few guests who lingered, and by the time everyone had gone, I had the kitchen almost entirely cleaned up.

Baby mermaid vibes

That was a good feeling and we still had a quiet evening to enjoy.

Don't you love making plans, making special dishes, making a fuss, making memories?

I do. I plan to do it again, as soon as possible, and I hope you will too.

And that is all for now.

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Happy Wednesday

Arts and flowers and gifts of love

They were engrossed in something

I've meant all week to tell you about the party we had last Friday.

But I have been consumed with preparations for the party we are having this Saturday.

The former was Allissa's birthday party.

We nailed it

Our second granddaughter turned thirteen on Tax Day.

The latter is a small baby shower I am giving for our Erica.

I mean that the shower will be small (relatively), although I imagine the baby will be small too, and certainly my relative.

The marigolds will love all-day sun

And we have showers in the forecast, so everything is going swimmingly so far.

And I say swimmingly because the shower has a nautical theme.

Pirate!

Thirteen, with bubble braids

And you know what they say about April showers.

Actually we have April flowers, as our Cherica came over yesterday and planted flowers in my three giant poolside pots.

I'm not good with flowers so I would appreciate prayers for these petals.

We want to live

(We had to COVER THEM last night with oversized black plastic bags because our temperatures sank to the mid thirties!)

And the same is predicted for tonight, so I will cover them again. Whatever it takes.

I'll tell you all about our baby shower -- with pictures -- next week.

Lit from within ... and without

Meanwhile here are a few photos of Allissa as we fêted her at Cracker Barrel in Charlotte last Friday, the day after her actual birthday.

Her dad -- our Joel -- could not be with us as he had left early that morning, bound for Pennsylvania, to help his mother and siblings to celebrate his own dad's seventieth birthday.

Bloom where you are planted ... that's an order, not a suggestion

Cherica were absent as well, as they had gone for an end-of-week vacation in the Chattanooga area.

Andrew and Brittany were missing too; they are preparing for their move to Vance Air Force Base in Enid, Oklahoma, in a few weeks, where Andrew will begin formal flight training.

Cousins and friends

But the rest of us had a wonderful time nonetheless, just being together.

Allissa and I were delighted to discover that we had both chosen the same press-on nails and aside from the fact that my hands are old and hers are young, we matched.

(Those would be imPRESS press-on nails in One More Chance, in case you're interested. Hers are medium length; mine are short.)

Trailing Jenny the Pirate ... I mean, Trailing Jenny

TG and I gave her a Bath & Body Works haul, plus a book and some accessories for her room.

Cherica had sent her a charming outfit.

Audrey gave her a precious rose gold bracelet with the number thirteen dangling from it, and a charm that said Love You To The Moon And Back.

She's young and sweet and special

Her parents gave her a necklace with a dog's paw hanging from it, and inside the dog's paw was a picture of Shiloh.

It's called a projection necklace.

You had to hold it up and look directly into a light in order to see Allissa's favorite picture of their late family dog.

You don't have to baby us ... but we hope you will

No matter what I did, however, I could not see Shiloh in the paw.

I take it on faith that he is in there because the others who looked, saw him.

Unless they're gaslighting me. It's always a possibility.

Hearts and hands

At any rate, we had a good meal and cake and lots of laughs and it was a typically memorable time.

Dagny participated in a school concert last night, after which she stood beside her artwork as displayed in the classroom.

She has ability in the area of art, I think. Even if it turns out that she doesn't, she enjoys it, which is key, because creativity is good for the soul.

They were inspired by the work of Georges Seurat

Speaking of creativity, I must go now and begin my final phase of preparations for tomorrow's party.

We will be a total of eleven guests if everyone comes. I will show you all of it next time I write.

Until then, have a peaceful and relaxing and restorative weekend.

I love you.

And that is all for now.

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Happy Friday :: Happy Weekend

She's an emotional girl

For a minute there it was touch and go.

I've been meaning to tell you about show you this for several weeks.

Today's the day.

It happened back in early March, when Andrew brought his family to spend my birthday weekend with us.

I told you about how, on the Saturday, we all traipsed over to Texas Roadhouse for an early supper.

A lucky capture of a living doll.

What I didn't tell you is that before we left the house, there was an impromptu photo shoot.

Actually, Brittany and I had hoped and sort of planned for me to take pictures of little Ember in a certain pink dress. Which ended up not happening.

But when I saw the way Brittany had dressed the baby to go to Texas Roadhouse, I decided that I would take five minutes -- or less -- and get some quick shots of her in that outfit.

What do you mean it's slippery?

I would like to say at this juncture that I appreciate the way our Stephanie and Audrey and Brittany have always presented their children.

There has not been a time that I can remember when they were not dressed sweetly and appropriately.

And yes, even stylishly. Because there's nothing wrong with that and there's a lot right with it, if you know how to do it and still maintain decency. And we do.

As for the little girls, they have consistently been attired in a modest and feminine manner. A practice which I know will continue.

Uh oh.

Our grandson Andrew is a regular little guy but he also likes to look sharp -- and he does, every day.

I guess you can tell that we Webers put a premium on being well groomed. 

Someday when I have more time, I may tell you something about the genesis of that philosophy in my life.

But today I will simply repeat that it means a great deal to me that all five of my grandchildren have been and are being trained by their parents to put their best foot forward when it comes to wardrobe and grooming.

She was in high dudgeon.

Rest assured, they are carefully trained in many other areas as well. You would find them delightful.

And I know that Cutie Peanut Porter will follow suit, because I know my daughter and I know Chad, and these issues are as important to them as they are to the rest of us.

In a time when it is unsettlingly likely that you will see people out and about wearing garments that look as though they were picked up off of the floor beside the bed that morning -- or worse, slept in the night before -- I think it is all the more vital that we make an effort.

Daddy is encouraging me to stay put ... but I am disinclined to acquiesce to his request.

If you disagree, you have a right to your opinion but that's where I stand.

At any rate, on the day in question, Ember looked impeccable and adorable as usual, just cute as a puppy, and I wanted a few pictures of her in front of my atmospheric open-window backdrop.

Which happens to be in the same colors that Ember was wearing.

We are so done here.

She had on tiny cowboy boots and that denim jacket was the icing on an already precious and scrumptious, witty little cake.

So we took her over to the backdrop and stood her there and what you need to know here is, the part of the backdrop that curls under and lies flat on the floor, is very very very slippery to stand on.

Because it's slick plastic to begin with, and the floor underneath is smooth wood.

Steady on, little cousin.

I couldn't do anything about that at the moment, so I asked Andrew to stand his baby daughter in place and encourage her to stay still, and I promised to work as quickly as possible, knowing that my window of opportunity was even smaller than my fifteen-month-old subject.

She stood relatively motionless long enough for me to get one good picture -- as in, the kind that I was dreaming of getting. Pure Ember, standing there looking like a great big doll.

Then she took a step and no doubt felt the fabric of the backdrop slip under her feet, and I'm pretty sure we semi-barked at her not to keep walking but to remain stationary.

Teamwork makes the dream work.

Whereupon she -- ahem -- lost her composure.

Andrew gently put her back in place, but she was already over it and ended up crying pretty hard for thirty seconds to a minute.

Then Dagny stepped in. I cautioned her about the slippery situation underfoot but she gingerly stood beside her little cousin, and comforted her.

That's Dagny for you.

These boots were made for walkin'.

Ember cut the waterworks and cooperated for perhaps another sixty seconds.

It was long enough for me to capture the spirit of the whole thing.

Then she resolutely marched towards her mother and claimed a toy that was being held for her.

She was done and so were we, and within minutes we were en route to the restaurant.

Off the hook and on to the next thing.

Where Ember had a wonderful time, eating and hanging out with all of us.

Isn't family a miraculous thing? Events and emotions ebb and flow, and there is so much laughter and so many tears, and time passes so quickly.

If we don't stop to get the candid shots, we will wish someday that we had.

For my birthday, Andrew and Brittany gave me a framed photograph of Ember wearing that certain pink dress.

Ember, today. Photo courtesy Brittany Weber.

And today, Brittany sent me a picture of Ember displaying what we decided is her very best impression of an impish grin.

She smiles lots more than she cries, I am happy to report.

I hope that you do too.

And that is all for now.

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Happy What's-Left-Of-Tuesday

Time Aprils On

Time was when she would walk beside us, but those days are gone.

Easter 2021 has left the building, not far behind the month of March.

We had an eventful and most enjoyable -- albeit low key exhausting -- holiday week.

Scenes like this were everywhere.

Dagny was on spring break from school. On Wednesday, Erica worked her last hours at the company where, for the last seven years, she has been obliged to show up at the office every weekday.

She will be working for them at home for a few months. Then I imagine some serious nesting will take place ahead of Cutie Peanut Porter's birth in late July.

We were hiding our shivers.

So it was that on Thursday, we girls sortied before noon. We were headed for the charming city of Rock Hill, South Carolina, ninety minutes' drive to our north, just a few miles from the Tar Heel State line.

Our destination was Glencairn Garden, an eleven-acre green space with swings and stairs and ponds and pastures and flowers and fountains and bridges and branches, and what seems like miles of placid walkways.

Spring's green is like no other green.

Rock Hill is several days behind Columbia in terms of what is blooming. I imagine it is due to its higher elevation.

Also it was cold. No; I mean it. It was cold. The actual temperature may have reached fifty degrees but the wind was bringing the feel-likes down into the high forties.

And then there are the pinks.

With the exception of Dagny, we had all underdressed. Erica miscalculated the most; I was only slightly uncomfortable (at least, at first), and Audrey didn't mention being too cold until the very end.

We underestimated the wind, which was extra bright.

The azaleas were putting on a riotous display.

But I will tell you about all of that.

Glencairn Garden occupies land donated by the Bigger family. It started as their backyard garden nearly a century ago.

Inside the gate were a pizza garden and a cereal box garden.

Speaking of gardens, there is a Victory Garden within Glencairn Garden. So charming.

During the world wars, citizens were encouraged to plant victory gardens to augment their rationed food supply.

They were huddled together for warmth.

The gardens were planted on both public and private land during those years, both in the United States and across the pond.

This one was enclosed within picket fencing. Lots of things were growing and it appeared to be well tended.

Swiss chard thriving in the Victory Garden.

Another thing that Glencairn Garden has a lot of is really nice, big, heavy, comfortable swings.

They were everywhere, and we had them all to ourselves.

Perhaps the bright wind kept most folks away.

Everywhere you looked there was something pretty, and well executed, and expertly maintained, and interesting, and fresh.

The tiered fountains were a favorite of mine. Like several sizes of bowls telescoping from largest to smallest, all spilling refreshing water that Dagny sampled with the fingers of one hand and declared to be not as cold as she had expected.

A healing sight and a happy sound.

I took her word for that.

On the ground near a small pond we saw a sign left to molder in some pine straw, dirty and forgotten, admonishing visitors to the garden to stay six feet apart.

It was the only sign of its kind that we saw all day.

We never had the faintest intention of doing anything other than that, even before the signs and decals began appearing a year ago.

And now every time I go out in public, I see masks discarded on the ground, on the floor in restaurants and stores, and even left behind in grocery carts.

God's creation formed exquisite arches overhead.

That's impossibly gross. Disposable masks are now presenting a significant environmental hazard to what people like to unctuously call the planet. 

It is estimated that more than one point five billion masks found their way into the world's oceans in 2020. That which is supposed to keep us from dying -- ever! of anything! -- is polluting the seas, causing the demise of marine life. 

They built a wall.

That's what you call ironic. The woke crowd like to bandy about words like responsible and sustainable. How is that remotely responsible or sustainable?

I don't mean to sound prissy or self-righteous but I have not contributed a single mask to the problem; cross my heart, hope to die. And when I throw something away, it's in a trash container. My parents taught me that.

Click to embiggen. You can save this for your desktop background if you want.

Those who can't take care of their own personal trash with their slobber all over it, and see that it's disposed of properly, should be ashamed of themselves because all the mask wearing in the world does not make it okay to be a nasty cretin.

In further developments that I find almost difficult to believe, Krispy Kreme is advertising a Sweet Initiative whereby anyone who can present proof that they have received the covid jab, gets a free donut.

Every day that remains in this calendar year.

Their flags are faded but still beautiful.

Now y'all, I am no mathematician but the days remaining in 2021 since the KK program began, are approximately two hundred seventy-five.

I ask you: Do you intend to consume nearly three hundred donuts before New Year's Eve 2021?

Click to embiggen. It was a runaway gorgeous day.

Because if you do, you need your noggin examined.

Oh, -- you may be thinking -- no one will go every day and get a free donut.

Tiered fountains were an oft-repeated theme.

Oh yes they will. Oh. Yes. They. Will. Are you kidding me right now? LOTS of someones will. Potentially millions will, and don't kid yourself that Krispy Kreme has not cynically totted up how many extra sales of donuts and overpriced drinks that will amount to.

Some will go to more than one Krispy Kreme per day and flash their vaccination creds and get more than one donut every twenty-four hours, potentially eating over five hundred donuts this year.

Click to embiggen. And if you like it, you may copy and use it for a desktop background.

Am I missing something? Besides a mask and the vaccine, I mean? Because after chronological age (which no one can do anything about), obesity is one of the top three risk factors for coronavirus.

So tell me: How does eating over two hundred donuts in a year do anything good for anyone's health, vaccinated, all masked up, or not? I'll wait.

Sit there and look cute, I said.

Not to virtue signal -- this is just the truth so don't be hatin' -- but in a banner year I may eat six donuts. However, I cannot recall the last time I ate half a dozen donuts in a year's time. I wish I could remember having done that.

The last time I had a donut (in fact I ate two because I truly love donuts) was on the day Dagny started first grade last August. I met Audrey and the wee bairn rascal after school at Krispy Kreme in West Columbia, for a celebratory snack.

She had started first grade that morning.

People, this country has become unmoored from reality. Do us a favor and use the intelligence God gave you and THINK for thirty seconds (or more, if you can stand it) about the madness of many of the foolish practices and points of view we have been all but forced to swallow and accept as fact.

Back to our time at Glencairn Garden. There was a darling life-sized bronze sculpture of three children joyously playing. Dagny joined in their forever fun.

The players.

We had warmed up by then; the sun was enthusiastic and after a time spent behind some scudding clouds, finally came out to stay.

We'd been walking and breathing fresh cool air for about an hour and a half when Dagny began wondering aloud when we were going to get something to eat.

Stairway to nowhere in particular except more beauty.

She'd worked up an appetite prancing and playing and posing.

The girls consulted their phones to see what was good and nearby. 

Tortuga! The little fellers jockeyed for position on the warmest rocks.

Meanwhile we happened upon multiple turtles sunning themselves on rocks at the edge of a pond resplendent with lily pads.

Back in Erica's toasty car, we navigated to our chosen lunch venue and enjoyed a delicious meal.

If you are ever in Rock Hill, don't miss Fountain Park.

Afterwards we wanted to tour Rock Hill's historic main street, so we tooled over in that direction, parked on the street, and began walking towards sunlight we saw up ahead, where the business district ended and gave way to more open spaces.

We were on the shadow side -- it was latish afternoon by then -- and the wind had kicked up even more, and added an icy note to its protracted and vigorous performance.

She has an enormous capacity to have a good time just hanging out with her peeps.

We soldiered on and came to Fountain Park, which is relatively new, having been built in 2014.

Speaking of performance, the fountain is spectacular and we enjoyed it for as long as we could before the ambient temperature drove us away. You should watch the live stream fountain cam for a few minutes, especially if you're stressed out.

Dagny was entranced by the slushy machines.

We walked back towards our vehicle on the sunny side of the street, and decided that it was time to go home before we froze in our places right there on the sidewalk.

En route to home we stopped at a QT and got snacks. No; not donuts. But I plead guilty to munching on a few Swedish Fish.

Bunnies and ceramic treats, plus cards from beloved friends.

Dagny got a slushy (she had cleaned her plate at lunch) and, overcome with joy at that development, proclaimed our Rock Hill adventure the best day ever!

I guess you know that I pretty much crashed when I got home. I had planned supper and it was already nearly cooked, but I wasn't hungry and would not eat again, and TG had made plans to do something with Chad.

Audrey and Dagny had brought Peter Rabbit Easter napkins.

Erica had planned her supper ahead of time too, and when Chad and TG got back to her house, she fed them both. I had the night off.

We ate our Thursday supper on Friday, as leftovers, but that was ideal because by then I was deeply into shopping and preparations for Easter dinner.

A blue-eyed flower-bedecked bunny in the two-tiered tray.

We would only be four at the table -- TG and me, plus Audrey and Dagny -- since Cherica were having Easter lunch with his parents. 

But I made a lot because we planned to have leftovers after Sunday night church, at their house.

I found this bookish angel bunny twenty years ago at the dollar store.

I got up early on Sunday to put the ham into the oven and get ready for church.

After church we girls posed and Dagny took our picture. She loves to take pictures of us and is very good about NOT cutting off our feet and putting fifteen hundred feet of empty sky above our heads, so that we look like we are falling out of the photo.

Audrey and Dagny's Rice Krispie Treat nests.

She carefully holds the phone and walks forward if necessary, and lines us up where we ought to be, and gets it right. Six-year-olds are capable of more than we may realize.

For lunch we had a large ham plus Pineapple Casserole, Slow Cooker Baked Potato Casserole, and Crock Pot Creamed Corn. My crock pot creamed corn recipe is slightly different from the one I linked to because in addition to the stated ingredients, it calls for a splash of milk. But it's all good. Very very good.

There was not a green vegetable in sight.

Also I leave out the sugar. Trust me: It is sweet enough without the sugar.

Audrey brought Hawaiian rolls and made Rice Krispie Treat nests for our dessert.

Dagny was ravenous and once again cleaned her plate.

After the kitchen was cleaned and everything put away and leftovers readied to take to Cherica's, it was nearly time to head out again.

I admit I was so tired by the time we got to our second Easter party of the day, I was yawning and longing for my bed.

Easter: Thanks be unto God for his unspeakable gift.

But we snacked and enjoyed one another's company and the memories are made, and we survived.

And now it's truly warm outside, and likely going to get warmer.

Thumbs up for all things Easter and all things spring.

Which is a blessing from God above. I'm fixing to take a walk before getting ready for prayer meeting.

I will wish you were beside me as I get some exercise in the sunshine.

And that is all for now.

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But covet earnestly the best gifts: and yet shew I unto you a more excellent way.

I Corinthians 12:31

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Happy Wednesday