A Memorable Shower

 Sunday was the wedding shower.  Maddy and Matthew showed up early afternoon as Robb and I put the finishing touches on the party room.  We had about 30-35 people in the room and it was cozy but still space to move around.  I had been worried and reserved another venue in town just in case, but cancelled it when the rsvp's rolled in.  Apparently a lot of people leave town for Memorial day!

Leon was a total ham and needed a nap, but oh well.

The happy couple looked adorable and enjoyed the treats and gifts.

 "I have found the one whom my soul loves." Solomon 3:4

They visited with my mom for a bit and I'm so glad they took time to do that, as she won't be able to go to the wedding.

Meri and I co-hosted.  She did the games and I did the video.

. 
I got a couple pics of Meri with Jen, Ryan's lady friend.

and Bethany, one of her fave cousins.  Bethy stayed here for a couple days afterwards.

After all the festivities, we went out for supper with his family before they had to leave town, then went home to relax.  

Leon was having none of the relaxing bit tho.  We DID get him to calm down for a pic but it seemed forced... and besides, this one shows Leon's personality. Total chaosity.

We spent Memorial Day watching Meri's band perform during a brief parade 

and then at the cemetery.  

And spent the afternoon at home.  

Most of us played a rousing game of Ticket to Ride.  GREAT game!  Robb grilled in, since we were out of propane for the grill, and the kids played the game again while I hemmed Matthew's wedding slacks.  Then those two lovebirds had to head north again. They're signing a lease for an apartment today to move into in a few short weeks!  Yikes!  Time is flying!!!!

TEN MORE DAYS...

SEWing machine handy

In the last couple days, I hemmed a dress for a friend that had done Meri's prom make up and yesterday I finally got time to work on the wedding shower invites for an upcoming shower for Maddy and Matthew.  Whew!  I hit on an idea and went with it.  

Unfortunately the ribbon and card stock weren't sticking together too good with glue, so I improvised...  

Sew it?  Okey dokey...  Everything else has been about the sewing machine this spring!  

I DID cut them all wrong last night but they fit inside the envelope with room to spare...

They turned out so cute and the middle part almost looks like leather.  Little do you realize that the back side of the center piece has the leftover wedding invitations that we'd accidentally printed too many of!  

Well, NOW you know...  I've got one fifth of the invites done last night and will work more on it tonight.  I want to get them in the mail by this weekend.

Oh and guess what?  The dryer decided to not heat anymore...  Wouldn't you just KNOW it?!  It now takes approximately 3 hours for a batch to dry.  I've ordered an $8 part that should do the trick.  This happened on my last dryer too and I was able to fix it.  Hopefully I'll still have the luck for this one.

If only I could fix the dryer using the sewing machine...

Valentine Showers

Happy Valentine's Day!  I hope you have a sweetheart to share it with.  I think my valentine is taking me to John Wick 2 tonight...  Actually I don't know where we'd find time to go to a movie on a weeknight.  And that movie is probably not the most romantic.  I've got the first John Wick recorded on our dvr and wowza...  if you want a wicked revenge movie, I guess that's it.  

Remind me what to do if someone steals my car and kills my dog...  Kill 50+ people and destroy every business you enter?  That doesn't sound right...

Back to the weekend!  On Saturday night, I was too tired to run Maddy back to the dorm so I sent her in my car.  She got pulled over immediately after leaving the hotel parking lot for not turning the lights on yet...  oops!  On her car, they flick on right away, not so in my ancient beast! The policeman was also suspicious of why she had a minivan loaded down with strewn blankets, pillows and snacks, snack wrappings, half drunk drink containers...  It was a mess...  It always is when we travel somewhere.  Seriously... who would be stealing a minivan like that?!  

She told him that her parents weren't the most organized....  *thanks*

So eventually he believed her story when her driver's license address matched the registration and he told her to turn the headlights on and get back to campus.  Whew!

Meri's jazz band performance was Saturday and the school bus broke down on the way back to the school.  Meri was planning on heading to Minnesota as soon as she got back.  Thanks to a kind parent who was picking up their kid from the side of the road, Meri got to get a ride to her car instead of waiting for the replacement bus.  However it threw her way behind schedule and she didn't roll into campus until after 1am.  Maddy was waiting up for her.  They came to pick us up for church Sunday morning.  

After an awesome potluck at the church, we headed next door and Meri set up for the second wedding shower of the weekend.  We decorated cookies, 

made Sherbet/Sprite punch, 

ate Maddy's favorite foods of granola bars and cheese sticks, and played lots of games that Meri had found on Pinterest.  So much fun!  Maddy got more items to tuck into Matthew's bedroom/storage for their future together.

 Leon had a blast with Matthew's dad downstairs.  Sorry Matthew!  Your Legos were played with extensively!!  BUT I did NOT let the boy take cookies downstairs.  Who wants to play Legos with month old crumbs mixed in?  I didn't think you did.  

Leon popped a few balloons on their living room ceiling...

 All the single (so far) ladies with their ring pops!

And the McVal sisters...  So much love with those two!

I decided I didn't like my dress that I made after all, so I won't show you that dress pic.  Next time I make something for myself, I am SO taking a pic of myself in it before wearing it somewhere...  

and then wearing something else.

After the shower, we hit the road to find the friend's house where the reception will be.  We got lost...  I had taken a wrong turn and ended up turning a few miles too soon.  I didn't have my gps with me and was going from memory of what Google Earth had told me.  

Note to self, WRITE THINGS DOWN!  or REMEMBER TO BRING THE GPS!  

We had been told the GPS takes you to the wrong address, but after we discovered we weren't anywhere near the place, Meri looked it up on her cell phone.  It took us RIGHT to it!  

I guess SOME GPSs work for this farm!

good!

We walked all around and the family showed us their fantastic house.  If it rains or is buggy, our wedding guests can all fit inside their house.  Seriously... It's that big... and beautiful!

Well, this is the barn.  Not their house.  I didn't get a chance to see where the dance will be, in the upstairs of the barn, but I trust the kid's opinions, so it will be great.

Thanks to a very warm February, the spring thaw had set in.  Leon ran all around chasing cats and lost a shoe in the mud, then ran with one shoe on and a socking foot through the mud.  And that's when we got a tour of the house.  Yeah... I'll carry the boy...  Or take off his socks and shoes.  That kid begged a banana off them!  

I can't take him anywhere...  And we'll be lucky to leave the wedding reception without a kitten...  They'll have a batch ready to go to new homes by then.  *yay*

But now that we have a visual of the farm, I have a better idea of how to organize things for the reception.  Yay!  It's going to be fun!

Because of getting lost, I was almost out of gas.  The family gave me directions to the closest gas station and we set off with a wing and prayer.  I have NEVER seen the gas gauge THAT far past empty before.  wow...  Rolled into the town on fumes and prayers answered.

Then headed back to drop off kids and then head home.  Meri stayed a little longer before she left.

We broke the punch bowl into a million pieces when I opened the hatch for some of their things...  REALLY?  Oh well, it was a garage sale find years ago.  The last time I used it was probably 20 years ago.  Meri was the most sad about it breaking.

I was exhausted.  We all were.  FINALLY got home around 8:30 and was ready for bed.

So now it's Valentine's Day and I'm not as tired anymore.  

Planning a nice evening with my sweetheart.

I hope you do too!

Showered much this weekend

 On Saturday, my MIL, Leon and myself headed to Minnesota for a wedding shower for Maddy.  And believe it or not, we only made one stop!  

So we made it there at 8 am and the shower wasn't until 10...

I finally got a hold of Maddy as we just passed college town and she said, COME HERE!!  So we turned around.  I guess we would have just driven around, sat in the car, watched the ladies set up for the party, get in the way, whatever...  But we went to the dorm for a while instead, then drove up together.  Matthew is student teaching over 7 hours away, so he wasn't able to attend.

Despite that, the party was great!  

Church ladies REALLY know how to shower a young bride with food and gifts!  

SO many types of sweet breads!!  Yummm...  And delicious coffees!

Leon had a blast playing with Matthew's Legos & blocks that Matthew's dad had brought over from their house next door.  AND he enjoyed playing Bingo.  

Which was one of the games played during the party.  Everyone got a bingo paper and you had to fill in each square with a gift that Maddy could potentially receive.  Then as she unwrapped the gifts, you marked them off.  If you got a Bingo, then you yelled it out and Leon would give her another special hostess gift, which Maddy had him help unwrap.  He really got into the yelling BINGO part and several little ladies asked him over to yell for them.

There were so many gifts that it took Maddy two hours to open them in front of everyone.  That's one every minute or so...  You do the math.  It will also take 4 kitchens to house all the items... :)  I hope they live in a big house!  Or at the very least, have deep drawers for all their utensils!!! 

I started to worry about where we would store all these gifts until after the wedding, but Matthew's mom had room in Matthew's bedroom/storage.  Whew!  Thank goodness for dorms!!

Afterwards, we went out for a late lunch with his family, Maddy, bridesmaid Tessa, Leon, my MIL and my nieces that lived nearby.  It was great to see them and hear about Sarah's wedding plans for the week after Maddy's.  June is THE month to get married in!

We were exhausted after that, so we got my MIL checked in at the hotel to rest, dropped off Tessa at the college so she could do her homework.  Then let Leon nap on our way to the big city that had a JoAnn fabric so we could make use of our 50% off coupons.  Nothing like fabric shopping to wake you up and get you in a creative mood!

Maddy and I picked out the fabric for the wedding dress.  Well, really just the bodice so far.  We're going to do one more sample bodice which MAY be the final bodice.  One of the sample ones that I brought fit her perfectly and she loves it, so we're on the right track!!! WOOHOO!!!  With one tweak.

One of the sample dresses pretty much scarred her for life with a pin that got left in, so we're definitely obligated now to use this design...  Yeow... I hope it heals up well before the wedding!  There is a hefty scratch on the back of her shoulder now.

While at JoAnn's, we found the perfect lace and Leon found some Shopkins...  REally??  I spoil that kid...  But in a good way.  I do say no to him, but just wasn't feeling it on Saturday.  My neck and back were out most of the weekend and I was living off Acetaminophen and caffeine.  

Caffeine... take me away...

My office chair is the only one that can crack my back just right, except for my neck.  So I'm better today.

Got a pizza to take back to the hotel, then since Maddy & Matthew had gotten SO many things off their gift registry, I helped Maddy fill it back up.  These kids won't know what they need until they find their first home, but it's always great to be prepared and give the guests ideas for gifts.

And as I'm sure you've heard me say before...  I would renew our wedding vows JUST for the towels.  You can never have too many!

Because... SHOWERS...

Band/Bond Girl

Got to attend one of Meri's concerts last night!  

It consisted of concert band, vocal groups and jazz band.  Meri is involved in ALL of them, except the boy's Bass choir group, because that would just be weird.

Leon wasn't able to attend but that's ok.  It was a long one and he wouldn't sit still for that long without yelling to Meri to sing faster.

and one of their peppiest jazz pieces because it'll take more than caffeine to keep me going today!
and I know some of you guys appreciate a little jazz.

I've got two wedding showers to attend this weekend for Maddy.  It's going to be fun!  The first one is being thrown by church people, so it will be big.  The second will be for her close college friends and that will be smaller.  Meri, as MOH, is throwing that one.  There are about 5 bags of supplies on the dining room table for that one.  Who knew you needed that much stuff for a shower??

I've got two gifts ready to roll and hopefully I can show you on Monday.  I'm really pleased with one of them especially!

It's been a long day already... After waking up at 4am and not really getting much sleep after that, I finally got a call from my boss and had to go into work early.  

Crisis Galore this week.  

If I was a Bond girl, that would SO be my name...  I hope these crisis are done because if they last throughout the weekend I might take back some things I told my boss..  

Things have calmed down a bit since then, but yikes.  I may go to bed at 7:30pm...  Would that be bad?  Probably not if you know what I've got planned for tomorrow!  And I'll tell you that next week.

Have a wonderful weekend!

Getting our baby fixes

Saturday morning.  The girls and I went garage sailing and found several treasures.  We got home in time to get Maddy packed up and a quick visit before she headed back to Minnesota for a grad party.  

At the same time as she headed out, so did Meri and I.  Meri hadn't been planning on going, but decided family was better than a grad party where she hardly knew the kid and was only going for the food...  With 30 seconds to decide, we left Robb at home and headed east to go to a baby shower of my niece-in-law.  If Maddy was not leaving until Sunday, we would have skipped it to spend with her.  But as it happens we were able to go after all.

Several sunflower seeds later, we arrived at my dad's to give him a hug and kiss, then got to the restaurant JUST in time to order our dinner.  Had lots of fun catching up with my family, including nieces and the grand nieces. 

Norah is SUCH a hoot!  And she knows it.

My sister, Melanie, and Annika.

 Bunny got so many nice things for their first baby!  They're avid bicyclists and adventuresome types.

 

My mom, an inlaw and Norah.

 Everyone got their baby fix...  Even Meri and she hadn't realized she was broken!

Everything wrapped up around 7:30 and we headed back home.  Meri drove for part of it and we got home around 10:30 or so.  YAWN.

Movie Madness on a Thursday

Got the shower video done yesterday but may be adding a couple more photos of family if I get them before Sunday.

Was trying to upload the video on this post, but yikes!  An hour later and I think it's just hung up...  I've cancelled twice now.

Oh well.  There is a video.  I can't upload it to Youtube or FB because they won't like the music I put on it and might cancel my account.  It made the mother of the groom cry so far.  I sent it to the moms to proof it last night.  I MAY have the wrong twin in a few pictures.

Meri rescued 3 baby bunnies from our dogs last night.  They sit in a box next to me this morning and I swore to her that I'd attempt to feed them every two hours.  Only one is eating anything that I try to feed it in an eye dropper.  The others either aren't hungry or don't like what I'm serving.

We'll see how this plays out.

Back to work.  Sorry no video!

Love is in the air!

Getting a slideshow together for these two love birds!  Myself and a few others are throwing my beautiful niece a bridal shower this weekend.  

I've scavenged through all my digital photos for her life growing up and so far it's 2-1 of his...  

I need to pare this down!

It's coming up WAY too fast...

A Shower, 6 Hours and a Car!

I attended a bridal shower for my nephews lovely fiance on Sunday!  Immediately after church we headed to my hometown where his sister hosted it.  Robb helped me pick out some fabric in their wedding colors so I could make a matching pair of pillowcases to give them and Bunny liked them!

Wonderful day out with the temps 15 degrees cooler than the previous day!  WHEW!

This is Sam, my nephew!  A very adventuresome kind of guy!  I've got a story to tell about him, but I'll save that for another day.

Naomi, my niece and Sam's sister, (below on the right) had found a lot of ideas off Pinterest for what to serve and decorate.  She did an awesome job! 

 

And I got to play with her little boy! 

My niece Brooke mooched as much of my Pineapple/lemonade off of me as possible and then licked my cupcake...  I never did get to eat that... :)  But it looked so pretty!  And so did she.

One of my other little nieces, Stevie, took a liking to Leon and insisted on holding him on her lap on the swing.  

My soon to be new niece got a lot of nice things.  Her name is Bunny.  It's not her given name, but a nickname given to her as a child that kind of stuck.  It suits her!  She can wiggle her nose so prettily.  In fact, I didn't even know her real name until I got the invitation to this party...  And I've known her for years...

Sam and Bunny live in Colorado but travel all over the world for work and pleasure.  They've been to so many beautiful places that I doubt they can pick just one place for a honeymoon.  I can't wait to hear where they've chosen to go! 

Got to see little Braedon!!  My nephew that got such an early start in life 9 months ago.  Leon is only 4 months old and is 3 lbs heavier than him already... Darn.  No more hand me downs from them!

Here is a game that Naomi had us do for the party and I won the prize for getting 6 right!  Click on it to see it bigger and be able to read it!  Unless of course you have super eye sight...

Anyway, it was a wonderful day out and Leon did great in the car for a total of 6 hours! 

On the way out of town, we took the scenic route and drove Tiffany past my old homestead as well as the park Robb and I were married in.  

And then we picked up some dinner from our old college pizza joint for the drive home and to take something home to the guys.  mmmmm!

Another road trip in October to attend the wedding!!!

It's Raining Babies!

Sunday afternoon was the baby shower!! I told Maddy & Meri that they could either help me clean & prepare for the party at 4pm, or they could go to a fabric embellishment class that I wouldn't be able to go to.They chose the class! Go figure... I'll show you some of their projects later this week that they learned how to do that day.

So I worked solid from 1-4, taking a few minutes to change into some party clothes. Got all the food ready, with Robb's help. And forgot the little vegetable cups that he put together in the garage fridge, only remembering them after the party... Guess what "I" had for supper?! The veggie cups.

Here are a few of the treats that we served. BBQ smokies, BBQ chicken in wontons, Pinwheels from Sam's, fruit fruit fruit and punch made of Tiffany's favorite kool-aid, Black Cherry mixed half and half with Sprite. It was really good! The girls got back in time to goof off with the balloons that Ryan & his buddy helped blow up.

Will the REAL pregnant lady of honor please stand up?

Um yeah... The one on the right. Maddy had way too much fun with the balloons.

We put Ryan's friend to work hanging streamers around. He needs to go into interior design... But just with streamers.

Ryan and Tiffany got so many great things for taking care of baby! Only a couple duplicates, but so many diapers! Which of course little Leon will blow through his first week... I made a gift for Ryan called, "Daddy's Doody Kit". It wasn't in the living room this morning so I'll get a picture of it and show you later this week.

Since this was a "kind of" open house, but they never end up that way... I had as many people as I could write up a little bit of advice or a welcome note for the baby on some blue & green post-it notes. Then we made a picture for Tiff and Ryan to hang in the babies room. It turned out pretty sweet!We had SO many cupcakes left over, we were sending everyone home with parting gifts of them on paper plates.

Then I vegged out for the rest of the evening, enjoying the clean feel of the house.

I knew it wasn't going to last long...