April Shower

Last Saturday, I had the pleasure of attending a baby shower for the daughter of my friend Becky. Erin and Larry will welcome their new baby in early May. Erin is also the cousin of my daughter-in-law, Darci. The shower was hosted by 'the aunts' of Erin, who function like a well-oiled machine in the party planning department.

Balloons on the mailbox greeted the guests as we arrived.

Little Clara showed off her pretty polished nails, thanks to Aunt Betsy.

Ella checked out the dollhouse in the basement.

For the shower, they used Noah's Ark decorations, which featured many of the animals Erin is using in the jungle-themed nursery. Leslie made this adorable ark out of a watermelon for the fruit salad.

It was complete with animals peeking out of the windows, hanging over the edge, and lined up around the bottom. So cute.

For dessert, Darci made awesome animal cookies.

And they taste as good as they look!

When it was time to open presents, Erin's cousin Molly was ready to record each gift and giver.

Becky thanked everyone for coming, and especially for praying for this precious baby. God is good.

Let the opening begin!

A cute stuffed giraffe.

An elephant storybook.

Erin's two sisters, who will be first-time aunts when the baby is born, were discussing names for themselves. One decided to be 'Auntie', so the other thought she should be 'Aunt', pronounced 'Ahnt', in the most formal fashion. :)

The most unique gift Erin received was new to me:  a Lawn Countertop Drying Rack. At first I thought it was some sort of golf putting green. It is a mat made of plastic grass to stick bottles, baby spoons, etc., into while they dry. There are even accessories, like 'Twig' and 'Stem.' Everyone needs a little lawn beside the sink!

Mama Erin posing with her mom and sisters.

And showing off that cute little tummy.

The little girls were having some cousin lovin' after the presents were done.

A squeeze from Aunt Betsy. (Or is it 'Ahnt Betsy'?)

It was a great day celebrating the baby-to-be, surrounded by lots of love, and lots of giggles.
We pray God's blessing on Erin and Larry and their new little one.

Havin' Fun With the Hodgepodge

It's Wednesday again, and after a week off for a Hodgepodge 'spring break', Joyce is back with another interesting set of questions for us. It's always fun to think up our answers and then get together to see what everyone else has to say. Just click on the button below to see what fun we have over at the Hodgepodge.

Let the fun begin!
1. Share one fun thing you did last week, while the Hodgepodge was on 'spring break'.
I had a 'regular' week, Book Club on Monday, where I get to be with my awesome 'senior' ladies, MOPS on Tuesday, where I get to teach the preschool Moppets and hang out with the cool young moms, and Wednesday morning with the granddaughters (plus a grand-niece this week). Fun stuff.

Also fun, on Thursday, I attempted to make a pouf ottoman for my daughter (for the new baby's room). I used an old pouf for my pattern, and my plan was to recover it. I decided instead, that it was easier to just fill the new one rather than try to stuff the old one into it. I had ordered a bag of 'beans' to use for the stuffing. Have you ever tried to stuff a pouf with foam beads?

It's a little tricky. I posted these photos on Facebook, so you might have already seen them. 
Beans. Were. Everywhere.

In the end, I was successful, and the beans were on the inside, where they belong. Whew!

2.  April 10th is National Sibling Day...do you have siblings, and if so are you close? Share a favorite story featuring one or all of your siblings. If you don't have siblings, did you ever wish you did?

Well, it seems like there is a day for everything. Yes, I have siblings, two younger brothers. We are close, and are blessed to live close enough to see each other fairly often. I know I can count on them if ever I need a hand, and I think they know they can expect the same from me.

Don't you love my mom's hair in this picture?

As the first born, and only girl, I was pretty much a perfect child. I was cooperative and well-behaved, and liked to always be the do my best. I felt it was my obligation to boss around be an example to my brothers. :)

The photo below, taken on a vacation in Florida, pretty much illustrates our personalities. (Great shoes for the beach, boys.) Lol.

This photo was taken as a surprise for my parents' 20th anniversary. The year was 1977.

3. Is it important to you to 'buy American'? Why or why not? How much of an effort do you make to 'buy American'? If you're not American, insert your own country in the blank. 
There are lots of good reasons to buy American. I try to do so, if given the choice. 

4. Besides The Bible, what book has impacted your spirituality in some way?
Most recently, One Thousand Gifts, by Ann Voskamp. Such beautiful words. A guide to giving thanks to God for every gift, every day. 
"Eucharisteo always precedes the miracle." -Ann Voskamp

5. April showers bring May flowers or so the saying goes.  Do you find rainy days calming or depressing?  When were you last caught in a rainstorm? What's blooming in your neck of the woods today?

I love rainy days if I'm inside, with nowhere to go, and nothing to do but a nap. I don't enjoy rain when it interferes with outdoor plans or I have errands to run in the midst of a downpour.

The last time I remember being caught in a downpour was last fall at the Purdue homecoming game. It was WET!

As for what's blooming in our neck of the woods? These are blooming in our yard,

and I found this beautiful tree across from the post office in town.

6. What's your favorite yellow food?
Banana cream pie, of course.

7. April is National Poetry Month...what's a poem that holds special meaning for you, and why is it special?

Little Orphant Annie, by James Whitcomb Riley. My mom and my grandma used to recite it to me by heart.

Little Orphant Annie's come to our house to stay,
An' wash the cups an' saucers up, an' brush the crumbs away,
An' shoo the chickens off the porch, an' dust the hearth, an' sweep,
An' make the fire, an' bake the bread, an' earn her board-an'-keep;
An' all us other childern, when the supper-things is done,
We set around the kitchen fire an' has the mostest fun
A-list'nin' to the witch-tales 'at Annie tells about,
An' the Gobble-uns 'at gits you
Ef you
Don't
Watch
Out!

8.  Insert your own random thought here.
I have Siri on my iPhone, and while I find her helpful when I want to make a call, or hear or send a text while driving, I sometimes find her a bit frustrating when she doesn't understand what I'm asking.

It can be fun to give her commands now and then, like "Tell me a joke" or "Sing me a song." If you are persistent in asking for a song, she will eventually come up with this:

One of my favorites, and very appropriate for a smart little electronic voice that lives in my phone.

Huntin' for Spring

It has been a looooonnnggg winter here in the midwest, and we are finally beginning to see glimpses of the long awaited spring. I love living in a place where we have the opportunity to enjoy all four seasons, but I do believe the coming of spring is the transition I welcome the most.

In honor of the sunshine yesterday, Matthew and I decided to try our first geocache of the year.  We found a brand new cache on my iPhone app, that had just been hidden a couple of weeks ago. He grabbed my phone, and we were on our way.

The cache was in the cemetery in town, and after driving around a bit, we got close enough to continue on foot.

Matthew had to shade the phone from the bright sun in order to see the compass guiding us to the spot. We were ever so grateful for that sunshine! He also explained to me how the latitude and longitude coordinates of our location change as we move closer, to match the coordinates of the geocache. Since I didn't have my glasses, I took his word for it. :)

It took a bit of searching, and after consulting the hint, Matthew spotted it in a tree hole.

He opened the lid,

and took out the log,

which we signed with the date and our initials. Later, I logged our find on the official Geocaching hunt site.

Back at our house, we discovered a pretty little sign of spring right there in the yard.

She turned to the sunlight

And shook her yellow head,

And whispered to her neighbor:

"Winter is dead."

-A.A. Milne, When We Were Very Young

It's a Night Fever Five Question Friday

I am linking up with Mama M. today for Five Question Friday. I have followed her blog for a little while, and this is the first time I have gotten a chance to join the fun. And, as she says, that's the most important part! If you look at the complete name of her blog, it is 'Five Kids, Five Crooked Halos...'
You can see why I like her!


So here we go with the questions:

1. Would you go to your high school reunion?
I have been to every high school reunion since I graduated. (We have them every 5 years.) It helps when you still live in the town where you went to high school. We have one coming up this year, in fact, scheduled for the fall. I enjoy them, and even more so since I have gotten older. Ahem.
Here is a photo from our last reunion. Still rockin' after 30 years. Wait, did I say 30? That can't be right....

Yes, disco was king, and we were 'Stayin' Alive.'

2. What's something that you've recently splurged on; either for yourself or someone else?
Buying a ticket for this guy (the baby of the family) to take a second spring break and join the rest of the family in Grand Cayman. Worth every penny!

3. How do you handle your child's fever?
Well, since my youngest child is 22 (see him above), it has been a while since I have had to handle a fever. I do remember that I could most accurately determine if one of our kids had a fever by touching his or her stomach. No foreheads for this family. Then it was dose 'em up with Tylenol and stay close until the fever broke. Thankfully, our kids didn't get sick too often. Of course, there was the chicken pox episode, when 4 kids AND hubby got it in the same round. Fun times.

4. What's the nicest thing to happen to you lately?
Finding out that these two will be welcoming our fourth grandchild in early September. God is good.

5. What is your current favorite song?
This was a little hard for me, and it made me realize that I'm not listening to much 'current' music. It also made me think of last summer, and the song that was the favorite lake song, on the dock, and on the boat, with big kids and little kids alike.
Can you guess what it was?

Of course you can. And we had a lot of fun with 'Call Me Maybe.' In fact, pretty much the whole world did. (And I will confess to actually liking the catchiness of the tune.)

The one I decided on for my current favorite is Chris Tomlin's Our God. Not a new song, but oh so powerful. And He is. Greater. Healer. Awesome in power. Our God. You can hear it below.



Have a great Friday!

Baskets, Bones, and Bunnies

My blogger friend, Joyce, is taking a Hodgepodge spring break this week, so there is no 'official' Hodgepodge post this Wednesday. Since I have a few phone photos to share, I thought I would do a quick wrap-up of the last few days, including our Easter weekend.

Darci shared this photo with me from the 'Journey to Jerusalem' egg hunt they had at church on Saturday. Notice the magnifying glass in Haleigh's hand. Always necessary when you are hunting for something.

Speaking of egg hunts, I thought I would throw in a few vintage photos. Here is Jennifer, age 3 1/2, hunting eggs at Nana's house.

Jonathan, 1995, with a basket full of eggs.

David and Adam. The year of the broken arms. David's was broken during an intense game of driveway basketball. It required a trip to the ER, followed by late-night surgery in Cincinnati.

Adam's was broken three days later, when he jumped/fell/was pushed off the footstool. Boys. 

Reminds me of one of my favorite wise sayings of Jim's Uncle Gilman: "One boy's a boy, two boys are half a boy, and three boys are no boy at all." So true. :)

Here are some of the cousins that same year. And Caroline (front center) had just gotten the cast off of her arm. Broken the same week. Also at our house. (She fell/jumped off the swing set). And yes, I worried that I would be turned in to child protective services.

Here they are, with their broken arms. David, Adam, and Caroline.

And this year. Grown up kids (and mom) having fun with the Easter bunny.

Two cuties in their Easter dresses.

And yes, I ate a few too many of these. Favorite.

On Sunday evening, my friend Ann and her family came for a visit. Ann and I have been friends forever, and spent many years dancing side by side, as you can see in this photo. We don't get to see each other very often, and it is always fun to get together.

She and her husband have three girls, and the two younger ones came along for the visit. (Megan is away at college). Tess showed me the bunny cookies they brought. So cute and yummy. (Tess is pretty cute too, and entertained us with her dancing.)

Lizzie made friends with Gumbo, and they spent time snuggling together. I was a little worried that she might try to take Gumbo home in her pocket. Everybody loves Gumbo.

Darci sent me this picture of two cuties wearing their bunny glasses. Funny bunnies.

And today, I got to spend my morning with these three precious little girls. My great-niece and two granddaughters.

And we were singing a happy song!