It's Party Time.......almost!

Sorry to continue to bore you with the details....but the party prep is in full swing now and I haven't had a lot of time to think of anything else. I have been shopping for supplies and working like a maniac any free moment I get.

The boxes have come, so I have all the fun stuff for the kids. Sadly my pinatas were slightly, or drastically, smaller then I had hoped. Luckily they are still adorable! I am concerned that Cuyler seems to be highly entertained by the thought of hanging them from a tree and going through the motions, just so he can laugh about it??

I'm thrilled with the oilcloth that came in for the tables and already painted my jars. It was super easy to do and I'm thinking I might fill them with Magnolia Leaves and Honeysuckle from the yard. They will be the cheapest flower arrangements I have ever had! Plus, the fabric has enough color that I think flowers would be too much.

Tuesday I went to Ikea and grabbed a few yards of fabric to recover the chair cushions on the screen porch. They turned out pretty good and the print goes great with all the other Ikea funky florals I used on the wicker and pillows. They have bright, durable, and affordable fabrics, perfect for outdoor furniture!

So, I'm baking a few dozen Mexican Wedding Cookies tonight and finishing up the paper flowers. Tomorrow will be lots of cooking and cleaning, sigh, but totally worth it! After all of the devastation in the last few days in this part of the country, it will be extra special to be with great friends!!!

I'm saving a jar of hot sauce to give away next week, so stay tuned....

Mark Lazenby

Generation Me

Our Village 1890 and 2008

Cherish Every Moment

A Brief History of Eternity

Climate Change

Mid-Life Crisis

Cheese Fantasies

Traffic Stress

Goodnight Brain

Together Apart

Heart Plea

New Horizons

Perils of the Easier Path

Adoption

Anxiety

first spotted on: where the lovely things are

My obsession with collage continues!

I think that these images are incredibly clever and thought provoking! I wish I was capable of doing stuff like this! I imagine it would be extremely satisfying to be able to so clearly illustrate your thoughts and opinions. It seems highly therapeutic and fulfilling, like great writing or innovative design! For now I will just continue to admire, but maybe one day.......

All Images: Mark Lazenby

She Is My Sunshine!

You are my sunshine
My only sunshine
You make me happy
When skies are gray
You'll never know dear
How much I love you
Please don't take
My Sunshine
Away

I know it sounds crazy......but the sun follows my little girl around.

Carson is going through a little Mommy phase right now and I feel like we are closer then ever! She loves me the most and thinks I'm the best! She doesn't want to do anything without me, and has started to come up with adorable and clever ways to postpone the separation and lure me back.

Until now she has been fiercely independent! Suddenly, she is resisting any time apart, pleading for me to take a tub with her and sleep in her tiny little bed, and protesting the whole way to school. While this may be slightly inconvenient, I have to admit that it is actually pretty awesome!

She is just the happiest, sweetest, smartest, funniest most amazing little girl! She is my favorite! And has been since the second she was born!

And for now...... I am her favorite too. What in the world that could be better then that?

Looking ahead.......... a few short years from now, when she wants nothing to do with me, I will be desperate for this phase. I am trying to cherish each and every hug, kiss, and I love you momma.

Homemade Hot Sauce

The party prep continues........

Today the big task was getting the party favors put together. We decided we wanted to send people home from the party with my dad's Famous Hot Sauce. It is absolutely delicious and a highly valued commodity among our friends and family!

This is the first time for me to make it, so I was a little nervous, but dad gave me a pep talk this A.M. and walked me through the recipe again. Sadly, I can not share the recipe with you as it is truly a family secret and prized possession. I did want to share some pictures of the beautiful ingredients and some shots of the jars.....opinions?

I still have to add the label and figure out exactly what I want to do for that.......but, the hard part is over. I found some pretty quilted Ball Jars and used some old fabric and straw tied at the top to finish it. I of course had to do a taste test and while it's certainly not as good as the real thing, it's pretty good. Luckily, my guests won't know the difference.

I'm leaving the rest of the cooking until later in the week, so next up will be decorations. I found beautiful saturated colors of tissue paper.....now I will need to get busy making zillions of paper poufs to string and hang from the trees.