Mark's 30th Birthday Celebration

Mark will turn 30 years old next week. I really wanted to do something special to celebrate but knew an all-out surprise birthday party was probably out of the question. It's just not very 'Mark'. So I thought maybe I could surprise him by taking him to a baseball game and having friends and family show up to enjoy it with him. Still a 'surprise' of sorts, but not so much attention focused on him (which he feels rather uncomfortable with). Anyway, it was quite the ordeal getting 23 tickets together in the same section for such a popular game (little did I know when I picked our date that it was a really popular series). It all worked out perfectly. Mark didn't have a CLUE ahead of time. I gave him the tickets on Father's Day as a Father's Day/birthday gift and let him think it was just the two of us going. It was a fun time to celebrate together and then we followed up with a brunch the next morning with primarily family who had spent the night. Happy Birthday, Mark!!

It was the hottest day of the year so far...and SO humid...but we had fun!

friends Natasha, Amanda, and Andrew sitting next to my parents

We also had 14 of Mark's family members...I didn't get great pictures of them all so I'll include this one of Mark's parents. I was so blessed that they came to celebrate with us during such a busy summer!

Extra special bonus for the night; the Royals WON!?!

Brunch Recipes!

I'm sorry to say I don't have photos to lure you into these recipes. I have tried four brunch/breakfast recipes in the past week that have all turned out really great! I'd recommend tucking these away for future use!

Poppy Seed Fruit Salad - This is really all about the 'dressing', a fresh citrus-y-sweet mix of limeade concentrate, honey and poppy seeds. The poppy seeds look pretty, and it would be great on any combination of fruit. I used fresh pineapple, white peaches, bananas, and strawberries. Here is the recipe.

Overnight Cinnamon Rolls - Seriously yummy rolls!! I've not had a lot of luck making cinnamon rolls in the past. These were delicious. And the 'overnight' part of them just makes sense, right? I liked waking up, setting them on the counter for a while and then just baking them! So much easier! I did make a recipe and a half of the icing to make sure they got good and covered. They were a hit! Here is the recipe with great details and photos.

Southwestern Egg Casserole - Definitely NOT low-calorie, this one has cottage cheese and one pound of cheese! But it was also an overnight recipe, which was a plus when we were having company. And it was really tasty. And I liked that it doesn't call for cooked sausage or bacon (which I usually love, but this made it quicker to throw together). Here's the recipe.

Blueberry Tea Scones - I was browsing recipes one night and started to get a serious craving for some sort of baked good. I started rummaging around for a recipe to try that would only require ingredients I had on hand. This one fit the bill and it only took one hour from the moment I started making a mess to the moment I was eating one! I honestly didn't have very high expectations because I've had very hit-or-miss luck with scones. But these are really good-very moist! I've decided I like making scones because it's a nice quick bread that doesn't require a muffin paper liner! Something I'm always out of, it seems. This recipe is from "The Cream of the Crop", a blueberry cookbook my mom just gave me last week.

2 c. all-purpose flour
1/2 c. sugar
2 t. baking powder
1/2 t. salt
5 1/2 T butter, chilled
1 c. fresh or frozen blueberries (I used frozen--didn't thaw, don't need to)
1 egg
1 egg yolk
1/3 to 1/2 c. milk
1 t. grated lemon rind (could omit easily but I happened to have some...)
1 egg white
sugar

Stir together flour, 1/2 c. sugar, baking powder and salt. Cut in butter with pastry cutter or 2 knives til mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Stir in blueberries. Blend egg, egg yolk (save the 1 egg white for later!), 1/3 c. milk and lemon rind. Add to flour mixture, stirring until flour is moistened. Add more milk to make a soft dough.
Turn dough onto lightly floured surface and knead gently for 30 seconds (so as not to squish blueberries too much). Roll or pat dough into one big circle, about 1/2 to 1 inch thick. Cut circle into 8 wedges and place each wedge on an ungreased cookie sheet. (the recipe actually called to cut the dough into lots of tiny circles, but I like nice big scone wedges!) Beat egg whites with a fork til frothy and brush evenly over unbaked scones. Sprinkle lighly with sugar. Bake in preheated 425 oven til golden, about 15 minutes. Allow to cool 5-10 minutes. They're great warm but can be reheated a few seconds in the microwave, too! Enjoy!

I also have a couple of crockpot recipes to share sometime soon...maybe I'll wait til I have a third one....

Baby "Lolo"

"Lolo" is what James calls baby Lauren. Our friends Andrea & Brian had their baby one month ago. Also unbelievable to me. Where did the time go? Andrea is the friend I co-hosted a shower for at the beginning of May. She and I have been friends since 9th grade, we've shared so many experiences and phases of life together, and it is REALLY exciting to have her enter motherhood just a year and a half after we had James. We're excited that our daughters will only be 4.5 months apart!

So Many Posts, So Little Time!

Mark working on a shelf for our new baby's nursery

I've got so many things I'd love to blog about. So much going on lately...I sure don't know what happened to the month of June. I can tell you that much. I've got a little extra time on my hands today, though, so I hope to update on a few things. All of my fun crafty decorative baby-girl-room-projects have come to a screeching halt lately, due to another minor flood in our basement. I say 'another' because this has happened two or three times before. This was the first time, however, since we had new carpet installed last winter. Sad situation, I know. So....Mark has taken it upon himself to install a sump pump to prevent future water seepage! We have a nice big hole in the concrete for it now, but he just needs to find the time to finish it. That's easier said than done considering that we have plans all but one weekend in the next month and a half! One thing is for certain: James LOVES having the basement 'torn up' with tools all around. You've never known a little boy that is SO passionate about a shop-vac. He calls it "shop-ack".

drilling holes with a borrowed hammer drill...talk about loud and messy!

James at 21 Months

I realized this past week that it has been a long, long time since I've committed an entire post to James! I decided it's because it has become so difficult to get a good photo of the squirmy little guy! But that's not a good reason to not try, right? So this past week, I attempted to catch a few moments here and there of what he has been up to.

Sipping on a fruit and yogurt smoothie...my smoothie, that is, after he had snarfed his down. He has requested a 'moo-vee' every time he's seen the blender since.

Eating pineapple on the front porch. James LOVES pineapple, requests it weekly whether or not we have it in the house, and pronounces is "pine-o".

Not sure what this mischievous grin was about. He was probably contemplating turning the opposite direction and 'running away' to our neighbor Tom's house. Tom gives him juice boxes so they are good friends. And yes, he's holding a fork in this picture.

James really was excited to see the firetruck at our church's groundbreaking party. He just happens to look dumbfounded here instead.

Contrary to what it looks like, Mark shared this cupcake with James. James only ate about a fourth of it but sure did love every bite, blue frosting and all.

James played in the park with Mark while I took a few informal engagement pictures for Mark's sister Jody and her fiance Chad. James really loves his Aunt Jojo and Chad.

A few other notable James updates: James has become so much more affectionate this past month. It has been so very sweet. He picks the most random moments to say, 'hug' and wraps his little arms around our necks. I'm so thankful. I really didn't think he'd ever sit still for hugs.

James has also been enjoying 'counting'. It goes like this: "un....too...un....too....un..." Eventually he'll learn to count higher than 'two'. If you build up to 'eight, nine....', he will excitedly shout, "TEN!" Funny little guy. This morning he saw some flowers in vases on our counter and said, "Fwower...un....too...un...too..." At least he understands one purpose of numbers. :)

I've found a local movie theater that shows G and PG movies for FREE during the summer. Tomorrow there's a Clifford movie at 10am and I'm considering giving it a whirl. I know he's reallllly young but if it's goes horribly I won't have spent any money at least!

James will turn 21 months on Saturday--we're thankful for our little buddy.

Ruby Slippers, Decor, and "Pinks and Cream" Quilt

I'd say the fabric pom-poms (previous post) won the vote by a landslide! Although I was initially more interested in the paper ones (maybe because I saw them first?), I've definitely reconsidered and plan to attempt the fabric ones for a few reasons. First, I think it's going to be easier to find fabric that matches the room decor than it would be to find crepe paper in the right shades. I also think the fluffier, less 'finished' look is really growing on me. And rolling up all those flowers for the paper type sounded pretty difficult. Anyway, it's a ways off, but I'll show the finished project whenever it gets done!! (Sidenote: I'm going to stick with paper lanterns as the base, only $1.10 for one, whereas the styrofoam balls are $18.99 a piece!?!?!)

Now on to another crafty endeavor....This is a little name sign I've been working on over the past few weeks. I probably invested about 6 hours in it (getting the stencil the right size took the longest amount of time.) Mark cut the blocks out of scraps we had in the garage, I painted the blocks 'cream', made stencils out of text I printed on cardstock, then stencil-painted the letters, followed by staining the edges....It's sitting on the mantel in our basement...which is another blog post entirely...I got/stole the entire idea from this blog post, on the Creative Crate (she used vinyl lettering--so popular right now--but also has stenciled other projects). I'm pleased with it and learned a LOT from this experience. I plan to make some more word/name blocks in the coming weeks.... :)

My first girly purchase for Baby Girl. I stopped by a garage sale last week and found these for $.25. I'm not always a 'bow' person, but thought they'd be cute for Christmas and Valentine's Day...so tiny and so cute! And I didn't feel too guilty spending only a quarter!

And finally....fabric for my baby quilt! My mom and I went shopping Monday with James (he was SO bored and ate through two different snacks and a cup of juice while 'waiting' for me to pick fabric). But I finally decided on a "pinks & cream" color scheme. It's soft and pretty and very feminine, I think, and fits the requirement that it 'go' with the taupe-ish walls in her nursery.

And here are the first two blocks...because my mom just couldn't wait to get started!

Time to "Think Pink"

20 weeks

Yesterday we found out we'll be having a GIRL in October! Yikes! I'm so excited! We were definitely thinking 'boy' all along so I had the technician check to make sure, and she was pretty certain. Yippee! I haven't wasted ANY time brainstorming ideas for the nursery. To be honest, I'd already bookmarked these two sites, just hoping some day I'd have a fun excuse to make one or the other. We're planning to transform our guest room into the Baby Girl nursery and hoping to avoid painting, so my plan is to add splashes of color (walls are a neutral taupe-ish) to girl-ify it.

Just curious...which pom-pom/flower ball do you prefer? Fabric or crepe paper? Here's the first option:

"Super Easy Fabric Pom-Poms"

OR

"Hanging flower balls", made with crepe paper (!)

I have to confess I'm leaning toward the crepe paper flowers, but not sure I can make them look that great. But I may be limited by color options with that, too.....Which do you prefer? Please "vote"! :)