Sunday, April 6, 2014

Dinner Party, Crafts, Fun, Rain and Noah!

Amber spent the night Friday night and when I checked on her Saturday morning I was dismayed to hear she had suffered with a headache - all night long! I tucked her back into bed and encouraged her to sleep....
while I wanted to spend time with her - I wanted even MORE for her to feel better!!
If she can't sleep in here then where and when can she??
I turned fans and noise machine on so she wouldn't hear the household sounds - we are both funny like that - and while she slept I went to work!!
I hosted an all girl party last night and there's nothing like knowing your guests will arrive at a certain time to motivate you to get going!! I am a fairly organized person so it wasn't long before I had everything well in hand. Along about 2:00 Amber woke up. She looked better but still tired to me. Mothers can see past the smiles and determined attitudes of their daughters.


My sister, Luann, arrived a little early so she and Amber had a chance to visit before Amber packed up her bag and headed back to Quadville.


My sis helped me put the finishing touches on the kitchen preps and we were ready to party!!
She made herself a Pimm's Cup.
My friend, Dawn, who lives in Florida mentioned Pimm's No.1 on Facebook and that a Pimm's Cup sounded like a refreshing drink. It IS!
Ours was a very simple version:
Tall glass filled with ice
1.5 oz Pimm's
Finished filling the glass with Lime carbonated water from Central Market
Easy but good and makes a drink you can sip on for quite awhile.


Earlier in the morning I made up a batch of snack crackers.
I plan to use them in place of croutons on salads but for the party I just put them out in a big tin can to munch on. Since I have hundreds of cookbooks I have started (once again!) to take them down one by one and use a new recipe. I find myself making the same-o same-o things all the time.
Now I need to pick out a recipe book to use this week!


Beef Stew is a good 'go to' meal to make and the weather had changed from really warm to fairly cool.
Perfect stew weather! This is a nothing fancy dish - just meat, onions, seasonings and vegetables.
My sister brought a huge selection of yummy breads to go with it.
I LOVE bread! 
Everyone brought something and it all went together perfectly!


THIS was nearly too pretty to eat - but we DID!!
Palm trees with (Berries!) coconuts!!
When my son, Ben, first moved out to California he was so disappointed there were only fruitless palms there!


We had appetizers, drinks, desserts......


all sorts of good things!


Even though there were 8 of us we managed to sit around the dining room table together!


I had candles and 'live' music! Louis Dean had planned to 'hide' in the gazebo but it had started to rain.
He retreated to his music room and was playing the guitar which made perfect dinner music for us to enjoy!


Ruth Ann and Luann were my guests.  Debbie AKA Ladybug of Texas fame! (seated next to Ruth Ann) and some of her friends from high school AND her mother have formed a Fun Gals Group and I am proud to have been adopted!! They are a FASCINATING group of extraordinary women! STRONG women.
Women with courage, confidence and character. Women who love and laugh and have FUN!


I love them all.
After dinner we transformed the dinner table to a craft table!
Every month we meet and eat and CRAFT!


AND have fun while we do it!


THIS was our project instruction!


The lady on the left in the gorgeous blue was our teacher.
She is stunningly beautiful!


The craft is so easy I think I will do this with the older grands this summer in MiMi Camp.
They have to be old enough to handle a hot glue gun!


The results are awesome!
Cardboard cross
hot glue design
tin foil
black craft paint

Easy Peasy!!

We woke up to rain this morning and COOL temps!!
Back to the closet for sweater weather!


I dressed up like a doily and we headed to church!
One time I was all dressed up to go somewhere and Amber said, "Mom!! You look just like a little doily!!"
She reminded me to only wear TWO layers!!! The thing is - she said this in front of Louis Dean and he is FOREVER referring to it!!!

Since it was a cold and rainy day - we came home - ate lunch and then decided to go see Noah!


Louis Dean said, "Now we're not going to a Bible Study. Remember it's a MOVIE!"
It was and we enjoyed it! I love Russel Crowe and LD likes Anthony Hopkins.

It was a good weekend!
The beauty in giving a dinner party on Saturday is you have a clean house on Sunday!
I have not done a stick of work today other than making up the bed!




12 comments:

Amber said...

A good weekend all the way around :)

Wanda said...

You are the only person I know that can pack all that into one weekend. Caregiver, party maker, cook and bottle washer, stew maker, craft maker...Oh my goodness, girl, I'm worn out and I didn't do any of it. Just love your life and energy....Sending hugs and smiles.

Sweet Tea said...

Great times! What does a girl have to do to get an invite to one of your parties? They sound like so much fun!!

Kathy said...

I'm with Wanda. I don't know how you did all that in just two days. I'm glad you took some time to rest on Sunday. I heard good and bad about Noah. I was told it was the most unbiblical biblical movie ever made. I'm going to have to watch it for myself.

Your party sounds absolutely wonderful. The cross sounds so easy. I think I'm going to have to try it with the older Sunday School kids.

Deb said...

We had a great time! I love how our group is growing and how well we blend

MadSnapper said...

i can tell you had it all under control from the get go.. you are like the energizer bunny, you just keep going and going and going. love the cross, i read the instructions and had no idea what they mean until i scrolled down and saw what you did....

Linda @ Life and Linda said...

Wow, buys weekend, but looks like fun. The food looks great, especially the pretty palm tree. I don't blame you for resting up after the party. You deserve it!

Debbie said...

as soon as i read the title to this post, i knew it was going to be action packed and full of fun!!

your food, a work of art....it sounds like you planned the perfect meal and get-to-gether!! and you, my friend, are looking wonderful!!

Estelle's said...

Linda...you have an AMAZING gift for making everything look so festive and inviting! Your house is obviously full of love and celebrations of life! Thank you for sharing with all of your readers!!!

Vee said...

You know how to have some fun! Had to pin the fruit. So pretty; so cute. You enjoyed Noah then? I have not heard of one person yet who had and now I can say that you both did. (I tend to think of movies based on the Bible as needing to be very accurate...not like a Saving Mr. Banks. I'd have to listen to LD's directions on that. Ha!)

Susie said...

Linda, It was good that you made Amber go ahead and rest at your house. Your party sounds so fun. Nice of LD to stay out of the girl fun but make some enjoyable music. LOL I am cold today too. It's dreary and rainy and cold. But hey, the rest of the week is to be wonderful. xoxo,Susie

Angie said...

I hate that Amber wasn't feeling well. I hope she isn't getting sick.
What a FUN dinner/crafting party. Looks like such a good time and the food...yummy!!!!