Family Baby Shower

I attended a baby shower today for my niece Mary,
hosted by her sisters.

I blogged about her gender reveal party here,

where we learned she was expecting a baby boy.

Baby boy's name is Saylor James. Unique, don't you think?

His momma has had that name picked out for years for her first son.

As a play off of the name, the shower theme was Saylorman. 

As in Popeye the Sailorman.

The cake was in the shape of a can of spinach.
Too cute!

There were paper boats, Lifesavers and bowls of goldfish.

And mini burgers for Wimpy. 

"I'll gladly pay you Tuesday for a hamburger today."

I told Mary that we think Saylor is going to be a pirate.

Here's daddy Joel putting together Mary's favorite gift.

This contraption is called a mamaRoo.

As I said at the shower,

I have now seen everything when it comes to baby stuff! 

You can even plug your iPod into the base to play the baby's own playlist.

Crazy!

Here are three of my adult nieces.
Hostess Amy, Mama-to-be Mary and Hostess Tracy.
Great shower, girls!

Party Enchiladas

I've been craving Mexican food recently, 

so The Husband pulled out our copy of the Stir Ups cookbook.

We whipped up Party Enchiladas.

Enchilada filling:

Rolled and ready for the sauce!

Spicy cheese sauce.

Cover them up!

Bake at 350° until sauce bubbles, 25-35 minutes.

Dish up and garnish with sour cream.

Too bad we didn't have an avocado. A slice would have been a tasty addition.

Scrumptious!

Thanks to niece Tracy, who gave us two pieces of expert advice:

1) You must dip each tortilla in hot oil to soften.

2) You must use real butter in the sauce.

Do you have a favorite Mexican dish you make at home? 

Seating Arrangements - A Book Review

I finished Seating Arrangements today.

I did not like it.

There was not one character in this book that I liked or for which I felt any empathy. Well, maybe Biddy and Livia, but not that much. When I read the last page of the book, I thought to myself "Are you kidding me? This is it?"

My opinion shows that people are different and what one person likes, another person dislikes. Why? Because there are loads of people who love this book.

What is the last book you read that you hated?

Dinner With Friends

I started to title this post "Friends for Dinner," but that sounds a bit cannibalistic doesn't it?

Good friends of ours have recently relocated from Albuquerque, NM back to Tulsa. They joined us for an informal "welcome home" dinner tonight. A good time was had by all.

Welcome home friends!

Gone Girl - A Book Review

My book club selected Gillian Flynn's book, Gone Girl, as our next book. It is a story about a Missouri housewife who disappears on her 5th wedding anniversary. Of course, the husband becomes the prime suspect.

The book is such a page turner, I finished it in 4 days. Afterwards, all I could think of was the old phrase, "There are two sides to every story." Or, in this case, to every marriage.

White or black?
Loving or hateful?
Good or evil?
Sane or insane?

I thoroughly enjoyed this well written book.

Still Lazy

I haven't done anything really exciting this week. It's too stinking hot to do much.

I finished reading A Game of Thrones. If you do not watch the HBO series of the same name, the first season is a very accurate representation of this book. If you like medieval fantasy, I highly recommend it. I have the second book in the series, A Clash of Kings, but I have not started it yet. I'm saving it for a bit later.

I did begin reading Gone Girl for book club.

I went to the dentist. No cavities for me.

I've been to a 1/2 dozen estate sales and checked on one of my booths. I need to go check the other booth. Then I need to inventory and price my new treasures, plus determine in which location to place them for sale.

What are my plans for the rest of the week?

Laundry.

Probably ought to do some grocery shopping.

Visit Mom.

I'm sure there is more. As soon as I think of it, I'll let you know. In the meantime, everyone stay inside during these hot afternoons and read a book. That's where you will find me!

Lazing Around

I've spent the last two days immersed in a book. It's such a luxury to be able to laze around and read for hours.

I've watched both seasons of HBO's The Game of Thrones, but had never read the book. I am thoroughly enjoying it and am impressed at how well the series is following the plotline of the book.

Let's see, what else have I done the last few days?

The Husband and I went to happy hour at Juniper on Friday. As always, the staff was great, the drinks were great and the appetizer we shared was great. If you have never visited Juniper, you must plan to do so soon!

Saturday night we attended a friend's birthday party, which was loads of fun. It was a great mix of people, of which we only knew a handful. It was fun to meet new people and have a lot of laughs with them.

What did you do this weekend?

Funerals

We seem to be in one of those phases of life where every time we turn around, someone we know has died.

We've attended three funerals within the last few weeks.

Yesterday we learned that one of The Husband's high school friends had passed away after a long illness. That funeral will be next week.

To top it all off, I opened the obituary section of the paper yesterday and saw that one of The Husband's earliest childhood friends (pre-kindergarten) had passed and his funeral is today.

I'm ready for this phase to finish immediately!  I want to move on to the life phase where we celebrate weddings and babies and such.

Do you find funerals come in multiples in your life?

Grape Salad

The Ladies Of The Night book club met recently and my contribution to our feast was Grape Salad. It was a big hit with the ladies. I am so adding this to my summer recipe file.

I found the recipe on The Midlife Guru's blog. (Visit her post to see photos!)

Grape Salad 

2 pounds each red/green grapes (washed, stemmed, dried)
8 ounces sour cream
8 ounces cream cheese
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup chopped pecans

Mix sour cream, cream cheese and vanilla together by hand. Pour over grapes and carefully combine. Mix brown sugar and pecans together and spread over the grapes. Cover and chill overnight. Just before serving, stir in topping to grape mixture.

Enjoy!

A Family Funeral

The Husband and I attended a funeral today for one of his cousins. The deceased was either a first cousin, once removed, or a second cousin. We need to research cousin relationships so we can be sure.

Usually, when I attend a small town event with The Husband, all we have to do is introduce him as the son of Jesse or Lucye. At this funeral, we had to introduce him as the grandson of Minnie.

Despite the sad situation, The Husband thoroughly enjoyed seeing his extended family. He was especially happy to see the sisters of his deceased cousin. What great memories they all shared from their childhood. The girls visited Oklahoma every summer and Aunt Minnie was one of their stops. The Husband's Dad (Minnie's son) and Mom made sure the girls had fun during their visit.

How sad is it that many of today's extended families have lost touch with each other. I know it's true for my family.

We all need to organize those old time, big family reunions. Don't you think?

Scenes From A Family 4th of July

We spent the day with our large, extended family in Oklahoma City.

Neighborhood decorations.

Inventive use of pool noodles and other floaties.

Everyone wanted to wear "the hat."

Pool games.

Little Lucye Jane in a red, white & blue tutu.

A cannon. Yes, I said a cannon. Look near his feet.

And, of course, a flag.

How was your holiday?

Mom's Sewing Supplies

I was at my Mom's house recently and asked her if she had a few straight pins I could take with me to one of my booths.  She said, "I don't know. I'm not sure where they might be." Turns out, Mom had sewing supplies in a shoe box, an old purse, a broken plastic sewing box, a fabric sewing box and a couple of other small containters in different locations in her house.

What you ask, did I do? Gather up all the containers, of course, and bring them home to sort through. 

I put together this organized sewing kit to keep at Mom's house.

These are the left over items, which will soon be for sale in my booths.

What, you ask, is the status of my personal sewing supplies? Very organized, of course, in two drawers.

What is the status of your sewing supplies? Are they organized in one container or scattered in multiple places?