A Glimpse into the Other Activities (Fun and Otherwise) in Our Lives

While most of the past few weeks have been chores, party prep, summer camp and gardening, we did a few other things that were worthy of pictures too!

One day, we lost power for two hours!!!  It was hailing and storming for a short time but had long cleared by the time we had power again.

During the outage, Emily, William and Grace played Nerts with me!  (William had already left the table by the time we took a picture.)

When the power went out, we were in line for getting Grace's prescription, but that's when the power went out!  We saw the 'lightening' like flashes from when the tree branch struck the electrical wires.  

When the power came back on, we got a notification that her prescription was now ready, but when we made the trip back by, they were still closed (I mean, how much can you really accomplish in a dark, hot shop?)  So, I went back a fourth time, and finally got to start Grace's Swimmer's ear regimen! 

William ended up at the dollar tree with me on many of my runs to complete my projects.  He was a good companion for sure!

On the trip to our closest one, I also wanted to get some Hoisin Sauce from Bo Bo, who is next door.

Once inside, I asked him to help me find it. Halfway down the sauce aisle, William confusedly, and totally non-accusingly asked why I needed "Poison sauce." Oh, my sweet boy.  We use it for dumplings and egg rolls. = )

We were invited to a party that took place yesterday, and I wasn't sure if we would be able to go, with our party being the night before (and I just can't leave my house in a sad state and have a good time.)  But, luckily, were able to go and hand out with oodles of children and good company!

William really enjoyed the zip line!

I think my kids' favorite part was the silly string fight.  

But Emily definitely lost. lol.

The twins also enjoyed the motorized car (that they pushed each other in, just like when they were little!)

The food was amazing, and our hosts were gracious as always!  It was a fun time, and we were able to just walk home!!!

later days

Knocking out Chores Using Some Pre-Party Energy!

For the past two weeks I've had so much 'pre-party' energy, that I've painted and improved and vinyled and swept and cooked!

Grace was my helper when it came to painting the back porch, basement door, and shed entrances!

I found a hat for my costume, but it was blue, and when I attempted to dye it, the dye destroyed parts of the netting, so I had to find something else to use as a veil. = (

I recruited Billy to help me assemble the pergola that we were borrowing from Sarah.  Once we had it completely assembled, it would have been a beast to break back down and put into her truck, and Billy liked it well enough to want to keep it.  Since she was not quite ready to add it to her yard, it worked out perfectly, and we were able to buy it off of her!

With all the extra party food, I really needed room in the refrigerator, so I made some off-season St. Lucia cakes to get the jar of molasses off the shelf!  They were tasty, even in the middle of summer!

I attempted to replace Billy's grill cover last year, but neither replacement was as good as his original.  I bought some tape to repair the old one, and it did give us one more winter, but it was starting to come apart around the mesh, and the material was stiff and brittle, so it was time to replace it for full price.

But the new one is quite an improvement!

Over out time in this house, the upstairs sink has sunk just enough to separate from the paint.  I didn't care for the chipped paint look, and so I thought I'd try some of the stick on wall stickers from the dollar tree.

First, I bought some silver, to match the faucet, but It didn't look good at all!

The second was a mixture of silver and gold, and looks much better, and way better than the chipped paint too!

I repaired maps and scrubbed walls in the guest bathroom, washed rugs, scrubbed tubs, cleaned out the vacuum cleaner, dusted, swept and vacuumed the mud room, and just put all my anxious energy to work!

I've been paring down one of our medicine cabinets for a while now, in anticipation of getting a basket for each child. (And, of course, I didn't take a before picture.. = ( ) Once I saw how cute their baskets looked, I decided to improve the other containers as well.

The last few items were too big to fit into the tiny buckets, so a third trip to the dollar tree was in order.

Project complete!

True party prep started two days before, with dish washing and making cold dishes.  This was 3oz of grated dark chocolate!

For the Riccota Mocha cake!!!  (It was really good, but between the (tiny bit of) espresso powder and dark chocolate I was a little concerned about it messing with my sleep. lol.)

And the day of, made up caprese salads for everyone!  (But we had a salad bar, and people could make up their own salad!)

I wanted to have a record of the recipes that I made this year, and instead of including them on the party post, I'm hiding them away here. = )  As always, their recipes were delicious!

As the summer winds down, we have a few dentist appointments to get through next week, but then we have Bingo Week Camping at Jellystone, just before the twins start back to school!!!  

It was a fast, but lovely summer!

later days

Murder Mystery, Year Five: Little Italy, New York City, 2009

 This year, we were a dysfunctional, transplanted Italian family, living in 2009 New York City!

I was Mama Rosa, the matriarch of this wild crew. Matt was my Soccer Playing Son, who didn't want to take over the family business. Deb was my daughter who was a little spoiled and very wild. Scott was my husband's twin brother, who still lived in Italy. Jared was the French fiancé of Deb and estate manager of Scott. Jessica was the clairvoyant intertwined with our family. Julianna was the maid turned fiancé of Scott. Billy was the rather opinionated priest from the local church.

After following the weather since the 10-day forecast came out, I was so worried that my outdoor plans would be rained out, but once the rain passed in the morning, we had a beautiful, possibly too sunny afternoon for the party!!!

Our children ranks were greatly diminished this year, as none of the Eaton kids came, and only one each of the Stepp and Prichard kids!  Those that were in attendance had a good time though!

I found the camera that we would have really used back in 2009, and we passed it around during the evening.  We ended up with lots of fun, candid shots!

It was a pleasant evening, especially once the sun was hidden away!  

This year the murderer was: (highlight the text below to reveal the murder!)

*                                                                            Jared!*

I am always so thankful to our guests who play their roles so convincingly every year!  What a fun party!!

later days

You can read about previous murders here:

Year 4: Ancient Rome

Year 3: Hawaii

Year 2: France

Year 1: Mississippi Riverboat

And you can check out some of my pre-party projects here.