My Birthday Weekend

     The first weekend of September just so happened to be my birthday weekend and guess who drove out to surprise me??  My parents!  They arrived on Friday and left on Monday.  It was so nice having them around, it's been awhile since we've seen them.  Plus, they got to see the new house for the first time too.  It was a pretty relaxed weekend.
     They got in Friday evening, the hubby had to work that night, so we headed to my dad's favorite restaurant, Golden Corral, for dinner.  Then came back to the house to hang out before we all headed to bed.
     Saturday, September 1st, was my actual birthday!  A young 32 and counting!  I opened my presents, a iHome dock for my phone, gift cards, Dutch oven, and dress...then had some breakfast.  Mom, Liam, and I went shopping to Target and Albertsons in the morning while the hubby slept (he had a late night shift) and dad was content "watching" football.

     We found some of things off my baby list, diapers, wipes, hospital robe, nursing cami's, diaper cream, newborn onesies, and much more!  I had a great time shopping with my mom again.  Liam even got some new Ninjago Lego guys, which he was thrilled about.  After our shopping spree at Target we headed over to Albertson's for a few groceries for Sunday night's special dinner, then drove back home.  Liam got a nap and the rest of us watched some more football.  Later that night we headed to The Cattle Barron for dinner to celebrate my birthday.  It was the first time the hubby and I have been and it was delish! I got a salad, filet mignon, loaded baked potato, and fried ice cream for my special birthday dessert.  It was so good, we were all stuffed when we left.

     Sunday, Setpember 2nd, mom and I got up early to start the prep work for making dinner and dessert for that night.  We planned on going to the Hatch Chile Festival during the day, so coming home to an already prepared meal sounded great to us.  One of the gifts I got from the hubby was a real Dutch Oven! I have wanted one for awhile and was so excited to try it out on Julia Child's famous Boeuf Bourguignon from her Mastering the Art of French Cooking cookbook.  While I worked on the stew mom was busy making my Triple-Layer Lemon Cake.  Once the cake was baked, frosting and curd made, and stew in the oven to bake for 2-3 hours, we all got dressed and headed to Hatch, New Mexico to check out the festival.

     There were chile peppers EVERYWHERE and it was HOT!! We parked and walked around till we could bare it no longer.  We stopped at food truck and ordered some lunch.  Afterward, mom picked out some chiles and we called it a day.  We drove back home and was greeted but the lovely smell of the stew in the oven.  We put Liam down for a nap while mom and I finished up the cake and the stew. That night enjoyed one of the best dishes I have made in a long time...then we had cake! Liam even helped me blow out all the candles.  It was another great day!

Papaw & Liam

     September 2nd is also the day the hubby and I seven years ago went down to the Colorado Springs Justice of the Peace and got married in front of a judge and my parents.  We did the whole JP thing first, then planned our BIG wedding at the church for the following year, May 2006.

     Monday, was a sad day.  Mom and dad left to go back home to Texas.  It was definitely a nice visit, and I know they will be back so for the birth of Kinley.  Mom plans on flying out on Sept. 20th, which is right around the corner and dad and my sister will be driving into town (only 8 hours, the way he drives) after she's born.  So much to look forward to, we are all excited!  I had an awesome birthday
weekend!!

     On a side note, I also received these beautiful flowers for my birthday from my awesome Bestie Kristi!!

Sweet Saturdays

Better Home & Gardens
Ingredients:

• 1 1/2
  cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2
  cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1/2
  teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2
  cup butter, softened
• 1/2
  cup granulated sugar
• 1/2
  cup packed brown sugar
• 1/4
  cup peanut butter
• 1
  egg
• 1
  tablespoon milk
• 1
  teaspoon vanilla
• 3/4
  cup sifted powdered sugar
• 1/2
  cup peanut butter
• 2
  tablespoons granulated sugar

directions

1.Preheat oven to 350 degree F. In a medium mixing bowl stir together flour, cocoa powder, and baking soda; set aside.

2.In a large mixing bowl beat together butter, the 1/2 cup granulated sugar, brown sugar, and the 1/4 cup peanut butter with an electric mixer until combined. Add egg, milk, and vanilla; beat well. Beat in as much of the dry ingredients as you can with mixer. Stir in remaining dry ingredients by hand with a wooden spoon. Form chocolate dough into 32 balls about 1-1/4 inches in diameter. Set aside.

3.For peanut butter filling, in a medium mixing bowl combine powdered sugar and the remaining 1/2 cup peanut butter until smooth. Shape mixture into 32 (3/4-inch) balls.

4.On a work surface, slightly flatten a chocolate dough ball and top with a peanut butter ball. Shape the chocolate dough over the peanut butter filling, completely covering the filling. Roll dough into a ball. Repeat with the remaining chocolate dough and peanut butter filling balls.

5.Place balls 2 inches apart on an ungreased cookie sheet. Lightly flatten with the bottom of a glass dipped in the 2 tablespoons granulated sugar.

6.Bake cookies in preheated oven for 8 minutes or until theyre just set and surface is slightly cracked. Let cookies stand for 1 minute. Transfer cookies to wire racks; cool. Makes 32 cookies.

Mad Hatter Tea Baby Shower

     Another baby shower, another theme...this time we planned a Mad Hatter Tea.  I was totally inspired by the Alice in Wonderland Halloween Party for Adults pictures I saw in Better Home and Gardens.  It was so cute and had such great ideas, I knew I had to throw a Mad Hatter tea for someone.  When Tori, also known as Lil' Mrs. Crafty to the blogging world, announced she was preggers, I jumped at the chance to suggest this theme.  My friends, Kristi, Gina, known for her blog G's Guide to Mom Style,
and I teamed up to host Tori's shower together.  We all agreed it would be a fun theme, so we let our creative juices run wild!


     Here's some of the pictures of the decorations:

Invitations were ordered from polygraphics

     Before we ate, at each place setting I came up with a riddle for each guest to read, as a sort of ice breaker to let everyone get to know each other.  Kristi and I made them look so cute by printing out the riddle on white paper, cut it out with scrapbooking scissors, then antiqued it with stamping ink, next stapled it to the paper tag of a tea bag.  They looked so cute and were a big hit.

     A tea party isn't complete unless there are some yummy petite sandwiches....  We made a variety of delicious items to choose from. 

PB & J Sandwiches shaped like Clubs

Cucumber  Sandwiches to look like playing cards

Goat Cheese & Watercress Sandwiches

Chicken Salad Heart Sandwiches 

Fruit Salad in swirly orange bowls

Fresh Carrots and Ranch in pots

Mini Cheese balls and Crackers

Spinach Salad with Berries and Almonds in a Parmesan Crisp bowl

On to desserts.....

Sugar Cookie Teapots

Rainbow Swirled Cupcakes

Meringues, French Macaroons, & Tarts

Queen of Hearts Tarts

Recipes:

• Goat Cheese & Watercress Sandwiches
• Fruit Salad in Swirly Orange Bowls (I modified this a bit to my taste and didn't include the topping)
• Spinach Salad with Berries and Almonds in Parmesan Bowls (I changed this up a little too)
• Sugar Cookie Teapots
• Queen of Hearts Tarts

     A baby shower wouldn't be much fun without some shower games.  For this shower I stepped out of the traditional "measure the belly" game, "guess the candy in the diaper" game, and even the baby item scramble game.  Since it was a Mad Hatter themed shower, I came up with three Alice inspired games.  The first, I call Queen of Hearts.  I placed a playing card randomly face down under the plate charger for each place setting, making sure someone would find the Queen of Hearts.  Whom ever found it would be the winner and receive a prize.  (By the way, guests were able to choose where they wanted to sit, to make it fair)  But, instead of just looking under their charger, I had the ladies stick the card facing out to their forehead so everyone could see the card except for the person with the card.  It was so funny seeing the ladies with cards sticking to their heads.  And it just so happens, Tori, the guest of honor found the Queen of Hearts!

     The second game I had planned was matching a character from Disney's 1951 animated movie "Alice in Wonderland" to their memorable quote.  We printed out the quotes and characters, then glued it to some plain black and red scrapbook paper, next stuck on some stickers to make it look like a big playing card.  I timed the ladies for one minute and who ever matched the most right won a prize.

     The last game we played was an "Alice in Wonderland" scavenger hunt.  Kristi and I came up with a list of twenty different items that could be found on the table scape.  Some were easy, like a red rose, where as others, like a a golden key and chess piece, were a little harder to find.  I printed out the list and then we attached it to the back of the quote game and decorated it with a colorful key scrapbook accent.  The first one to find all the items on the list won the prize.  Overall, the ladies loved all the games, they were simple yet fun!

  After the games we showered Tori with gifts, mingled a bit, enjoyed some more food, and then went outside to take some pictures.

     After pictures and saying our good-byes, all our guests took home two favors, one was a small bottle of Martinelli's Sparkling Apple Cider with a tag labeled "Drink Me" and a home made sugar cookie teapot with a tag labeled "Eat Me".   It turned out to be an amazing day filled with great memories and wonderful friends.  Everyone enjoyed themselves and most of all Tori was surprised!