Mommapalooza 4.0

This was the fourth year in a row that we hosted Mother's Day at our house. We began the tradition in 2014 without really intending for it to become a tradition. (The best ones happen that way.) We just wanted to spoil our moms by letting them have the day off from cooking, and that turned into inviting siblings and other family members too, and Mommapalooza was born.

The first year, we hosted it outside at our Marion house, in our beloved pirogi, and we had practically perfect weather. We did burger/picnic food theme and had a great time! The second year, we intended to have it outside, but the weather was unbearably humid, and we feared everyone would be miserable outside, so at the last minute, we moved it inside (still at our Marion house). We grilled pork chops and chicken and had a fun crammed in the dining room of our little house. Last year, Mommapalooza 3.0 was our deadline for having round one of home renovations done, even though we still planned to have the party outside on our deck. Sadly, last May was still wintry, so we feared everyone would freeze to death during lunch, and we packed everyone into half our living room for a pot roast (and all the fixins) lunch.

So you can imagine how grateful we were that this year, we had our garage all finished, and we could plan to party out there from the very beginning, with no fear of what the weather might bring! And multiple people commented that it was a very relaxing and enjoyable space for such a party!

(Find Phoebe in the picture for an extra 10 invisible points!)

This year I went with a breakfast theme! Four kinds of fresh fruit (pineapple, watermelon, blueberries, strawberries), quick cinnamon rolls, ham/egg/cheese sliders, Amish breakfast casserole, the Dashing Dish Sausage/Egg/Cheese Bake, ham and pickle roll-ups, and  smoky links in BBQ sauce.

My sister also brought a breakfast casserole, so we had lots of food!

We enjoyed the food, and Phoebe was a BIG hit with the kids. I'm working on building a better collection of toys and books, and they did play with those too, but I've decided having the dog for the day is really the way to go.

 Also ottomans.

 Also balloons.

We got a group photo and the stinkin' thing was blurry. Sigh.

But we got some other good pictures.

We were so grateful for a beautiful day! Even though we ate in the garage, we were thankful for a chance to be outside after! :)

The Shafferland Shuffle

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY (to you)!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY (to me)!! I fully anticipate today to be crazy busy here in Shafferland, but it'll be great to fill you in later!

Meanwhile, here's a peek at our last week.

* Last Sunday was Ryan's sister's bridal shower, and I took pictures at that while Ryan stayed home and enjoyed a MUCH deserved nap! Bre's shower was so nice, and she got tons of nice gifts. I think she was a little overwhelmed by it all, actually! But it was a good day.

* I actually had Monday off from my carpool duties, but I ended up helping another of our friends get his kiddo home from school, so it ended up balancing out. At least it was a pretty-ish day and I could enjoy my time in line! I spent the whole afternoon making props for one of my talks next week, and then I did my first "dress rehearsal" for it. Ryan felt it necessary to take my picture. I told him it looks like I'm directing a choir. LOL!

* Ryan had a carry-in at work on Tuesday, and I made these uh-mazing Samoa brownies to take to it. I was hoping everyone would hate them and I could bring them all home, but it didn't work out that way. That night, Mom and Dad took us out to eat for our birthdays, and we got free dessert! Made up for the Samoa brownies that didn't come home. HA!

* I spent Wednesday creating my 10 page color-coded itinerary to get us through the upcoming schedule madness, and that made me so tired by the end of the day, I just wanted to sit down and put my feet up! So I did! I did watch my friend's kiddos that evening for a little bit. This one cracks me up. Wants to play with the ball that's the same size she is!

* By Thursday, we were pooped, and Ryan took a nap at the end of lunch to get enough energy to get through the afternoon. I've been there!! We went out to buy all the rest of our flowers for this year so we could get those planted. It wasn't a super warm and sunny evening, but at least the rain held off!

* Friday, to celebrate the end of National Hospital Week, a food truck came to Ryan's work, and he was SO excited, because it was BBQ, and he loves BBQ! Friday was the nicest day of the whole week, and we were able to mow the yard and plant all our flowers. Looks like summer, now!

* Yesterday, Ryan had to work, and while he was gone, I got the garage set up to host Mommapalooza 4.0 and worked to prepare all the food I could ahead of time! When Ryan got home from work, we got all dressed up and went to wedding #2 for the month! Had a lovely time! Ryan makes one handsome date, doesn't he???

Birthdays, Gifts, and Goodwill

Have I mentioned Sunday's my birthday?

What? Only daily? Oh! Okay. Well then I won't tell you again.

(That Sunday is my birthday, I mean.)

A couple of years ago, my parents started a tradition of taking Ryan and me out for dinner in between our birthdays. A big birthday palooza for all. This year, we decided to go to Cracker Barrel, and Mom said we could order whatevvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvver we wanted. (That's a joke from my childhood. On regular days, the goal was to eat frugally. On birthdays, you could get whatevvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvver you wanted.)

 Sorry about my hair and our halos. I promise my hair looks better earlier in the day. It seems to fade fast by evening.

Anyway. We got delicious dinners, and our waitress, who was amazing by the way, brought us birthday desserts!!

After we left, we headed to the Goodwill to look for some boots for Ryan, and LOOK WHAT WE FOUND ACROSS THE STREET? IT IS ALMOST READY!!!

Best. Birthday. Gift. Ever.

We were looking for boots to wear in his sister's wedding, and we found them, but he also found this and wanted to wear it. (Possibly with the flamingo suit. You remember the flamingo suit.)

Before we came home, we went to Kohl's, and apparently I took too long trying on dresses. Found these on my phone when I came out of the dressing room.

So now you're caught up on our birthday celebrations! Until Sunday. My birthday. ;)

The Shafferland Shuffle

We're celebrating 52 months of marriage today! So while we enjoy that, hope you enjoy a peek at last week!

* Last Sunday was a super rainy day in central Indiana. Good day to be home! And rain is one of Ryan's favorite things, so we curled up on Mo, watched some movies, and let the rain fall! Before the end of the day though, he sneaked out to the garage to put the last of the poly on the cabinet doors. And with one final stroke of the brush, that project was DONE!

* Monday evening, Ryan put the cabinets back up so we could declare the kitchen FINISHED! We were both so happy to have everything back in order! I got to hang out with my favorite baby for a little bit, and the buds on our flowering tree got a little bit bigger. Lots of good things happening in one day!

* Ryan was so busy Tuesday, he couldn't take much time for lunch, so I surprised him with Subway at work! We hid in his cloffice and ate together. Romantic! :) That night he helped me write my blog post about the kitchen cabinet makeover, which is how we ended up having a can of poly and a dessert plate sitting together on the table. Only in a blogger's life, right? Tuesday night was also the Fixer Upper finale: anyone else watch?

* Wednesday was a day of many treats! We were gifted some of the most amazing lemon cake I've ever had, and I met up with my best friend's mom for yogurt in the afternoon. I promise I got a super tiny yogurt! I got behind on my work, so I had to finish up in the evening, but it was nice to be able to see Ryan while I worked!

* On Thursday, my mom "graduated" from physical therapy! She's doing really well - just over a month post-surgery, now! On his way home from work, Ryan found this spectacular rainbow, and he knows how much I love them, so he came home to get me and took me back - and it was still there! I was so surprised! It was one of the most stunning complete rainbows I've ever see! And isn't this picture of Braeya too cute? I decided she must surely be praying over me. (HA!)

* Friday was "change-the-calendar-to-a-new-month" day, which is always one of my favorite days! That night, we had a big party with our Bible study crew, which was not only a lot of fun, but it also had some pretty spectacular food! They even surprised us with a gift for leading the study, which was so sweet! :)

* Yesterday was another alphabetical date! We went back to the letter F, since we'd skipped it earlier. More about this later, but a couple of highlights were getting a free drink at Starbucks, thanks to a pay-it-forward lady behind us, and watching Beauty and the Beast! AND we got our first glimpse of the new IKEA down by Indy! It's really happening!

The Shafferland Shuffle

Last week of March!! Is it spring break week where you live? If so, I hope you're getting to enjoy warmth! :)

* Last Sunday was the height of rest around here - for everyone! Naps, reading, scrapbooking, just enjoying the day. The only thing that would have made it better was a nice, long walk!

* Monday we woke up to crazy rain/storms, which is, I suppose, appropriate for the first official day of spring. Also exciting markers of the first official day of spring? Buds on trees (I'd so feared our pretty white flowering tree started too early and would die off when the freeze returned) and free ice cream cones from Dairy Queen! We got the new guy when we went, which I knew would either result in extra small cones or extra big ones. We lucked out! :)

* Tuesday was another therapy day for Mom, and she's doing really well! I attended, like always and helped by drinking coffee and watching. (Don't you wish I could assist in all your endeavors?) I go because I have SUCH A CRUSH on the guy who does her therapy. I did some child-care that night, and then enjoyed the most amazing sunset. I was so happy to see it! I miss pretty sunsets.

* Wednesday was a long, hard day here in Shafferland. Hard conversations and lots of prayer. I should clarify that we had hard days independently, which is awkward, because then we were both too tired to really pick each other up very well! That evening, Ryan went to the garage to keep working on the cabinets and pray and I spent some time reading Scripture and praying. (And crying in the bathroom. Full disclosure. LOL.) We weren't so sorry to see Wednesday go.

* Thursday morning I had to get our tires rotated, and I totally forgot to take my book to read while I waited! So I had a stare-down with the tires. They won. I got a beautiful surprise in the mail when a friend sent me a subscription to the Magnolia Journal! :) That was such fun. And at the end of the day? Got to hang out with the kiddos I've been watching some. It was fun!

* Friday I spent most of the day in the kitchen, baking meals for our friends and family who had surgery lately. It was so much fun to put together a little blessing basket for them, and then when Ryan got off work, we went on a delivery tour! We ate our own dinner so early and so fast that we were kind of hungry, so Ryan made a bowl of popcorn. It turned out to be a REALLY BIG BOWL. we ate every last bit. Don't tell.

* When we woke up yesterday morning, neither of us felt really great. Not full-on sick, but just worn out. So Ryan went to work, and I got busy around the house, and then GUESS WHO CAME TO HANG OUT FOR THE WHOLE DAY???? If you guessed our Phoebe-girl, you'd be right! I felt more justified resting on the couch with her in my lap! :) Always a treat to have her!

The Shafferland Shuffle

Well, we made it through one whole week of DST. Woot woot for us!!!! Anyone else been on the staying-awake struggle bus? Anyone? ANYONE?

Here's how we spent week one of time change!

* Last Sunday, we had leftover pizza for lunch and someone, who shall remain nameless, dumped a huge piece all down the front of himself. I laughed so hard, not at him, but just because he seriously never does anything like that and it was funny to watch him react! Later in the day, he took me to Starbucks and I went venti because, well, DST. By that night, I just wanted to bake cookies, but our kitchen looked like this, so no cookies.

* Monday was Mom's first day to come to outpatient physical therapy. She was just assessed, so it was a pretty easy appointment as far as "working out" went, but I think she really enjoyed getting out of the house. As of that day, she was just a day short of being 3 weeks post-op, so I thought she looked great! After work, I watched my friends' kiddos, and the next-to-the-littlest wanted to hold the littlest. Always an adventure. :) We came home, and Ryan worked on the cabinet project. Again. Still. Whatever.

* Tuesday was our one year house-iversary! Not of moving in, but just of purchasing. We celebrated by moving all the stuff back into the cabinets. LOL!! It was also Pi day, which in my mind makes it pie day. It "just so happened" that my mom had shared some pie with us, so we got to actually celebrate! And I welcomed back my restocked kitchen by making a Texas Sheet Cake for Ryan's work.

* Wednesday was Mom's first TRUE day of therapy and she got to work with Ryan! It was fun to watch him in action for a whole session. He's so good at what he does! After work, I met up with my friend Amber for a coffee date, and then I worked on chores at home while Ryan worked on the cabinet doors. (Are you seeing a theme here??)

* Thursday was my first speaking day for the spring season. I have several speaking dates lined up, and this one was a luncheon for a small group of women. They were kind, warm, and welcoming and I completely enjoyed meeting with them! Ryan had to work really late and then I'm sure it will shock you to know he came home and worked on the cabinets. :)

*Friday, I went to visit Ryan at work and he was wearing something very different from what he'd been wearing when he left home. Crack me up!!! We went on our "D" date Friday night. (If you missed the earlier memo, we went out of order and did the "E" date last weekend.) I'm not sure that St. Patrick's Day might be the best choice of nights to go out. Good thing we went early! Anyway. Can't wait to tell you all about our date!

 * Yesterday was full, full, full!! And I can't wait to tell you about it, too! Ryan had the day off, and we did a county tour AND an alphabetical date all in one day. We trekked north to St. Joseph County and had all kinds of fun despite the fact that it rained/sleeted most of the day. And at the end of the day, we enjoyed a very special surprise alphabetical date planned entirely by Ryan. Blew my socks off!