Baby Showers and Diaper Cakes

I started this post in July .. it's now November.  I've been a total slacker.  Anyway, we had a baby shower for my YD (who just had her baby in September).  Here are some pics.

 

One of the things she wanted for her shower were big blocks .. so I made them.  It took much longer than expected.  I wanted to buy four 12 x 12 boxes -- but they only came in packs of 25, so I got 25.  I thought I could stencil the letters but couldn't find stencils big enough.  The white around the edges had to have two coats ... but the end result is really nice.  (Did I post about this? I don't remember.)

 

Another thing we made was a balloon arch .. we blew up about 200 balloons.  Some with a pump.  most not.  

Here's a good use for one balloon.

Here's the balloon arch with the blocks.  A nice place for photos and cute too. (Although there were several pictures taken, I don't seem to have any :().

 

My OD painted this picture for the baby.  Super cute.

 The cake.

My YD cutting the cake.

 

Here is the diaper cake we made (my YD and me) for the baby shower.  I know. I know. I shouldn't have made her make her own diaper cake (but I did).  I don't think she bought any of the items on the cake (at least I hope not).  Anyway, it turned out super cute.

It was a good day and a fun time.  I think she was happy with how it went.  (Of course, it's ancient history now.)

Remember, Remember the Fifth of November

Well, not actually the fifth of November yet ...

So I haven't checked my goals/list in months and I know there are so many areas I need to work on.  I'll check it later this week and see what my goals need to be for the next little bit.  Anyway.  I decided I would try to blog for the month of November.  We'll see how that goes.

This weekend we're away on a retreat - The Big Book and The Good Book, about how the "big book" is derived from the "good book."  At least that's what I think it's about.  We are also in the Santa Cruz Mountains.  I'm hoping to get some walking in.  I'm hoping to get some writing in.  I'm hoping to get time to reflect.  I'll report back on that.

I don't know that I blogged about my most recent grandson.  Anyway, here's a recent picture of him.

The Wedding After The Derby

I'm way behind on my posts this year ... the week after the Derby, my nephew got married.  The wedding was in Virginia so we were almost there when we left Louisville.

The venue was a barn built by my brother-in-law for the occasion.  

The weather was iffy (calling for rain) so they brought the ceremony indoors.  Here's the trellis, made by my nephew, under which they were married.

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The cousins, together.  Four of my five children were able to make it.  so that was nice.  I don't think we got any pictures of us together -- but I'm not sure.

The favors on the table were smores in boxes (which my daughters and I worked on putting together).  A very cute idea.  (They had a campfire after the wedding and ate most of them.)

My YD .. last minute bridesmaid...

My brother-in-law, Will Mackabee and my husband's mother (Nana or Mom or Helen Deaver Wagner)

My sister-in-law Terri, another sister-in-law Debra, and brother-in-law Larry, with my two daughters and my YD's husband.

Again, the two girls, my SIL, and brother-in-law Larry ...

This is Stephanie (another sister-in-law), our niece Allison and husband Chris.

Another picture of Will and Nana (who turned 94 this summer).

My middle son, watching....

My husband and MS ...

The bride and groom entering the reception ...

and their first dance ...

We had a great time.  a wonderful end to our vacation .. the derby, family, and then a wedding.  What more could you ask for??

Goal: Update

Last week's goals:

1. get shower gift for my YD - done
2. work on scan project (old pictures/letters/photo albums) - done (as evidenced by my Friday post)
3. print songs for GPa's memorial - not yet -- turns out my cousin already did it so it's done.  yay!!
4. two blog posts - done
5. cut blocks for Baby James's quilt - nope

In case you were wondering, here's one of the songs that I've asked my cousin Andrew to play

 So for this week, my goals are:

1.  Continue to work on scan project
2.  Cut blocks for Baby James quilt
3.  Two blog posts
4.  Make list for Michigan trip and get anything needed.

So.  I was realizing that I didn't explain about the songs.  The story is this: many years ago, my father used to play guitar and sing.  He sang songs in the style of Burl Ives.  Some of the songs I remember, are "The Fox," "The Foggy Foggy Dew," "Go Tell Aunt Rhody," "The Big Rock Candy Mountain" and I'm sure there were others. My cousin is coming to my dad's memorial and I had asked him if he would play some of these songs for us.  He said he would learn them, but that he doesn't sing.  So I figure that after the memorial we can go to the beach and sit around and sing the songs.

Project : Photo Album Scan

One of my goals this week was to work on scanning.  Right now I'm going through the photos from when we were first married and our OS was born.  I need to finish that album and keep moving on.

I had intended to work on the old pictures I had gotten from my cousin (a bunch of really old pictures ... my grandparents and their parents and maybe their grand parents ....).  Anyway, I thought I knew where the old pictures were, but when I looked for them this week, I couldn't find them so I'm working on the photo albums first.

Here are some of the pictures ..

 this was at our first apartment in Gaithersburg, Maryland

and at my parents' house ..

and this is Miss Katie ...

The 145th Running of the Kentucky Derby

So, #1 on my list this year was to attend the Kentucky Derby.  I don't know when I first started thinking about doing it, but we had decided it would be a fun thing to do.  I had hoped all the kids would come but it turned out to just be my YD and her husband.  Another friend (Jenn) and Nevada also came with us.
We flew into the Indianapolis airport on Thursday.. the flight was delayed two hours.  We then drove to Kentucky and stayed at the Hyatt in Louisville.

The day before the Derby is Kentucky Oaks -- it's a race with three-year old fillies.  Everyone wears pink.  Here's my YD and her husband ...

If I had known what it would be like, I would have gotten a pink something to wear ..

and now for Derby Day ...

  

my husband's bow tie -- I tied it.  You can tell a clip-on from a real one because the clip-ons are perfect -- this one is definitely not perfect!!

This was taken prior to the big race .. by then it was raining and kind of miserable.  We had clear ponchos to wear but got soaked anyway.

I highly recommend going, once, just for the experience. It was a wonderful time.  We did have some mint juleps .. (which I don't like at all) .. and here are the souvenir glasses to prove it.

Goals, etc.

I've been derelict in my blogging.  No posts in so very long.  One of my goals this year was to post two times a month, but that hasn't been happening.  I'm not sure what my problem is, but I'm hoping to get back on track.

my goals for this week are:

1. get shower gift for my YD
2. work on scan project (old pictures/letters/photo albums)
3. print songs for GPa's memorial
4. two blog posts
5. cut blocks for Baby James's quilt

Here's a picture of my baby (my YD) when she was a baby .. and now she's 30 and having one of her own.

Happy Birthday, Paul!

Just wanted to wish a very happy 77th birthday to Sir Paul McCartney .. we almost share a birthday.

Cheers!

Notre Dame

His Watch Begins ... 9.18.19

Happy Birthday ...

Today would have been my mother's 91st birthday. 

Here we are weaving together .. probably from 2004 ...

I miss her.