::tea party - the food::

I really let Lily help me this time.  I made myself uncomfortable and let her really do things.  Like roll the marshmallows in the sprinkles.  I was not totally comfortable with it.  But I did it.  And it made her so happy.  And I am so glad I loosened up at least a little and got to spend some fun time with her.

Now...

For the food!!!

I tried to hold myself back.

I tried to not overwhelm myself with complicated baking that would frustrate me and take up tons of my time.  Damn you Annie's Eats - you make it look so easy.  

Plus the "bakery" area of my local Walmart always looks pretty darn good.  I am a Target snob at heart, but my empty wallet forces me to become a Walmart shopper.  And the bakery stuff is good.  Promise.  (But you must go to People of Walmart, I have submitted pictures of people I have seen before)

At the bakery section I got

Three kinds of mini cupcakes - red velvet, chocolate chip cookie, and chocolate.  Pretty little things.  $2.50 each kind for one dozen = $7

Three kinds of cookies - sugar cookies, chocolate chip dunkers, and mini snowballs.

$2 each = $6

I also got chocolate covered pretzels - because they look pretty. $3

Last I bought some fancy looking swiss rolls and cut them into fourths. $2.50

We then left the bakery area and got:

Brownie mix with chocolate icing $3.75

Cheez-it's for something salty $3.50

These weirdo little marshmallow candies called "Mallo-Licious" that are shaped like ice cream cones (Now that I actually write that they do seem a little weird) $2

Fruit - the watermelon looked good so I bought one and cut it is half to make a bowl.  The rest of the fruit was just what ever looked good.  Then I put the girls in charge of putting them onto toothpicks to make them look fancy. $16 total but we will be happy to eat the left overs

I made rice crispy treats and used a cookie cutter to cut them into flower shapes.  Then I added a little bit of melted candy on top.  But that wasn't enough so I pulled out my handy sprinkles and finished it off.  $4.30

Chocolate covered strawberry's $5

Chocolate covered strawberry marshmallows $4

    Plus sucker sticks just because I like them $2

Drinks were pink lemonade at 68 cents a 2L

    But I only bought two!!!!  What was I thinking!  Hannah came out all day Friday to help me prep.  She pointed out the error of my 2 2L logic and hooked me up with more drinkage.

Raspberry tea $2.24

Total food budget: under $65

And beer for me. 

::tea party treat bag::

I always get carried away with treat bags.

Totally carried away.

But I managed to keep myself somewhat under control for the tea party.

I kept saying - this is not a birthday party, just a fun party.  Chill OUT.

So I came up with this.

A white lunch bag with the top folder over and punched to add interest.

Tied to the outside are sunflower seeds.

Inside the girls take home the cup that they will decorate at the party.

 

Total cost:  

     Seeds - $.20

     Bag - $.05

     Tissue - $.05

     Cup - $.50 (50% off at Goodwill)

80 CENTS PER BAG!!!!  

My lowest total ever!!!!

The kids will also take home the paper hats and paper dolls that they will make

STAY TUNED FOR THE TEA PARTY PICTURES~!

 

 

::junior high is a big deal::

The junior high dance is a big deal -

To Emma. 

I was called over to her mothers house as the photographer.  

I accepted my mission.

Chucks always go with a formal event.

Josh wouldn't even look at her. 

Starting to crack...

Cracked.

Random poppy that just looked too pretty to not take pictures of. 

Luna was a big help.  

Not at all actually. 

Some day soon I will be taking junior high pictures of this kid.

Gulp.

I totally get the fact that I didn't give birth to this kid.

But I choose her.

I choose to marry her Dad.

And I was so in love with this little kid, too.

I love the little tween she has become.  

::look at my melons::

 Melon puns all summer long!!!  That what you have to look forward to!

Seriously.  It's time to plant the summer crops.

Josh retilled my new orchard garden and I got to work.

 Lily happily played with the worms.

What a little farm kid.

 

I am big in to sticks as garden tools.  In this case I used them to mark my rows.

Then I used the tape measure were my melon mounds would be. 

 I marked the location of the mounds with more sticks. 

 Then I went back and made the mounds at the markers.  

I then placed one stick in the middle of each mound. 

HEAVY grass clippings mulch finished it off.

The only problem is that Josh said it looks like a puppy graveyard (90% of the reason he said that was to get me to have a reaction, which I did).  But those melons better come up fast because it does sort of look like a small animal graveyard.  Just a little too "Pet Cemetery" for me.

 

 Then these babies finally got their home.

Josh retilled this row too.  We dug holes about two times the size of the plants, filled it with peat moss, and planted my pretty berries.

I REALLY HOPE THEY DON'T DIE.

Which is my fear with everything I plant.  

Heavy grass mulch on these pretties has them all tucked in.  

Two down, MANY more to go. 

See my two little raspberries?  On each side of the monster wild raspberry that Josh wanted to transplant in?  We will see how that all goes.  This is all a big experiment and I really have ZERO idea what I am doing with the raspberries. 

::best mothers day gift ever - a sukkah::

 Look what Josh made me!

 So I can stare at this.

Which will shortly be covered with fruits and veggies.

I came up for the idea of the log gazebo last year, but I wasn't sure how to do it.

Good thing my personal Jack of all trades knew how to build it.

(Because the ideas I had for it, would have blown down)

It took me a good half hour just to agonize over were to put it.  

The spot we finally decided on had a dying old pine tree that need to come down.  

We decided it's stump will be the base of a table that will be built soon.

 

 He started measuring all these crazy things and making X's on the ground with paint. 

 

Max thought he was very helpful.

See the puppy?  It's like a Waldo picture.

He dug the corner post four foot deep.

Then out came the tree,

I have been FORBIDDEN to learn how to use the chain saw.

If you know me then you can see why.

I can't cut an apple with out needing stitches.

 This is my reflection from the bottom of once of the corner posts.

The frame is 14 foot on each side.

These tree's were some trees on part of the property that had to be cut down, so they got upcycled.

When he first put them in they were crazy tall and had to be cut to size.  

He notched them with his chain saw so the next layer would fit.  Like a Lincoln Log.

Then he did the same thing to the next layer.
Today he will drill in metal dowels and rope to secure the corners. 

AMAZING start.

Now we are going to use a few more branches across the top and some wire to make a grid for GRAPES to grow on.  

And we need to trim down that center stump and build the table 

(I am thinking round and BIG).

What do people suggest for the flooring?  Think CHEAP. 

We could decide, is it an arbor, a gazebo, and trestle.  What's the difference?

My best friend Hannah came over last night.  She is Jewish and when she saw this she called it a sukkah(soo-ca).  Which is an outdoor structure that you eat under the stars in.  It has something to do with the 40 years that the Jews wondered the desert and had to eat outside.  She called it a sukkah all night, so that is now what we are calling it.  The name suits it.    

Total cost - $0.00  






 

 

::the new goats::

WE PICKED UP THE NEW BABIES!!!

Meet Bubble Gum.

A pygmy doe. 

This is her picture shortly after she was born.

Here she is her first day at my place. 

 Isn't she SO cute!

 Here is a newborn picture of her twin sister, Violet.  

And her she is now.  Love her.  

 This is Alfonzy's newborn picture.  

And here he is getting held against his will.

 

AREN'T THEY SO CUTE!!!