Monday's Much Needed Song of the Day (on Tuesday): Ain't No Other Man

On account of Chris and I being together for 21 years-we started dating officially on our graduation night, May 29th, 1990  . . .  and not that we haven't considered others, for sure, but, uh, I guess we're kinda addicted in some bad, but mostly good ways;)

Shower Time-dananana, nana, nana (To the Tune of Hammer Time)

Carmon Lindsey aka CJ

My beautiful littlest sister is getting married in four weeks and we wanted to have a pretty celebration in her honor. We held the shower this past Sunday at the home of the Hironagas. They are in Hawaii, visiting family, so we decorated for the shower Friday night, purchased food Saturday morning, continued decorating and cooking Saturday night, and Sunday afternoon. 

3:00 AM Saturday

My sister's punch of choice;)

With the onslaught of graduations, birthdays, car repairs, baptisms, school registrations, finding extra work and planning my sister's wedding,  I have been delirious. My kind and generous husband set aside two days to help me. Anyone who knows Chris, knows he LOVES to serve, so he tied on his black apron and kept the food and drinks flowing so I could participate a little bit in the festivities.

And Chloe, delirious herself with end of the year festivities and recitals hung in there like a champ, making paper flowers and tidying up as we went along. And Chris's mom showed up to 

help with last minute food and drink prep and brought a bunch of natural cheer along with her!

Bridesmaids

Tricia framed the invitation-so sweet!

Cake by Julia Wilde

The cake table

Famous artichoke dip w/secret ingredients:)
Chris says I should make triple

A few people had to go, but this is our group shot

We had fun playing games and getting to know John's side of the family. Laurie won a bottle of Shiraz for the What We have in Common game and Susan won a bottle of Sangria for having the most equipped purse. (Mother of six, ya know!)
I can't believe my CJ's getting married. I can't believe she actually trusts me to be in charge of the wedding-I am notoriously late for everything. But she said the shower gave her confidence and I think maybe it did for me, too. Four weeks from today, Carmoneda Joyce Lindsey will be Mrs. Carmon Watts. WOW!

Monday's Much Needed SONGS of the Day: Chaz's Graduation Slideshow:)

Our son graduated yesterday after 11 years of public school, 3 years of private school, and 2 years of home school. The ceremony was held at our church, where we decorated a table in his honor, shared a slideshow and said a few words. Chris and I didn't prepare anything but we weren't too worried about it for some reason.
Maybe we knew Chaz's life is so tied to our testimony, we've told his story too many times to draw a blank. How his birth drew us to Christ. How Chaz would challenge us in ways we could never have imagined and how he would teach and teach and teach us.
We are so very proud of our son.

Not yo Momma's Brownies!

Okay, so they aren't brownies at al,l that's just my crust on each piece brownie pan. Usually Chris makes poppers wrapped in bacon on the grill, but he worked two jobs yesterday and came home and made a ton of smothered home fries and we only had eight peppers left so I thought I'd try it in the oven like my my foodie friends did last week.
I don't have that cool metal grid and the cool pepper corer, though so what's a hungry girl to do? Use a knife and find something to keep them upright.
When the going gets hungry, the desperate get inventive. Sometimes "skinny" weeks are fun. But they are hardly ever truly skinny.

No worries, though. We had a quiche, too:)

Monday's Much Needed Song of the Day: Shake Me Down

Even on a cloudy day. Love the song. LOVE the video.