The "Turned Tassel" Bash

The RSVPs were tallied.


The house was clean.


Food was prepared.


The Maine Coons went into hiding. (How do our cats always sense that company is coming over at least 45 minutes before the doorbell actually rings?)


It was time to uncork the bubbly! We were DEFINITELY ready to celebrate our recent graduate's accomplishments.


I snapped a few photos prior to the first guests' arrival. I think Martha Stewart would approve. 

The menu consisted of: mini pulled pork sandwiches, bacon-wrapped chicken stuffed with jalapeño strips and cream cheese, caramel-nut brie, mini quiche, spanakopita, meatballs, salami and cheese platter, veggies and dip, deviled eggs, punch, sparkling cider, champagne, red and white libations, and water. For dessert, there were two decadent cakes from Central Market Bakery and (Pepperidge Farms) Pirouettes. Our celebrant is a ballerina.



We had planned food for forty people, and I think the final count was at 36, so it all worked out perfectly.

I almost forgot about the Edible Arrangement for the table's centerpiece, complete with the year "2012" spelled out in pineapple cutouts. Very tasteful indeed.

The story you are about to see is true; the names have been changed to protect the innocent... 

The diploma really does have a complete first name. It's not just  A.

Of course, there had to be roses and stargazer lilies, as these are a favorite of all three Smith girls. These flowers smell even better than they look. 

Our graduate girlie had to decide which pair of shoes to wear for the big event. 

Decisions, Decisions...

Eeny, meeny, miney, mo?

Eeny won.

 If the shoe fits, wear it. So she did -- with a little black dress.

I attempted to get pictures of all of our guests, but somehow managed to miss a few -- quite a few, actually. I'll share a few of the smiles:

 Tia and Liesey

The glad grad, Claire, Kaytlynn, and Isabel

 Millie, Olivia, and Katie

 SuJean, Luke, and Lane

 The Thomsons minus one plus one Smith

 Jim Tom and Diana with a very happy girl

 Miss Claire got artsy with the confetti. Too cute!

The girls went to see The Avengers after the reception was wrapped up, but I think our graduate was a little embarrassed to drive her car. 


I'm responsible for the graffiti, and I think it looks classy!

Artsy Fartsy Award

Our youngest Smithling was awarded the Outstanding Achievement in Art award. (I could insert a random thought about Millie's brush with greatness making me bristle with pride, but I won't... But I already did, didn't I?! Oh, well! The "badder" the pun, the better?) There were only two students who received art awards, so this is quite an honor. 

Go ahead and draw your own conclusions, but we think this young lady is a masterful work of art!

"For we are God's masterpiece, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do."  - Ephesians 2:10

GLADuation

The Lone Star Christian Academy proudly announces the addition of one more alumnus to its list of distinguished graduates. The count is now up to TWO. 

CONGRATULATIONS, Liesey Lou!

Yep, she's in a class all her own -- quite literally.

Senior Shoot

My intentions were good. It just didn't happen -- all school year long. Obviously, it's been a busy year.

Somehow we neglected to get an appointment scheduled with a professional photographer for senior portraits. Aren't senior pictures traditionally taken during the fall semester? And now the school year is pretty much over. Our SENIOR graduates on May 12th!

After an impromptu outing (almost in our literal backyard), we managed to get a few poses that capture our grad's personality, and best of all, there was no sitting fee. :-)  I took just over 100 shots, and ended up with several really nice pictures. Well, to be honest, there wasn't a bad one in the bunch. Don't worry, I am only sharing a few. Enjoy!

  As an added bonus, I snapped a sister shot. Two-for-one!

 My fav.

San Antonio Strollin'

"Now I'll sing it to you

Just so we both can do

That ol' San Antonio stroll..."

I won't be singing to you, but I will write about our weekend trek to San Antonio. And I'll share a photo, or two, or three.

On Thursday night, we got the idea to take a road trip. Spontaneity can be fun -- especially when all of the details fall neatly into place.


We booked our room at the Embassy Suites Riverwalk and set our tentative agenda for fun and adventure in the Alamo City. Mr. Smith and I decided that we should spring Millie from school early on Friday. She had two tests in the morning, but her afternoon workload was very light -- perfect for skipping school. When we went to her school to get her, the office staff didn't even question why we were taking her out of school early. That was easy! 


The other two Smithlings were free from school, dance, and work obligations on both Friday and Saturday. (Well, one of the Smithlings had to miss a ballet class and rehearsal on Saturday morning... Oh, well!) Thankfully, Mr. S. only had a few things to cross off his Friday morning work to-do list. We packed, loaded up the family car, and hit the road.

¡Ay, caramba!

This was my first trek to this historic and culturally-rich city. Little did we know that our mini vacation was on the opening weekend of "Fiesta." The sights, sounds, and smells made for sensory overload. It was hard to take it all in. 

The Riverwalk was busy, too, but far less crowded than the area where the Fiesta events were taking place. Strolling along the meandering walkways was much more relaxing than being pushed and shoved in a large crowd.

 Dinner and song at "Republic of Texas" 

Millie booted me from my usual behind-the-camera location, so I am in at least ONE photograph from this outing.


On Saturday morning, we walked about four blocks from our hotel to the Alamo. There was a ceremony taking place to commemorate the 176th anniversary of the Battle of San Jacinto. This was the decisive battle of the Texas Revolution where the battle cry, "Remember the Alamo!" was used by Sam Houston and his troops as they defeated General Santa Ana.

Bagpipes at the Alamo? Apparently there were three Scots killed by the Mexican troops at the The Battle of the Alamo, so the pipes are being played in their honor at this memorial ceremony.

This is Miss Millie's filtered view of the Alamo.

Here's my shot at capturing the Alamo -- in a digital kind of way.

I love the smiling (and not-so-smiley) faces in the picture. I'm not positive, but the guy in the Mexican officer's uniform might have been sucking on lemons. It looks that way, any way. Or maybe he's asleep on his feet. Aside from sour expressions, the funniest thing is the sign for the Crockett Motel in the upper right corner of this pic. From this vantage point, it almost appears as if the Alamo is the Crockett Motel. I am sure the King of the Wild Frontier would be soooo pleased to know that a no-tell motel bears his name.

Our seventh grade student has been studying Texas history this year, so the trip to see San Antonio landmarks was timely. Not only did she know all about the historic battle that took place here, she also knew details about FDR and his WPA-built projects. The Riverwalk was constructed from 1939-1941 as a WPA project. So there's your mini history lesson for the day. ;-) 


Don't fret, there will not be a pop quiz.

Oh, yum! These are truly delicious shortbread crackers. Legend has it that Crockett, Bowie, and Travis had these gems stocked in the Alamo pantry at all times.

Riverwalkers

 Yes, I made my husband stop the car alongside a two-lane highway just so I could get this photo.

We took the scenic route back home, driving through Fredricksburg. We will definitely need to make a trip back there at a later date. There are shops, wineries, German eateries, cute B&Bs, and some interesting looking museums to explore.

This road trip certainly proved to be quite productive, as my eldest daughter even found her knight in shining armor in Fredricksburg. So this must be what a long, tall Texan looks like, sans the ten-gallon hat.

A-Tisket A-Tasket

Pysanky in a basket

Yes, all of our eggs are in one basket.

Is it really true that it's better an egg today than a hen tomorrow? Or that all the goodness of a good egg cannot make up for the badness of a bad one?

There is no shortage of egg puns, egg jokes and sayings, that's for sure. And there has been no shortage of egg yolks and whites around here this past weekend as the Smith girls decorated eggs, Ukrainian-style. Although I didn't create my own ovoid decoration, I was right there with the girls, egging them on. The end results are beautiful! 

We used a cool tool, Blas-fix egg blower (see below), to empty the whites and yolk from the shell, so we saved the egg "guts" to be used later. 

When life gives eggs, make quiche. So I did. 

Easter brunch was tasty. 

Q: Why did the egg hide? 

A: He was a little chicken.

More good eggs:

I decided to play around with changing the color images to black and white.

The older the Smithlings get, the more difficult it becomes to get a picture of the three of them all looking at the camera and smiling at the same time. I took at least twenty pictures in order to get one decent pose.

 Sisters!

These Peeps didn't mind posing for the camera, and it only took one shot to get this picture. ;-) But try as I might, I could not get them to crack a smile.

I'll bet you didn't know that each Easter, Americans eat around 700,000,000 Peeps. The most popular color is yellow, followed by pink. I didn't know those details until I did a little research on Just Born, Inc., the candy maker who is responsible for cranking out Peeps for every major holiday. Not only are there Peep chicks, there are bunnies, stars, pumpkins, ghosts, black cats, snowmen, reindeer, Christmas trees, hearts, and bears. Enough already! I am sure I've missed a shape or two in there, but you get the idea.


I am not Peep eater. It doesn't matter what shape they are in.

I very much dislike Peeps, but I have to buy them to honor Grandma Florence. When the kids were little, Mr. Smith's mother would include multiple packages of Peeps in her Eastertime care package. (I think she preferred to use Peep packing material over styrofoam popcorn. Peeps might actually have a little more flavor than styrofoam, but I've never done a side-by-side taste test.) Often times, the price to ship the big box from OK to CA cost more than the value of the contents inside the box, but that didn't matter. It was such a treat to see all of the goodies she lovingly packed for her grandchildren.  If the Peeps would have been absent from the Easter box, the kids would have definitely noticed. Traditions.


Years ago, when they were too young to know any better, the Smith kids actually ate Peeps raw, right out of the package. Peep consumption proves the point that sugar junkies will eat almost anything to get a quick buzz. I really hate to throw things away, but I have no problem tossing unopened Peeps in the rubbish bin. Have I mentioned my great disdain for Peeps?


As the Smithlings got older, instead of tossing our Peeps directly in the garbage, we'd put 'em in the microwave. After taking a spin in the nukebox for a few seconds, those lil' guys really transform. In my opinion, this is DEFINITELY one food item that it's okay to play with. At the 11-second mark, the marshmallow chicks get really puffy and BIG. After removing the Peeps from the microwave, they deflate in about two seconds flat. Microwaving a Peep does absolutely nothing to improve its taste or texture. On the upside, the deflated, gooey globs of sugar take up less space in the trash can than they do in their original form.

You are no doubt thinking that I am a wasteful person. And a Peep hater. I actually bought Peeps this year just so I could throw them away. Aside from their use as a decoration or for entertainment purposes, I really do wish there was something worthwhile one could do with those cute, yellow, marshmallow chicks. Believe me, I've tried to come up with ways to use and actually enjoy eating a Peep.


Many years back, I melted the sugary chicks and bunnies to make Rice Krispie treats for the kids. The results? The treats were edible, but they had a grainy texture from the coarse sugar coating. We've also tried putting Peeps in hot chocolate and we've made s'mores with a Peep on the inside. It's just not worth the effort. I'll stick with traditional marshmallows for s'more production.


What about the nutrition facts?
One serving of 5 Chicks = 140 calories and 34g of sugar. Oh, and 1g of protein (I certainly wouldn't want to overlook that fact.) For 140 calories, I'd much prefer dark chocolatey (at least 65% Cacao) yumminess. Scharffen Berger, Ghiradelli, Trader Joe's, or Green & Black's will do nicely.


Perhaps the one redeeming quality of this Eastertime favorite is the name. "Peeps" is cute.


"What's in a name? That which we call a Peep
By any other name would "taste" as sickening sweet."
(My apologies to Mr. Shakespeare.)

If you want to know what I'm up to this week, you'll likely find me just chillin' wif ma Peeps and the microwave -- at least until trash day.

Scrambled Eggs

It was a lot of fun volunteering to help with an Easter Egg Scramble that "our" church, Compass Christian Church Roanoke, hosted. Best of all, this eggcellent event was located at the church's new property, which is located about one mile from our house, right at the entrance of our neighborhood. (There are plans to build on the vacant 11 acres within the next year, or two. In the meantime, our church will keep meeting each Sunday at a middle school auditorium.) Mr. Smith and I rode the tandem to get to the eggstravaganza -- no flats or mechanical issues -- so it was a successful first biking outing of the season. 

There were 10,000 eggs filled with goodies that the participants scrambled to collect, along with face painting, relay races, four inflatable slides/bounce houses, many volunteers, and countless visitors. Toss in picture perfect weather, and it all added up to a very fun morning.

 Robyn and Luna

 These two little girls reminded me of two other little girls who used to dress alike... Sigh!

 Michelle, Camille, and Rachel

After all of the youngsters had gone home, these two not-so-little boys just had to race one another. Boys will be boys, regardless of age or size!

Time for a little R&R, now that the work is done... 

Fifty-three

Accordion to the calendar, it was time for a party!

 "...Happy Birthday, dear Daddy. Happy Birthday to you!"

Miss Millie created a very difficult scavenger hunt for her daddy, so she had to give him some additional clues along the way to expedite the process. When the kids were little, Mr. Smith used to make crazy scavenger hunts for them to find their birthday present, so I guess it's payback time. All in good fun!

The sign from the last location of the b-day boy's scavenger hunt may have ended up on my nose, but I was not the gift. Although this it is definitely not a flattering image, I think it's really funny, so it gets to stay; however, I will not be using it as a profile picture on Facebook. HA!

Jemima was the next victim to receive the sign. She was not amused.

Mr. Smith received several funny cards, but the best one is the accordion one. It sorta, kinda looks like Smitty when he was a wee lil' wanna-be Myron Floren who was just learning to play the squeezebox.

We couldn't quite fit 53 candles on the carrot cake. It's quality, not quantity, right?

Make a wish!

A Mane to Dye For

My youngest Smithling has a great sense of humor, a lot of creativity, and a sassy purple 'do!

Millie Girl "dyed" her hair purple -- just for today. 

Okay, okay... She didn't change her color for real; she colored her locks in a virtual kind of way. It's April Fool's Day.  Remember?

See, she's back to normal. Whew!

I am grateful for my daughter's photoshop skills so she didn't have to really damage her lovely blonde tresses just to pull off an April 1st prank. This girlie may be silly, but she is definitely no fool. :-)