Why hello, Gathering the Moments! Long time, no see!
Although it has been ages since I have Gathered the Moments, March seems like the right month to jump back in. There has been lots of activity in March, most of it undocumented unless I take a bit of time to gather and record. So here goes . . .
Don't let the appearance of forsythia and daffodils fool you. March has been
cold! And rainy. And windy. And even a bit snowy. March came in like a lion . . . and it's been lion-ish most of the way!
One good thing about the cold: soup! I've been trying to make everyone's favorites before warm weather sets in. We've had taco soup (that was on a Sunday and it is Gavin's favorite), cream cheese chicken soup (Bekah's fave), sausage bean chowder (Kati's), and vegetable beef (Ron's). I love them all!
March was a month for new!
Some bargains . . .
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a few treasures from an antiquing jaunt
and some new luncheon plates from HomeGoods |
some free . . .
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| some new-to-me dishes from my aunt |
some
not . . .
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new primitive wall sconces
(This is my third attempt at getting this wall "right.") |
and some long-considered, long-awaited. My new camera arrived this week and, although I have lots to learn, I am so excited!
March was the month for
Clue!
Bekah (Miss Scarlet), Gavin (Colonel Mustard), and Maddie (Mrs. White) attended an 18th mystery-themed birthday party for one of their friends. All of the guests were in costume and we had great fun looking at all of the photos posted on Facebook.
Pineapple House was the scene for several gatherings this month.
We hosted a dinner party for the Fashionably Late Dinner Club, also known as the FLDC. (We love our name. 😉) For dinner, we had a pasta bar; one family brought a big delicious salad, and the other brought yummy homemade sourdough bread. In our group, there are six parents, four young adults, four children under the age of six, which makes for lots of action and snippets of conversation, but we always have a great time together. It had been quite a while since we last gathered, so there was much catching up.
Of course, I neglected to take any photos of my guests, but I did get a quick shot of the desserts on the sideboard.
The very next day was the
retirement party for my dad.
When two different groups of people try to coordinate dates to get together, and then those dates just happen to fall on the same weekend . . . well, you just make it work! One of the ways I made it work was to have the same basic menu. I had made large batches of spaghetti sauce and Alfredo sauce, so we repeated the pasta bar. I had made a loaf of French bread earlier in the week. Everybody else pitched in with salads and rolls and mac-and-cheese for the kiddos. We had a whole pie left over from our FLDC dinner and we served that along with the cake.
I always take photos of family gatherings. They forgive me. You can see some of them ~
here~.
Also this month, Kati and I also hosted a ladies' game night (the same night that the kids went to the Clue party). We often serve dinner at our game nights, but it was a busy month and so we simplified. Better to simplify than to miss the opportunity, right? We had three kinds of cookies, and coffee and tea.
And lots of great conversation and laughter and rollicking fun with our games! It was such a pleasant evening!
(And again, no guest photos, even though I had left my camera in plain sight.)
March was also full of ordinary moments. But are they really ordinary? They are the moments that make up our days and our months and our lives . . .
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| Bekah found a note from the past in her math book! It's always fun to connect with a sibling across the years! |
What you don't see:
Piano lessons and choir practice.
Sweet coffee chats.
Sinus headaches.
Decisions.
Doctor's appointments.
Changes of plans.
Change. Always change.
Rides/coffee/car convos.
Singing hymns together.
New friends.
Tentative steps.
The
best hugs from grandchildren.
Lunch with old friends.
All are a part of this life we've been given.
Looking back, as I gather the moments of March . . . He is there.
He is always there.
