A Saturday Chat

We've been busy these past few weeks! You already know we've been celebrating birthdays, but also...

• We visited a water park along with three of the older grands. 
• I had tea and peach scones with a friend. (Thanks, Barbara!)
• Ron and I went out for a low key anniversary celebration which included coffee, a few errands, and dinner out...and ended with an oh-so-romantic stop at Walmart. :)
• My aunt and uncle treated Mom and me to a birthday lunch (thanks Robin and Tom!) and we came back to Pineapple House for lemon meringue pie.  
• Sarah and the children stayed after piano lessons (did I tell you that Bekah is teaching piano to her two nieces?) and joined us for lunch.
• My friend Joanne and I went for our monthly Mama Coffee date.
• We three girls and Mom met my sister Linda, my niece Amy, and my grand-nieces Isabel and Ivy for a day at the ocean. (And we had the most weather-perfect day of the summer!) (More on weather later.)
• The ladies of our church met for fellowship and prayer here at Pineapple House this morning. 

That was no one in our group, but it was fun to watch!

I have been tweaking house-y things. As in moving furniture from one room to another. 

Last Saturday morning, I had a thought. (That can be dangerous.)

What if...? I voiced my thought to Kati and Bekah. Since Dad has decided that he would like to make a reproduction step back cupboard, and since that will be a while (because Dad has a project list as long as his arm), and since I don't want to live with an empty space on that wall for the long term...what if we moved the jelly cupboard from the kitchen hallway to the dining room and the pie safe/school cabinet from the someday-library to the kitchen hallway and took out the school books and filled it with dishes...? 

Kati: "That might be good." 

And then she continued reading through her Facebook news feed... 

So I did what any house-y person would do. Started moving furniture!

Kati: Mom, are you moving that cabinet by yourself?! 

Of course, then she got up and the two of us pulled and hauled furniture and vacuumed and fetched dishes from the china closet down in the basement and unpacked one last box of dishes that we had missed before and decided on a display of white ironstone and yellow ware. For now. 

Still considering what to hang over the cabinet...

Today, I had my first pumpkin spice iced coffee of the season! Ahhhh...

I am ready for fall!

Mom and I discussing the weather...

MOM: It's only supposed to be 82 degrees on our beach day. I hope we're not chilly.

ME: Mom, 82 is not chilly. It sounds like the perfect beach day to me.

MOM: It's supposed to warm up again. It's going to be 90 on Friday, so at least it will be nice for my birthday.

ME (in my head): "Nice"?!!

What about you? What kind of temperature is "nice"? 

Sunday Snapshots: Crab Cakes Instead of Birthday Cake

 This weekend, we did not celebrate anyone's birthday! (What?) Having the birthday x 6 party last weekend made yesterday a "normal" Sunday, which we made into a simple summer seafood Sunday. 

Sound good? It certainly was! Daughter-in-law Sarah brought crab dip and corn-on-the-cob. Daughter Kristin brought potato salad and cole slaw. I made crab cakes. Yes, we had some good summer eating! (I enjoyed it all the more knowing that summer is winding down and that this brutal summer weather pattern is going to break this week. Whew!)

As we were preparing to eat, I realized that I, a life-long Maryland girl, had never shared my recipe for Maryland Crab Cakes! So I snatched one off the platter and took a quick picture while everyone was filling their plates.

MARYLAND CRAB CAKES

Ingredients:

1 pound crab meat

2 slices stale white bread, crusts removed

1 egg

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper

1 teaspoon dried parsley flakes

2 teaspoons Old Bay seasoning

1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

1 tablespoon mustard

1 tablespoon mayonnaise

1/2 stick butter, softened

Directions:

Cut bread into small cubes.

Combine all ingredients except the crab; mix well.

Very gently fold in crab, trying to keep meat in larger pieces.

Shape into cakes.
(The number of cakes depends on the size. I usually make 6 from this recipe.)

Chill cakes at least one hour.

Fry in hot shortening until brown on both sides. OR broil until golden brown.
(I prefer to broil. I set the broiler on high, put the pan of cakes on the bottom oven rack, and watch closely! It usually takes about 10 to 12 minutes.)

I didn't take many pictures yesterday. I guess I was enjoying the laid back, non-party afternoon. But I did pick up my camera when some of the kids were teaching the others to play Miss Mary Mack! 

Maddie teaching Eve

Maddie and Alaine

Paul wanted to play too! :)

Kati and Maddie. Their hands are a blur!

Aunt Bekah teaching Nora

Somebody messed up the words!

If you had to choose: Crab cakes or birthday cake? 

(My answer is crab cakes!)

And the Triple Birthday Party Grows...

Every August, we three celebrate our birthdays together with one "triple birthday" party. 

(I can't even remember when we started this tradition, but here are some of our past parties: 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, and 2015)

2016

But this year, the party grew...

and even though Ron had already had a BIG party

and even though Owen had celebrated his 10th birthday with a party at his house the day before,

we had decided that this year we'd celebrate ALL of the August birthdays together! 

So this year, these three gents joined the three ladies and we partied!

Because it fell right on the heels of Ron's party, and it was the day after Owen's party, and August is a busy month around here, we kept this one simple. (Sometimes, simple is best, don't you think?) Ron grilled hamburgers and hot dogs and we had some easy sides. 

I used some napkins that I have had in my stash (yes, I have a napkin stash) for several years. I love them, but hadn't had just the right occasion to use them. They are a design of folk artist Jane Wooster Scott and they are very summery and fun. 

The details don't show up well in this fuzzy photo, but you can get a better look here at Wooster Scott's site.

Of course, we had plenty of desserts. Nora (7) made brownies and I made a cheesecake per Ryan's request. And then there was the birthday cake. It was not simple. Mom made it and it was a show stopper! 

It was a grand time!

Birthday x 6! 

* Thanks to Kati for many of the photos!! 

Celebrating Sixty!

It was a milestone birthday 

and it has been a challenging year of illness and big changes. 

It seemed that there was much to celebrate, and so...

celebrate we did! 

Yes, Ron was turning sixty and we decided to throw a party. Kati thought it should be a surprise. I had my doubts that I could actually surprise someone I live with, but we gave it our best shot (it was even harder than I thought!), and it was a success! 

He was surprised! (Well, he was surprised until he turned into our street after a day out with his brother and brother-in-law and saw all the cars. But that still counts as a surprise, I think.)

While we waited for the birthday boy to arrive...

(Oops...I hadn't put the dill dip in the bowl when I took this pic.)

Surprise!!

photo by Bekah

photo by Pat*

Let's eat!

(I had lots of help with the meal. Thanks Mom, Kristin, Sarah, Eve, Gloria...and Kati and Bekah, of course!)

Baby Macie (7 months) reached out and grabbed the dinner roll right off her mama's plate! :)

photo by Pat

Papa with his ten grandchildren

"Children's children are the crown of old men." Proverbs 17:6

photo by Pat

We kept the guest list small. 

Well..."small" is a relative term when you consider we have 18 now in our immediate family. Plus our parents. And Ron is one of 8 siblings. And the brothers and sisters of our church fellowship are our family.

most photos by Pat

Ron with his mom and siblings

(One sister could not make it.)

photo by Pat

Kristin and her family

photo by Pat

Sweet cousins!

photo by Pat

Ryan's birthday was the day before the party, 

but he was working and we hadn't given him his present.

He is an entertaining gift-opener!

(The children LOVE it!)

Happy 60th birthday to the love of my life!

I can't believe we're as old as we are, but I thank God for every one of those 60 years!

But the godly will flourish like palm trees and grow strong like the cedars of Lebanon. For they are transplanted to the Lord's own house. They flourish in the courts of our God. Even in old age they will still produce fruit; they will remain vital and green. They will declare, "The Lord is just! He is my rock! There is no evil in Him!"

Psalm 92:12-14

* Huge thanks to my sister-in-law Pat who took many of the people photos! It is difficult to be hostess and photographer (most of my own photos were taken before the party began...or after most people had left!). But Pat is warm and vivacious and moved easily through the group, recording the moments. Thanks, Pat!