Grab Your Umbrella...

Today we had a surprise baby shower for the Donahue family after fellowship! They are expecting their first girl so we all got to pull out the pinks and frilly fun that only a baby girl can bring!

Mom and I were in charge of bringing a batch of pink cupcakes.

Church was at the Kilpatrick's home today, and Mrs. Kilpatrick and her daughter Hannah did such a beautiful job with the decorations for the shower! The table was set with pink candles, flowers, a pink tablecloth, and winding silver beads. It looked very elegant. Mrs. Donahue was certainly surprised when she walked in this morning to a room decorated in her honor!

The young ladies' end of the table

During lunch, we played cute baby games. First we had to hold a little Easter egg full of ice, and the lady that had her "water break" first won. :) Then we were all given diaper pins to wear and whoever crossed their legs got theirs taken away (since pregnant ladies usually are unable to cross their legs:). After lunch, we joined the men and played some other hilarious games.

This looks rather interesting, doesn't it? For this game, everyone had to try to draw a baby on the back of a plate...on their heads without looking! This game was my favorite. :)

Mrs. Donahue then chose which picture she thought looked the most like a baby.

Philip won with this drawing! We also played a game where we each had a word taped to our backs that had to do with child birth. We had to then go around and ask each other questions about our word, and the first person to guess their word won. Meredith won this one! Yay!

Looking at each other's wedding pictures

After games, Mrs. Donahue got to open presents for baby Mary Elizabeth! Hannah came up with a great idea for a gift basket, and Meredith and I helped her get items and put it all together.

This afghan was crocheted by Micah and is so beautiful! She did a wonderful job! I love the edges of it...they look like lace. Micah, I need you to teach me how to crochet so beautifully! :)

Here is the little project I've been working on this past week. I made a little Regency dress for Mary Elizabeth using a pattern from Sense and Sensibility. I had so much fun making it, and I hope she will enjoy wearing it!

Well, after that part, my camera ran out of batteries! Arg! Well, Mrs. Donahue received many beautiful dresses, frilly clothes, blankets, toys, and baby necessities for her new little one, and all of the ladies got to "ooh" and "ahh" over all of the adorable girly things. We had such a wonderful time today and hope the Donahue family was as blessed with this shower as we were blessed giving it! ~Alli

A Very Chocolaty Birthday

Today is Mom's birthday! Because today was a special day, she was treated like a queen, of course! Instead of cake, we thought we'd try a new dessert for a treat after her birthday dinner. I decided to try making little chocolate bowls with chocolate mousse inside... a dieter's nightmare! I had seen some fancy chef make this dessert on a cooking show and I have been longing to make it because it looks so elegant!

Okay, I got off to a rough start. :) In order to make the chocolate bowls, you melt chocolate and then dip an inflated balloon in it to make the bowl shape. When it hardens in the refrigerator, you pop the balloon and...voila! Well, I was not thinking and dipped a balloon in piping hot chocolate fresh out of the microwave! KABOOM! There was chocolate all over the kitchen! I think I still have some in my hair. :) So, if you want to make this dessert, please make sure your chocolate has cooled!
To make the mousse: Whip a carton of whipping cream with a mixer or a whisk (the chef held three whisks together and whisked the cream making it go a lot faster!), melt some chocolate in a separate bowl (I used a bar of Baker's chocolate), then pour the whipped cream, a little bit at a time, into the melted chocolate. The chef added a scoop of whipped cream to the chocolate first to temper it and cool it down a little bit before adding the rest. Then you fold it together...not too much or the whipped cream will loose its fluffiness. Then, I scooped the mousse into a plastic baggie, snipped a corner, and piped it into the chocolate bowls. We had raspberries sprinkled on ours, but you could also use strawberries.
Mom's bowl :)

Oh another thing...if I were going to make this recipe again, I would make the bowls a lot smaller! This is a really rich dessert! It was very good though, and it is a recipe that is definitely going in the recipe box. :) The "queen" enjoyed it! Happy birthday Mom! We love you!

Happy Birthday Papa!

To our dear Dad...We wish you a happy birthday today. From your gals and guys, kids and grand kids....We love you very much! Have a great day....Love Julie

Happy Retirement Nan!

Yesterday, we celebrated Nan's retirement. She has worked hard for many years and now gets to kick back and enjoy her life.

All of us kids chipped in to get her something that she has always wanted......Yes we are looking forward to getting fatter now that she has her mixer...She promises she will start with whole grain breads and then the cookies. Happy Retirement Nan! We love you very much!~Your Kids

A Baby Shower Tea

Last month, Meredith and I were asked by the ladies in our church to be in charge of planning and catering a baby shower for the lovely Mrs. Prueitt! This was my first time coordinating anything, and I cannot tell you how much fun this was! Mere and I spent these last few weeks organizing our ideas, shopping for supplies, cooking, baking, and getting it all finished for the shower this past Saturday. The theme we picked for Mrs. Pruiett's shower was a ladies' luncheon/tea (notice the hats in the above picture :) ).

Here is a picture of the main dining table. We were so happy to have Meredith's grandma with us this past weekend! She beautifully arranged all of the flowers for the tea making the whole setting very elegant and tea-like. :) She even pressed dainty flowers from her own garden in between each plate...they looked beautiful! Also on the table was a place card for each guest, a folded lavender napkin (folded beautifully by Mere's brothers, Elliot and Oliver:) ), and a little bootie filled with dinner mints. Since the Pruiett family is expecting a little girl, we incorporated a lot of different shades of lavenders and pinks into our decorations. On Friday, Meredith and I prepared the dishes that we were going to serve. On the menu was chicken salad and croissants, turkey and spinach pinwheels, pasta salad, cheese and crackers, a vegetable platter, and fresh watermelon. On the day of the shower, we set everything out and made some very pink strawberry punch to go with the iced tea and water.

Once everyone had arrived, Mrs. Alexander shared some thoughts of encouragement and a lovely prayer for Mrs. Pruiett. She shared from Psalm 128 and I was really encouraged with these verses: "Your wife shall be like a fruitful vine within your house, your children like olive plants around your table. Behold for thus shall the man be blessed who fears the Lord." (vs.3,4) Mrs. Alexander encouraged us who were not yet married to continue to fear the Lord and trust Him with the size of our future families. The Pruiett's are expecting their sixth child, and it is a beautiful thing to see God's blessing on their family as they continue to seek the Lord's will for their lives.

After lunch, all of the ladies picked up their chairs and relocated to the living room for baby games! We had asked each lady and young lady to bring a baby picture of themselves for a guessing game. It was called "A Face Only Mama Could Love." Everyone had to guess who was in each picture, and it was tough! Hannah Girotti got the most right! We also played a measuring game where each guest had to cut a piece of yarn to wrap around Mrs. Pruiett, and whoever was closest to the actual size of her waist won. Mrs. Winter and another young lady came the closest.
Once the games had been played, the ladies gathered around to open baby gifts. Everyone say "Awwwww!". :) Mrs. Pruiett's daughters, Isabelle and Noelle (pictured here), are both excited about their new baby sister!While the presents were being opened, Meredith and I were busy clearing the main table while preparing for dessert and tea.
For dessert, we decided to make a New York-style cheesecake, a German Chocolate cheesecake, lemon bars, and chocolate covered strawberries. We also had the Winter girls make some chocolate chip cookies as well.
Here is a picture of the tea table. Meredith and I thought the mismatched teacups atop doilies and plates added charm to the table. :)

Time for tea!


Here I am with Sarah and Hannah Girotti, Meredith, Noelle, and Isabelle. I thoroughly enjoyed being able to see the Girotti family again!

Planning this baby shower was such a wonderful experience for me! But the real encouragement came when I saw everyone fellowshipping and celebrating together as we anticipate God's newest blessing in the Pruiett family. ~Alli

A Birthday Dinner

On Saturday, we headed over to Nan and Bernie's home for dinner and to have a belated birthday celebration for Philip. Uncle Tony, Aunt Rhonda, and the kids were also there to join in the festivities. We had such a great time! Here is the birthday boy pictured with Eric, Sarah, Jack, Emily, and myself.

Silly picture. :)

After dinner, Philip, Eric, and I showed the kids how to make card houses. This creation was built by Jack, Sarah, and Eric after dinner. Passersby had to tip-toe to keep their masterpiece from collapsing. :)

After Nan's delicious meal, we were stuffed full! However, we were not too full for some birthday cake of course. :) After the 19 candles were blown out, we all enjoyed Uncle's wonderful chocolate cake that he made! There were so many candles, several eyes were watering from all of the smoke. :) We hope you had a wonderful birthday Phil! ~Alli

Happy Birthday Philip!

Happy 19th birthday Phil! You're growing up too quickly! For his birthday dinner, we ate at his all-time favorite restaurant...Red Lobster. After his seafood feast, Mom and Dad surprised him by having the whole Red Lobster staff sing "Happy Birthday" to him when dessert was brought out. How embarrassing...but fun!

We love you!!!!

Pictures At Last!

Well, we finally figured out how to post pictures on our blog with the laptop! I know it has been a week since Philip's graduation, but we still wanted to share about his special day since it was definitely one to remember. :)

We could not have asked for a better day to celebrate for Phil's graduation. Our family and church family gathered under our oak tree for Sunday worship, and we had a small graduation ceremony afterwards. We were so thankful to have our family come and worship with us! It made the day even more special! After worship, Dad and Mom stepped forward to say a few words about their graduating son. Also, Dad had asked Mr. Donahue and Philip's good friend Eli to say a few words as well. The ceremony was very moving and contained much encouragement and advice for Philip as he begins his new journey in life. After Eli, Mr. Donahue, and Dad had shared, Philip came forward and thanked everyone who had invested in his life during his years growing up. The speech was beautiful and caused many to tear up. :) Once he had finished and Dad had given him his diploma, he threw his hat in the air. It was official...he had graduated from home school!
Once the ceremony came to a close, the women immediately began to busily prepare for the banquet lunch. We were also extremely blessed to be able to visit with the Girotti family! They drove all the way from the beautiful mountains of VA to join us for worship and fellowship. Here I am with Meredith, Hannah, and Sarah. The lovely Girotti family!

Here are some of the ladies as they enjoy sweet conversation with each other. Mom and I could not have managed without the hospitable hands of these girls! Here I am pictured with (left to right) Ashley, Nicole, Hannah, Meredith, and Sarah.
Philip and Eli

Dad, Mr. Jones, Eli, and Jonathan enjoyed picking some tunes after the meal.

The ladies oohed and ahhed over both Sarah's and Hannah's quilting projects. Sarah brought the quilt that she had just finished, and Hannah showed us her sweet baby quilt that she had made. Meredith and I were so encouraged to see their projects because we are currently still working on our quilts. Thank you Hannah and Sarah for sharing with us!
Here are some very proud parents! We had such a wonderful time of celebrating and visiting last Sunday. Congratulations Philip for graduating into a new season of your life! We are very excited to see what the Lord has done already and what He is going to do through you! ~Alli

HAPPY GRADUATION PHILIP

A happy graduation to our middle child Philip. He has worked very hard over the years to reach this point. We are so proud of him. Not only with his academic success but most importantly, his character. He is a joy to our family. We love you Philip and congratulations! ~Mom