Happy Anniversary

...to my dear husband.  

Thank you.  

For your patience when I am frustrated.  

For your knowledge where I lack.  

For knowing when to bite your tongue and when to pinch my rear.  

For your leadership and strength.  

For your humor.  

For your appreciation of my cooking.  

And for choking it down anyways when its not the greatest.

For your loyalty and dedication - to people and to tasks.

For being a great provider.  

For all the tears your broad shoulders have absorbed.

For standing tall beside me when I have made points that hit a nerve 

with others and stirred an angry response.

For making sure I know that no matter what we are always together.

For our two precious babies.

And for being the father to them that I hoped to find.

For knowing when to wrap me in your arms 

and when to give me some time to pull myself together.

For making me always feel desired and beautiful.

For standing with me even when I am in the wrong.

For being the first to apologize when I find it hard to start.

For holding me together when I want to fall to pieces.

For driving me to be a better me.

For knowing when to argue it out and when to 

just let me slam the door and go throw buckets at the barn wall.

For knowing when its time for a family tickle fight.

For letting me interrupt.

And listening even when I know you're ears are ringing.

For starting each day and ending each night with "I love you."

For making me have fun when I would focus on the "to-do" list.

For pitching in when you see I'm drowning.

For making sure you always kiss our babies good-bye every single time.

For the teamwork.

For loving me.

At 13 years of marriage, I think we have hit our stride.

Love you more.

A Game for a Country Setting

Croquet - a throwback game that is fun for the whole family.  It is a physical game that will get everyone off the couch.  But its a physical game that even my great-grandma had 2 hip replacements and 2 knee replacements and walked with a walker and she could still play this game with us when we were kids.

The girls at my daughter's birthday party had never seen it or played before but they caught on quickly and had a great time.  Even the ones who were losing by far had a lot of fun cheering on the others and trying to get to each little hoop.

Tea Party Table Setting - For the Dolls

Just a couple more tea party things - I promise!  The girls had so much fun I just had too many things to share with all of you, haha.  If you haven't seen the rest of the posts about my daughter's tea party birthday, just put tea party in the search box and you'll find all kinds of recipes for food, drinks and desserts, a birthday cake idea, and even tips on creating a beautiful table setting.

Guest Hosting - Sweet Saturday Link Party!

Happy Friday!  

And can I tell you I am SO happy it is Friday this week - 

so happy I thought yesterday was Friday 

all the way up until I was driving the kids to school 

and they were discussing what day it was 

and I realized it was only Thursday...

Boy that was a long day!  :)

<a href="http://jessica-healthymommyhealthybaby.blogspot.com/" target="_blank"><img src="<" target="_blank"> />" alt="Healthy Mommy Healthy Baby" width="125" height="125" /></a>

I know I have bombarded you with tea party posts from the Princess' birthday.

Thanks for hanging with me and I hope you enjoyed them. 

Now, I have a fun change of pace and another first for my little country blog - 

I am guest hosting Sweet Saturday's with 
Jessica at Healthy Mommy, Healthy Baby! 

Go check her out - lots of great healthy recipes like 

Whole Wheat Mango-Honey Pancakes

and blogging about life with a toddler 

(yes, the adorable little sweetie pie below).  
Thanks so much to Jessica for the opportunity!

So here are the very simple rules for this link party:

1. Link up something sweet to really WOW us all - your blog, Etsy store, Pinterest, Facebook, anything goes and link up as many times as you want! 

2. Please follow me and the hostess, Jessica at Healthy Mommy, Healthy Baby. Leave us a comment if you are a new follower so we can follow you back!

3. Visit a few other links and it would be kind if you would leave them a comment. 

4. Grab the Sweet Saturday button above for your blog and encourage your followers to link up too (not required, but it would be nice!).

Thanks for joining us for Sweet Saturday!

Tea Party Table Settings - For the Girls

One of the most fun parts of a tea party is the table. 

 It doesn't have to be complicated and mix-and-match settings look just as nice 

(I prefer them) as settings that perfectly matched. 

 There are lots of fun things out there to add to the fun of your table whether you are hosting a tea party for your girlfriends or little girls. Tea parties are fun any time of the day too - and the food is typically small portions so you can splurge on things you might not be able to afford to provide for a bigger party. The best tea parties are about 4-8 guests so there is plenty of time to chat all around the same table. 

 The first thing is to chose your setting. A beautiful porch or shady spot in the garden is perfect when the weather is nice. 

Weekend Wrap-Up

It was definitely a weekend of high's and low's as we enter into the busy fall here in Michigan.  We started bright and early at the local farmer's market and a run to the dollar store where we found all kinds of fun Halloween things for our annual family reunion.

Dropped the munchkins off to spend the night with my mom and headed to a funeral visitation for the father of my best girl friend.  We had not realized how sick he had been over the past year with cancer and an assortment of complications.  It is sad to realize we have come to an age where we will be losing more and more of our parents and grandparents.  We have been fortunate to have very healthy families and the majority of those who passed away even from health complications had lived very long lives.

After that, we headed off to Grand Rapids for a wedding in a most unique location - John Ball Park Zoo!

Farm Market Finds & Hidden Values

You just can't beat your local farm market for quality and value.  For less than $35, I scored all this beautiful goodness.  6 mini pumpkins, 12 heirloom tomatoes, 8 cups of chopped rhubarb, 2 bags of homemade egg noodles, olive oil dipping sauce mix, a candy bar, 2 maple flowers, a pint of honey, a quart of green tomato salsa, 3 eggplants, 10 potatoes, sunflower seeds, and a bouquet of fresh cut flowers in a cute little vase.

Then there were the priceless values.  The time alone with my daughter to discuss and admire the goods.  Giving her practice with her math skills and speaking up to place an order.  Teaching her to evaluate value and price (who has the best looking of each product and who is offering something we don't find anywhere else).  Teaching her to try new things - like the salsa and weird colored tomatoes and eggplant (how many 9-year-olds like eggplant?).  The support we provided to our local community and economy.  Lessons on diversity.

Tea Party Treats - Dainty Sandwiches

Heart Sandwiches
1 block cream cheese, softened
1 tbsp preserves or jam (I used my homemade strawberry freezer jam)
fresh raspberries, halved or fresh strawberries, sliced thinly
white bread/wheat bread
sprinkles (optional)

Cut the bread into the desired shapes, such as the hearts I used here.  Beat together the cream cheese and jam until well combined.  Add more jam if needed to reach desired color and flavor.  Spread a thin layer on each piece of bread.  Top with fresh raspberries or strawberries and sprinkles.  Serve immediately.

Tea Party Treats - Blueberry Sparkle Punch

This beautiful and unique drink was probably the most popular item of the party.  These adorable little jelly jar glasses belonged to an aunt who used to serve me with them every time I visited and they added just the right touch to the table.  We took the leftover sprinkles from our other tea party treats and combined them in one little dish to make a special sprinkle mix.  Each jelly jar was dipped in water, then in sprinkles and left to dry for a few minutes.  Then in each glass, I added a squeeze each of fresh lemon and lime, a drop of blue food coloring, and a small handful of frozen blueberries.  Then I added caffeine-free lemon-lime soda pop to each glass.  No need to stir as the fizz will do the work for you and the blueberries will keep the punch cold. I used the leftovers to make a batch for the adults in a pitcher.  They added just the right splash of color to the table.

Tea Party Treats - Pink Hot Chocolate

1/2 cup white chocolate chips
2 cups whole or 2% milk
maraschino cherry juice

Melt together in a saucepan until chocolate is melted and cocoa is hot but not boiling.  Pour into a carafe to keep hot.  If this gets too cold it will form a thin skim of white chocolate on the surface - reheating will fix this.

Provide guests with maraschino cherries or these beautiful specialty marshmallows filled with chocolate.  I found these at the grocery store with the regular marshmallows in a small bag for $1.  This was a popular drink with the girls.