50 and Fabulous

April 15, 2011

My oldest sister had a milestone birthday this year. She turned the big 5-0.

Yes – that is an entire half of a century.

And being the really good sister that I am – always so supportive <wink> – I thought she might need some guidance on how someone of her new social standing should dress. :)

I figured that I just might be an expert on that – after all I grew up watching Lawrence Welk every Saturday night!

DressEverybody knows that the well-dressed 50 year old wears polyester!

So I found her three lovely house dresses for spring in a rainbow of pastel colors designed to compliment the gray in her hair.

And since I never do anything halfheartedly – I also added 2 lovely brooches to accessorize.

Dress 2And my oldest sister – always a good sport – modeled one for us.

Now doesn’t she look smashing in the blue floral with the black handbag?

I do think we need to be looking for a sturdy shoe with arch supports – or maybe some canvas Keds like my grandma always wore. :)

Seriously – although we like to kid each other – she has always been a model to me – and not just how to rock a polyester house dress!

Being the oldest, she was the first to graduate, the first to go off to college, the first to get married, have children, home school.

She’s modeled how to be a wife and a mother. I’ve watched her launch her sons – one at a time – and stand back to let them fly.

She’s shown me how to make my faith real and how to breathe hospitality as  she ministers to the steady flow of young people through her home.

She truly is 50 and fabulous and I’m blessed to have her.

I only hope that in a few very short years when I reach this milestone for myself – that I can be as gracious and lovely as she is (and that she has forgotten this little polyester incident!)

Happy birthday Bee – I love you!

By Country Gal | Posted in Deep Thoughts, Family Traditions, Memories | Tagged , , | Comments (5)

White Elephant Bingo

April 6, 2011

Can I share just one more tradition from our Remix celebration? (Boy can we cram a lot of them in one short weekend!)

We had a hoot playing White Elephant Bingo!

Bingo Fun

The rules are simple.

Everybody brings a wrapped white elephant gift. One person is the designated “caller” – everyone else can play with as many Bingo cards as they wish.

Whenever you get a Bingo – you choose a gift from the vast assortment on the table – or you can take a gift from someone else. Then that person needs to pick another one from the table – or take one from someone else which means that person now needs to pick another one from the table or from someone else which means… well… you get the picture!

Presents

It gets pretty wild toward the end as multiple people are getting Bingos at once! We play until someone gets a black-out. Then we take turns opening our “gifts”.

It’s interesting that when you don’t know what’s inside a present – you pick according to the wrapping.

For awhile a nicely wrapped gift with a toy chicken on top was a hot commodity.  Lovey (age 5) was thrilled when she ended up with it – at least until she opened it. The tire gauge and fancy bath soaps just didn’t thrill her!

PosterPedro was pretty excited about his gift – a poster showing airline barf bags from around the world.  Yes – I’m serious – barf bags.  No – it is NOT going in his room.

It was amazing how often the perfect gift went to the perfect person. My musical niece got a set of old Broadway Songs on cassette. (I hope she knows what a cassette player is!) :)

Remember Butter Buns? She got a vintage movie camera – one that actually uses film. I bet she already has it taken apart or has figured out to use it!

Then there’s my nephew TJ. This guy really needs a wife.

gifts

I’m sure the romantic super-sized heart candle and the Joe Cool sunglasses will help immensely – don’t you think?!

Buddy was very excited when he ended up with the pirate gift bag – and was even more happy to find it full of Burger King and McDonald’s Happy Meal toys.

Some gifts just keep on giving.

Poor Jan got a brand new how-to golf video (circa 1987) that we had brought the year before!

GiftsIt’s amazing the fun you can have with a garage sale Bingo game and everybody’s junk!

But then in my crazy family – it doesn’t take much to make memory!

By Country Gal | Posted in Family Traditions, Memories | Tagged , , , | Comments (3)

Birthday Blessings

February 16, 2011

I celebrated a birthday yesterday. :)

(But I won’t tell you which one! My husband keeps track of that for me – it involves numbers and you know I don’t like numbers – especially when you have to borrow in subtraction!)

The numbers don’t matter anyway – you know the saying, “Count your life by smiles not tears, count your age by friends, not years.”

If that’s true – then after the last few days – I must be very old – and blessed!

The surprises started on Sunday when a sweet friend walked into church carrying a chocolate almond cheesecake for me!

chocolate almond cheesecake

Dorothy – the amazing cheesecake fairy – left me speechless. Trust me – that doesn’t happen very often! It tasted just as wonderful as it looks! (And yes – I shared!)

That just got the ball rolling!

The birthday fun started at breakfast with hot, fresh chocolate strawberry scones. <contented sigh>

And continued with the e-cards and Facebook messages that kept flowing in all day- so many of them chocolate-covered! Including the one from my friend Cinnamon who informed me that all chocolate eaten on my birthday has NO calories.  Now that’s a true friend!

All though there were a few I questioned – like the one from my niece Mel who said,” Happy birthday Auntie M!!! Hope you have an exciting…wait, when you are – however old you are now – I suppose you prefer relaxing…second try! I hope you have relaxing, fun and chocolate filled birthday.”

So you think I’m old – huh, Mel?

Good thing she doesn’t know that I spent part of my birthday afternoon sitting on the couch reading.

Yes. Reading.

In the middle of the afternoon.

On a Tuesday.

It was wonderful!

Meanwhile in the kitchen, Dagmar was preparing a scrumptious Mexican feast for my party – including chimichangas with enough heat to burn out my sinus’s and enough fat to close up every artery. Fabulous!

And of course, Mommy’s traditional Chocolate Cheesecake Pie for dessert.

Mom's Birthday

(By the way – for those of you still trying to figure out my age – the candles are not a clue! The girls used up the only pink candles we had left because they knew it was my favorite color!)

After the birthday pie there were presents – all of which were surprises!

And you want to know the best gift of all? I went an entire day without doing any dishes at all! :)

My sister Becky wrote in her card to me, “Hope your love tank gets filled to overflowing!”

Oh – it did!

Pressed down, shaken together, and running over!

I feel so blessed.

By Country Gal | Posted in Chocolate, Community, Family Traditions, Friends | Tagged , , | Comments (8)

If It’s Important to Him…

February 4, 2011

We have snow. Lots of snow. And around here snow means one thing – cross-country skiing.

If you would have told me when I was in high school that I would ever strap wooden sticks to my legs and propel myself across frozen ground – I would have laughed in your face.

I’m not athletic. I hated gym class. I’m not even sure I like winter. I know for sure that I don’t like to be cold.

But my mom gave each of her daughters some wonderful advice when we got engaged. “Learn to love what your husband loves so you can share it together”.

SkiSo I did.

I married a Eagle Scout with Scandinavian blood running through his veins.  His boy scout troop used to strap packs on their backs and ski into the Sierra Nevada mountains, set up winter camp and ski back down the next day.

He loves skiing like a fish loves to swim.

So I learned. Ski 2It wasn’t easy.

It still isn’t. But my husband loves the fact that I worked hard to learn something I knew nothing about – just so I could spend more time with him.

Now – whenever the weather cooperates – we have a standing date when he gets home from work. We strap on our skis and head out on the trails around the property.

I wasn’t the only sister to heed mom’s advice.

My oldest sister married a high school coach and had 4 strapping sons before she saw any pink . She learned baseball inside and out.

My next sister married a guy who loves snowmobiling. I mean really loves snowmobiling. She bought a snowmobile suit and learned to cheer when the drifts started to pile up.

My youngest sister learned farming – tractors, seeds, fertilizer, planters, combines & commodity prices.  She works her schedule around planting and harvest because she knows it’s something her husband loves.

And my mom – she didn’t just give us advise – she lived it. She can bait a hook, cast a line, and land the big one with the best of them. She’s had over 50 years of fishing trips with my dad.

If it’s important to him – make it important to you.

By Country Gal | Posted in Family Traditions, Home Making, Winter | Tagged , , | Comments (9)

The Celebration Continues!

December 28, 2010

Christmas may be over – but the celebration continues here!

My sister -in – law Julie and her 2 boys are spending the week with us. It’s a week we all look forward to because they are so fun to have around.

The boys will keep themselves busy building Legos, playing the Wii and out sledding in the snow.

Meanwhile we girls will be hanging out with Aunt Julie.

Just saying that makes me smile – because Aunt Julie is really fun to hang out with.

We’ll be watching a movie when she will suddenly sit up and say, “Do you what would taste really good right now?” And the next thing we know we’re eating strawberries dipped in sour cream and brown sugar – or eating a brownie covered with ice cream and hot fudge.

Yeah – she’s pretty fun to have around!

Do you remember the week that we had my three special nieces? Julie was here the whole week to help. She even brought meals.

Do you remember the epic one day Vacation Bible School we hosted last summer? Julie was here the entire week before to help us set up. She even taught a lesson, made the curtains for the puppet theater and created a dolphin puppet.

But we have no big projects this week. Oh no. The next few days will be spent relaxing and enjoying.

We’ll watch movies, drink hot chocolate, eat lots of goodies, and check out our favorite thrift stores.

We’ll play games, work out, go cross country skiing, and laugh – a lot.

But most importantly – we’ll make some memories!

So the celebration continues…

 

 

 

By Country Gal | Posted in Family Traditions, Friends | Tagged , , | Comments (7)