March Birthday ’16

He requested Dutch Apple Pie which is no surprise as I know it is a favorite.  I pulled out the copy of Grandma Lizzie’s recipe but doubled the crumb topping and probably added more apples.  They cook down, right?  And I didn’t want a few left in the bag!

(I’ve used various recipes for Dutch Apple pie over our married life but none of them are ever as good as Grandma Lizzie’s!  I said that was because she put in grandma love which I can’t do!  He has good memories of her and another cousin has confirmed what a good cook she was!  But usually w/o a recipe so who knows how much she used the recipe I have that is labeled as hers!)

Thankfully I had a pan underneath to catch the drips near the end of cooking.

Yummy!!

We went to Miss K’s to get a good and new dinner out on Sunday.  She suggested a BBQ place where she had been before.  It was cold & rainy from the time we left home until the time we got back home!  So our idea of walking around wasn’t so grand.  She drove to lunch ~

Dino’s BBQ.   Yummy and fun decor!

I really thought a pre-order for Easter dinner cooked by them, picked up & delivered home by Miss K would have been lovely!!  🙂  I’m sure the in-laws wouldn’t have enjoyed as much as the rest of us.  It was a fun idea for me to dream!

Time together needs a photo!  Love these times!!

After lunch, we thought we’d help get her groceries for the week and have extra hands for carrying but the parking lot was full and the rain was strong so we skipped that and headed to a new ice cream shoppe near her house.  Yummy!  This new ice cream habit I’ve developed isn’t a good idea!!

JP sent a 4′ T-square and a new fangled tape measure and he will put them to good use on our flooring project!

Miss K had new shirts for him for spring & summer.  She is great at getting all of us new clothes!

Read Full Post »

Designer Hats

Miss K asked for 2 days off… just because!  Can you imagine?  🙂   It was so fun doing projects and shopping with her during this little visit as there was no holiday to celebrate while she was here.

She & I have new handmade faux fur hats!  I love mine!!  It is super warm.  So warm that I have now been known to say I’m getting hot in the car.  In case you forgot, it is cold here!!

Hot pink lining is oh-so-happy to see!

I think we make a lovely silhouette.  🙂

 

Read Full Post »

Winter Birthday

We made a trip to the city to celebrate the joy that Miss K adds to our lives.  Good golly, the mother never forgets THAT day, now 28 years past, and remembers it like it was yesterday.  She came so quickly, so pretty, so alert, so quiet.  She swooned the nurses from the get-go.  Delightful!

Dinner at a favorite smokehouse.

We tried shopping but the first snow of the season for the city was hitting very cold roads and making skating rinks out of every piece of black pavement.  Too many were sliding through intersections and we really didn’t like that sort of activity even after we tried it too!

Read Full Post »

He & Me

Along Lake Michigan —

Oh… but we’ve been hacked and you have to see father & daughter first….  😉

And this little brick church seemed like a great backdrop too….

Read Full Post »

Lake Ladies

I’m usually the one behind the camera but he offered.  I think/thought/there could be a setting on my camera for overly bright sunshine.  However, I’m pretty sure what I chose on Sunday was not it.  However, I think the photos are fun nonetheless.

FAV Photo!

Read Full Post »

Green

So I sent Miss K a text before we left and before she went to church saying I had on a teal top, what was she wearing as I could change.  She said she was wearing green so that would be fine.  (Sunday is her only day to wear a color besides white, gray, or black and knowing we like the same colors, finally thought I’d check as I knew I’d take photos.)

No….. didn’t match one bit….

Read Full Post »

Smokehouse

We had plans to visit with Miss K on Sunday and she offered 2 choices for lunch once we arrived.  Phil read the menu for the BBQ Smokehouse and thought this sounded pretty good to try.  It was sort of a hole-in-the-wall and K wasn’t too thrilled w/ going to it the first time alone so it was a good place for us to take her.   (neighborhood-wise… they are dead but trying to revive and from what we noticed… it is coming back)

AMAZING!  STUNNING!  FANTASTIC! YUMMY!!   Words just don’t describe it!  I wish I had smell-o-vision for you.  🙂

Not a hole-in-the-wall but very nice, friendly, and clean inside.

We were at a long table with benches and this was our centerpiece.  Silverware wrapped in bandannas for napkins and a selection of about 5 different sauces to try.

Very pro-farmer theme of decor…..

Plus our drinking glasses were wide-mouth pint Mason jars.

Very yummy real meat for the food!

Phil had 1/2# sausage with a “taster” of ribs and each meal came with SMOKED chips (yum!) and coleslaw.  Served on those old serving trays like PSB used to have.  Cute!  K ordered the 1/2# of pulled pork and a side of the cornbread custard for the 2 of us to share…. drizzled with honey.  Yum!  I had the beef brisket sandwich w/ provolone cheese — YUMYUM!!  The meat was only smoked, tender, high-quality.

Our food bill was only $31 and we were so full.

This photo isn’t cropped for my TX friends & cousin.  It is full-frame so my mother can be so proud of me for standing on the bench for a photo op.  😀

But is this not cute hanging the flags on pallets to the brick wall?

Phil needed metric hex wrenches/hexes/whatever type of tool to take apart K’s futon.   Two doors down was a True Value that seemed safe in a group setting.  It was wonderful.  Nice, helpful, clean, and just like the old True Value in our downtown…. wobbly floors!

Read Full Post »

Birthday Meet-Up

We have found that meeting Miss K 1/2 hr from her house, saves us the worst part of the traffic, is really a short ride for her, and not too long for us at about 1 1/2 hrs on our side.

For her birthday, we met there at a big mall.   She had found a restaurant she’d like to go to and we met there just before noon.  After a YUMMY slow & leisurely lunch with great conversation, we moved to a bench in the mall to chat and people watch.  Really for the 2nd Sunday before Christmas, it wasn’t busy!

I made them give me a photo.  🙂

Because I had K make our reservations, she told them it wasn’t a special occasion!  Hmpf!  She would melt into the floor, as would her father, if anyone had come to sing to her.

Earlier we had Amazon ship her a ribbonwork book (out of print but borrowed frequently from the library by K) and a cast iron Dutch oven.   She was thrilled.

Sunday is her day for church, laundry, grocery shopping, and cooking for the week.  So since I was messing with her only day off, I had several meals in freezer bowls for her as well as a bag of chili.  Plus we always make sure she orders more food than normal so she has extra to take home.  We made a few stops outside the mall but that traffic was horrendous, it was drizzly and cold, so we all headed back to our homes.  K still got some things done and we weren’t gone too late for Phil to get chores done in a timely manner.

She keeps having wonderful birthdays making it harder for me to claim that I’m really 29!  She still won’t pass me for a couple of years.  😉

Read Full Post »

Long Weekend

Never have we noticed the long weekends as much as now that we have a daughter affected by the extra day.  She comes home to see us!   JP was busy drumming at church on Saturday and Sunday.  K arrived later Saturday night as she had late appointments that day.

While JP was gone on Sunday a.m., the 3 of us went out for a breakfast buffet.  (He doesn’t like to go.)   So yummy and we all ate too much food!  I asked for photos after eating.

Phil’s first idea was ….

As we drove around town, K wanted photos at this old school building.  We both loved the peeling paint on the columns.  🙂

We had a bonfire with hot dogs & marshmallows Sunday night, watched several thunderstorms MISS us 😦 , dyed fabric, made cinnamon rolls & the caramel version, and she spent time with the kitties.

She and her new kitty headed back this afternoon….

So far, all is well.  We’ll see how much sleep they get tonight!

Read Full Post »

Mother’s Day 2012

We took Phil’s parents to see K’s stomping ground on Sunday.   After a tour of her apartment, we had lunch, and then drove to where she works for an outside view.

And once we were home and exhausted, I begged to get a photo with JP for my day as well.

I have GREAT kids!!  ♥

Read Full Post »