When Family Disappoints You

A few weeks back, my father-in-law texted my husband to say he was coming into town this past weekend.  Her told him he was arriving on Friday.  My husband offered up our guest room to him as well.

Thursday evening... we saw via Facebook that G (my father-in-law) was in town... a day early.  Apparently there was a function he attended for his grandson.

My husband is the youngest of five boys.  Three of the boys live with their families locally.  All three live in different towns in Rhode Island... no more than 15 minutes apart.

Friday evening... apparently the family minus US got together... again we saw this via Facebook.

Saturday afternoon... still not having heard from G, we headed out for a late lunch and some errands.  While I was at Home Goods and Chris and Maddie were at Best Buy, my husband received a text from his dad around 3 pm.  It went like this...

G - Are you up for a quick visit later tonight?

Chris - What time were you thinking?

G -  Not sure... sometime after dinner.

Chris - Can I get back to you? {We still had a few more errands to run and weren't certain when we would be back home... }

G - That's okay... maybe next time.

REALLY?  I was livid.  I was so sad for my husband.  I know he was let down and disappointed.  I know he felt like an after thought.  I know that his father was just trying to "stop by" to say he did it... not because he wanted to spend any quality time with us.  How are you okay as a "parent" to spend days with one child and his family and not even see your other son and his?

Having heard this, Madison hugged him and told him we still loved him.   It was a super sweet moment between the two of them.

I am not sure how you choose some of your children other than others... It is sad.  It makes me just love my husband even more.  My husband is an amazing father... even though his own father is a poor example.

Catching Up...

I haven't blogged in awhile.  I have been busy.  When I have free time I have been spending it doing things other than working on my blog.

Madison spent her spring break visiting my parents in Virgina.  She had a fabulous time.  She had a makeover - haircut, eyebrows waxed, manicure and pedicure while she was there.  She also went shopping with Grammy and picked out a bunch of new spring/summer clothes.  We are happy to have her back.

I am in a new position at work.  I am no longer working as a contractor, but am finally an actual employee of the company.  I received a small promotion and a small raise... which is good because I LOVE working from home and hope I can work for this company as long as I have to work. 

Madison planted tulips in the front yard.  On Monday she went outside and cut some for me to put in a vase.  They are beautiful.

We finally picked up our table from the place we ordered it from in Cape Cod.  We love it and have enjoyed three dinners so far at the new table.

I finished reading Catching Fire.  This morning I headed to Barnes and Noble right when they opened.  I picked up Fifty Shades of Grey and Mockingjay... and a passion fruit ice tea lemonade.  I have been reading a lot more lately.

This afternoon after work and school... these two had a short nap on the couch before dinner.  These two are definitely joined at the hip.

Madison turns 13 in October.  I am working on a book for her.  I am including 13 Life Lessons... since she is turning 13.  I plan on including stories from when she was little and stories from my own life, with things I want her to know and remember for the rest of her life.  I cannot wait to get it done.  I think it will be an amazing keepsake.   I cannot wait to share parts of it when it is completed.

I Went to the Baby Shower

I attended my cousin's baby shower on Sunday.   I was really sort of dreading it.  I am happy report I had a nice time.  It was a beautiful shower and the sadness I was anticipating wasn't there... thankfully.  About halfway through I sent a quick text to my husband to let him know I was okay and he responded with this super sweet text.

It helped that I chose the most beautiful baby gift ever.  My cousin originally pinned it on Pinterest. 

Source: etsy.com via Melissa on Pinterest

 As soon as I saw she pinned it, I called my mom and sister to see if they wanted to go in on it, and then  I contacted the etsy seller and placed an order.  The shop owner, Becky, was fabulous to work with and I was thoroughly impressed with the frame. 

{This is the one I ordered... custom designed with your choice of frame, background, and font}

This was a huge hit at the shower both with the mother-to-be and the guests.  I also included a copy of the fabulous book, Love You Forever the quote on the frame comes from.  My cousin was in near tears when she opened it and said she couldn't wait to go home to hang it on the wall.  I am so glad she loved it.  I cannot wait to place an order from The Sugared Plums on etsy for my own baby... soon.  If you are looking for a gift, check her out.  She has tons of sales and 100% feedback.

{She has no idea I am sharing this, I received no discount, credit, etc... I am just sharing a new etsy shop that I love}

It's OK...

 I am linking up {here}.

It's OK to make your husband a homemade strawberry birthday cake but to ice it with canned vanilla frosting because that is what he requested.

It's OK to let your guest bedroom look like a bomb went off in it, until the day before your mother flies in.  I can always do some major cleaning before a house guest.

It's OK to not really love having house guests.

It's OK to be dreading the baby shower you are going to on Sunday... the one you said you weren't attending. 

It's OK to forget to buy your husband a birthday present and to pick him up a gift card at the CVS by your house the day before.

It's OK to be totally annoyed... every single day... with a co-worker.

It's OK to let your kid stay home from school so she can go with you to pick up her grandmother at the airport.

Miscellany Monday

I am linking up for Miscellany Monday.

1. The Best Easter Yet

We had such a fabulous day from beginning to end. We did Easter baskets when we woke up... and even might have had a peanut butte egg for breakfast.  Afterwards we picked up my mother in law and we took her to lunch at Not Your Average Joe's.  We had a fabulous, but very non traditional meal... which included Rhode Island Calamari, for an appetizer,  Chicken Enchiladas with Poblano Crema for me, Mediterranean Chicken for my mother in law, a pork chop dish for my husband, grilled cheese for Maddie, and Hot Apple Cinnamon Sticks for dessert.   The service and the food was excellent and we really enjoyed ourselves.   I was so glad I decided not to stress about making a big meal and to just treat ourselves to an Easter meal out.

2. Hunger Games

I started reading the Hunger Games Friday morning in the car on our way to Maine.  I finished it Saturday evening.  So on Sunday after lunch, we dropped my mother in law off, and headed to the movies. All three of us enjoyed the movie.  Madison is trying to convince Chris to read the book.  I am hoping to move on to Catching Fire very soon.

3. Bloom

My book arrived Saturday evening.  I started it last night...and enjoyed it with a little cup of peanut m&ms.  I got well over 100 pages read.  I cried.  I love how the photos add so much to the story.  I cannot wait to read more this evening.  

Insta Friday

We are in the car heading to Maine to visit my husband's grandma. I'm bringing her a loaf of iced lemon poundcake I made last night. So far we've stopped at Dunkin Donuts, where I had their new sun dried tomato bagel. It was excellent. I've read two chapters in Hunger Games... and I'm about to read a few more. I entered a blog giveaway and checked Instagram, Facebook, my email, and my Google Reader all from my iPhone... which makes car trips fun. Here are some photos from this past week... of my baking from this week and an Instagram canvas I made for my mom.

Lauren's Baptism Brunch

In mid-March, Madison and I drove to New Jersey to visit my friend, Erin and her family.  We went to celebrate Erin's daughter's baptism.  I helped Erin with the food and cupcakes for the event.

{Madison playing with Lauren}

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{The food table}


Erin and I worked on the menu and in the end we served the following to the guests -

buttermilk pancakes, French toast wedges in a cup, chicken salad croissant sandwiches (recipe to follow), turkey and mozzarella croissant sandwiches, fruit salad, sausage breakfast casserole, bagels with cream cheese, cheeseball with crackers, strawberry and French vanilla cupcakes with buttercream frosting, orange juice and lemonade.

My chicken salad recipe is pretty simple.

Ingredients -

-2 cans white meat canned chicken OR 3-4 cooked and diced boneless chicken breasts

-1 cup chopped celery

-1/2 cup mayonaise

-1 small cup plain Greek yogurt

-salt and pepper to taste

Directions -

Mix all together, chill for several hours or overnight.  Serve on your choice of bread.  I prefer using the diced boneless skinless chicken breasts, but Erin enjoys it with the canned chickek; so it's all about what you prefer.



{Friends - Aliah, Erin, Althea, and Me.  We all met through an online moms group... many years ago and then become real life friends too.  This is a great group of ladies.}

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{Madison feeding Lauren}

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{The cupcakes - straawberry and French vanilla... both with buttercream and toppers I made} using scrapbook paper and toothpicks}

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{French toast wedges in cups}

{Chicken salad sandwiches}

{Turkey and mozazarella sandwiches}

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{The cupcakes display}

Spring PINspiration

I am have been pinning lots of fun Easter and spring things.  Here are a few of my favorites.

These Smores/Peeps treat bags are adorable.

Source: confetti.typepad.com via Melissa on Pinterest

I am pretty sure this veggie/bread bunny tray would be a huge hit on Easter.

Source: mixingbowl.com via Melissa on Pinterest

These Cadbury creme egg brownies look great.

Source: loveandoliveoil.com via Melissa on Pinterest

I really need to make some of this bunny bark.

Source: yourhomebasedmom.com via Melissa on Pinterest

Jungle Birth Announcement Printable

I made this print for my friend Valerie's new baby, Joel.  However instead of posting it here with all of his information, I made a "sample" one to share here.  His looks exactly the same, expect it has his personal information on it. It will go perfectly with his jungle themed nursery. 

 I sent it to Walgreens to be printed and cannot wait to frame it and mail it to her to hang on his wall.  I added it to my Etsy shop, if anyone is interested.  You can find it here.   You can customize it. It comes as a JPG file to be printed as an 8x10.  You can use coupon code APRIL12 to take 30% off anything in my little shop for the entire month of April.

I Think I've Lost My Mind

Last night I ordered some free 8x10 photos from Walgreens.  The normal Walgreens I go to wasn't offering the online print ordering last night, so I sent my order to another one in a nearby town. 

This afternoon when Madison came home from school we went grocery shopping.  Afterwards we headed to CVS.  I walked into CVS, up to the counter, and gave the guy my last  name.  He looked and looked for my photos, but couldn't find them.  He called a manager over to help him. 

It was around this time when I realized I was standing in CVS and not Walgreens.  Feeling like a huge moron, I told him I was going to look around while they looked.  I then booked it to my car and over to Walgreens. 

I am a mess.

BUSY Weekend...

We have been pretty busy since Friday.  In no particular order... this is what we have been up to -

Madison saw and loved the Hunger Games movie with her book club at school.

We had lunch at Red Robin... went shopping at Target... and then went to Trader Joe's.

We watched Jack & Jill and Captain America.

We watched Fashion Police (on E... Joan Rivers is a hysterical mess) and The Soup.

I worked on Saturday for a few hours.

I bought two bouquets of flowers - irises and tulips.

I finished my shopping for Madison's Easter basket.

I worked on some Pinterest insprired crafts.

I made buffalo chicken dip. 

We went out for Mexican.  I had my first margarita in months.

We went to Michaels.

I assembled and packaged an Easter treat box for my niece and nephew.

I bought some baby boy outfits, ordered some personalized burp cloths on etsy, and made a fabulous birth announcement print for a friend who gave birth over the weekend.

I paid bills and did laundry.

We were approved for a new car loan.