Pictures of The Dinner Party

Luke took most of these pictures and boy, there are some good ones!

Unfortunately, once the guests got here we didn't pull out the camera again, except when Luke grabbed it to photograph the second course... :P which was, IMHO, the best course of the meal. But I'll tell what all we ate later in this post.

A closeup of my lovely flower arrangement - the blue flowers are irises. The iris is the official flower of the 25th wedding anniversary :D The pink roses and other pink touches are b/c that's as close as I could get to the color that Tim and Susie had at their wedding.

Decorations in the bathroom even - now that's living in high style! :D

Tim's place setting. I made a place card for each person, and wrote the meaning of their name on it. Such poetic names. Did you know 'Susie' means 'Lily'?

love these pictures :D

Daniel was not sure what to do with all the different silverware, lol. Daniel is a fun person to have at any party, and I just love Hannah - I'm really glad they got to come. It was a special night.

i loved putting flowers everywhere!

our serving table, before we put out the appetizers and the 'wine' (okay, sparkling grape juice :D ) We also had our iced tea and ice water on this table for refills - very convenient!

I made corsages and boutonnieres for all of us to wear. Daniel had, ahem, a little trouble with his :D

I

Luke and I (mostly Luke) emptied the living room/dining room of most furniture. It looks so spacious. I love it! I miss my chair and a half (shoved in the guest room with everything else), but an emptier room with space to move is so much more peaceful!

In this pic, we're about ready for the party :D Just waiting until a bit later to put out the appetizers and turn out the lights. We had the music going - Daniel Kleefeld's 'sail into the wind' - my family's classic dinner music. It was playing most of the day, actually. It's soothing, and you can imagine that helped me :D

the first course - appetizers :D I was pleased with how these turned out. Stuffed cherry tomatoes, cucumber curls with dill dip (I used the same dip) and a few cheddar cheese hearts to decorate the plate. The cucumbers looked like little calla lilies, I thought. Also, there was shrimp and my own recipe of cocktail sauce that Luke likes so much (I invented it for our anniversary this year). I don't care for shrimp, but I think everyone else really liked it b/c it was all gone!

I was proud of my romantic little hearts. This was the second course - Bruschetta and Cream of Mushroom soup! mmmm.... I could eat a meal of just that!

After that came the interim - strawberry-lemon sorbet, served in bowls made of lemon (the rind, that is), as the palate cleanser. There's some left over, and it's calling me...

Then (once it finally was done!) the main course - everyone had a half of a roasted lemon-leek Cornish Hen served in the middle of a bunch of roasted red potatoes, with butter and sour cream, and garlic bread for those who wanted it... I'm making myself hungry! The hens were okay, but not super, and they were barely done after a lot of extra cooking time. The potatoes were less done than I like, and that was after pulling them out late. But it was okay. We just talked between the sorbet and the main course and since we'd eaten so much already, no one was starving for dinner at that point.

Then for dessert, coffee or milk (can you believe that of all the Hobbses, Susie and I are the only ones who like coffee?!) and devil dogs. Those devil dogs gave me fits b/c they were sloppily done and carelessly packed, so that the fudge topping came off of them when I tried to remove them from their (too short) containers. What a mess, and NOT the elegant dessert I was expecting. Luke picked them up from the store, and good thing too b/c if *I* had gone, I might have either had a fit or cried right in Harps! But since they were already there, I had nothing to do but make do. Fortunately, I was ahead of schedule when Luke brought the dessert, so I had time to find a solution to my ugly dessert problem. I called mommy and she suggested melting chocolate chips and some coconut oil and pouring that over them. So I scraped them out of their containers, smoothed out the fudge topping, and followed mom's advice. Then I melted some white chocolate chips and blended that into the milk chocolate in swirls... turned out well :D

While we ate dinner and on into dessert, Tim and Susie told the story of how they met and fell in love - my favorite part of the night :D

Mostly Susie told the story and Tim sat back looking full, like he looks after a good sunday meal :D

Then they helped us clean a little (despite my protests) and left. then we started the dishwasher and went to bed :D

Nice back you have there, Algie dearie!

This morning, I rolled from my right side onto my back (I'd been snuggled against Luke's back), and looked at my tummy, and saw that it (well, my abdomen) was kinda shaped funny and lopsided. I felt it and there was a very firm line about 7 inches long along the upper right side, kinda matching the curve of my belly from when I was lying down.

I looked and felt again - and then I had no doubt about it, I was feeling the back (or mebbe side?) of my baby who'd been snuggled against the uterine wall, between mommy and daddy and the soft mattress :D

awww, it was so sweet to be able to see just the slightest bit of our baby's developing form.

It made me want to cry.

(but then, what doesn't? I've been on an emotional roller coaster this week!)

some of the best salsa ever

I absolutely LOVED the salsa that they had at Trev/Mykka's wedding reception - Mrs. Tammie made it.

Now, disclaimer - I don't know if I'd eat it as a 'on top of my rice and tacos and everything' salsa, but as a tortilla chip dip it was some of the greatest stuff I ever tasted. mmmm.... I could have happily stood in front of the bowl and filled up on it at the reception, but that wouldn't have been very polite. I did have seconds, though.

This salsa has black-eyed-peas in it, and that might sound weird to you, but you really can't taste them; the flavors blend really well. It also calls for 'shoepeg corn' which I'd never heard of before - Tammie said they sell it at wal-mart. I wouldn't recommend that you substitute regular whole kernel canned corn, b/c the size, texture, and flavor would all be very different. Also, the chopped olived in this were chopped tiny almost beyond recognition, and the tomatoes were diced pretty small.

I NEVER buy italian dressing from the store, we make our own (though I do buy a mix). so I think when I make this, I'll just mix vinegar, water, oil, and spices until I get it like I think it should taste :D (note to mom and anyone else who would 'get' this: I think you could do like a pico sauce, but with a bit more oil, and a MUCH MUCH lower ratio of liquid to solids. Note to Tony - I bet some jalapenos, if you want it hot, would be good, too!)

But without further ado, the recipe:

Black-eyed Pea Salsa

2 cans black-eyed peas (drained)
2 cans shoepeg corn (drained)
1 can chopped black olives
2 large fresh tomatos or 1 can chopped tomatos
chopped green onions (to taste)
cilantro (to taste - it doesn't take very much!)
1 regular size Italion dressing

Chill and serve with tortilla chips!

week 27 of pregnancy

We are now in the third trimester - the home stretch. It might be uphill from here, but at least the end is in sight.

I can't believe how time is flying. we'll be moving out in 3 weeks. Actually, if we can't get an extension, we'll have to be completely out of our apartment in 3 weeks and 42 minutes from right now :D

According to my calendar - now is the time for the momma to start counting baby 'kicks' but I haven't started that yet. We'll see if Shelley says anything about it at our appointment next week.

There's not too much more happening Algie-development wise, according to my calendar. He/she is getting bigger - might be over 14 inches long now, and probably weighs about 2 pounds. They say a baby can recognize his/her mom's voice at this point.

the momma - I've been not sleeping well, but for now the bad back pain is gone again. Whew!

That is a huge relief. It comes back, but rubbing it and sleeping in the right position make it go away. Thank-you Lord, and Luke who rubs my back.

Know what's weird? My smell sensitivity is increasing again - it's not quite as bad as 1st trimester (when any bad smell made me gag) but not quite normal either (I made pizza last week and COULD NOT stand the smell! I ate salad). This seems weird to me, but perhaps it is common.

I've been congested too, and I'm wondering what to do about that beyond just temporary fixes to clear my poor nose :D mebbe nothing. I did take some nighttime cough stuff last night to knock me out. it didn't work as well as usual, but then again, it was having to counter that half a devil dog that I had for dessert :D

Today - resting up after the dinner yesterday. Not by choice. I've been really dizzy (even when lying down) ever since I woke up, which is also weird. I'm wondering if there's some other nutritional deficiency.

I should be good on protein :D !! I'm still eating lots of eggs and peanut butter, cottage cheese, cheese, and even drinking milk. I'm being really good, really I am!

Hmm, except for this 'proper posture' thing. I keep checking myself and EVERY time I check, I'm sitting wrong. Oh well, at least I fix it after I check, right?

I made french toast and omellettes for lunch, in honor of Bastille Day (which I don't care about, really, but I love french toast and omellettes are a tasty way to get protein AND to use up the leftover bruschetta topping from last night :D )

Time for a piece of peanut butter toast. I already had a snack this afternoon, but it was... Well, it wasn't a good thing nutrition-wise. But it TASTED GREAT. It was my fave little debbie! So I'm not perfect.

But I'll go eat some p.b. toast now and make up for it :D

and the dinner was

a success! The guests just left :)

Unfortunately, we have no pictures from during dinner, but we have some of the food and flowers :)

I'll post them later, probably tomorrow if the compy cooperates, right now I'm tired and the kitchen is kinda messy.

it was fun - a very lovely evening.

thanks to all my friends

been thinking lovingly and gratefully of all the wonderful people who gave me these nice things I'm using for the dinner tonight - Aunt Jackie and family who gave them the silver candlesticks, the hinkles who gave the candles, Mrs. Janet Renwick who gave the lovely antique hand-me-down china, Mom who taught me everything I know about decorating and most things I know about cooking and who gave me the wine glasses from my 18th birthday party, Mom and Dad who searched online gave us the bread platter just like the one mom always served bread on, Luke's parents who gave us our invaluable cooking servant, the microwave, gramma pat and grampa bob who gave us the cuisinart food processor! Aunt Kay and uncle nate who gave me the pretty glasses from Latvia and the table cloth from morocco that I'm using on the serving table, Mrs. Roselle who gave me the pastry bag and tip when she taught me to decorate cakes long long ago, Luke's Uncle John and Aunt Angie who gave us the table and chairs, Mr. Carter who gave me the stainless steel bowls (and taught me about studying the bible in more detail than just reading it!), TJ who gave me my pyrex pans, the melton family who gave us our 'silver'ware, my aunt and uncle Mitch and Jennifer who gave us the knife set, and again, my Mom who also gave me a love for beautiful things and for blessing people.

So many blessings. I am a very loved lady, am I not?

crossing off the list

So it probably isn't REALLY NECESSARY to come into the room and sit and apply the 'strikethrough' special effect to every task I finish, right when I finish it, but it makes me feel happy :D

Just a few samples of what I've been into:

Lord willing, we'll take more pictures later :D Lots more!

a real bargain :D

I never shared about my great bargain!

I've been wanting a bassinet so that I could have someplace for the baby to sleep or lay down and be near me when I'm not in the bedroom (our 'crib' is a co-sleeper playpen/bassinet, and since it'll attach to the bed, it won't be easily portable).

So, I wanted a bassinet or moses basket. I also wanted a changing table to use as a changing table (duh) and also as a 'dresser' for the baby.

Last Friday - we went into salvation army to look for some sort of flower holding apparatus. Like, a vase. And what was the first thing in the store? I'm not kidding, right by the door and across from the register, there was a bassinet! it was $20!

Then I stepped back around to where the baby stuff usually is, to see if there was anything else I'd been looking for (a certain type of baby tub, a changing table, a carrier...) and Luke followed me halfway before getting distracted by the books. So I came up behind him to look at books for a second also, and guess what was lying against the bookcase? It was a dismantled changing table! Not in super condition, (and I'm not POSITIVE that every piece is there) but it was $15 and we could paint it and if one bar was missing, I think my father in law has a tool that he might could use to help us make the missing piece... I thought 15 might be a tad high, but baby furniture is so expensive that I was willing to pay $15 for it.

Two GREAT finds, I was so happy!

So we stood in line to purchase our treasures, and the lady in the checkout rolled her eyes and me and gave me the weirdest look! Not really, but that's what it looked like, until she said 'I wasn't rolling my eyes at you, they just are hurtin' and I have a headache'.... she continues for a few minutes (making a relatively slow checkout line...) and finishes with 'and nobody has any tylenol!'

Well, it just so happens that I had some tylenol in my purse - a little ziplock back with about 8 doses in it. So I gave it to her. "You want some money, I can pay you" she said.

I was like "no way, I just had it in my purse and I'm happy to be able to help!"

Then we waited in line while another woman talked to me all about why bassinets aren't safe (she couldn't BELIEVE I was buying that!) and gave me advice b/c you know, she has had 5 kids and is the expert. I let it 'slip' that my mom has had eight.

Then we checked out and the lady (the one I'd given tylenol to) charged us $25 and winked at Luke.

here's the math - a changing table at $15 plus a bassinet at $20 minus a little bit of tylenol and a smile, and the grand total was $25...

Thank-you, Lord!

oooh pretty

You should see my flower arrangements! I wish you could see em, momma. Wish Lily could see them, she'd go crazy over the flowers. Can't imagine what they'd cost from a flower shop, probably the big one would cost $80 at least! (heehee, that means I saved money, right?)

Our nice table that Luke's aunt and uncle gave us is set up, most of the living room furniture is in the spare room, soup is made (it's better on the second day) and the centerpiece is done on the table. I'll finish setting the dinner table and my serving table tonight, I think (the cocktail table that came in the apartment won't fit through the bedroom doors, so it stays in the Living room/dining room part of our apartment forever! I'll use it as a 'serving table' then...)

After that, I'll do a little bit of food prep, some more cleaning and think I'll hit the sack and get ready for a big day tomorrow!

Pictures will come :D

This Algie

has about pushed my belly button into an outie. It looks so weird! But that's okay, Algie; Mommy and Daddy don't mind at all.

wonderfully busy...

Well, I'm not sure if I've gotten in over my head, but I am enjoying myself.

I've been planning and researching and scheming for a couple months, in anticipation of a very special dinner in honor of the 25th wedding anniversary of my mother and father-in-law.

(their anniversary was this past week, actually).

The long awaited (awaited by me, if by no one else) dinner will be Monday, Lord willing.

My invitations are given (only 6 will be there, counting Luke and I), our nice party clothes are picked out, place cards are made, dinner music procured, my linens are purchased and awaiting the iron, most of the groceries are purchased (you know it's gourmet cooking when you have to buy fresh spices :D ), I have my centerpiece mostly planned, and I'm working on my outline of when everything(cooking, decorating, music started, etc) needs to be done.

It'll be a LITTLE BIT of a time crunch since I'll be doing the cooking myself. I'd like to do a lot of cooking ahead of time, but with the things I'm making, I simply can't do much early.

I did begin work on an appetizer and on the palate cleanser tonight, though. *squeal of excitement*

It'll be four courses, counting the hors douerves (sp?!) and not counting the 'palate cleanser' - I forget the fancy foreign name for it. But I'm excited about it.

I'm not telling what I'm making b/c my MiL might read this and then she won't be surprised. And I so love surprises.

But it'll be special stuff! Luke'll take lots of pictures of the table setting and the pretty foods.

The food has to be pretty b/c when it's a special meal, food is more than just the taste. There's the texture, the color, the way different foods look when served together, the garnishes, the way it is served on a plate... *sigh* I love fancy meals. I do semi-fancy meals for Luke and I sometimes, and I just love to make things pretty.

Oh, I hope it all looks like I picture it in my mind! I want everything to be lovely since it's such a special occasion :D We didn't get them a gift, just this dinner... So I want it to go well.

I've helped mom put together stuff like this before, but never have done anything near this big by myself. (course, mom is my consultant :D couldn't plan anything like this without her advice)

I think Luke is excited to see how it will all turn out... me too!

I think I will be VERY busy (happily busy) until 6:30 Monday evening.

Oh and meanwhile I must also feed Luke everyday food on a regular basis, and he says I must eat also. On that note, I must go answer the timer's call and perform step two on the Creamy Rice and Chicken Bake. Why is it that people need to eat at a time like this? I feel like I could just plan and plan and not need food for ages!

I really am pregnant -

my feet swelled up today when I wore high heels and stood for awhile.

In case you had any doubts, that should prove it.

P.S. it was a nice wedding. And luke did a great job singing 'Lemonade'

yay! Praise the Lord!

The electricity is on at the Hardie house, AND the AC works!!!

how come they dunk at church?

When Brandon, Jeremiah, Josiah, Lily and I were swimming yesterday, Brandon had done something Jeremiah didn't like.

Next thing I know, Jeremiah's hand is on Brandon's head as Brandon goes underwater.

"Now, Jeremiah, we don't dunk people" I say.

"I wasn't," he says, "he was going under himself."

"Lana?" begins Josiah

I look down at him "hmm?"

"Why do they dunk people at church?"

"Dunk?! When do they dunk people?" (What IS he talking about?).... "wait, do you mean when they baptize people?"

that was it. Dunking, of course.

"Yeah, why do they baptize and dunk in church?"

So I explained about how Jesus told us to do it when we follow him, and that it was a picture of being buried with Christ and given life through Christ and that it is a picture of getting our sins all washed away.

"hmmmm, well..." he looks thoughtful "but Lana, when you're dunkin' donuts, you just dunk, right?"

"Here comes the bride..."

I once thought that Luke's friend, Trevor, would be one of those guys that would never grow up.

If you got him and Luke and my bro-in-law Daniel together, they were crazystupidfunny. I actually wondered if ANY of them would grow up. But then I saw Luke and Daniel both in more serious moments and knew they would not always seem like weird little boys. Trevor, though, I never saw him without Luke and Daniel around, so I still doubted that he would really grow up. (Edit: I best clarify, before someone misunderstands me and is offended, that what I mean by 'not grow up' is something like 'act predominantly goofy forever' and is NOT 'be immature forever' - I don't mean it in a negative way!)

They always joked that either Trevor would get married and his wife would think he was hilarious, or she'd think he wasn't funny at all, or that Trevor and Daniel would both be bachelors forever and live together and be very weird old men.

They said those things ALL the time, until there was Mykka.

And I think they all saw pretty quickly how perfect Mykka and Trevor were for each other :D

Since dating Mykka, I think that Trev seems a lot older and more responsible (I don't know if there was a change like this in Mykka, having not known her in pre-trevor days).

And the first time I met Mykka, I liked her and at that moment I was pretty darned sure that Trevor was not going to be a bachelor :D

And now *sniff of happy tears*, they're getting married on saturday! And Luke and I are so happy for them. Not as happy as they are, I'm sure, but very happy :)

Congratulations!!

P.S. The cd for 'lemonade' finally came this week, so Luke will be able to sing it ;P

electricity!

If you read my mom's comment on the previous post, then you saw that the electrician did indeed show up yesterday!

Well, today the rough electric is done, and the inspector came and we passed inspection!! Yay!

I *think* that means that tomorrow, we can get the power turned on :)

Wonderful. So now they're installing new windows, then they'll do insulation, and then drywall, and other wonderful things that will mean we'll have a liveable house!

Thanks Poppa and Luke and Brandon and Tony!

just keep swimming...

I went to my family's house yesterday evening to get some stuff and play with the kids - we went swimming (Lexi was very unhappy to be left behind. Mom says the kids are all tired of being with her - with mom, that is.)

When we were in the pool, Josiah was terrified of drowning, even though he had a swimsuit with floaties and was perfectly fine. (Except that Jeremiah did keep making splashes which hit Josiah, and Josiah doesn't like a face full of water - who does?) So Josi was about hysterical. And of course, once I held Lily, he wanted to be held instead of sitting on the ladder like he had been. Which was fine, except that Lily was fine just holding my hand, but Josiah, after a few minutes of being pulled around, wanted me to actually hold him up out of the water. And without the water making him lighter, he's a bit heavy.

And that doesn't make for a fun swim.

So I told him I was gonna teach him to 'swim' (that is, I wanted him to be comfortable dog paddling by himself). He wasn't a bit interested at first: "I never want to learn to swim, ever."

So we talked a bit about how good it is to know how to swim, even though sissy (me, that is) can't swim well, and I wish I could swim well, etc.

But the things that really got him thinking it would be good to swim were these:

1) won't daddy be so proud to hear that you were brave and can swim?!

and 2) but if you can't swim, how will you ever be able to save a girl if she's drowning?

(funny, but I knew those two would get him to think)

So with a little encouragment and some examples from Brandon, he was willing to try it.

At first he was still scared, but within five minutes, he was paddling around by himself with no worries (He was perfectly safe the entire time, since he had that suit on, but he hadn't FELT safe, which is important).

By the time we were done in the pool, he was letting go of me to swim away and back, and Lily was asking me to let go of her so she could 'swim', too! (it's hard to really swim in a swim ring and inflated armies :D )

I'm proud of you, Josiah, for swimming and showing Lily how to swim!