Oh where, Oh where has this blogger been?

Saturday morning at 6:30 am we transported the Piccolo Pirate to her school. The band was leaving for a 5 day trip to Philadelphia PA and NYC.

Her first big trip to the Big Apple.

Kids (including mine) looked as if they had just crawled out of bed. But there was excitement in the air.




I managed to get a few of her friends to stand still long enough for a group pic.

7:20am (20 minutes later than the scheduled departure) and they were off.

The DH and I ran home to get ready to leave in the opposite direction for a bridal shower. We were running 1/2 late. The DH was driving and I was knitting. Approximately 10 miles from the house a little voice told me to ask the DH if he picked up the gift. And I think we all know the answer to that question.

We turned around and backtracked. Now we were 55 minutes late. Unfortunately along the way we were held up in traffic due to an accident. That put us 1 1/2 hours later then intended.

1:00 pm:
The shower was for my soon-to-be new DIL. She is marrying #2 Son in May.

Her favorite cake is carrot cake and it was decorated to match the shower invitations.

The spread of food was awesome and there was even champagne punch. No, I wasn't hanging out at the punch bowl the entire time although with the ex husband's snooty wife in attendance, it was a thought........LOL




I wanted to give her something special and I've racked my brain for weeks. Finally the lightbulb flickered. I am known as the "cookie mom". My kitchen was the home for the kids' friends to hang out over the years and they always raided the fridge for milk and the cookie jar for cookies.

So I put together a gift basket of necessary items to bake cookies.

A cookie scoop, stainless steel mixing bowl, chocolate chips, nuts, 2 knitted dishcloths, Pampered Chef measuring cup (love that thing for measuring shortening, butter etc), crocheted El Cheapo Scrubby, dish detergent (to clean up the mess), handsewn apron and a cookie scented candle in case the cookies flop and she can light the candle and serve Oreos to #2 Son instead.

Red ribbon and a handsewn apron ornament were the finishing touches.