~ June Celebrations ~

June was jam-packed, as usual...

From the time of my MIL's birthday on the 2nd until my birthday 3 weeks later, we kept busy crafting & baking & celebrating. (3 birthdays, 2 anniversaries & Father's Day...)

(from a shirt for my mom's 58th anniversary)

(lil' somethin' for my man to carry around -- I ordered it here)

(we might or might not've eaten our way across town during our anniversary weekend...)

(a raggy banner I made for the headboard)

(fudgy cookies for my chocolate-addicted f.i.l's b-day... ☺)

(don't mind these -- they were just gf tart cherry bittersweet chocolate chip...)

My sis made a big party @ her house to celebrated Father's Day + my birthday.

The very best part of my birthday was having all my fellas together at the same table!

A Few of May's Makes & Bakes

May can be a pretty crazy month for us... We had 3 birthdays to celebrate:
My bff turned 50 this year, so her husband planned a little "Seis de Mayo" shindig. (Last August they helped me surprise Mr. ElisabethJean for his 50th, and then in September was Mr. BFF's 50th, so we're pretty good at this...) My job was to bring cheesecake.

This was my first attempt at baking a slab, but it turned out pretty well!

Next was the red-headed middle child's day.

Unfortunately, his birthday frequently gets tossed into the
Let'sCelebrateGrandpa'sBirthdayMother'sDayToo - mix, but this year we let him have his own day & his own cake. He chose to order pizza (which we smoked -- try it, it's fantastic!) and wanted a brownie-bottomed chocolate cheesecake with chocolate ganache

(I found the recipe here)that was quite indulgent!

Then I made a t-shirt for my daddy's birthday. I put a heart where he was born in the state (...and still owns a sliver of the old farmstead...)

It was beautiful until the last pass of the iron - the cover sheet I was using had static electricitied a scrap that was lingering nearby.

ARGH!

Fortunately, I had another shirt on hand...


We also had some graduation announcements that I needed to send cards for.

(They were a little different from last year's...)

 

And then I made a special onesie -- but that's a story for another day...

Sriracha Almonds

Today is my Daddy’s birthday. I cooked him a gift.

I etched a jar from the HobLob to contain his gift.I made him laugh with the way I worded the etching.My job here is done!

Sweet Birthday Weekend

Last month we were thankful to spend Keith’s birthday out of the harsh Phoenix temperatures which neared 120° by the end of the week. Tucson was a much cooler 104°!

We were fortunate to get a reservation at the beautiful Loews Ventana Canyon Resort.

The tub,

the room,

the food,

& the views made for quite a lovely getaway!

Thanks for the great rates, Groupon!

Happy Birthday pennants

When I was six I knew her simply as "Kevin's mom".

Then as my musical awareness developed, I realized she was also our talented church organist.  (Eventually we would play piano and organ duets.)

By the time I got to high school their family had built a beautiful home with a lovely must-use-often pool close to school. We used to have lots of parties there; for they were a family with three sons.

I found these wonderful pennants for my Silhouette Cameo cutter at Bird's Cards.

Happy 80th birthday, Rita! You taught me one can survive raising three sons... :)

Happy Birthday to my Daddy

I saw this quote on a card the other day…It is often attributed to Eleanor Roosevelt; but some of her biographers dispute that. I believe it is a true saying, nonetheless… And since Daddy had a birthday coming up; the perfect excuse to try my first subway art with my little Silhouette Portrait.I should’ve chosen a different font for my initial foray into the use of transfer paper! Yeah – I had trouble with the thin spots in some of those letters.But I love the process! Most definitely will try this again.                       (just a shot from my phone before I gifted it to my father…)

his birthday baklava

We celebrated our oldest son turning nineteen last month. He chose homemade pizza for dinner (we had 5 guests…) and wanted baklava for dessert.The pizza was special, because we haven’t made that in forever – since I embarked on this gluten-freeness that is no fun for family celebrations!

The baklava was my labor of love, as anyone who has ever made it will attest!I bought my dough at a local grocery. We decided to make it a chocolate almond baklava.I used coconut oil instead of butter between the layers of pastry.I also added finely shredded unsweetened coconut to the filling mixture.The almonds were toasted then slightly chopped before their addition to the mixing bowl. I didn’t use much sugar in the filling because of how sweet the syrup will make it when it’s done. I sprinkled a portion of the filling every 3rd or 4th layer.Look at the precision on those diamond cuts!  GAH!Filling turned out a bit “fudgy” – yum!