Tea Time...

 Julie and I decided that we wanted to celebrate the Diamond Jubilee

of Queen Elizabeth ll by having our very own tea party. I know that the official jubilee was a couple of week ago but this week both of our husbands were out of town on business and we had time to really make it special.

We went all out and even got dressed up...Julie in her cute hat..

(I don't have a hat but I do have a bow in my hair) and

I have on my pearls.

 Julie made cucumber sandwiches

and I made deviled eggs.

   

 I polished my moms silver...

  

The top one in this picture has my great grandfather's 

initials engraved in the handle ( J.A. for John Thomas Appleby Jr.) or it could be my great, great grandfather's whose name was also John Thomas Appleby Sr. and the sugar spoon has my mom's initials

in the handle... E.A. for Eudora Ellen Appleby.

While I was getting ready I kept thinking how much easier this would be if I had a maid...like they do on Downton Abbey...

But if I lived during that time...I might not have had a maid...

OOHHH...

I might have even been a maid....

I think I am just fine cleaning my own house....

and living with modern conveniences... 

but I think what I would really like is 
to have my own cook!!!

Anyway...I have a few tea cups, which were also my mom's, and

a sugar bowl and creamer but I 

did not have a tea pot...so I decided to go to the antique store

to see if I could find one.

There were probably 20 different tea pots to choose from. Most of them were modern and didn't seem to fit the occasion...

but then I found this one... 

Made in England...it is a Gibson Staffordshire teapot....

and I was surprised and pleased at how reasonable it was.

I don't usually care for gold but I knew my tea cups had gold edges so even though it doesn't match it would look as cute as possible...

Plus it is a bit worn, especially on the handle, but it has personality

and probably a cool history.

I love it!!! 

  

 During tea we watched

"Lost in Austen" a cute take off from

"Pride and Prejudice." 

"

 And we worked on our paper dolls...which are actually fabric...

They are so cute and have a bunch of really cute clothes to go

with them.

We didn't get them quite finished...

The little blond pony-tailed girl is done and has on one of the outfits...

...but we can finish them up during out next tea party...

Sooo fun...!!!

Our first tomato of the season!!!

 Wooo Hoooo!!!!

We have been watching this little tomato for the last few

days because it has finally starting to turn red!!!

So Wayne told me this morning before he went to work

that we had better pick it before our

squirrel friends decided to have a taste.

(That is what happened last year to most of our tomatoes)

The funny thing is....this tomato came off of our smallest plant!!!
Go figure!!!

 We are thinking the tomato plants are not getting enough sun

and maybe next year we will have to move it away from the house. 

We will just keep trying.

Our beans did pretty well...we will probably still get some more

beans before they are through.

Weekend yardwork...

 While Wayne was mowing the lawn today, I decided our

driveway was badly in need of cleaning. Every year we power wash

the front porch and the back porch

(Chris did it for us this year)

but we usually skip a year

(or two) 

on the driveway because  #1...it is huge and 

#2...It takes forever.

So this is the year to at least clean part of the driveway...

I actually love the power washer because even though

it is slow...

you get amazing results!!!

And I can soak up some vitamin D in the process!!!

 

  

I also like to make designs... 

 ...and get Wayne involved too!!!

 ......we hope to not see you next year!!!

Moving on...!!!

The sign on the back of the U-Haul truck is very applicable

to a recent graduate. But Chris has know for a few months that

he would be leaving Louisiana and moving on to Denver

where he will be working for Halliburton, an oil drilling

company.

So after graduation yesterday we helped him to load the

 truck get ready to go...

  

They hooked his car up to the back of the truck...

 

...and he took off on his next great adventure!!!

 

I packed him a giant lunch, Wayne gave him a very 

awesome father's blessing and our advice to him

 was to not look back.....

So after a few tears and hugs...

 

...he drove off to start his new life for himself...

Best of luck, Chris, we are all rooting for you!!!

Love you tons!!!

Class of 2012

Today Chris graduated with a bachelors degree in Civil Engineering from McNeese State University.

We are so proud and excited for him to have completed this goal in his life and to have received his degree with honors!!!

It was a really fabulous day for him and for us too.

 

After the ceremony inside the Burton Coliseum....

 

We went to take pictures outside...

always a favorite part.

 

We also drove over to the McNeese campus and 

took a few more pictures.

Chris is now an official cowboy!!!

 

So happy for you Chris!!

We are excited for you and know that you will 

accomplish many more fabulous goals in the future!!!

We love you!!!

Mother's Day!!!

Jennifer, Chris and Matthew gave me the sweetest Mother's Day gift!!! I love the card...."My three Chicks".....

...and love the wire nest with the "three chicks" eggs inside!!! It was so thoughtful, clever, and sweet!!! Love you guys!!! You are all the best and sweetest kidos ever!!!

Our trip to Salem!!!

We had such a great time in Salem, Oregon with
Jennifer, Tyson, Merrick, Berkleigh and Quincy.

We went for Quincy's Blessing which was
fabulous. It was so fun to have her blessed on Easter Sunday.
Quincy looked so cute with her dress and shoes that
Jennifer designed.

During our visit...we went to the Tillamook cheese factory.

...

We pretended to be cows... sampled lots of flavors of cheese and tried their fabulous ice cream. Merrick's looks like a chunk of cheese on a cone but it was actually orange sherbert.

We also went to the tulip farm... it was so beautiful with all the different colors.

 

We went on the perfect weekend when all of the cherries trees were in bloom around the capitol....and the sun was out for the whole weekend...it was perfect.

We climbed to the top of the capitol on a spiral staircase to get a close up of the golden man. He reminded me of Moroni carrying his cloak...just before making it into the title of Liberty. I know...he really needs a sword instead of an axe...but he still reminds me of Moroni.

It was a little sunny.....

but we're not complaining.

The rest of our trip we played with babies...

made cookies and shopped the latest trends.. It was great. We can't wait to go back again!!!