Happy Mother's Day

I had a fabulous Mother's Day. We can never wait in this family until an actual holiday to celebrate, and this year was no exception. Andy came home on Thursday with a sheepish look that I know means trouble. He surprised me with a beautiful white gold chain for my Anniversary Diamond Pendant. The old chain was not my fave and uncomfortable to wear. I was blown away, especially since I track the finances--how could he have hidden hundreds from me?!? He's a genius and the element of surprise and thought he put into the gift was as special as the gift itself. Jack wrote me a poem, Sydney and Abby made coupon booklets and Danni picked me a bunch of flowers--dandelions. Her sweet face saying, "Look Mom, I got these for you. Happy Mother's Day." was enough to make me melt and put her "beautiful flowers" in a vase.

We also celebrated with our Grandmas for Mother's Day. I took the younger kids to the cemetery to "visit" Grandma Carrie. Then we had dinner with Andy's mom and had my parents over for a bbq. The food and company were wonderful and fun. I love that my kids will have lots of good memories of their grandparents.

The recipes from our fab feast are posted below. I am not a whiz in the kitchen always, but the food from our bbq was pretty delicious.

Crab Salad (this is approximation of amounts since I never measure and mostly just mess with it until it tastes right.)

1 bag coleslaw mix
1 lb. of crab, chopped
1 c. mayo
1/4 c. sugar
2 Tbsp. apple cider vinegar
salt and pepper to taste
Mix it all together and chill for 1-2 hours. Taste again before serving to balance flavors if necessary.

Fruit Salsa
1 lb. strawberries
2 kiwis
2 Fugi apples
1 orange, zest and juice
2 Tbsp. brown sugar

Dice all the fruit up, except the orange and put in a bowl. Zest the orange and add the juice of the orange to the diced fruit. Stir in brown sugar and let flavors marinate for 1 hr. Serve with Cinnamon Chips.

Cinnamon Chips
1 pkg. tortillas
cinnamon sugar
water

Heat oven to 400 deg. Using a pizza cutter cut tortillas into triangles. Brush both sides of the triangles with water and sprinkle with cinnamon sugar. Bake on each side for 4 min., until crisp.

Strawberry Spinach Salad
1 pkg. Spinach
1 c. sliced strawberries
1/2 red onion sliced or diced
1-2 cans mandarin oranges
bacon bits
sugared almonds

Dressing
1/2 c. Canola oil
1/3 c. sugar
1/4 c. Apple Cider Vinegar
2 Tbsp. Sesame Seeds
1/4 tsp. Paprika
1 Tbsp. Poppy Seeds
1/4 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
Mix together and pour over salad before serving; OR you can buy Brianna's Poppy Seed Dressing.


The weekend was super fun, until we got a call from Andy's dad saying he found a pair of scissors and some blond hair in his office. Oh crap!!

Nice Bangs. She got the sides too. Well, it's only hair and it will grow back.....