Remember me talking about not stressing out? That being good enough is good?

This is me sharing with you about a baby shower that I hosted for a friend. I LIKED hosting this baby shower alot. It was hard work (as is all hospitality), and time and effort, and alot of planning towards the end of a very busy month for me. But by the grace of God, I did it. I'm not being facetious when I talk about grace in the context of hosting a baby shower. I believe that grace is very real and very practical. Grace is God's power working in me and through me. And when God gives me grace to have 15 ladies in my tiny house without stressing (too much) about details and if I made enough food and if people will like it and if someone will forget and if everything will go well and if the guest of honor will love it... I call it the working of God in my life!

Theme: Sunshine (in case it wasn't obvious enough).
So this shower was in honor of my friend, Jess, and the arrival of baby #3. Now public opinions are divided on whether there should be showers for 2nd, 3rd and beyond babies, and you can probably tell that I'm wholeheartedly in favor of having showers for all babies (read: all expectant mamas). Because I think that ALL babies are precious. And I think that every baby deserves to be celebrated. And no, it's not about the gifts. Though personally, I think it's super-fun to bless others with gifts... and they don't even have to be expensive! Gifts can be handmade and inexpensive and still full of love (and super-appreciated).

I chose the sunshine theme because of how babies seem to spread sunshine around a room. Put almost any person near a baby and they can't help but smile! It's actually quite adorable to watch.
And another reason for the sunshine theme: when I was planning the shower, Jess & her husband were not going to find out the gender (though eventually the secret slipped and we knew that it is a BOY!).

What a better way to keep theme-centric than by having lots of yellow food?!
The Menu:
Taco Dip Trifle (made especially by my sunshiny sis!).
Deviled Eggs (I think it's more spiritual to call them ANGEL EGGS.. hahahaha).
Sunshiny Fruit Pizza
Hello Dolly Bars
Lemon Bars
The Tower of Sunny Cupcakes!
Fizzy Lemonade

Yes, I definitely bought multi-colored straws and only used the yellow ones. :D

The decor was super-simple. A handmade crafted banner to welcome the baby (crafted by my sis). An amazing SUN poof crafted by another friend. I'm not crafty, so I rely on the talents of other people in that area. :D

Did you know that you can put sunshine in a bag? I did it. Lots of little Lemonheads candy for the ladies to take home. :D And Brandon might have eaten all the leftover Lemonheads.

After eating and drinking, we all squeeezed into my tiny living room (you'd have to be there to understand what it feels like to put 15 people into a living room the size of a pocket) and chatted. Since it was a small group of church friends, I eschewed typical baby shower games for simply sharing with one another. We talked about the silly/happy/funny things that kids do to make us smile. And we talked about lessons that God has taught us, encouragement that we've been given and the hope that we have. It was refreshing. Like sunshine in the soul.

Hey look! It's Jess---our guest of honor! Doesn't she look radiant? And she's holding one of the hand-crafted gifts that a friend blessed her with!

I loved hosting Jess' baby shower... and ya know what's even more awesome? Baby Asher was born only one week later. And yes, he's like a ray of sunshine!

See that strawberry trifle? Homemade pound cake + real whipped cream + as-fresh-as-you-can-get-in-March strawberries. It was my contribution to Easter dinner on the mountain. Oh yes, and I refer to my parents' house as "the mountain." Because. They live on a mountain. Obviously.

Let me tell you about my parents. They give. I think it's part of their spiritual gifts (seriously). They're very giving people. Like VERY giving people. Like my dad would give you the shirt off his back if he thought you needed it. People say that kinda thing all the time, and they don't really mean it. I have lived 30 years on this earth (hard to believe, eh?) and have seen so many examples of my parents giving their time, their energy, their resources, their home, their stuff, their EVERYTHING to minister to people. It's practical Christianity, y'all. They give, even when people take advantage. They give, even when it's not appreciated. They give, even when people don't see. They give, even when it's inconvenient. They give, even when it's a sacrifice. They give and give and give, and God continues to bless them with more.. which they continue to give. And that, my friends, is how the Body of Christ works.

They give alot of invitations. Not just "oh, we should hang out sometime" vague invitations. They give real-time, right-now, how-bout-tomorrow kind of invitations. It hardly surprises me anymore when I go to the mountain for a visit, and there's like 10 other people. And Easter dinner was no exception. We're talking 25+ people. Take my parents, add at least 3 out of 4 of their adult children (Z&C, we missed you!!), plus families, plus the Easter holiday tradition of inviting our pastor & family (going on 17 years tradition. BOOYAH), plus his grown daughter & family, plus my little brother's in-laws & our good friends, plus some folks just moved up from Texas that my dad met through work, plus my mom's cousin working in the area.

It was LOUD, and vibrant, and crazy. There was conversation and children underfoot and all around. There was food everywhere (note to self: always stop the Kitchenaid before adding sugar to the cream you're whipping. #justsayin), people everywhere and lots of fun.

Food. Family. Friends. Fellowship. Fun.
And one dog.
Hi Cowboy. You're great. ;)
I'm loving the spring-time light. It was a rainy Sunday, which I actually love, especially when driving home from the mountain. The clouds hang low and melts into evening fog. I like to open the car windows and stare and stare.

Living, He loved me
Dying, He saved me
Buried, He carries my sins far away
Rising, He justified
Freely forever
One day, He's coming
O glorious day! O glorious day!

One of the songs we sang on Easter morning church. It was on my heart all day long. Even through the food and the laughter and the basketball watching and all of that, there is one thing that makes Easter amazing.
That Jesus loved me. Because of His love, He did the impossible. He died and then came alive. He was victorious. He IS victorious! And He's coming again!
O glorious day!


Historic house at Curtin Village on the drive home.

Has anybody ever seen the movie "Miss Potter?" That film is elegantly shot, and beautifully British, and poignant and touching and... did I mention that it made me cry? Yup. Cried like a baby at the end of the movie. I watched the movie once or twice several years ago, and wow, I'm still talking about it. Moving on....

Hey! I hosted a baby shower! Or kinda-sorta hosted it. I believe the technical term was "coordinated." My sis is about to have a new baby girl. There are already three blonde little girlies running around her house and they are super-duper excited about "yittle baby in mommy's belly."' "yittle sisterr come after Ea'ter." "she yis big (little arms about six inches apart) and she growin'!"


Beatrix Potter, bunnies and pink. I ran with the themes. I like themes. They make my life interesting (and semi matchy-matchy, which delights my matchy-matchy little heart). It was so perfect that the date of the baby shower fell just a week before Easter, because how else would I find such perfect little pink bunny peeps for making the cupcakes themed, too?!



This nice chalk board? It was the only part of the shower that I allowed my sister to do. Hehe. We chose to have the shower at her house for the location and space available, so I was working overtime to make sure it wasn't too much of a burden. And besides, she has much better writing skills than I do.

It may not be kosher to talk about money, but for the benefit of other thrifty people, I will say that this shower was made possible by the thrift store (chalk board and picture frame), the dollar store (peeps, bunny decorations, and Easter grass), my house (all serving dishes & punch bowl, candles), my sister's house (books) and the internet (Beatrix Potter fabric for table runners which will be repurposed into something by my sewing sister). I think this is the party version of "shopping your closet." :D


I love Beatrix Potter. She made the sweetest little stories and illustrations ever. They make me love bunnies to the nth degree. In the beginning stages of planning the shower, I had the hare-brained (pun!) idea to bring little live baby bunnies and just leave them at my sister's house. The nieces thought that was the FUNNIEST THING EVER. I had a difficult time tearing myself away from that idea... because I loooove bunnies.

This was my consolation: Wind-up Bunny Toys!

I did the smart thing and took the day off from work before the shower. Spent the day baking and prepping, talking to little nieces, eating chocolate (LOTS), taking pictures of all the pets of their 'micro-farm' (you can see that in my instagram feed), and eventually falling over in exhaustion and watching a horse movie with the little girlies. Those girlies like horses.

The only time I was the teeensiest bit stressed was those darn cupcakes. I was piping frosting on the top and my hand was cramping up from the unaccustomed activity, and I'm all like, "Nooooooo! Look pretty! You're supposed to be pretty! And I have to put bunny peeps on you! STAY! DON'T FALL OFF! AAAAAAAH." 

In the end, everything was wonderful. Even the bunny-jumping cupcakes.
Delectable food: like layered crab cheese dip (don't tell, but it was supposed to be a cheese ball. The cheese wouldn't ball, so we improvised!), pink lemonage punch, fresh veggies, pink chex mix, pickled pink deviled eggs, white chocolate & cream stuffed strawberries and mini ham-salad sandwiches (not pictured). FYI - the food was a collaborative effort! :)


Old friends and new friends together. Smiling, laughing, eating food, chatting (as only women can chat), playing a silly game or two... laughing ALOT.. talking some more, about babies and homeschooling and snow in the springtime and silly jokes and crafting and Pinterest and food failures and blogging and everything else. Baby showers are fun, but babies are more fun. :P

My sis and I after the baby shower. Please ignore my tired face and crazy I-just-took-my-hair-down-and-it's-got-a-bump hair. We never remember to take pictures together right after the hair and makeup is done. :P

My favorite part of the shower? The truffles we made for the favors.
Decadent, delicious, fudgy, wonderful, easy-to-make chocolate truffles. Yumyumyum. Truly a perfect sweet ending to a happy "welcome-to-the-world, little baby girl!" party! :)