lovin' all weekend long

It seems it has been another epically busy weekend.

My aunt and uncle (Rachel's folks) had me house/dog sitting while they were out visiting their daughter in Ohio.  Combine that with a fun day of subbing on Friday, dinner shift at the restaurant Friday and Saturday, followed with a Bon Voyage party for my cousin Justin Saturday evening (post work), and the icing on the cake - the annual St. Valentine's Day Tea Party, and it was a busy weekend.

Let us being the recap with Thursday.   Rachel and I went up to Whitney's place and spent a few hours with her little one-year-old cousin Sam.  Whit is his nanny and need a few hours so we got to have fun with the baby.  He is super fun and was totally enthralled with picking up Rachel's metal water bottle, eating avocado, and zooming across the living room in his walker.  Though he had taken a few steps, he and walking are still trying to work out their relationship.

 Atticus, Me with Sam on back, and Rachel during favorite activity - taking the pre-nap walk in the woods.  We put Sam on my back and trudged up the hill.  It was great.  Though it had me wishing for an amauti.   

That evening we celebrated Sabrina's birthday at Rachel's house and I got a call to sub in the morning.

After subbing on Friday - I went home and to Goshen for the dinner shift.  Following dinner I went to visit my cousin's family and chat with his Beth.  I took a few sushi rolls to try but I think the biggest surprise of the night was Araelynn's proficiency with chopsticks.

She is going to be three next month.  The squealing is her soon to be two-years-old brother Bowen.  I think her comment is "I love chopstickies." Or maybe it was chopstick things. Or possibly chopsticking.

Saturday was a slightly less busy day were I finally had a chance to work on my Valentines.  (Remember it is one of my favorite holidays.  Right up there with Thanksgiving and Christmas.)

After dinner shift on Saturday, which was a hopping one, I headed over to the Comino cousin's house to wish Justin a bon voyage!  He is headed to the land down under to study at the University of Queensland.  His father (my mom's sister's husband) is Australian and all his family lives there.  Though my cousins have been to visit often over the years (sometimes for three to six months) this is the first long term move in the family.   Luckily for me connecting with him is a mouse click away due to the wonder of the internet (and he is a good facebook commenter).

Sunday was the big St. Valentine's Day Tea Party at Rachel and Josh's place.  Whit and I were over early to help with preparations.   We baked off some cookies and put together these neato veggie bites.

 We sliced big pitas in sixths and toasted them for a bit (two minutes) in the oven.  Then we slathered a little hummus inside and added a cucumber slice and diced peppers.  In the past we have used mini pitas sliced in half and those keep the pepper contained a bit more.

 They were pretty darn popular and all were eaten by the end of the evening.

 Pretty crinkle cookies covered in varying degrees of powdered sugar.  Rachel's were powdered Mexican Wedding cake style, mine were just a dab and Whit's were all somewhere in the middle.  Variety.

 We had a table full of sweets and a house full of lovely ladies.  The chips and salsa on the right corner of the table was Whit and Josh's mom's premiere attempt at salsa and it was soooo good. It was more vinegared than jalopeneo which was super good.  On the cake stand are Aunt Patti's Patti-cakes (a variation of whoopie pies), and Ashley brought some beautiful banana bread.  Rach made sure there was something dairy-free and egg-free so Whit and I stuck to the chocolate no-bakes and crinkle cookies.

And don't forget about the many cups of tea.  Mmm. That was just lovely.  Nothing beats a tea party and sitting around chatting with a warm cup to sip.

Well, maybe sharing the wing-back chair with Stella while she dozes off penguin style would have to tie.

Through all the busy-ness I didn't get nearly enough muzz time with this lady.  Good thing Valentine's day isn't officially until tomorrow!