A "Stache" Baby Shower

After experiencing my first miscarriage a little over a year ago, I'm excited to be so very pregnant and to feel my sweet baby move and wiggle - day and night! God is so good to restore what has been lost in our lives.

I didn't expect such a lovely shower for baby #3. We have what we need for another baby - boy or girl. But I have the very sweetest, most thoughtful friends and they wouldn't let the opportunity pass to celebrate this little gift from God.

Here's what they did to honor me and our soon-coming baby boy...

We celebrated with such tasty snacks, homemade decorations, and fun props. It was a blast!

My friend Valerie made the decorations by hand for her son's second birthday and got to use them to make my shower so very lovely! If you want to see more of her handiwork, stop by her Etsy shop - Creative Avenue 7. She makes the sweetest onsies for boys and girls, as well as beautiful hair things and necklaces for girls.

The beautiful hostesses - Val & Deanna

We played a few funs games...

Enjoyed a sweet photo booth...

And to top it all off, my daughter was dressed up with every sticky mustache available by our neighbor's daughters. We laughed till we cried!

This is how it all started.

 

Then she "drank my coffee" and grew hair on her chest  :o)

 

The end product... a hairy, silly girl!

 

We are blessed in so many ways... most of all our dear friends and family who care for us. God is so good! It was such a joy to have my mom and my mother-in-law at the shower. This was a first at any baby shower of mine!

Only 4 1/2 weeks left until this baby arrives... the nesting has begun!

Have a blessed week,

Summertime Strawberry Pie

Here in Texas we take our holidays seriously. We plan and prepare, gather friends and family around us and enjoy the freedoms that God has given us in this great country - the good ol' U.S. of A.

This year my family got to celebrate the 4th of July with both sets of grandparents and some very dear friends.



It started out cooler and breezy, and once my kids got into the pool it started to pour! I don't remember the last time that it rained on July 4th here in Texas. After the rain (aka thunderstorm) passed, the sun came out and so did the humidity. We all ate our feast of steaks, deviled eggs, corn of the cob, roasted potato wedges, and baked beans indoors.

As the sun began to set we headed back outside to wave sparklers in the air and let the kids run free in the front yard. What a lovely sunset we enjoyed too! It was a great ending to our time together.



Of course no 4th of July celebration would be complete without watching HUGE display of fireworks. So, at 9pm we headed into town to watch the best display of fireworks around. They were great! There was even a slight breeze that kept us cool and kept the mosquitoes away.

We turned in that night full of good food and fellowship. We are blessed indeed!

And now... here's a recipe that I enjoy making for a family get together or two each summer.
It's my favorite summertime pie!

Summertime Strawberry Pie

Shortbread crust:

1 cup flour
1/4 cup powdered sugar
1/2 cup butter
2Tbl. water


Blend flour and sugar together, cut in butter and slowly add water to form dry dough. Press into bottom of greased 9" pie plate. Bake at 400 degrees for 10-15 min. or until slightly golden.

Nice and crumbly

Ready to shape into a crust.

 Pricked with a fork and ready to bake!

 Nice and brown at the edges.

Instead of this crust you can use a regular pie crust recipe that you have, or even purchase prepared pie crust.


Filling:
4 oz cream cheese (room temp)
2 Tbl. sugar
1 1/2 quarts whole berries


Beat cream cheese and sugar, spread carefully over bottom of baked pie shell. Arrange strawberries (cut in half or slices) in shell.

Glaze is bubbling... nice and thick.

 Ready to assemble.

 Spreading the cream cheese mixture evenly.

 Next is berries and glaze.

Ready to refrigerate! Yum!!!

Pour the following glaze over berries:


2/3 cup sugar (or less if you don't want the pie so sweet)
2 Tbl. Karo syrup (light corn syrup)
1 cup water
3 Tbl. strawberry Jell-O mix
pinch of salt
3 Tbl. cornstarch


Cook all ingredients except Jell-O over medium heat until thick. Take off heat and add Jell-O mix. Cool slightly before pouring over berries.

Chill thoroughly in the fridge before serving (about 3-4 hours).

Serve with a bit of whip cream and enjoy!

I hope that you had a Happy 4th of July with family and friends.

Stay hungry,