St. Patty's with the family

On Saturday, 10 of us got together at Mom and Dad's for a corned beef dinner and a St. Patrick's Day party. There was lots of green, delicious food (I intend to post a couple of recipes soon) and Monopoly Deal, our newest favorite card game.






Mom cooked 16 pounds of corned beef using some new spices Brian bought her at Penzeys Spices during a recent work trip to Kansas City.





Click to see additional photos from the party.

Birthday treats

I as such a blessed woman. Recent case-in-point: My family and friends have made my birthday a wonderful celebration. Take a look:


My coworker Eba brought in two dozen doughnuts from my favorite doughnut place, Donut Whole. (It's where I celebrated my birthday last year.) I loved sampling a few of the treats, including the buttered popcorn variety. YUM! Peggy, another coworker, baked me a delicious chocolate cake. I was on a wonderful sugar high.


Brian bought me a gorgeous bouquet of flowers.


He also surprised me with these adorable Scrabble-inspired pillows to represent our little family. He pointed out that the point values for our initials add to up equal Westley's. Fitting, isn't it. Scrabble is one of our favorite games, and we're playing a tournament series right now. Brian's ahead 7-6. I'm plotting my revenge.

Baby games

Another to-do on the child-proofing checklist: Find a new home for our boardgames. For years, we've stacked them on the first shelf of the living room armoire. I'm thinking that might be a better place now for baskets of books and baby toys. Case in point:


Do you think Westley's trying to tell us he's mad? Or that he wants to hurry up and learn how to gab?

Hamming it up on Turkey Day

Since we got married in '01, Brian & I have alternated whose family we spend Thanksgiving with. This year, we celebrated with my parents. (See photos from our last Turkey Day together in '07.) Last year, we traveled to Leavenworth to feast with my father-in-law's family.

We were blessed to have 13 people together this year: my parents; my brother Shawn & his family (Karla, Andrew & Christopher); my sister Jen & her family (Ryan & Kaden); and my sister Amanda & Kurtis.

We had to split into two tables. Instead of the little table being the kids' table, we dubbed it the "grand" table. My three nephews and their grandparents (my parents) ate here together ...


... while my siblings, their families and Brian & I sat here:


Some pre-feast photos:

Jen helped a lot with the meal this year.

Dad carving the turkey. (We also had ham this year. Yum!)

Christopher checking in on the chefs.

Kaden sporting a very weird post-nap hairdo.

Amanda's poodle Toby really loved Kaden this year. Toby got lots of treats by sitting underneath my nephew's high chair during the big dinner.

Jen & Kaden

Chow time!



After dinner, most of us met up to watch "The Blind Side." It was a much better movie than I expected, and I'd recommend it. There was enough humor to allow you to appreciate its inspirational side without feeling like it was too cheesy. Seeing a movie on Thanksgiving Day is a long-time tradition for my family. It began nearly 25 years ago when my family moved from Iowa to Illinois, where we were far away from extended family. So seeing a movie was a special treat the immediate family could enjoy together.

After the movie, we went back to Mom & Dad's for snacks, pie & games. I loved playing Rummikub. It's a family favorite, and we have my grandmother's game, which four generations have now played. What a special way to wrap up a blessed holiday.

Happy Mother's Day!

We celebrated Mother's Day with Brian's mom Saturday night. The party ended with Eric, Brian, Janice & me playing Rock Band at our place. That game is ridiculously fun. (Although Dakota & Lilly, in the background of this photo, obviously think their rawhides are much more interesting.)


On Sunday evening, we had dinner at Mom & Dad's with Jen, Ryan & Kaden.

Mom and her cute -- and rather large -- greeting card from Jen & Co.

Grandma & baby

Kaden entertained us at dinner by showing us how well he can shake his head no. (Nodding yes is still on the "things to learn" list, as you'll see in this video, which I dedicate to Auntie Amanda.)

Welcome, April!

OK, OK, OK. I cannot take one more call, e-mail or text from my sweet sister Amanda demanding that I update my blog. And I do so with this reflection: How have I not blogged in more than a month?! That's a first in Life is Golden history. For that, my dear friends, I apologize.

And now I give you the Top 10 Reasons Why Lori Hasn't Been Blogging:

1. I was busy celebrating 30 spins around the sun. Among other things, Brian surprised me with dinner and a night out with family and friends. He even arranged it so our friend and musician extraordinaire learned one of my favorite songs ... for us to sing on stage at The Shadow. Surprise! See for yourself in my friend Jaime's video.


2. I got Wii Fit for my birthday.


3. Brian & I bought Rock Band and have been partying like rock stars. My favorite character is a drummer named RubyRed. She ROCKS!


4. I finally joined Facebook and have been networking with friends new and old, near and far. Go ahead. Friend me. Do it.


5. Brian gave me the amazing gift of a volunteer drive in my honor for my birthday, and I've been spending some extra time volunteering. Projects I've worked on with friends from church include a morning clearing out the basement at GraceMed Health Clinic ...


... and an evening baking dozens and dozens and dozens of cookies for local Ronald McDonald Houses with the youth group.


6. I've stuck with my New Year's tradition of working out at least three times a week. Tonight's installment? A four-mile run followed by strength training and yoga on the Wii. (Please see No. 2.) And if you have a YMCA membership and live in Wichita, let me know if you'd ever like to try TurboKick.

7. I've been enjoying the 75-degree weather, thunderstorms, snowstorm and crazy wind that makes Kansas springs oh-so-exciting.


8. I was overcome with March Madness. (Rock Chalk!)

9. I've been spending some quality time with Mom, who is doing amazingly well. We're working on a quilting project together and have escaped for shopping trips in Newton and at the flea market. The flea market adventure was a meaningful one: It's the first time Mom has been back since before her hospital stay. It's those little milestones that can mean so much to us sometimes.


10. I've been pumping myself up for my next 30 years and many, many more opportunities to see that Life is Golden.

Word!

Brian & I have played seven games of Scrabble in the past week. We used to play it all the time, but the game has been tucked away for months. We dusted it off and started a series of tournaments. I won two games. He won two. I won two. He one another. (Not that I'm keeping track.) I took the above picture on Valentine's Day and swear that I didn't intentionally place the word "mine" at the top of the board in a so-sweet-it's-disgusting homage to the "Be mine" holiday. Honest!

A few related thoughts:

1. Brian admitted to me while we were playing that his handsome new glasses have earned him the nickname "Brian Palin" at work. Ha. Do I think it's a fitting moniker for my cutie? You betcha!


2. I was glad that, in the midst of our Scrabble babble, another guy stopped by our house unexpectedly to ask me to be his Valentine. I accepted his offer -- and his chocolate. (The guy was my father-in-law. How lucky can a girl get on Feb. 14?!)




3. Meow Meow always loves to hang out in the Scrabble box when we have the game out. I wonder if she realizes that's not the front of the line to take a ride on our rockin' Scrabble Deluxe Turntable Edition ...

Gettin' his game on (again)

Brian's 31st birthday is Friday, and today we welcomed a new addition to our household: a PS3. It's appropriate, I guess, considering that his 30th birthday gift was his Wii.

Earlier tonight, he was getting really excited about trying out a couple of games that he rented.

Me: "How old are you turning again?"

Him: "13."

Me: "Now that sounds about right."

With the new game console comes the ability for us now to watch Blu-Ray, so I won't complain too much.

Another bonus: He has one more thing with which to occupy himself while I'm blogging.

Must ... not ... eat ... now

Just as I feared, the sheets of rain that will inevitably poor down on Kansas have put the kibosh on our planned weekend camping trip. I'm sure, though, that we'll be able to find other ways to entertain ourselves. A few of the items on the lofty to-do list: hang out with friends, dine out, see a movie, watch football, play with the pups, kick Brian's butt in Scrabble. I'll also be listening for a phone call that tells me it's time to meet my new nephew! Maybe a rainy weekend doesn't sound so bad, after all.

My contribution to a dinner party will be this Nutter Butter Frozen Peanut Butter Pie. I've never had it before, but Denise recommended it, so I'm sure it's "firkin awesome" just like she promised. When I was putting it together, Dakota & Lilly were stalking me in the kitchen. I'm sure it was the smell of the peanut butter, one of their favorite treats. So I dropped about a teaspoon of peanut butter on top of their kibble, and they scarfed down dinner while I whipped up this pie. Now into the freezer -- and out of sight and out of reach from me and the pups -- it goes.

While I'm sharing recipes, here's another one I'd recommend: Chicken and Peaches Platter. It's a quick and scrumptious dinner (I fixed it for Brian on Wednesday after a swim), and now's a perfect time to make it while the peaches are still juicy and delicious.

As forecasted, one crazy shower

Before an absolutely crazy night Saturday in Old Town for Amanda's bachelorette party (don't even ask me about it: I'm sworn to secrecy!), we had her fun shower at Oeno Wine Bar. She scored some great gifts and shared the afternoon with dear family and friends, including several members of Kurtis' family. Kurtis' relatives drove in from southwestern Kansas, and our good friends Monica, Chrissy and Nicki, who have been an important part of our lives since we met them more than 20 years ago when we lived in Iowa, drove in from out of state to celebrate.

While the party guests (including Kurtis' aunt Shelia and mother, Leona) were playing one of my original party games (you use preselected words to write wedding toasts), Amanda commandeered my camera and snapped these pics:






Between the shower and the girls' night out, we gathered in Old Town Plaza for a photo shoot:

From left: Amanda, Nicki, me, Jen and Chrissy

(Chrissy and I used to walk home from Lewis & Clark Elementary School carrying our lunch boxes and holding hands when we were in first grade. She's the friend in my life who's known me from way-back-when. I love her and her siblings, including her brother Jason, like cousins.)


Mom (who got around wonderfully for the festivities), at left, and Chrissy & Nicki's Mom, Monica ("Momica" to my sisters and me), joined in for a photo opp. Amanda wasn't waiting to get the party started ...

Only a week and a half until my baby sis gets hitched!