A Week In Review

So.

I started this post last Sunday as a weekend wrap up.  Then Emma got sick...(more on that in a bit)...and  life sped by in a haze of antibiotic doses and itch creams. Rewind.....

Last weekend we hosted supper club.  We've been part of this group for many years now, and it is always a highlight of our month.  It was my turn to host, and since we officially welcomed the first day of autumn last weekend (in name, anyway!) I decided to do something warm and hearty.

I boldly boasted (jokingly!) to our group that the Old Buzzard and I have won TWO blue ribbons at chili cook offs in the past.  I then proceeded to prepare the absolute WORST batch of chili you could imagine.  I am not in any way suffering from a false sense of modesty when I tell you it was bad, bad, bad.  My guests were exceedingly diplomatic as they choked it down. Ha!

I was, however, able to pull of a cute centerpiece idea that I found on Pinterest.  I find it odd, looking back on these pictures, that it was less than a week ago when the biggest thing on my agenda was how to make mason jars look cute.  Emma's little sickness really cured me of all that free time.  ;-)

After dinner we played this really fun food trivia game.  What I really liked about it was that you don't have to be a "cook" to have fun playing.  There is a wide variety of categories, so everyone could participate in answering the questions.  It was a great time.

The biggest highlight was the PaParella's.  I went to a graduation open house the morning of supper club where this gourmet popcorn was served.  Now, I'm not normally a huge fan of flavored popcorn, but this stuff was DIVINE.  I especially loved the half caramel corn/ half kettle corn combo.  Delish!  So, Mom and I drove up to find this little place and get four different flavors of popcorn for supper club.  We put it out in big baskets and everyone munched away during the board game.  It was like a little reward for making it through my wretched supper!  

I need another special occasion fairly soon so I can have another excuse to return to PaParella's.  The chocolate peanut butter flavor was the favorite of the evening.  To.  Die.  For.  A fun and novel finish to our night.

Sunday evening Hayden played in a dodge ball tournament.  They had a color gauntlet there, and the kids had a BLAST getting doused in colors.

This is just about the nicest group of kids I could ever dream about for my son.

He is an active part of a youth group at a HUGE church right by our house. Even though our family does not have membership there,  Hayden adores the youth group and is always up to something fun with them.  Like dodgeball! 

Monday morning Emma came downstairs with a rash on her legs.  I got her a doctor's appointment for 11:00, and by the time we got there she had an angry, inflamed, TERRIBLY itchy rash covering the majority of her body.  It spread like wildfire.  It turned out to be a strep rash called Scarlett Fever.

And it was misery.  She really had a rough go of it, and we had a horrible time trying to find her some relief.  I was so incredibly thankful to have my Mom here this week.  I never could have made it without an extra set of hands (and a LOT of emotional support!) during the day.  Jeff came home every night and gave her oatmeal baths.  It was the only time she was comfortable.  She had a high fever and itches, itches, itches.  Sooooo pathetic.  :-(

By last night I was ready for a little cheer.  We made cheeseburgers for dinner and I decided to do something cute and silly for the kids.

Anything to put us more in the  mood for fall as we continue to melt in Texas temperatures.  Ha!

I also made a big batch of peanut butter cookies.  I had to make SOMETHING with peanut butter because we had THREE open jars of peanut butter going in the pantry at once.  How is that???

I was just so ready for something to do that I baked up a double batch, even though no one around here is particularly eating many sweets these days.  It was baking therapy.  :-)

I even made a few of them extra kid friendly.

I packed most of them up and sent them with Hayden to his co-op class today.  I find that teenagers are always pretty appreciative of baking sprees!

It's definitely been a loooooong week, but I'm super happy to report that as of tonight, we are officially on an upswing.  Emma's fever is down, her appetite is up, and she is happy and active.  The rash is still present, but it has calmed down a lot, and she is able to find some relief from the itching.  PRAISES.

My Mom closed on her new house this morning, so she is officially no longer homeless!  Hooray!  Movers arrive at the new house first thing tomorrow morning, and I am so incredibly excited.  I absolutely LOVE her new house, and it will be so fun to see her get all settled.

Maybe we need some PaParella's Popcorn to celebrate!  :-)