The Napier Family Gathering

In celebration of Grandma and Grandpa's 50th wedding anniversary, the family gathered at a quaint bed and Breakfast, The Inn At Harbour Village. We had a wonderful time eating food, playing games and reminiscing old times.

Happy 50th Anniversary Grandma & Grandpa!

The excitement of going to Grandma and Grandpa's house. The aroma of fried chicken in the air. Adult discussions taking place in the living room. Miss Scarlet in the Study with the lead pipe; the verdict of a fun game of clue. Yes, those were the days...those were Sundays. As a child this was a day of events but the most memorable was the fried chicken supper at Grandma and Grandpa's house! We would hop in our little Ford Tempo. Tara, Chase and I squished in the back seat. Arriving after a car ride that seemed like an eternity. Grandma could be found in the kitchen, cooking some of the best comfort food available. Grandpa, possibly on the recliner in the living room. Fried chicken is the meal I most remember, however, anything Grandma made was good. I don't know how she managed to have a meal prepared for us all (Aunt Des's family, Uncle Jud's family, my family and Josh) but she did. Grandma had a special table set up for us kids in the kitchen. We had so much fun! More times than I can count, we would get reprimanded for being too rowdy, laughing or being silly. After dinner the women would be in the kitchen, washing dishes and cleaning up after the meal. Most of us kids would wander upstairs to the bedroom to play office, lawyers or a game of CLUE. I loved playing with Jenny and Tara. I'm not so sure they loved playing with me. I'm scarred by the memory of playing lawyers with them; Tara and Jenny both had a real desk, a real phone, paper and pens while I had a trash can turned upside down with a couple of items I was supposed to pretend were real.

Staying the night with grandma and grandpa was a real treat. I have a couple of memories that stick out in my mind. Each one includes breakfast. First of all, I remember hearing grandma and grandpa get up very early in the morning. At the time, I thought grandpa ate breakfast in the middle of the night. I now know that some people simply start their day a little earlier than others. Grandma would get up and make grandpa breakfast and send him off to work. What devotion! She would not simply pack him some muffins and make a coffee, (as I often do). No, grandma made eggs and bacon for grandpa. I would be in a daze smelling it for a little while and then I'd drift back off to sleep for a couple more hours. Then came the time for grandma to make us breakfast. I remember having pancakes. But, there was a little stumbling block here. Unlike at my house, grandma and grandpa had a couple of different kinds of syrup. I remember Tara, Chase and myself whispering to each other in the dining room while grandma was in the kitchen, we were discussing the boysenberry syrup sitting on the table. We were not going to partake in that type because boysenberries were obviously poison-berries. And then, on another occasion, there was the cream of wheat. My mom always prepared our cream of wheat, added the proper amount of sugar, butter and any other fixings you might add to cream of wheat. Again, grandma had the table set with all sorts of options that I could add to my cream of wheat. She gave me my unadorned bowl of cream of wheat. I ate a couple bites with no fixings in it (I had no idea what amounts or whether or not I could add anything) and decided I'd wait for lunch. If only I knew grandma had set those options on the table for me to add to my cream of wheat! I'm sure I would have thought she made the best cream of wheat in the world.

I always wished it to be nice outside while at Grandma and Grandpa's because if it were nice outside, I could go on the rope swing. While swinging on the rope swing, I felt like the most adventurous girl in the world! I remember swinging and seeing grandpa out in the shop and proudly receiving a wave and recognition of my courage while on the swing. Another proud moment was my first time climbing a ladder with grandpa. He was at the top of a ladder leading to the roof (I don't remember why) and I remember him telling me that I could climb up too. I don't even remember how old I was, probably four or five. Grandpa made me feel like a big girl that day though, climbing that ladder, something even my big sister Tara wouldn't do! This brings me to another memory involving a ladder. One Sunday, while playing in the upstairs bedroom, grandpa decided to climb a ladder leading up to the window of that room. I don't remember the details but I remember being scared silly by a masked man looking through the window!

Christmas Eve was my favorite night of the year. And, every year it involved going to Grandma and Grandpa's house! I loved arriving and seeing all of the gifts under the tree. Grandma and Grandpa have always been extremely generous at Christmas time. I do believe I have been quite spoiled. And the candy, it seems there was always fudge and divinity and cookies! That night, Christmas Eve, was basically a kid's paradise.

These are just some of my memories. I have twenty-three years of beautiful memories. You have been married fifty years. Fifty years devoted to each other. Thank you, grandma and grandpa, for valuing marriage. Thank you, for setting the tone and enjoying life together, for blessing my dad with life so that I can have life and my kids can have life. I will boast on the fact that my grandparents have kept their vows, loved, nurtured and cherished each other for fifty years. And that my parents are doing the same and I too will pass on the legacy of a lasting marriage.

Praise The Lord, for HE IS GOOD.

Brunch

I have decided that I love a good weekend brunch! It is most enjoyable when shared with family and friends. There is something divine about sipping on a nice latte while devouring a luscious pain au chocolate or my most recent concoction, the vanilla bean croissant, late in the morning. I also enjoy a good quiche, breakfast sausage and a refreshing fruit salad. Yum!

A whirlwind weekend...

Do you ever feel like your weekend zoomed by at an unfair pace? Well, this weekend was definitely a whirlwind for us. We enjoyed ourselves immensely but simply can't believe it's Monday already.

On Saturday, the girls, Stephen and I started our morning off at Top Pot. I enjoyed a chocolate cake doughnut with maple glaze. Yum, it was absolutely delicious. I took my hot cocoa over and got my hair cut by Jennifer at Salon Bellezza while Stephen took the girls to Bellevue Square mall to play on the new play place (this was a real treat as we normally don't let Pear play in those disease infested areas). Then we ventured off to visit Brook and Joseph and their girls and we ended up getting to visit with Kurtis and Sasha and their girls as well! We all took a leisurely walk to the park and enjoyed visiting.
Sunday we went to Reality in the morning and then headed down to Stephen's family's house to celebrate Doug's birthday. Pear was so excited to participate in a birthday celebration. She was sure to help Doug blow out the candles. We enjoyed a delicious meal which included Stephen's Wicked Shrimp appetizer, Claire's homemade hamburger buns, Therese's blue cheese dressing (which is also spectacular as a condiment for the burgers) and homemade barbecue sauce. There was just about anything you could want for a burger topping! After indulging in a great meal, we had to top it off with a delicious marble cake made by Claire adorned with Harvest moon frosting (a favorite recipe passed down by Grandma Doris) and bittersweet chocolate drizzle. Delish!




After all of this fun, we had to stop by my family's house on our way home to squeeze in a couple of lousy games of Settlers of Catan and Stephen had to see if he could beat my brothers in Call of Duty. We visited and played games for a little while and then headed home to get some rest before the work week appeared much too early this morning.

I feel loved!

I just had to share a couple of sweet ways Pear expressed she loves me.

Stephen has started a routine with Pear at bedtime. When he goes in to tell her good night, he gently tickles her face with his finger and expresses how beautiful she is. He will go through all of her features: "Pear has beautiful blue eyes, rosy red lips, pretty long eyelashes, beautiful blond hair, perfect little nose, little round face, cute little chin...Pear is a princess!" Well, yesterday morning, when Pear climbed into our bed to snuggle before getting up, she went through the routine with me: "Mommy has beautiful blue eyes, pretty BLUE lips, beautiful BLUE nose...Mommy's a princess!" That made my day.

This morning I asked Pear to come and help me do the dishes. She ran over with delight and said, "You my best friend!" How could a mother not feel loved after those sweet words?

Silence = Mischief

In my home, when there is silence in the house it means one of two things: either Pear is into mischief or Pear is sleeping. Today it meant mischief. Watch the video, you'll see.

She obviously thought she did a much better job applying the lipstick than the job that appeared in the mirror. I don't even wear lipstick, (it's too hard to constantly kiss babies while wearing lipstick,) but lately Pear has been into anything and everything girly. She got her fingernails painted for the first time the other day and is constantly holding her hands out and saying "prinkles!" (She is meaning to say "sparkly".) She also wants me to apply blush to her cheeks any time I put it on mine and she loves to get her hand on the brush and apply it to her baby dolls as well. Little girls are so much fun!

fun expressions...

I found these pictures to be entertaining. I love the expressions on the girls' faces!

Pear, the artist.

pillows

As most of you know, our house needs a lot of work. We are trying to bring a home from the 60's up to date and it is a slow work in progress. We have completed one room and I found it needed just a little something to brighten it up. I set out to make pillows for our furniture out there and I am quite pleased with the finished product. Here are some pictures of our completed living room, pillows and all!