Some weekends are packed with chores or home projects. Others are filled with parties or travel. Some are spent just relaxing (we don't have many of those!) or visiting. This weekend was a funtastic combination of a little bit of all of those, along with family & extended family fun, from beginning to end! Ok, Friday evening was pretty low key, but I hit the ground runnin' on Saturday, starting at 8 am at Walmart (ugh), followed by a Publix run. In case you don't see my antics regarding these stores on Facebook, I witness the weirdest things: a customer brawl at Christmastime, a lady using various cosmetics (then putting them back on the shelf), and my personal favorite: a gigantic snake under a woman's sweatshirt in the deli (I SWEAR!)! I digress; back to Saturday...
Jax and his pups were a welcome break in housecleaning, and we all had a nice visit. Bear (right), has a new playmate, Balto. These two beasts, errr, boys, are both well under a year, and it shows; they are FULL of energy!
Next was a Baker birthday party to beat the band! Happy birthday, Tina! The 9 little people at this shindig (all 3 years and under) were sooo much fun, and kept us entertained for hours! It's the one thing about FL I don't like; not being able to get my hands on all of the babies that are up north. So thanks, Bakers, for making us part of your extended family! Now it's time to get home and cook for tomorrow's visiting Pennsylvanians, YaY!
I wanted to put out a nice spread for brunch on Sunday after Mass, so this is what I came up with:
Since it's Plant City Strawberry Festival time http://www.flstrawberryfestival.com/ here, the berries are at "season's peak" (uh oh, too much Publix...that's their slogan), so I stuffed them with cheesecake filling and topped them with crushed graham cracker. Top with a little whipped cream, and yummo! (nope, not my idea, I stole from Pinterest yet again)
This decadent brunch casserole recipe was compliments of our friend Sharon in ND: onion rolls, ham, cheese, eggs, milk, cream cheese, butter and dash of cayenne pepper. The best low cal breakfast I've ever tasted! ; ) Aunt Mary took the recipe right along home with her!
Fresh fruit salad with honey-lime dressing and fresh mint. Fruit is Aunt Rose's favorite, so I scored some points ; ) Trick I learned on Pinterest: soak the cut apples for about 10 minutes in gingerale or Sprite to keep them from turning brown. It works! (and doesn't have the tart like lemon juice)
Aunt Mary brought her homemade chocolate & peanut butter candies, my personal favorite. And let's not forget the bottle of Marburg wine! (ok, that's really my personal favorite!)
We ate and talked and caught up and told stories ♥ But I forgot to get a picture of all of us!!! Darn it, I hate when I get too busy talking (Jack would have something to insert right here) and forget to snap a pic : (
They all headed back to Aunt Rose's to see her kids for a bit, but I didn't let that stop me. After a dash to the grocery and a quick visit with Mom & Dad E, I went to capture the missing photo! 
Some of the nicest people in the world: Cousin Jane, Aunt Mary, Uncle Chiz (short for Charlie), Aunt Rose, Cousin-in-law Jim, me, and Cousin Dan.
I'm "Cousin Terry" to all of Aunt Rose's kids; it's always been that way, and I love it. Aunt Rose is who I wanna be when I grow up; for one, she has an embroidered sign on the end table beside her chair that says "Ssshhh, I'm talking" (if that's not me, I don't know what is!), and two, she's just a lovely person. Aunt Mary & Uncle Chiz are the warmest, most welcoming folks (for years they ran Grandpa's motel); they had the 'party house' when I was a kid, famous for Aunt Mary's great cooking & the best picnics ever!
Uncle Chiz was talking to Jack at breakfast about visiting soon; later, Jack said, "We ought to go to PA this summer, huh, hon?"
: D
YaY!
