I hope everyone had as good a weekend as I did. Friday while the girls were at school, Evan and I took off to a few garage sales. It's one of my favorite things to do, but I can never find anyone to go with me! The girls hate it! Well, I have a new garage sale buddy, Evan! He loved it. After each sale he would say, "Mommy, can we go to another garage sale?" He was so enthusiastic, friendly, and cute that the sellers kept giving him free stuff, LOL!
Friday night was movie night. Rich and I watched PS. I love you and cried. Then one of my good friends came over and spent the night so we could wake up early and go to the annual West Seattle Neighborhood garage sale on Saturday. There were over 140 participants. I had never been to West Seattle and it was so beautiful. The houses are so unique as is the amazing landscaping. Some houses are on steep inclines and have terraced yards, and long staircases just to get up to the yard. I loved it. The views of the water were amazing too. I was so bummed I didn't bring my camera with me. I got some great deals at the sales too. I made sure to find a treasure for everyone in the family. Jewelry and books for me and the girls. Kite for Emma, Cool boots for Melanie. A giant Tee-Pee for Evan, 11 cute dresses for my baby niece, and a blender for Rich for Margarita season. It was a great day!
When I got home Saturday afternoon we went shopping for my Mother's Day presents at Walmart. I had shopped around and pre-picked what I wanted. I got a patio set for my back deck, the matching swing, and one of those outdoor fire pit thingys. Rich tried to get everything set up on Sunday between the rain sprinkles, but didn't quite make it. It is supposed to get nice later this week though, so I will get some use out of my new stuff. I love it and we spent around $400 for everything, which is a great value for all we got.
Also on Sunday, the little kids helped me make a cake with my new giant cupcake cake pan by Wilton. It turned out so cute! We made the bottom chocolate and the top vanilla. It was really yummy!
Rich and Emma snuck outside and picked these beautiful tulips from my yard for the dinner table. Tulips are my favorite flower! Emma had a beautiful painting and poem she did for me at school, and Melanie had a crazy colorful tile she made at art club. My kiddos are the best!
While Rich was working on putting together my new outdoor furniture, I went grocery shopping all by myself which is a treat! I did so good at the store with coupons and sales, that I saved $65 dollars off my bill, which was 30%! Even the customer behind me said I did good when he saw my total going down, down, down. When I got home I made the most delicious dinner ever. Rich usually makes my Mother's Day dinners, but since he was working so hard on my furniture, I didn't mind doing it. He did the cleaning up after! I made baby back ribs using my sister, Andi's recipe. They turned out perfect! I think they rival anything you can get at a restaurant. I will make them this way from now on for sure. Rich loved them too. Here is the recipe:
- Andi's Fall-off-the-bone-Ribs
- 1 rack of pork baby back ribs
1 bottle of "Sweet Baby Ray's BBQ Sauce"
Take your rack of ribs, and cut it into 3-4 chunks, so that it will fit into a pot. Fill the pot with water and bring it to a boil.
Place the ribs sections into the pot and boil them for 45 minutes.
After the ribs boil for 45 minutes, take them out and place them in a large rectangular casserole baking dish and smother them with BBQ sauce (I like "Sweet Baby Ray's" brand, but you can use whatever kind you like best).
Cover them with tinfoil and refrigerate for several hours. Remove from refrigerator and cook them in the oven on 250°F for 2 hours, then remove the tinfoil from the top, and broil them for 5-10 minutes for a crispy top.
If you don't want to broil them, put them on a hot grill for several minutes and grill until top is crispy.
I also made baked potatoes and corn on the cob. It was a really perfect meal!
After dinner, the kids had baths and got ready for bed. Rich and I watched the Survivor finale then went to bed. Here is Evan with his army guys in the tub.
Wow! That is quite the weekend!
I had a good one too but not that busy. :)
I need to write about it. I *really* wish the weather would hurry up and change!
Posted by: Sheila at Dodging Raindrops | May 12, 2008 at 04:27 PM
What an awesome Mother's Day! Glad you enjoyed it. My fam took me to breakfast & also gave me quite a few 'homemade' gifts. I loved them all. You seriously need to have your cousin Jo & I out! I want to go to Rattlesnake Lake. Just my kind of place. I bet there are letterboxes in the area. I'm actually going to check it out now at Letterboxing.org Glad your Mother's Day was wonderful!
Posted by: Layni | May 12, 2008 at 08:51 PM