Operation Graduates Part One! :)

I guess it slipped my mind, but I haven't told you yet that Sarah and our cousin Matthew are having a double graduation on Saturday! Though the actual ceremony is being held at a church down the road, we are having a party at our house afterward, and that means rather a lot of food and preparation this week! I thought I'd take the opportunity of showing you a little more of our day-to-day family life and document the days leading up to this event with the pictures! I haven't really given you a concept of just how closely our two families work together, have I? Nope. Didn't think so. 

Let's try now.

11:00 a.m.

I clean off the kitchen counters all except for the ham which I randomly christen "Millicent." Why? Because that is a good name for a ham. Millicent is going to feature largely in our ham biscuits come Saturday, so I thought I might as well introduce her to you.

11:30

I take pictures of the counters in their cleanliness, all prepared to act as the calm before the storm.

The granite-topped pastry counter..

Ah, Millicent! You are beautiful in your sheer gown made by Saran!

On the way around the kitchen I found a leftover Avenger's napkin from Daniel's 22nd birthday. Yes. That's right. 22. What are you lookin' at?

Coffee makers at the ready in case we need caffeine...

See? Clean.

11:45

Aunt Christy brings over load of groceries, I gather my things together and realize we're missing milk for my biscuits, and Anna's missing vanilla for her's. Someone's gonna have to go over to the Walkers' to get it because two of the cousins, Jeremiah and Michael, are already headed this way with other ingredients we missed.

12:00

I volunteer and though I can drive, I choose to walk the 1/5 of a mile distance across the field. It's like 70 degrees out there, and rather a pleasant (though unseasonal) day for a walk.

Churchill goes ahead of me to convey my intentions to the Walkers.

I meet them half-way across the field where Michael shows off their ingredients, and Jeremiah looks at me skeptically. "What are *you* doing with the camera, Rachel? Isn't that Sarah and Matthew's ground?" Yeah, yeah. Well it's my blogging project! :D

They leave me to my own demise and I take a picture of Floofy-Grass just for fun.

I am met on the driveway by three of the girls, and my two newest cousins. 

"Buttons" is on the left, "Todd" on the right. Ain't they sweet? 

D'awwwwwww

While pausing to kiss Buttons, I smelled peanut butter. "That's funny," I thought. "A cat that smells like peanut butter. I shall have to remember this for the blog." And then I come inside and find myself being fed peanut-butter "buck-eye" dough by Bethany who also extended her generosity to the cat. Hence the smell. I knew my nose wasn't wrong. :P

12:15

Having got my milk and vanilla, I traipse homeward.

You can see our wood-pile covered with the plastic sheeting. *cozy*

And our clothesline. Just because everyone has one and everyone should hang up bright pink towels when they can. Bright pink Other Things too, but we won't talk about that here.

12:30

I finally begin the biscuit-making process which continues all through the afternoon. We are slotted to make 200 biscuits, but I up it to 250 because I know from experience that where there are Daniels, math calculations vary widely. 

2:00

Abby joins me in the biscuit-making venture, and I take a picture of the counter-tops now. Actually, not as bad as they could be! I think I'm a tidy cook.

I love the intense concentration when the biscuit-cutter gets sticky. 

Abby has seriously grown to be a huge help in the house! She's like a mini-Mama! <3

Mama, Leah, and Anna started on making front-porch decor....aren't these so cute? Mason Jar candle holders? These are going to run all the way up the front steps and have candles burning inside them. :)

*Smile* I liked this shot. It felt very secret.

So! That was Operation Graduates part 1! Stay tuned for the other episodes! :)