Well, that worked well

So I have been reading A Life that Says Welcome by Karen Ehman (find it at your local library). Last night I decided to put all the excuses aside and treat my family better than company. I wanted a summer theme and, following Ehman's advice, used a khaki colored sheet as a tablecloth. I have a beloved cream platter that I like to put cranberries and white votives on at Christmas and I had these Yankee Candle Greenhouse candles. So I puttered outside and plopped some potting soil on the platter and settled the votives in.

Then I took out my Cracker Barrel maple syrup bottles, added two tiny vases to the lineup and tied the letters B-L-O-O-M, one on each bottle. I added a geranium stem and petunia stem to each bottle/vase and placed one at each place setting. MiddleBoy asked "Are we having company?", just as predicted in the book.

I made a simple dinner of nachos (Mr. Steady's favorite and now FirstbornSon's as well). For dessert I made chocolate milkshakes served in canning jars complete with whipped cream.

Crazy things happened. MiddleSon stopped playing the computer to help me set the table. Mr. Steady asked me to make him a chocolate shake instead of the cherry cordial one I had planned for him (he doesn't particularly care for chocolate but said he wanted to make it easy on me), and when FirstbornSon was licking the ice cream scoop and MiddleSon came in and asked for a lick, FirstbornSon quietly handed over the scoop! FirstbornSon did the dishes without complaining and everyone went to bed happy. All because of a tablecloth, candles and flowers? Or because they felt special and loved? We might have to do a double-blind study to conclude the findings.

This was the first evening in several weeks that Mr. Steady was home in time for dinner. We drank our milkshakes on the porch and shared a game of HiLo (where everyone tells their highest and lowest parts of the day). Everyone said their high point was dinner and that was thanks enough for me.

Wish I took pictures but our camera isn't keeping a charge so we're saving up to buy a new one. Maybe next time I'll have pictures to share!

Oh yes, and Mr. Steady's projects are half completed and I am ticked pink with the results...pictures forthcoming ~ I promise!