BenSpark Family Adventures

Photo-A-Day #02667 Tonight was Cinco De Mayo. I made some more Birria meat. I went to Chartley Country Store and picked up a 4.5 lb chuck roast and did it up with the Birria Bomb and the Instant Pot. Allison got some Margarita Mix and I had my one for the year. The consume was good and so were the tacos. Very nice night of food.

Photo-A-Day #02666 With the tree in front of the house having been removed we had to do something to get it looking nicer. Allison and I got some candy corn shrubs to plant on the corner. I also picked up some wood chips to spread around there and I'll have Andy do some weeding soon to get it all looking good. I'm also thinking of adding a big half Whiskey Barrel to the top of the stump and fill it with some flowers. At least till the shrubs grow in and get larger to cover the stump.

Photo-A-Day #02665 Today Allison and I did the Marriage PRep Course for Transfiguration of the Lord Parish. Last night we went to a fun dinner with everyone pictured above plus the team. It was a nice meal and everyone who attended was really nice. We had a whole day of talks and fun exercises to show the engaged couples that they have an additional support system with regards to their marriage. I ran out at lunch and picked up a Crowd Pleaser set of pretzels for everyone. They loved them. 

Photo-A-Day #02664 Today was Free comic Book Day. I made sure that I got over to The Laughing Shield comics to pick up my subscriptions but also some of the free comics. I had intended only o get two free comics, the Energon Universe special and the Dungeon Crawler Carl comic. However, a few other ones caught my eye and I grabbed those, too. We had a limit of 10 comics per person and so I got 8 total. There was a Supernatural one as well as The Greatest American Hero which actually looks very interesting and a fun one to continue with. I have been watching the old episodes on Amazon Prime from time to time. I also picked up a set of comic books because they had special covers. I had been eyeing them for months and today they were 20% off so I pulled the trigger on those. They were special covers of G.I. JOE featuring 5 of the Dreadnoks. I thought that they would be nice additions to my collection.

Photo-A-Day #02663 Today was Eva's Senior Prom. She's been working on her outfit for a very long time and she and her friend Aviva matched up with each other perfectly. They were so excited for the event. I picked Eva up from school today and took her to lunch at K.C.'s Burger Bar for lunch before taking her to get her hair cut. I then took her home so she could get ready. Eva even put on some very pretty fake nails for the event. Everything she did with her outfit matched up so well from makeup to nails and also wearing Allison's wedding jewelry (necklace and earrings). Aviva arrived around 5 O'Clock. She had made special bouquets for she and Eva.  They were very beautiful and Eva was thrilled. The two young ladies looked fantastic in their outfits. We took photos in the backyard and also some under the trellises. We also took some by the Rhododendron bush. I wish that it had been in bloom but there was nothing in bloom around. The nice tree int eh backyard bloomed...

Photo-A-Day #02662 At the PRetzel Factory they are getting ready for Mother's Day! There are a couple of things that they are doing for this. One item they are making are heart shaped pretzels and the other are these giant flower shaped pretzels. Today Tim and I were experimenting with how to bake them properly without over cooking them and also not burning the outsides.The other challenge is keeping them together. We were able to solve the problem of baking them but the next was getting them off the parchment paper and keeping them intact. I had a bunch of pretzels tonight after work and so I messaged my friend Aaron. We had gone out for dinner last week and I had mentioned the pretzels. I said I had a bunch and I'd stop by on the way home so I did and gave him some of the cinnamon sugar rivets and regular rivets and a 5 of pretzels. I still had the whole flower and another 5 of pretzels and a giant bag of rivets to bring home. I'm going to bring them in to work tomorrow n...

Photo-A-Day #02661 Eva's getting the shirt that she's wearing to prom ready. She's been working on it for weeks and is down to the finishing touches. I can't tell exactly how much work she has to do on it but it seems like a good amount to get it to where she is very happy with it. I know that she'll get it done, however, we are getting close since Prom is in two days. She takes after her Aunt in this way. so much going on and coming down to the wire on things. I'm reminded of Tara finishing her wedding dress on the wedding day. We'll see if Eva is still sewing on Friday.