Five Shadows

Chocolate Cheese Cake with a Brownie bottom and whipped cream topping. Yum! Made by little ol’ me for my daughter’s 19th birthday.

Of the seven Schutts there are 5 birthdays in March! 5 of us! Plus one in February and one in April! Tis busier around here now than at Christmas time! And we are a goofy bunch. So here are some pictures from my hubby’s birthday and mine.

The lighting of many candles for Hubby’s cake! It took four kids – with me on the side line giving instructions! And the eldest snapping the photos.

Goofy Hubby and the five kids behind him. Me snapping the photo this time. DH said you should have felt the heat coming off of all those candles!

Look at all that smoke coming off of those candles! Happy Birthday John! (March 4th)

And now my birthday – today – March 7th!

The goofiest of all photos! That’s me – who is very un-photogenic, but actually looking pretty good here! Sorry to the rest of the family who are looking …. well … poor.

And here I am (not so photogenic here) holding one of my wonderful gifts! This is a collage by Sarah Wyman, as seen in the Jan/Feb 2010 issue of Cloth Paper Scissors Magazine. I love that magazine and LOVE Sarah’s art! I made up an Etsy wish list and DH bought this for me!

My middle daughter planned a wonderful meal for me using the cookbook Food to Live By, by Myra Goodman. She pulled some of her siblings in to help prepare the meal. We had Tuscan White Bean Stew, Spicy Chicken Lettuce Wraps, and Creamy Shells & Three Cheeses. Dessert was a chocolate cake from Whole Foods for the Whole Family. YUM!

After lunch we headed to a county park for some pre-spring walking. Lovely day to be outside! Son #1 was on the look out for a sign of Spring – and he found it in one of the first plants to stick it’s leafy head up through the ground with snow still on the ground in NE Indiana – - Skunk Cabbage!

The girls actually found several in a valley on the banks of a stream.  Here we are in the great out-of-doors. Goofiness!

Me with youngest daughter, Charis.

Me with daughter, Anna.

Me with daughter, Janelle.  That is snow in the background!!! (Wish you could see all the goofiness going on between each photo! We would need a video camera for that!)

Dear Husband, John.

Me with John.

Son, Noel. And once again son Luke has evaded the camera! (But Luke is in the photos at the top of the post, with sibling behind the parents!)

Today I am celebrating my birthday with family and friends. I’ll be meeting some of my girlfriends for lunch. And then, those who can, well join me to take in a local quilt show. Sisters of the Cloth are displaying quilts at the Jeffrey R. Krull Gallery – located in our public library, with a reception from 2-4 p.m. The show runs today thru April 5 – if anyone happens to be in the Fort Wayne area.

Pictured here are several fabrics I plan on using in making this cute Ashley purse.