John Deere Tractor Music

This is really cool.

I Love the creativity with the oddest of items.

Turn it up and Enjoy!!!!

Try-It-Tuesday

A fellow blogger has revolutionized a great idea, sharing recipes on Tuesdays' and maybe just maybe there might be something out there that is your families new favorite.

You can check out her great recipes and others in the comments by clicking here.

Here is one of my favorite summer recipes - Enjoy!!!

Chicken Bruschetta

8 - 10 chicken tenders

1 tsp garlic powder

1/4 tsp salt

1/8 tsp pepper

Topping:

2 TBL olive oil

1- 4.5 ounce jar sliced mushrooms, drained

2 garlic cloves, minced

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 cup chopped red onion

1/2 cup loosely packed chppoed fresh basil or 1 tsp dried basil leaves

3 medium plum tomatoes, seeded and chopped

4 tsp Balsamic Vinegar

1/8 tsp freshly groung pepper

1 ounce (1/4 cup) shredded fresh Parmesan Cheese

**Make sure that you have everything prepared and open as you move fast preparing the topping while the chicken is cooking.***

Spray broiler pan with non stick cooking spray. Sprinkle chicken with garlic powder, salt and pepper, place on broiler pan and broil for 4 to 6 minutes or until juices run clear. Can also cook on BBQ for better grilled taste.

As that is cooking heat olive oil in a skillet over medium heat till hot. Add mushrooms, garlic and salt: cook 1 to 2 minutes or until garlic is tender stirring occasionally. Add onion, basil, tomatoes, vinegar and pepper, cook till heated.

To serve - arrange chicken on individual plates, sprinkle with half of cheese, top each serving with the mushroom topping and then top with remaining cheese.

YUMMY!!!

A very creative day.......

"Drama Queen" is very creative.

She makes darling little hats, bags, things that I never would have done at the tender age of 10.

She started out by wanting to make a tent for her dinosaur and instead began measuring "Sweet-boy" for a shirt. She measured and cut, pinned and measured and then began the slow and arduous chore of hand stitching the entire shirt together. After it's completion she ensured that like all great "t-shirts" that it had a great saying across the front.

What better than "I (heart) me!" a good saying for the "sweet-boy".

The rest of the day the new shirt was proudly worn till it was time to swim. I love seeing this glimpse into all the possibilities of what my daughter might become; a designer, a seamstress, a craft store owner, all of which I think that she will be incredible at. But, mostly I see how much she delights in doing things to make others happy.

That is what I am most proud of!

First Lost Tooth.

There is a hole in my mouth today....

"Sweet-boy" has lost his first tooth.

The sad part is he was brushing his teeth and spit it down the drain.

So what is the tooth-fairy supposed to take now?

I hope that she/he has long arms.

There is a hole in my mouth today,

where my tongue can say hello,

oh, there is a hole in my mouth today.

(This is actually a song that his class sang when someone lost a tooth.)

What a Dad!!!!

Having spent the week with my kids, sleeping in a queen-sized bed with the "Sweet-boys" feet ending up in my face more times then I want to remember, I needed a break!!! So "the man" sensed that he needed to spend time with the kids and get them away from a crazed mom, decided to do the tent thing with the kids. We have not done the tent thing for a while but our Eagle Scout and 2 budding assistants raised it in record time.
I had forgotten how big that thing is and how perfect for them to sleep in.
All ready for bed the kids got the tv set up and began watching movies. If they had been older I would have loved to go out and scare them, but that will have to wait for another time.
My Man and my hero!!!

Our Trip to the Desert

"Drama Queen" cannot wait to get into the pool after the long drive down, and many, "are we there yet's".
"Sweet Boy" is loving the pool and swimming in the deep end, much to mommy's nervousness.
Yup, we all got wet this time around. It was worth the long drive to just soak in the sun.
The kids favorite thing to do is get dressed up in Grandma's many hats and shoes and put on performances. What you cannot see in the picture are the kids with heels on. It is quite the sight to see them "clacking" around the tile floor.
Thank you Grandma Jean for the fun time. See you soon........

Gone for a while........

It is time to hit the road and do one of our summer, are-we-there-yet, vacations.

As is now in fashion we will be doing the "Staycation" and visiting a very hot corner of our state. I have checked and the weather calls for sunny and high of 103 all week. I do not think the kids will be needing hot chocolate to stay warm.

Have a great week and I will be back to posting by Friday.

I am sure that we will have great stories to tell from this adventure.

Pooooooolllllll!!! BRRRRR

The sun was shining,

the cover was off,

the pH/chemicals were pefectly balanced

The kids made it into the pool and out in as much time as it took you to read this sentence.

So they jumped on the tramp to get warm again and for good measure had a cup of hot chocolate too.

Maybe tomorrow it will be warm enough to get in again?

A Vocabulary Lesson......

nick·el-and-dime

adjective
Definition:
1. low-paid: paying or involving only a small amount of money ( slang ) a nickel-and-dime job
2. minor: small-scale, or of little importance ( informal )

transitive verb (past and past participle nick·el-and-dimed, present participle nick·el-and-dim·ing, 3rd person present singular nick·el-and-dimes)
Definition:
1. impoverish somebody through small expenses: to get somebody or something into financial trouble by accumulating many small costs and expenses ( slang )
2. bother somebody in many small ways: to hinder or harass somebody with trivialities and insignificant matters

I feel like I am being nickle and dimed to death.

Anyone else feel this way??

I got to the store once a week and in that time things have increased to where for $100 I used to get 8-10 bags full of groceries and now I am lucky to get 5. Lets not even talk about meat.

Then there is the blessed trip to the pump.

I am a God fearing, tax paying, SUV driving Momma. I will never change and when I begged "the Man" to buy me my dream car, the Explorer with all the bells and whistles, it cost $35.00 to fill it. That was in 2004, now I get a PANIC ATTACK each time I have to go there and watch the numbers go higher and higher and higher.

When is it ever going to end!!!!?

I recall reading a newspaper article about the cost to the gas station owners. The cost being their need to install pumps that would allow them to post the gas price higher than $2.99. Does that send a huge message that no one, no one, in their infinite wisdom thought that they would need to ever set those old gas pumps that high.

I think that they were on to something.

Anyone think the lotto will pay out? I'm going to Idaho to get me a ticket..........

June Blahs

Things to do in the June rain:

Read Books

Paint toe nails

Bake cookies

Tease my brother/sister

Go to the Dentist/Orthodontist

Call everyone you know and talk about what you are not doing this summer

Plan trips that you are not taking

or

better yet do what we are doing today.....

watch the wind blow the cover off the pool.

Just kidding it is not that cold out but the kids think that it is!

Summer Slave Camp

Last week was the first week of summer for us. I let the kids sleep in, stay up late and do whatever they wanted, mostly cause I was not ready for "Summer Slave Camp."

Today was a different story......

When their little eyes opened, I was up cooking a good breakfast and ready to let them know how things were going to be this summer. First we ate and then the kids got ready, cleaned their rooms, brushed teeth and hair and then they thought that they were done,

Oh NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

I was ready for them!

The kids got to choose which desirable chore they could do from the chart I have listed on the pantry door. "Drama Queen" picked the toilets, (don't ask, I do not know why she loves scrubbing them, but she does), and "Sweet-boy" swept floors and cleaned the bathroom mirrors. While they were doing these unsavory chores I swept and mopped the other rooms and vacuumed.

So what usually takes me 2 hours to do took just an hour. Then I informed "Drama Queen" that she was in charge of lunch today. So she made sandwiches for us and then we headed out to run errands.

What a nice day!

I think the only reason that this is working is that they have been very naughty over the weekend and have lost their privilege to enjoy this for 2 days.

But that is not going to stop the man and I from enjoying it!

Pretzel Fun

It has been such a cold and rainy week, all there is to do is cook. Thanks to another really fun Blogger out there that suggested this recipe and the idea - EM check her out for other fun things to do with your kids in the rain.

The best part is making the BIG mess.

Boiling the pretzels was really an interesting experience, so was trying

to make them look like pretzels, that takes some technique.

First batch out of the oven and they have plenty of

cinnamon & sugar on them thanks to the Sweet-boy.

(sorry you have to crane your neck on this one)Making the frosting dip, we have to have something sweet to dip the

sugary pretzels into, of course!!!
First bite, yumm...........
"Best Lunch ever, Mom."

At the end of any cooking project you consider success by the amount of dishes left to clean, their willingness to try something new and the smiles on your kids faces followed by their question of what we are going to make tomorrow.

Yes it was a very good day!!!

The Food Storage Dilema......

This is what I hear when we are rotating the food storage.

Enjoy!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=If7YJ-oeSy8

The Secret is in the Sauce Contest

Ladies, who is not up for free stuff.
Check out this great link to "The Secret is in the Sauce". You could win some great things and get your blog out there for others to enjoy and comment on.
I figure what do I have to loose.

http://thesecretisinthesauce.blogspot.com/

School's Out!

School is offically over and summer has begun.

What a fun year it has been.

"Drama Queen" had such a great teacher and we will truly miss her as she embarks on a new adventure in her life. So thank you Miss Hansen for all the great things that you taught our daughter and for letting her mom come and hang out whenever she wanted.