I’ve added a few new recipes to the site. You may want to check out the fruit salad, the ice cream (yes I know I promised the recipe weeks ago), the fresh salsa and the potato basil frittata.

While you’re looking be sure to read Jim’s rating system. It’s one of the funniest things I’ve read in awhile.

What I’ll never understand is why he will knock a point off lasagna for being hard to prepare when he’s not the one to prepare it? I’ll never know….

If you look to the left, above the pic of my wonderfully cute child, you can see that I’ve added a new feature to this website. My weekly menu.

It’s not quite in the format that I like it, but it’s a start. We’ll all see how well I keep up on updating it!

Thursday and Friday night we were camping. It was a fairly nice time.
Thursday we got to the campground around 8pm. We set up and went to sing some songs with the church group that we were camping “with.”
Friday morning, we ate breakfast with the church group and then as it was sweltering hot, we went swiming in the lake.

We were surprised at how nice the swim beach was. The water was so nice and not to cold. It was the only way that we survived the heat. That afternoon it clouded over and there was a nice breeze so we were able to sit and relax while the children didn’t sleep in the tent. I managed to get some knitting done. I came home with half a scarf.

We left early Saturday morning so we could beat the heat. It was certainly good to be home and shower and be able to put Honor down without worring about wether he would try to pull himself up on the fire pit or fall and bonk his head on the concrete.

We both agreed that we would have had more fun if we would have went camping alone as a family instead of going with the church. My reasoning for wanting to go with the church group is that we’ve been going to that church for a year and a half and I still feel no sense of belonging. I thought that being with the “core” group of church goers would help us to finally fit in.

It didn’t. I don’t feel like I developed any deeper relationships than we had before we went camping. It seemed like the “core” group just paid “lip service” to us (ie: how did you sleep, how’s business, your kids are cute, etc.) and didn’t really try to get to know us.

I know that Jim and I are quieter and maybe a little harder to “reach” out to, but I just get this feeling of not being liked. I think that I get to be too sensitive about these things. But, since we feel like it is important to go to church and this is the church that we decided to be committed to, it would be nice to feel “at home”. It would be nice to know that if we weren’t there, we would be missed.

Sign, nothing is ever perfect.

I apologize for being so lax in my posting as of late. We’ve been so busy here, I can hardly keep up. Later on today, we’re heading out to go camping for two nights with our church.
This is the state park that we will be camping at. Tomorrow we will swim in the resivior. I am packing a whole bunch of yarn as I hope to be able to get a lot of knitting done.

When we get back I’ll post the recipe for homemade ice cream and if you want to look at the fourth of July pics click here.

Have a good weekend.

20Questions

kinda a fun game.

We’re planning a back yard bash for the Fourth of July with our friends Brooke and Brian. We’re going to have a cookout with some awesome food and then light off fire works in the back yard. (Luckily the fire ban was lifted within the city limits just in time.)

Here are some of the things I am planning on making:

Homemade ice cream (I’ll post the recipe and a pic after I make it)

7-up salad (which, by the way, if you search google for 7up salad, mine beats out Kathie Lee Gifford’s)

fresh, homemade salsa and guacamole

corn on the cob if I can find some, I seem to remember having it last 4th

baby potatoes and fresh green beans

Brooke and Brian are bringing the meat and some beer. I think they will bring steaks and we’ll keep Jim away from the grill as he’s lost his touch for grilling. We don’t want to eat jerky.

I’m making a trip to my favorite market on Saturday, so I will probably come home with all kinds of delicious fresh produce.

I was really wanting to make a pie, but with the ice cream and the 7up salad, I will probably hold. off.

I hope everyone has a happy independence day. Please take some time to remember the foundations this great country was built on.

I would like to set some criteria for letting someone cut in front of me while driving. Really, before allowing someone in, I’d like to sit down for a short interview with them.

I need to know if they will sit for 5 seconds or more at a green light before deciding to finally move. I can only have quick movers in front of me. None of this putting the car in neutral to alleviate the need to keep ones foot on the clutch. When they finally realize that the light is green they start to rev the engine and realize that it’s in neutral. They then have to take the time to put it into first gear before being able to move. By this time the light is yellow. I can have none of this! (Sadly I am married to someone like this.)

I also need to be assured that they won’t be talking on their cell phone any of the driving in front of me time. I can have no cell phone talking!

I may also have to take a quick survey of their vehicle. Do they have annoying bumper stickers? Do their brake and turn signals work? I need proper warning if they will be slamming on their brakes. Do they have a ridiculously loud sub woofer? I cannot have someone?s stupid bass interfering with the music I am listening to.

Size does matter. If they are a gigantic land yacht, there is no way. I must be able to see over them from my little Honda Civic.

Finally and most importantly, I need to determine whether they are capable of turning on and off their turn signal. Nothing is worse than someone who switches lanes with out signaling. Alternately, just as bad, is someone who leaves their signal on. How can you not hear the little click, click, click? Honestly!

After having met all these requirements, I will allow you to cut in front of me. Unless of course you’re a semi and you just force your way in, using your size to be a bully and not caring if my family is in the car that you almost squished!

Today is Honor?s 9 month birthday. I can?t believe he is so old. It seems like Eden’s first 9 months took twice as long as his have. He crawls really well, he pulls himself up on everything, including his favorite thing, the toilet. He has just started to walk around the furniture. He waves bye-bye and says ?ba ba? while waving. He can pick up the cheerios with his thumb and forefinger but is REALLY good and throwing them all over the house. The vacuum bag contains almost exclusively cheerios.

And he has earned a new nick name. Destruct-o-con. While the squirm is still fitting, even more than ever. Destruct-o-con is just more fitting, as my house will attest to. It showed last night and by noon today, you?d never have a clue that it was sparkling clean. None at all.

Oh, well, I love the little destroyer. The cuteness makes up for the cheerio messes.

Go ahead, try it. Search google. Type in “booger picking” Who do you see in the #2 spot? That’s right, you can say it, I am the queen!!!

My sister will be jealous as she has been the booger picking queen for quite some time. Many an old person in this town has seen my sister pick her boogers while waiting at a red light. Many a wall, in her younger years, has been smeared with her viscous, green goo. I’m sorry dear sister, you have lost your title. After all, I come up #2 on google for booger picking. What can I say?

We went swimming the other day. The kids had a great time although Eden is quite afraid of the water.

Honor on the other hand LOVES the water.

Sadly, it was past his nap time and he got a little grouchy.

Eden and Madison had tons of fun together.

They would throw the little squirty toys in the water and then Madison would retrieve them.

It made me a little nervous, I was sure Eden was going to fall in and further her fear of the water, but it all turned out fine. No one got sun burned and and no one got dunked. It was sure a lot of work for the mommy though.