Monday, July 30, 2012

What's for dinner?

I thought it would be fun to do some thing new- pick my favorite weekly meal and post it for you all to see! This week it's grilled teriyaki tilapia, rice, fried green beans from the garden, (I tried this for the first time tonight with butter, onions and lots of salt and they are AMAZING!!!) and garlic cheese biscuits. (I found a mix at Wal-Mart that you just add water to and they are almost as good as Red Lobster's.) Bon appetit!

Tuesday, July 24, 2012

Weekend Trip to IN

For several years now, my sister-in-law's Uncle, Jeff Wyatt, has tried to get me to come to their Church's annual IN-HIM (Indiana Holiness In Music) Conference. With two little ones and a four-hour drive between us, I've always had excuses and never made it. When Amanda informed me that this year would be their final conference, I was determined to try going. She told me the dates; don't ask me why I didn't write them down at the time. Early last Friday morning (around midnight or so) I began to mentally plan my trip that I thought was one week away! When I got online to check out the class schedule, I saw that it was NOT the following week and actually on it's final day! I was pretty bummed about missing it and disappointed in myself. That's when I started preparing for the most spontaneous trip I have ever taken! I cleaned, washed clothes and packed all night and left at around 12:30 on Friday. I was really pleased with myself for making the four hour trip alone for the first time! I knew I wouldn't get to attend any classes, but wanted to be at Friday night's concert. Even though the three of us were pretty exhausted, it was a treat. I especially enjoyed seeing the Millikin Family for the first time in person. Jameson loved the "Singing Neons" (a glowing puppet quartet and band) and "Little Mary." He was too shy to get his picture made with her but both boys love the CD I bought for them. Saturday was super fun! We slept late, then went swimming at Manda's parents' house. I was excited to see Ron and Denise again. They are the sweetest people and it didn't take long for Jameson to call her, "Mamaw." =) The boys weren't quite as excited about the pool as I was. I could've stayed there all day long and looked crispy for Church the next day! After some of Denise's delicious strawberry pie, we headed home (Josh's place) with one very important stop along the way- Warm Glow. (One of my Mother's favorite places in the world.... :) It's a HUGE candle store but they have lots of primitive stuff, toys and what-knots also. Unfortunately, they were out of Mom's beloved handmade soaps but I did load up on WAX! LOL! I actually called Anthony for permission to spend $40 there because I felt guilty! Ahhh.....Mom, you were right and I could spend half the day there! After leaving Warm Glow, we went back to their place where Josh had grilled out hamburgers for us. It was fun hanging out and goofing off with them. The next day, the boys enjoyed Sunday school where their teacher happened to be Aunt Manda! Chili's for lunch was delicious and then it was time to leave. I took the boys to Meijer to pick out "Indiana toys" and ended up stuck there for quite a while due to some pesky stomach issues of mine. So much for making it to Church "a little late!" The ride home went great also.....until I skipped the construction detour to find 65 South was closed at the bridge for the weekend. I ended up on 64 and got off at a scary exit in a not-so-nice part of town. Lol. I was in tears when I called my brother, who turned out to be the best GPS I have ever had! He stayed on the phone with me, telling me what to do and made it a cinch getting back on 65 again. We met Anthony at McDonald's when he got out of Church. Jameson and I had a race across the parking lot to see who got to hug him first. (I won, of course! ;) All in all, it was a great trip. Jameson missed his Daddy at night and Landon was clingy at first but they had a blast playing with their cousins and all of their cool girly toys! I'm glad I finally drove it on my own so doing it in the future will be no biggie. Josh & Manda- thanks for putting us up AND putting up with us all weekend (with little notice too!)

Here are some pictures,

Michelle

The Look-Alikes!
Jameson loves "holding" his Manda!
Ready to swim!

Woah.....that's one big pool!
Lounging Landon

Fun Fun Fun!
Yep, I could become a Hoosier. (haha)
Chili's- YUMMO!
Warm Glow!

Love at first smell! ;)

Monday, July 16, 2012

My first pickles! (and post from my iPhone! :)

I've been wanting to do this for a while. I LOVE pickles, especially the sweet variety. With plenty of cucumbers from the garden and a super simple (and cheap) recipe, today I made refrigerator sweet pickles (perfect for green canners like me with no canning stuff!) Thanks for the jars, Mom! They have to sit in the fridge for 12-24 hours and I can't wait to taste test them tomorrow. I'll be sure to post the report, good or bad! LOL! The cool thing about these is you don't have to seal the jars and they will last for several months in your fridge. However, I doubt they make it a month around here! My boys love pickles almost as much as I do and Anthony likes them as well. Although, he did complain about the pickle brine smell that filled the house this evening. (It was pretty strong so I can't blame him! Lol!) Next time, I plan to try making dill pickles since that's his favorite! If you want the recipe to these, they are "Snickers Easy Sweet Refrigerator Pickles".

Michelle

Monday, July 9, 2012

Thank you, Little Tykes!

What do you get when you combine a Summer night, a hill, a Cozy Coupe, and a little boy whose Mother has always had an overactive imagination???
 
 

Yep, that's what you get. Note: this car came with a floorboard that snaps in place as well as a lock on the door. Now, what do they expect you do to with safety features like that??? C'mon! (Landon obviously didn't trust those features enough. He's playing it safe by just sitting and watching from the top of the hill.) And just so you know, I didn't let Jameson didn't roll into the road. Lol!


Friday, July 6, 2012

Sunset on the Lake


This is the view we had from our boat this evening. We arrived at the lake at almost 8:00 but it couldn't have been more perfect. We had about an hour and a half of daylight with absolute gorgeous weather. It was so relaxing! I even drove the boat for the first time. The boys did too, with a little help from their Daddy. =)

I hope every one had a great Independence Day. We've had a fun week of cook-outs, get-togethers and fireworks. Now the weekend is here with lots of plans with family. I'm excited to see my brother, his wife and my nieces and can't wait to celebrate the girls' birthdays here! I'm looking forward to visiting with my Uncle Scott and his family from Illinois also. White Mills Days is on Saturday too, along with more fireworks that night in Stephensburg. Freeman Lake's show was amazing this year. I love watching the sky light up with colorful explosions and feeling my heart swell up with pride.....because I'm an AMERICAN. Thank you, Lord for my freedom! Happy 236th Birthday, beloved country of mine! =)

Here are some pictures as well as a video clip from our time on the lake!

Michelle