So Close!

Check it out!

It won't be long now and there is no going back!

(I apologize for the grainy video and the terribly EXCITING background noise ! My Darling Husband was watching something to do with sports ~ shocking, I know !)

It was...

Beautiful.

Fun.

Relaxing.

Joyful.

and

Needed.


Camping and boating with friends last weekend.

We did some tubing and skiing ~ Sassy tried hard!



We all had a GREAT time!

Way to go!

Just a quick

Thank You!

to the 2 BRAVE souls

who became followers in the last couple of days!

It wasn't so scary was it? Ha!

Something to Think About Sunday

Stalking ~ the act of following stealthily

Hmmm.....

I know there are some of you (yes, you and you too) who read my blog and are not yet followers.

And, I am challenging you to become followers.

Really, its easy AND painless!

Think about it anyway!

Have a wonderful week!

Really it IS good

I try to make a lot of Smiley's baby food and this is what she inhaled last night for supper:

Here is the recipe:

from the Organic Baby and Toddler cookbook ~ Lizzie Vann

(although, I have made a few of my own changes so it is not exactly the same)

Ingredients:

1 tsp olive oil
1/4 small onion, finely chopped
1 small carrot, peeled and finely chopped
small pinch of parsley
½ cup organic diced tomatoes (drained unless you need it less chunky)
2 Tbs water
1 Tbs small pasta shapes

Heat the oil in a small pan over medium heat. Add in the onion and carrot, cook until soft (about 5 mins).

Add the parsley, tomatoes and water. Cover and simmer for 10 minutes, sirring occasionally to prevent sticking.

Meanwhile cook the pasta according to the directions on the box.

For a chunkier meal, roughly mash tomato mixture and add in the pasta.

For a smoother mixture, blend it up (I prefer my magic bullet) tomatoes and pasta together, adding water as necessary.

* I made it middle of the ground ~ not to chunky, but not too smooth.*

Enjoy!
Smiley sure did!

I think she's full

Our Week in Review

Last week was a fun, busy week.

Here are some highlights:

First of all, a day at the zoo and conservatory ~ enjoying the glorious day ~ thanking God for all of its beauty.

Sassy had a 3 day softball tournament. Grandpa and Grandma were able to come for a visit and cheer her on. As you can see, with games all weekend ~ 3 games on Sunday alone, Smiley was beginning to have enough. The girls played some of their best softball of the season. They took second place and none of us could have been prouder! They certainly worked hard all season!

Besides all of the playing (obviously softball, and just simply as a family), and fun day trips, we were able to enjoy our time with amazing family and friends ~ some close by and others farther away. I was especially blessed with a few hours of amazing company on saturday night. Three wonderful friends of mine from college and I were able to spend some time together. Some of these women I haven't seen in 5 years. We had a grand time together, although too short.

It was busy.

It was fun.

And I enjoyed every minute.

My Apologies

I would just like to apologize for my lack of posts lately. It seems I have been a bit preoccupied. Where you might ask?

It seems I have been

Here:

and



Here:

Finally, I am coming up for air.

Until I start the next one that is.

Grateful

Well if you read yesterday's post, I had a bit of denial going on ~ ha!


So for today, here are a few of the things I was grateful for last week:

I was thrilled to have an evening out with friends. We had dinner and just hung out. Fabulous and hillarious stories were told, memories were talked about, and feelings were shared. I am grateful I have such amazing women in my life.

My Darling Husband took a day off of work last week so we could play together as a family. We enjoyed a mostly cloud free (of course not in this picture), relaxing, fun, playful, hot day on the lake.

We purchased a new accessory for our deck and spent time enjoying it.

Oooh, and while we are on the subject of things we are grateful for, I would like to mention that I am extremely grateful for the person who came up with this recipe:


Ingredients:
graham crackers
chocolate bar
marshmallows


Directions:
Come on....
You know what to do!

Mmmmmm. Sassy is grateful too!

Not Me Monday

I'll admit it. I'm a newbie.

This will be the first time I participated in "Not me Monday", although it is a weekly post by MckMama at My Charming kids.

I can tell you right now this won't be a weekly post here. Mainly because I am perfect and have very few "not me" moments. Either that or I have too many and tend to try to permanently block them from my memory.

Yeah, I agree, lets go with the second theory.

Well here are my Not Me's from last week:

First of all, I have not all week had clean folded laundry on the couch in the living room. It is always put away, right away, because that is my most favorite thing to do.

I definitely did not rejoice in the fact that Smiley was sick and tired of being in the health club day care last Wednesday. So tired of being there in fact, that one of the wonderful women there had to come and pull me out of the last 15 minutes of spin class. I mean really I had already burned over 600 calories.

And that evening, when the team snacks came out after Sassy's softball game. It was Not me who really wanted to swipe the Zebra cake right out of her hand so I could eat it myself ~ not something I typically purchase nor typically want.

Last night as I was using my borrowed, very old (might just be an antique), sewing machine to make a baby gift I did not get angry at that "dumb old machine" because it was not working. Because it most certainly was NOT user error!

And finally, I did not ~ nor would I ever ~ let Smiley eat grass in the front yard so I could relax a little bit, keep her busy and snap a couple pictures.




Hurry get it in there!

Shove it in!

Act natural....

Hmmm, Smiley what is sticking out of your mouth?

There you have it! Come on, join in the fun! What didn't you do last week?

Something to think about Sunday

During mass today we had a guest priest give the homily.

He was quite interesting. This is one of the many stories he told:

He was driving in Illinois one day and pulled up behind a car with a bumper sticker that said this:




So he tapped on his horn and gave a little honk.


The person in that car, with that bumper sticker, stuck his arm out the window and flipped him off.

Hmmm....


Think about it, are you actively spreading the word of Jesus. Do your actions reflect your words?

LOVED THIS

Does anyone remember this cartoon?

I would love to hear if you do or don't!

For the record, I LOVED it. And yes, I can still sing the theme song.

ME?

CRAZY?

Well..... Maybe a little!

Christmas in July

We certainly had fantastic 4th of July weekend.

My sister, brother-in-law, 4 month old baby and their enormous dog came to visit for the long weekend.


Smiley began checking out her cousin when they arrived.

Friday morning the men hit the golf course and us ladies... we hit the trails. We ran (ok, jogged) 4+miles. Sassy and Action biked while Smiley and the "little man" reclined in their strollers.


Then we took off for the pool.

Smiley LOVES the water!

Saturday rolled in and....


Happy 4th of July!

HOWEVER,

Have any of you seen the movie Christmas Vacation with Chevy Chase. I know silly question. Well, you know crazy cousin Eddie and his interesting family? I think my sister thought they would try to emulate them.

Before noon, the little guy had had a blow out on the sheets, so the laundry was going. Their enormous dog had puked on our off-white carpet leaving a lovely pink stain. And the toilet had been clogged.

Ok, the sun began to peek through the thick clouds and it was time to get the boat out on the water.

One twirl around the lake and a quick hop in the water to cool off and my darling husband looked up and decided it was time to put the bimini top up on the boat.... Just in case.

Well, thank goodness he did because at that exact minute the rain began to fall. And then harder and then a little bit harder.

We waited and waited. Knowing in time the rain would pass. About 40 minutes later it did, the sun came out and we spent the rest of the afternoon on the lake enjoying ourselves! My brother-in-law even entertained us with a few flips off the side of the boat ~ unfortunately no documentation of that sight!

Evening arrived and it was time for a few legal (bummer) fireworks.

We had a wonderful weekend. I hope you did as well.

E, S, "little man" and "big dog" even though you learned from the best....

Thanks for coming to visit and we look forward to the next time!