Friday, July 23, 2010

{Flashback Friday}



Cruising around the neighborhood with my cat Chocolate.....

Wednesday, July 7, 2010

{Nasty}



Don't you love it when you try to take short cuts in cooking and you RUIN the meal? I made a pasta dish which came with a balsamic glaze that you were supposed to drizzle over each individual plate of pasta when serving. I thought I'd just skip a step and mix the glaze with the rest of the pasta. Bad idea! As I started mixing it up and the pasta turned darker and darker purple I knew it was going to be way too strong tasting. SAD!! I tried to save it with some cheese on top but even that didn't help!!

If you are wanting some delicious recipes.....try these I've made recently from my good friend's blog....they are all winners!

Summer Garden Pasta
http://thecooknextdoor.blogspot.com/2010/06/summer-garden-pasta.html

BBQ Chicken Chop Salad
http://thecooknextdoor.blogspot.com/2010/04/bbq-chicken-chop-salad.html

Cornucopia Salad
http://thecooknextdoor.blogspot.com/2010/04/cornucopia-salad-1-head-green-leaf.html

Tomato Basil Mozzarella Sandwich
http://thecooknextdoor.blogspot.com/2010/03/tomato-basil-and-mozzarella-sandwich.html

Spanish Rice
http://thecooknextdoor.blogspot.com/2010/03/spanish-rice.html

Fruit and Feta Green Salas
http://thecooknextdoor.blogspot.com/2010/02/fruit-and-feta-green-salad.html
My Aunt Suzy and Uncle Kevin have a beautiful home in Mesa with a backyard that kids dream of! They were so kind to let us use their home over Memorial Day Weekend even though they were out of town. My aunt Laraine's family was there, my parents and Ally, and also my Aunt Kaija with her cute kids. The kids played for hours, never getting tired of going on the fun slide over and over. The adults had a good time eating yummy food and talking. Afterward we went to Mark and Laraine's house and you guessed it...ate some more (even homemade ice cream, yum!). I love my family and feel so happy when I am surrounded by them!




Thursday, July 1, 2010

{End of School}

The end of school is always filled with lots of fun parties, events, programs, etc. This year it also included an ambulance ride and lots more fun medical bills! (can you sense my sarcasm??)

Two days before school was out I was on the other line when someone from the school called. When I returned the call it took several minutes for the secretary to figure out that "Nurse Andy" had been trying to reach me. By the time I spoke to him, he had already called Cody at work, and informed me that he had called 911 and an ambulance was on its way to the school for Ethan. He had fainted in the cafeteria line at lunchtime and the nurse said he was very pale and not acting normal. He really seemed concerned and had me very worried as I rushed to the school.

When I got to his office the paramedics were already there, along with firefighters and they were doing their medical assessments while everyone was asking me a million questions. They all felt that he needed to go to the ER and while my intuition told me he was fine, I didn't have the guts to act like the uncaring mother who just takes her child home and doesn't give them the medical care everyone feels he needs! Flashback to last summer, Ethan fainted twice, both times in when out in the sun playing sports. I fainted several times as a child, I think I would lock my knees. Anyways...back to the drama.

They loaded him up on the stretcher and he was put in the ambulance. The funny part was watching all his fellow 1st grade friends who were out at recess watching at the gate while Ethan was being put in the ambulance. They were all impressed/worried. Ethan was brave as he got an IV, blood drawn, as well as a CAT scan and EKG. After his CAT scan the tech was so thoughtful and brought Ethan into the backroom to view images of his brain. He thought that was very cool. Everything came back normal and we were on our way a few hours later.

Kade was in a cute preschool group this year with just 3 year olds. Mrs. Tracey was so fun and he really looked forward to Tuesday and Thursdays. The picture below is at a "Teddy Bear Picnic" they went on this spring.



At his little graduation ceremony they first sang songs. He cracked us up with his sweet dance moves, it was pretty funny to watch. Then she read from little books they had made, and we learned that when he grows up he would like to be a Tiger.





Ethan had an amazing Kindergarten teacher this year, Mrs. Rideau. She moved to California a few weeks before school ended, and luckily her sub for the rest of the year Mrs. Knaggs, was just as sweet. The kids were so excited when Mrs. Rideau made a surprise visit on the last day of school.







Rhett also had a fabulous teacher, Mrs. Malasnik. She loved to tease the class and he would always come home telling me stories of how she had made him laugh. He is especially lucky because she is moving up to 3rd grade next year and taking her whole class with her! We are thrilled!!