A Trip to the City

The Blondes and I took a trip to the city this weekend. We spent some time with my niece, Marcy, and her family. They have a beautiful new home and we hadn't seen it yet.

I also had another motive for going to visit.

Marcy does graphic design. She's very creative and she kindly offered to help her technologically challenged aunt.

Have you seen that new header? No? Well, scroll up and take a peak. Isn't it pretty?

I've had some questions about why I chose that scene.....it reminds me of where I came from -- the Flint Hills. It looks like home.

Thanks for sharing your talents Marcy! I love it.

And, you all check back periodically as there's more new graphics to come.

Menu Plan Monday #23

How can it be that we are already at July 4th? Where has the summer gone? Anyone else feeling like that?

We have a lot on our calendar this week...not so much in activities but in preparation. We're leaving on vacation at the end of the week. Much to do.

And I must mention that it is our town's biggest week of the year. The carnival is in town! Oh how our girls look forward to it each year. The week culminates with a parade followed by a fabulous fireworks display on the 4th. We look forward to it each year.

Since we're preparing to leave town, my goal is to clean out the refrigerator / freezer / pantry.

Sunday - Cheeseburger Salad (from The Pampered Chef Spring/Summer 08 Season's Best)

Monday - Chicken Parmesan, Rice Pilaf, Zucchini Stir-Fry

Tuesday - Bacon & Egg Salad Sandwiches, Fruit

Wednesday - Homemade Pizza, Fruit

Thursday - Fajitas, Corn Salad

Friday -
Lunch: Grilled Salmon & Shrimp, Baked Potato
Dinner: BBQ Pork (from freezer) on Buns, Potato Salad

Bright Spot

A few weeks ago I won something. A blog contest.

Amanda has a fabulous site. She shares many photos and each one of them speaks volumes. I wish she lived closer so she could take a photo of our family.

My winnings arrived yesterday. Aren't the packages just the cutest?

When I won, I received an email from Amanda which included several questions. The answers to these questions would reveal to her my favorites.....foods, flowers, scents, what I'd love to have for myself but never buy, what luxuries do I purchase for myself, a perfect day, etc.

She took those answers and used them to create a customized gift. See my pretties? A coffee scented candle (because I like the smell of a coffee shop), the cutest button magnets, a photo (which I'm sure she took) and then superimposed my answers to her questions on it and a ring. Isn't it lovely? I'm wearing it this morning. I smile each time I look at it.

Thanks so much Amanda! You were the bright spot in my day.

No Flipping Required

I shared that Blonde 3 got these and the achey mouth that comes with them. In order for her to eat, I'm trying to incorporate softer foods into our meals.

Tonight we had a new recipe -- Baked Omelets. I've always liked omelets. My brother, Stuart, used to make them for me years ago. He was good at flipping them in the pan; something I've been successful at only a few times. That means my omelets have usually turned out more like scrambled eggs. Not tonight though. Here's the recipe.








Baked Omelets (from The Ultimate Southern Living Cookbook)

2 large eggs, lightly beaten

1/2 c. all-purpose flour

1/4 t. salt

1 c. milk

3 T butter or margarine

Whisk together first 4 ingredients until smooth.

Heat three 9-inch round cakepans at 450 for 5 minutes or until hot. Remove pans from oven; coat with cooking spray. Add 1 T butter to each pan; rotate pan to coat bottom. Return pans to oven if necessary to melt butter. Pour batter evenly into pans.

Bake uncovered, at 450 for 7 minutes. Reduce heat to 350 and bake 5 more minutes or until browned. (Omelets will puff as they bake and settle as they cool.) Yield: 3 omelets.

I added some shredded cheese to the omelets just before they were done cooking.

This is a keeper recipe for a couple of reasons. 1) Everyone liked it and 2) it allows you to make 3 omelets at one time instead of one (that is unless of course you are multi-talented and able to make an omelet on each burner at the same time).

Blonde 2 wasn't home for dinner so I put her portion on a plate in the fridge. When she didn't show much interest in eating it, Blonde 3 asked if she could have it for breakfast tomorrow. Sure thing. But wouldn't you know it? About 30 minutes later B2 decided she was hungry. B3 made her keep back part of her omelet for tomorrow's breakfast. See why this is a keeper?

Changing Times

Change is inevitable. And someone in our house is doing a lot of it.

First she got these. (Contact lenses -- sorry for the poor quality photo.)

Today she got these. And the achey mouth that comes with them.

Our little girl is growing up. I'm not sure how many more changes I can take this summer.

Menu Plan Monday #23

I'm going to try to be diligent this week in either preparing larger evening meals which will allow for leftovers or see to it that our refrigerator is well-stocked with ready-to-go ingredients for Lawman and the 2 girls to use each day for lunch. This is a direct result from my week as guest blogger at Happy to be at Home. If you'd like to see the journey that we took last week, begin here. Trust me when I tell you that it wasn't a picture perfect journey. I discuss my 'lessons learned' here.



We will be making a pilgrimage (vacation) to Lawman's homeland (Pacific NW) to visit family in early July. With that in mind, I am going to do my best to clean out the freezer and pantry before we leave. My attempt at rotating the stock, so to speak.



Sunday - White Bean & Herb spread w/pita, BBQ pulled pork sandwiches, Potato & Carrot Bake, BBQ Green Beans (this was for a gathering of friends to celebrate Lawman's birthday)



Monday - Taco Salad



Tuesday - Baked Omelets, Toast, Watermelon



Wednesday - Swim Meet out of town so we'll be packing a cooler w/leftover pulled pork sandwiches



Thursday - Spaghetti Carbonara, Garlic Bread, Salad, Watermelon



Friday - Girls & I are headed out of town for a girls weekend with my niece and her kids



Saturday - Smokin' Shiskabos and Rice Pilaf



Thanks to Laura for hosting Menu Plan Monday. For more menu ideas, go here. Hope you're all enjoying summer.

Food For Thought

Several weeks ago, my internet friend, Kate, asked if I'd be interested in sharing my kitchen adventures on a new site that she and a couple of other ladies have created. Without much thought, I said yes. And so it goes, I appeared here over the course of the past week.

Before my family had to fully disclose what they ate on a daily basis, I thought that we ate pretty healthy. I know there's always room for improvement but before this week of self-evaluation, I would have told you that we darn near met the daily requirements of all the food groups. Now I know better. Almost makes me sorry that I said yes. I know, I know, I should use this as a learning experience and grow from it. But some things are hard to admit to and this is one of them. This is my family we're talking about and as the wife & mother, it's my responsibility that all nutritional needs are met. So now I know I fall short in that category.

So, I've been giving some thought to things I can do better. I think I might try to have the refrigerator stocked with items that are ready to assemble for lunch -- taco meat so they could have tacos for lunch, black bean burritos, ingredients for pita pizzas, veggies that are cut up with dip, etc. I see the benefits from this but I also see the downside--it would require a part of my weekend spent in the kitchen preparing this. After working all week outside of the home, I'm not sure that I care to spend a chunk of my weekend doing food prep. I'd rather be spending it with my children doing fun things -- going to the pool, taking walks, eating ice cream, going to the library, etc.

So after further thought I discovered another way I could do this that wouldn't require my weekend to be spent in the kitchen. I'm going to increase the amount of food I make for our evening meal. This will allow for leftovers for lunch and won't require any extra effort on my part. I know that our evening meals would fall into the realm of 'healthy.' This will also allow for a larger variety in the lunch menus around here (no sandwiches everyday). However, let me just say that my family could care less about variety for lunch. They're perfectly content in eating the same thing every single day. Variety is not the spice of life for them. I, however, am a different story.

Kitchen of the Week - Day 6

I'm sharing my kitchen adventures this week. You can read about Day 6 here.

Kitchen of the Week - Day 5

I'm sharing my kitchen adventures this week. You may read about them here.

Kitchen of the Week - Day 4

I'm sharing my kitchen adventures here this week.

Kitchen of the Week - Day 3

I'm sharing my kitchen adventures this week. You can read about them here.

Weekend at a Glance

A goal became reality for Lawman this weekend. He completed the Kansas 70.3 Ironman on Sunday. Late last year Lawman decided that he'd like to complete a half ironman to celebrate his turning 40 this month. After many, many hours of grueling training, he did just that.

Here's a glimpse into our weekend. Saturday was check-in. Below: 1) Lawman and his training partner, Tracy, at registration; 2) Need to hydrate? Here's a few choices. 3) At bike check-in.

Race day started early. We were up at 4:00 am and at the race site by 5:00 am. Man, that's early. There were 1200+ registered athletes. Add to that all of their families and friends that came out to support them and you've got a very large crowd.

Lawman & Tracy's swim heat started at 7:00 am. Here they are waiting and then they were off. Notice the blonde girl in the red shorts--that's B3. She's sporting our Team Burton shirts we had made for this weekend.

Lawman was out of the water in 42 minutes. Oh, and the distance was 1.2 miles. Someone would have had to rescue me.

Next stop...transition and onto the bike.

That's Lawman in the blue tri-suit. He's taken off the wet suit and he's gearing up to go out on the bike.

B2 and B3 were tired so they caught a few Z's while dad was on the bike. They had about 3 hours to kill.....good time for a nap.

Here he comes. 56 miles later, he's ready for dismount. Man that's alot of miles. Lawman said it wasn't a flat ride either; every hill in the area was part of the course.

Now it's back to transition to prepare for the run. Put the bike on the rack, get your race belt, shoes and gel packs. 13 miles to go. Oh, and locate the wifey on the fenceline, get a kiss and a few words of encouragement.

Here he is at the completion of the first leg of the run. We'll be able to see him 2 more times before the finish line.

6 hours and 23 minutes later, finished at last. Time to re-hydrate. What an accomplishment. Way to go Lawman. His best friend since race day has been the bottle of Aleve. After a few days rest it will be time to start training again. Full ironman in Oklahoma City in September. Do you think he's certifiably nuts?

Kitchen of the Week - Day 2

I'm sharing my kitchen adventures this week. You can read about it here.

Kitchen of the Week - Day 1

If you go here this week you can spend everyday with me in my kitchen.

Menu Plan Monday #22

We were out of town for the weekend so I'm late getting this posted. At least I have a plan, right?

Monday - Asian Chicken Salad

Tuesday - Chicken & Black Bean Soft Tacos, Corn Dip & Scoops, Fresh Fruit

Wednesday - Swim Meet; we'll be eating at the concession stand as proceeds go directly to our team

Thursday - Homemade Pepperoni Pizza, Baby Carrots & Dip, Fresh Fruit

Friday - Curry Chicken & Broccoli Casserole with Rice

Saturday - To Be Determined

Thanks to Laura for hosting MPM each week. Go here for more menu ideas.

If you'd like to share my week in the kitchen, I'll be posting here daily this week.

B3's Birthday Cake

We're having a party at our house Friday night. A birthday party to celebrate Blonde 3's 12th birthday.

She found this cake

in this book

and thought she should have one for her party.

I can bake a mean cake but I am in no way a cake decorator. I told B3 that I thought we'd be better off making cupcakes. She didn't agree.

So, being the good mother that I am, I agreed to attempt this. What was I thinking? I think the answer is that I wasn't thinking.

I know, I know. It doesn't look at all like the picture. More like something from a Star Wars movie. Or a melting igloo. No matter. We'll be eating it with ice cream and I know it tastes good because I sneaked a little bite. And the best part is that we made a memory -- I guarantee you B3 will never forget this, nor will she let me.

Happy to be at Home

Beginning on Sunday, June 15, I will be guest blogging here.

Easy As Pie

I love pie. Cherry pie, chocolate cream pie, coconut macaroon pie. They're all my friends.

My mom baked pies regularly. My older brothers loved her cherry and apple pies. I preferred her coconut macaroon and chocolate cream. Mom also made pie crust from scratch.

Pie crusts always intimidated me. I'm not sure why but something about having to roll it out, transfer it to the pie plate and then crimp the edges just seemed daunting.

That all changed a few years ago. A family that lives in our town has cherry trees on their property. As you might imagine, they have more cherries than they can get picked so they allow others to come out and pick their own. She asked if I'd be interested. Fresh cherries for nothing more than a bit of labor? Yum. I was thinking about fresh baked cherry cobbler in the winter. She however was thinking my husband needed a cherry pie. Um, sorry, but I don't make pie crusts. She said she had just the solution -- an "In the Pan Pie Crust." Can you imagine? Well, let me tell you it's yummy and easy as pie to make. I made a cherry pie this past weekend. I'll share the secret with you.

First, gather your ingredients and a pie plate.

You'll need 1 1/2 c. flour, 1/2 tsp. salt, 2 T. sugar, 1/2 c. oil and 2 T milk + your pie filling. (I know, I cheated because I used a store-bought filling but the fresh cherries in our freezer are all gone until later this summer.)

Mix dry ingredients together in pie pan and make a small well in the center. Pour liquid ingredients in and mix all together. Press out evenly.

Now isn't that easier than rolling it out? Now fill with your pie filling of choice.


Rather than preparing a top crust, let's make a crumb topping. Here's what you'll need:

1 c. brown sugar

1 c. flour

3/4 c. oatmeal

1 tsp. cinnamon

1/2 tsp. nutmeg

Melted butter (3/4 to 1 stick)



Mix all dry ingredients. Add melted butter until crumbly; sprinkle over pie. (Note: I don't make the full recipe for the crumb topping as it's more topping than we like. I usually do a little more than half of the recipe listed above.)

Bake in a 350° oven until the center is bubbly. If edges begin to brown too much you may want to cover with foil.

Mmm. How about that for easy as pie? Now sit down and have yourself a slice.

Numnah....What??

This may be old news to some of you but that's the way I've been operating this summer.... behind on everything.

Last night I was tired. So tired that I wanted to do a lot of nothing. I laid myself right down on the couch, closed my eyes and before I knew what hit me, I was asleep. Then one of the girls came in and announced she was going to have a piece of cherry pie. I said I'd like to have one too, could she get it for me? Her response was, "well then you better get up and get in here if you want any pie." Hello? How many times have I gotten pie for you? How about sharin' the love here? So I got up and got my own pie.

Then we sat down on the couch to find something worthwhile to watch. There's not much to pick from in the summer. I suggested the National Spelling Bee. The girls didn't think that sounded appealing as "the spellers are all nerds." (Hey, be careful there. I was in the school and county spelling bee several times as a kid.) The youngest suggested American Gladiators. Yuk. Double-yuk. I convinced them we could watch the spelling bee and switch to the gladiators (yuk) on commercials. Ok, that worked.

I'm a good speller. I read a lot. I do word puzzles. But where do they get these words for the spelling bee? I'd never heard of them before. I couldn't pronounce them. What's their origin? Hello? Is that really necessary? For fun these kids read the dictionary. One gal had read it seven times. 7 times. And it was F.U.N. Are you kidding? The same gal had studied multiple languages - - Greek, Latin, Spanish. How can a 12 year old be fluent in multiple languages and we've got workers at Taco Bell that can't even speak English? There's something wrong here but that's another post.

The funniest part of what we saw was a young boy was asked to spell NUMNAH. The look on his face and the reaction of the audience were great. Yeah, you know what they thought they heard. NUMNUT. Talk about a sigh of relief when he realized NUMNUT wasn't actually the word.

What's a numnah? A cloth or fabric that is placed between a horse and it's saddle.

Beginning a New Decade

Lawman's celebrating a milestone birthday today.....he's turning 40. Finally, he's in the same decade as me. And to use Lawman's words, "40 is the new 20." Guess that means he doesn't feel a day over 20. Happy Birthday Lawman!

All Swimmers on Deck

This is our 9th summer with the local swim team. This is how we spend our Wednesday evenings. If our girls were only allowed to participate in one sporting event a year, this would be their choice. They love it. Here's a few pictures from this past week's meet.

Menu Plan Monday #21

This is such a busy week again for us. I don't have anything very interesting in this week's plan. We have activities 3 evenings this week plus Blonde 3's birthday party on Friday night. I have a couple of meals in the freezer and we'll be relying on them this week. I've got a castle birthday cake to make on Thursday night -- I'll post about this later if it is recognizable.

I noticed this week that our groceries are disappearing faster than I imagined they would due to everyone being at home during the summer. It's amazing how much food is consumed when everyone is involved in athletic activities and there are extra kids in the house.

Monday - Homemade Pizza

Tuesday - Broccoli Stuffed Shells (from freezer), Garlic Bread

Wednesday - Swim Meet (we'll be eating at the concession stand)

Thursday - Sloppy Joes (from freezer), Grilled Potatoes, Green Beans

Friday - Blonde 3's Birthday Party - Burgers & Dogs on the Grill, Chips, Carrot & Celery Sticks with Dip, Punch and Birthday Cake

Be sure to visit Laura's blog for more menu ideas.

My M&M is 12 today.

My M&M. She's 12 years old today.

This picture was taken when she was 6. It's one of my absolute favorites. I love the toothless grin and the fact that it is obvious from this picture that she's a very happy girl.

Happy Birthday!

*Her initials are MMB, hence the M&M.

The See-Saw of Summer

Do you remember playing on the see-saw during grade school recess? Did you and a friend ever try to "balance" it? You know where neither of you are touching the ground and you're balancing ever so lightly to stay there? It was hard to do but possible.

This happens every single summer. I look forward to getting the girls out of school and having freedom. But freedom from what? It isn't schedules because it seems that our summer schedule is tighter than our school year schedule. Why is that?

Right now I feel like I'm on the See-Saw of Summer and I'm having a really hard time getting it balanced.

I know. I know. I (or rather we as a family) do this to ourselves.

This week is truly the first full week of summer activities. If you were to look at my calendar it is jam-packed. Every Single Day. I just glanced at it and there are only 6 weekdays during the month of June that don't have anything extra scheduled. Fortunately, Lawman and I are on different work schedules so he is able to provide a taxi service for the day activities and I take over the taxi job at 5:00.

I know as a child I did not keep the same kind of schedule that my girls do. Is that bad that they're so busy? I also did not have the wealth of opportunities available to me that kids do today. Just within our own household these are our summer activities -- basketball, swim team, piano lessons, band lessons, plus a 15 year old who has a part-time job as well as baby-sitting commitments.

Are my children over-scheduled? Honestly, I think they're fine with it. They prefer to be busy vs. sitting at home with "nothing to do." It's me who is over-scheduled. ME.

I think it bothers me more because I grew up in a different time. Things moved at a slower pace. We busied ourselves with different activities than kids do today. I spent many hours down at the creek which ran behind our house. I read books and more books. I spent leisurely afternoons at the pool working on my tan. I spent days with my grandparents which consisted of playing Uno and Chinese Checkers. I turned hay bales in the hay field so Dad could pick them up with his hay hauling machine. I drove a wheat truck. I caught fireflies in old mayonnaise jars. (Notice that there are no activities listed from my childhood that required electronics or technology. That could be a post of it's own.)

So, my question to you is this. How do you handle summer? Is your schedule jam-packed or do you enjoy the lazy days of summer? How do you find a balance?

Menu Plan Monday #20

I can tell that summer is in full swing by looking at our calendar this week. It's going to be a very busy one. Our summer sporting activities begin this week with two basketball games on Monday and a swim meet on Wednesday (all of which are out of town). Lawman and I have a special activity this week too -- we're attending a Sheryl Crow concert with 2 other couples on Thursday evening. And last but not least, our youngest will be celebrating her 12th birthday on Friday so she gets to pick the menu for that evening. So we're going to be eating out of a cooler 3 nights this week. Given that, much of what is in our menu plan for the week is packable.

Monday - Deli sandwiches, pasta salad, fruit, cookies (from a cooler)

Tuesday - Cheddar Macaroni Beef Casserole, Green Beans, Fruit (carried over from last week)

Wednesday - Fried Chicken Salad (this is our version of the Applebee's Salad; from a cooler)

Thursday - Sheryl Crow concert; girls will order out pizza and I'll be making something to contribute to the "group" cooler

Friday - Birthday Meal: Bacon Chicken Crescent Ring, Deviled Eggs, Creamed Corn, Oreo Splits

As always, thanks to Laura for hosting.