OUR ITALIAN FEAST!

I love kitchen tools, bakeware, dishes, tableclothes....any accessories for the kitchen or table!  Here's my new toy (thanks, Mom) a trio lasagna pan.  I broke it in with three different lasagnas. (I could even see just one lasagna, roasted veggies in one and bread in the other)  1st: regular meat and cheese with red sauce; 2nd: meat, cheese and veggie with red sauce; 3rd: veggie, cheese and alfredo sauce.  They were all delicious!

 Next up - Panzanella Salad!!!!!  Oh my heavens this was good.  I toasted up 1/2 a loaf of french bread cubed and tossed with olive oil.  Then I cut up a red bell pepper, yellow bell pepper, zucchini and tomatoes and cooked them in a little olive oil and balsamic vinegar.  This was poured over the toasted bread cubes....DELICIOUS!!! 

 Here's our simple green salad with homemade balsamic vinaigrette. 

 Everyone ate plenty and the best part of leftover lasagna in this pan.....they transfer from this pan to containers much easier than a normal 9x13 pan.

This meal will needs to reappear on our table soon!

CORN DOGS - BAKED

I love, love, love this mini, mini, mini loaf pan.  The other week I had some extra little boys over and needed to make lunch for everyone.  I was wishing I could make some baked corn dogs when I had an idea about this pan.

 I made some cornbread up and added a little to the pan.  Then I put 1/4 of a hotdog on top and added a little more cornbread to the top of that.

 These are not the normal corn dogs on a stick, but I liked them!  So did the kids!  We even cut them into 3 pieces each and they dipped them in ketchup. Maybe next time I will dip 1/4 of a hot dog in the batter (with a toothpick to hold it) and bake them on a cookie sheet.  It couldn't hurt to try!

 Corn Dog Goodness!

GARAGE SALE SUCCESS!!!

We put out our junk extremely valuable and loved items on the drive way Saturday morning.  The signs were up, the kids were up, we were ready to sell.  It began at 6am (and was probably close to 90 degrees...and humid!)  We had two refrigerators, a range, microwave, TV, light fixture, shower chair, walker, cane, two couches, new DVD player, shoe rack, 6 chairs, curtains & curtain rods, stereo stand and one table full of miscellaneous junk single items.  By 8am we had sold EVERYTHING!!!!!  (Well, not everything on the misc. table, but pretty close!  We only had one little box only 1/3 of the way full to drop at the thrift store)  These were the last items to be picked up and we were HAPPY!  Who ever heard of a 2-hour-everything-sold-garage-sale-in-the-AZ-summer-heat?!?  (one more note before we go down memory lane:  notice how our garage doors are shut......I was so afraid if we kept them open people would want to "shop" in there! I'm cleaning out toys and holiday decorations in there and will have another garage sale in late Sept/early Oct....just waiting on cooler weather)

NOW FOR MEMORY LANE!

It sold......OLD YELLER SOLD!!!

The lady that bought it didn't even haggle with the price.

A.MAZ.ING.

Mita had this yellow sofa special made in the 60's.  She placed it on top of bright, sunshine yellow shag carpet in her living room.  She LOVED it!!!!!  I have spent countless hours sitting here listening to albums like: The Chipmunks Christmas Special, Sonny & Cher, and the Sound of Music.  We have been photographed on or near it almost every Christmas of my life.  When Mita and Papa moved to Gilbert, they could only keep one couch.  Guess which one Mita took.  She ditched the neutral sofa for Old Yeller (new nick name I just made up.....I thought it was appropriate since this couch needed to be put out of it's misery) and never looked back.  Just when I thought no one would love this yellow beast, a woman came by and bought it....without haggling!  She loved the vintage feel (and that it's upholstery had no holes) and snatched it up.  When she came to pick it up later that day, I told her about our Christmas photos with grandkids and eventually great-grandkids on here.  She looked at me and smiled then said "I bet we'll have lots of family photos on here too"  

Mita's couch wasn't going to the dump....it was being rescued and was starting a new life, with a new family....it's just like the ending of Toy Story 3 (sniff, sniff)!!!  I love that movie!  

Bolster pillow, I think I'll miss you most of all!

(Wizard of Oz reference)

GOING...

GOING...

GONE!!!!!

Thanks for the memories!

4TH OF JULY & MESSES!

First, our 4th of July BBQ! Just look at that delicious burger - grilled onions, bacon and avocado! It was soooooo good, so was the corn. Then the boys went out front to set off fireworks...nothing too big. That is until a neighbor brought something out and said "I don't know what this is, but I got it in Mexico" Everyone's OK now.....enough said.

Moving right along, Kyler has given up his room to my craft room. He's currently sharing with Colton....yes, you can imagine how happy the 15 year-old is to share with a 7 year-old. It's good for him! Well, we moved Kyler in but none of his stuff. It was finally time to tackle Kyler's stash and get him moved in once and for all. We brought everything to the family room and he started to sort.....then a friend came over......then Kyler "paid" his friend to "help".

Then they got distracted....that's what happens to 7 and 8 year-olds.

Note: Trevor's payment was this unopened box of blue bunny peeps from Kyler's Easter basket. All the toys were just a bonus!

Now I'm off to help Kyler clean up the family room.

I hope he doesn't pay me!

HAIKU

Summer's in full swing.

Boys are tired and crabby and fighting.

I am wishing for school again.....

until I found a haiku I wrote during last semester.

Enjoy.

ASHER AFTER SCHOOL

Ash procrastinates

Frustration sets in with Mom

Do homework now please

Summer fighting vs. Homework frustration....

Which to choose?!?

HE'S BACK.....AND THEN GONE!

Colton's back from EFY (Especially For Youth - a conference for 14-18 years old in our church. He attended the conference in Provo, UT (at BYU) and we're so happy to have him home! He and Asher will be leaving around 1am tomorrow to drive to Havasupai for a three day adventure. I thought it would be a treat to hear from Colton himself about his EFY experience. Take it away, Colton!

Well, here I go! EFY (Especially For Youth in acronym form) was the best week of my summer so far. With a $500 (really $450, but close enough, Colton) entry fee, I was really speculating whether or not this would be an intelligent way for my parents and I to spend our hard-earned money. I'm happy to say that it wasn't just a good way to spend $500, but the BEST way to spend it that I've experienced thus far. If any of you are even thinking about going to EFY, DO IT!!!!!! This place has the three G's: Girls, the Gospel, and Great food. It's just pure epicness, and they make church related stuff actually fun. I can't really do justice to how awesome this camp was. My testimony grew literally from an acorn to an oak tree, and I knew that what we were doing was the right thing through confirmation from the Spirit. Oh man, EFY was great. So yeah...just send your kids as long as they're fourteen or up, because I guarantee you that it is the best thing to do over summer break. Oh, and Lagoon Amusement Park was sweet as well...just sayin'.

Well, there you have it - Colton's endorsement of EFY. We were not paid for our endorsement....although...that's a great idea!

EFY

I was so bummed last year! I didn't get Colton pre-registered for EFY and he wasn't able to get in the session with his friend. We didn't end up sending him at all. This year I planned, I was prepared! He was pre-registered. He and his friend are roommates. I was relieved and excited for him.....until last night. As happy as I was and as grown up as he is.....I DIDN'T WANT MY BABY TO LEAVE!!!!! Especially since he's flying up there. And I can't drop him off Monday in person. And I won't be able to pick him up Saturday morning. And I won't have an entire car ride to and from Utah to talk to him and just see him and hear all about it! The truth is - I'll miss him. The truth is - I don't like my kids and I to be too far apart. My dad said "Wait until he leaves for his mission." I think I CAN wait! The only consolation is that when Colton leaves to serve his mission....Tony will be crying harder than me!

So Colton, be safe.

Have fun.

(And get home soon so you can tell me all about it!)