When the hubby is away....

When my husband goes out of town, more often then not we are stuck at home with nothing to do. This time around I decided to change things up a bit. So the night he left for his canoe trip on lake powell we had a single mom friend of mine and her 4 kids come over for a campfire and sleepover! It was fun, way to hot for a campfire, but still seriously fun...and a bit crazy with 8 kids running around! And when we made popcorn for everyone, I had to bust out my super giant size bowl and my friends eyes were huge! She had never seen a bowl so incredibly big lol. We played disney scene it, and the boys ran around like banshee's and we just plain had fun. Today the kids and I are skipping town to go visit my favorite mechanics(my brother and dad) and while I wish I could say that its only because I want so desperately to spend time with them, I must admit that its at least 3/4 because my car is being problematic...and the aforementioned spouse has little to no time(or desire, despite the know-how)to delve into it and fix the confounded thing. Then on Saturday we've got Bountiful Baskets and the Harry Potter trivia contest. I happen to belong to the reigning champion team, so I have a 2 year title to defend, I'm hoping for a three year streak, but just playing and having some Harry Potter fun is plenty. So at least this time around we aren't missing Cory too badly. Sure hope that man is having fun!

Parenting

Yesterday was a pretty good all around day...until dinner time. When my daughter walked in from the Grands house with a face full of make up on...smeared no less b/c she had been swimming. Now, before you get on me for raising issue with this, please keep in mind that she is 9. And she is my daughter, and I'm the parent. That makes following my rules mandatory, and she knows it. And in all actuality, it wasn't so much the fact that she had been playing with make up, although she should have called first and it all should have been washed off...completely off before she set foot out of that house. Its more that it was her older cousins make up, and the older cousin specifically told her NOT to mess with it...and she still did. And even more than that, she LIED about it. And then the LIED and LIED on top of it. So being the judge, jury, and executioner, punishment was handed down...and drama ensued. Drama which I have never seen from her before. Screaming, yelling, THROWING things, I was disconcerted to say the least. Granted, the throwing, and screaming took place in her bedroom. She is very very mad at me for punishing her. And thats ok, she can be mad. Its more important to me to be her mom than to be her friend, and someday she will realize why its more important. It hurts me that she is so upset with me, but I'll get over it. She has to know that what she did was wrong, and I want her to learn from it so that she doesn't make the same mistake twice. And let me tell you, the drama started again this morning when I gave her a chore to do...she has to pick up trash outside. Manual labor is one thing that Emily despises, so its what is going to make the biggest impact right now. Now, I'm off to finish a list of jobs that must be complete before the loss of priviledges is lifted.

Its HERE!!! sorta

I don't have my bountiful basket in my hands yet....I do have a picture and a detailed list of all that came in it though! I had my sister pick mine up since I'm doing a yard sale today. A yard sale that is going down as an abismal failure, but oh well.

Do you see all of this?! 2 heads of romaine lettuce, 2 bunches of kale, 2 bunches of green onions, 1 head of cauliflower, 3 bananas, 1 mango, 1 white honeydew melon, 1 heirloom tomato, 3 nectarines, 7 plums, 2 containers of blackberries, and an english cucumber :D I'm so happy! I have never had kale so this is will be fun to figure out how to cook/eat it.
My sister and I also split a 15 lb box of 'donut' or flat peaches. So we are each getting 22 peaches!

I'm already excited for the next go round in two weeks, this is going to make it so much easier to keep fresh fruits and veggies in the house, and this is a much more affordable way to do it too!

Don't forget to check out bountiful baskets

What summer is all about!...for me anyways.

I hit an amazing yard sale this afternoon! Kids clothes galore, in ALL sizes. I was thrilled. We walked out of there with some serious booty. The best find of all was a name brand heavy duty winter jacket for $3 for Emily YEAH!! Its time to start thinking about getting everyone outfitted for school...since they have 19 days until they start :( So we are planning a trip to phx to hit up some Goodwill stores. Even if all we get is jeans. Then I have family members on the look out for good shoe sales, because, face it, with 6 people in this house, we go through shoes at an amazing rate. Those family members are also on the look out for good sturdy backpacks at a good price. We still have to stock up on the basics: underwear(panties), socks, hair dillys...and this year we are buying BRA'S as well...and I don't mean those flimsy little trainers either...we are talking a 30A...gahhhhhhh. That right there is a whole different post though.
Another thing that I love about summer is ZUCCHINI!!! And all other squashes lol. I miss the big scale gardens of years past, none of us have the energy for one right now. But we are loving every little bit that we do get. I did a post a looooong time ago about zucchini recipes...I think I may have to round up some more of my favorites and post them. I hope you are enjoying your summer as much as I'm enjoying mine!

Bit o' the bubbly?

I can't hide my addiction any longer :( I've become HOOKED on soda! I've never been much of a soda drinker. But this last semester....well, I had to work hard. I mean really hard. That entailed lots of extra study time, lots of early mornings, late nights, and a whole lot of driving to and from class and study groups. So I started getting a soda here and there to give me a buzz and get me through the rest of my day.
Now those of you who know me well know that I don't handle caffeine so much. I cannot down a Monster or a Rockstar. Heck, if I drink 6 oz of one of those I bounce of the walls for hours on end. Ask my mom who talked me into getting a super yummy starbucks back in December. I got the smallest size and didn't even finish it all....I was up and going strong for 12 hours after that...til 4 in the morning!
But its becoming a frequent thing for me to try and invent a reason to drive to town just so I can go buy a soda. Why don't I stock up and keep a supply on hand you say?? Well, because then I would HAVE to drink them...I would have no self control! Today I think I hit rock bottom though...I went to pick up my kids who were playing at their Great-grandma's house...and I bummed a soda. I felt ashamed even asking. But I feel purty darn happy sitting here typing and sucking that diet coke down! This has got to stop. I've got to renew my relationship with H2O and give up this love affair with soda...

Bountiful Baskets

TWO posts in one day?! Forgive me, but it is food related, just like the previous post. I just wanted to share this with all of you. Here is a picture of what my sister received two weeks ago for her first bountiful basket order.

WOWZA!Thats a crown of brocoli, a canary melon, 2 bunches of celery, a bunch of bananas, 4 asian pears, 9 nectarines, 4, heirloom tomatoes, 2 packs of raspberries, and 3 butternut squash!! All that for less than $20! So I'm getting my own basket this week, and I hope that I love it as much as I love what she got.
Oh, you can check out this website if you want more info about the co-op.
www.bountifulbaskets.org

Pizza Pasta

I thought I'd share another recipe with you :) This is one of my go-to summer potluck recipes(as many of you will know...if you've had us over recently!)

1 box of tri color corkscrew pasta
1 or 2 cans of sliced black olives(Ethan loves it when I use green olives instead :P)
1 red onion chunkily(be that a word?) chopped
sliced fresh mushrooms, which I then run a knife through so they are coarsely chopped
1 bell pepper, coarsely chopped
1 bag of mini pepperoni's OR just buy the regular size and cut them in quarters
Mozzarella cheese-shredded...maybe 8 oz?? perhaps more
1 small can tomatoe paste
ZESTY Italian dressing

Boil the pasta until Al-dente. I drain but don't rinse. While its boiling I get all my chopping done.
Then combine all veggies with pasta and add in the cheese while the pasta is still hot/warm. Combine the tomatoe past and italian dressing, whisk together well and combine with the rest...WAHLA! Pizza pasta! Cory and I prefer it while its still warm, but most ppl that I know like it cold.
Also, if you don't get the zesty dressing, your salad will seem slightly greasy.
And just so you know, I've been making this recipe for a looooong time. Long before those special mini pepperoni's came out(I just realized that a very similar recipe is on the back of those bags LOL, I didn't want you to think I was ripping this off!)

My kids are leaving this afternoon for a few days. Oh, whatever shall I do! My kids think I will be lost and confused without them lol. Luckily, I'm more resilient than that! I'm going to live it up and enjoy having a few uninterrupted days with my dear hubby ♥ I don't have anything planned, so we will be winging it, which is something I miss from my pre-kid days.
Now, don't get me wrong, I love my children to limits here-to unheard of. I just need a break every now and then. Once they get back, I know I'll be a more patient and kind mommy b/c of the break! I've told my kids on many occasions that Cory is my best friend and its really true. So in order for our relationship to thrive it is essential for us to have that one on one time. Time to recharge, rediscover, have fun, goof off, time to remember why all this craziness is worth it!

We all scream for....popsicles!

We are a household of popsicle addicts! We buy them year round. And if we happen to run out, everyone acts as though we will starve to death! Since I'm trying to shape things up around here I'm not buying as many, we are making them instead. So you all know that I'm not a picture person. So you'll just have to deal with my descriptions and try it yourself.
Our all time favorite so far this year has been the whole fruit popsicles. I just took fresh fruit and plunked it into the popsicle molds and then filled it with capri sun juice. My favorite was mandarin oranges, strawberries, grapes and kiwi. The kids enjoy making yogurt pops, and since my mom gifted us with a 5lb bag of frozen mixed berries and another one of blueberries we have a steady supply. Now, with watermelon in season and on sale we made popsicles out of that too! I just put it in the blender and added some chunks of strawberries to the popsicle molds before I poured in the pureed watermelon. Now...my sister just told me that she did watermelon ones but she used raspberries that she had received from bountiful baskets. I LOVE RASPBERRIES!! So I'm def. going to be trying that one. I can't wait to see what other creations the kids come up with for popsicles. I personally want to try the root beer float ones that I've seen on pinterest. And I want to try strawberry(or raspberry) lemonade ones.