Where do you display your American Pride?

First Day of Summer?

First day of summer can only mean one thing...

Tornado Warnings and Severe Weather!

This was at 8:19 pm

...and then only 5 minutes later at 8:24

This was a little later

Encouraging Words

The Nester is talking about Everyday Encouragement

HERE

I have a drawer at my desk where I keep notes of encouraging words

Right next to my chocolate stash

They both uplift this girl's spirit, what can I say?

This is a horrible picture taken spur of the moment at 6am on a dark rainy day without a flash with my phone.

I really just didn't want to show you all my best chocolate in plain view LOL.

Happy Father's Day!

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY!

This is my all time favorite pic of my own dad

with my mom

I think right after they got married.

FRIDAY'S GARAGE SALE FIND

Got this today at a Garage Sale

This is actually a lady who holds about 3 sales a year and resells her flea market finds, including this antique jar from Italy

Isn't she pretty? And it's hard to tell in the pics but this is big - about 10 inches or so at its widest.

I opted for a flameless candle b/c I don't want to deal with cleaning up dripped wax

Love it even more at night!

This concludes the MONTH of cake!

NATALEIGH

10

NOAH

15

NATHAN

21

Happy Mother's Day to Me!

Speechless!

That was me when my family surprised me with

THIS

Still learning Mac vs. PC but I'm having a blast!

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz

Lollipop Guild Girls

Nataleigh

Lullaby League Girls

Just a 'few' of our Munchkins

Sneak Peek

Not sure if I'll get any other pics or video of the play b/c I'm back stage throughout, but this is my youngest, Nataleigh in one of the orange skirts on the left as a Lollipop Guild Munchkin!

Flowers and Headbands and Socks, Oh My!!

I'm on the Costume Committee for our elementary school production of

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz

This has been my life lately

The above flowers turned into headbands for the munchkins

(we have a cast of 90!)

There was lots of 'Sock Drama' but I won't go into details

(in order to protect the innocent)

Hope to post some performance photos here later this week!

Until then..

BREAK A LEG EVERYONE

City-Wide Garage Sale Finds!

Pottery Barn Phone for my Tween Sweetie - $10

This came from the same home where I purchased the Pottery Barn Madison Book Rack and Cork Board last year. Wonder what they'll be selling next year?

Two embroidered pillows (.50 cents each)

A friend says they are also Pottery Barn?

Closeup of Pillow detail

Bombay Kids Wool Gigi Rug

This thing is huge! I could only fit it at the foot of her bed and it fills that space

This is a full sized bed - the rug is 3'x6'

I saw a brand new one sell for $220 on Ebay

I paid $15!

Two Whole Hands!!

Baby Girl turns 10 next week!

How is that even possible?

A few random shots of her through the years.

Age 4

Age 5

Age 3

1 Day Old

Her Birth Announcement Photo

Stay tuned for birthday celebration pictures!!

Happy Valentine's Day [from nature]

Chicken Bow Tie

This is a favorite at our house...

...at least with the adults

Oh well, more for us~

Shall we begin?

I won't be including measurements, just ingredients.

Adjust to fit your size family

Your mileage may vary ;-)

Start with boneless chicken breasts. Cut into bite sized cubes. I cook them in olive oil and garlic until all sides are white but not cooked all the way through.

Forgot the picture, but add basil to the chicken and toss.

Use a LOT of Basil, you can't overdo it, really!

Trust me.

Cook Bow Tie (Farfalle) pasta, drain and set aside.

Let's talk about Sun-dried tomatoes shall we?

(yes, they're in the recipe)

But seriously, these are the best. I buy them at Costco. They're marinated in Olive Oil.

Add these to the chicken. (see the basil now?) You can chop them if you like, but I'm lazy and just toss them in whole.

Next comes the broccoli florets. I use flash frozen for convenience. Did I mention I'm lazy?

Toss and simmer covered for about 3-5 minutes.

When you think everything is 'married', place some butter in the center of the pan and let melt.

This forms sort of a roux but without the flour.

Next, add 1 cup of chicken broth. Don't worry about being precise with the measurements. I used a cup here but mostly b/c I think my new stainless measuring cups are pretty [wink].

Next add a cup of wine. Whatever you have on hand works.

I just happened to have a bottle of this open.

Yes there's a glass poured for me too. Don't Judge -- What's good for Julia Child is good for me. We're tight like that!

Anywho....getting back to the recipe

[taking a l-o-o-o-o-o-ng sip of wine here]

....and I'm back

OKAY! Here's where you combine the veggies/chicken mixture and the pasta. I find it easier to pour the chicken mixture into the pasta pot, but sometimes I mix the pasta into the deep frying pan with the chicken mixture

[I like to shake things up like that]

Simmer for 3-5 minutes until the pasta absorbs the flavors

Voila!

This is the finished product.

I like to serve this up in my pasta bowls from Crate and Barrel

Bon Appetit!

Today: brought to you by the letters 'S-N-O-W'

Hello

News around here is one word

SNOW

oh and lots of it

It started about 3pm on Tuesday exactly as predicted

and by the next morning I woke to this when I opened my garage door

Then the snow removal began.

Of course my husband is out of town so the kids all pitched in

I don't think if they knew it would take 8 hours to remove it all they would have been as willing.

This is my porch swing having a time out.

My oldest had to remove her from where she hung out because the wind kept swinging her into the support beam and I thought it might break which would be bad (wink)

This is the damage she caused to the beam!

This is the side garage door (imprint in the snow of the door panel)

In the previous snowblowing pic this drift was about 3 feet deep. Then the street plower came and buried us under 5-6 feet of newly 'delivered' snow (sigh)

The following two pics show how we deal with blizzard stress. Oh and I've been sick since Sunday.

The kids say I'm funny when I take cough syrup with codeine.

At least I can still make soup.

My last batch of Pioneer Woman Cinnamon rolls

saved for a special occasion

Nothing like a Snowpocalypse to bring on the comfort food, right?

Wordless Wednesday

Lead Me

The first time I heard this song, I thought it was so sad.

Then I really listened to the lyrics.

And it inspired HOPE!

Watch and read along with the lyrics, then scroll down to see the video from Sanctus Real