Wild West Days…

30 Sep

 

In the past two weeks I have found myself being reminded that it’s so important to have fun with your kids.  Laugh, play, and do silly things together… That’s what we want them to remember about us right?  The house chores can wait, the laundry can build, the meals can be leftover, and the basement can stay “off limits”.   I don’t want my boys remembering me as the mom who was always cleaning up :).  This week that meant enjoying the Wild Wild West together.

This weekend we attended a fundraiser for the public schools in Eagle County.  The theme was “Wild West” and it really was a blast getting dressed up and heading to the ranch!  They had games, food, pony rides, hay rides, and so much more.  I don’t always LOVE crowds, but my boys really were having so much fun that it was worth it.  We spent more money then we wanted, filled up on hotdogs and ice cream, and came home with silly bands, finger puppets and sticky fingers.  THESE ARE THE DAYS 🙂

Enjoy your week and remember to PLAY WITH YOUR KIDDOS…

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Chicken Tortellini or Noodle Soup

22 Sep

Just another way to use all those garden vegetables, especially zucchini :)…

Ingredients:

  • 8 Cups (or more if you like it more soupy) of chicken stock (homemade or pre made)
  • 2 whole Carrots, Diced
  • 2 stalks Celery, Diced
  • 1/2 whole Medium Onion, Diced (optional)
  • 1 zucchini cut into wedges (optional)
  • 1 package cheese tortellini or egg noodles (you choose)
  • Chicken- I would use 4 cooked chicken breasts-shredded, or one deli cooked chicken-shredded.
  • 1 teaspoon Salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon Pepper (or more to taste)
  • 1/4 teaspoon Ground Thyme
  • 2 Tablespoons Parsley Flakes (or more to taste)

Directions:

I add all ingredients together except noodles and cook until the veggies are to their desired tenderness.  I then add the noodles and cook until ready.  This meal can be frozen in muffin tins for individual servings, as well!  Enjoy!!!

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Button Apple

21 Sep

This craft is one of my favorites.  I love it for a couple reasons.  Reason #1- it’s cute.  Reason #2 – it’s time consuming (for your kids, not for you :)).  Reason #3- It works on fine motor skills.  Reason #4- You can do it with any shape or theme.

Here’s the Scoop:

You’ll Need:

Construction Paper or Tag Board

Glue

Buttons

Scissors

DIRECTIONS:

Cut out your favorite shape from a piece of construction paper.  I chose an apple, but a tree, leaf, star, etc.. would all be cute.  We made button ornaments for Christmas last year which were a huge hit, you can find them by clicking HERE.  Let your child glue and glue and glue.  TADA…  So easy!  So cute!  So fun!

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Grilled Zucchini

12 Sep

Prepare yourself for a few more zucchini recipes… Did I mention I have zucchini growing everywhere?  They have taken over my garden…  They are like little green monsters popping up everywhere!  Oh and last week my neighbor dropped off a zucchini that a friend had given her- I kid you not it was the size of one of those little kids puffy plastic baseball bats.  I made two batches of banana chocolate chip zucchini muffins (recipe below, I just added 3 bananas), one batch of zucchini bread and a batch of zucchini brownies (I just added zucchini to my favorite brownie recipe).  After making all of these lovely zucchini baked goods I still had three fourths of that honker shredded and unused… I put it in my freezer just like that, hope that’s OK???

OK onto the grilled zucchini boats, here’s the scoop:

1.  Cut a zucchini in half length wise.  Scoop out the seeds just to make a little indentation for the cheese and tomatoes!

2.  Mix some fresh garlic with either olive oil or melted butter (your choice)… Brush this mixture all over the zucchini boats.

3.  Sprinkle fresh basil on top of the boat

4.  Add Mozzarella cheese

5.  Sprinkle with more fresh basil

6.  Top with thinly sliced cherry/grape tomatoes

7.  Grill on medium heat until cheese is melted and zucchini is soft but not mushy…

ENJOY!

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A Day to Remember…

11 Sep

11 years ago today I was getting ready for my first graders to arrive at school when the teacher across the hall ran over and told me a plane had crashed into the World Trade Center.  Honestly my initial reaction was not that of concern for our nation, but that a plane had crashed and how sad that was for all those involved.  It wasn’t long, obviously, until I realized something much bigger was going on.  I heard the news of the other crashes shortly after and of course everything changed at that moment.  Because my students were about to arrive I was not actually able to see any media footage until the end of the day.  Much like many of you, those images will stay with me forever.  It is a day I will always remember.

My boys were not around on September 11, 2001, but today is a great day to teach them about our great country, the flag, and our service men and women.

My older two boys were in school this morning, but Sanders and I did some painting.  Just a reminder that Sanders is 21 months old and his paintings reflect that :).  After we did the “finger painting” flag I gave him some red white and blue paint and let him go to town… He had a lot of fun and was only a little bit of a mess when we were done :).

 

Here is my plan for the bigger boys…

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A Heavy Heart…

8 Sep

Today I write this post with a heavy heart…  Sometimes I wonder when I became an adult-a grown up-OLD :).  It’s almost as if deep inside me somewhere I see myself as a college age girl with few responsibilities and a life full of dreams ahead of me yet to be fulfilled.  Don’t get me wrong, I feel incredibly blessed when I wake up from this illusion to find myself mid dream- with an amazing husband, wonderful family & friends, a great education and a solid foundation to stand on.  Sometimes, however, I wake up to the realization that when you’re a grown-up you also face trials, sadness, and challenges.  This week has been one of those weeks…  This week I learned that some friends of ours lost their three year old son, Micah, very suddenly.  I also learned that the woman I consider my second mom has a cancer that will most likely win.  This week I learned that life is precious- very very precious…  and although I have a faith in a hope that is eternal, I also know that loss creates a very heavy heart inside me.

About a year and a half ago I learned that Edina, Minnesota has a tradition of honoring children that have passed away far too young with balloons.  It is a way the community can show love and support to the grieving family and friends.  It’s a way we can send balloons up to heaven for our dear little ones to share with Jesus.  When some friends of ours lost their two year old son there were red balloons not only posted all around Edina, but all around the state and country.  It was so powerful.  It gave us all the opportunity to let the family know we are here for them.  It shows the love and support of a community that has no boundaries.

Today that same boundry-less community is honoring Micah with orange balloons.  That community’s support has stretched across the nation.  Today we remember little Micah and pray for his Mommy, Daddy and Big Brother.  God’s Blessings on You All…

PEACH SMOOTHIES & MARGARITAS

6 Sep

One of our new found wonders here in Colorado are the Palisade Peaches.  The town of Palisade is probably about an hour and a half from our house and it’s sort of a banana belt town.  They have some beautiful vineyards; orchards full of cherries, apricots, pears, plums, apples, grapes and PEACHES!  Ben shot a wedding there a couple weeks back and brought home a 25 pound box of peaches.  I kid you not these peaches are the best peaches I’ve ever tasted…  Fresh, juicy and sweet!  Unfortunately our little family cannot go through 25 pounds of peaches prior to them getting soft.  We are not huge peach dessert people so instead we decided to puree our peaches and use them in smoothies and/or margaritas.  Here’s The Scoop:

PEACH PUREE

We found that the best way to puree our peaches is in our blender.  You first need to peel the peaches which can be a bit daunting with 25 pounds of them, but we found a quick method…  You’ll need a larger (soup size) pot and also a large bowl.   Boil some water in the pot and put ice water in the bowl.  Dip your peaches in the boiling water for thirty seconds to a minute and then immediately place the peach in the ice water.  Leave them in the ice water for about 3 minutes.  Pull them out of the ice bath and the skin will slide right off.  You can rub it off with your hands, it comes off super easy…  We then cut the peaches in half and took the pit out.  We added our peaches to the blender with a tiny bit of water just so the consistency wasn’t too crazy thick.  We also added a little sugar, NOT MUCH, but this is obviously optional!  We froze this concoction in gallon size bags in our deep freeze…  Special note, you may want to double bag them so your bags don’t open and leave peach fluff all over your freezer- I speak from experience here 🙂

PEACH SMOOTHIE

2 cups peach puree

1-1.5 cups greek yogurt

2 cups ice

2 T sugar (optional)

1/2 cup water, orange, apple, pineapple, peach etc.. juice for easy blending

banana (optional)

Combine all ingredients in a blender.  Makes 3-4 servings

Peach Margarita

1/2 cup peach puree

1 lime- juiced

2 parts tequila

2 parts peach schnapps

1 part triple sec

dash of sugar

ice

Fill the blender 3/4 of the way with ice. Add all of the ingredients. Blend together and serve with slice of peach.

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Zucchini Galore- Zucchini Bread & Muffin Recipes

30 Aug

My garden is overflowing with zucchini, I mean I literally have it coming out my ears :).  I have not raised zucchini before, but I have heard this exact “it’s coming out my ears” statement so many times from veteran zucchini growers.  I now know what they were talking about.  I have yet to do my research, but do they spread?  I mean I do not remember planting this many zucchini….  I am proud of my zucchini garden, it makes me look like an expert gardener 🙂 even if it is the only vegetable growing!

Needless to say we have been eating a lot of zucchini.  Yesterday we made two batches of zucchini muffins and two batches of zucchini bread.  I used one recipe and just added and/or subtracted cinnamon and chocolate chips.  So if the muffins or bread had chocolate chips, I opted out of cinnamon (which is only my personal preference).  If the muffins or bread did not have chocolate chips I added the cinnamon.  These recipes were awesome in my high altitude location, which is an added bonus :).  Make some today!

Zucchini Muffins and/or Bread Recipe with or without chocolate chips

1 3/4 cups all purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon cinnamon (optional)

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

3 large eggs

1/2 cup vegetable oil (could also use apple sauce)

1 cup sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup shredded zucchini

1/2 cup chocolate chips (optional)

OPTIONAL:  Pecans, walnuts, dried cherries etc..

Preheat oven to 350′ F. Grease muffin tins or line with paper liners.  In a bowl sift together flour, salt, cinnamon (if using), baking powder, and baking soda.  In a separate bowl, beat eggs, oil and sugar until light and fluffy.  Add vanilla and zucchini.  Mix for 30 seconds with a mixer at low speed.  Ad dry mixture into wet mixture.  Beat on low until combine.  Fold in chocolate chips if using.   Spoon batter into muffin tins.  Bake for 15-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.  Remove from the oven and cool on a wire rack.  Feed them to hungry kids, neighbors and spouses 🙂

 

 

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Cowboy Caviar

26 Aug

 

 

I was trying to think of a recipe for an appetizer/dip that was a little bit more “healthy” and fresh than the ones I usually make.  I remembered a friend making “Cowboy Caviar” at a BBQ one time so I did a little research.  I found tons and tons of recipes online for cowboy caviar and no two were alike.  I decided to combine a couple, add some of my favorite ingredients and see what happened.   I made enough to feed an army, had I had one over it would have been gone, it was yummy!   Here’s my recipe for Cowboy Caviar… Make it for your Labor Day BBQ, it really was a hit!

COWBOY CAVIAR- Mountain Style 🙂

1 green pepper, diced
1 red pepper, diced
1 orange pepper, diced
1 yellow pepper, diced
1 red onion, diced
1 can of black-eyed peas
1 can of black beans
1 can of pinto beans
1 can of shoepeg corn
Fresh Cilantro

OPTIONAL:

Chopped Pineapple, Avocado, and/or Mango

Drain and rinse all ingredients.  Toss in LARGE bowl.

DRESSING: Bring 1/2 c. apple cider vinegar and 1 c. oil to a boil.  Remove from heat immediately and dissolve 1/2 c. sugar into mixture. Cool. Pour dressing over chopped ingredients & chill.  Serve with dipping chips or really you could even eat it like a salad…  DELICIOUS

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First Day of School Quotes, Pics and Just a Few Tears :)

24 Aug

Big Day in our house… Sutton started 1st Grade and Shaeffer started Kindergarten…  Mommy shed only a few tears as did Sutton…  Both boys were having a BLAST by the time we left, however, which turned our tears into smiles…  The day would not be complete without a few quotes (after the pics)…  Blogging is like journaling so some day I’ll look back at these and giggle… Who am I kidding, I already giggle when I read them!  What fun boys we have!!!

I love this picture of Shaeffer’s classroom… It just reminds me so much of my first days of teaching Kindergarten and all the adult “helpers” I would need in the classroom to help me out :).

…  And here is our studious little Sutton getting right to work 🙂

Here are some of my favorite QUOTES from the First Day…

Sutton

Before:

You know Mommy I don’t really want to go to first grade…

Actually, I was thinking you could homeschool me…

You better tie those in double knots, kids run fast at school…

Don’t step in that poop, your teacher wouldn’t like you to stink on your first day…

AFTER:

MOM, I had fun!!!

Good thing you tied those in double knots, teachers don’t tie your shoes in first grade so you’d have to go barefoot if they came untied, even in the snow!

I ate lunch with all the girls.  They love me so much that they chased me all over the playground and I just think they are silly!

Shaeffer

Before:

I’ve decided I’ll go whole day to help Sutton…

I actually think I’ll go half day because I’ll miss you…

OK.  I’ll go whole day…

Did you know Mrs. Lucas has a Party Bear?  (A WHAT)  A PARTY BEAR… You put it in your chair when you have to go Party…  (OH A POTTY BEAR, HA HA)….  This is one fun classroom!

There she is (referring to his teacher as if he had just seen the most famous person in the world)!

I’ll do great Momma…  Love you…

AFTER:

AS HE JUMPS INTO MY ARMS:  Mommy it was so fun!  I am already so smart!

I have a book to read to you and it’s EASY PEASY

I didn’t eat all my pudding so I left it in my lunchbox (can you imagine the mess)

I am bringing home a very special folder- but it’s not for you, you don’t get to keep it, it’s for you to see and then give back to Mrs. Lucas!

Sut- A girl told me hot lunch is gross, you don’t want to ever eat it… it’s gross Sut, don’t ask mom for hot lunch, always bring your lunch!

I only remember one friends name, Ian…

Mom, What was my new friend’s name again?

Sanders

BYE BYE BRODERS…

BRODERS???

BRODERS???

BRODERS???

G-BOAT-RIDE???

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