$45 Garage Sale Find

The Indiana State Fair

We braved the crowed a couple of weeks ago and took the kids to the fair. Usually, the weather during the week of the fair is the hottest week in August. We really lucked out and had beautiful weather. In the end, we questioned spending $16 to get in and $3 for corn dogs, but it felt good to be together as a family. And as you can see, the kids LOVED it!

Tommy's Teeth

I love these pictures of Tommy. He has such a cute smile that shows off his funny teeth. His whole face lights up and his eyes get squinty when he shows off his lovey teeth. He definitely has, what we call pacifier teeth.

Did you notice the chicken nugget in his hand? Well, that's about all he'll eat these days.

He loves to say, "cheese" when he gets his picture taken.

Choppin' Broccoli

Our garden has been doing very well this year. The kids and I enjoy taking care of it every day. A few weeks ago we were finally able to eat the broccoli. After I washed it and prepared it, I noticed one tiny green worm on one of the florets, but as you know, when there is one worm there has to be more. Sure enough there were more worms than I can count on our beloved broccoli. I almost threw in the towel and tossed it in the garbage but I did end up being able to pick all the tiny little creepy crawly things off and we were able to eat our broccoli. The funny thing is, in this picture, Kassie has no idea about all our little friends hiding in the broccoli.

More Painting

I am pleased to say, I am almost done painting the Great Room!!! The dark brown accent wall alone took me four hours. I still have to finish fixing a few holes that you see see on the right and then I'm officially done.
I decided to keep this arrangement. As far as accent pillows, art work, curtains, and all that jazz....I'm still working on it! It's not cheap to decorate these days!

Deceptively Delicious

My neighbor across the street has me hooked on this book. She brings us the left overs to try and I am completely amazed how good they are. I don't know, maybe it's because I didn't have to make it or I was hungry but they sure were tasty.

Here's the scoop- Deceptively Delicious has recipes kids like, that are easy to make, and have hidden pureed vegetables or fruit in them. I know..sounds a little crazy and time consuming. My thoughts are, if they are recipes that I am already going to make like mac and cheese or chili, why not add some veggies that you can't taste. The down side is taking the time to puree the fruit and vegetables. My neighbor says it really doesn't take much time to do it. She picks a night, plans ahead what she needs, and what she can store in the freezer. The pureeing part is pretty simple, you steam the vegetables and then puree them in a food processor. Not bad huh!

Kassie is a great eater and I have no problems with her eating. Tommy on the other hand, is more of a challenge! So, I was thinking I would check the book out from the library and try it out.

I have tasted this recipe for mac and cheese. It's very good.

Macaroni and Cheese 1 (with Butternut Squash or Cauliflower)
Created by Jessica Seinfeld


I leave a box of store-bought macaroni and cheese out on the counter and the kids naturally assume….
Ingredients:
Serves 4
· 1 1/2 cups elbow macaroni
· Nonstick cooking spray
· 1 tablespoon olive oil
· 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
· 1/2 cup nonfat skim milk
· 1/2 cup butternut or cauliflower puree
· 1 1/2 cups shredded reduced-fat Cheddar cheese (about 8 ounces)
· 4 ounces (almost 1/4 cup) reduced-fat or nonfat cream cheese
· 1/2 teaspoon salt
· 1/8 teaspoon paprika
· 1/8 teaspoon pepper
Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil, add the macaroni and cook according to package directions until al dente. Drain in a colander.While the macaroni is cooking, coat a large saucepan with cooking spray and heat over medium heat. Add the oil, then the flour, and cook, stirring constantly, until the mixture resembles a thick paste but has not browned, 1 to 2 minutes.Add the milk and cook, stirring every now and then, until the mixture begins to thicken, 3 to 4 minutes. Add the vegetable puree, Cheddar, cream cheese and seasonings and stir until the cheese is melted and the sauce is smooth. Stir in the macaroni and serve warm.

Arizona Part II

Tonight I am taking a break from painting and trying to finish my book, Breaking Dawn to catch up on what's been going on here in Indy. First of all I survived the four hour plane ride back from Arizona even with an hour "maintenance delay" before we even took off. I did have to resort to letting the kids play with my makeup the last hour of the flight but that's ok. My thoughts at the time were, "I am really desperate to let them do this!". I know what you are thinking.... what a mess but luckily I'm not into the bright and crazy eyeshadow colors.

While we were in AZ, Kassie and Tommy were able to play with their cousins. Kassie fits right in and they play like she's always been there with them. When the kids are together, all 25 of them....no I mean all 8 of them--it just seems like 25 because of all the craziness, they love to play dress up.

Baby Marcus is the only cousin missing in this picture. You can barley see Jared over there on the left. It's hard to get a picture of them all together.
Kassie had a blast slippin' and a slidin' with Mimi. Kassie was really into wearing Mimi's clothes. Both of them would change their clothes about three times day. Wait, what does this mean when they are teenagers? They better start learning to do their own laundry soon!
Tommy's pal was his cousin Lillie. They're pretty close in age so they basically would hang together and "play around" each other.
My mom would read to Kassie every night. Kassie loves to be read to and jumps at any chance she can get when someone is willing to read to her.

This is my Aunt Linda, my dad's sister and my Uncle George. They were at the cabin visiting from Sparks, Nevada while we were there. My aunt made Kassie and Tommy superhero capes.
Here is Tommy finally deciding to eat something. He does this thing where he turns up his nose and says NNNNNOOO when he's offered food. Sinker!
Last time we visited the cabin it was Kassie's birthday, so she really wanted to have another birthday while we were there. Grandma came to the rescue and said we should have an unbirthday party. The kids had ice cream with a candle in it and we sang the birthday song.
We love visiting family and we were glad we went.

The Culprit

I have so many things to catch up on but something.... is taking up ALL of my time and no it's not the kids (they do that too). Breaking Dawn is consuming my life right now and I almost want to give it back to my friend without finishing it. I seriously can not put the thing down! I am half way done so I figure a few more days and life can get back to normal. Don't worry, I DO still feed the kids.