July 4th

We so enjoyed having a relaxing morning on the 4th! I had my food all made the day before, so there really wasn't anything to do! 

The week before Bridget had seen the doughnuts at the  store, and I told her maybe when daddy was home we could come pick some out. So Thursday morning we headed to Kroger and the kids each picked out a star shaped doughnut with red and blue sprinkles on top. :) Probably enough sugar to last them for days, but it's a rare treat, so oh well.  :)

We left the house a little after 11 to go to my aunt and uncle's for our annual Pfaffmann family get together. It was such a gorgeous day so we spent most of it outside. The kids took awesome naps there!

There are no pictures from the afternoon, because the kids were sleeping for 3 hours and my camera was in with them, and I wasn't going to risk waking them up to go get it!

We left around 5 and headed to Eureka. First we went to pizza hut for supper, and then headed to some church on 116 to watch fireworks. We've sat at the same spot for the past 3 years and it has worked out so well for our kids! There is a big grassy area so the kids can run around, and it's close enough to the fireworks to get a good show, but far away enough that the noise isn't too bad for the kids. 

 I had brought along a bunch of snacks to have during the fireworks, but I think the kids ate most of them long before. They also polished off half a package of oreos and were incredibly wound up most of the night.  

 Luke's mom and dad, nephew, and cousin, Mike, came and sat with us.

 Carter eating some popcorn that the church was giving out! 

 The kids loved the fireworks and sat on our laps and watched the whole time! At least I think they loved them. Maybe they were just having a blood sugar crash.  :)

And when we got home, this was our view!

Monkey Joe's

Last Sunday Kate called wanted to go to the zoo. So we planned a Monday morning visit.

Monday morning came, and it was pouring rain, but we thought we'd try for it anyway. However, after it poured the whole way to Peoria, we scratched that idea and scrambled to find something else to do. After going through several options, we finally decided on Monkey Joe's, which neither of us had ever been to.

blurry picture, but since they wouldn't stop, this is about as good as they get.

 Kate and Jade at the bottom of the slide

 Once I finally forced Bridget to go down the slide, she loved it!

Carter's feelings about Monkey Joe's

Overall it was fun, although my kids are probably a little young and a little clinging to make the money worth it ($10 for both kids). Side note: if you do decide to go, you have to have socks in order to jump. Obviously we didn't have socks on in July so on top of the $10 to get in, we bought $6 worth of socks. 

Afterwards we went to Firehouse pizza for lunch, and I amazed everyone with my "feeding two hungry and grouchy children at a buffet" skills. Or maybe not. But we did get to enjoy some catch up time, nonetheless. 

Back on Mother's Day

For Mother's Day Wendi and Daniel invited us all over. They made delicious steak and chicken fajitas, and I made this wonderful white cheese dip to put on top. 

It was fun to see how she has everything decorated, since they live in our old house now. :) 

The kids only took 45 min naps that day, and were kind of a wreck, so Adam took them outside to see the cows. As much as I love the house we're in now, I have to admit that I kind of miss seeing that sight out the kitchen window.

My camera died after just 2 pictures, so that's all I got! 

Dad's birthday

A couple weeks ago we headed over to my mom and dad's to celebrate dad's birthday! (I make it sound like they live so far away!  :))

 He only gets two candles in his ice cream!  

 Adam and Luke- this picture has been internet approved by Adam  :)

After supper we went outside with the kids. Luke took Bridget on rides while sitting on the ripstick, and I attempted to stand and use the ripstick, which I will probably never accomplish. Carter was very concerned about me on there and would start crying and saying "no no!" every time I got on. 

Marlboro Man Sandwich...my version

I made my own version of this sandwich for dinner last night, and it was delicious! I went off this recipe from Pioneer Woman. 

Since we get a quarter of a cow whenever we buy beef, it comes with a few cuts that I'm not sure what to do with. This one used cube steak, but since that wasn't a cut I had on hand, I used round steak and it was plenty tender. We added mushrooms instead of the onions since mine were moldy.  :-s

I also toasted the buns, but without butter. I just put them in the toaster oven and they got plenty crispy. We added mayonnaise on our buns and put cheese on top. Shredded lettuce would have been a good addition, but we didn't have any.

Luke thought they tasted like steak and fries, only less greasy.  :)

Here is my version:

3 lbs cube steak

1 lb mushrooms, sliced

1 stick butter

1/2 cup worcestershire sauce

lawry's salt

mozzarella cheese, either shredded or sliced

mayonnaise

buns

Cook mushrooms in 3-4 tbl butter until tender. Set aside. Sprinkle lawry's salt over steaks and slice into very thin strips. Add 4 tbl butter and cook through. Add worcestershire sauce and simmer for 5 min. Cut buns and toast in toaster oven or oven. Serve with toppings of your choice.

3 months ago...

I posted my latest post. Pathetic, really. But we've been so busy this summer that I just haven't made the time to post. Notice I say taken the time, because I certainly have taken the time to do other things. Like read a whole novel in one day. Did I really just admit that:? Anyway, we've had a grand time being outside and doing things like mowing, watering flowers, take walks and bike rides, playing with chalk, swinging, and playing in the sandbox. We've only been to the pool twice and neither child was very impressed. They'd rather play with water than actually be in it.

So without further ado, here are some pictures of our past few months.

Sleeping in her big bed. I know it's been forever since I posted, because here she's still on the mattress on the floor. She is now in an actual bed, and I finally finished her bedspread today (yay!!!!) Pictures of that to come. 

 Play date with the Grimms. Eli and Carter are good buddies.

Bridget loving that she got to hold baby Shiloh (even though she doesn't look real enthused)

Luke's mom brought some big lego blocks for the kids, and they have spent hours playing with them. How did I never think of getting these before?!

My mom also cleaned out her closets, and sent my American Girl doll collection home with me. The kids had great fun with the table and chairs; until they tried to sit in the chairs and I packed them up and put them away. 

Warm weather means flip flops for our little barefoot lover. If she can get away with not wearing shoes she will. But if she must wear something, flip flops are first rate.

Swing set building day!! Carter thought all the tools were pretty great.

The building team consisted of Logan, my brother Adam, and Luke. It was a miserable day to work on it-drizzling and cold, and things didn't go smoothly.

This was all the further they got on the first day. The next week Adam come over and helped again, and between that and many evenings of Luke working, it got mostly finished. 

Dolly LOVES to dress up. Her Target dollar section tutu is worn daily, and is usually a part of her wardrobe no matter where we go. The shoes from Wendi's wedding are also a favorite, and she clomps around the house in them all the time. 

Pretending the hamper is her horse

the following several pictures in the sequence I usually get when trying to get a picture of the two of them together.

Saturday morning picnic on dad's lap

Homemade play dough! The kids had a blast with it, even though I had to work to keep from gagging because of the smell. 

Sunday evening pizza with friends. Are our kids really old enough to eat in the kitchen by themselves??

Grimms came over to swim one day. It was freezing. Our kids hardly stepped foot in the pool but Judah and Eli just jumped right in. 

Carter loves to pretend to drink our coffee...don't worry, we don't actually let him have any. It's bad enough that my kids beg for my diet pepsi every day. 

We got sand in our sandbox! The kids now spend hours in here!

The handsome man to who made it all possible. (with a little help from family and friends)

The finished product. I think it looks pretty awesome, and it turned out exactly how I wanted it!