Peach Smoothies

2 Cups Milk
2 Cups frozen unsweetened sliced peaches
1/4 Cup orange juice concentrate
2 Tablespoons sugar
5 ice cubes

In a blender, combine all ingredients; cover and process until mixture is smooth. Pour into glasses and serve immediately.


~I tried this recipe last night and brian loved it. I think it tastes like something from Orange Julius. I think a little Rum in it could give a little extra kick; I haven't tried it yet in the smoothie but maybe next time. :-)

Selling onesies

On Saturday I had a table at a Relay for Life fundraiser. I didn't sell a whole lot, but it was a good experience. At least I made my money back from the table fee and a little more. I am doing a show in two weeks that is geared towards families so I hope to do good at that one. This was a good experience though. I learned somethings and want to do somethings differently at the next show. The picture is of my display. I am going to get some things from mom and dad for the next show to jazz up the display a little. I do like how the hanging onesies turned out so people could see that one had a front and back design.

So now I am waiting for my refund check to come so I can order a bunch more onesies. Then I have to work my butt off to get reading for that show. At least I have some inventory now so I don't have to work quite hard as I did for this first show.

Not much else is going on. The weather will not warm up. I'm so sick of being inside. Cordelia is crawling now. It's not a full out crawl, but she can get to what she wants. At our last MOPS meeting we had a speaker come in about reading to kids. She told us to read books to our kids that are above their reading level. They will understand you reading it even if it's too hard for them to read. Which makes sense. Today Rion wanted me to read The Spiderwick Chronicles to him. (I think Kelly got it for him? Thanks!) It's just a part of one of the books and he really liked it. So we may go to the bookstore and pick up the whole version. In the meantime we started reading Harry Potter. Between mom and I we have all the books. So we started that tonight before bedtime. Knowing how the series ends, it will be fun to read them all over again. I know I'm a nerd.

The boys stayed overnight at Grandpa and Grandma's house last week. They had a lot of fun. I had to make fruit salad for them because they liked it so much. They sure went through it fast.

"Who in the dictionary wants to know?"

"You better look in the bathtub, it must be a stranger in there." "Mertyl May, see who the stranger is in the bathtub."

"Elwood P. Dowd, let me give you my card."

"He's a 6ft. rabbit." said the Dr.
"No, now he's 6ft 3 1/2inches, let's stick to the facts now." Mr. Dowd

I wanted to go out and get some errands done, I had my shoes and jacket on and I went to look over at the t.v when I heard "Charlie's Place," in the voice of James Stewart. I could only think of one show. Sure enough, it's Harvey. I haven't seen it in awhile and of course I sat down on the couch with my shoes and jacket still on. The movie is almost over and I just took my shoes and jacket off. I guess I'm staying home for a little longer to watch it. Errands will have to wait.

Old Time Fun

The weather here has been so fabulous!!! Yesterday was around 80 degrees!! I went for a walk with a couple friends at a park downtown and then got some ice cream. It was nice. On Saturday some friends had a barbecue. Good food. We played whiffle ball haha. It was fun :) Not much else to report. Just enjoying my last week of school and the amazing weather! :)

Alternative Breaks Group

So this is the entire AB group. I just wanted to post this to see if you could find me:P Kind of a "Where's Waldo" game :P

Trip to Twin Falls, Idaho. 2 1/2 hr drive

These little lizards are everywhere. It's amazing we didn't step on them.

We decided to take a drive to Twin Falls on saturday and do some exploring. We heard of the bridge and wanted to check it out. The bridge is called the Perrine bridge. It's really neat when we were coming up to the city. We were driving through mostly a desert area and we started looking for the bridge because we couldn't see it but, we could see the city. All of a sudden we could see a huge gorge and then the bridge appears. We couldn't wait to get to the bottom. When we drove to the bottom of the gorge, there's a couple of golf courses and lots of picnic area. We were reading about the bridge and I guess this bridge is the only bridge in the U.S that Base Jumping is still legal without a permit. So, we will have to go back in the summer to see some base jumpers. Also, Evel Knievel tried to jump the canyon in 1974 but was un-succesful. The bridge is 1500 feet across and almost 500 ft. above the snake river below. We also went to the Shoshone Falls which are about 2 miles east of Twin Falls. I can't wait to go back in the summer and see it again. I bet its even more pretty.

April Fools

I was going to do this on April 1st, but it just didn't happen. So I did it tonight finally. The kids thought it was fun.

For dinner tonight they got to choose:

cupcakes

or chicken nuggets with peas and carrots and mashed potatoes and gravy.

Gee, I wonder what they picked?

They, of course, picked the cupcakes which actually is meatloaf and mashed potatoes with food coloring. The other meal is all junk food. The chicken nuggets are a peanut butter candy, kind of like a Butterfinger. Peas and carrots are Sixlets. And the mashed potatoes and gravy is ice cream with caramel sauce.

Torii would not touch the fake mashed potatoes and gravy. He did discover the peas and carrots quickly. I took video but it's a couple of minutes long so it would take more time than I'm willing to wait to upload to the blog. It was pretty funny.

Young Indiana Jones

I found this hat that I had used for Halloween a couple of years ago. When I saw it I knew I had to give it to Fred Rion. When he saw it he asked if it was Indiana Jones' hat. I said of course it is. So he had to play his Indiana Jones game and wear the hat.

He also was pretending to be Indiana Jones. If the clip goes too fast, he's pretending a wall is falling down and he has to grab his hat quick. I wish I could have got him singing the theme music too. It's pretty funny.

Finally some pictures of our new place.

I don't have pictures of the upstairs area yet. I'll clean a little more and then get some pictures. ha ha. :-) Talk to you later.

More cute kitty photos

Victoria loves to be in this spot. There is a small heat spot here and she always put her head into it.

Getting the courage to go outside. One step at a time.

Turn out the light!

Ever Pull out a calf?

Our Weekend

Not much going on here. Work at the Super 8 is going ok. The GM is starting to remind me a little bit like Bob and the Comfort Inn in Bismarck. She's a little crazy most of the time and she is the type, if it's not done her way, it's the highway for you. I thought it was kind of funny when she just gave me a bad day all together with her ranting, I got off of work and I received a call from a new property in town that wants me to come in for an interview for a sales position.
Hmmmm. I just might go to the interview to see a little more about it and then talk to my boss at the Super 8. If my boss right now can't work around some the issues and conflict between her and I, then I'll tell her I was offered a sales manager position. I really don't know what I have said or done to make her snap all the time, but she's always on the defensive when I mention something or do something. I think she should give me a little credit for even coming in for my full shifts with a sinus infection. I thought I was going to pass out most of the time I was working.
Well, not much else going on. I'm getting over my sinus infection and working on some crafts. Basically taking it easy right now. And getting some cleaning done. Brian is so nice, I didn't feel like doing anything this weekend and it was soooo nice out, he went and picked up some dinner and even got me a DQ ice cream cake. Why is it that when the weather decides to be nice and have the perfect temp, I end up getting sick and brian and I had the same days off also. Figures.
I planted some flowers and herbs and they are starting to come up already. I want to plant some more flowers later, and we are getting antsy to get a grill. We have the spring fever so bad.
So ya, not much else going on. This blog is pretty boring, but we haven't been doing much lately.
Hope the boys are feeling better soon! Hopefully they can get out and enjoy some weather soon.

The weekend

Hope everyone had a nice weekend. On Friday I went down to the Tumbleweed for a little bit to celebrate with dad for his retirement. It was a good time. I wish I could have had a drink. Only 6 months to go. GG had a couple of drinks and was a riot. If she had her own TV show it would have to be on HBO.

It was a beautiful weekend here. I wanted to get outside and work in the yard, but had to stay indoors. On Saturday I took Torii to the walk-in clinic. He has an ear infection. He has been battling a runny nose and cough all week and on Saturday wasn't feeling good at all. He wanted me to put a band-aid on his ear. He is feeling a lot better today, but now it's Rion's turn. He sat on the couch all day. Lucky for him there was Ben 10 marathon on. Cordelia also has a bit of a cough and runny nose. I hate it when they are sick.

I haven't been doing much else. It is suppose to be nice this week too so hopefully the kids get better real soon.

Cordelia and Winnie

Cordelia was petting Winnie on Easter. Winnie is so good with her. Even when Cordelia gives a little tug of the whiskers, Winnie gently puts her arm down.

Torii singing

I have a bunch of videos, but I haven't had any succes posting them lately. I'll keep trying. This one is a new song Torii learned from daddy. He just started singing it out of the blue the other day. I thought it was so cute. And of course he sang it when I got the video recorder out.

Fresh Popcorn

I found this really cute ceramic bucket the other day. It's not vintage or anything, but it makes a nice addition. It makes a nice holder for the movies I borrow from people, or movies I've bought and haven't watched yet. I thought about putting a plant in it too, but I don't think I want to get it that dirty. I'm starting to look for old movie items, so if you see any!! :P I already have a few old film ads and what not, so let the collection being I guess :)

Time for a drink! Happy Retirement!

Happy Retirement!

Poor mom. Dad's last day of work is tomorrow. Dad put on a UPS shirt for the picture, but now I just noticed the jeans. Oh well. Dad: the kids will be over at your house a lot more now. I can't lie and tell them that we have to wait until the weekend to go to Grandpa and Grandma's so Grandpa will be home. And lots of sleepovers. How does once a week sound? I'll write up a contract. Have a happy, happy retirement.

SO true

This has to be one of the cutest animations I have seen in a long time. We are such cat lovers, so you should enjoy it as well!! :) It's titled: "cat alarm clock"

Proof they love each other

typewriter keyboard

I had this idea awhile ago... A keyboard that is fashioned as an old typewriter. Looks like someone had that same idea. Looks nice ;)

One more recipe

This was something I tried for Easter. Everyone really liked it.

Place one stick of softened unsalted butter in a bowl and stir in the chosen flavor(see below). Transfer butter onto a sheet of wax paper. Fold edge over butter, and roll into a log, lengthwise. Twist ends of wax paper in opposite directions to seal. Chill for at least an hour before cutting. Butter will stay fresh in the fridge for three weeks.

For a versatile flavor: Add one tablespoon grated citrus rind.
For a savory flavor: Add three cloves of garlic minced, and one tablespoon of chopped chives.
For a sweet flavor: Add one tablespoon of cinnamon, honey or maple syrup.

I made the savory flavor, which was really good and the honey flavor. I also want to try the other sweet flavors. I've only had them on buns and bread, but the directions say they would also be good with pasta and grilled fish. It would be fun to experiment with different meals and maybe even add some other things to the butter.

Spaghetti and meatballs with a surprise

Ingredients
1/4 cup grated onion
1 teaspoon dried Italian seasoning
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 pounds ground round
1 garlic clove, minced object
3 ounces part-skim mozzarella cheese, cut into 16 cubes
1 (26-ounce) bottle fat-free pasta sauce
5 1/2 cups hot cooked spaghetti (about 12 ounces uncooked pasta)

Combine first 5 ingredients in a bowl; shape into 16 (1-inch) meatballs. Working with 1 meatball at a time, flatten meatball, and place 1 cheese cube in center of meatball. Gather meatball around cheese cube, sealing well.
Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add meatballs; cook 6 minutes, browning on all sides. Drain well. Wipe pan with a paper towel.
Return meatballs to pan. Add pasta sauce; bring to a simmer over medium heat. Cover and cook 10 minutes. Serve over pasta.

Chicken Fried Steak

Ooooo, it' s sooo good. (Mr.Food, but the recipe is from somewhere else.)

2 1/4 teaspoon salt, divided

1 3/4 teaspoon black pepper, divided

4 (4 ounce) cube steaks

38 saltine crackers (1 sleeve), crushed

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour, divided

1/2 teaspoon ground red pepper

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

4 3/4 cups milk, divided

2 large eggs

3 1/2 cups peanut oil

Garnish: chopped parsley

Sprinkle 1/4 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon black pepper evenly over steaks. Combine cracker crumbs, 1 cup flour, 1 teaspoon salt, 1/2 teaspoon black pepper, red pepper, and baking powder. Whisk together 3/4 cup milk and eggs. Dredge steaks in cracker mixture; dip in milk mixture, and dredge again in cracker mixture.

Pour oil into a 12-inch skillet; heat to 360 degrees. Fry steaks 3 to 4 minutes. Turn and fry 2 to 3 minutes or until golden brown. Remove steaks to a wire rack in a jelly-role pan. Keep steaks warm in a 225 degree oven. Carefully drain hot oil, reserving cooked bits and 1 tablespoon drippings in skillet.

Whisk together remaining 4 cups milk, 1/4 cup flour, remaining 1 teaspoon salt, and remaining 1 teaspoon black pepper. Add milk mixture to reserved drippings in skillet; cook, whisking constantly, over medium-high heat 10 to 12 minutes or until thickened. Serve gravy with steaks. Garnish, if garnished.

~Makes 4 servings.

~I didn't have peanut oil and I just used vegtable oil. It worked just fine. Tip: I had a lot of gravy left over and we made some biscuits the next day, and had biscuits and gravy for dinner. The gravy is delicous as a breakfast idea also. Yum.