Free Food Day

Today was "free" day! 7-11 always gives away free slurpees on 7/11 - so that was a gimme. Of course we got one...or two:-)

First stop this morning, 7-11 freebies!

Then we did a few errands, and were ironically parked at an auto parts store sharing a parking lot with another 7-11. We couldn't resist.

Take Two!

Grey, getting ready to put his "ears" on:-)

Today was also get-free-food-at-Chick-Fil-A-if-you-dress-like-a-cow. We've never done this before. Because I think dressing up is pretty lame. I'm not buying a costume, and making one is pretty dumb. It's just not my thing. But I didn't tell the kids that. We came home and starting putting on our cow costumes for free food.

I don't think its even really debatable. This kid is stinkin' adorable.

Grey

Brooks - we trimmed his ear back after this pic. We thought he looked more like a dog.

Moooooooo

So anyway, we went into Chick Fil A, and were allowed to select any meal we wanted, all free.

The kids were only slightly impressed though. There were MORE than enough "Who is embarrassed?" "Who can believe we are doing this?" "What if no one else is dressed up?" (not an issue!), "Who thinks we look like puppies?".

They take after their Momma:-) The general consensus is, it's better to just pay for your food. Dressing up isn't really that fun. But it was a good experience, we didn't have long waits (you know all of America descends upon CFA today), it was fun overall, but the jury is out if they want to do it again next year. Which is actually kind of interesting, considering they eat at CFA definitely less than once per year, (they've only been a handful of times over the span of their entire lives). I thought they'd be all over it for the chance to eat there, but the trade off - food for spots - doesn't seem overly appealing to them.

Maybe a first and only for us? Haha.

Rainy Season

Well, each new season in our new house brings new "surprises". This is our first hurricane season in the Willow house, so there are the typical issues - things I worried about at Hugo house too, until I realized they weren't going to be an issue. Like, how will the trees hold in strong winds, and, will we flood?

Well, the rains have come - Hurricane Arther was a non-event in our town, but certain areas local did have super cells, or tornadoes touch down and do damage. All we've had is rain. Yesterday we had a thunderstorm, and it *poured* down rain for about an hour.

Our front walkway, "safely" under water:-)

Interesting thing about this house (and many in this area) - no eaves troughs. Can you see the waterfall coming from the roof in front of the garage?

The rains were driving in hard, and at such angles, that it reeeeeally soaked the porch. I've never seen it do that before.

The water was coming in through the screens and making biiiiiig puddles all over the place.

Our backyard "grew" a river. It was flowing from the street, through our neighbours side yard, and across the back of our property, down to the lake. Notice how our fire pit area is pretty much all under water too!

The "river" flowing into the lake. Didn't know that could happen!

Splash!

Today, all the water is gone, and there is no sign that it was ever there. Yikes. For about an hour there, I wondered if we might float away:-)

July

Can you believe it's July?! And really...July is almost halfway over? Whoa! Things are moving at such a break neck pace around here, I can hardly keep up. Though the busy is just "stuff", we aren't stressed and have lots of time to hang out and enjoy summer, still.

A few updates:

Huck - We've had the cutest kitten ever for about 1.5 weeks now. He is such a doll. In true-to-us fashion he has tons of nicknames. I usually call him Hucklebug. Grey calls him Hook, mostly because I don't think he understands that it's Huck, not Hook:-) He spent the first 3 days running from us, hiding, and trying to avoid being "captured" (= picked up). But after that, he warmed up to us. And now, we can't get away from him! He likes to sleep with us, attack our feet...he is very playful. His brother (Sawyer would have been his name), has not been seen since Huck's capture. We are assuming he was run over by a car, or died of heat stroke in the hot weather. We were really hoping to bring him home too, but it doesn't look like that will work out :-( The kids ADORE him, and are so far, very diligent about caring for his needs (food, water, litter box), which is nice to see.

House - We've been doing some house stuff here and there. I've been lazy about taking pictures lately! Yikes. Been doing some yard work (general up keep and landscaping), and Brian got a pretty nasty case of poison ivy from down near the lake's edge (while trying to "clean it up") we are trying to cure him of, currently.

Van - Our air conditioner compressor went out on the van about 2 weeks ago. Boo. It's hot! When your vehicle is in pretty good shape...but 10 years old, I'm sure it's only natural that something breaks eventually, right?! We'll get it repaired next week. Last week, it was new tires. Up next, we need a new windshield! It's always something, isn't it? In other vehicle news, we sold the red truck. (Brian's old '93 F150), so now the van is our only vehicle. Brian has a truck from work that he drives...which had a flat tire Saturday, so he had to take our van into work until the tire was repaired. Lets hope nothing else breaks on any vehicle we drive!!

School - We are testing this week! Our state requires standardized testing for all children, even ones that are homeschooled. So far so good. We still have a few more days to go, as I believe it's 5 hrs of testing over 3 days. I am having them keep up with reading especially and a little math, just so they don't loose their heads come Aug/Sept when it's back to work!

Cookie Business - June was super busy with lots of baking. July has been much slower, which gives a nice break. Weddings and graduations are more popular in June I guess:-) I'm finishing up an order for 100 mini cheesecakes today, getting those out the door tomorrow morning. It's fun, it's not too stressful, and other than a messy kitchen/no room to cook dinner so we have pasta - it's not an inconvenience to the family at all, which is great. And the pasta thing only happened in June, when I was super slammed:-)

Work - Brian's work is going well. He is enjoying his position at the office, and there have been some changes taking place for the positive, which is good. He still has to "double dip" office work and on site work though, since many of the jobs are either so "picky" that he needs to be on top of it all, or so "after hours" that no one else will superintend the job. He's pulled a few all nighters this spring and summer, (watching others work), but by and large he's home for dinner every night, which is nice.

Exercise - Brian is still training for his remaining Spartan races (end of Aug in VA & end of Oct in SC). I have been doing Trim Healthy Mama, and exercising when I can. The THM "way" of eating kind of does affect the whole family, and so far, no one (even picky Daddy) minds the fare. It's normal food, nothing is really off limits - except sugar. I haven't made too many of the desserts (using stevia in the raw or liquid stevia), but so far everything is good. It's an adjustment, but not a big one. Just lots of healthy foods, and no sugar (though, sweet things are ok, if made with stevia). It's not carb free - but it is carb "lite", and I haven't missed the bread as much as I thought I would - and sure do enjoy it when I do have it!

Church - We are still involved in the Youth Group, and I am also involved in Awana's as the club secretary. Over the summer this involves inventory, cleaning up the database, and getting things ready for registration which will be upon us before we know it. It's a very large Awana program, so there is a lot involved in it all. Last year I was one of two club secretaries, this year I am the only one. Lets hope I do it all right!


Is that about it? A few nights ago at 10:30pm we were "victims" of a ring and run (presumably teens or preteens ring doorbell a bajillion times, and then run away before you answer the door). Silly, but a first for us. And like all good old people who get pranked, we scratched our heads. What was that? Was that supposed to be funny? Kinda don't get it. Oh, we also found a lab mix running down the road with no collar on, so we coaxed it on a walk around the neighbourhood until we found the desperate family searching for him. It's harder than it seems to try and "walk" a dog you don't know without a collar or leash:-) That was our good deed this past weekend.

We are looking forward to and planning for a trip up to Ontario in the near future. That will be fun!

Thanks for checking in on us. We will have lots of pics to share soon of our new kitten!

Burger Bar - Recipes

We we're hosting a "few" friends for a 4th of July cookout. I think we ended up with 16 adults and 13 kids? Maybe there were more kids. It's hard to count that many rapidly moving little people. But I think there were supposed to be 13 of them there:-)

Hurricane Arthur threatened our fun - but didn't. It ended up being a gorgeous day, and the perfect evening for a party. In an "American tradition" we did a bbq, of course - burgers. I decided to do something a little different, and fun..."knock off burgers".

We had a Burger Bar, where you make your own "fave" burger, just like at a restaurant. I selected 4 different types/styles/tastes of burger recipes, and it was a HUGE hit!! Check out all the recipes below

Banzai Burger (Red Robin knockoff)

Angry Whopper (Burger King knockoff)

(Bacon) Swiss Mushroom Burger (Applebee's knockoff)

Big Mac (McDonald's knockoff)

I made cards, and set each one at the "station" for said burger, with all the toppings.

This tells you how to assemble your burger correctly, step by step.

BANZAI BURGER

(to cook/make - marinade beef patty in teriyaki sauce for a few hours before grilling. Drain pineapple rings of juice, and marinade in teriyaki sauce for a few hours, and grill the pineapple until warm)

1. Bun, mayo on top side
2. Place meat on bottom bun
3. Cheddar cheese on meat
4. Tomato slice on cheese
5. Pineapple ring on tomato
6. Spoon small amount of teriyaki sauce on pineapple
7. Iceburg lettuce on pineapple
8. Place mayo side bun on top, and ENJOY!

Burger stations, after most of the carnage had taken place. - We ate a LOT of burgers! I should have taken a pic of everything all neatly lined up, ready for assembly - oh well! I had the table in 4 "lines" and everything needed for each burger right there. So it was pretty easy to read the assembly steps and make the burger.

 ANGRY WHOPPER

(To make sauce and onion petals, click here for recipe)

Build from bottom up
1. Sesame seed bun
2. Meat
3. Pepper Jack cheese
4. Jalapeno slices
5. Bacon
6. Sauce
7. Spicy Onion Petals
8. Tomato slice
9. Shredded lettuce
10. Top bun, and SPICY!


SWISS MUSHROOM BURGER

(to make mushroom sauce, heat 1 can of condensed mushroom soup, approx 8oz can of mushrooms with juice, a few squirts of Worcestershire sauce, and about 1/2 of a regular sized onion, cut in thin slices. Heat/sautee on stove top in non stick pan until onions are soft and all is hot)

Build from bottom up
1. Bun
2. Meat
3. Swiss cheese
4. Bacon (optional)
5. Mushroom sauce
6. Top bun, and YUMMY!

BIG MAC

(to make the special sauce, click here for recipe) - to make a "middle bun" use a bottom bun portion, or carefully slice the bump off the top of a bun, making a perfect middle bun layer

Build from bottom up
1. Bottom bun (sesame seed)
2. Special sauce (use lots!)
3. Diced onions
4. shredded lettuce
5. American cheese (Kraft single slices)
6. Meat
7. Middle bun
8. Special sauce (use lots!)
9. Diced onions
10. 3 dill pickles slices
11. Shredded lettuce
12. Meat
13. American cheese
14. Top bun
* Optional 13a, ketchup, and these are THE BEST!

sides and dessert:-)

I made some red, white and blue camo cupcakes (red velvet, and white cake, some of which dyed blue)

I used a light meringue style icing, so it is very fluffy and light....so I piled it high:-)

Yay, 'Murica

Because this was just toooo cute. G & G (Grey & Giavanna). They had matching arm and face "tatch-toos", and she's holding flowers she picked from my garden. Cute, or what?! He's only about 3 weeks older than she is, and he says she's his best friend - or Abram, her brother. He can't decide between them:-)

Whether you celebrated Canada Day or Independence Day this week, I hope you had a lovely day off celebrating with friends and family!

It's a BOY!

Introducing the newest member of our family - Huckleberry Finn (Huck).

 He's is 6 weeks old and 1 pound, 3 ounces.

 He has dark hair, and very blue eyes, just like us!

Eating his first meal in his new house. Grey says "Is that water?! But cats hate water!" I had to explain they hate bathing in water, but not drinking it.

If you watch the little video of his coming home and the kids surprise (uh, my surprise too, I only found out minutes before they did when Brian came home and called me to the garage:-), you'll hear a little bit of his story. His litter was found abandoned in the industrial park where Brian's office is. A few coworkers took it upon themselves to catch and rescue the kittens and find them homes. He's been to the vet, and all is well with worms, mites and fleas, etc. He will be neutered when the time comes.

There is a chance we'll get Huck's brother - Sawyer, too. If they can catch him. We decided to name him Huck, and his brother Tom Sawyer (if he's caught). We thought Sawyer and Huck were fun names for adventuring little boys. And Huck is definitely better than Brian's original suggestion of Moe Funkus. Haha. Mal Fungus? Kenna says:-) It seems to be the job of all good Dads to suggest the weirdest names possible! Brooks thought George would be a good name.

The kids adore him! Grey: "He's pure black, but if you see da eyes, den he's not DAT pure black"

His first hiding place was under the microwave cart

He is still in the process of being tamed. He loves exploring the house, but we have blocked off most of it - it's just too big, and he's so little, he'll get lost!

Grey broke out the binoculars to get a better view of him under there:-)

So far, only adults are allowed to hold him, the kids can pet him one at a time. This is all but killing them. He is very playful with toys, and chasing his tail etc. They just want to scoop him up! But he's still easily overwhelmed and nervous, and they are anything but calm and quiet. He has been very gentle with us though, so I think he'll be a good cat...once we get him litter box trained and all.

He loves to jump up and play on the hearth

He is extremely tiny, and extremely adorable. Oh my!

Super cute, lil Baby Moe Funkus, errrrr, Huck :-D

So for now, the kids pet woes are over. They have real a pet all of their own:-)

Grey: "Is that a living cat?!"

Flowers, for the Soul

We made a few trips to the Botanical Gardens this week, and it's always amazing to me how gorgeous God's creation is. Even in just the flowers alone, the diversity is amazing. Here are a few quotes, and pretty pretty pictures:-)

 

Flowers are a proud assertion that a ray of beauty out values all the utilities of the world. Ralph Waldo Emerson

Enjoying the beauty all around us

An amazing field of wild flowers

Weeds are flowers too, once you get to know them. A. A. Milne

Much education today is monumentally ineffective. All too often we are giving young people cut flowers when we should be teaching them to grow their own plants. John W Gardner

Flowers always make people better, happier, and more helpful; they are sunshine, food and medicine for the soul. Luther Burbank

There is nothing in a caterpillar that tells you it's going to be a butterfly. Richard Fuller

I perhaps owe having become a painter to flowers. Claude Monet

God writes the Gospel not in the Bible alone, but also on trees, and in the flowers and clouds and stars. Martin Luther

One marked feature of people, both high and low, is a love for flowers. Robert Fortune

What sunshine is to flowers, smiles are to humanity. These are but trifles, to be sure; but scattered along life's pathway, the good they do is inconceivable. Joseph Addison

We found teeny baby toads. Claire and Grey held them for us:-)

Even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these... Matthew 6:29

There are always flowers for those that want to see them. Henri Matisse

We found the perfect spot for our picnic

Flowers are the sweetest thing God ever made and forgot to put a soul into. Henry Ward Beecher