Back to School Kitty

Can you believe how fast summer is going? In preparation for fall I just listed the first of my fall line on ebay - more to come on the website very soon. In the meantime check out my newest auction...kitty goes back to school.

Steve & Barrys

Do you guys ever shop there? I went once last year and it was great for basics - tees, shorts, bathing suits, etc...now I am dying to go as they have Bitten by SJP and EleVen by Venus WIlliams. Cute cute stuff for under 20.00. Okay so has anyone got any of this stuff and does it last at all?

Car Shopping

We are in desperate need of a new vehicle. By new, I mean new to us. So we went shopping today because there are a lot of "freedom" weekend deals. SO FRUSTRATED!

Here's what I learned today:

- The last 2 yrs with no car payments has me SPOILED!
- Cars have 8 million options.
- Whatever you say your budget is salesmen show you cars 2-5000 over.
- I am picky.
- This is going to be a much longer process than I had originally hoped.

We saw 2 possibilities but that was about it. Not "oh my gosh we love it and its perfect for us" cars. 2 vehicles that had the space we needed, were in the ballpark of our price range, and that one of us did not hate for some reason or another. I also decided that like cheap furniture building and room rearranging should be added to premarital classes.

Celebrate!

I hope everyone had a Happy 4th of July!

While they are too old for me to make them stuff these days they are definitely not too old to wear red, white and blue!

And a 4th of July staple: SPARKLERS!

Summer stuff...

Summer for us is like a different life than the rest of the year. The rest of the year we go, go, go from tball to swim to brownies to school meetings to work to PTA events to church things, etc. In the summer we hang out by the pool, hit the library a couple times a week, maybe even the mall, make our daily trek to the YMCA and when the weather is nice a day at the beach. So my apologies for bad pics but the excitement has been low around here...we are in summer relaxation mode. Tomorrow we'll do something for the 4th and next weekend we are going on a mini-vacation so hopefully I'll get better pictures then.

My brownie troop had a pool party for the girls and their siblings.

My dad celebrated his 55th birthday so we all went to Maggianos - yummy!

The kids cousin Aedan turned 7, had a pool party in which there was a bit too much water and not enough rules for my camera to be allowed out there. This picture was taken before we left - its not good but its a picture of them.

Dance

Meet Matt. He can't dance but he does anyway. He has been around the world. He makes others want to dance with him.

My friend, Jenni, posted this on her blog and I had to share. What an amazing concept - to share a peice of his travels with people - a peice that makes you smile and want to join him. For more go to Matt's site.

Recipe Share

Okay I know some of you are amazing cooks but I am not. I just hate it. But I have to get better about it because eating out
a.)costs alot of money
b.)is not a good habit to teach my kids
c.) has made me fat.

That being said I found a couple of recipes I am sharing with y'all in the hopes that you will leave me a good healthy recipe in my comments in return!

Santa Fe Grilled Chicken Salad Wrap

4 cups romaine lettuce
6 oz. chicken breast cut into strips
1 tomato chopped
1 can whole kernel corn drained
1/2 cup Mexican shredded cheese
1/4 cup Ranch dressing
1/4 cup salsa
8 flour tortiallas

Toss romaine, chicken, tomatoes, corn, and cheese in a bowl. In a separate bowl combine dressing and salsa. Then pour salsa/ranch mix over the salad and toss. Spoon into tortillas evenly and wrap. Makes 4 servings - 2 wraps each.
Suggested sides: Refried beans and/or spanish rice.

Beef Noodle Bowl

8 oz linguine cooked
3 cups broccoli florets
3 carrots peeled and sliced
2 tsp vegetable oil
1 lb beef sirloin cut into strips
1/4 cup italian dressing
1/4 cup teriyaki sauce
1 tsp ground ginger

Cook pasta as directe don package, adding broccoli and carrots for the last 2 minutes of pastas cooking time, then drain all. In skillet, heat oil and add meat, cooking until brown on all sides. Add in dressing, teriyaki sauce, and ginger - cooking until sauce thickens, stirring occasionally. Mix noodle mixture with meat in large mixing bowl. Makes 4 servings, 2 cups each. Side suggestions: Rice or baked vegetable egg rolls.