My day in pictures!

It's true that a picture is worth a thousand words, so what better way to show you what I'm doing today than taking the camera and just snapping whatever is around me?


All clean laundry just pulled out of the dryer, now the fun begins right??? UGH...wrong....I hate folding and putting away laundry.


A few dishes in the sink this morning, a load is already being washed in the dishwasher so I guess I can do these by hand. What boggles me is the super hero in the picture....why is it there?
Is it in need of a good bath? Is it going to help me do the dishes? How did it get up there in the first place? Oh the joys of having children.


The sprinkler has been turned on in the front of the house and now I get to listen to the woosh woosh woosh and smell the damp grass. Am I the only one that loves that scent???

I wish I could bottle it up LOL


Speaking of scents, this is burning in my house right now and it smells heavenly. I initially picked it up because it said Jasmine, had no idea what it would smell like but boy was I surprised, it's just wonderful.

Here, I'll wave some scent your way, that's it.........breathe in deep. Aaaaahhhhhhhh!



I never throw my sheets and comforters in the dryer, I always hang them up to dry outside. Again I'm sure there's no question as to if we have children in this house. Spongebob, pretty flowers, Bratz....yep......wouldn't you be surprised if I told you those were mine????

But they're not LOL


Last but not least, this is what the kids were doing this weekend..........Curt was outside cleaning his truck and it got dark, so before we headed inside I grabbed the camera (seriously, I don't know why I don't just attach the thing to my side permanently)...........and snapped some candid shots.

LOVE that top one, the expression on Nicholas face is priceless.


Is there anything better than swinging in the dark???????? My kids say NO and I believe them, because I did actually sit on those swings and I was shocked that my behind fit LOL

I swung? swang? swing? Wow, I'm drawing a complete blank I don't know which word it is.....help a girl out. I am leaning towards swung but it sounds weird. Whatever, you get the picture.

Hope you enjoyed the visual look at my day....how about you grab your own camera and go show us what you're up to? If you do, let me know so I can come by and visit.

I'm off to move the sprinkler, it's a skill you have to master, because when you're being lazy like I am, you don't want to turn the water off and then go move it and then turn it on again, so you run to it while it's shooting water in the opposite direction, then you grab it real quick and hop around a bit pulling and dragging the hose then slam it on the ground quick and RUN FOR YOUR LIFE. Try it........it's fun and the kids will laugh at you!

I'm just so tired right now........

It's been one of those "nesting" days. You know the ones? You get up in the morning and everything is going great and then suddenly you get hit with this urge to clean and clean and really clean, so needless to say I started at 10am and it's now 3pm and I JUST sat down at the computer.

I'm tired, I'm sore, I'm old.....scratch the last one, though I DO feel it LOL

How has your day been???

Good news btw, a lot of you have been praying for my passport and as always, you have been amazing. I just got a phone call from home saying that it will be ready for pick up tomorrow and my dad is getting it and then overnighting it to me. I'm so relieved right now, it's a huge weight off my shoulders and I can finally start packing, though I think until I have it in my hands I still won't allow myself to completely relax.

So my house is sparkling clean and it feels good when you can sit down and look around and think "there is NOTHING for me to do". You don't get many days like that....as a mother it's always go go go go for me, there aren't many breaks allowed and you worked through sickness, through pain, through anger and happiness...whatever it is, you just do it, so when I get a day like this I almost...ALMOST feel guilty for having nothing left to clean or fix.

We had a great weekend, we actually went out and bought some more luggage, it's a month's trip and overseas so it means packing more things, but now we have enough to lug all the clothes and gifts and whatever.

As I was saying though, we had a calm weekend, we stayed home and played Guitar Hero on the Wii......I'm proud to say that I'm really really good at it, I mean Pat Benatar and Poison good. Yeah baby!
It's a great way to spend time with the hubby too, we made a band and played together and we laughed and laughed when our fingers got tired and crampy and we missed notes all over the place. It's even worse when you get boo'd off the stage, which I'm happy to say only happened ONCE and it was a tough tough song.

Even the kids got in on the action though it's hard for them, you have to press the right color keys and strum the guitar too, it is a little confusing at first.

I think Nicholas' face explains just how you feel when you miss a couple notes and your guitar is screaming at you while the crowd boos LOL

Look at the concentration on her face and I just have to laugh at the way she has her fingers on the colors LOL

SO much fun!


I did manage to post the menu for this week, something I didn't get to do last week. If you're interested you can check it out on my food blog, OR, you could be adventurous and brave and grab a huge cup of coffee and then go check out all the other Menu Plan Monday participants at Laura's site.


If you want the menu planner for yourself, you can find it available for download here, thanks to Char at DigiScrapChat.


I'm hoping to finish my "Road to Avonlea" series before I leave for Africa next week. OH.MY.GOSH I can't believe I just said next week....anyway, I've just started Season 7 and I'm LOVING it, but I'm dying to see what else is to come, especially for Felicity.

If you've watched it before then you know exactly what I'm talking about.....right???

I also have "The Other Boleyn Girl" to finish reading so I can return it to the library. A couple of you asked what I thought of it and if I was liking the book. The answer is yes and yes, Phillippa Gregory is an outstanding writer and I'm enjoying reading this one....if you haven't yet, you don't know what you're missing.

I plan on taking one or two books with me, one for the airplane ride, as long as it is I may actually finish it before I land in South Africa LOL


The Postcard by Beverly Lewis



Wounded Healer by Donna Fleischer


Well ladies, the internet seems to be back up and behaving so I'm coming around to visit you all, hope you're up for it :)

Breakfast is ready.....

I just finished making breakfast so I thought I would offer you all some, just come on in and sit with me, we'll have a cup of hot coffee and these TO.DIE.FOR french toasts.

STRAWBERRY CHEESECAKE FRENCH TOAST

Take a walk with me!

Well the internet has been down for us for the last 2 days....it comes up for about a min and then back down again, not sure what the problem is but I hope it stops....that is the reason though that I have been away and not visiting or posting anything.

So I'm taking you on a walk with me today, with the gas prices being so expensive and the weather being gorgeous outside, we've been walking to and from school everyday. I can't begin to tell you how wonderful it feels especially early in the morning, to get out there and smell the fresh air. I think it's one of the perks of living on a military base, you can walk freely with your children without being scared or feeling endangered in any way.

Yesterday morning we set out towards the school and this time I took the camera, let's walk while we catch up on the last few days.



Now I may be totally ignorant when it comes to plants and especially cactus. I was under the impression that they all looked like the ones we see in movies LOL But when I started walking around this base I realized there are so many different kinds and these caught our attention.....they are blooming ROSES! (or at least what they appear to be)


Now I'm going to be keeping my eyes on all the different cactae around.

We're almost to the school here, it's just around the corner

My beautiful girl chugging down the water before she even gets to school. You know my kids aren't really water drinkers, but to get them to stay hydrated through this horrible heat, I have one of those brita filters on my faucet and I fill up big pitchers of water, pop them in the refrigerator and then when they're thirsty I pour them a glass and add a slice of a lemon from our tree out back. They LOVE it and they've been drinking tons of it.

Another thing they really like is the Koolaid Burstin Waters, grape or cherry flavored. It's great!

My handsome boy :)

Almost home now....

And here we are....home sweet home!

I hope you enjoyed the walk with me. I'm hoping the internet stays up today so I can come around and visit later.

Slow Cooking Thursday!

All my slow cooking recipes are now online and starting today, I will add all the recipes shared weekly to my online del.icio.us site too. So if you're wanting to find ALL the slow cooked recipes that have been shared since the first SLOW COOKING THURSDAY, here is the link for you.

Don't forget to add your name to Mr Linky and a link back to your SCT post so others can come by and see your recipe too.

I'm SO sorry this is late today,it's been one of those crazy days.

Moo Shu Pork

1 1/2 pounds boneless thinly cut pork loin chops

salt and ground pepper

2 bottles (8.5 ounces each) hoison sauce

3 tablespoons soy sauce

4 scallions (green onions), chopped

2 bags (16 oz each) cole slaw mix

Warmed taco-size flour tortillas or hot cooked rice (optional)

Sprinkle por chops with salt and pepper, cut into thin bite-size strips.

In a 5-quart slow cooker, stir together pork strips, hoisin sauce, and soy sauce until thoroughly combined.

Cover and cook on HIGH heat setting for 1 1/2 hours. Refrigerate 2 tablespoons of the scallions. Stir the remaining scallions and cole slaw mix into slow cooker until well combined. Cover and cook for another 1 1/2 hours.

Serve in warmed tortillas or over cooked rice (optional). Sprinkle with reserved 2 tablespoons scallions.