Kisses and Salad

Today we tried baking something (that failed miserably!) which necessitated pulling out the chocolate boxes. The kids had a blast with it.

Alien eyes...

Alien eyes, up close and personal...
And later in the day, we had this absolutely fantastic salad. The dressing is a strawberry vinegrette (you can get that on the link's page as well).
Of course, it's Our Best Bites. We've been making nothing but OBB recipes for the last 2 1/2 weeks! Kate has come through with a total winner on this one!
Laura had to leave the table early because the baby was demanding her bedtime. Laura made sure to tell me NOT to clear her plate as she would be back to finish it shortly. She also said that it was too bad that Karen was not here because Karen would have LOVED this salad. I can think of more reasons than that why it's too bad that Karen isn't here. Frown. But yay for this way delicious salad!

Happy Birthday to Mia!

Dear Mia,
Today you are two years old! I hope you get a new iPad of your very own for your birthday so Daddy can have his back.

You are so cute I could just kiss you all day long!
Thank you for coming to my house a couple weeks ago. It was so fun to see you again.
I'm excited to come to your house in a couple more weeks too!
Have a wonderful birthday you sweet girl. Nana loves you!!!

My Mom's Party

For a quick peek at some of the food at my mom's birthday party, check out Karen's blog.

The Gang's Not All Here

At my mom's 80th birthday party, we had a few family photos taken, but it's not good enough because Danny and his family are missing. Bud is also missing from this picture.
So I had to go track him down.

And then I figured since it was my mom's party, she should be in the picture too.
Next month we'll try a family photo again, and it will have all my kids, kids in law and grandkids in it! I can hardly wait!

A Super Birthday

Still in birthday mode (I know, I still haven't posted about my mom's big birthday yet, but I will), Laura put together a super-hero birthday for Eliot who turned 3 years old today, but his party was last Saturday.
Strangely though, I only have this one picture of Eliot to show you! During the party, I did not have a camera in hand, so I'll have to ask the other "photographers" to share some of their pictures with me later. Here is our Super Eliot!
Laura made masks, wristbands and capes for all the kids who were at the party.

Here's a spread of the party food-
She made these little popcorn boxes and if you look closely you will see a little superhero cut out of the box near the top. Look really closely!
Eliot's favorite colors are orange and green, usually in that order. So most of the food was geared towards those colors such as the Jell-O cups and the cake in a jar.
She had clever little signs depicting each item of food and said what super power it aided.
On the table were photos of Eliot in decorated frames.
Some of the super relatives who are showing off their powers-
and a super-duper baby and her great grandmother who is also way super! Even Olive is wearing a cape. It buttons onto her shirt. So clever, Laura!
Hi you cute baby girl. Nana loves you super-mucho!
We had a super time, and I am super glad Eliot is here this summer. Happy Birthday!

Swings and Kabobs

Last night I was on barbecue duty (third time this week- it's the only way to go!) and while I was outside, my older grandchildren decided to teach my youngest grandson to cowboy up to the big swing. Here's Agnes helping Eliot get seated. I love how they used the wagon to give him the height he needed to get on it.
Look at Agnes holding it steady while he gets seated. You may wonder what Caleb is doing. First, take a look at his mighty cape that Laura made (Eliot's birthday party is on Saturday- it is a super hero theme, so all the kids will be caped. Caleb pretty much never takes his off. He loves it).
Okay, ready to go. Next Agnes will kick the wagon out of the way before she gives him a push (I didn't get a picture of that- they didn't even know I was watching, let alone documenting it all).
She's making sure he's okay. It was funny- Agnes and Caleb kept saying "Remember, safety first!" Cracked me up!
Looks like he loves it! Great smile, Eliot!
Now you can see Caleb's part in the whole thing- he's the brakes! When Eliot wants to stop, Caleb grabs the chain and pulls him to a stop so Eliot wouldn't get nervous.
Then there was the changing of the guard, and it was Caleb's turn to push and Agnes' turn to brake.
They had a good time. So what was for dinner? Kabobs. Super yummy kabobs, I might add.
And easier than anything! Pour a half bottle of Italian dressing over bite-sized chicken breasts and marinate that for 2-3 hours. Cut up your veggies (yellow squash, zucchini, mushrooms, red onion, and peppers) and marinate them for only about 20 minutes. Soak your wooden skewers for 30 minutes so they won't turn into firewood on the barbecue. Thread everything onto your stick and Q-away until the chicken is cooked through. Super tasty.
Oh, I did give it all a dusting of sea salt before cooking and just a touch of Montreal Steak Seasoning as well. This recipe is modified from Our Best Bites cookbook, page 116, in case you were wondering.

Mia's Sprinkler Fun

When my son was here with his family he made a contraption that created so much fun for all the kids. I thought instead of bombarding you with a million photos in one post I would just show you Mia today.








Such a sweet girl! I miss you already, Mia!

Seven Of Nine

On June 4th we had a huge birthday party for my mom who turned 80 the day before. It was a lot of fun, but the most fun was having so many of my family in town, if only for the weekend. The extended benefit is that I still have Karen, Laura, Agnes, Caleb, Eliot and Olive here with me! So much fun for me.
We took them to the temple. They were such good kids!
And I can't get enough of this one's cuteness.