For Your Listening Enjoyment...

The kids and I listen to WayFM in the car constantly. They've been playing a new song "I'm Letting Go" by Francesca Battistelli. Blue and I decided to download it to our ipods but when we listened to other selections off her CD, we had to get the whole thing.

A beautiful young woman with a message of grace...check it out for yourself!

Need to Laugh?

Just when I begin to take life too seriously, Buford emails me something like this...laughter is the best medicine!

Delusions

Delusions. Does anyone else suffer from those?
Going on mountain hikes, having dinner on the patio, taking walks with my kids, teaching my youngest multiplication, recovering seats on outdoor chairs, writing insightful and witty blog posts...these are some of my summer delusions. Things I believe I will have plenty of time to accomplish during long, warm days...things I dream about in May and then wonder about in September.
It is now the 21st of July. And while I haven't accomplished anything off of my list of delusions, the summer hasn't been a complete loss. My zucchini plants are producing well and some baby cantaloupes are on the vine. My kids are loving their summer sporting/dance activities and we have begun a redesign on Blue's room.
School will be starting in less than one month...I can already smell the bouquets of sharpened pencils (line from my favorite movie - can you guess which one?). It is time for a whole new set of delusions to begin...like how much work I can cram into the 6+ hours that the kids are at school and still have homemade cookies waiting for them when they return.
One can always dream...

Goin' Green?

There is a great post over at the LPM Blog about how Christianity fits into the new trend of "green". Nice job Melissa for bringing some truth and balance to the subject.
Are you doing anything to be a better steward of the planet? For me it has been mostly financially motivated ie: fewer trips in the car due to gas prices. I've also become more aware of not wasting water - fewer rinse cycles in the washer, shutting off faucet when brushing teeth, etc. I'm sure there is more that I can do...would love to hear what you do!

My Cookie Nemesis

There are certain foods - I'm sure for all of us - that fall under the category of "you can't eat just one". Or more likely, "you can't eat just 20".

Take buttered, salted popcorn for instance. Once my hand starts scooping that crispy goodness from bowl to mouth, there is no stopping until the bowl is empty...except for an occasional sip of Pepsi. Popcorn is one of my "consume all you can in one sitting" foods. Qdoba's chips and queso dip also fall under this category.

Then, there are foods that I will nibble on all day long. These are treats that are easily accessible in my kitchen that I can grab a bite of every time I pass by. M&M's, brownies, and cherry pie fall into the genre of tempters who bid me to taste a tiny little piece whenever I come within a 10 ft. radius.

However, there is something currently sitting on my counter that could fall within both categories. My heavens, I can't stop myself, I want them for breakfast, lunch, and dinner Apricot Bars!

I got the recipe here at The Pioneer Woman. They are reminiscent of a cookie I made in 4-H while in search of a "healthy snack" to enter in the county fair. I don't believe these buttery, crumbly, delectable bars are the least bit healthy, but they do have some oats in them to clean the butter out of your arteries.

Try them, I guarantee you can't eat just one...

or fifty.

Works for Me Wednesday

I am getting all adventurous in the bloggy kingdom and am now going to attempt participating in a blog carnival of sorts called "Works for Me Wednesday". Shannon at Rocks in My Dryer hosts this weekly festival of helpful hints. Sometimes there is a theme and sometimes it's just a free-for-all of tips with everything from toilet training to remedies for stinky towels!

This week the theme is 5 ingredient or less recipes. So here goes:

Broccoli/Cauliflower Summer Salad
1 head of broccoli, cut into small flowerettes
1 head of cauliflower, cut into small flowerettes
2 tomatoes, chopped or 1 pint of cherry or grape tomatoes
1 cup of cheddar cheese, cut into small cubes
Ranch dressing (at least 1/2 cup)

Place all vegetables and cheese cubes into a large bowl, pour in 1/2 cup Ranch dressing and toss to coat. Depending on the size of your broccoli and cauliflower heads, you might need to add more dressing. The salad shouldn't be swimming in the dressing, just nicely coated. Chill salad in refrigerator for a couple hours before serving. Enjoy!

Shackles

Sometimes you just have to get your groove on
and this song does it for me every time: