Scrapbook Layout: Remember When

"Remember When..." is all from our wonderful visit at the end of last summer from my sister Julie, her sons, and my mom.  There were lots of fun moments with different combinations of those people - James with the kids, the various pairs of cousins, Julie and I, my mom and Zack... I wanted to include pieces of all that so I printed a three-by-three grid of the little photos.

Do you have a way you love to print smaller photos?  My favorite is to use Picasa (a free program from Google) to make a collage and then print the collage at the photo shop.  There are lots of things I like about Picasa, but that is for another post!  In this case, I chose a "Grid" collage (where all the pictures are the same size), printed the photo as an 8x8" print at the Costco Photo, then cut the images apart to use in the same grid design.   

The layout itself is made from a kit made at Cheryl's fabulous scrapbook layout class!  Her classes are cool because you can leave with a finished layout ready to attach your 4x6 photos, or make all the pieces and then use them as a kit later.  Since I'm always doing something odd or adding tons of photos, the second option is really fun for me. 

Fill up the backseat with books and start driving!

We are just back from a trip to Arkansas - we decided to go on Monday, planned it on Tuesday and Wednesday, and left (a night early!) on Thursday evening for a week of checking out various sights. We were planning to leave on Friday when our Thursday evening plans were unexpectedly canceled James declared, "Let's leave tonight!" and promptly left for work. The boys spent the day crying, "I want to go on a trip, I want to go to hotel, I was to go to museuuuuuuuuum!" so I packed as best I could (I am LOUSY at packing!) and James got us on the road just a couple hours after he got off work.

We just went to Ft. Worth the first night. It would have been an easy drive except the highways were closed for roadwork at TWO different places on the way to the hotel. It was midnight and we were stuck stopped on the road with all the other late-night drivers even though the hotel was only two miles away. The boys were so excited to be going that I don't think they even slept.  On the bright side, they seemed to have learned to love road trips! 

I'm hoping to post some travel highlights over the next few days.

Fireworks Fun

How was your Fourth of July? We did the redneck thing and it turned out great. We drove to the mall parking lot and backed up to the hill overlooking the city (along with an entire mall parking lot's worth of other people). James put down a stack of blankets/foam pads to make the bed of the truck comfy and we had a picnic and fireworks viewing all from the back of the truck.  We didn't fully realize how late it actually gets dark, so we kept the kids out way too late but had a great time. 

Pick One

Apparently I have time to either have fun, or write about having fun, but not both. I need a break in the fun.

But who wants to stop having fun??

Busy Days

It's been a busy couple weeks for us.  Summer is starting off with a bang (and as a result I might be reduced to a whimper...)  Check out this crew out in the summer heat.  They did so well together.  More on this later, but in the meantime, wishing you happy summer days!

Big 'un

This boy is really growing. His sentence structure just changed overnight. He is so proud of doing things "self".

This was a silly, silly game - something like the summer fun version of a greased pig contest. The watermelons were coated in Vaseline and the kids took turns trying to pick them up and getting splashed when they fell back into the water. Sammy got ahold of the teensy personal watermelon, smaller than a cantaloupe, and wouldn't give it up. While the other kids were trying for the large ones, he put down the teensy one and picked it right back up again (lest anyone else get a try at it). Each success brought a big grin and an electric sparkle to his eyes. It never got old to him. I love that.

I tried and tried to get a picture of the magic moment. I wanted to capture those spark-filled eyes. Darn shutter lag.

That little apron was supposed to keep them dry (I guess).  Given that the front pockets are filling with water, can you guess how dry he stayed?  At least it kept him from being soaked through with Vaseline!

Water Fun

Zack chose a "popsicle fun" of putting on swimsuits and going outside to play in the water.  It was a good summery thing to do.  I think the popsicle thing is working to make me do some more involved random activities with the boys.  We haven't done very many yet but that's probably good too.

Zack spent a lot of time squirting water at Sammy and trying to get Sammy to squirt him back.  Sammy spent most of his time dumping out the water buckets and whining about being squirted.  I spent my time taking pictures when I might have been better off to referee between the two boys.  Ha, at least I have photos now!

Popsicle Fun

Remember the Summer Bingo card? I needed something for a "prize" so that it would be fun to get a Bingo.  I took another idea from Stacy Julian (who has her kids do "popsicle jobs" where they take a popsicle stick from the jar and do the job written on it) and changed it to work for us.

Since all the Summer Bingo items are things Zack can do on his own, I typed a list of fun activities that take my involvement and printed them.  They are things like:

• Cook something together 
• Put on swimsuits and play squirt guns outside 
• Play Connect 4 together 
• Make a card using Mom's stamps
• Build a Geotrax layout together

There are twenty-two of them, the last one being "Zack's choice".  I cut the printout into strips and stapled them to popsicle sticks.

To make it festive looking, we got out the craft paints and painted the sticks first (one stick for every bottle of craft paint in my stash - oh my!).  Zack helped, which was a bit of a mess but that's ok, right?  I figured it was a fun activity in itself.  We could have just written them on the sticks but I was enjoying using a bunch of new fun fonts I downloaded to make every line different.  I used colored staples too which looks cute.

When he gets a Bingo, he can pick a stick and we'll do it.  I'm hoping it'll be a good structure and balance between him doing things on his own and me stopping doing chores to really pay attention to him.  I hope it turns out fun! 

Camping at Pedernales Falls

We had a fun overnight camping trip to Pedernales Falls State Park this weekend. The kids were thrilled to sleep in a tent and spent the late evening hours when they were supposed to be sleeping whispering to each other.  I'm glad it was so cute because they were certainly missing out on sleep!  We planed it for only one night, which really makes planning a lot easier.  And, I feel less stressed about it because even if we forget something important or don't sleep well, it's easy to handle just one night of poor sleep.

In the area where I grew up, if we went camping it was to the nearby mountains.  We lived in the desert, so of course we wouldn't camp there - too hot!  We would go to the pines where we would need a sweatshirt at night in the middle of the summer and could sit around a campfire.  Here in central Texas, there just isn't any mountain we can get to for a quick trip.  It has always seems strange to me to camp in the heat, but spring and fall are short and rainy so we end up doing summer trips just to get our camping fix.  We're getting better at it.  The trick is to go somewhere where you can play in the water. 

At Pedernales Falls State Park, there is a pretty area where you can hike down and see the falls, but to swim you need to go to another area.  We found it was a surprisingly steep hike down, but really fun once we were down there.  There was a sandy, shallow area that worked for my little ones and deeper river area where older kids were swimming.  At only a 40 minute drive from Austin, it would be a great place to go with a picnic for a day trip of water playing even. 

Our campsite worked out well for us too.  Because my husband's parents were their with their camper, we were in an area with an electrical hookup.  James (bonus husband points right here) brought an extension cord and a small but powerful fan so that we had a fan in our tent!  With the fan, the temperature was perfectly pleasant for sleeping at night - even a teensy bit chilly by early morning.  If you're looking for a nearby spot, this is a good one!

Today's Lunch

A hot dog? Seriously. I've really been wanting one. This is a nice quality turkey dog, in case you are wondering, but it still counts for the summer hot dog fix.  I had to gourmet-it-up a bit.  Guacamole, romaine, mozzarella, cucumber, sprouts, tomato and mayonnaise: YUM! 

Why am I showing it to you?  It just seemed so pretty!  For a hot dog anyway.

Summer Bingo

After reading the great ideas I referenced in my last post, I thought I'd try a version of Summer Bingo. I made this a better fit for us by changing the activities to all things Zack can do on his own. That developed as I was writing it, so I think I need to fine-tune a little, but it's just printed out on printer paper and clipped onto a clipboard we already had. My thinking is that whenever Zack is stalking around wishing he had someone to play with or wondering what to do next, I'll tell him to go do something from his Bingo card. I think I'll get out a littl star stamp (or even just draw a star with marker) for each item he does. I am thinking we'lll get a new card each week or whenever we fill one up.

What about the Bingo prizes? I haven't decided yet. Maybe for every bingo he can do a fun game or activity with mom?

Thinking about Summer

The summer feels like it is stretching long ahead of us.  I am vaguely remembering that I was stressed about "what are we going to DO?" last year and then summer was over before I could even blink.  So, maybe I should be more intent on making the most of the time instead of just making it through.  Not sure if I can manage that, but a person can try, right?

Stacy Julian has some fun ideas:
   Summer Bingo - a bingo card with ideas of good stuff to do each day - points for accomplishing valuable things plus somewhere to direct them when we hear "what can I do, mom?"
   The Ticket to Summer - a list of ways to earn a ticket and ways to redeem your tickets, like special playtimes with friends, sleepovers, staying up late ... plus they translate to bonus money for school shopping.
  Summer Fun Clipboards - a big family board with handwritten squares of "big" fun things they want to do over the summer (jumpy place, water park, family reunion) and little clipboards with a daily list for each kid before they can play or go anywhere.

These are clearly written for older kids (she has 5 - the oldest is 17 and youngest is 4 - I think), but there is a lot that could work for us, especially for Zack at 5.

Summer cooking: Shrimp and Noodles

Have you tried rice noodles? My grocery carries them in the Asian foods section. They have a light springy texture - great for summer weather. The other reason they are great for summer cooking is that they "cook" just by softening in hot tapwater for ten minutes. Pair that with the quick cooking time for the shrimp (three minutes in a hot skillet), and this is a great, fast meal.

To make this, I sauteed a combination of veggies I had on hand - carrot, onion and red bell pepper - with garlic and ginger. During the last three minutes I added the shrimp, then pulled out the veggies and shrimp straight to the serving bowl on top of the noodles. I deglazed the pan with some stock (you could use water) and soy sauce and poured the liquid over the whole thing. Finally, I garnished with a thin slice of red pepper because it has that pretty flower look, and lots of fresh cilantro.

Zack loves taking the tails off his shrimp!

And now my friends, I am excitedly getting ready for my sister to arrive today, so if I am scarce in this space, you'll know why!

The Soup's On Ice

I'm back at the summer soups.

This one is a Minted Strawberry Watermelon Soup. It's sweet and chilly and oh-so-good! As you can imagine, the boys of the household approved.

Buttermilk Beet Soup

Now about that new soup!

Let me say first that reviews were mixed. It's a simple style of a summer borscht (unlike a winter borscht that is hot with chunks of beef). I liked it a lot. Zack initially declared that he loved it as much as the peachy-melon (very sweet) soup. But then, after James made a yucky face upon tasting it, Zack declared that he didn't like it after all. Now, I'm not certain the two were related, but... James later said it was good, it just was hard to process the beet flavor in a soup. He had a (very tiny) second helping, I think trying to be supportive. That's something, right? Zack didn't come back around, though he did finish his small initial serving (our policy is that he doesn't have to eat anything he doesn't want to, but that if he doesn't finish his food he's clearly too full for seconds or dessert. He loves dessert, so you understand how it goes).

Sammy was another story - Sammy loved the soup! He had four servings of it, after already having two crab cakes, some olives and an entire banana! He kept making his version of the sign for "more" (which looks a lot like clapping) until we cut him off and found him some more fruit. After all, I can't remember if he's ever had beets before, so how much should he really eat on first exposure! He liked it so much he was content to play with the spoon and bowl, trying to get just one more bite.

Maybe you'd like it too. It's definitely pretty!

Buttermilk-Beet Soup
2 cups buttermilk
5 small, cooked and peeled beets -or- 1 can beets, drained
1/2 t salt
1 t dill (or 1 T fresh dill) + extra for garnish
chopped cucumber for garnish

Puree buttermilk, beets, salt and dill with a few ice cubes. Serve chilled, topped with dill and cucumber.

And now back to summer cooking

Many warm thanks to those who celebrated my triathlon goings-on with me. Your positive comments, both here and in person or by email, mean so much.

And now back to the ongoing topic of summer cooking!

I'm not sure what makes salmon cakes summery, but they feel summery to me. They were last night's dinner along with salad and a new chilled soup. Although I know fine salmon cakes are usually made from fresh salmon, I tend to use it as a quick, pantry-friendly meal. So, I like to use canned salmon. I have found buying canned salmon has been a bit challenging. It's not all that quick and easy if you have to pick the bones and skins out. And taste! - if it's overly fishy tasting, I'm not interested! Eventually I found that Costco had a good quality version in their store brand that we really enjoyed. But then, after learning about the downsides of farmed salmon (didya' know it isn't healthy like wild is? and the color comes from dye they feed it? and that it escapes and endangers wild salmon populations?), I read the cans more carefully and couldn't find any that weren't farmed. I quit buying it for a while but recently I've found canned wild Alaskan salmon - again in the Costco brand. So, we're back in business!

This is a recipe that I modified to be more seasoned and avoid purchased stuffing mix, but you could substitute stuffing mix if you wanted:

Salmon Cakes
Makes 6 servings, 2 patties each

*4 slices bread, oven dried & chopped
*1/2 t onion powder
*1/2 t garlic powder
*1/2 t season salt
*1/2 t pepper
*3/4 c chicken stock
1/3 c mayo
2 cans salmon, drained
1 T lemon juice
1 clove garlic, minced
1 t dill (or 1 T fresh dill) (optional)
1 c shredded mozzarella

Mix all & refrigerate 10 min. Shape into patties 1/3 c each (can refrigerate up to 24 hours). Cook in hot non-stick skillet 3 min on each side.
*Substitute Stove-top stuffing mix and 3/4 c water for starred items if desired.

Ready to hear about that pretty pink soup? I'm ready to write about it, but I'm out of time for writing. More tomorrow!!

Summer cooking

Are you like me, feeling the need to revamp your cooking for summer?

I might need a new system. Well, not a system; that sounds very official. I don't really want to be that official. I just want some easy summer meals that don't require turning on the oven and can be pulled out of the hat on nights we want to spend our time at the neighborhood pool.

And, now that I'm dishwasher-less and need to expend some energy on deciding what to do about repairs, I'm even more motivated to keep it simple. But, I find that if I don't keep my cooking interesting, I dread it, and it turns into a chore. So, I'm looking for some simple but tasty recipes to become summer staples. I've got a stack of cookbooks checked out from the library and some lists started, but I bet I've got some dishes of my own that I had forgotten about!

I started by cooking up a bunch of chicken to use in tacos, pizzas, and oh yeah, soups. That's what's on the menu for tonight: Black bean soup with chicken.

Summer Shake-down

The week has flown by, and it's gotten me thinking of our Memorial Day activities - it was a day full of summer fun! We went to a great park (Old Settler's Park - this is the best link I could find and it's not great) in Round Rock, Tx near my hubby's parents and they set up a fun grill-out picnic for us and another family. Zack's uncle showed him his whole tackle box and several of us fished - one even caught something (but we threw it back).

It was a fun day, but full of little start of summer work-out-the-kinks moments. Zack stepped in the lake up to his calf with one foot. We said, well, change into your Crocs. He brought one Croc and left the other other on the stairs at home. Guess we're just lucky it was the correct foot, as he was seen playing on the nearby playscape like this!

Sammy kept acting like he might walk, though he didn't yet. He sure did like the grass between his toes, though.

(The chair tipped over immediately after this picture!)

We brought all our stuff to go to the attached aquatic center, an extra cool city pool with water slides and other great water play, but time got away from us and Sammy was much too tired. James' parents offered to take him to their house to nap while we swam, so we made all the arrangements for that and headed off to the waterpark. When we arrived, there was a line snaking around the parking lot of those waiting to get in. The pool was at capacity, so they would only let one person in when one person left. As we were discovering that the area in which we were most interested was closed for construction and deciding what to do, they had a "contamination incident" and shut down everything for "at least" half an hour. Yikes. We went to the grandparens' house to pick up Sammy, who wasn't asleep yet, and headed home.

It was a very fun day, despite the setbacks. But we did forget to put sunscreen on the tops of our feet! Isn't that just how it goes when you're trying to get your summer groove back?

Chilled Soup

Are you down with the chilled soups?

For a while now, soup has been a big standard in my diet. It definitely started when I was expecting Sammy, but it didn't end after he was born. The summer's arrival had me stymied about my lunches - I missed my soups, but who can eat hot soup after stepping in from the heat?

So now, I am trying some cold soups. So far, James is rather suspicious of the cold soup. I may have to reel him in with some sweet versions. Zack won't care if it's "cold" and "soup" - if it's sweet and fruity, I know he'll be interested!

Today's was chilled avocado cucumber soup. I was making it just for me, so I tried to make it spicy but it turned out mild. Still, it was delicious!