Winding Down the Year

Hello!  

I know it's been awhile, life seems to have sped up the last few months and time has just gotten away from me. 

Here's a fast recap of the last few months!  

Just warning you now, more pictures than words.

Lauren started taking piano lessons.  

 We swam and ate a LOT of sno cones this summer.

 Lauren's cousin B had a fancy birthday party downtown for her 8th birthday at the Lion House. 

 Darcy turned one!  We threw her a very informal birthday party...

 complete with a doggy safe cake in the shape of a bone.

 Grew an awesome garden and our apple trees started producing!  YUM! 

 

Graham earned his Arrow of Light Cub Scout award, Greg earned his Wolf and more arrows than I can sew on a uniform. 

 These two ran a lot of miles in cross country - their team took home the 1st place all county trophy for the 2nd year in a row!

Poor girl was bit by a cat!  :(

 

 There were long, lazy summer days of lego building in the backyard

 

Dan and I celebrated our 12th anniversary at the Waldorf Astoria (postponed a week due to strep) but worth the wait! 

 

I crossed a big item off my bucket list when he took me to see Diana Krall in concert!

 Graham turned 11

 The boys started 3rd and 5th grade

 LuLu started Kindergarten

 Greg danced to Thriller with his 3rd grade class

 For Halloween I had a bride...

 Percy Jackson

 and Batman take over the house.  

We started some other MAJOR things around here but it deserves it's own 209 posts!

Happy Fourth of July!

I LOVE the Fourth of July!  

It's is one of my most favorite holidays.  I have very happy memories growing up of pool parties, BBQ's and being with my family and friends.  Usually my parents would be working on some big project around the house and the radio would be on KRTH playing the Firecracker 400 countdown.

{Image from Country Living}

Have you ever mixed grape juice with lemonade before? 

 That was a treat we drank at our friends home every year and OH it is GOOD on a hot summer day after swimming!

I am sad that this year will be really low key.   Usually we try to make it up to Midway, but we have all had strep throat again one after another and I am just not up to putting on a party.  I"ll just have to make up for it next year, right!?  Meanwhile I am using Lysol like crazy and cleaning the house!

I hope you have a wonderful and safe holiday!  I am so proud to be an American and live in this beautiful country of ours! 

 GOD BLESS AMERICA!!

I'll leave you with a favorite summer dessert - S'mores Bars!  Easy to take along to any party, they are best if you make them the night before or early in the day before serving.  I cut them into smaller pieces since they are delish, but very rich!

Ingredients

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 cups graham cracker crumbs
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1 1/2 cups packed light brown sugar
• 2 large eggs, beaten 
• 2 cups marshmallow topping (such as Marshmallow Fluff)
• 2 cups milk-chocolate chips (I use 3/4 bag milk chocolate and 1 cup semi sweet) 

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 350ºF. Line a 9-by-13-inch baking pan with foil, leaving a 2-inch overhang on 2 sides. Mist foil with cooking spray.
2.  In a bowl, combine flour, graham cracker crumbs, baking powder and salt; mix well. In a large bowl, using an electric mixer on medium speed, beat butter and sugar until light, about 2 minutes. Beat in eggs until well combined. Reduce mixer speed to low and slowly beat flour mixture into butter mixture. Divide dough in half. Press half of dough into pan until dough is uniform and flat. Spread with marshmallow topping and sprinkle chocolate chips on top. Scatter remaining dough over in clumps. Don't worry about covering the top; marshmallow and chocolate chips should peek through.
3.  Bake until golden brown, 30 to 35 minutes. Place pan on a wire rack to cool completely. Remove from pan, peel off foil and cut into bars.

{Linking up to Honey We're Home}

Wasting Summer!

I have been in bed for the past 5 days - I have been knocked down hard with strep throat.  

 (This is what I look like when I'm sick....)

Like - so sick I contemplated lying down on the FLOOR of the InstaCare waiting room.  

I swear if I find out who gave this to me they are getting a big pile of garbage on their porch.  My poor kids have had the worst week of summer ever with me being out for the count.  

Thankfully my cute mom has helped a ton and Dan was able to work from home one day to help out. 

So the boys got to go see Cars 2 last night without me (sad, it looked so cute and we all love the first one) and today Lauren is out shopping with grandma while the boys go hang out with Dan and my dad downtown.

Grumble grumble. 

I've been converted to trash tv out of boredom and I am now a fan of Dog the Bounty Hunter and I'm watching Teen Mom in complete shock.  I've decided that my children will now be offered a full ride scholarship to any college of their choice if they can refrain from producing grandchildren before they obtain a degree.

Seriously.

Summer Plans with the Kids!

Dan and I sat down with Graham, Greg and LuLu on Sunday and asked them what they wanted to do this summer.  

It feels as if we wait all year for summer to come, and then once it gets here, there are days full of "What should we do?"

These three are growing up right before my eyes (stop stop STOP!)  

I want to take every advantage of lazy summer days that slip by in the same way.  

TOO fast! 

Nothing fancy on the list..but I'm excited for a summer full of fun!

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