Thursday, May 30, 2013

oh, the places you'll go....



Senior Dinner was awseome! Bittersweet, but awesome! We started out with a delicious turkey dinner, then moved on to speeches by the graduates, which were so touching. These five kids really love each other, and did such a great job writing about the person they picked.

Nathan had Marissa


Marissa had Brandon

Mariah had Nathan




Scott had Mariah

 Brandon had Scott

After their speeches we had dessert....


Then one of the teachers read "No More Oatmeal Kisses", followed by a slideshow of their baby, middle school, and senior pictures. sniff..sniff....

Next, the principal spoke to the graduates and presented them with gifts. A tool box, an engraved jump drive/key chain, a couple of books, and tons of gift cards! :O)


Afterwards, we took pictures of the grads and some family pictures...


and a few silly pictures....


The hallway was all about the graduates too....

some of the elementary kids made cute banners....

What a great night!! :O) So hard to believe my baby is all grown up!!

no more oatmeal kisses....

"No More Oatmeal Kisses" by Erma Bombeck....

A young mother writes: “I know you’ve written before about the empty-nest syndrome, that lonely period after the children are grown and gone. Right now I’m up to my eyeballs in laundry and muddy boots. The baby is teething; the boys are fighting. My husband just called and said to eat without him, and I fell off my diet. Lay it on me again, will you?”
OK. One of these days, you’ll shout, “Why don’t you kids grow up and act your age!” And they will. Or, “You guys get outside and find yourselves something to do . . . and don’t slam the door!” And they won’t.
You’ll straighten up the boys’ bedroom neat and tidy: bumper stickers discarded, bedspread tucked and smooth, toys displayed on the shelves. Hangers in the closet. Animals caged. And you’ll say out loud, “Now I want it to stay this way.” And it will.
You’ll prepare a perfect dinner with a salad that hasn’t been picked to death and a cake with no finger traces in the icing, and you’ll say, “Now, there’s a meal for company.” And you’ll eat it alone.
You’ll say, “I want complete privacy on the phone. No dancing around. No demolition crews. Silence! Do you hear?” And you’ll have it.
No more plastic tablecloths stained with spaghetti. No more bedspreads to protect the sofa from damp bottoms. No more gates to stumble over at the top of the basement steps. No more clothespins under the sofa. No more playpens to arrange a room around.
No more anxious nights under a vaporizer tent. No more sand on the sheets or Popeye movies in the bathroom. No more iron-on patches, rubber bands for ponytails, tight boots or wet knotted shoestrings.
Imagine. A lipstick with a point on it. No baby-sitter for New Year’s Eve. Washing only once a week. Seeing a steak that isn’t ground. Having your teeth cleaned without a baby on your lap.
No PTA meetings. No car pools. No blaring radios. No one washing her hair at 11 o’clock at night. Having your own roll of Scotch tape.
Think about it. No more Christmas presents out of toothpicks and library paste. No more sloppy oatmeal kisses. No more tooth fairy. No giggles in the dark. No knees to heal, no responsibility.
Only a voice crying, “Why don’t you grow up?” and the silence echoing, “I did.”

good things thursday....



- walking to work


- my new washer
I really loved my front-load washer, but decided on a top load this time, since my other one just didn't hold up. I really like this one too though, and a big plus, no more bending to load & unload!


-Trying to cut back on the Diet Coke {not a good thing}. Problem is my body {{NEEDS}} caffeine!! I cheated a little this morning and had a big mug of cappuccino.


-Senior Dinner tonight!
Part of the evening includes the graduates giving a speech about one of their classmates. The names are drawn randomly, so they are surprised when the speeches are read. This is another awesome thing about living in such a small community, it is very personal and ALL about the graduates!

that face......

Wednesday, May 29, 2013

Baked Ziti

I tried a new recipe yesterday {repinned from Andrea} for Baked Ziti. I was a little reluctant to try it because it had an ingredient that I wasn't sure I'd like:

I've been married for almost 30 years, and I don't recall ever buying ricotta cheese {or to my knowledge ever even eating it}. Now cheese is one of my favorite foods, I love any kind of cheese out there, except for cottage cheese, which I can't even look at. I've always thought that ricotta was too similar to cottage cheese, so I guess that's why I wouldn't give it a try. Long story short, I finally officially tried ricotta cheese in the ziti and I love it!!! Here is the recipe I used:

Three Cheese Baked Ziti

Ingredients

  • 1 container (15 oz.) ricotta cheese
  • 2 eggs, beaten
  • 1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese
  • 1 1/2 lbs. ziti pasta, cooked and drained
  • 1 jar (2 lb. 13 oz.) Ragu® Old World Style® Pasta Sauce (or your own homemade sauce)
  • 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese (about 4 oz.)

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 350°. Combine ricotta cheese, eggs and Parmesan cheese in large bowl; set aside.
  2. Thoroughly combine hot pasta with Pasta sauce in another large bowl.
  3. Spoon 1/2 of the pasta mixture into 13 x 9-inch baking dish; evenly top with cheese mixture, then remaining pasta mixture. Sprinkle with mozzarella cheese.
  4. Bake covered 30 minutes or until heated through. Remove cover and bake an additional 5 minutes.
I added a pound of browned hamburger w/diced onion to the sauce as well. It was delish!!

    Monday, May 27, 2013

    the countdown....

    It's getting very real.....


    Senior Dinner - Thursday May 30
    Baccalaureate Service- Sunday June 2
    Graduation Night - Thursday June 6

    Tuesday, May 21, 2013

    30 Day Blog Challenge: a favorite spot

    I went for a bike ride after dinner, and grabbed my camera on the way out. I was hoping to make a detour and stop by one of my favorite places. The bugs have been ridiculous the past few days, so I wasn't sure if I'd be able to stay or not. There was just enough breeze to keep them away, so I sat for awhile, enjoying a few minutes of quiet. :O)














    30 Day Blog Challenge: a favorite spot

    ~DWTS~


    I haven't really faithfully watched DWTS over the past few seasons, but this season's dancers have kept me tuning in every week! I started watching when I saw that Dorothy Hamill was dancing, but kept watching even after she had to leave the show. It's down to 4 finalists, all of which I love. I can honestly say, I won't be disappointed by the results tonight! I am rooting for Kellie, who did an amazing free-style last night, but Aly is so good too, and so is Zendaya, and Jacoby, well, he sure is entertaining!

    Prayers

    Prayers for Oklahoma

    Wednesday, May 15, 2013

    30 Day Blog Challenge: around the house.....


    Well, actually, outside the house.....

    I was determined to make the space outside of our backdoor a little prettier this summer! Our pet goose had taken over, resulting in a messy, ugly entrance. I also couldn't plant any flowers, since she ate everything in sight. While I had several grand ideas for making a pretty space, Peter wasn't on board for my backyard oasis plans. So, I made a list of things that were most important and went with that. The top two musts on my list were (1) flowers, flowers, flowers and (2) making a nice entrance from the back gate to the house. The fire pit would just have to wait.....{maybe next year!}.

    I knew I wanted to use some of the old bricks that were left at the b&b, and I knew I wanted to use marble chips. I reused the pavers I already had, and started there. {I am curious about staining concrete, and plan to look into this since all of my pavers aren't the same color.}
    First, I moved the grill.... 

    June 2012
    
    I rearranged the pavers....
    Here's how this section turned out....


    We came up with the short lattice fence idea as a barrier to keep the goose away. It runs the entire length of the walkway. Peter did a great job on this and actually loves how everything turned out. Hopefully, next year we'll work on expanding the area with a seating area {and a fire pit!}.



    Behind the house before:

    and after....


    This is definitely a start in the right direction......



    I've been bringing the fern inside and out, but didn't have a place to hang it outside, so Peter added a couple of wrought iron hooks to the bird feeder to hang plants on.


    and I planted lots & lots of bright colored flowers!!!

     
     
     


    I love my new pretty backyard space!

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