Wedding Mints

My mom and dad came in to our house today to help make wedding mints for my brother's wedding. I can't believe that in all the years that my grandma was making wedding mints for family members, I never once helped her. This was my first time making the mints, but it was much easier than I thought. They hardest part was getting the color the mints to match the wedding colors exactly. Even my dad joined in and helped mold mints. It was a fun afternoon! After we were all done with mints, we enjoyed a great steak bbq dinner, complete with homemade potato salad and coleslaw. The weather even held out for the kids to go outside to play with James and my dad. All in all, a good day!

Cake, Batter and Bowl blog

Are you a fan of Ultimate Recipe Showdown on The Food Network? If so, do you remember Kerstin from the desserts episode? She has her own foodie blog, and it's got some great things on it. Right now, she is hosting a contest to giveaway a Thomas Keller Ad Hoc Cookbook. Go to her blogCake, Batter and Bowl to enter her contest. And peruse some of her recipes - they sound amazing, especially her dessert sushi ones.

Sunday Shutterbugs - Kiss

Another week, another photo theme! This time at Sunday Shutterbugs, the theme is Kiss. And I couldn't resist this photo of Daniel and I exchanging Eskimo Kisses. It was taken in June 2009 by my sister.

White Water Rafting

I joined a group of 26 other women from my church today for a white water rafting trip down the Spokane River. It was about a 5 mile or so ride, and my very first experience on the river like that. We went with a an outfit called Peak 7 Adventures and I think they did a really good job. I didn't fall out of the raft at all, but I did lose my foot grip going through the Bowl & Picher rapids, and ended up face planting in the middle of our raft. Better than dumping into the river! But it was fun, and something I would probably do again.

Wacky Wednesday

Today was Wacky Wednesday at preschool, so the boys dressed in some really crazy stuff!



We also decided to go to the Central Y to try out their pool today. The kids had a blast! They have a really cool water feature for kids, and we pretty much had it to ourselves. There were two kids there when we first got there, but they left after about 20 minutes. So the kids had a blast zipping down the slide and splashing in all the water features. I should have taken pictures, but didn't. Oh well, next time!

Busy Day and Monkey Bars

We had a busy day today. We started off with running to the grocery store, because I was missing a key ingredient to a pie I needed for my MOMS Club meeting. Then we zoomed over to the meeting, took care of business, and then headed to the park. The kids desperately needed to play off some energy! I had all the fixings for lunch in the car, so we just had a picnic in the park. Ahhh, that's better!

James has been working with Daniel on going across the monkey bars. Today, before I could get my camera out of my bag, he started zooming right across! I managed to catch the last half of it.



After the park, I headed over to my friends house to drop off the kids for a couple of hours so I could get some errands done. What a nice sanity break! Ever since my grandma died in November, I haven't gotten those. She was always so good about coming over to the house a couple times a week to play with the kids so I could get things done. In more ways than one, we really miss her! I miss just talking to her, and the kids really miss having her around to play with. She left a giant hole when she died.

After running errands, I picked up the kids and we headed out to the Y for a kids Zumba class. That was a lot of fun! The kids danced around, sometimes doing what the instructor did. I finally felt comfortable doing Zumba! The kids lasted about 3 songs, and then I took them down to the kids drop and play area so I could sign up for a personal training appt. and chat with my friends. Then we left and met James at Shakey's Pizza for dinner. Our church was holding a fundraiser there, and since we had been so busy, it was nice not to have to cook that night. They have great pizza and a fun play area for the kids.

After tucking the kids into bed, I headed out to a friend's house to help her with a quilt project. It will be a challenge, but I think a fun one. We'll see!

So, that was our day - busy as ever! Whoever termed the phrase "stay-at-home mom" was crazy - we never stay at home!

Menu Plan Monday

It's been a long while since I've posted my Menu Plan. Here goes!

Monday - Leftover Love - everyone gets to pick what they want for dinner!
Tuesday - Tacos and Fresh Fruit
Wednesday - BBQ Steak, Bakers, Roasted Cauliflower
Thursday - BBQ Chicken, assorted salads & fruit
Friday - Daddy Dinner - Mac-n-Cheese & Chicken Patties while Mommy goes out with her Bunco friends!
Saturday - Parade Picnic - our annual town parade and yummy food!
Sunday - Lasagna for Home Bible Fellowship night

Check out more than 290 other weekly menu plans over at Organizing Junkie - lots of great ideas!

Jump for Joy!

Over at
Sunday Shutterbugs, the theme this week is "jump". I couldn't resist putting up this photo of Austin jumping at Gearhart Beach, Oregon. We took our first family vacation there last August. I got some really great photos of all the kids jumping, but this one by far was my favorite.

Scrapbook Supply Giveaway - woo hoo!

Another great giveaway! You've got to hurry on over to Desperate Army Housewife blog and check out the Blue Moon Scrapbooking American Crafts Giveaway. Lots of great goodies are up for grab. I'm crossing all my fingers and toes hoping to win!