Fun in the Sun-Grace Community Church (June 26, 2010)

Hayden took this pic and managed to cut off Clayton's head, lol.

Our church hosted a huge free event back in June for the community called "Fun in the Sun". We had around 2500 people come out for the festivities. We doled out Chik-fil-A sandwiches (1000 were nicely donated from the Loveland store), sloppy joes, hot dogs (800 of which were buffalo), chips, cookies and drinks for free to anyone that was hungry. It was awesome! Besides the provided lunch, we also gave out snow cones and cotton candy to everyone that was willing to stand in line for them. Our church band (which is fabulous!) provided entertainment while the kiddos were allowed to play on a lot of different play structures and win prizes at games. It simply amazes me how we pulled off such an event for such a large crowd and we managed to do it all for free! God is good. :)

Look how big this dang slide is! The pic doesn't do it justice. It's kinda hard to tell. Look at the little kid going up the middle of it.

More FITS

Emerson

Pizza Night

Shrimp Scampi Pizza (recipe link)

Chicken Dijon Pizza (recipe link-I added tomatoes)

Cinnamon Dessert Pizza

We love pizza in our household and I especially love California Pizza Kitchen. We discovered this wonderful pizza chain back when we lived in Atlanta. Now I don't have a CPK near me but that's okay. I bought their cookbook a few years back and I am able to satisfy my cravings whenever I want to (well, I can always purchase the frozen ones from the grocery store too but I prefer to make my own).

A couple of nights ago, I watched a rerun of Alton Brown's "Good Eats" and he was talking about making good pizza crust. That piqued my interest enough to make 6 pizzas recently. I tried 1 crust on the grill and it was tasty but we preferred the ones from the oven. I precooked each crust before loading with toppings and I made them paper thin (all except the dessert pizza). The top two pizzas I made tonight were from the CPK cookbook and the bottom was my own creation. I used Pioneer Woman's cookbook recipe for the crusts and we loved it. The recipe was simple and had the best texture. I just rolled it out super thin and precooked it. Yum!

Happy 4th of July!!

We are heading out tomorrow morning for Cheyenne. Clayton's sister invited us up to celebrate the holiday. She hinted that I should bring some peanut butter chocolate cupcakes so I made them this evening. I wish I had red and white sprinkles to add to them but blue will have to do. We are teeing off at their local golf course around 1pm and then we will watch the fireworks from the fairgrounds from her back yard (she lives rather close to it). I hope you all have a wonderful holiday!!

BTW-My cousin Natalie gave birth to her daughter Savannah Grayce today. She was 7 pounds even and is doing well. Congrats to the Dailey family!!

Father's Day Weekend-Golfing

For Father's Day, we took CJ on a surprise weekend of fun. I scored an awesome deal on a hotel in Broomfield (The Rennaisance) and planned everything without his knowledge. We had a blast and now Clayton is requesting that we do more "staycations" (vacations that are local).

I found a great golf course in Westminster (Legacy Ridge) for Saturday morning. It was the nicest course that I have been on (so far) and I was a little nervous to tee off. I just knew that everyone would be watching but I did good. It was Clayton that blew his first shot, lol. The weather was perfect and we had a great time playing.

Father's Day Weekend-Swimming Pool

This photo cracks me up. It's late at night and yet here my boys are all decked out and ready for the pool. All my kids wanted to do all weekend was swim. I am so glad that they have swim lessons coming up because they would be in a pool all the time if it were up to them.

Hayden

CJ & Emerson

Hayden

Father's Day Weekend-Dave & Buster's

Saturday night was spent playing and goofing off at Dave & Buster's. We had no idea what to expect since we have never been in one (well, CJ and I tried to go to one in Atlanta but they wouldn't let me in because I wasn't 21 and it was 3 days until my 21st-mind you, we were there early in the day and lots of little kids were going in but I couldn't be chaperoned by Clayton unless he was over 25 and he was 22-UGH!). The kids loved it and so did we.

Oh.My.YUM!!

Last week I decided to try my hand at making homemade cupcakes with peanut butter icing. Let me tell you, they ROCKED!! I initially put them in the fridge so that the icing would be thicker but I realized later on that I preferred them at room temp.

I found the recipe for these cupcakes here: Buns in My Oven

Our Garden Boxes

This box is growing like crazy. I love it!! The lettuces on the left have already been harvested many times and the spinach on the right has been harvested twice. Everything else is just now taking off. I can't wait to harvest the cucumbers, onions, zucchini, tomatoes, peas, carrots, beans and broccoli. I also have lots of herbs in the second box that I have been using on occasion in the kitchen. Clayton bought me a huge tomato plant this past weekend that I plan to keep in a large planter on the patio. I had to have it because I want fresh tomatoes ASAP. My box plants are still small and I am a bit impatient, lol.

Besides the boxes, I also have strawberry and watermelon plants growing throughout our landscaping. Yum!

Flowering Broccoli from Our Garden

I had no idea that broccoli would flower like this because I am gardening dumb, lol. Doesn't it look cool? I wish I would have taken a pic with my big camera but this will have to do because I was too lazy to get it out. :P

Miss Kitty

Last Wednesday, my good friend Melissa took her family on a camping trip to NE so we got to kitty-sit while they were gone. I didn't tell the kids or Clayton until she was already here. They were all surprised to find a cat in the house that evening. She made life interesting and I believe that everyone really enjoyed having her. She was an absolute riot when she would play and I couldn't help but laugh at her all the time. It was great having her snuggle up to my legs when we went to bed. I miss her already. Even though we loved her, we still don't plan on adding a pet to our household. They are a lot of work and expensive too. I am a realist so I didn't get blinded by her cuteness (though it was hard not to!). Anyway, I hope that the Pattersons go on more camping trips this summer so we can kitty-sit again. ;)

Hayden's Contribution to Our Garden

Hayden handed me these sticks recently and told me that I could use them to mark the plants in my garden. It cracked me up because he went and copied all the ones I *already* have out there. How cute are these?! I love how he drew little illustrations with them.

Hayden's Field Day-5/20/10

Hayden was "it" during a game of 1-2-3 Octopus

Running hurdles

This photo is simply hilarious. Do you see the blooper? It was not intentional, I promise! He was playing with the bottom of his shirt by twirling it around his fingers. It sure looks like he was telling someone off though, huh?

Golfing in Worland, WY

Clayton (Did ya notice that he is a lefty?)

Me (Now I can see why I sucked that day. Notice the lazy bent arms? lol)

We headed out for Worland this past weekend to visit Clayton's Mom and her husband Jack. It was a long car ride but worth it. We went on Friday and returned last night. The weather stunk on Saturday so we lazed around and didn't do much that day. Sunday was beautiful so we went to the local golf course. I sucked all day long and couldn't hit the ball on many occasions (cut me slack though, it was only my 3rd outing) and Hayden did fabulously. He was knocking the ball all over the place. I wish I would have gotten a pic of him doing it but I will have to wait until next time.

We spent Sunday night sitting around a fire roasting marshmallows and that was so much fun. I wish it hadn't of gotten so cold but it was still awesome.

Emerson getting driving lessons from Grandma Christie

More Golf...

Emerson got a surprise shower when he went to fill up his water bottle, lol.

Hayden being goofy

Grandma Christie

Monkeying around on Grandma's cart

My Gardening Ventures

2 types of lettuce, a couple carrots and onions

One of my square foot gardening boxes

So far, my square foot gardens are doing wonderfully. I never have to weed and they are so easy to maintain. I have 2 boxes, 1 is shown above and the other contains mostly herbs with a few tomatoes, leeks, peas and zucchini plants. It is amazing how well everything is doing. I have already harvested the lettuces 3 times and have cut some of the herbs many times. My next harvest will include spinach. In addition to my boxes, I have 5 strawberry plants and 2 watermelons planted within our landscaping.

I will say though that I have babied these plants and seedlings. Unfortunately, we have had snow, wind and hail hit us but I have managed to keep them all healthy. You should see me run outside and cover them all whenever I see a storm coming. I am sure the neighbors think that it is hilarious. I have a million containers that I use to individually cover each and every plant. It takes forever to do but has shielded them from snow/hail damage.

Broccoli, chives and spinach

Peas