happy independence day!

Saturday morning was so much fun! MO and her Mama came over for our neighborhood parade and it was a blast!!  We decorated the wagon with all kinds of festive stuff and if you ask me, it was by far the cutest one there!

Guess who wanted to wear a bow in the parade?!?

I was SHOCKED!!!!!!

Sweet MO

Olivia liked decorating the wagon with stckers!

Look how excited they were for the parade!!!!

It's all about the details people!  I mean, who else had blue and white star chair backs?

The excitement is building...

I love these pictures of the girls faces as the parade cames towards us!  We didn't walk the entire way to the starting line...we just joined in when they made it to us!

Cutest firecrackers on the block!

 

Sadly, we got to the park and it started POURING rain!!  They had so many fun things set up too...snow cones, spin art, face painting, and games galore!  We headed home to have our snack in the kitchen instead of the rain.  Here are our two very wet parade queens when we got home.

They thought it was hysterical that they were soaking wet!  Two happy girls!

Snack time in the DRY kitchen.  Strawberries and blueberries with Cool Whip!

Addi loved the songs that Liz sang to her, including the Good Morning Song and Old McDonald!  Those are her chicken "wings" in the second picture!

 Cheers!

Liz made festive Rice Krispie Treats with sprinkles.  The girls thought they were YUM-O! 

Then Addi and Olivia watched Finding Nemo and acted crazy for about an hour and a half.  They are such funny little girls...especially when they're together!

 

 

 Even though it rained on our parade, we still had so much fun!!

Addi took two very long naps that afternoon and then we headed to the country club for dinner and firecracker fun!!  They had a DJ, snow cones, bouncy house and face painting!  Addi ran around all over the golf course and had a great time.  She may have rearranged a few of the tee boxes...hope that wasn't a problem for any golfers on Sunday!

 

She LOVED her glow necklace!

Hannah and Abby

Miss Chloe

Chloe loved watching Addi dance!

And the girls had a ball dancing together.  Look at Chloe's "tatoo!"

Miss Alex

 The looks like she's up to no good!

Here are Addi and MO line dancing, except they didn't know they were line dancing.  They were just running and jumping all over the place!

Action shot!

Pinwheels!

Letting the wind blow them! 

This is what happens when I try to get a picture with Addi.  Just for the record.

Family pic!  We haven't had one in a while! 

These pictures were so funny of the kids (and Ryan Clark)!

Addi didn't want to sit with me when the firecrackers started!  She wanted to sit with "MO's Mama".  I had to sit all by myself.  At least she liked them!!

Cookies and pinwheels before we left.

What a fun 4th of July celebration!  We had a wonderful Saturday, despite the rain!

Happy Independence Day!!

what's cookin'

Today I just have two very simple and yummy recipes to share! 

Enjoy!

California Chicken

Ingredients:
4 boneless chicken breast
3 c. frozen mixed vegetables
¼ c. pesto sauce
¼ c. water
½ c. shredded mozzarella cheese

Directions:
Cook chicken in a skillet on medium-high heat about 5 minutes on each side until brown. Add vegetables, pesto, and water. Bring to a boil, 6-8 minutes, until chicken is cooked through. Sprinkle cheese and cover. Let stand 5 minutes.

Summer Stir-Fry

Ingredients:
2 T. butter
2 T. olive oil
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 lb. shrimp
2 whole zucchini
2 ears of corn
½ c. grape tomatoes
Salt and pepper
Fresh herbs

Directions:
To prepare, peel and devein shrimp; remove tails. Slice zucchini on a slight diagonal, slice corn kernels off the cobs and slice tomatoes in half lengthwise. Heat 1 T. butter and 1 T. oil in large skillet over medium heat. Add garlic; when butter/oil is hot, add shrimp and cook for 3 minutes. Remove to a plate; do not clean skillet. Add the rest of the butter and oil and heat over medium heat. Add zucchini in a single layer and cook 1 minute, tossing once. Scoot zucchini to edges of pan and add corn to the middle. Cook for 1 minute. Add tomatoes, salt and pepper and toss around; add shrimp. Cook for an additional 30 seconds then remove from heat.

happy july 4th weekend!!

Happy July 4th Weekend!!!

Do you have big plans this weekend?  We do!

Here's a little sneek peek of our our day is going to start tomorrow...

Here's a little July 4th tid-bit for you: if you have mums growing in your garden, cut them to the ground tomorrow and they will be beautiful by fall!!  I know it's totally random, but I'm pretty all over the place!

dada time

This Dada loves his Addi-girl!!!

He also loves being a ham and posing for the camera!

The Addi-girl loves her Dada too!!

Playing in the front yard the other night, she wanted to sit right next to him on the brick wall but missed the wall and scraped her back!  Dada quickly scooped her up and loved on her with "Icey Bear"!

After about 2 seconds she was fine and decided she wanted to run around!

But she wanted to keep Icey Bear to play with, of course!

   

And she pretended that she hurt her hand and Icey Bear "fixed it". 

   

Next it was bubble time!

Two heads are better than one!

Speaking of Dada time, last Saturday morning Scott got up with Addi and let me sleep in (thanks, babe!).  Let me back up for a minute.  I bought Addi a potty chair about a month ago that looks like a frog. 

She thinks frogs are cute. 

She likes to say "ribbit". 

She HATES the potty chair. 

She crys when she sees it. 

She runs the other way.

SLOWLY...she has started to say "pody" and point at the frog. 

We make a big deal about it and praise her. 

She still won't touch the frog.

Last Saturday morning (while I'm still sleeping!) out of nowhere, Addi drags the frog potty chair (yes, she actually touched it!!!!) out of her bathroom into the living room and sits on it while she watches Mickey Mouse.

WHAT?!?!?!?!

This is HUGE people!!!!

Scott snapped some pictures for me because he knew I wouldn't believe him!

It hasn't happend since.

I have no idea.

i'm lovin' it!

Here's what I've been lovin' lately!

1. Martha

I have a love-hate relationship with Martha, but sometimes she really does have the best ideas!  Or should I say her magazines have the best ideas?!  This is a page from my Everyday Food Magazine this month. 

Genius!

So I decided to give it a try, patriotic style!  I froze some Cran-Raspberry Juice in my star ice trays...

and added it to my favorite beverage! 

Oh Say Can You See!!!

A vodka tonic with a splash of cran-raspberry...don't mind if I do!

2. My *Shey* [B] Camera Strap

I know I've never posted a picture of my camera, because how would I take the picture...ha! But I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE my camera strap from *Shey* [B]!! I've had it for over a year now and I can't tell you how much I love it!  It's great for so many reasons!  It has padding so it doesn't rub my neck and it's like a bag tag because no one will mistake my camera for theirs!  My friend Liz has the same camera that I do but she has a different strap so we never get our cameras mixed up.  And the best reason...it's so darn CUTE!!! 

You can get yours HERE!

This is the strap that I have...LOVE IT!

3. Addi's New Catch-All Basket

After Addi goes to sleep and the house is finally quiet, I usually pick up the rimnents of the day and the trails she's left throughout the house.  I would always stack everything on the dining room table and sometimes the stack would stay there for a day or two and multiply because in the morning rat-race I would forget to put it all away.  I was at Michael's a few weeks ago and randomly saw this basket misplaced on an isle with paints.  It hit me that it would be perfect for all of Addi's treasures that I find after she goes to bed. 

Viola!

Works like a charm!  And since it's right by her room, I remember to put everything away when I go in to get her out of bed in the mornings!

4. Orange Leaf

Do you have an Orange Leaf where you live?  If not, I'm sorry.  It's wonderful!  My favorite is coffee with caramel on top and chocolate sprinkles!!! It's yummy. 

5. OPI California Raspberry

I went with my friend Suzanne to get pedicures the other night and I chose this color randomly.  I LOVE it!  It's so summery and bright!  I must buy my own bottle and very soon!!

What have you been lovin' lately??