Birthday Weekend

Loving, little hands helped me with Daddy's birthday cake. It didn't turn out perfect, but I'm convinced it was sweeter than usual birthday cakes. We had a special day on Sunday also - going to Grandma & Grandpa's for mtg. Dinner with them was especially yummy since Grandma served her rolls with homemade strawberry jam. I couldn't believe how fast Benjamin ate up that roll!

Happy Birthday to Russell!

Birthdays are fun! It's a great excuse to eat cake and have friends over. These pictures were taken last weekend at a restaurant on the lake. We enjoyed watching the boat activity & the great setting. We are looking forward to having friends over tonight for brisket, the fixin's & cake. Happy Birthday to you Daddy! Benjamin is so excited to get to celebrate a birthday. You are the best!!!!

Thank you, Hurricane Dolly!

Because of you, we had some good rain showers this afternoon. You brought cooler weather & tonight we enjoyed a baseball game (watching the triple A home team make 4 home runs!) with the temperature in the 70s. Too bad I left my camera at home. We had a great time.

In the top 10!

Our local newspaper informed us that Round Rock recently earned the No. 7 spot on Money magazine's list of America's Best Places to Live! Now the secret is out...we've got good jobs, a healthy local economy, affordable housing, great schools, good medical care, a diversity of leisure options, and more. I think we'll stay here a while. Check out the top ten.

Speaking of Round Rock, Benjamin has been asking me this week - "I want to go see Round Rock." It is hard to explain to the little fellow that we ARE in Round Rock.

Finished Projects

Here are a few of my finished summer projects.

Instructions for the blocks: Pick the size, font, color of your letters from Uppercase Living, cut blocks to fit the letters, paint, once dried apply letters to blocks & enjoy! Not too bad, huh?

Quote for the Day

Mom shared this with me not too long ago. I love it...

The happiest people don't necessarily have the best of everything;
They just make the most of everything.

author unknown

Asian Chicken Salad

This is a recipe worth trying!
Salad: Mix together chopped napa cabbage, purple cabbage, sprouts, bell peppers, green onions, cilantro, spinach. Add cooked linguine noodles (I used whole wheat noodles) & cooked chicken (we grilled Lime & Cilantro marinated chicken from HEB)

For the dressing, mix together:
8 tbsp olive oil
juice from 1 lime
8 tbsp soy sauce
2-3 tbsp sesame oil
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
2 garlic cloves
3 tbsp fresh ginger

Pour dressing over salad & mix. Enjoy!
It's a great summer recipe for any occasion.

Pretzel Time

One of our fun projects this week was making pretzels. Here is an easy recipe.

Prep:
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
Line a cookie sheet with foil & spray with vegetable oil.

1. Sprinkle a package of yeast onto 3/4 cup of warm water. Add a tablespoon of sugar & stir. Let stand until mixture foams.
2. Put 2 cups of flour and 1/2 tsp salt into a bowl. Add the yeast mixture and stir.
3. Sprinkle flour on the counter and knead the dough until it's smooth.
4. Roll pieces of dough into ropes and make fun shapes.
5. Beat an egg with a fork.
6. Brush pretels with the egg & sprinkle with coarse salt.
7. Bake for 15 minutes or until light brown. Enjoy!

High Five Highlights; November 2007.

Happy 4th Weekend

Our 4th of July weekend included a company picnic near Horseshoe Bay, golfing, swimming, & fireworks over the water. Benjamin loved every minute of it. He'll tell you that he got a "hole in one"! He'd find the hole on the putt putt course, run down to get close to the hole, set his ball down, & hit it into the hole! What great eye hand coordination he's getting. He slept in his big bed for the first time last night & did fabulous. Yes, we have been lazy along those lines. It is so easy to put him in his crib & let him sleep there. However he is ready for the transition. He thinks he's such a big boy now. I just discovered this week that he can also sing his ABCs! It's so exciting to watch him learn, but I'm very aware he is growing up too fast.

Benjamin's patriotic donut

Getting started on the beautiful course Company picnic at the owners' waterfront property near Horseshoe Bay

Getting ready for fireworks on the lawn by the lake

Our little break...

We had a few days of R&R last week. Even though Benjamin was not old enough to go horseback riding on a real horse, he found great delight in sitting on this horse in the hotel. We all loved swimming, riding tubes down the lazy river & hiking around. It was a much needed break. We don't often get to end the day with fresh smores. Yum!