S o o o o busy. (Family, Vacation & Corn)

I love summer time, but do not like when I am so busy.  I know, I know ... you make yourself as busy as you want.  Sometimes.  Not always.

Being sick and down on the couch for a whole day is never in my schedule.  I guess with so much going on and day after day being so busy, it makes for a very tired mama.  I am not sure if it was an overload tired sickness or actually a touch of this strange flu that seems to be traveling from home to home?  We've been struggling with colds, really tired, and belly aches.  None of which is cool or fun, but slowing down our schedule is a huge help!

How do you slow down when family from out of state is around?  When it's our month to clean the church house every week?  My week to clean the shop?  A family cookout?  1,000 ears of corn to cook, husk, clean, and cut/cream?

Yes, you read that right!!!  Today we did 1,000 ears of corn!  Every year, my mom and sister/sister-in-law's, get together to do corn.  It's an all day chore.  In my eyes, store bought corn never justifies for home cooked corn.  That is one vegetable that is lots of work, but the taste is fabulous!  Between five of us, we divide all the corn into bags and freeze it.  It's a hard working day.  It's very tiring.  It's a great feeling knowing that it is all completed!  We can now enjoy good corn for the rest of the year!

We use electric knives to cut off the cooked corn from the cob.

 We mix the creamed corn with the cut corn and then bag it in small freezer bags.

We do everything outside.  My Grandma does a lot of the husking and cleaning.

 Here's my grandpa watching from the sidelines.  He would love to still help us, but because of his stroke a few years ago, he now just watches.

 Our little cutie ... making a visit with the puppy.

 My adorable niece, Shakia!

 Yes, when there's corn on the cob around ... she must enjoy one too!

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I am writing our weekend events backwards with this post, but that's OK. 

This past weekend we were with the Dienner Family Vacation!  This is another yearly event that we would never want to miss. 

The entire family is invited to a great, big cabin and we spent lots of time in the pool, roasting marsh mellows, playing "golf", catching tree frogs, and relaxing on our lawn chairs.

Thanks Mommy D. and Daudy D. for reserving this awesome cabin again!  You are very special!

I can't believe it ... I took so little pictures of our weekend, it's a shame.  But, here's Matthew getting ready to take a dive into the pool.

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And, because we have family around from out of state, I just had to add a photo of the two cousins eating candy and drinking huge glasses of soda.  (This is just a small reason why kids get so hyper!!!)

 

"Enjoy the warm summer days.  Don't be so busy!  Take a breath, a deep breath, of fresh air.  It's "REAL LIFE" when you enjoy your family and friends!"

Family Gathering ~

Last night, we had Mike's family over for supper.  Ben & Rosie (Mike's sister and family that live in Florida) and their boys are around for a few short weeks, so we had a family bash last night.  When out of state family comes around for a visit ... we hang out!!! 

The night was perfect for an outside picnic and grilling.  Mike made homemade hamburgers on the grill!  I just can't buy any hamburgers that are as good as homemade.  I love this recipe!!!  I use it every time we grill burgers!  I had to take my recipe X 5 and it made delicious burgers last night!

Homemade Hamburgers

1 lb. ground beef

1/4 cup Italian dressing

1 Tb. dry bread crumbs

1 Tb. Parmesan cheese

seasonings to taste

Along with the burgers, Mike grilled some hot dogs for the kids!  We boiled corn on the cob in water and ate it right off the cob!!!  That makes the best corn and EVERYONE loves it!  Roll each cob in butter and sprinkle with salt and enjoy!!!

I also made a tomato salad.  This is the third time I made it in the last two weeks and each time I was asked for the recipe.  I know it's completely awesome and very tasty, but since I am texting this recipe to my friends ... why not blog it for all to have!?!  I love sharing recipes because I love receiving good recipes myself! 

Start with mixing a Creamy Dill Dressing.

1/2 Cup Honey

1/4 Cup Sugar

3/4 Cup mayo

3/4 Cup Sour cream

1 Tb. dry mustard

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. celery seed

2 tsp. dill weed

3 tsp. white vinegar

1/2 tsp. pepper

Blend and slowly add 1 cup oil.  Put in a bowl cut tomatoes (I use my own grown cherry tomatoes!) and add cubed sharp cheese.  Sprinkle in chopped FRESH basil leaves.  (You can use dry basil but it just isn't as tasty!)  Pour your Creamy Dill Dressing over top! 

If you are not making a big amount, you may not need to use all the dressing.  Just mix till you have it as moist as you prefer.  Store the left over dressing in the fridge.  It makes a great dressing for other purposes to!  Add it to your sandwich wrap instead of mayo!  Yum!

We had peach tea, peach delight, fresh peaches and blueberries in a glaze, a blueberry angel food trifle and brownies!  It's peach season and we are loving it!  Hadassah is making lots of smoothies and eats peaches every morning with her pancakes!

All the seasonal fruits and foods are just amazing to taste!  It is well worth stopping at the small road side stands and buying the 'in season' foods!  Take advantage of it and buy fresh!!!



Finally ........

Finally ... I got the computer back!  I was still busy taking pictures of all the activities going on around the house, but not being able to post or download them to the computer was not fun!  I am again so grateful that I started blogging because ... I love it, I love it (Oh, I did say that!  :)  ), and because now that the older laptop just gave out ... I can't retrieve anything off of it.  It just died and all document and pictures that were stored are no longer able to be retrieved.  Never.  I am so glad I have all my recent pictures of the other laptop and all the older photo's are stored on another back up program.  So, the lost is not too big.  Just old documents of church info, but that can all be redone if necessary.  I am so glad also that most of my pictures are blogged and that makes it a double good reason to blog!  If it's posted ... it's never lost!

So, with all that said, there's been a lot going on around here!  We attended a wedding that was gorgeous and fun!  Matthew turned seven!  It's National Ice Cream Month!  It's watermelon season!  Plus much more!  Check it out ....

Everyone enjoying the watermelon season.  We have been checking on the watermelon plant Matthew planted earlier this summer.  It's growing big and its got lots of blooms on it.  Hopefully, in a few more weeks we will be enjoying our very own grown watermelon fruits!

 Brother and sister digging in ...

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Matthew requested pancakes with a candle for breakfast.  Add some mini chocolate chips for fun (not nutrition)!

Being shown how to shot his birthday gift ... Bebe gun!  With super supervision, we will try at all costs to keep it safe around here! 

Here's the baseball shaped birthday cake I made for Matthew! 

The red icing got a little runny, but he was impressed and pleased! 

 He also requested going to Red Robin for supper.

We ate good burgers and food at the restaurant and then came home for this dessert!

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Ashlyn is growing up fast and I can now comb her hair in two pig tail!  She looks absolutely adorable .... again!!!

Full of life.  Full of fun!  Full of words!  Full of laughter!

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It's National Ice Cream Month ... enjoy the wonderful flavors on these hot summer days!!!

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More birthday pics ... My mom sends all the grand kids a fruit boutique for their birthdays!  ALWAYS a highlight for them! 

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We are so thankful for our cool house but also are enjoying the pools in our area!  Somehow ... find a cool spot for you today!  Blessings .....

Turning 7!!!

Today is Matthews birthday! He turned seven years old. He was so looking forwards to this day and was counting down each night he was tucked into bed.

He was awake early, but because the rest of us were not so upbeat and wide awake at 7:00, he laid back down on the couch and slept till 8:30. Lena stopped over and gave Matthew a game set. Bad mitten, volleyball, etc. came all in a box. We have played a few games of bad mitten since. It brings back memories of my childhood. We used to love playing bad mitten.

Mike was excited to give Matthew his gift!!! A bebe gun ,,, pellet gun. It's got some power so he will be under strict supervision. Matthew was so excited and wanted to use it right away! With daddy's help, he took a few shots.

We all went to Red Robin to eat tonight. That was Matthews pick. He also requested a baseball cake for me to make,,, so once again I searched to find something creative and easy online. I had to tweack it just a bit because I did not have the "ball" pan,,, but the pampered chef mixing bowel worked good enough. I dabed it with buttercream icing and after the candles were lit, it did look pretty good! Tasted good too! While we ate cake and homemade ice cream, we took turns playing bad mitten. The lights in the gazebo were on, the tikie touches lit, and as the sun set, we were all in the back yard as a family! Good time! I love all our moments like these. We ended the birthday celebration with watching a kids movie.

"We love you so much Matthew! I am so blessed to have you as a son!"

Thanks to everyone that gave Matthew gifts and cards! The fresh fruit bouquet is always a hit from mommy, so thanks! He is looking forwards to using his build a bear gift card too! His eyes lit up when he seen a card in the mail for him too! Thanks Mommy D.! Thanks everyone!

(My regular computer is not here and is being cleaned out from viruses that seemed to be attacking it! So, for now, I can't post any pictures. Keep checking! Hopefully, soon! I am glad it's the computer and not the camera that's not working! Birthdays are fun to take pictures of!)

Congratulations Jenn & Les!!!

Tuesday was a big day for us ...

We got up bright and early!  Tuesday, was the day my cousin Jennifer got married to another one of my cousins Lester.  I know, I know ... that seems a bit strange but it's possible.  Jennifer is a cousin to me because her mom is my moms sister.  Lester is also a cousin to me because his mom is my dad's sister.  Confusing?  Not really.

Anyway, Jennifer was my flower girl in our wedding.  She thought it would be super cool if Hadassah could now be her flower girl.  (She told Hadassah that this should keep going!  :)  )  Hadassah couldn't wait!  Being a flower girl is a dream that every little girl dreams of!!!

Congratulations Jenn & Les!!!  Thanks for letting us be in the most special day of your lives!!!  XOXO!

Hadassah got her hair all done up so pretty!

Here's the brides family ... my Aunt and Uncle and family.

The pretty girls ...

Sierra was the minature bride.  She was adorable and so cute!!!

 Hadassah and Sierra stole the show!  Gorgeous!

Grandparents ...

Darling ...

Love this picture!  Hadassah was Jenn's flower girl!  So beautiful!

The whole bridal party ... well, the minautre groom and bride refused to pose!  Oh, well!

Daudy Riehl ...

Wedding details ...

Hadassah was the flower girl and program attendant!

Congratulations Les & Jenn!