BBQ Pizza!

We made the BBQ Pizza on Wednesday night. I had it on my Menu Plan Monday to try out this week. It was so easy and I have to say it was probably the best pizza I have ever eaten! The pizza crust was good and so was the sauce and both were quick and easy. We did learn a few things not to do and next time will probably be even better. We started with only two crusts on the BBQ to start. My DH closed the lid and we were going to wait the ten minutes like the video said. Well, the mistake we made was putting the crust right over the hot colds. When he opened the lid just a couple minutes later it was starting to burn! So we moved them to the side and put the toppings on. The next two we placed to the side of the coals.

We added the toppings and then shut the lid for a few more minutes. We kept checking on the progress so we wouldn't have the same problem. It probably only took about eight minutes for them to be done.

This is before the cheese got nice and melted. They looked really good when we were taking them off the grill. And when we ate them they were oh so good!

And the DH of course got to have a cold one while he was doing the hard work of BBQing!

So here are some things that we will do differently next time:

1. Watch the coals so that they are not real hot and don't put crust right over them.

2. I will probably not roll the dough out as thinly as I did.

3. I did add extra herbs to the sauce to give more flavor. I added dried basil, garlic, onion and a little bit of sugar.

4. We will try different toppings and let the kids decided what to put on their own pizza!

If you have never done this before, you gotta try it. I would say from start (making the dough) to finish (eating at the table) only took about 40 minutes. That's only about ten minutes longer than Domino's Pizza guarantees delivery and this was so much better! Give it a try and let me know how you liked it!

Wordless Wednesday

Before .....

After!

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Swimming Fun

When we finished with the lovely piano recital, we were treated to an afternoon swim! The kids were so excited to be able to go swimming with their cousins. Even though my children are not good swimmers, they both need swim lessons, they could not wait to get out to the pool. With so many people in the pool to help them, they had a wonderful afternoon in the pool. Cousin T takes my little one out into the deep end, and she wasn't even scared. She loved all the attention from her big cousin! Since Cousin T is on the girls water polo team, she has really become a strong swimmer and a great goalie.

Hey mister, I got a camera in my hand! You're not suppose to be squirting me with water! Start practicing your back stroke! Leave it to the boy to want to play with the squirt gun.

Here is cousin Kae, taking it easy! All the stress and nervousness from the recital are long forgotten now.

And her little sister Jae who has turned into a fish. This girl can swim! I think she swam the entire time we were out in the back yard. She was diving for things and swimming here there and everywhere!

I can't believe how much Cee looks like my oldest niece in this picture; but she also looks a lot like her dad in this picture too.

We had a great time swimming, eating and hanging out with family. It was such a nice and relaxing day. I am so glad that we were able to spend it together.

Menu Plan Monday

Last week went really well, except for the day I forgot to plug in the crockpot! We stuck to the plan, except moved days around a little bit. We were also given some tamales so the orange chicken got pushed into this week. The crock pot chicken from last week was really easy and good!

Monday: Pulled Pork sandwiches, mac-n-cheese, and broccoli

Tuesday: Left over Pulled pork and salad

Wednesday: Homemade grilled pizza with homemade pizza sauce and salad. They have a video on allrecipe.com under budget cooking on how to bbq your pizza. We are going to give it a try!

Thursday: Crockpot Hash Brown casserole with ham and vegetables added.

Friday: Leftovers (leaving Saturday for a week of camping!)

Since this is late, I got to say the Pulled pork was really good! There is a lot left so I am going to freeze some for after vacation! I can't wait to report on the grilled pizza!
For more Menu plan Mondays, check out http://orgjunkie.com/

Letters to Heaven

I was driving home this evening with just my son in the car. He was asking me important questions, like "What is worse Mommy, lava or evil people?" I then had to explain all the benefits of lava; it can create islands, change the environment, the landscape and anything else I could make up that didn't sound made up. Next it was explaining that evil is evil and that nothing good ever comes out of evil.

After a few minutes he says, "Mommy I have a very important question I want to ask you."
I told him he could ask me anything he wanted to. He said, "Can we write letters to heaven and mail them?" I told him that our prayers are like letters to heaven and that anytime we said a prayer it was like sending a letter to heaven. "Oh" he said. I asked him who he wanted to send a letter to. "I want to send a letter to Chelsea to tell her that I miss her." he said. Yeah, I really miss her too!

A Story Worth Telling

Irena Sendler 1910 to 2007

I discovered today who this sweet little old lady was. She was a heroine. We should all know who this woman was. She was small in stature but large in courage and love. She is Irena Sendler, a Catholic social worker from Poland, who saved 2,500 children from the ghettos of Warsaw during the holocaust. She was nominated for a Peace Prize, but she lost to Al Gore, who made a slide show.

Irena was able to get herself placed in a welfare office inside the Warsaw ghetto. She then convinced the Jewish parents and grandparents to give their children to her, so she could smuggle them out, and save their lives. She then hid them in convents, gave them to people in the country who cared for them as if they were their own, or others who could keep them hidden. She then smuggled them out of the ghetto in gunny sacks, coffins, tool boxes, under the floor boards of the sanitation truck or any other way she could get them past the guards. She trained her dog to bark anytime a guard came near, so the children's cries would not be heard.

She promised that when the war ended that these children would be returned to their families. So she wrote their names down and also their aliases on cigarette paper. She buried the jar under an apple tree so that they would be safe. There were 2500 names in that jar. After the war, she dug up the jar and tried to match the children with any of their family that was still alive.

This woman had been captured during the war and beaten severely. Her legs and feet were broken. She was sentenced to die. A guard was convinced to let Irena go. She was dumped in the woods on her way to her execution. After the war, she was able to dig up the jar and try to reunite the children with their families, if any had survived; at the time over 5,000 people were dying every month in the ghetto. Most of the families were killed by the Nazi or starved in the ghetto.

Her story has been discovered by a group of high school students who wrote a play called "A Life in a Jar." They won a history contest in their home state of Kansas with their story. They traveled to Poland to meet this woman and their lives were forever changed. Years have passed, but they continue to do the play even though they have all graduated, are working and married. Her story is so important to them that they want to continue to tell it.

What a contrast between her and Al Gore. Irena saved the lives of 2500 children! She risked her life and her families in trying to save strangers. She put aside race and religion and saw the human faces of children and she did what she could. Her efforts saved so many. Al Gore on the other hand made a video slide show and made lots of money doing it. How did the selection committee get this so wrong?

Sweet Music

Last Sunday we were treated to a piano recital by my two nieces. We were invited to attend their afternoon recital at a piano showroom. They got to play their recital pieces on a beautiful Steinway Baby Grand piano. They both did a marvelous job and looked great doing it. It was a treat to hear their sweet music!

It is so hard to believe how fast these two little girls have turned into such accomplished young ladies! I do believe that Mr. Darcy would agree that the term accomplished would pertain to these two beautiful young ladies. They are as talented as they are beautiful.

Cooking

It doesn't do you any good to make a special trip home to put dinner in the crock pot so that your family can eat at a decent time because you have to work late, if you don't plug in the crock pot when you leave! Luckily my DH was able to cook it on the stove and it still tasted good!

Wordless Wednesday - Patriotic Cuties

Mr. All American

Miss Independence

Happy WW! For more WW check out 5minutesformom.

Menu Plan Monday

This is my first Menu Plan Monday and I am excited to join in. Since everything is getting so expensive, I am really trying to cut back on eating out. I was surprised how much easier it was when I knew what I was going to have last week, so I have decided to make it a priority for the next couple of weeks to try this. We'll see!

Monday: Sausage, Onions and Bell Pepper rolls, corn on the cob, and cobbler.( 5 Italian spicy sausages, one vidalia onion, one bellpepper and jar of spaghetti sauce all dumped into the crockpot. Cook on low all day. Put on rolls and cheese. I got this receipe on this Works for Me Wednesday edition by I do not remember from whom it came.)

Tuesday: Mustgo (everything in the refrigerator Must Go!)

Wednesday: Pork roast, potatoes and carrots, salad and pie. (All thrown in the crock pot on low for all day.)

Thursday: Pork and cheese burritos, refried beans and spanish rice.

Friday: Crockpot chicken, corn on the cob and salad.

Saturday: Pizza with coupons!

Sunday: Orange chicken, rice and steamed broccoli and dessert.

We are blessed to have a field of sweet corn on my father's ranch so it is a staple for dinner! For more menu plans check out http://www.orgjunkie.com/.

Thinking Cool Thoughts

Oh to be at the beach and enjoying fogging coolness! We hardly ever saw the sun last weekend, I wish we could say that now. At least it has cooled down from a 112 and is only in the upper 90s to low 100s this weekend. It is suppose to be up in the 100s again next week. How much longer until fall gets here?

The Panda Lesson

The kids and I went and saw Kung Fu Panda this afternoon. This is the first movie I have taken them to since Cars. As you can see, we don't get to the movies very often. They had gotten movie gift certificates for Christmas from their babysitter and we just haven't been able to find a time to go. I had wanted to see Horton Hears a Who, and then my son wanted to see Speed Racer and then it was Prince Caspian. Each time they were gone before we could get to the theater. So since we have been enduring record breaking heat here, we made it a point to get to the movies this afternoon.

The kids really enjoyed it. My son stayed interested the whole time and my daughter only got tired towards the end because it was nap time. The last time she was still to young and it was not much fun for me. I am glad they are both at the point where we can start going and enjoying the movies more often.

I enjoyed the movie very much. I really liked when the wise old turtle told Po, "Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery. Today is a gift, that is why it is called the present." This is probably not a new quote but I loved it. I also loved that the hero was an overweight Panda who didn't know what his strength was. When he discovered it, he became the hero.

There is a great lesson in this for me. I need to stop thinking about yesterday and worrying about tomorrow. I always beat myself up when I mess up on my diet and I doom myself by thinking that I can never change it. I start thinking that it will take me forever to get to my goal and I just give up. I need to start seeing today for the gift that it is and to stay focused only on the present. If I can do this, then I too will see my strength and can be in charge of my life and my weight. It has helped me this past week or so to look at my eating on the spiritual side as well. It has taken awhile, but I am starting to see God's hand helping me with my struggle for control over my food and weight issues.

Who's the Boss?

Just in case you think that poor little thing was either too tired or hungry, think again! Here are a few pictures taken just before and just after the other one. She was perfectly happy to have her picture taken, as long as it was doing what SHE wanted to do. The other way was her brother's idea and she was not interested! If it isn't her idea, then it won't happen!

This last one has my hand in it, but it shows how happy she was having her picture taken when she was controlling the photographer! Oh Lord, help us all!

Updating

On Saturday while we were at the beach, my son asked if I wanted to take a picture of them, "Like the one on your blog, Mommy." I told him I thought that was a great idea. I thought it would be nice to have a current picture of them playing around on the beach. Well two of us thought it was a great idea. Can you tell who didn't want to play?

So much for updating the blog photo!

The evening of the 4th

The fourth of July at the coast was turning out to be one of the best ones that I can remember. It was packed full of fun and different activities that we had not experienced before. In fact, it was the first time that my children had ever been to a parade! We got to enjoy the beach and sand sculptures and lots of fun activities.
After the parade we went back to the campground so the kids could take naps. We got all rested up then went for a bike ride and out to the beach again. We then had a great dinner of barbecued hamburgers, potato salad, corn on the cob and of course homemade peach cobbler and homemade peach ice cream! It was an all American dinner. I just couldn't wait for the fireworks!
We headed out about 8:00pm to go find a great spot to watch them light the fireworks off from the pier. By the time we got back Cayucus, there was absolutely no parking to be found anywhere! We had to head up the highway and park on the side of Highway 1! When it finally got dark, the fog had begun to roll in and this is all we saw:
And then there was this lovely shot!

We could hear the rocket go up in the air, but it would explode in the fog and you could not see a thing. The only ones we saw were the regular ones. We finally packed it in and went back to the campground. There we could see all the fireworks being lit from the beach and the kids got to light some sparklers.

They had a good time until my daughter got a spark up her sleeve and didn't want anything to do with those sparklers!

My son made the best display of lights. His Grandmother had bought them glow sticks and he decided he wanted to be a glow angel. He had a halo, necklace and sleeves! What a great imagination.

When it comes to watching the fireworks, nothing beats my father's front yard. He has the best view of the Rotary Firework show. I really missed him and the rest of my family when we could not see the fireworks show!

Here are just a few more of my favorite pictures from the day.

My son loves his cobbler and ice cream!

Enjoying her bike and a little independence!

Check out that grill and those shorts!

A close up of the cobbler and ice cream. Since it was a National Holiday, this was the first Sweet I had all week. It really made it taste even better!

My son taking a self portrait.

And of course, a picture of my daughter. I love how the beach air made her hair even curlier.

Sand Sculptures

One of the activities for the 4th of July was a sand sculpture contest. There was a section for children under 12 and a section for adults. Everybody was working hard when we got there to get completed for the judging. The judging started when the parade was over. There were lots of people creating many different types of sand sculptures. There were vehicles, dragons, animals and other fun things. Here are just a couple of my favorite ones.

The kids had brought there sand buckets, shovels and trowels. They wanted to get in and compete too! We will have to think about it for next year.

A cool alligator with seaweed skin and shell teeth.

A really cool dragon! This guy knew how to build sand sculptures. The skin had really cool texture. It looked like it could get up at any time.

He only needed a smile on his face!

A really good castle! The turrets had shells and the dungeon and outer walls had great texture to them.

A mermaid that was being taken away by an octopus. Her body had lots of shells on them and her fins had shells standing up on them.

This was probably my favorite, other than the dragon. It was a sea otter family. There faces were very sweet looking and they put in seaweed and a rock jetty.

We did not make it back down after the parade, so we don't know who won. I think it was the seals or the dragon. Sponge Bob, the Simpson Family suntanning, and old Woody station wagon, a Hoppy 4th frog and many others all had chances. All of them fascinated the kids and inspired them to want to build sculptures at the beach.

Happy 4th of July

We have headed to the Central Coast to enjoy the 4th of July weekend. This is the first time that I have been at the coast for the 4th, but it is a tradition of my husband's family. We went down to an old fashioned small town 4th of July Parade this morning and had a great time!

This was an old time parade with people throwing candy, beach balls and having a good time. There was a lady that walked up and down the street blowing big bubbles! There was lots of vendors and fun things for the kids. We had a great time and the kids are now napping for this evening! I can't wait for what is next!

Choice?

I was listening to Catholic Radio today and heard something that has made me think all day. It was a clip from a speech given by Father Frank Pavone at the funeral mass of several aborted babies that had been found in the trash behind the clinic. What got me thinking is a comment about it really being a choice. Do these women really feel that this is their choice or is it that they feel that they have no choice? I think it is that they have no choice because they are pressured by boyfriends, friends, afraid of what their parents might say or do and many other lies that society tries to convince them of. I really don't believe that the majority of women and young girls are there because they feel that this is the best "Choice". Instead they are convinced that this is their only "Choice". If only they could get beyond the moment of fear and worry. If only they knew that there are lots of people who would be there for them, if they knew this was their choice.

It makes me think about people who are contemplating suicide. They too must think that suicide is the only choice that they have to get out of their problem. If they could just get beyond that moment, a solution could be found. There is always someone who says after the tragedy, if I only knew I would have helped them.

Is God sending me blog posts (Gluttony!) and messages on the radio to speak to my heart. Is he trying to tell me something? Am I going to be open to what he has to say? Oh, Lord I pray that I can be open to your will, in all areas of my life.

**When I sat down to blog tonight, I was going to post about our upcoming 4th of July trip. Who Knew!

My Son the Photographer

We went to our nephew's graduation party a couple of weekends ago. I took my camera with me as usual. I was sitting around the table talking to family, when I noticed my son with the camera. He had it in one had while he was holding on to the pole of the gazebo. He was swinging around the pole and taking pictures of the ground while he did it! He thought it was cool to see how the bricks got blurry in the pictures! He had taken about 101 pictures, and this is not an exaggeration! Like I have said before, Thank God for digital!

When I got home and downloaded the pictures from the party, I was impressed by some of my son's pictures. For a five year old, he had done a pretty good job. He had pictures of family and of his Aunt's yard. Some were a little abstract, but all in all I thought he had some interesting pictures. A good photographer says that out of a hundred or so pictures, there is usually only a couple that are good. I think that was what my son was going for.

Here are a few that I thought were pretty good:

His sister eating apples.

The garden path in the back yard.

A little chair and table that are tucked away under a tree.

One of the potted plants in the yard.

The fish pond.

Some flowers with the iron butterfly and lady bug hangers.

The graduate and one of his buddies hanging out by the barbecue.

His sister again, the little sucker!