{I declare!} + give-away

Even though it's two weeks until this....

How many of you are counting down the days for your kids to go back to school?  Part of me is, but part of me is going to miss the lazy days of not having to go anywhere if I don't want to!  Yep once again the taxi driver will be at work!  One in first grade, one in preschool (3, 1/2 days a week) and one who will soon be giving up naps. Can't forget the tae kwon do and probably music lessons for Sterling!

Yep I will miss my lazy days!

I declare it's still summer!!!!  And here's why....

1.) it's still HOT!
2.) I can make my favorite lemonade and it still tastes good!

You know hit the spot kind-of-good!

3.) The GRILL...need I say more?
Yeah, I could use our cast iron grill that we place over the gas burners on the stove top, but you know it's not the same.  For those of you who don't grill with charcoal you have NO idea what you're missing!  Yummy mesquite flavor on things, wood chip cooking...

Oh sorry, I guess I could say more.
4.) Simple summer dinners!

Don't worry I'm going to share with you my simple summer secrets to the list above!
I know you can't wait right?

1.) Pour the lemonade concentrate into a pretty, pretty pitcher.  Trust me it will make you feel better if your pitcher is pretty.  This one is one of my favorties that my mom got me a few years back.  My favorite lemonade is rasberry lemonade from the Shwan Man, but you could use your favorite.  If you felt real inspiring you could squeeze your own, but for real I don't have time for that!

2.) Add your water and place next to lemons and really cute bird house from Target!  (Yum yeah, it's my favorite store too!)

3.) Slice some lemon.  I like things thinly cut, but hey what ever floats your boat here you may do.  I don't think anyone can screw this up!!

4.) Toss your lemons into the pitcher!  Ahh, aren't they pretty?

5.) Pour it over ice in your favorite cup.  If it's your favorite cup you'll enjoy drinking it that much more.

Trust me!

Next up on this simple summer delight is the grill.  If anyone has had the chance to eat my grillin' man's food count yourself lucky!  Boy scouts + fire + cooking = a hubby that can cook in the summer!

1.) We have a charcoal starter.  Yep, even you girls could do this one!  Place charcoal in top part of container.  place newspaper or other paper item that can catch fire into the bottom part.  Light paper with match.  Super easy.  I usually start it before the grill man comes home from work.  It does take about 30-45 min before it's ready to be placed on the grill.  You will know that it's ready for the grill when it turns white.  There is something about heating the charcoal this way... it really does make it taste better.

2.) Place your desired food onto the grill for cooking.  Our favorite is chicken.  Pretty much seasoned with anything or marinated.  Doesn't matter, grill man makes it good! Asparagus is one or favorites too.  (shhh, even Ethan likes it!)

3.) Flipping the veggies.  Warning: this can be tricky, you might loose some between the grates!
We lost four....big sad face.

Doesn't that just look delicious?
4.) Eat!  BIG SMILEY FACE!
Dad approved.


The (small) giveaway!
Trust me I'd like to do bigger but it's coming out of my pocket, so you get what you get!

The person who can come the closest to the total amount that I spent on Ethan's school supplies in the 1st picture will win a $25 gift card to Target.  Would there be any other store!!   Do NOT include the backpack.  I did not buy that this year.
           The entry is for the total, not sub total.  All entries must be entered on the blog site, NOT facebook or twitter, and all entries must be entered by midnight Tuesday, Aug 2, 2011.  Winner will be announce on Wednesday, Aug. 3rd.  If you are the winner you will then need to supply your address so that I can send you your card.

Good luck!

{Up Up & Away}

At 4:00 on a Saturday afternoon two weeks ago it was HOT.  Oh yeah, it's STILL hot!!  For some reason we decided to go to the air show that Gardner airport was putting on.  It seemed like a good idea at the time, and it was fun, but it was soooo hot!!  We packed 6 bottles of water and lots of teether rings just to hold on our skin.

Yeah, I  think I would have rather been IN a fridge (like the teethers)!

Planes have fascinated me since I was little, so little I don't even remember.  In fact everyone thought I would grow up and do something with the sky, which I did want to be an astronaut or an aero space engineer!

Yeah about that....calc sucks!  Change of plans.

The air show that was going on was to honor those that had served.  So.... more than just your cesna's or your boeing planes were there.  It was WAR planes!  They even had the ONLY flying B-29!  I know it doesn't take much to excite this girl!  Oooo, Ahhh, have I ever mentioned how much I love war planes, the 40's, old stuff?  I do, I do, I do!!!  At just a young age of 12 my father started a job at cesna in Wichita, so I got my fair share of being around aircraft, tarmacs, and hangers.

Ever wondered why they're called a 'hanger'? Something about a pig pen, horse stable in Europe.  I bet you look it up now too!

Our time at the air show was brief due to the fact that the tar was melting and you were literally sticking to it!  It was like walking in one big glob of gum over and over again.  You'd probably leave too.  We started out just by looking at the planes, which the boys liked. There were so few people at the show at this time of day that I got the chance to take some really awesome shots.

This plane had it propeller in the rear.  Not sure how that flies, wish we could have seen it.

This next segment is on Fifi...What a huge plane!  Gave me some of my favorite shots! 

Left: one propellor (my fave) Right: almost a full view of the front

Left: the rear of Fifi (rear shooter) Middle: front cockpit Right: middle window w/Brent & Sterling's reflection

How would you like to fly this beast!?!

Another fave!  This is the exhaust off one of the propellers.  Just love the lighting!

Ha, this one makes my belly ache!  I was trying to get the boys to stand by the tires to compare how big those wheels were!  After much convincing  they did it, but not long enough for me to get a good picture, but what I did get was them complaining to each other about the "stink" under there.  A strong smell of oil.  We wouldn't want those wheel parts gettin' rusty on us!  

Another favorite!  Just a reflection from the window of the plane.  You know one of those artsy kind of shots.

Next the boys got a chance to go into the second biggest plane on the tarmac.  I think they wanted to go into this one because it had the ghostbusters logo on the side!  After they went in their Mimi and Opa bought them a plane.  This supported the fuel for the giant beast.  You'll never guess how much it costs to keep this one up in the air....

.....$600.00 an hour to fly her! Did you guess??

The boys enjoying some time sitting on some old army vehicles.  Would you believe it their Opa had to go with them?  They didn't want to sit on them!  Hey I guess I don't blame them the army can come up with some crazy looking vehicles!

This next plane was just cool.  I think I liked it because it was blue.  Yep, blue that's all.  We did get to see her start up and take off.  They even let us stand about 30 feet behind her while she started up.  Man I tell you the wind one of these things puts off is unreal!  I was blown backwards several times.  Good thing I didn't wear a skirt!

For a good chunk of time we got to see some planes take off and fly, which April really loved!  Hey maybe she'll be like me :)

I had my heart set on this next plane the second we walked in, but I waited until our time at the show was almost over to catch these pictures.  You know me I had to have my lighting just right for them.  They were beautiful and I was in love with their prop and engine!  Geek boy move aside I've got myself a plane!  Wait maybe you could just buy me the plane?

At the end of the day the boys got to check out a helicopter engine.  Pretty cool huh?  But when we left we still didn't get to see the show part of the air show so guess what?  We went back the next day!  Yep another HOT one!

Day 2:
This day was all about watching the planes do some cool things!  We sure did have fun even though it was still hot!  Can someone please tell me when this heat wave will be over?

Today they had a 40's something or other car that was super cool to look at!
1st thing out of Sterling's mouth, "Hey where are all the seat belts?"

My favorite of April!  Despite the heat she was having a blast, which just makes me happy!

These next planes are the ones that are going to do the formations.  No fancy tricks, but what they did I wouldn't want to do.  There was six of them that formed several different formations, and they took off in two groups of three.  That in itself was pretty cool.  The guys that do this practice several times a year, but only get to preform about three.  

What's with the V for the rear wing?  Maybe my dad can answer that one?

This next one just made me giggle as we walked back to the parking grass!  Doesn't it just make you smile :)  Happy air show everyone!

{the bread that smiles back}

Yesterday I bought this cute thin bread for the boys!  It's whole wheat grain with a touch of honey!  Preparing lunch for them today was just so exciting I thought I would just share it with you all!!  The boys thought it was super cute that their sandwich was a fish, plus I knew that it was healthier for them than the bread they normally get.  I found it at Hy-Vee if you know of another place to get it let  me know!  

Enjoy making your kiddo's smile for lunch!

{fab Five}

It's time I did a fab five!  I haven't blogged in so long I feel a bit rusty, but three kids at home, summer, vacations etc, and time has gotten away from me.  Not to mention our crazy busy schedule  the kids don't let me sit at the computer for too long!!  Since it is summer I thought I would do my fab five stuff that's outside!! (at least most of it!)

First on the list is my beautiful wisteria tree out front!  Yep this is what I see every time I walk out my front door.  When we moved into our house we had a Japanese Maple tree that looked sickly a friend wanted it and we didn't so off it went!  We fell in love with the wisteria at the nursery and brought it home.  Starting in the late spring it gets FULL of these beautiful and wonderful smelling purple blooms shaped like pine cones.  Water it good and it will keep blooming all summer long!  We just love it!!  If you buy one make sure you've got a structure it can climb against.  Plus they are high maintenance.  We usually have to trim it every few weeks because it grows!!

Next up is our daises and pot on our front porch.  The daises grow just back side of the wisteria tree.  I love love love Shasta daises.  They bloom a ton all summer and they are hearty!!  They survive the Kansas hot heat!  Plus they return every year and spread like wild fire.  If you'd like some we are probably looking at thinning ours out this fall.  Be careful though they will choke out smaller plants.  The pot if from Target.  I love them, we have two of them. One on each side of the front door.  My parents got them for me for my birthday last year and every time I come home I just can't help but think of my parents and how much I love them.

Living in Kansas city we have the opportunity to go to the Crayola store often!  We recently took the kiddo's there and of course had a blast!  I'm a sucker for chalk, and found these while I was there.  I haven't seen anything like it in the stores and had to have them, since the kids dig chalk too!!  They were a bit pricy, way FUN, and I think lasted a couple of days!! 

This last one is sooo yummy!  So yummy that if you don't live in KC, you need to come for a visit just for this!!  Yes, we love our cows!  Up by Cameron, Mo., there is a local dairy call the Shatto Dairy Farm.  Here you can take a tour up close and personal style, even try milking the cows too!  You can buy milk, butter, cream, ice cream and lots of goodies there too.  I bought two of these milk glasses, which are my favorite to drink milk out of.  They have funny sayings on the back of them.  Very cleaver marketing.  While the milk comes in fancy glass bottles it tastes sooo yummy.  While they sell regular milk, they have serval flavors including my favorite, Root Beer milk!  Yep, it tastes like the ice cream melted in your root beer float!  So come on to KC to give it a try!