Jolly Green Giant

I am a BIG woman. My husband affectionately calls me his "Brick house" which I am totally cool with, but sometimes, I guess I just forget how uncommon it is for a woman to be knocking on 6 feet. So I guess it should come as no surprise that my kids are BIG too. Our 4 year old is commonly mistaken for 7, and both are boys who will be in 5th & 6th grade next year are often mistook for jr. highers.

Last month, when both the boys needed new shoes, we headed straight for the men's department, like we have been for years. Jared, at 11 years old is now in a men's 10 1/2. Jake at 10 years old is now in a men's 9 1/2.

But even with that knowledge, I was shocked when I saw Jared in his new shorts....a 32 waist.




Jake just wanted to strike a pose. And since he is always the most creative poser, I thought I would share.



I guess it's not only my garden that is hyped up on MiracleGrow.

Medley Muffins

I have been working on a recipe for zucchini bread for what seems like forever. I had all but given up, until this past week when I finally found the pot of gold. After countless tries tweaking various recipes for bread, it finally hit me to try blending in some ideas from some cake recipes to get the desired outcome I was searching for:

Look: Dark
Consistency: Super Moist
Taste: Earthy but sweet
.....and last but not least it had to have a "WOW" factor. Something that set it off from other breads that I had tried.

Here is what I came up with. Bear in mind, I am not a recipe writer, so I hope it is understandable, if not just email me and I will try to be clearer. Here goes:

Oven to 350 degrees
I like the to use my Loaf pan, or the mini loaf pans you can get that are disposable, but muffins are great too if you want to share them. The following will make 2 loaves in a regular loaf pan; about 24-30 muffins, or 6-8 mini loaves.

In your KitchenAid Stand mixer or a large bowl

4 Eggs, beaten then blended with
1 1/2 cups of White Sugar and
1/2 cup of Brown Sugar. Then add
3/4 cup of Oil and
1 tbsp of Vanilla. Set Aside.

In small mixing bowl combine the following items

2 cups All Purpose Flour (you could also use whole wheat)
2 heaping Tbsp of Cinnamon
2 tsp of Baking Soda
1/2 tsp of Baking Powder
1 1/2 tsp of Salt

Slowly combine the dry ingredient with the wet until the mixture is thoroughly blended

Then add the following:
3 Bananas, mashed
1 cup Walnuts, chopped
2 cups of GRATED Zucchini and
1 cup of GRATED Carrots

Note: When grating the Zucchini, only grate the outer skin off and the outer flesh. If you lay the Zuc on its side and rotate it around (like when zesting a lemon or lime) it will keep you from getting to the seeds in the inner core. This is perfect for those Zucs that got to big for eating.

Now divide your batter and bake away.
2 regular loaf pans - about 40 minutes just until its not jiggly in the middle when you shake it
6-8 mini pans - place on a cookie sheet for easy handling and bake about 20-25 minutes
24 muffins -about 20 minutes as well, maybe a little shorter.


Don't wait for these to cool...as soon as you can handle them, dig right in. They are supper yummy with a little REAL butter on each slice.

If you want to spruce them up for a shower or work meeting add this yummy spread which is great once they have cooled down.

Pineapple Spread
1 block cream cheese, whipped
small can of crushed pineapple
2-3 tbsp of powdered sugar

Blend, chill, enjoy!!!

Hope you love it as much as we do!!!!

(By the way, I named them Medley Muffins because of the medley of zucchini, carrots, and bananas.)

The Pros and Cons of Little Girls

Our youngest is a girl. After 6 years of raising little boys, I literally did not know how to "do pink". As a matter of fact, the week after I found out pink was entering our lives, I went to the mall and tried to find a beautiful "girly" dress. It was a miserable experience, really, I left in tears. After searching EVERY store...I couldn't find anything that I liked that wasn't BLUE!!! I was sure that God had made a mistake by giving us a girl, I was sure of it. Hormonally overcharged, I called my husband from the parking lot and told him that our little girl was most assuredly going to grow up hating me ...he said he didn't know anything about "pink" either, but that we would do just fine.

Fast forward 5 years. Our little angel is now approaching the BIG 5 year mark. I am not really sure where the time went, she is all about pink, high heels, feather boas, Hannah Montana, princess', baby dolls, and Justice League (just for balance!!!)

This week we had two prime examples of the good and the bad of the world of girls, indulge me while I share.

Monday night I declared the bathroom to be a Barber Shop. Both my boys needed a trim, which I say lightly, because I love their long hair, but with the heat, they needed it thinned out and a little shaping. Well, Micah thought she needed a hair cut too. I told her that she was fine, and after some convincing, she decided she would just be my helper and brush her own hair.

After both boys were done, while I was cleaning up, I hear this, "Um, Mommy. I need some help."

I approached her and found the following:






That would be a three sided teasing comb embedded in her precious locks.

After ten minutes with no luck my husband becomes worried that I might need to cut it out. I assured him that was not an option, even if she had to graduate high school with it still in there.

Then, my Tool Man Hubby says, " Let me go get my wrench"

I was appalled. "What for?!?!?!" I inquired.

"To break the comb apart" he replied.

Well, I would have NEVER thought of that so he got super BIG Kudos from me.

This is what the next 15 minutes were like in our house:






In the end, her hair was saved, the comb was in at least 50 pieces, and Daddy was the Hero.



So while a "Con" of little girls might be getting things stuck in their hair. It is totally overshadowed by the next photos.





She has totally been in a wedding phase. She has been asking all sorts of wedding related questions lately.


"Mom, when did you and Dad get married."

"Who was the flower girl?"

"Why couldn't I be your flower girl?"

"How do you find the boy you are going to marry?"

"Will you come to my wedding?"


So when I was cleaning my bedroom this morning, I decided to get my wedding dress out and let her play with my veil. After I put it on her head and she modeled in front of the mirror, she disappeared. I found her watching "Word World", just chillin on the couch.


I immediately thought, this is why you should keep your wedding dress. So your little girl can play dress up.


I told her when she got a little older, she could wear the dress too. She squealed in delight.

Pink is not so frightening after all.

Kiss and Tell

Our kids are going through this stage right now where every time my husband and I steal a kiss, they fall out and rush toward us trying to pull us apart. They would yell, "Smoochy, Smoochy" and literally try to get between us.

Sometimes, we would smooch just to get their feathers ruffed up...it really was quite funny actually. A few months back I explained to the kids that smooching with your spouse is a benefit of being married. We are suppose to love on each other like that. I also told them that if they ever saw me kissing another man, that they by all means had the right to pull us apart, but as long as it was Daddy, they needed to let us smooch whenever we wanted.

But then Tuesday night while we sat at the drive up at our local Sonic, I leaned over and beckoned for some some love from my beloved. Although he declined at first because he was hot and sweaty (we had just left the ball field following a back-to-back double header), he finally gave in (against the roars from the back seat) and smooched away. Just FYI, I am talking about a simple kiss, nothing PG-13, but we definitely put on show for their behalf.

Once again during the smooch, they begged us to stop. When we did, I turned around and said," What have I told you about moms and dads kissing?"

Micah popped up, hand raised and said, "I know, I know!!!! We can only say stop kissing if mom ever kisses someone that is not daddy."

I replied, "That's right Micah, as long as it is Daddy, I can smooch away!!!"

From the cheap seats in the back of the van, Jake pipes up, " Don't worry Dad, if I ever see Mom kissing another guy I am going to run over, jump on his back, and pound him into the ground."

Jeff replied, " Thanks Jake"

From the cheap seats again, "You're welcome Dad, I got your back."

We all fell out at this. Jake is a scrappy fighter, quick as lightning, but to envision him taking out some kissing intruder had us all busting at the seams.

Gotta love loyalty.

Top 10 6/20/08

10. Green Beans







9. Squash and Zuchinni

8. Sweet Corn: Ruby Red Queen and Chubby Checker

7. My Wheelbarrow Garden








6. My hanging baskets on my front deck











5. My herb garden in a whiskey barrell








4. Morning Glory's and Moon Flowers just days away from blooming







3. The scent of fresh Lavender as you walk in my front door...and fresh mint for my iced tea









2. Our beastly dog Bruno









1. Standing next to one of 30 tomato plants that are taller than me...6 1/2 feet tall!!!

Why We Had Kids

Inspired by Pete's own series on why he had kids, I thought I would share my own.

Gotta love boys at work!!!

Must Read

The Shack
by William P. Young
.

You need to read this book.

I have never read anything(and I read A LOT!!!) that has both made me sob and laugh hysterically(not at the same time).

While, it is fiction, it is full of TRUTH.

It is ultra thought provoking and deeply moving.

It is also one of those books that you really can not say much about without giving the good stuff away. So here is the back of the book:

Mackenzie Allen Philips' youngest daughter, Missy, has been abducted during a family vacation and evidence that she may have been brutally

murdered is found in an abandoned shack deep in the Oregon wilderness.

Four years later in the midst of his "Great Sadness," Mack receives a suspicious note, apparently from God, inviting him back to that shack for a weekend.

Against his better judgment he arrives at the shack on a wintry afternoon and

walks back into his darkest nightmare.

What he finds there will change Mack's world forever. In a world where religion seems to grow increasingly irrelevant "The Shack" wrestles with the

timeless question, "Where is God in a world so filled with unspeakable pain?"

The answers Mack gets will astound you and perhaps transform you as much as it did him. You'll want everyone you know to read this book!

You should be able to find it at your local book store. Both main stream and Christian stores are carrying it. I saw that Sam's Club is carrying it for about $10 or you can pick it up here.

Really, if you read you should not pass this up. And, if you don't read, you should start with this one.