4th of July and Camping

Our Independance Day was pretty simple.  The two olders were at Granny camp and the two youngers were getting along swimingly!  We had a few friends over for a bbq and then called it a night.  Simple and fun!  Our menu included 

chips and salsa, 

strawberries and cream, 

deviled eggs, hot dogs, hamburgers, veggie dogs, veggie burgers, irish bangers from whole foods, fruit salad 

and fruit pizza.

 Earlier that week, we went camping at Horsetooth Reservoir.  It was nice to be so close to home.  Unfortunatley, I was a party pooper and wanted to come home the last night to sleep in our beds and get a good nights rest.  I think I will build up stamina as the years go by and the kids get older.  It was a good trip, though, and the kids had a great time getting dirty, catching fish, swimming and sleeping in the tent.

Psycho's Unite!

A few weeks ago, we had a Kung Pow night with our friend.  B and I used to watch "Kung Pow" every Saturday while eating Chinese food, when we lived in S. Korea.  For our theme night, we watched the movie and ate Kung Pow chicken.  We all had so much fun, that we decided to have another theme night focusing on one of our favorite shows, "Psych".

So, three friends joined us and we all picked our favorite episode to watch.  I tried to make food from each episode.

We had cinnamon pie (in reference to the "Duel Spires" episode), Klondike bars (in reference to the "Dead Bear Walking" episode), and Grapples (in reference to the "Viagra Falls" episode).

  Fries Quatro Queso Dos Fritos

 Monkey Bread, a pineapple, Snyder's of Hanover

 It was hard to think of a main dish since most of the food they eat on the show is snack food.  We decided to go with Hawaiin pizza.  Pineapple for the show, canadian bacon for B's episode choice, "Extradition II..."

 Canadian beer, for B's episode choice

 Everyone took home a white bear soap party favor in reference to the hippie in "Dead Bear Walking" who makes people smell like "plums and sunshine".

Isaiah made this awesome Psych trivia game for the rest of us (two couples) to play.  We got points for each correct points and five points for finding the pineapple in the episode we were watching.  The winners won season six, compliments of Isaiah.  The other couple won by finding the last pineapple, but they didn't want the season because they aren't as into the show as we are, so they gave it to us!

 Everyone wore a name tag with the Gus nickname from their favorite episode.

It was a fun night and I'm looking forward to the next theme night!

Love

Last week was Valentine's Day and I really enjoyed planning something special for the kids and B.  I never fancied myself a huge Valentine's Day person, but I had a lot of fun thinking of fun/heart/red things to get and do for the family.

My friend at church told me that her grand-daughters put an old mailbox outside of their room at Christmas time and she leaves them little notes and gifts.  I thought that was such a cute idea, and then I found these cute V-day mailboxes at Walmart.  They are perfect!  I like the idea of each kid having a mailbox in their room and leaving them little notes and gifts throughout the year.  F kept putting his mailbox flag up on his mailbox, thinking that would make a letter magically appear.

So, when the kids got home from school, they each found their mailbox (with the flag up) and looked inside to find a clue.  The clue led them to their Valentine's Day bag.  I found the ideas for their clues here.

For B, I used ideas from the Dating Divas.  I left him a Valentine's Day note in our "Sweetheart Journal".

To greet him, I used this idea from the Dating Divas.  Originally, I tied the chocolate on the front door, but then I heard him coming in through the garage, so I quickly ran and switched the chocolate to the correct door.

When he went to our room, he found a shower of love waiting for him.  I swapped the raindrops from his "shower of blessings" birthday with hearts.  The rose petals are fake and from the dollar store, so I can use them again!  I left a few gifts for him on his pillow.

For dinner, we had mini-meatloafs with heart shaped cheese on top.  I took a pre-cooked picture so that you could see the cheese hearts before they melted.  For dessert, I made Sweet Heart Brownies.  Cb's helped crush the graham crackers.  I used half honey graham crackers and half chocolate graham crackers (I always think more chocolate is better).  They were yummy!

The evening took a brief pause when I went to symphony rehearsal, but picked up when I returned with a "Love Hunt".  Here are all the clues and tasks laid out.  You can see the clues and tasks at the Dating Divas website.  Pugsley was thrilled, as you can see (he's trying to go outside), to participate in the hunt and hold one of the clues on his back.  What a pug!

I love my family!

A Tiny Birthday!

 Our littlest man turned 1!  We had a tiny-sized bash to celebrate.

Burns Supper

 This past Friday, as I'm sure you all know, was Burns Day in Scotland.  In honor of B's Scottish roots, which don't go very deep, we held a Burn's supper at our house.  It celebrates Robert Burns, a Scottish poet.  As you know, B's been faithfully learning the bagpipes, so he appreciates all things Scottish.  

Happy 32nd Birthday!

 Happy birthday B!  We got to celebrate his 32nd birthday this past Sunday!  I'd say it had a tartan/bagpipe theme.

Happy New Year!

 A New Year has begun and new boots have come!  My friend from church was kind enough to go boot shopping with me, since she is a Western girl, and helped me find the right boot for me.  So, without further ado, here they are!

I love the aqua blue accents on the stitching (the inside is aqua blue too).  I can't wait to break them in and incorporate them into my daily wear.

We had a couple friends over for New Year's Eve dinner and then B and the friends went to hear the bagpipe band play in Old Town.

Our feast included homemade white bread from the bread machine (I love my bread machine), brussel sprouts (the same recipe from Christmas dinner...they were so yummy), green beans, mashed potatoes, and slow-cooker pork roast and smoked sausage with sauerkraut and veggies.  Our friends brought a delicious cheese and crackers platter for appetizers and then we had cheesecake for dessert.  I also bought a plethora of beers for the occasion.  I went to the liquor store looking for sour beer (our friend's favorite) and ended up getting a few more six packs of beer because of their creative packaging.  Who says creative marketing doesn't work?  Not me!  I'm a sucker for funny sayings and names.