secret ingredient-zucchini

Our friends, The Oakleys, brought us some tomatoes and zucchini at church last Sunday.  (Hope Fruit and Berry Farms--you can follow them on Face Book.)  The Livingston Market was rained out the Thursday before and they were kind enough to share.  This picture does not do the zucchini justice.  That one is absolutely HUGE! That is a Peter's Pottery platter holding the tomatoes! Now, you must know that zucchini is an all-time favorite here.  We eat it almost every week--usually I  just roast it or grill it, but this was so much so I had to get creative.

All of that above turned into this below...Zucchini 5 ways...1. asparagus 2. zucchini fries 3. zucchini bites 4. sauteed shredded zucchini 5. tomatoes and feta with balsamic dressing 6. roasted zucchini and the 7th thing on the plate is a layered zucchini, tomato, and mozzarella baked dish

We definitely will be eating all these dishes again!  It was lots of fun coming up with various ways to use the zucchini, but I won't be cooking all of this at one time again--it took me over 2 hours!

Our Opening Cermony

Let's just start by saying that I love the olympics.  I love the competition, the level of athletics, and the personal stories. I want to pass this love on to my kids so we will be getting a much needed break from all the heat over the next several weeks and we will be watching lots of t.v.  Tonight we celebrated with our very own opening cermonies!

First, we had an olympic torch snack!

 Some good friends came to help us start the games.

Then we made a medal.

Showing them off...

Then we made an olympic rings abstract art piece. (I wish I took a picture of the after--they are so cute and great for any age.)

Athletes need a carb fix before a big competition so we had pizza and finished it off with olympic cake.

Due to it raining outside, we made the best out of it and did a few of the races in my living room.

 And finished just in time to watch a bit of the real opening ceremony!

pride and parenting

pride--just the word makes my skin crawl.  i hate it.  it is one of those sins that just sneaks up on me and makes me so mad.  as a christian i know it has absolutely no room in my life.  i really want god to get the glory and i know every gift i have is from him.  


i got a new calendar last week and as i was going through my old one and transferring the important dates i noticed that i took some notes on pride.  i can't remember where i was when i heard them.  so, someone deserves all the credit for the things below--i'm thinking maybe someone from focus on the family.


but, i wanted to put this on the blog so that i would be able to find it again, because i doubt i will be going through my 2011-2012 calendar again!


this specifically deals with pride and how we i like to take credit for my kids behavior.


*the world often judges us by our children's reaction to something however god judges us by the way we react to our kids.


*we take too much credit.


*our responsibility is to help our children find their place in his kingdom.


*am i being a good steward with the child god has given me? am i helping them grow? am i addressing their weaknesses?


*am i more concerned with god saying well done thy good and faithful servant more than my neighbor saying that?


*we need to be god centered.


*we need to parent with the heart of worship


do you agree?  is this something you struggle with too, or am i all alone? 


have a great tuesday!

And finally...

I am not sure why I am having so many problems with this post.  But, I am going to get these three videos on here even though it has taken me all day!!

This has definitely been a summer of new skills for the girls! Especially for Sara Beth. It has clicked that to get good at something you have to practice.  I must say, I am very proud of the work she is putting in to learning new things.  I have seen so much determination in her!  They are having much fun with hula hoops!  Now all we need is a talent show!

Another New Skill

This has definitely been a summer of new skills for the girls! Especially for Sara Beth. It has clicked that to get good at something you have to practice.  I must say, I am very proud of the work she is putting in to learning new things.  I have seen so much determination in her!  They are having much fun with hula hoops!  Now all we need is a talent show!

A Morning at the Zoo

William and Wes are here while their parents are in Wyoming!  We met them at the zoo this morning.  

  

It was our first time at the splash pad! Pretty fun!

Kate's birthday

Yesterday was our friend, Kate's, 3rd birthday!  Her party was supposed to be Saturday at the park, but right before it started it began pouring.  So, we did it at our house!  Her sweet daddy had planned everything so well.  He even had wipes for cheetos hands! It ended up lots of fun at our house!

Look at this cute wreath Ms. Claire made!

The birthday girl!

Obviously it was a princess party!

Ms. Claire made the palace cake!

My favorite picture

Ms. Claire, Dr. David, and Kate

What a beautiful girl!!

Last week

We had a really busy week last week and I didn't get around to taking many pictures!  Monday night, The Mills, came to dinner and we got to hear about the work they will be doing in California.  They will be church planting around Fresno.  I think this is a funny picture, because SB is reading them a book on potty training!  

Holly and Elizabeth's kids were here for the week.  All 6 big kids went to sports camp at Bizzy Bodies.  They had a blast!  I can't believe I didn't get a picture of all of them.  I'm gonna blame it on the rain because we couldn't stand outside and visit!

I told the kids to get in the van one morning and I walked out to find this! Of course, I let them!  

After camp one day, we went to Newks and then to get Snow Cones at Bops.

Last night we went to the Hensons and celebrated Holly's birthday.  The kids played hard outside and we needed a few wind down moments before dinner.  Here they are all watching Annie.

 Ariana and Alexandra gave Sam this guitar for his birthday.  It is a B. Woofer and is the cutest thing ever!  He has really had fun walking around and playing it!

Twin Lakes

Sara Beth and her friend Ann Stuart went to Twin Lakes two weeks ago.  This picture was taken on day one and you can see they were both a little nervous!  However, those nerves didn't last long because they had the best time!  Neither one of them hesitated when it came to spending Thursday night!  SB loved every day and came home talking all about it!  I am so thankful for Twin Lakes and the ministry they have to our children!

After day 1

Miss Emily--the best counselor!

their cabin

Car Party

favors

the birthday boy

poor austin even got in on the action

several months ago i found these wooden cars at walmart.  they were the perfect activity for this party.

i hate this picture of my grandmothers in blurry

love this one of our dads talking!

sam loved opening his presents!  he stopped and played with each one.

i wasn't planning on anyone playing outside since it was 100 plus outside.  however, a few little ones conned my dad into going out and playing for a while.  unfortunately, i don't have any pictures of him chasing them all over the yard!

i am not sure if my girls have ever been this sweaty before!  you can tell the back row was done partying!