Happy Birthday To Me....

In June, I celebrated my birthday...and yesterday, I saw the beauty of my birthday money.....

I purchased new blinds for my living room windows. I replaced my old 1"vinyl white mini blinds with 2"wood blinds. One word....LOVELY!


I should have done this sooner....much sooner....but you know how time slips away. One reason I wasn't in a big rush to get them replaced...dogs! Our last dog tore down our living room blinds more than once!

In Troy's words...."WOW..it's gives a much different look!"

I know it's not much change..but I like it!

July Recipe....

Remember long ago...when I was going to post a recipe every month...well I lost track of time....maybe I can shoot for quarterly?!?!?

Well, since this is Blueberry Season...I thought a blueberry recipe would be fitting.

First, let me give credit where credit is due. I first read about the recipe from Rachel's blog, which is a friend of the Hendersons(odetogoodness.wordpress.com) ....which she got from another blog (smittenkitchen.com)...which she got from (allrecipes.com)

All in all, I really know none of these people...funny what the Internet brings! BTW...allrecipes is a great website if you haven't been there...GO! I love reading the comments from real people before I cook something!


Blueberry Bars

1 cup white sugar
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt

1 cup cold butter (2 sticks)
1 egg

1/2 cup white sugar
4 teaspoons cornstarch
squirts of lemon juice
4 cups of fresh blueberries (I used frozen and it worked fine)
~~~~~~~~
1. Preheat the oven to 375. Grease a 9×13 pan.

2. In a medium bowl, stir together 1 cup sugar, flour, baking powder and salt. Use a fork or pastry cutter to blend in the butter and egg. Dough will be crumbly; Pat 1/2--3/4 of dough into the prepared pan.

3. In another bowl, stir together the sugar, cornstarch and lemon juice. Gently mix in the blueberries. Sprinkle the blueberry mixture evenly over the crust. Crumble remaining dough over the berry layer.

4. Bake for 45 minutes, or until top is slightly brown. (This took an extra 10-15 minutes in my oven.) Cool completely before cutting into squares. Store in frig.

ENJOY!.....

Just Mom Time....

One of the special things I did while all the guys were gone...a pedicure..awesome! I love getting these....I could do it weekly!

She even put on a flower with leaves and....a rhinestone in the middle...special!

Mom & Son Time....

Trent and I enjoyed lots of Mom & Son time during this last week. We got to do a lot of things together.


Sparta Town & Country Days......

It's become a favorite at the Sparta T&C days...homemade Ice Cream..yummers!

The Parade

The petting zoo...look at Trent's eye's!

Look, he won....only $3 for a blow up gun. Once wasn't bad enough, I let him do it twice!

The Hurricane...I wasn't about to ride that scary ride! He loved it and wasn't scared a bit.

I remember my sister Julie taking me on a double Ferris wheel at the Kalamazoo County fair. I was so scared..I told the guy every time we went by him..."let me off this!!"...he didn't! I'm still traumatized today!

And of course, the Scrambler!







Magic show at the Comstock Park Library....





Joel was very good and entertaining!...and free!





Chuck E Cheese....




We had so much fun.

Bought $15 in tokens and got a $3 item at the Chuck store. That makes perfect sense..right!








Trent Jet Ski-ing....he's pretty good!

KCBC Father/Son Campout '09....

Here are some of the boys waiting for the bus to leave.

Steve couldn't go because he is already camping with Troy in the U.P. Sooooooo....Trent went with another dad for the week-end. It was so nice of Doug Scott to offer to let Trent go with him and his son! He was so excited to go!

G-ma & Garage Sales

Grandma Elsie and Garage Sales just go together! They are like baseball and hot dogs. She can't resist a good garage sale or flea market. I told her to come over today and we would hit some sales. We set out about 1pm..not as early as we should have..but hey, it's hard to get anywhere timely when you are still in pj's at noon!

Before we left Kent City..she already had a bag full of goods...she doesn't waste any time! At one sale...she purchased a very large duffel bag...her goal...FILL IT! And that she did..back home by4....she

accomplished her goal!

We had lots of fun together and seeing her laughing with Trent at McDonald's was worth it all. He will have these memories of a great grandma forever. She is so young at heart! Thanx Grandma Elsie for your fun spirit!

'While Their Gone' List.....

Trent and I are home alone this week. Steve and Troy went to the U.P. 4-wheeling and Tyler is heading back up to camp Sunday PM. So, we have a lot to get accomplished while they are gone....so I've been forming a list......

√Go to Sparta Town and Country Days Parade
√Sparta T&C Fireworks
√Ride two rides at T&C days carnival
√Go to see Ice Age 'Dawn of the Dinos'
√Go to Chuck E Cheese
√Clean one House (not mine)
√Spend the night at G&G house
√Buy a camera bag I like
Go to the John Ball Zoo
Go to Children's Museum
√Go to Tasty Treat for Ice Cream
Go to Gerber Baby Food Festival in Fremont
√Go to a Bridal Shower
Swim in neighbor's pool
√Go to the Comstock Park Library for a magic show

All this and Trent's going camping on the Father/Son camping trip with our church to Silver Lake from Thur-Sat. Trent lucked out and was asked by another dad, to come along with them since Steve will be out of town! He can't wait!!!

Did you happen to notice that 'make dinner' wasn't on the list..oh!!! or 'wash windows'...or 'laundry'....

Check back to see how we are doing

She's Here....

Grandma Elsie has arrived...

After picking her up at the airport we picked up Renee and headed out for some lunch at iHop....
Here she is with Tyler & Trent

She was going to a wedding today so I cut and fixed her hair for her. Doesn't she look great...she is 84!

Gotta Share...

I feel it is our obligation as people to share about items that work...and work well. I mean, what is better than having a friend recommend a product, car, restaurant... When I am shopping for an item I like to read the personal comments....they are more true. When you read the manufacturer's comments...they are always gushing with goodness! They, of course, want you to try their product.

Well, I found a product I'm compelled to share with you.....

I realize some of you won't be impressed in the least. But I know, Bonnie you will be out buying some right away!

This is like super glue for fabric. More importantly..it works! It comes to me by highest recommendations from Renee! So, now I know how she keeps her family looking so good!

I purchased it at a fabric store but Meijers or Walmart might carry it.

No more dusting off your sewing machines finding a bobbin or needle...just glue it together.

I used it to glue a back pocket of Steve's shorts and it held. I was impressed the next morning when I checked on it and it was stuck together! I have used other types of this stuff in the past with less than impressive results...but this one, Billy Mays would have been proud to pitch!

Playing Catch-Up!!

I'm so far behind! I feel like I will never get caught up...am I alone...can I get an Amen?


So in an effort to remain sane, I will catch you all up on the last couple of weeks in one post. First, let me just say it's been a busy busy couple weeks.



Trent in front of sign at the camp he attended.






We had a week long visit from the Hendersons (Tod, Julie and Hannah) from California.
Then, we were able to enjoy a Forth of July week-end with the Griffioens (John, Janice, Arie and Andrew) from Indiana.



Its' been a fun summer getting caught up on everyone's lives. But, as you know, when company comes...we let daily jobs wait...laundry, windows, dusting, blogs.....

When the Henderson's were here, Julie rented a Sea-Do for Tod to enjoy for Father's Day. Actually, we all enjoyed it..thanx for sharing Tod.
Hannah and Tod modeling their Lily Pad attire.






Hannah pulling Tod on a float behind the Sea-Do. They were using a garden hose as the rope...don't try this at home! Trent was the spotter.







Refilling the gas tank...which was done many times through the week!








Tyler driving...Hannah and Trent swimming.








Steve taking his turn.







Troy taking his turn.


We had a blast that week playing Golf, riding the Sea-Do (even the skirt sisters drove it!), Shipsie and just hanging out..thanx guys for flying out!


_________________

4th of July week-end


The Griffioens arrived late Thursday evening. The boys and I arrived on Friday afternoon to greet them. (Steve went on an all day four-wheeling trip with a friend) We even slipped in a quick visit to the Thrift Outlet.

Crockery Lake has a fireworks show usually on the 4th but because of finances, The Lake Association opted to get more 'bang for their buck' and do the show on the 3rd!

Dad and Linda had some of their friends over and we grilled out and had a pot luck style dinner.
The Griffioens came fully loaded with fireworks of their own..remember they came from IN!
About 10pm the show started..we took the pontoon out and enjoyed the show with the Wilson's over the lake. The Griffioen's put on quite a show from shore! Andrew built us a beautiful fire to enjoy..even with his broken ankle!

On the fourth The Lake Association sponsors a boat parade. At the last minute the Buckner's decide to decorate the pontoon boat to join in the festivities. We went with the traditional patriotic theme. Things were looking good when we registered our boat and we were #4...three prizes..this might be do-able! We got busy and put our creative juices to work....and here is what we came up with......

Steve even put his amp on board with patriotic music playing! I mean who doesn't love, Lee Greenwood's...♪I'm proud to be an American ♪?
Well, I'm sorry to report that we didn't even place..I know, it's hard to believe! We were thinking of filling for a recount?

We think we got ripped off....but we have vowed to come back stronger and better next year!