A summer treat

Strawberry-Rhubarb pie at only 155 calories per serving - now that is a rare summer treat that is friendly to the waistline!

It is a pretty simple recipe and the surprise ingredient... an orange (both zest and juice), which makes this treat over-the-top in my book.
It is a made-over recipe I got from Good Housekeeping {just throwing that out there to help justify my magazine addition}. It really should be called a crisp instead of a pie because there is no pie crust. Click to open the link to recipe here. The only modification I made was to add a tsp of cinnamon to the filling.

The smell is amazing and served warm with a dollop of vanilla ice cream,

you have the perfect summertime treat! Steve & the girls loved it!

To the fairest of the fair...

Happy Birthday, Miss Lori!! You can rule all of land from your throne with your fabulousness today!

Instead of a GNO, Heather, Lori and I had a GAO (girls afternoon out) in Sioux Falls on Friday. It was an opportunity to meet Lori at a half-way point between Omaha and Fergus Falls as well as bring Lori her daughter who was visiting friends in Fergus AND we got to celebrate Lori's birthday a couple days early.

Armed with the advise from my BFF, Sherri, we decided to have a downtown adventure in Sioux Falls. It turned out to be a wonderful afternoon. We ate lunch at the Wild Sage Grille. It was a TAD bit windy dining outside. The wind actually blew away my credit card when I tried to use it!

But it really does give us the windblown model look, don't you think?

We went into lots of great little boutiques. When we saw this painting, we thought it looked like us in about 20 more years.

We had fun putzing around in a wonderful furniture store called DeWitt Designs where we picked out our future decor.

Lori's daughter was so generous with her photographic talents. It was so nice to have lots of pics of the three of us with three different cameras. Thanks JO! Just had to sneak in one pic with her and her adorable self!

We made sure to save room for dessert because we had already gotten a recommendation for this shop called Sinful Things.
We sampled each other's choices and they were all delish! Lemon cake, french silk, red velvet cheesecake & chocolate raspberry cheesecake... Sinful is right!
All in all, we all thought our DTSF adventure was fabulous. We loved that it was a reasonable daytrip with it just being a tad over 3 hours for each of us to get there.

Thank you for the wonderful GAO and I can't wait until we do this again!

Communing with the cousins

Even though I have 31 first cousins from my mom's (German) side of the family, we don't get a chance to get together very often. There are regularly scheduled reunion events every three years, but depending upon the location it is being held, I can't always attend. There are also the random vacations/visits when we can see each other, but that doesn't happen frequently. It generally takes some type of event and last weekend ,I am happy to say, the occasion bringing cousins and family together was a joyous one... great-aunt Lucille's 90th birthday party!
My cousin Sherry lives in Arab, Alabama which means I don't see her often enough. I love her so much! She is just a joy to be around. I love that we are always able to just pick up where we last left off. Here she is lovin' on one of the farm kitty's. She loves cats {but I don't hold that against her}.

We were able to hang out for three days doing lots of things including: Shrek 4 Ever After; shopping in Oakes; Lucille's open house event; Mass; Barn dance (although I missed her karaoke song); and finally a family picnic on Sunday.
The Sunday picnic crew... 5 of Grandma Nita/Grandpa George's children... 7 grandchildren... 9 great-grandchildren... plus a sprinkling of spouses made for a very fun time.
It was a first time for many of the 2nd cousins to even meet each other and they melded together seamlessly. Chandler, Kippy and Logan were clowning around before the official full-crew picture was taken.

Abby had just as much fun as Hannah and Ainslee on the tire swing.

Nora was the most delicious little baby to snuggle with. Here is Pam lovin' up on her.
Nora was rocking the red polka-dot bikini her grandma Claire got for her while being supported by her mom, Linette. Don't you just love Nora's baby soft chunky legs?
Abby taught Hannah how to make her own virtual cupcake on the ipod. Hannah concentrated very hard to make it just right.
I love this quiet moment caught between my dad and Pam. It is just so comfortable and reassuring.
Of course these 4 characters get together more often and keep things pretty entertaining to say the least.
Love the striking blue eyes that they have in common.
I am sure these cousins will have lots of memories to build on in the future and I hope they continue build the bonds between one another as I have been able to build with my cousins. Truly a priceless weekend!

Dads Rock!

Let's hear it for DADs because let's face it, they ROCK and don't HEAR it often enough.
The girls did some shopping and some creating to show both their dad and Grandpa how much they are loved.
Kippy put together this picture frame for Steve. She had a hard time deciding on a picture because she originally wanted it to be just a picture of her and her daddy, but conceded {with some gentle nudging from me} that the best picture was one her daddy with both his girls.


Abby did a made a custom card and inserted a poem she wrote.

"I sure hope this Father's Day
is your very best by far.
Extra nice and extra fun
the way you always are.
You're the greatest kind of dad
any kid every had."

Steve got some new grillin' gadgets and some spicy Thai sauce for him to try.
And this year, we were at the farm and got to celebrate Father's day in person with my dad.
Abby & Kippy got to snuggle in and watch their Grandpa Rod read his card and open his gifts.
And as always is the case, the giving and receiving of hugs is the best gift of all. Hope the two most important men-in-my-life know how special they are to all of us!

I need an intervention

HELP!!! I have a magazine addition. There. I have admitted it. Am I cured yet? This is just a sampling of the mags I get on a monthly basis. I know for sure Runners World is missing and there could be one other. I do love me my magazines!! I love the ideas, the articles, the recipes, the information, the pictures, the... the... the EVERYTHING!

One of the problems with getting this many magazines is keeping up with the reading. I NEVER.EVER.EVER throw out a magazine without reading it from cover to cover. I keep the "Magazines-yet-to-read" in a tote bag so I can easily carry it from room to room or even to the vehicle with me. I love reading on the go... unless I am napping on the go, which does interfere with the reading. I also tear out pages from the magazines of anything of interest, which doesn't lend itself to sharing with others. I have a stack of 7-8 mags waiting to be read at any point in time. I know what you thinking... and yes, I realize it is a lot. Didn't I already say I need an intervention? I am just going to go on record and say, I have honestly tried to reduce the number of subscriptions. I have even eliminated 2 mags. I just cannot resist the pesky, sneaky way I keep getting sucked into enrolling for another year. They slash the darn price down to just $6.99 for a whole additional year... 12 magazines... What a bargain! and then... I.JUST.SAY.YES all over again.

A couple months ago, I had an idea. I decided to turn my addiction to magazines into a positive. I set out to satisfy my inner crafter, recycle and further justify my magazine addition. I did some quick Google searches on Recycled Magazine Crafts and I hit the mother load!

Did you know that you can roll magazine pages tightly around a skewer forming little straws and then glue the magazine straws onto other objects?

Like a cute little picture frame?

Or you can embrace your inner origami and make a flower out of 6 magazines pages.

And then glue the flower shapes into a globe. I lost interest after making 8 flowers, so I only got half of a globe, which conveniently looks like a bouquet when I plunked it on top of a crystal vase.

You can fold and coil magazine pages into...

handy coasters. Just make sure to seal with several coats of modge podge before using.
I loved this little bowl with a lid made completely of magazines, but I never made it. I discovered another problem with making crafts out of magazines... It takes TOO.MUCH.TIME! It was taking so much time that I was getting more and more behind on reading and enjoying my magazines. So, I did the only logical thing I could.... I stopped the recycled magazine crafting and went back to reading. I don't think I am cured yet.

Random acts of laughter

They say, "Laughter is the best medicine", and I could use a little of that kind of medicine myself, so thought I would share...

At the height of laughter, the universe is flung into a kaleidoscope of new possibilities. ~Jean Houston
*Noah and Kippy in the fun mirrors at Storybook Land, June 1, 2010

Mirth is God's medicine. Everybody ought to bathe in it. ~Henry Ward Beecher
*Kippy on the carousel at Storybook Land, June 1st.

I am thankful for laughter, except when milk comes out of my nose. ~Woody Allen

*Sherri in full Luau gear to celebrate her 40th birthday at Lake Hendricks May 28th

A good laugh and a long sleep are the best cures in the doctor's book. ~Irish Proverb
*Girlfriends tubing on Lake Hendricks, May 29th

A laugh is a smile that bursts. ~Mary H. Waldrip
*RK enjoying the luau party at Lake Hendricks, May 28th

There can never be enough said of the virtues, dangers, the power of a shared laugh. ~Françoise Sagan
*Pontoon ride on Lake Hendricks with Tom & Drake photo-jacking Steve & Darian's pic... May 28th

What soap is to the body, laughter is to the soul. ~ Yiddish Proverb

*Pontoon ride on Lake Hendricks, May 28th

The most wasted of all days is one without laughter. ~E.E. Cummings

*Girlfriends gone wild in tube on Lake Hendricks, May 29th

Laughter is an instant vacation. ~Milton Berle

*Walkie-talkie's are fun no matter what age you are... Lake Hendricks, May 28th