I have a tasty treat for you!

This recipe comes from Giada at Everyday Italian on the Food Network.
I have modified it a bit but the basics are the same.

Crostini's

12 1/2-inch thick slices French bread
12 slices thinly sliced prosciutto (about 6 ounces)
1 pound fresh mozzarella, cut into thin slices
3 tablespoons butter
Tomato slices
Pinch salt
Pinch freshly ground black pepper

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
Place the slices of ciabatta on a parchment lined baking sheet. Bake until crisp and golden around the edges, about 8 minutes. Remove the bread from the oven. Place the prosciutto slices and mozzarella on the crostini toast (I love tomatoes- so I add a slice of tomato also) and return to the oven to melt the cheese, about 8 more minutes.
Meanwhile melt the butter add salt and pepper.
Remove the baking sheet from the oven. Transfer the crostini to a serving plate. Drizzle the crostini with the butter and serve immediately.


These little beauties are so delicious. I am now addicted! Enjoy and you can think of me when you are enjoying these for yourself!

PS- Giada added a sage leaf into her melted butter- that's what you see in the picture. I didn't have them so I skipped it and they were delicious without them too.

Wall~e Review

I took the girls to see the new movie Walle today. It got really good reviews in the paper and on the local Christian radio station (Thanks Mari for that info) so I was really excited to see it.

You can see the girls opinion of it if you look close in the picture:
2 Thumbs Up!

It was really cute and well done. The girls had been waiting to see this for a really long time so it was a big deal to them to get to see it.
I was so glad it turned out to be worthwhile seeing. I saw quite a few teenagers even in the theater and everyone seemed to enjoy it. I recommend it highly!

A 9 year olds truth

Today Arianna was feeling a little tired and was talking about taking a nap.
Next thing I know she says to me:
Arianna: Mom- can I try to take a nap in church tomorrow?
Me: No
Arianna: But that makes the service go way faster!

I had to hold my chuckle in as I explained to her why it's important to listen to what Pastor Paul or Steve are saying.

Only from the mouths of babes!

This is what frustration looks like!

Poor Halle tried to eat her corn on the cob and wasn't having much luck!

Vroom Vroom

The kids have a new toy and it's been a big hit!
A guy Mark works with had a go kart that his kids out grew and didn't want anymore.
It ran a little rough so he said Mark could just have it.
Mark and Nick worked on it Saturday and got it running pretty good and all I hear now is the go-kart flying around my yard.
I have to admit- it's pretty fun- I even got in it and took it for a spin!

Good Friends

After our get together today- Halle and Hannah wanted to play longer so we decided to keep her overnight. They have played, swam and cleaned.

Yes, you heard me right-cleaned!


They decided to clean Halle's room- so it looks great now. Tonight as I'm writing this- they are cleaning out the garage.

I'm thinking Hannah can come over more often!!
Look at how cute they are together:


Update: They just came in and swept my kitchen floor!!!

Also- tonight my little biscuit (Halle) cut one more string on my mommy apron.
She was in the kitchen with Hannah and I went up and hugged her up and was telling her how much I loved her. She said to me:
Mommmmmmm- I don't like it when you do that in front of other people.


Wahhhhhhhh- can you feel my heart breaking? This my last baby and she's growing up too fast!

Sunset

Mark loves to take pictures so on Saturday he ran out to the deck to take these pictures of the sunset:








Isn't God's paintbrush amazing!!

Father's Day and First Swim

I'm speaking for Mark, but I believe he had a nice Father's Day. We made him his favorite for Breakfast this morning- Bacon! Arianna was in her glory, because she can't get enough of it either.
We just had a relaxing rest of the day for the most part. After church we just came home and had him open his gifts and then we watched the race.



The kids were excited, because the pool was finally ready to swim so today was the first swim of the season. It's been cooler here, but the girls were determined to swim today. I think pictures of their faces will sum up the temp:



Nick was a bit less dramatic- but he didn't stay in very long at all:



The girls stayed in for quite awhile and swam on and off through the afternoon.

After they got out, Mark stuck the hose in to put some more water in, because it needed just a bit more. Well later in the afternoon all of a sudden Mack starts barking like crazy and we hear this very loud woosh!
We jump up and look outside and see water flying over the top of the pool- I thought it had popped- so much water was coming out!
Turns out it just overflowed- so now the hose is back in and we'll be watching it a bit closer this time!!

A day at the park

Today the girls got to have friends over all day. I thought the kids would enjoy spending some time at the park, so we went this morning before it got too hot. We were the only ones there when we got there- the kids thought that was great!
We played there for awhile and then walked to the pond to let the kids feed hot dog buns to the fish. That was fun to watch- the fish just sucked it right down.
In the afternoon we set up the sprinkler, because our pool isn't ready yet, but the kids had a ball playing with the sprinkler too.
Here are some pics:

Take me out to a ballgame

Tuesday night we decided to go and watch Terri play ball. It was such a perfect night to be outside, I thought it was great timing.
Nick and Chelsea took the little girls to play on the toys in the park and then they got to go to the concession stand for a treat. They all loved it!

We had alot of fun watching the game. The game was going well until we left, so I guess next time we have to stay for the whole thing. (Brenda you'll understand this- I had to leave early so I could get home in time to watch Deadliest Catch!)

I promised Terri I wouldn't put any embarrasing pictures up and I'm keeping my word because I do have a couple of great ones I'm not posting!

Here Terri is at bat- see the next picture to see how she did:



She had a great hit and here she is at 2nd ready to go:


Here she is at her position at Left Field- she had a couple of nice catches there:



We had alot of fun watching and we will be back again to route her on!

Wordless Wednesday

Halle reading to daddy

1st day of summer break

It's the first day of our summer break. I got to sleep in which was very nice. I didn't think that would happen because Halle fell asleep at 7:30 last night so I knew she would be up on time in the morning.

She did wake up early, but bless her heart- she just went to the couch and waited for me to get up. I woke up at 8:15 to start my day.

The girls have been wanting to see this:


I thought it would be a fun way to start our summer. It was a cute movie and the kids all enjoyed it.

We get together with friends tomorrow and then I'm watching my friends kids on Wednesday and Friday we get together with Terri.
This week will be over in a flash. I think my whole summer is going to be like that!

Crazy Weather

Well it's been an interesting weather weekend here. Friday we had some bad thunderstorms come through in the afternoon. I have to set the stage for you to understand how I was feeling. We have been hit by lightning twice now and our neighbors have also been hit numerous times, so everytime lightning rolls through, I'm a nervous wreck. Well it started really storming and all of a sudden, I hear the familiar "BOOM" and at the same time, the frame and decorations I have sitting on my wall shelf fall off as the house shook.

We still had electricity so I assumed we hadn't been hit, but I wasn't sure because something had just been hit. I started looking out all my windows and even quick ran outside to check out the outside of the house, because if we had been hit I always want the fire department to check it out in case my attic is burning.

I didn't find anything, so I just watched and waited out the storm. I found out the next day that it was my neighbor that got hit. She said it sounded like a nuclear bomb went off and I agree seeing as my house shook and all- actually later that afternoon, the whole shelf fell off the wall because it had gotten loose from earlier.

So I was relieved that we got by that time with nothing serious, but my nervousness was again raised Saturday night, when more severe storms came through.
Here is what the sky looked like before it got bad:



It was quite the storm! I believe they said about 40,000 hits of lightning were recorded last night. I read today that a 1 person was killed yesterday and 1 this afternoon when trees fell on their cars.

It's supposed to be bad weather again tonight and tomorrow afternoon. I'll be glad when things calm down a bit again!

I've been tagged

Brenda tagged me so here you go:

5 things I like most about summer:
-picnics
-gardens and fresh fruit and vegetables
-swimming
-green grass
-sleeping in


5 things I hate about summer:
Well- I think Brenda about summed it up so I'm copying her answer

-heat
-humidity
-heat
-humidity
-heat and humidity!!!!!

If you haven't been tagged yet- feel free to play along~

1 more task done

I'm surprised I'm still able to type because I painted again!
It's a sickness I tell you. I decided awhile back that I wanted to re paint my living room. I had some colors in mind so I got some sample paint and had swatches all over my living room. Well we have home groups coming over Sunday and I didn't want my living room looking like that so I decided to just do a couple of walls to cover them up and then I couldn't stop! I ended up doing the whole living room and hall and down the stairs and the basement hallway!

My hand is officially sore and I'm really done now!

Here's the before shot:




Here's the after shot- you're going to have to take my word that the couch doesn't clash with the walls, because the color is not coming through quite right:
Edited to add- the couches are actually a sage green- see what I mean about the colors not coming through correctly!!

Wordless Wednesday

I'm sad- my last baby just graduated from Kindergarten

The big project results

Over Memorial Day I told you that besides the landscaping, We were working on a big project. It's finished and it's time to show the hard work.
Our house has vinyl siding and cedar shakes on it. We were both really tired of the dark stain on the cedar so we decided to paint them.

Here's a photo of work in progress so you can see how dark it was before:


Here's the finished product: Don't look too close at the siding- a bird blessed us and Mark doesn't want to power wash it yet until the paint sets for awhile!




I'm very happy with how it turned out- I think it took 20 years off the house. I said that to Mark and he told me- well since it's only 16 years old- we're in the hole! Between the painting and the landscaping we've done- it's a completely different look out front.
What do you think??

Award

Mari gave me a very nice award- this is one that I really loved getting.
I love my family very much, but I'm going to pass this one on to my very closest friends. God has richly blessed me with a circle of friends that I love. We would do anything for each other and I know that if I call they will be there for me and vice versa.
I'm passing this on to Michelle- we've tried to get her to blog, but she's not responding favorably yet!
Julie at Memories
Brenda at the adventures of the Yonker Family

Love you guys!

I'm going to change your life for the better!

You need to run- not walk to your grocery store and get the following ingredients:

1 Pork Tenderloin- you know- the round-log like roll
Brianna's Real Fench Vinegrette Dressing- In Family Fare this is in the first Aisle across from the bakery- not the normal dressing aisle.

Marinate the pork for 4 hours and then grill till done.

I have to give credit for this recipe to Bev Powell. I ran into her in the meat department at the store and we got to talking and she was buying the tenderloin and told me about this recipe and how good it was. She said she always buys it when it's on sale and freezes it so she always has some on hand. I will be doing this now too.

I'm telling you- this recipe makes me want to stand up and sing- IT IS SOOOOO GOOD!

My whole family loved it- the kids asked for 2nd's and we were all fighting over the last piece. I can't wait to make it again and it's so simple- who could ask for more!
Enjoy!

Busy weekend

We had a busy weekend. We had alot of fun though. Saturday, we had to wake up early because it was Arianna's last soccer game and we had to be there at 8:20 a.m.
She was excited because after the game she got a trophy and her coach gave her a gift certificate to Dairy Queen.
Next fall it'll be twice as busy because Halle is going to play as well!

After soccer we got to go to the zoo. A couple of weeks ago, Halle came home from school with a certificate for the whole family to have free passes to the zoo and it also included 2 free stingray touches. She's been asking me constantly when we were going to go and I wanted to go before it got too hot outside. It turned out to be perfect for the zoo, the weather was very comfortable and it wasn't very busy!









Sunday after church we decided to get lunch and take it to the beach to enjoy the beautiful weather:



I think this picture sums up pretty well how warm the water was!