Switching Gears

Labor day weekend I ran the 5k below.
Between my hubby and I one of us has participated in this race almost every year since 2005.

It was at this race in 2005 my son Jack became fast friends with his buddy Daniel.

They both had a love for trucks!

Here they are this past Monday.

It was a beautiful day to be on the lake.

My boys looooove tubing.

Good friend's are priceless!

Who knew that one race could bring two families together.

Bonus, our friend's just closed on their summer cottage so we will be able to see them more often.

After our fun filled weekend it was time to go back to school.

I needed to switch gears and get serious about meal planning. 

 We have football practice 3 nights a week so sometimes short cuts are in order. I will definitely be making these two dinner's this week.

Chicken Pesto

1. Boil pasta according to package directions and drain

2. While pasta is cooking take chicken meat off of the bone and chop into pieces

3. Add pesto and chicken to pasta in saucepan and heat.

4. I always add more parmigiano-reggiano cheese, garlic powder and a little salt.

Mom's Homemade Chili

2 pounds of  ground beef

1 can of kidney beans (drained and rinsed)

1 can of black beans (drained and rinsed)

1-1 1/2 green peppers finely chopped

1-2 onions finely chopped

4 garlic cloves (pressed or chopped)

2-28oz. cans tomato sauce

28oz. crushed tomato

3 1/2 Tbsp. chili powder (to your liking)

1/2 tsp. cumin

1 1/2 tsp. sugar

Brown ground beef in a large stockpot. Then add all ingredients except the 2 cans of beans and cook until green peppers are soft (approx 1-1 1/2 hrs.) Add beans when there is only around 30min. of cooking time left so beans do not get soggy. Grate cheddar cheese on top and enjoy. 

Cheddar Corn Muffins

Make corn muffin mix from a box and add shredded cheddar cheese or jalapeno cheese for the adults!
Jen

Linking to: Tasty Tuesday

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Nine Years and Counting......

Today is my Wedding Anniversary! I am excited to spend some quality time with my man at dinner tonight.  Today I thought I would share some of our wedding details with you from nine years ago.

We chose this State Park so we could have the ceremony and reception outside. Our guests could go hiking if they chose, enjoy the waterfalls or just relax. All of our guests traveled from out of town so this was very important to us.

We had all our photographs taken before the wedding so we could spend more time with our guests.

This is a great picture of my hubby and father-in-law. But it does not tell the whole story.....

 My father-in-law forgot his dress shoes for the wedding and had to wear his sandals. For some brides this would have been a problem, but for me, I don't sweat the small stuff.

We even had our dog Gunther at our wedding.

Our alter.

After attending another outdoor wedding where the couple had trouble lighting the unity candle due to the wind we opted to use glass hurricanes around the candles.

My niece was our flower girl and she did great at the rehearsal.

Having kids in a wedding can always be a variable and our wedding was no exception. Thank goodness for my best friend because they ended up walking together down the aisle. She is soooo great with kids.

Then it was time for my dad and I to head down the aisle.

I really tried to take a deep breath, look around and appreciate all of our friends and family that had gathered to share in our big day.

Our ceremony.

We had microphones so our guests could hear the ceremony over the noise of the falls. 

Finally, husband and wife!

You can see my matron of honor and our best man in the background. We chose to keep our wedding party small.

Each place setting had a rock with the guests name on it. Thanks goes to my dad who wrote on each one!

Every table was named after a different tree.

All of the rooms at the hotel in the park are too. 

Our cake. It was very yummy.

The taste testing prior to the big day wasn't so bad either.

We had good friends taking polaroid pictures of our guests before they entered the reception.

After their photo was taken they could write something to my hubby and I underneath. It has become a great keepsake from our wedding.

I heard the food was great......

Does any bride and groom get to eat at their own wedding?

Gunther even got in on the dancing action.

Here is my hubby and a few friends playing Bocci.

An oops!

We made a donation to a charity instead of favors but many guests never knew. I forgot to designate someone to hand these out as guests were leaving. 

All of our guests saying their goodbyes!

It's been a great nine years and I am looking forward to many more!

Happy Anniversary honey.

Love,

Jen

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Blueberries!

My favorite berries to eat above any other's are strawberries and blueberries.We went strawberry picking in June and they were delicious but the season always seems to end too quickly. I have been nervous that blueberry season would pass me by before I would have a chance to go picking, so last Thursday the boys and I headed out on our blueberry picking adventure.

We visited my favorite farm.

Jack kept thanking me for bringing them picking that day because the blueberries were sooooo sweet.

 Nothing but blueberry bushes for acres!

 With three boys and myself picking we ended up with 6 pounds that day!

One for me, one for the container!

Luke didn't even like blueberries until that day.

On the breakfast menu the next day were Kashi waffles with fresh blueberries on top.

Tomorrow I will post what I have made so far with 6 pounds of blueberries!

Jen

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Checking our List!

Before school came to an end this year I had the boys share with me what they wanted to do this summer. I then made a list of those things (I love lists!). On the days when we have nothing scheduled we consult our "Summer" list and then go do one of the items.

You can see we are moving through the list pretty quickly. Thank goodness there is a list on the back as well.

Friday my boys spent some time visiting their cousins and swimming in the pool. Bonus, I had a great visit with my sister-in-law too. That night the boys experienced their first Drive-In movie ever! Here they are all piled in the SUV.

We watched this beautiful hot air balloon while we were waiting for it too get dark.

There are only around 400 Drive-In movies left in the U.S. I am so glad my boys were able to have this experience.

 We were able to watch all of Ice Age Continental Drift and about 15 min. of Madagascar because we still had a 1 1/2 hr. trip home!

 I wish I had taken a picture of my very sleepy boys in the car!

Jen

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Mother's Day Weekend!

Life has been exceptionally busy lately with Substitute Teaching, 1st Communions, Birthday parties and Chorus concerts. Regardless of our other commitment's every Wednesday and Saturday you will find our family and many other's in our community at the Baseball/T-ball fields:

We are so proud of Luke for trying a sport he has never played before!

Here he is anxiously awaiting a ground ball.

Take note of Luke's knees!

I don't know what kind of dirt they have on the field but it has an affinity for my children. Even after scrubbing with a wash cloth it does not like to come off!!

Excited for his first big game.

The Heron has returned to the Lake.

We always look forward to seeing him.

For Mother's Day hubby gave me this necklace. 

I absolutely love it and cannot wait to wear it this week!

The boys picked out earrings to match.

For dinner we had Salmon Burger's. Yum!!!

(Recipe to come in a future post)

I always look forward to my hubby making his "special sauce".

We put this on our hamburgers, turkey sliders and sandwiches. Shhhhh....I have even been known to dip a few pretzels in it.

Special Sauce

1/2 cup of mayo

2Tbsp. Ketchup (Organic)

1Tbsp. Finely grated onion

1 Finely chopped Chile in Adobo sauce (Goya)

1/8 tsp. Celery Salt

1/8 tsp. Kosher Salt

Mix well.

Lastly, here is a picture of the bright Super Moon we had this past week.

For all the mom's out there including my own, I hope you had a fabulous Mother's Day!

Jen

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