Saying Goodbye...

Saying Goodbye to Ms. Keri.

Saying goodbye to Ms. Jessie.

Nathan's last day of daycare - he starts preschool full-time on Monday.

I will truly miss Ms. Keri, who was absolutely exceptional at what she did.

Ms. Keri, you are a complete professional, I wish you the best and will truly miss you!

Ms. Jessie, thank you loving on Nathan, giving him hugs, kisses and being so sensitive to his needs.

You will truly be missed as well!

Rain, Rain, Stay!

It rained.  It was bliss.  It was short lived. It only lasted 5 minutes. :o(

Mis-matched Crafts

We made some crafts after dinner.  Nathan cut and glue the feathers for his headband and I helped cut the giraffe body while he glued the straps in place.  Neither item goes with the other.  hahaha!  I should still get credit just for trying to do crafts with my kid though!

Mom, my grapes are juicy.

Those were his exact words.  :o)

Butterfly Craft

Nathan will soon be leaving Keri's daycare and preschool to attend Freedom Christian Academy (FCA) full time. Today's picture of the day is a little butterfly gift bag that Nathan helped make at Keri's today.  I'll miss seeing these fun little projects Keri would have the kids make!

I just realized I set the butterfly upside down, the eyes should be at the top, hahaha!

Playing

This is Nathan playing with his buddy, Brian, who is also 3 but trapped in a big man's body.

Hahaha!

Cropduster

As Nathan and I headed to the Arizona Puppet Show today, I was scared to death by a plane that was driving unusually low over the road I was driving.  Then I realized why. It was a crop duster.  I had to pull over and snap some pictures.

Celebrating 11 Years

Friday night, Greg and I celebrated our11 year anniversary at Houston's Restaurant.

Fifteen years ago, Houston's was the restaurant of our 'first' date.

Over the years, we have never experimented with ordering a different meal than the original.

We always order the same meal - every single time and it never disappoints.

In our celebratory spirit, we tried to capture a picture of us with the Houston's sign behind us but...

well, it didn't work out. ;o)

I gave up and just took a picture of the sign by itself!

Happy Anniversary to the best husband I've ever had.

Hahaha! Love you honey.  :o)

Thursday's Picture of the Day: Not gonna make it.

It's not looking good for you, sad little tree.

Pool Jumping

There were three, couldn't pick just one.  :o)

How to Make Iced Coffee!

Mrs. Anders, per your request I am reposting this Iced Coffee post (originally posted Summer of '09).

Iced Coffee is the answer to surviving Summer in Arizona and still getting my coffee fix in the mornings.  The only issue is, buying Iced Coffee every day is not convenient nor cheap. So I learned how to make it myself. For those who also appreciate a cool glass of Iced Coffee, here are some instructions on how to make a really good glass of Iced Coffee:

There are a few approaches on how to make homemade iced coffee, but frankly, most of them are not very good. The standard approach of brewing a pot of coffee, pouring it over ice, and adding a little milk and sugar, results in a lukewarm, watered-down coffee with no strength. Here is the best way to make homemade iced coffee like a pro. 

Start off Strong
The first thing to do is brew up a large pot of coffee just as you normally would. The only difference is that you want to make the coffee stronger than normal. Since it will be watered down, we need to compensate and start stronger initially to maintain the coffee's strength and flavor. If you typically use one tablespoon per cup, you will want to use about one and a half tablespoons per cup for your iced coffee. 

Sweeten the Pot
Most people will add sugar or sweetener after the coffee has cooled. This is a big no-no as sugar does not dissolve in water. So instead, while the coffee still hot, stir in your desired amount of sugar. You will want to add a little more sugar than you normally would to a hot cup of coffee. There are a few other options to sweeten your iced coffee that work just as well as sugar. You can use sweetened condensed milk in place of sugar which works very well. Another option is to use flavored syrups which come in a variety of flavors perfect for iced coffee like mocha, vanilla, and irish cream.  

Ice Comes Later
If you really want to learn how to make homemade iced coffee, be sure to avoid the biggest mistake people make when making homemade iced coffee. This mistake is to pour the hot coffee directly over ice. This will water the coffee down too much, and leave you with a weak and flavorless iced coffee. What you want to do is put the hot batch of coffee into the refrigerator and let it cool overnight. Do not add the hot pot of coffee directly into the fridge, as it could crack. First, add it to a pitcher or carafe. This requires some patience, so make sure to plan ahead.

Once your batch of iced coffee has cooled, it is ready to be served. Pour the cooled coffee over a lot of ice and add a little milk or cream. Stir the mixture very well and enjoy your refreshing homemade iced coffee!

If you give this a try, you'll be surprised to find that it's actually better than one of those Starbucks frappucino on-the-go drinks!  Cheers!

San Tan Mountains

While I was driving home from the grocery store yesterday, the mundane became majestic.  

So often I drive right by this small mountain range without giving it a thought.

To often, I'm to busy - to preoccupied and I neglect to notice things around me that are worthy of a second, lingering glance.

At the taking of this picture, I took a moment to appreciate what lie straight ahead of me.

It may not be as grand as other mountains but if I stop comparing it, I will find it easier to appreciate and

I will find that it is still great in it's own right. 

And yes, I am definitely speaking metaphorically.  :)

(Although I just took this picture yesterday, I gave the picture an aged  look with a vintage frame and overlay in Photoshop)

Monday's POTD

I had a dilemma for Monday's Picture of the Day.  I had two pictures that I was torn between posting.

This picture of Greg with the disassembled dash of my car....cool pic.

or this picture that I took of a vehicle I saw at the gas station yesterday...

What is this called? A Lincoln Limo 4x4? (seen in Apache Junction, for those wondering)

Today. Nothing Special.

Nothing special today.  Just a few pics of Nathan and I eating our donuts at the park. Our little custom on Sunday mornings before church.

Can you believe this? Nathan took this picture of me.  Rule of thirds.  This kid is something else.

Homes of Hope Car Wash

Who sacrifices a Saturday to wash cars in 108 degree weather?  We do.  Our fundraiser car wash was  today  and despite the raging heat, no one passed out or threw up.  I classify this as a success.  We started about 8:30am and wrapped up about 12:30, in that timeframe about 16 or so cars were washed.  We accepted any cash donation for the car washes and at the end of the day we raised $155.00.

Some pictures...

Here I am working my corner...hahaha!!

Fired up the Grill

Greg completed a fantastic landing pad for the grill to sit on so after a 2 year hiatus, we finally fired up the grill!  We had barbecue pork shoulder something, I thought it was ribs but that's another story... 

Making Signs

Making car wash signs for Saturday's fundraiser, 2 down, 3 to go!

We take Cash!

We sold the Honda Pilot to a lovely couple from Prescott.  They drove in this afternoon, checked out the car and bought it. It was a close call though. The couple actually looked at someone else's Pilot and offered to buy it but, get this...the sellers didn't want to take Cash.  Uh. Ok.

I will grant you this.  In our day and age, who pays Cash for anything right?  I once used my debit card to buy .88 cents worth of stamps. I never have Cash, but I certainly don't have anything against Cash!  I love Cash -  I wish I had more of it!  hahaha!

Needless to say, when it was time to sell the car...WE TAKE CASH! And the car is now sold.

I have to say though that I have immense respect for this couple who bought our car in full with Cash.  It's admirable.  I wish I were more self disciplined to live like that - except that I'm not.

By the way, the Cash has since been deposited in the bank, just in case you were thinking of breaking in tonight.  :o)

July 4th Festivities

On July 4th we hung out at the Dercks, celebrated Norton/Strother birthdays and ate like gluttons.  It was a good day.

I wanted to see if I could fit in Nathan's little boat...sorda. hahaha!

 Nathan is getting very comfortable with in the pool, here he is jumping in with reckless abandon. I love these shots of Nathan air-borne, just plain fun.

Here's a video of Nathan jumping:


Here's a video of Nathan going under water:


For some reason this next picture is just uber cool to me. It has that artistic element to it, of course it wasn't anything I planned -  it just happened.  This is one of my new favorites, as in frame-able.  :o)

Keeping the momentum up. ;o)

Have you met ME?

Have you met ME?

 If not, I'd like to introduce you to ME.

Perhaps you've seen ME and didn't know it.

 This is ME.

 Allow me to introduce you to the artist, Mary Engelbreit.

One of my favorite artists for a little over 10 years now, which began when

Greg and I received this engagement card from Stuart & Sharon Tolles.

(inside of the card)

This card sparked my love for Mary Engelbreit's artwork and designs.
When I look at her stuff...it just makes me happy. (giggle-giggle) :o)

And over the years, these little pieces of art have become creeds to live by.

Like this one, "She who laughs, lasts." Laughter is so important in our lives.

Stop looking back at the past or at things that are no longer an option.
Life is ahead, keep moving forward.

Another good one; LET GO of the baggage and go on with life!

Now, if you see a little somethin-somethin and your wondering who it was designed by,

 look for the black and white ME monogram somewhere in the corner,
chances are it's by Mary Englebreit. :o)

So in case you didn't know ME.

I wanted to introduce you.

Now you know ME!