Celtic Woman

Last night Jared and I drove to Kansas City for a fun date night. I got an unbelievable last minute deal on half price tickets to see Celtic Woman at the Sprint Center. It was amazing! We had floor seats on the 7th row center section. We got to Kansas City about 5 or so, so we parked and looked around the adjacent Power and Light District. You need to check this place out! It has tons of restaurants, a movie theatre, 2 other theatres and an outdoor stage. There is a "upscale-retro" bowling alley and lounge called Lucky Strikes and even a kids area. We decided to eat at Ted's Montana Grill (great steak, chicken, and bison--did not try the bison by the way!) As we were seated I saw that the girl sitting at the next table was actually the violinist/fiddler from Celtic Woman!!! Seriously, there she was just finishing her meal with one of the band members. Crazy! You would think they would just cater in or something. After we ate dinner, there was an art show going on, so we walked around for a bit looking at the different works. Then I had to have some frozen yogurt from a place called Yummo (and it was!) It was a little self serve joint and you got a cup for $2. Great. We went over and picked up our tickets at will call and went in for the show. This tour is called Isle of Hope. It was so beautiful and so were all of them! There was hardly any talking in the whole show and none at all in the first half. So you really got your money's worth on the music. They did all their usual well known songs that they do, and then they had some new one relating to the theme of "Isle of Hope" about immigrants coming to Ellis Island, one was incredibly moving about a 15 year old girl coming over from Ireland. Also a new one called O, America. They also did their versions of contemporary songs like "Field of Gold" by Sting, "True Colors" by Cyndi Lauper/Phil Collins, You'll Be in My Heart by Phil Collins, "There Can Be Miracles" by Mariah Carey and "Have I Told You Lately That I Love You?" I love their version of You Raise Me Up. My favorite was the 1st encore, "Spanish Lady". If you haven't seen them, check out one of their dvds or watch for them on pbs. They are also going to be on Good Morning America Tuesday, June 30th at 8AM.

The girl's first day at grandma's and this is what I get when I open up my e-mail. What is going on there anyway?

Hotel Grand-Ma

Yesterday my mom and dad met us in Springfield to pick up their darling grandchildren. They are staying with them until the 4th. Now I am here in my own personal fortress of solitude. Until Jared gets home! Thanks grandma and grandpa! Have fun Madison and Gabrielle!

Brace Yourself

Here is Madison fresh from the orthodontist. She chose the lilac and rose colored bands. She came home with a goodie bag chock full of flossers, wax, t-shirt, and lots of macaroni and cheese. I thought that was hilarious. She got along just fine today. The real pain will probably kick in tomorrow. She was so excited to finally get her braces!

More Pictures for Grandma

Here are a few more pictures of the girls (a one dog!) for the grandparents. We took these before we left for St. Louis.

Father's Day Weekend

We had a fun weekend-- Father's Day and Madison's last weekend without braces. They go on Monday!

Friday night we christened the new grill and grilled some chicken marinated in a mesquite marinade with lime. I did not get a picture because it was done so fast! While it was grilling I put together the salad to go with it! YUM! The girls gave Jared their Father's Day gifts a little early- the original Star Wars trilogy on dvd. We did a little Old Navy shopping and then to Coldstone (thanks to my neighbor who gave us a $25 gift card!!) Then we felt the need to walk that off, so we walked around the university before heading home.

Saturday we got a few chores done before driving to St. Louis with the girls. Once in St. Louis we stopped by Union Station for a bite to eat first and then went on over to the Scott Trade Center for the Mormon Tabernacle Choir & Orchestra at Temple Square concert. We were so lucky with our seats! Madison and I sat together on a side (but close) seats and Gabrielle, Jared and an investigator from our ward had floor seats. I only took one picture while they were entering. I did not want to be one of those rude people who take flash pictures all through a concert. This is the first time any of us had seen them in person and it was really fantastic. People talk about how they are as one sound and it is true! It was fun to watch Mack Wilburg, the director. The concert also included announcer Lloyd Newell from their weekly broadcast Music and the Spoken Word. We also enjoyed the talented musicians that make up the orchestra. The highlight (for me) was soloist Alex Boye´singing songs in the section "Songs of Faith and Hope". The program was so rich and diverse. It was definitely worth the drive there and back!

Sunday in Primary our family was the "spotlight" family. We told a little about ourselves and then the girls played two songs on their flutes. It was so quiet in there when they were playing it was amazing! After church Sunday we spent a relaxing Sunday afternoon watching some golf and doing some more grilling! We grilled a Hawaiian pork tenderloin and potatoes. Our other neighbor came over with some ribs as well. And we had the banana pudding squares for dessert. We love you Jared! You are the best! We hope you had a great weekend! Here are a few pictures!

Father's Day Dessert

I made these for Father's Day. I made them Saturday before we left for St. Louis so they could be all chilled and ready to go for Sunday, but we ended up sampling them before that. Jared wanted something with not a lot of calories, but still tasty. These only have 120 calories per serving (about a 2 inch square). It was funny that Jared got out a tape measure to cut them and make sure he was staying on track with the calories. This is a great summer dessert for those who like banana cream pie.

Banana Pudding Squares

35 Reduced Fat NILLA Wafers, finely crushed (about 1-1/4 cups)
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) margarine, melted
1 pkg. (8 oz.) PHILADELPHIA, 1/3 Less Fat than Cream Cheese, softened
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 tub (8 oz.) COOL WHIP Sugar Free Whipped Topping, thawed, divided
3 bananas, sliced
2 pkg. (1 oz. each) JELL-O Vanilla Flavor Fat Free Sugar Free Instant Pudding
3 cups cold fat-free milk
1/2 square BAKER'S Semi-Sweet Chocolate, grated

COMBINE crumbs and margarine; press onto bottom of 13x9-inch dish. Refrigerate.

MIX cream cheese and sugar in medium bowl with whisk until blended. Stir in 1-1/2 cups COOL WHIP; spread over crust. Top with bananas.

BEAT pudding mixes and milk with whisk 2 min.; spread over bananas. Top with remaining COOL WHIP and chocolate. Refrigerate 3 hours.

Old Navy Coupons

So I found out something really cool. I am probably way behind on this and everyone already knows this, but I had never seen it before. Gabrielle wanted a flag hat from Old Navy for the Fourth of July so Friday I went on the their website and they had this game you could play to make your own coupon. I got a 15% off your entire purchase one. You have to play some sort of game, this time it was just clicking around to see where they were hiding. They only have so many of each coupon. There was one that was $50 off a $75 purchase! They load the coupons on their website on Thursday nights. New ones each week or so! When we got there all the men's stuff was 50% off as well, so Jared got some incredible deals on exercise clothes and stuff. Madison got some jean shorts on clearance, Gabrielle got her hat and some sunglasses and everyone went home happy! Yeah!

Boy Meets Grill

We got a new grill and here is Jared with all the parts. Sorry, I did not get an after photo, but it is now standing ready to grill. I have many desires for this addition to the deck. I hope for a cooler kitchen and lower utility bills (from not having to turn on the oven every night this summer). I hope for help with dinner. I hope for more family togetherness and even some fun entertaining. I hope to try lots of fun new grilling recipes, too. Most of all, I hope it gets cleaned! This is just a basic cheap-o model, (something my brother would probably buy his 10 year old son as a toy) but hopefully it will rise to the challenge of fulfilling all my grilling fantasies.

Chicken Burgers

I make turkey burgers all the time, but I had never made a chicken burger and really wanted to try it. So I finally tracked down some ground chicken and made this recipe that was on the back of the package. I made them as mini burgers (making 8) and served them on little Sara Lee sandwich rolls. They were so good! Great for summer time!

Smart Chicken Burgers

1 lb. Ground Smart Chicken ®
3 Tbsp olive oil
1 dash pepper
1 dash salt
Flour for coating

Dampen hands for easier handling. Divide chicken into four equal balls and press into four equal patties. Lightly dust patties with flour and season to taste with salt and pepper (I used garlic salt, too). Heat olive oil in 10-12 inch skillet. Cook patties on medium to high heat until patties are cooked through. (165° internal temp). Place patties on toasted buns and dress to your preference.

National Fudge Day

Did you know that June 16th is National Fudge Day? I found that out and since my electric skillet was already out, I made a batch with Gabrielle after dinner. We use a recipe from a dear friend of ours. Gabrielle even calls it "Brother Dalene Fudge". Jared usually makes the fudge in our family, but I think we did all right. He did help us testing to see if it had gotten to the right stage (soft ball). It is a pretty exact science! Here is the recipe. It is a little vague, but I will put it down as it is written.




Peanut Butter Fudge

3 cups sugar
3 heaping Tablespoons of cocoa
3/4 cup milk
1/2 cup corn syrup
1 1/2 inch of a cube of butter (or the size of an egg)
1/8 tsp salt

Add the ingredients into an electric skillet. Mix together with temperature at 360°. Bring to a boil. Do not stir while it is coming to a boil. Test a spoonful in cold water. When it has reached the soft ball stage turn off the heat, add 1 Tablespoon of vanilla and 1 cup creamy peanut butter. Stir until stiff. Pour into a buttered 8 x 12 pan. Leave enough in the skillet for the kids and dad to scrap out. Refrigerate until cool.

See what I mean? A funny recipe, but so yummy. AND it is great for sharing with your friends and neighbors. Happy National Fudge Day! If you google "National Food Holidays" you will find a whole list for these types of days throughout the year. It is fun to see what is on or around your birthday.

Boston Cream Pie Minis

I made these delicious cupcakes for our Family Home Evening treat yesterday. If you like Boston Cream Pie like I do, this recipe is for you. It gives you all the flavors of Boston Cream Pie, but in a smaller size and much less effort! You could even do them in mini muffin pans for a cute bite-size version, great on a dessert buffet.

Boston Cream Pie Minis

1 pkg yellow cake mix (2-layer size)
1 cup cold milk
1 pkg (4 serving size) vanilla instant pudding
½ cup Cool Whip
1 can chocolate frosting (I use Duncan Hines classic chocolate)

Preheat oven to 350°. Prepare cake batter and bake in 24 greased medium muffin pan cups as directed on package. Cool 10 minute in pans. Remove to wire racks to cool completely.

Pour milk into a large bowl. Add dry pudding mix. Beat with a wire whisk 2 minutes, or until well blended. Let stand 5 minutes to thicken. Meanwhile, using a serrated knife, cut cupcakes in half horizontally. Gently stir the Cool Whip into the pudding. Spoon about 1 Tablespoon of pudding mixture onto the bottom half of each cupcake (I use my smallest cookie scoop), cover with top of cupcake.

Microwave frosting for a few seconds to make it easier to spread. Frost each cupcake top with 1 – 1½ Tablespoons frosting. Refrigerate at least 15 minutes before serving. Store leftover cupcakes in the refrigerator.

New Recipe

I am always ready to try a new side dish recipe. I get tired of the same old thing over and over. I found this recipe and tried it this week. It was really good. I served this with ham, but it would be good with chicken or fish, too. Give it a try! I substituted rotisserie chicken seasoning for the paprika.

Paprika Potatoes and Green Beans

1/2 pound red skinned potatoes (cut into 1/2 inch pieces)
2 cups frozen green beans
3 Tablespoons melted butter
1/2 tsp garlic salt
1/4 tsp paprika
1/4 tsp pepper (I used white)

Cover potatoes with water and bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover, and cook 10 - 12 minutes. Add green beans and cook 5 more minutes longer or until potatoes and beans are tender. Drain. (I also returned the potatoes and green beans to the pot and put them on the warm burner and shook the pan to dry the potatoes a little more).

In a small bowl combine melted butter, garlic salt, pepper and paprika. Pour over potatoes and stir gently to coat.

You can adjust the seasonings to you own taste. I actually doubled the seasonings because I did not want it to be bland. It was great! AND it was not corn, our usually standby with a green salad and meat.

Imagine That

We took the girls to see the movie "Imagine That" last night starring Eddie Murphy. It was so cute. It made me think of my imaginary friend days when I was about that age. We all loved it! It is hard to find a good movie for our older girls to watch that is entertaining. This definitely fit for our family. There is also lots of fun things on the official movie website.

Looks Familiar

This would be my brother. Anyone agree?

Hi! Welcome to Blockbuster!

When Jared is away traveling, I get a movie or two and stay up later than usual and watch movies that he would not enjoy. Then the girls like to rent their movies, of course. And then there is just the general quick dinner and a video date while the girls are babysitting. And we often shop the previously viewed movies and buy those, especially kids ones. And we joined the rewards program thing where we get a free rental just about every other week. So, we are in there to the same store "pretty often". It goes in spurts. Lately we have been on one of those spurts. When we go in the manager is often the only one working there and checks us out. He has also recommended other movies to me, which I have rented even if they were weird! Once we rented Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure and he was so excited because that was one of his "employee picks" and it had his name "JEREMY" right on it on a little label. We said we thought it would be funny to show our kids a movie we like when we were in high school. (I think I blogged about this previously). The girls liked it so much we rented it again on another occasion. Ok, now I know that we go to Blockbuster WAY too much. Because today he was there and said, "Aren't you the people who liked Bill and Ted?" Oh yeah, we said. So he asked the girls if they had seen the sequel, Bill and Ted's Bogus Journey. So when we said, oh no, we hadn't, he reaches back to his "private stash" and said, "Here-- this is my personal copy! You can just borrow it from me." WELL, how many of you have had that happen to you in your local blockbuster? I thought not!

Day at the Lake

We spent most of the day today at Lake Ozark and Osage Beach-- and we did not even get wet! I didn't bring my camera, enough pictures yesterday. We stopped at the welcome center first (which is actually a huge log home/lodge type structure that looks out onto the lake). The view was super! We walked through the museum part of it that told the history of the area and how they built Bagnell Dam. We picked up a few coupons/brochures, etc. Then we headed over to Sugar Creek for a game of mini-golf. Jared beat us all, of course. It was so fun though and again, we enjoyed great weather and beautiful scenery. We had Culver's for lunch and then went to do a little outlet shopping. It is fun to get a good bargain, like Aero-postal jeans for the girls for $5.99. We also enjoyed Coldstone today at the outlet mall. So yummy! We drove back home, fixed a quick dinner and the girls played their flutes for everyone tonight. It was another great day with our family!

KC Zoo

We spent a fun day with perfect weather for the Kansas City Zoo. Here are some pictures :
Sorry so many-- I couldn't decide.


























The Kansas City Zoo is a wonderful place to explore. I enjoyed all the walking and the great weather. It wasn't above 75 degrees, there was a nice cool breeze and so much shade. It is divided into regions, so we got to explore Africa, Asia, Australia, the new Tropics exhibit with rain forest, and much much more. That little meerkat sunning himself belly up was too cute! The girls all watched Madagascar 2, Escape to Africa tonight to top off the all day animal adventure. We like to move-it-move-it!