Little Boy Heaven

The city has been doing water pipe repairs on the street behind us for the last few days. As soon as Samuel hears the beeps of the tractors through the open windows, he is begging to go watch.

And don't think a little rain will deter this little guy!

"Come on mommy"

I love the concentration

He'd get a little annoyed when I asked him to look at the camera

(this is such a Pete look!)

Come rain or shine this is where you can find us until the job is done.

My New Obsession

Pioneer Woman. . .love her! My cousin, (thank you Amber!), had her listed under one of her favorites, so I took a gander over to The Pioneer Woman's website and now I'm hooked.

She has it all:

Recipes

(I made this cake for enrichment - yum!)

Daily Confessions

Beautiful Photography

and my FAVORITE

The Love Story

Warning: if you go to visit (especially the love story) be prepared to stay for awhile.

Quick!

Go here to get your years subscription to Real Simple for only $5!!

I LOVE this magazine and I REALLY LOVE a good deal!

Thanks to Melissa at 320 Sycamore for finding this amazing deal.

Buttermilk Syrup

This may not change your life. . .but then again it may.

Just look at this little boy's face!

I've always been a strictly maple syrup kind of gal, but this is AMAZING!

Try it and you to will be a believer.

1c. butter

2c. buttermilk

3c. sugar

2tbs white karo syrup

melt butter; add other ingredients. bring to boil; cook for 1-2 minutes, stirring. Remove from heat. then add:

4tsp baking soda

4tsp vanilla

stir until foam dissolves and it has a syrup texture. Store in fridge (you can use an old syrup bottle.)

You'll want to use a large sauce pan because it foams a lot! I half the recipe and it there is plenty for my little family of 3.

4th of July

I love, love, love the 4th of July!! Growing up it was always my favorite holiday. It never quite feels like the 4th since we've moved to Cleveland (big surprise, I know), but we had a nice day and made the most our holiday.

We BBQed with dear friends - I forgot my camera, so just picture the following:

perfect weather, delicious food, great conversation, kids chasing fireflies. . .perfect evening.

We then decided to skip the community fireworks and let Samuel try some store bought ones. I'm pretty sure it's safe to let a 2 yr old to play with sparklers!?!

Samuel throwing "poppers/snaps". The pic below is right before the little snap went off next to my ear, I was pretty sure I'd lost hearing in my right ear, but the ringing eventually stopped.

After watching the news reports on Iran (remember that little thing that was going on before Michael Jackson died) I was reminded of how much I take freedom for granted. I am SO grateful to live in such a wonderful country. I love my country.

God Bless the USA

Take Me Out to the Ball Game

One of Pete's friends from Utah was in Cleveland on business, so we decided to take him to an Indian's Baseball game. It was a first for all of us. Samuel was really into the game for um - oh about the first 5 minutes! Then he was really into running up and down the stairs and trying to escape. Luckily for us the stadium has a kid's play area, needless to that was where we spent the rest of the game.