I Wish I Was a Llama

Sri Sri Radha
HOLI Festival of Colors 2010
Check it out HERE

This was the end result....one happy face and a VERY HAPPY HEART!

Make a Little Art this Weekend!

I LOVE doing art projects with the kids!
Here are some of their marvelous recent creations for the school art show.
Isaac's painting "The Junkyard" was even selected to hang in the school hallway permanently.

We've also been playing around with Mod Podge and I am in LOVE....
I'm working on a few surprises for people so I'll have to post those later but the boys made these darling monogrammed plaques for their room with a little MP and some scraps of paper.
I think they turned out darling!

Thursday's Thought

Take pride in how far you have come and have faith in how far you can go.

Recipe of the Week

Hay & Straw Pasta

If you have spent any amount of time at our house, you have probably had this meal at one time or another. So many of you have begged me to send this one to you a time or two so now that it's on the blog, you always be able to find it....It is my very own made up recipe but it has a story.
When Mr. Hill and I were going to college HERE there was this great Italian Place he loved called Zio's and he thought he Hay and Straw there was killer!
Our first year of marriage I vowed to figure out how to make my own killer Hay & Straw so here's what I came up with:

Diced Ham

2 C Frozen Peas

Saute in 1 T butter and some fresh garlic

1 Package Fettuccine Noodles (boiled & drained)

1 T butter (melt in warm noodles)

Mix in 1 container sour cream and 1 pkg shredded Parmesan Cheese

Add Ham mixture and a little salt & pepper to taste.

Hint: I have also wanted to try making this with heavy cream


Warning: This is NOT a low calorie meal! But it is SO YUM and it may clog the arteries a bit!

Cash or Credit?

I had a recent conversation with our 7 year old regarding credit.
We had been to the dentist and he had a bit of a traumatic experience.
I stopped by the ATM to take out some cash and get him a Jamba Juice.

"Mom, can I ask a question?"
"Sure son"
"Was that our money you just got or money that belongs to someone else?"
"It's our money, why do you ask?"
"Well did you know there is something called credit, and if you use the banks money then they charge you more money. But mom, if you keep your money in the bank for a long time you earn something called interest and the bank actually pays you. I think that's what we should do with our money."


What a smart boy!
And I am so glad I must say that he's learning about things in 1st grade that I for one didn't even know about my senior year in high school!

It's FOR SURE A Monday....

And I have always had the philosophy that employers should take mercy on chronic nappers like me.
If smokers get a smoke break, shouldn't nappers legally be able to get a cat nap or two in during the work day.
HMMMMM, maybe Obama will add that little diddly into the health care reform for me~!

Thanks to one Abigail Hill who frequently "borrows" my camera to get sweet shots like this little beauty.

Dear BHG

You've taught me so much over the past 15 years of our association....
Like how to make near perfect orange rolls, beef stew, corn chowder, zucchini bread and oh so much more.
How could I ever repay you for the wealth of culinary knowledge you've provided me with?
Other people might trade you in for some other "flashy" "new" cookbook....NOT ME.
Oh, I have all of them...some of them are even autographed by famous chefs like Rick Bayless, Julia Child & Lydia Bastianich.
I met them all while working HERE for 5 years...those were great days, a sort of Culinary Renaissance for me.
None of them have done what you do for me.
Thank you for the domestic goddess you have transformed this silly little Missouri girl into.
Love, Your Most Loyal Chef

This was my mother's treasured cookbook all my growing up years. It is one of my prized possessions! It's kept together by lots of string and duct tape. Countless amazing meals have been prepared by her beautiful hands out of Betty Crocker's creations....

My favorite are these two pages: Chocolate Chip Cookies and Oatmeal Raisin. They are nearly falling apart and are considered by me to be valuable memorabilia of grand childhood memories.
Thanks MOMMA!

The Key to Making Yummy Cookies....

Is to look really cute!

Did I ever tell you that in this red bowl lies true treasures of my charmed life?
They are the VERY cookie cutters I used when I was three to make cookies with my momma and great-grandma.

Oh, and to LICK the bowl...
as stated in previous posts!

Flashback Friday...

An Unforgettable Trip to Yellowstone 2005

Thursday's Thought

Is it ME?

Or do we ALL feel a little like this at times????

Just When I Thought This Was ALL Behind Me....

Bad News arrives....
I went to see the surgeon who cunningly fixed this mess and put it back together again.
A month ago the x-rays looked fabulous!
This week there is evidence of a non-union in the fracture in my left foot.
Which means I am walking on a broken foot!
The culprit? He thinks a nasty infection that I've been fighting for 3 months that despite every antibiotic out there, won't seem to go away. This has kept the bone from healing.
The possible solution? New medication....
...AND daily bone stimulator treatments from a machine that costs $3500!
AHHHHHHH!
Please pray it's works!
If not, I'll be back in surgery.
I just want to do yoga again and run and play and hike and ride my bike!

Shenanigans.....

Can't you just see how much Tweeter Pie just loves her Hannah Bear?

My Favorite Things....

PARFAIT!

Take some of your favorite berries or fruit, add a little yogurt and top with granola or wheat germ and there you have it....
My favorite bedtime snack, PURE GOODNESS.
..And as Donkey says on Shrek:
"Parfait may be the most delicious thing in the whole d**n planet!"
I concur Donkey!