Lemons Anyone?

Our Lemon tree is budding so we had the girls pick the last remaining bunch of lemons. And this is what we got...302 lemons! I have plenty of lemon juice in my freezer and would love to share our bounty of lemons with you. Come over anytime! Quantity limited, offer good while supplies last!

My friend Becky Haymore gave me a great lemonade recipe...

Best Lemonade Ever

1 3/4 cups white sugar

8 cups water

1 1/2 cups lemon juice

1. In a small saucepan, combine sugar and 1 cup water. Bring to boil and stir to dissolve sugar. Allow to cool to room temperature, then cover and refrigerate until chilled.
   
2. Remove seeds from lemon juice, but leave pulp. In pitcher, stir together chilled syrup, lemon juice and remaining 7 cups of water. YUMMY!

In case you ever wondered how many lemons it takes to make 1 gallon of pure lemon juice, it's 51 lemons...this will yield 5 gallons of lemonade

Springtime in Arizona

It's 76° and and our orange tree is blooming today. When I walk outside, I'm blasted by the sweet fragrance. Here are some of the sights around the yard this morning.

Mr. Fix It

I was really irritated a few nights ago when I put a load of laundry in my front load washer. I loaded the towels, closed the door, the door locked, and then I got an error message. I followed the directions to clear the error and it would not clear. It was time to call in … Mr. Fix It!
Seth needed the model number to find the correct manual online. Come to find out that the model number is on the inside of the door that WOULD NOT OPEN. I was really annoyed at this point because I needed clean towels and did not want to pay someone to fix the washer. Seth got the model number over the phone from Sears, found the manual, cleared the code, fixed the door that would not unlock. He found that a few wires had come loose from the lock and reconnected them.
I'm truly grateful to have a husband that can fix things.

Horse Crazy!!!!

Alex L O V E S horses! She has been asking for a horse for a very long time. Last fall break Alex went to a horse camp where she had a daily riding lesson and every morning they had to clean the stable, feed the horses and learned how to groom the horses. The camp accelerated her love for the animal. Last weekend I took Alex to the Arabian Horse Show in Scottsdale. I hoped this would satisfy her hunger to have a horse and it would make a nice Alex-and-Mom day. My friends, Lisa and Erin, went with us and Erin was able to talk shop (stable?) with Alex. She had horses growing up in Indiana and also rode competitively. The day was really nice. We walked the stables and pet the horses and watched a jumping and costume class.

At the end of a nice day my plan backfired: Alex went home with tears in her eyes. "I really want a horse!" She asked if she could go online to look for horses. I thought that was a great idea . Horses cost a lot of money and this hopefully would stifle the dream of owning one at the age of 9 1/2...

Mom and Alex at the horse show. Notice the cute horse shirt and necklace she wore that day.



Alex went on Craig's List and found horses for sale anywhere from $500 dollars on-up. This made the situation worse because now she realizes that she has enough in savings to buy her own horse. We did find a lady on Craig's List who needs someone to feed her horses 2 x's a week with some lite stall cleaning and in turn will give one FREE riding lesson a week. What a great opportunity for Alex to work for something that she really wants and learn responsibility and how to care for horses. Alex is willing and ready to commit to this great opportunity the only problem is... Am I willing and ready to commit? What is a parent to do!?!?!?

This is a picture of the horse that Alex found on line for $500--Spanish Mustang Filly.

She has been begging and pleading to buy this horse. She even offered to sell all her beloved stuff animals and do yard work for $5.00 an hour to cover boarding expenses. She will need 20 yards to make $100 each month to cover the boarding expenses.

Racing Day

Jeremy can't wait until he can drive. So we took him to F1 Race Factory for his birthday. This place is fun!

Happy Birthday Jeremy

Today Jeremy is 15 years old, standing at 5' 11", with a head of hair that any woman would die for.

He started high school in the fall and loves to hang out with friends at the bike park, play video games and on occasion will play with his sisters. He's looking forward to getting his driving permit in 6 months … watch out everyone! Happy Birthday Jeremy. We love you and hope you have a great day!

Love,

Dad, Evon, Rachel and Alex

Fend For Your Self … I'm taking the night off!

I have decided to institute a new program in our home, "Fend for Yourself Night" which will take place at least once a week. This means that each individual is on their own to fix their own dinner for the evening and clean up the mess. They can have anything their little or big heart's desire, left overs, cereal, frozen waffles and sandwiches, I don't care what they choose to eat. They know how to boil water (mac n' cheese) use a microwave, and they know how to spread peanut butter on bread. Why not put these skills to good use!

The reason I've started this is because on some nights I don't feel like cooking or even want to think about what to cook and maybe I'm not even that hungry and snacking will suit my nutritional needs--so why am I gonna cook a meal!. I have a wonderful husband who cooks and picks up the slack for me, but sometimes we need the night off.

I like to believe I'm training my kids to be independent and self-reliant. Plus it's kind of fun watching them...Fend for Themselves!

Cooking 101

Alex cooked rice pudding today all by herself. I stood by just to capture the Kodak moment

She measured out all her ingredients

Waiting for the ingredients to boil and photo opp with mom.

Voila...it's ready to be chilled:

The taste testers...

Two Thumbs Up!!! It was delicious. I'm so proud of Alex this was her first time cooking, aside from boiling water to make hot chocolate. She is becoming a lovely young lady.

Go Cardinals!

hehehe … I really don't care about the Super Bowl. It's just a great excuse to get together with family and eat lots of yummy food!! Hope everyone has a great day today!