BACHELOR PARTY

Someone is quite put out because he found out there is a party for Uncle Derek and he isn't allowed to come.

It's for men only - and he's a boy....

He promised he'd be good - why don't we believe him?...

Uncle Steve gets to go - why can't he?.... His solution is to have his own party at Sunday family dinner.

He has delegated Aunt Stephanie to bring decorations.

He assigned me to help him with invitations and to bring a dessert.

He said the adults can eat the food at his party BUT he was very specific about one thing.....He wants orange cream soda in the bottle and it's for kids only - adults have to bring their own soda.

He now thinks Uncle Derek is going to bring him a present.

He is ready to P~A~R~T~Y....

1987

This photo is in my mom's sewing room and made me smile today...

I'm 16 holding my baby brother, Derek. Our brother, Michael is swimming behind us.

WE'RE SEEING AN END IN SIGHT

Moving the business is almost finished - almost....

PS - While we were moving things outside the barn, we discovered our race tent had been chewed through and underneath was a mice nest.

Mama mice was moving her wee ones quickly.

Every time we would take a peek, a few of them would be gone.

Totally nasty but kind of cute....

FAREWELL BARN

We loved thee so, but we have to move forward....

You were good to us and we'll remember all your quirks fondly....

BROADWAY WAS THE THEME

for Erica's bridal shower...
Stephanie made four amazing personalized posters....

Ardith's beautiful backyard was decorated with white lights and white Chinese lanterns, small jars filled with white sand and tea lights...

We had a red carpet leading the guests from the driveway to the backyard...

There were white table linens and black tulle as accents and some whimsical black and white polka dotted balloons floating high....

A dessert table with amazingly delicious Broadway morsels, made by Sarah and Kim, was under the large decorated cherry tree....

The Broadway Dessert Table consisted of: Scarlet Pimpernel - Red Velvet Cupcakes, Mary Poppins - Lemon Water, Les Miserables - Plain Water, Mama Mia - Peanut Butter Cupcakes, The Producers - Cucumber Water.....

Dinglehoppers - Chocolate Chip Cookies, Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat - Tie-Dyed Sugar Cookies, Funny Girl - Lemon Cupcakes...

And what Broadway production is incomplete without beautiful paparazzi?...

It was a fun and delicious evening spent with our newest family member, along with family and some of her close friends....

And here's the committee (who Rocked.The.Casbah., if I don't say so myself) with our guest of honor.

I can't wait to see the paparazzi photos....

BLUEBERRY CAKE

This cake is even better the next day!

Blueberry Cake
4 large eggs
1 ¼ cups sugar
¾ cup unsalted butter, melted
½ cup extra virgin olive oil
¾ cup milk
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
zest of 2 oranges
zest of 2 lemons
3 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 ½ tsp baking powder
pinch of sea salt
3 cups fresh blueberries and extra for garnish

Preheat the oven to 350F. Generously butter a 9-inch pan and line the base with waxed paper and set aside.
Whisk the eggs and sugar for about 3 minutes, then add the butter, olive oil, milk, lemon and orange zest and vanilla. Mix well.
Mix in the flour, baking powder and salt until everything is thoroughly blended.
Set aside for 10 minutes for the flour to absorb the liquid.
Stir the blueberries into the batter and pour into your prepared cake pan. Scatter additional berries over the top of the batter.
Bake the cake for 45- 55 minutes, or until the top is a deep golden brown and a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
Let it cool on a wire rack in the pan for 10 minutes, then run a knife along the sides of the pan to turn it out.

GOOD-BYE OLD DAIRY BARN

Hello old grain silo.....

Our business is moving this week and we are busy, busy, busy with an exploding paint sprayer and a few more comedy of errors.

We're excited!

SOMETIMES OWNING YOUR OWN

business is great and sometimes it's the pits....
Dear tear ducts,
I wish I had control over you.

Dear DQ,
When you see me, please refuse my service. My hips and chubby cheeks thank you in advance.

Dear City,
I'm really a.n.g.r.y. and frustrated with you. You're lucky I'm not the Incredible Hulk or you'd be in big trouble.

Dear silver lining,
Please appear soon.

VANILLA ICE CREAM COVERED

with chocolate, dripping down arms and legs because it just can't be eaten fast enough in the summer heat.... These boys were completely oblivious to me while I was listening to their conversation about needing to put naughty stuffed animals in jail and that they needed to be the prison wardens because some of them had escape plans...

THE NEW YORK TIMES

is having a longboarding article in tomorrows sports section and Larry is quoted....

Photo by Steve Dykes

Check out the article here.
And watch The New York Times video produced by Erik Olsen here.

WHAT DID YOU DO

over the gorgeous weekend?Hope it was care-free and joyous.....

SUMMER SUNDAY FAMILY

dinner in the park....

Laughter, delicious food, great weather - it was a wonderful evening.

PS - As you know, Larry and I share a motorcycle, so we have to take turns.
I find it hilarious when we arrive somewhere as a family where he's driving the minivan and I'm on the bike....

ALICE HOME COLLECTION GIVEAWAY

Hand stitched Belgium linen - this gorgeous beauty got my attention!
If you'd like to enter the giveaway too, click here...

CHOCOLATE PEANUT BUTTER CUPCAKES

And to make it even better, they have chocolate ganache in the center.
I'm taking them to our family Sunday dinner and can't wait to see the lip licking.

Peanut Butter Cupcakes

1 Betty Crocker Triple Chocolate cake mix
1 cube butter, melted
1 cup whole milk
3 eggs

Mix all ingredients together on low for 30 seconds, then on medium high for 2 minutes. Spoon into liners and bake at 350 for 14 minutes or until done.

For ganache, melt 1 package semi sweet chocolate chips and 2 cups of cream until smooth and glossy. Let sit at room temperature until mixture thickens.

For frosting, beat for 2 minutes until smooth:
1/2 cup softened butter
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
4 cups powdered sugar
6 TBSP milk

Scoop out center of cooled cupcake with a melon baller, pipe in ganache and then pipe peanut butter frosting on top. Garnish with Reese's Peanut Butter Cup.

PS - I don't know the lady's name to give her credit, so just in case I'm asked to take the recipe off my blog, here is a very similar recipe from from Mermaid Sweets....

TRIM, TRIM, TRIM

I asked Larry to paint our chimney the trim color and wow what a difference!
We're almost done with the finishing touches - we should be finished with all the painting business next weekend......

COMMITMENT TIME

Larry and I went to a memorial service this morning for a dear, dear man who was a friend and example to all, a wonderful mentor to the youth and he will be greatly missed....

photo taken the summer of 2007 in Palmyra, New York

'Commitment Time'

I commit to having positive thoughts because thoughts decide my feelings.

I commit to having positive feelings because feelings decide my actions.

I commit to having positive actions because actions become habits.

I commit to having positive habits because habits become my values.

I commit to having positive values because values become my destiny.

-Ghandi

Thanks for the final thought Dale.
I hope to be half the person you were....

CUT TWO BEFORE REMOVING

was my 'ah-ha moment' when I read cake cutting tips in this article from One Charming Party....

photo by nicole hill gerulat

It's part of a How-To Series; Celebrating the Stuff We Know.
This series is fun, informative and genius, pure genius...

SET YOUR DVR'S

for tomorrow, Friday July 16 for 8pm on NBC for The Jensen Project....It is a movie that will promote wholesome family values in a positive manner, has no objectionable content, is family-friendly and only appropriate ads will run during commercial breaks.
Rating will determine the future of family films and possibly spinoffs of new television programs.
Help show the networks and the movie's corporate sponsors that this type of entertainment is wanted and appreciated.
We'll be having a family movie night at our house. I hope you will too.

SPLISHY SPLASHY

I don't think I need to tell you they were having fun.

But in case you can't tell - they were....

WE HAD AN AWESOME ASSEMBLY

line for the gorgeous wedding invitations that Ardith designed....1. We may have been a bit giddy toward the end.
2. We may have had delicious homemade cookies
3. I heart the new in-laws.
4. It's going to be a beautiful wedding!

WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN

all my life?
We picked a carrot today from our garden - YUM!!!
The one and only that we could see color peeking up from the soil.... We were very excited and can't wait for the rest to get growing so we can harvest them.
We have a taste test planned for the three types of carrots we planted - Danvers, Paris Market and Dragon.
Now our taste buds are extra anxious....

SHOPPING CART INCIDENT OF 2010

Ever have one of those days?
Yesterday was one of those days for me.
One of the days highlights was Landon getting his leg stuck in the shopping cart...

Being determined not to have the fire department come to the parking lot to release my hysterical son from captivity, I called our Super Hero Daddy.... Luckily, he was within minutes of us and being the MacGyver Eagle Scout man he is, used a tire jack and saved the day.....

OUR GARAGE DOORS

are receiving an update with the same Gila Privacy Frosted Window Film treatment that we used for our laundry room window.....I'm thrilled with how this simple procedure is making such a huge impact.
Still on the wish list are the stainless steel garage doors .....