Post Memorial Day Picnic Dishes

I was asked to be in charge of food for our Church Memorial Day picnic, so I picked up food last Friday night when I was doing my shopping. On Sunday I started asking around to get an estimate on the number of people that planned on attending and there were double what they thought might attend in the beginning! No big deal since I being a typical mom, I was already worried there wasn't going to be enough food and had bought extra. I just needed to make a quick trip to the store this morning and pick up a few more hamburgers, hot dogs and buns. (We were providing the burgers and dogs with pot luck for the sides and dessert.)

Last night I made plain jello, garbage bars and deviled eggs. Then because we were expecting 90 degree weather I grabbed a bunch of bowls from the church kitchen. That way we could put some ice in the bottom of the bowls and then put potato, egg or other side dishes in them so they would stay cool in the heat. I think it worked out pretty good. The only down side was the pile of dishes that I brought home. Between the bowls, cooking pans I used to make my own sides, the plates for serving my sides, coolers, and a few hand wash dishes that I must confess had been sitting on the side of the sink for a few day, there was a huge pile of hand wash dishes to be done. So I should rest easy tonight knowing that they are done and not waiting for me to do in the morning.

Michigan has also had a VERY WET spring. So the park had many pools of standing water in and around the pavilion and playground. At least the baseball diamond was dry enough to play on! On the down side though most of the kids were covered in wet muddy clothes and shoes by the end of the day. 4 loads of laundry later the kids should be set to go back to school tomorrow as long as their shoes dry in time.

So over 12 hours after I started to day I am ready to relax. And next time I feel guilty about reading a book for an afternoon I will try and remember that it is okay to relax sometimes because not everyday needs to be this exhausting!

Here is the breadstick recipe that people ask me for...enjoy! Sorry there are no pictures, it would help if I had a camera.

Breadsticks
By Janelle Tebbs

¾ cup warm water
½ tbl yeast
1 tbl sugar
1 tsp salt
2 cup flour
2-3 tbl melted butter
Garlic, salt, and Parmesan cheese

Start yeast, water and half the sugar. Add to flour, salt and the rest of the sugar. Mix until a soft dough. Pour half of the melted butter onto the bottom of pan and place rolled out dough on top. Pour the rest of the butter and spread on top. Sprinkle with garlic, salt and parmesan cheese. Cut into breadsticks. I usually use a pizza cutter. Let rise for 45 minutes and then bake at 375 for 12-15 minutes.

unwanted house guest

spring break fort

This year for spring break we stayed home. We would have loved to go back to KC for a visit but with a long driving trip planned this summer we decided to stay put. Of course, the weather didn't work out for the soccer camp we planned to put the boys in for the week so we were left to our own selves for entertainment. The kids are really into making forts on the weekends. This usually just ends up with a bunch of blankets that I feel like washing because I have a laundry compulsion. Anyway, after watching their attempts to make separate forts and seeing my couches turned upside down, I decided it was time to teach them how to make a real fort.

So using their bookshelf that is anchored to the wall we lined up all 3 twin size mattresses and turned the bed frames on their sides. All it took then was a few hockey sticks lashed together in the middle to hold the blankets up. We used some chairs from the table for an entrance and even put the small TV and DVD player from my old stamping office on one of the chairs for their movie watching pleasure! (It's the same TV I bought to take with me to college with a built in VHS player:) All in all they had a fun time in their fort and the best part was that it never collapsed on them in the night. It did have to be rebuilt every evening before bed though.

First day of Spring Break

The toothless wonder gets a haircut!

playing at the park

The tempurature broke 60 for this first time since november! So naturally we headed off to the park. Especially since the sun made an appearance too. The boys brought along some friends and played some form of dodgeball until someone got mad and quit. Naturally taking turns burying each other in the sand is the only thing left to do.