Lemon Kick!

                                

Did you see my post for the Lemon Sugar?  Check it out HERE .

Well ever since I made it and helped host a PINK baby shower this past Saturday, I have been craving lemons and or pink lemonade.

At the shower a friend made some oh so yummy pink lemonade cookies and I made a pink lemonade sherbet punch.  This was enough to get me on a LEMON KICK!!!!  I love the tart taste of lemons  with the sweetness.  And for this time of year these flavors are so refreshing! 

School is out for a month, I have FREE time and need a project.  What is more fun than being in the kitchen trying out new recipes and making some old favorites.

So in May I am going to share some lemon and pink lemonade recipes.  Perfect for spring and summer. 

What to look for in May:
-Lemon pound cake
-Lemon scones
-Lemon bars(from the archives)
-Pink lemonade pie(from the archives)
-Pink lemonade sherbet punch
-Frozen pink lemonade bars

What to look for this week:
Frozen pink lemonade bars.....hopefully tomorrow!!!

Happy Monday everyone.

FUN Friday!!!

Not just FUN Friday, but Fantastic Friday!!!!

Not starting school until 10:30 makes it super FUN! 

Talking me into making pancakes makes it even more FUN!  I NEVER make pancakes...that is Brant's job.

Knowing we are done with school after today for a whole month makes it a SUPER FANTASTIC Friday!!!!

What are you doing FUN today?

Get outside...have some FUN!  Make it FUN and whatever you do today....make it a SUPER FANTASTIC FUN Friday outdoors!!!

Lemon Sugar

Sugar and spice make everything nice, but sugar and citrus make gift-giving delicious.


Aren't they beautiful?!?!

I was digging around the other day in search of something I had misplaced.  I know I recently saw it and now can't remember where!  Don't you hate when that happens? And I still have not found it!!! 

While looking in my china cabinet drawers I came across something I had torn out of a Hallmark Magazine in the March/April 2007 edition.  Seriously!  2007!!! I could not believe I found this.  I bet at one time I was looking for it too!

I remember tearing it out because I knew it would make a delectable gift!  So I started gathering all my supplies.  I totally forgot about looking for what I was looking for!

I had most everything on hand.  I was set to get started.  First though I wanted to find the article.  I knew I would share this sweet little idea with you all and wanted to make sure to attach a link.  When I printed it out back in 2007 not only did I print a picture of it, but also some super cute tags and recipe card that goes along with it.  So I wanted to share that as well.

I couldn't find it anywhere! Nope!  No luck.

And as I looked I couldn't find "Hallmark Magazine" anymore either.  IF you start searching and find it PLEASE let me know. 

Now lets get started!

I used lemons, but you can use any citrus you like....you'll see the tags in a second, but you could make lemon sugar as well as lime and orange.  And as far as the tags, you are so crafty I am sure you can come up with something as special as Hallmark did!

Ingredients:
2 cups granulated sugar
zest of 2 lemons(or 2 limes or 1 orange)

Zest your lemons first.

Place the sugar and zest into a food processor. Pulse until well blended. Spread mixture onto a rimmed baking sheet for approximately 1 hour to dry.

That is it!!  The heavenly fragrance will fill your kitchen, making your effort feel downright delightful! 

See the little bits of  lemon zest throughout the sugar.

Next fill jars or containers with the lemon sugar.

Attach the labels and a coordinating ribbon and you have a sweet gift.  I used fabric that I cut in strips.  It was what I had on hand and worked just fine!

You could easily copy this down and make your own. 

Recipe card

 These labels I simply cut out and attached to the jars with tape....out of glue dots is not good!!!

Tag for jar

Consider it your go-to gift this spring and summer.  This refreshing sugar is simple to concoct whether you are heading to a brunch at the in-laws, need a last minute get-well gift for a friend, or just want to say "Happy Spring" to someone you love.  And it can used by its lucky recipient in many yummy ways......topping on breakfast-in-bed-worthy pancakes to a substitute for plain sugar in a pound cake recipe, or as a surprising sweetener for iced tea. 


I am so anxious to do the limes and orange next!!! I love the colors for Spring. Or Summer!!!!
My only problem was how to attach the little recipe card. I could always just hand it to the lucky gal, but I thought attached would be cuter.

So I thought I would ask you and see if you have any amazing ideas. Leave me a comment....I would love to hear your ideas!

Lemon Sugar

I hope this has inspired you to make a gift for someone special.  It's iced tea drinking weather here in Texas so these will make perfect gifts!!

Spring time in Texas

Yep, that is sunscreen you see!!  It is suppose to be near 90 this afternoon.  So yesterday we got out the pool and prepared for today. 

And made two little boys very happy!!!  They have been bugging us for MONTHS!!!!!

With only two more days of school left you can imagine how often they will be IN the pool!

This one is big enough for me too!  Only if the grass and bugs are removed! 
Nothing the filter can't pick up though.  The water is way too cold right now for me.  They forced me in yesterday so I know.  I'll use it to dip my toes in when I am nice and sweaty.

Matthew stays wet.  We can't get him out of the water!

Ryan on the other hand prefers to stand up and slowly get the rest of his body wet.  Even if that means standing for an hour.  And IF he gets his face wet he is off and running to find a towel. 

I'll take just sitting back and watching them play for now. 

This is SPRING time in Texas!!!

We had to do it!

Ding dong! The pumpkin's dead. Which old pumpkin? The "getting too out of control taking over our beans and soon our cucumbers" pumpkin!
Ding Dong! The Great Pumpkin is dead.

We had to do it!  My dream of growing pumpkins is shattered, but not lost forever.  One day when we move to that big old farm house on 50 acres I'll have my pumpkin patch!!!

For now I'll take my bush beans and cucumbers!!!

Hacking away!

You can read all about how our pumpkin tales HERE . 

Our Earth Day

Well we planted our little tree in honor of Earth Day and I moved the Cilantro.  And I planted some flowers too.

I felt earthy as I went barefoot most of the day.  I did not eat any granola and totally forgot to turn on my groovy music while working(you can read Sunday's blog post if you want to know what I am talking about).  I saw plenty of green and without my make-up on I felt FREE!!!!  I let the warm sun kiss my shoulders and ever so lightly burn my nose.  It was a GREAT Earth Day!!!!!

Side note-I do NOT wear make-up everyday!

It was amazing weather, a little warm, but a perfect day to be outdoors!!

Now on with what we did!  Once I took the cilantro out to plant in a raised bed I had an empty pot.  So I planted Zinnia.

These are the easiest flowers I have ever planted from seed!!  Seriously if you have never tried planting flowers by seed give these a try! 

I love having them around all summer!

Here is the cilantro's new home!  Much more room to grow. The carrots and lettuce in this bed are not doing so hot.  So this was the perfect spot.

GROW baby GROW....I have a craving for salsa!!!!

And the tree!

This little Red Oak was ready to grow out on it's own. 

Here is a run down of the planting.  Dig up rock.  And dig up more rock.  And dig up boulders too!
Once you are done digging up all the rock begin planting your tree.

Once your tree is in the ground start adding the soil back in.  And add more until it is covered.

Next it is time to water!  We felt especially GREEN and earthy by using rain water from our rain barrels Brant designed and built.

And here is our Earth Day 2012 planted tree!!!

And another shot of the yard from the patio.  You can barely see the little tree in the picture, unless you click on it, but it is there....way over at the end of the garden beds to the left a little bit.

As I look out my bathroom window I see the new tree.  It will give me years of pleasure and lots of JOY to watch it grow. 

Hope you all had a chance to plant something yesterday.  You can make today your Earth Day if you missed your chance.  Because really every day is Earth Day if you are a lover of God's Creation!

Happy Monday!!!

Happy Earth Day!!!!

Happy Earth Day!!

When I hear "earth day" I think dirt, granola, green and sun!  Oh and for some reason I think of hippies.  I know it is all so random, but that is just what I think!

So in honor of Earth Day I am wearing my tie dyed shirt and no make up! I'll open windows and the backdoor and crank up some Citizen Cope to get my groove on while out in the backyard.  And go barefoot as much as possible.  We love to feel the grass and grit between our toes.

We also plan to plant a TREE!!!!! We have been babying this little tree for a while now.  It is time to let it go.  Time to GROW!!! 

And I plan to move my cilantro into one of the raised beds.  It is getting way too big for it's pot!

I plan to be outside as much as possible.  The weather here is amazing and the perfect day to spend outdoors.

So what do you plan to do on this Earth Day?   Plant a tree, flowers, a vegetable garden??  Get outside and enjoy God's gift....His creation.

And come back tomorrow to see what we did for Earth Day!

More highlights from our week

As promised I said I would share the rest of our week outdoors. 

On Thursday we headed down to our neighborhood parks and nature trails. 

The park is a 100-acre area.
The park offers approximately 8 playground areas, tennis courts, soccer fields, basketball goals, a baseball field, walking trails, hiking and biking routes, and a disc golf course. 

And all along the trails are little creeks or ponds.  Perfect for fishing!!!!

So there is plenty to do!!!

On Thursday Brant and Ryan drove down to the closet playground area to our home.  Then carried all their fishing gear and walked the trail to one of our favorites bridges to fish.  Matthew and I walked and met up with them.

Matthew is not a fisherman.  He gets very impatient and quickly gets bored with sitting and waiting.  Ryan LOVES the sport!!!  Matthew would prefer to explore and walk the trails.

Once Matthew was bored hanging out with Ryan and Daddy we went on a walk.  Just look at all the beauty we came across.

These three pictures are probably my favorite part of this area closest to our home.  It is shady with sun peeking through the trees here and there.  And the breeze is AMAZING in this secluded spot.

Love the wildflowers!!!!

Little purple balls of JOY!  Not sure what they are, but they make me HAPPY!

So after our walk we headed back to the bridge where Brant and Ryan were fishing.  Ryan was getting bored too because the fish were not biting.  So me and the boys walked to a new play area not far from Brant fishing on the bridge.  After awhile Ryan went to check on Daddy. 
Excitement rang out through the park.  "Daddy caught it!"
Yep, he caught it!  It was the carp we had seen the day before while biking through the park.
A 7 or 8 lb. Carp on a piece of frozen corn using one of the boys' cheap $12.00 Zebco 202 rod and reels.   On CORN!  There were other people out walking who had stopped to see what he had caught.  They were amazed.  The boys were most excited!!! 
Brant is always catching something!

So that closes our week of FUN in the Great Outdoors!!!  Hope you enjoyed all the pictures and it has you wanting to take a walk, hike or bike ride. 

Whatever you do GET OUTSIDE and enjoy nature!!!!  Happy Saturday!!!

FUN Friday and highlights from the week

I am not really sure how I can make today a FUN Friday??  We have already had some great times this week.  Not sure I can top them!! And the weather is calling for about a 50% chance of rain. 

Maybe we will stay in and have FUN.
Maybe we will go shopping to let the boys spend their gift cards and money they received for their bday.

Tonight I am headed to a ladies retreat at our church so I do plan to have FUN there. 

If you missed my post from yesterday I told about all the nice weather we have had this week.  So much so we hiked on Tuesday, rode bikes all around our parks and nature trails Wednesday and yesterday Matthew and I walked to the park while Brant and Ryan rode in the car.  They had fishing stuff to haul.

So today I am going to share some hiking pictures from Tuesday and tomorrow share some pictures from today. Sorry for the lack of much writing this week. It has just been too nice to sit in. And you know me when I get it out in nature......the camera starts clicking!!!! Enjoy the pictures.

Starting our hike!!!

I love seeing all the wild flowers in nature!!!

Stopping for me to take a quick picture.

We had to have one too!  It was our anniversary hike!

Almost to the lake!

We made it!  And they wanted to jump in so bad.

I fell in love with this tree while on a winter hike here in January 2011.  I finally got to see it in the spring.  I still love it, but think in the dead of winter it is spectacular!!!  You can search my blog for "Winter Hike" to check it out.  I knew the minute I saw it it was the tree!

Also in the "Winter Hike" post we saw many deer tracks.  And on Tuesday Brant quickly saw them again.  As we walked you could hear life in the woods.  But in this big area it is hard to tell what that life might be and that life moves FAST!  But we did see a deer.  And the boys saw it too!!!  Last time they were way too short and the deer was too far away.  Not this time.  It even stood for about thirty seconds just staring at us.  And then turned away and off she went.

It was great excitement for the boys!

And this last picture, well it screamed TEXAS to me!!!

As we were finishing up our hike I looked across a little area and all I could see were cactus and flowers.  And the picture does not do justice for what we saw in person.  The only reason I took it is for all you who are not familiar with Texas.  This is beauty to me....the rough cactus among the pretty yellow flowers.  And many other wild flowers and plants all around.
This is Texas and it is one BIG beautiful state!

Happy Friday y'all!!!  Enjoy your weekend!  And if it is gonna be nice weather in your neck of the woods, well then get outside and have some FUN!!!

Come back tomorrow for more pictures of the Great Outdoors!!!