good morning sunshine

what a perfect way

to start my day!

an old favorite

it must be the lazy dog days of summer.

i used to have 

"this is a blog post"

moments often during the day...

but my brain is toast these days-

so because nothing witty is sprouting

from the mouths of my children,

and no photo-ops are emerging from our

daily summer routine, 

i'm sharing what we had for dinner last night.

original, eh?

it is one of my standby/favorites & 

since Brian ate it in like 3 minutes flat,

i'm assuming it's still a keeper!

there's always chicken in the freezer,

so depending on what you have you can

grill, broil, or saute it w/ a little

salt & pepper & some olive oil. 

the glaze is actually a recipe i snagged

while watching Regis & Katie Lee

(yes, there was someone else before Kelly)

when Ali was a baby, and I had time 

to watch things like that after having

a whole, hot cup of coffee and actually

completing my Beth Moore Bible study 

in my matching nightgown & robe.

i digress....

 apricot glaze

saute 1T minced garlic in 2T butter till fragrant.

in a small bowl, whisk together:

2T orange juice

1T lemon juice

1/2t cornstarch

whisk everything together in the 

saucepan & then add:

1/4t ginger

1/3C apricot preserves.

mix & thicken over low heat

& serve over your cooked chicken -yum!

the potato recipe is actually one of Ali's favorites,

so i feel a tad guilty for fixing them

while she is away at camp.

Trader Joe's sells the perfect potatoes

for this recipe.

they are actually called

"teeny tiny potatoes"

(no joke)

& they are fabulous!

the recipe is called "hasselback potatoes"

& you can find it

HERE

i just love Nigella Lawson.

in fact, sometimes when i'm cooking

i pretend i'm her.

really, i think we favor each other... 

don't you see the resemblance?

no?

the rumpled yet glamorous hair...

OK, the flawless, porcelain skin?...

the full, sultry lips?

the rosy, high cheekbones?

the voluptuous curves not hidden under a
paint-stained mission trip t-shirt from 1987?

no? 

OK, we both have brown eyes.

how's that?

we rounded out our little meal
with some Trader Joe's french green beans,
and all was well with my little world.
(except the fact that my big girls
were still at camp)
BUT they will be home for a quick sleepover
tonight before they head down to
the beach with their youth group pals
for the day. can't wait to kiss those
sweet little faces!!

the good, the sad, and the ugly

ahhh, there really has been a lot of "good" around here...

like getting a little more sleep at night for instance.

then there's...

lots of pool time

plenty of dart tag

( I'm a tad concerned that the older one

looks a little too serious about his role)

as for the "sad"...

these two left for church camp last night :(

sad for me...happy for them

actually, they're staying right here in 

town in church host homes,

so I could spy, I mean check on them at any time...

honestly, I LOVE the heart of our church. 

our teens will be partnering with a 

different local ministry

every morning to serve in within our city,

and going downtown to pray with 

people in the afternoon.

their evenings will be worship/teaching

 times @ the church .

friday will be a fun, one day beach 

trip to celebrate together. 

the girls were sooo excited.

as for the "ugly",

evidently we are just one of many

adoptive families in a wrestling match

of sorts with the IRS over our

adoption tax credit return...

we've submitted the required paperwork

twice so far, and were told to expect 

a possible 3rd request.

ugh, ugh, ugh.

 maybe I should send the

dart tag duo 

to knock on some doors...

4 weeks

I cannot believe we are now exactly

four weeks post-op.

where does the time go when you're 

having well, um, fun?!

we fit in some sparkler time

Quinn called this his "statue of liberty" pose

we've eaten lots of popsicles

(check out that new little smile 

emerging under that tape!)

we also saw Dr. Matthews last week.

he actually wasn't totally pleased

with how her lip is healing...

not what you want to hear.

we are applying, as Gracie calls it,

her special lotion

(1/2 castor oil, 1/2 sesame oil)

as often as possible during the day.

we were told that the nasal stents will need

 to be in for probably 4 more weeks. :(

the process of cleaning & changing tape

is still NO fun, but getting slightly easier.

God REALLY does give grace in the areas

 you think you would never be comfortable in - 

grace for daddy to hold her down,

& grace for mamma to clean a sore nose

& insert that tool of torture, I mean healing,

as her baby screams "no mommy!!"

sleep...well, she's had a handful

of nights where she slept all the way through.

it's just so frustrating to her to not

be able to breathe well through her nose.

we've tried to adhere to her surgeon's dietary 

restrictions for Gracie as well.

he's very anti- refined sugar - that makes sense.

he also told us that Asian scars can heal 

better when you eliminate wheat & dairy from

 the diet. she's done surprisingly well.

there are many gluten/wheat free products now

(for a small fortune, I might add)

and then there's, of course, fresh fruit & veggies -

imagine that!

she's LOVED the homemade popsicles.

here are her 3 favorite recipes!

(W.Mart has great popsicle molds for

$3 in the frozen food section!)

Summer Splash 

juice of 1 1/2 whole oranges

  (Trader Joes is the only place I could find valencias around here)

1C chopped strawberries

1/2 C blueberries

1t flax seed 

3/4 cup silken tofu (sneaky, eh?)

3T agave nectar(sold right by the artificial sweeteners)

combine all in blender until smooth. 

pour into molds & freeze!

Orange Joy

juice of 6 oranges, or 2C of freshly squeezed orange juice

1 whole pineapple, cored & cut up

3T wheat germ

1 or 2 bananas

1/2C water

puree in blender until smooth.

pour into molds & freeze!

Peanut Butter & Chocolate

1/4C dark chocolate chips, melted

1/4C organic peanut butter

1T wheat germ

1C soy milk

puree in blender until smooth.

drink half, just to make sure it's OK, then pour into molds and freeze!

a fabulous fourth

if someone could tell me where the long weekend went,

I would greatly appreciate it!

Gracie is more herself everyday, and we're ALL 

looking forward to the day when we no longer

need to care for those positioner tubes in that sweet little nose!

she didn't skip a beat, though, in keeping up

with everyone these past few days!

we spent one morning at one of our favorite places - 

the Happy Berry

how could you not have fun with a name like that?!

investigating the chicken situation

our own little"Sal"

(one of her all-time favorite books

is Blueberries for Sal)

ma & pa even had the chance to put on 

fancy grown up clothes to attend a beautiful wedding...

without children

and the minivan

and goldfish snacks

we celebrated downtown for the 4th

even that crazy nose tape couldn't hinder

this little firecracker's fun

our grown-up girls

sniff sniff

Quinn & his buddy Sam

Gracie entertained everyone around us by hollering out

the color of every firework as they exploded...

"puwple!"

"gween!'

"wed, white and bwue!"