These Little Firecrackers!

We ended our day with a bang. We went to the Pine Hurst country club to watch the fireworks. The kids (and when I say kids, I'm talkin Justin, Nathan, Brandon, and Cody)played football, Frisbee, and catch with the baseball. The fireworks were so big and sparkly this year. With the loud boom they produce you can't help but giggle, and hope your car windows aren't blown out.

A Great BIG Yee-Haw!

Grandma is always such a good sport on her birthday! We love to celebrate all day long and end up at Texas Roadhouse! Even though she really doesn't want to, she climbs up into that saddle and puts on a great show. Nathan thinks Grandma is so fun-so do we!

Happy Independence Day!

I LOVE this country!

Mr. Magoo!

Nathan AKA:
King Richard, Juicy Doughnut, Nap Champion, Man Child, Nater

Age: 3 years old

Weight: 44 lbs.

Height: 43 inches

Accomplishments:
Knows colors in Japanese, can scale a 10 foot wall, can hike 2+ miles at a time

Known weakness:
Can destroy a perfectly clean house in less that 6.2 seconds, Ability to go full throttle when tired, Has the aim of a 3 year old when using the restroom

Superpowers:
Incomprehensible pain tolerance, photographic memory, mega napper (3-4 hours at a time), tender hearted

The other day Nathan was observing some of his favorite pets,- bugs he has collected from our walks, and with a very sad 3 year old voice he said,
"Mom, my bug is broken".
Sure enough, the poor guy was dead as a fish in the desert.

It's amazing what a day at the park will do.
It produces:
1 nice nap and that = 1 happy mom!

Eye Spy...

a good deal, dang it! This is for all you out there, sick of paying expensive prices for your eyeglasses. Justin found a website called www.zinnioptical.com- where you will pay only $8.00 for a pair of glasses. I waited to get mine before I posted this to make sure it is legit, and it is! And they're pretty cute. Bonus!

A Little Game of BOO!

Make an on-line slideshow at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Kendall Learned to play peek a boo and just loves doing it every chance he gets! Of course we play right along with him! He says boo over and over and we know exactly what game he's in the mood for!

WOOPS!

Charcoaled Artichoke anyone?

Justin is our main man when we want something grilled. These were no exception. They were just right. Green with a hint of brown, a tad bit smoky, and an aroma you would not believe.

He asked me what I thought and I (unfortunately) added my two cents even though they were grilled to perfection. "Maybe 5 more minutes". This was his little mistake he made: to entrust me with these beauties. He then put me in charge.

The next morning as I was lying in bed listening to the choir of our chirping feathered friends at 4:30 AM -( which always puts me in a most delightful mood, where is the BB gun?):) I shot up out of bed and to my terror screamed THE ARTICHOKES!

It seems I got a little busy and just about bar-b-qued my mom and the aunts. The grill was still going! It appears we like our artichoke a wee bit done with a hint of ash. Who knew?! I felt terrible and learned my lesson. And as my mom mentioned: I'll be in charge of the root beer floats from now on.
These did not involve the grill, so they fell into the safe category .:) I found this idea on someones blog and thought they would entice us to get our 5 servings of fruits and veggies in. It worked! I also thought these would be really tasty for a baby shower.

Knock You Naked Brownies!

Oh. My. H.

As in heck, of course. My Aunt Jeri gave me this recipe for these delicious little lovelies I made for Father's Day. I must never be left in the house alone with these. I ate the whole pan! Just kidding, but I wanted too. I will say a little prayer of thankfulness every time I make these. You will too. You're very welcome! ENJOY!!!

Makes about 24

1 package German chocolate cake mix (18.5 oz)
1 cup chopped nuts
1/3 cup + 1/2 cup evaporated milk-divided
1/2 cup melted butter
60 vanilla caramels unwrapped (one 14 oz package)
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

In a large mixing bowl, combine dry cake mix, nuts, 1/3 cup evaporated milk and melted butter. Press half of the batter into the bottom of a greased 13x9x2 inch glass baking dish. Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for eight minutes.
In the microwave or top of a double boiler melt caramels with remaining 1/2 cup evaporated milk. When caramel mixture is well mixed, pour over baked layer. Cover with chocolate chips. Chill for about an hour or until the caramel is hard. Press the remaining batter on top of morsels. Return to oven and bake 28 minutes (or less for gooier brownies). Let cool before cutting.

Note: This recipe supposedly originated at the Salt Creek Restaurant in Breckenridge, Colorado.

This Fun Guy: We Call Dad!

I can remember a time, about 8 1/2 years ago when I was dating Justin and something was brought to my attention, several times actually. Here's where it begins:

A guy named Justin Hillan had met all of my requirements on my lengthy list of qualities I had since I was a little girl. I had beyond a doubt, found the man of my dreams. He was in fact- the perfect boy I had been waiting so long to find.

It was until one night he came to my house to pick me up, wearing it. It was a certain shirt he wore on occasion that would throw a bit of a damper of my illusion of my Mr. McDreamy.

Yes, it was his Green. Scooby. Doo. T. Shirt.

For some reason this shirt really bothered me. In fact- I hated when he wore it. I didn't think mature, grown up, responsible, trying to win me over, guys should wear cartoon characters on their clothes. It was more for a 3 year old to parade all over town in- not my Justin taking me to a nice dinner.

I felt really guilty for feeling this way about a stupid t-shirt. In fact, I felt so guilty that I brought up my little "problem" to my mom. She then made me realize something I had never thought about. In one single instant my preconceived judgements about Justin's Scooby Doo t-shirt changed the way I thought about him- FOREVER. She said, "Alisa, don't you know that if he can wear that, it just means he will be the best dad ever. He will be up every Saturday morning with your kids in the living room, covered in pillows and blankets, with bowls of cereal, watching cartoons."

I was trying to change him when all this time it was the fun person that he is that I fell in love with. I know everyone thinks their husbands are the best dads, but Justin REALLY is. My boys LOVE him with all their hearts and I see it every morning when they wake up flapping their arms, so excited to see their dad.

Especially Saturday mornings.

The Falls at Cataract Creek!

The Hillan Family gearing up for a 3 mile hike to the falls. This place was incredibly beautiful. Nature is a pretty amazing creation. What a gift!

It's easy to have the energy to go exploring when the "Aunts" have prepared a gourmet picnic overlooking the lake. Aunt Jeri came to visit this week and our stomachs are so sore from laughing at all their stories! "Treats and Chats" until you can't handle one more!

Mammy and Kendall soaking up a small breeze by the lake.

Superman, I mean dad, hiked to the falls like this. Everyone on the trail wished they were Nathan!

Some of the beautiful scenery in the mountains.

We decided to take home a little souvenir. I think we'll keep it!