Italian Spaghetti Squash dinner.

Empty squash. Ready to fill up!

"Spaghetti" It really looks like it. So cool!

Yummy sauce!

All done and ready to eat! It made a ton! I had 2 squash. It was too much!

So I decide to once again try something new. It turned out pretty yummy. I had never made spaghetti squash before and it was really neat! I got this recipe from betterrecipes.com


Ingredients:
1, 3- to 4-lb. spaghetti squash
16 oz. Italian sausage
1/2 cup chopped red bell pepper
1/2 cup chopped green bell pepper
1 cup chopped onion
4 garlic cloves, minced
2 cups spaghetti sauce
1 teaspoon dried oregano or dried Italian seasoning
1/2 cup grated romano cheese
Directions:
Cut squash in half lengthwise, remove seeds. Place squash, cut side up, in a microwave-safe dish with 1/4 cup water. Cover with vented microwave-safe plastic wrap; cook on high for 7-10 minutes, depending on size. Add more cooking, 1 minute at a time, if necessary. Let stand 5 minutes. With fork "comb" out strands. Do not discard shell. Saute sausage, bell peppers, onion, garlic in a large skillet over medium-high heat until sausage browns and vegetables are tender. Mix in spaghetti sauce and dried oregano or Italian spices. Mix squash strands with sausage mixture. Spoon filling into squash shells. Place filled squash shells on baking sheet. Sprinkle with grated cheese. Bake uncovered until heated through, about 20 minutes.
Number of Servings: 4

Homemade No sew tutu!

Measure out 20in in length. You will need
about 4 yards of tulle.


Cut strips 3 in wide


Tie onto 1/2 wide elastic band that was stapled
together. It should be measured to fit whomever
is getting the tutu or guesstimate it.


It is all done!


Time to dance!


Well Ifinally made it! Em's tutu. She loved it too! So I thought I would share it with everyone. I first got my inspiration from chasingcheerios. But because I did not know how to tie a slipknot, I searched the web for more ideas. I found some and put them together to make my tutu! You will need 4 yard tulle, elastic, tape measure, good fabric scissors and patience! It was not as easy as I thought, mainly because it is not easy cutting the tulle, but I actually did enjoy making it! The cut strips will not be even! But don't worry it will still be cute!

It is not so easy.

Parenting, well if anyone had told me it would be this hard, I don't know if I would have been jumping up and down yelling "pick me, pick me!" Being a mother is the most difficult, yet wonderful and rewarding job ever! Everyday, I am faced with new challenges, some simple, some not so simple. I am trying more and more to be a better mom. It is more difficult with the vast ages in our family. I am really trying to put my self in their shoes and see it from their view. When I do this, it usually humbles me and I think of a kinder way to settle our differences. I am so thankful for having the Lord as my guide, for without his love and forgiveness, I may not be able to do that so well. I am not saying it is easy, but I am sure God is with me all the way, and when I throw my hands up (which ,I have many times) and say "Jesus take the wheel!" I know he is there to guide me! I am having a difficult time with one of my children and while it is not something horrible, I still need to see things as he is and feel what he is! When I finally did, I broke down and cried and thought how could I be so thoughtless! From now on, I will not just look at things from my view, but from theirs also!

Trying something new! Eggplant Parmesan

"seeping" the bitter out

Breaded and ready to bake

All layered and ready to cook one last time!

All done! YUMMY!

Eggplant Parmesan. This what we tried new last night for dinner. Everyone seemed to like it except Bailey. I took recipes from different sites and kinda went with my own thing. I think alot of it was from allrecipes.com. I only had 1 eggplant so only made an 8x8 dish. It was enough for us. So Here we go.

Peel and slice eggplant into about 1/4 in slices. ( I didn't measure, just eye it)

Put out on plate and sprinkle with kosher salt and let sit for 30min or more. This kinda seeps the bitter out of the egglplant, or so I read.

After time is up rinse eggplant and dry off!

This is an Em friendly recipe so I did not use egg to dip.

Dip each slice in milk, then in italian bread crumbs

Put on cookie sheet lightly greased and bake at 450 for 7-10 min on each side.

Layer spaghetti sauce in dish then put egglpant, then mozerella and grated parmesan cheese. Layer again until eveything is gone. (mine was 2 layers)

I sprinkled Italian seasoning on top for color and a little garlic salt.

Bake at 350 for 30min. Enjoy over angel hair or spaghetti noodles.

Capital Forest

This past weekend we went camping and riding at Capital Forest. It was a great weekend of riding and relaxing! We got lucky and got the camp host spot with permission. It was paved and at night we didn't hear all the ruckus of the camp ground! I really enjoyed the just being in such a beautiful and fun place with my family! This is truely some of Gods greatest work! Amazing!





Bailey and Dad sitting at the fire.
The boys waiting, while I capture the beauty!
My princess peeking out!
Me, chillin like a villian. :)

Old logging road, we went up and up the mountain over 3miles
Down one of the trails! It looks like a rainforest!
A view from up on the mountian, If you look hard its Mt Rainer! From our campsite

I love the old trees. Had to get pics!

Friends, a gift from God!

There are all kinds of friends, close ones, ones you grew up with, ones you don't know to well yet. and those who know you inside and out. We all need friends to share our thoughts,feelings, frustrations with, also to help encourage and enlighten us! Our husbands sure do alot for us, but sometimes, you just need a friend!
Today, I got a nice surprise! I got a phone call from a wonderful friend of mine! It was so nice to sit and chat with her again! It made me think about how important friends are to not just me, but everybody! God knew what he was doing! I just want to say Thanks to all my friends for being there for me, when I was in and out having surgeries, for scrapbook and pottery dates, for listening to me when I was dissapointed in life and giving me encouragement! For just being you and being my friend! I think I have the best friends in the world! But, I am sure we all think our friends are the best and that is wonderful, because they are the best for us! God knew that and placed us together! What an AWESOME GOD! Thank You Lord for my awesome friends and Bless each and everyone of them! I love you all! (sorry if I got too mushy ) :)


Why God Made Friends.

God made the world with a heart full of love,Then He looked down from Heaven above,And saw that we all need a helping hand,Someone to share with, who'll understand.He made special people to see us throughThe glad times and the sad times, too;A person on whom we can always depend,Someone we can call a friend.God made friends so we'll carry a partOf His perfect love in all our hearts. I found this poem on the web and wanted to share!

National Sugar Cookie Day

Well I got an email today that said July 9th is National Sugar Cookie Day. So, of course I had to make some! It is not easy trying to find a cookie recipe that is eggless. Esp. when you don't have all the ingredients. But I did finally find one. It is for a crisp sugar cookie. I wanted soft, but beggers can't be choosers, and since these aren't really for me, but the kids, we went with the one I found. I can't remember where I found this one. I searched so many! We also made our own colored sprinkles. FUN!!

Crisp Sugar Cookies (EGGLESS)
1 1/2 cups plain/all purpose flour
1 cup sugar - extra for sprinkling
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
2 tablespoons sour cream
1/2 cup butter
2 tablespoons milk
1 tsp vanilla
Preheat the oven to 160°C/325°F
Sift together the flour, sugar, baking powder and soda. Set aside. Cream together the sour cream, butter, milk and vanilla; mix well. Stir in the flour mixture.
Drop by teaspoonfuls onto greased cookie sheets, flatten with fork. Sprinkle with sugar. Bake in the preheated oven for 10-12 minutes, until firm and golden coloured. Cool for 2 minutes in the oven and remove to a wire rack to cool completely.

Wildwood park

This was such a fun park. It had wooded area for the kids to play in, a stream with little waterfalls and a playground. We had such a good time here! We will be going back here again!

Independence Day!

What a way to start off the celebration of our freedom, than Americas favorite pastime... Baseball! We went to see the Tacoma Rainers play on July 3rd. After the game there was a fireworks show! It was packed! Bailey got a ball and so did Emilee. They didn't catch them, they were given to them, but it is still neat. They play lots of music during the fireworks, but I was very disappointed when they play Glory Glory halleluiah, and during the verses with the Lord they just played to music. They cut God out of such an awesome song. Then on the 4th we shot of fireworks and we had a really good time! The rest of the weekend, we didn't do much all have gotten some bug.

Sparkler Fun!

Watching the Snake grow from the ground.

Thunderstorms!

I love thunderstorms! Everything about them, the rain, the lightning, the thunder and the smell of the rain in the air. It is so refreshing! I love to sit and listen to the rain coming down against the roof and windows. It is just so relaxing! I love to watch the lightning too! Just another of Gods wonders! We had a nice storm last night and today. We actually lost power today for a bit. Enjoy a thunderstorm today! (got pic from web)

Homemade Icecream cake... Easy as pie!

This is a super easy recipe for ice cream cake! I made this for Colbys birthday this year and it was a success. It sure beats paying $20.00+ for a store made one! Anyway on with the recipe.

What you need...

16 or so Ice cream sandwiches ( I bought a box of 32 and had leftovers!)

1 can whipped cream. If you can find the chocolate try that, I couldn't so I used regular.

1 box whoppers. (the candy not the burger) :)

Okay now, Get a 13x9 dish. fill the bottom with ice cream sandwiches. spray whipped cream on top of the sandwiches and sprinkle crushed pieces of whopper on top of that. then layer another set of ice cream sandwiches on top. then one more time spray whipped cream and crushed whoppers. Then add some whole whoppers on top of the cake. Freeze for at least 2-4 hours.

ENJOY!

Wallace Falls Park

We decided a couple of weekends ago to go discover western washington. I found a place that was supposed to have like 9 waterfalls. It did mention a trail to get to them, but we did not expect what we got! It was a long hard hike up the mountain! The first 2 miles we did on railroad grade then down to the "woody trail" It was hard. But it was alot of fun and BEAUTIFUL! We finally saw some water and it was amazing. We did not make it to the actuall falls. It was too far and we were already super tired and we still had to go back. All in all it was about a 6+ mile trek.

Trying something new... blogging!

So, I have decided to add more to my internet hours, like I don't spend enough time on here. But after seeing my friend Christians blog spot, I decided it looked fun. So here it goes. I never thought I would be a blogger. but I never thought I would have a myspace page or a cell phone either. So here we go. I hope it is enjoyable for all.