Here kitty kitty

Well, I almost killed the family cat today. It's no surprise I'm NOT an animal lover, but especially animals inside my home. I can't stand animal hair, animal smells, or anything animal related... PERIOD!


I walked into the kitchen this morning to find this:

I sure hope the family I'm taking dinner to tomorrow night won't mind a few cat hair's in their food... YUCK!!! 


I know it's not ok to spank my kids, but animal spanking's ok right? Lucy only has 8 lives remaining after this counter episode. It's a good thing I keep a bottle of bleach spray in close proximity, at all times. 


The worst part about this whole ordeal... Lucy didn't so much as blink an eye when she saw me walk in on her naughtiness. I totally had plenty of time to grab the camera, basically do a photo shoot with her, and then lovingly swat her off the counter... 


If you're looking for a way to get out of making dinner tonight, try the "cat on counter" tactic... it works every time.


Here's what I WAS going to make today, but I think I'll bleach my counters instead and try again tomorrow. 

Slow cooker pepper steak

2 lbs. Beef top sirloin steaks (cut into 2” strips)

1 beef bouillon cube

1 med. Yellow onion, chopped

2 large green bell peppers, chopped

1 (14.5 oz.) stewed tomatoes

3 Tbs. soy sauce

brown minute rice

garlic powder

3 Tbs.  veg. oil

1 Tbs. cornstarch

1 tsp. sugar

1 tsp. salt

Sprinkle strips of sirloin with garlic powder to taste.

Heat 3 Tbs. oil in a skillet over MED heat and brown the seasoned beef strips. Transfer to crock pot.

Mix one bouillon cube with ¼ C. hot water until dissolved, then mix in 1 Tbs. cornstarch until dissolved.

Pour into crock pot with meat.

Stir in ½ C. chopped onion, 2 chopped green peppers, 1 can stewed tomatoes, 3 Tbs. soy sauce, 1 tsp. sugar and 1 tsp. salt.

Cover and cook on HIGH for 3-4 hours or on LOW 6-8 hours.

Serve over rice.

girls' trip

It's been years since my last trip to "The happiest place on earth". We're talking over 14 years ago.  Yikes! My two younger kids have never been and my friends think it's child abuse. Double yikes!! But... it might be high time to break down and let them soak it up and experience that indescribable feeling of excitement & JOY. 


Berkley and I went to Disneyland this week because her dance company got invited to perform at California Adventure. I was pretty reluctant to the idea of standing in LONG lines and overheating for 4 days straight, but surprisingly... it wasn't bad at all. In fact, we had a BLAST!!! It was really fun to spend one-on-one time with my girl. She got gobs of attention from me and loved every minute of it. 


We arrived Monday afternoon, checked into the Ramada Main gate hotel and acquainted ourselves with the area. We got up bright and early tuesday to take advantage of our "Magic Morning" early entry pass. Again, I was a little reluctant to the idea of getting up so early on vacation, but man I'm glad we did because we walked on 5 BIG rides before the park even opened.  

 I think the girls were half asleep in this picture. 

Tower of Terror was BY FAR my favorite ride in the park which is why I went on it 4 times!!!  I don't think I could ever tire of that awesome falling feeling. 

The girls also loved California Screamin'. It was equally as fun as Tower of Terror in their opinion, but made me a little sick the second time around. Twice was enough for me.

 It's Handy Manny!!!

It was awesome to watch Berkley and her friends perform on an official Disney stage. She probably won't get this opportunity again. She was so cute & confident.

We decided to take the girls to Newport beach our last day. It was so fun. We rented bikes and road up and down the boardwalk, ate donut holes at the local bakery and shopped around for a bit until it was time to go.  The beach always puts me in a great mood. So relaxing...

 I think this will go down in the books as a pretty memorable trip.  

I can't believe I'm gonna say this, but I'm a fan of Disneyland now. Better late than never right?

Happy Father's Day

I'm so thankful for the great men in my life. I'm especially grateful for my dad and cute hubby. I think it's obvious that they're BOTH pretty great guys.

My Dad is a one-of-a-kind great guy and I'm so thankful for his ongoing generosity and kindness. He and my mom bend over backward for us non-stop. They watched our kids Friday night, so Joe and I could have a quick little get away. My parents took the kids to a movie, fishing, swimming, mini-golfing and batting cages in less than 24 hours. My kids are so spoiled and loved... it's sickening! Thank-you for your example Dad and Happy Father's Day!


I planned a fun overnighter for the mister and me. A quick rejuvenation and much needed alone-time.  We stayed at The Montage in Deer Valley. It was DREAMY! We watched movies, ate great food, shopped and checked ourselves into the spa for deep tissue massages and pedicures. It's hard to check back into reality after being swept away for a minute. 


Feeling quite good now. Relaxed... renewed... ready to roll again.

 This guy brings a lot of JOY to my life in so many ways. Thanks babe! HFD

Is it really summer?

What am I thinking? I love summer. I'm the BIGGEST lover of summer,  yet I feel lazy lately, so tired,  no energy and zero motivation to do anything productive. I haven't signed my kids up for ANYTHING yet. Joe asked me what the plan was for kid stuff and I replied, "I don't really know. Is that a problem?  Can we just take a break and do NOTHING"???? He's definitely NOT impressed with me at the moment.


I did manage to go to scout camp (cub country) with Mason yesterday. It was really fun for the boys and I'm glad he got to go. I took a few pictures with my phone... hence the horrible quality, to document that I actually did something semi-productive. 

I promise to "get with the program" and start making memories soon. Sheesh!

Brown sugar meat loaf...

Brown Sugar Meatloaf

1 c. brown sugar
1 c. ketchup
3 tbs. Worcestershire
1 1/2 pounds lean ground beef
1/2 c. milk
3/4 c. finely crushed saltine cracker crumbs
2 eggs
1 1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. ground black pepper
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1 envelope onion soup mix
garlic for taste

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350. Lightly grease a 9x5 inch loaf pan.

Mix brown sugar, ketchup, and 2 tbs. Worcestershire sauce in a separate, small mixing bowl.

Pour half of the brown sugar and ketchup mix into the bottom of the loaf pan.

In a large mixing bowl, mix remaining ingredients and shape into a loaf. Place on top of the brown sugar/ketchup mixture

Pour the remaining brown sugar and ketchup mix on top of the loaf.

Bake in preheated oven for 1 hour or until juices are clear.

Strawberry almond oatmeal cookies

What do ya get when you cross freshly picked strawberries, almond flavoring, and old fashioned oats in one big bowl? 


Just a batch of the most AMAZING cookies on the planet. No seriously!

I found this recipe at Munch & Crunch the other day and couldn't wait to whip these bad boys up. They are awesome and fairly healthy considering they're cookies. I tweaked the recipe just a bit and poof! They were perfect! 

I stuck 'em in the freezer... just the way I like 'em. I'll be enjoying my secret stash of frozen goodness for the next few days... yipee! Want one? You better come and get 'em... cuz they won't last long around here!

Strawberry almond oatmeal cookies

Makes 32 large or 64 small cookies

2/3 cup butter, melted

1 1/3 cup brown sugar

2 eggs

2 teaspoons almond extract

1 1/3 cups pureed strawberries (about 6-8 large strawberries)

1 cup wheat flour

1 cup white flour

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon baking soda

pinch of salt

4 cups oats

Preheat oven to 375

In a medium bowl, mix wheat flour, white flour, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt together. Set aside.

In another bowl, beat together butter and brown sugar until smooth. Add eggs, almond extract, and strawberries and beat until combined.

Slowly add dry ingredients to wet ingredients, and mix until evenly combined. Lastly, stir in oats (can use a wooden spoon here if you’d like).

***The dough should be a thicker dough. If it appears too wet, add a few more tablespoons of wheat or white flour.

Place rounded spoonfuls onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and bake for 8 minutes. Do not over cook.

Let cool for a couple of minutes before moving to a cooling rack.

The triplets

What a weekend...


I must be getting old because I'm EXHAUSTED!!!


I know I've talked about this before, but it is so fun to have 3 new babies in our family. Joe's 2 sisters and sis-in-law had their babies the same week. And today... they were blessed by their Daddy's in CC's backyard. It was quite the production. 3 separate bishops, 3 Big families, lots of friends and a BIG dose of LOVE in the air. 


CC's backyard was absolutely gorgeous ~as always~ and the day couldn't have been more perfect. 


I can't believe how much I love our BIG HAPPY PIA family. 

Danny & Henry

 Joe, Olivia, Vovo, Chan & Berks

 Our favorite lil' munchkin... LeRoy

I am so lucky to have these 3 amazing sisters in my life. They are the most beautiful girls inside & out. 

 Henry glen    Molly violet   &  Jack Owen

 Lindsey & Jack

 Vanessa & Molly

 Julia & Henry

 4 beautiful Women

 Cousins o' plenty...

Rachel, Brynerz & Sean

 Bestest buddies

 Gotta love the tattoo on Bryn's arm. 

 Berkley

Berkley is graduating from the 6th grade on Wednesday. She's getting so old... : ( 

 My 2 favorite gal pals

All of the cousins adore Max. He's considered the FUN uncle because he's wild and crazy with with them.

Did you know that CC is a trouble maker? She totally is...  Don't let her fool you with her good looks and charming personality. 


She snuck a water gun outside and blasted everyone with cold water. Never a dull moment with this little lady. She definitely keeps us on our toes. 

How cute is this family? They are the sweetest, nicest couple on the planet. We love them so much!

Well... I can't wait to jump in bed and put my feet up after a long day, but I'm also sad to see it end. It was lovely! xoxo