Delightful memories

And I was doing so good that first week of Jessica's class. What happened? I was so diligent about completing each day's lesson so I could be on the fast track to moving around PSE just a bit better than I had been capable of but then something happened the second week of class. My life, my kiddos, my work, my responsibilities.......oh yes, that nasty word responsibility. My available time went right down the drain and into the sewer with the rats. Such a good thing that with any class you take at her site you have access FOREVER, which for people like me who never seem to get their acts together it is such a very good thing indeed!

But do you recognize the photo on this layout? It was the first one I did in the class and I used it on my second quarter layout for Scrappin' Bunnies!

This little 'note' book was something I whipped up with all the extras I had leftover from the layout above. So stinking cute! I ♥ stamping on the monster-sized Bazzill paper brads. How bad is it that I didn't even make note of which companies the patterned paper came from. The solid is from Bazzill, of course, but again I don't recall its actual name. They have the funnest names for their colors which I'm sure Mr. Bazzill knows each and every one by heart.

Speaking of Bazzill, that reminded me of taking the tour of the Bazzill warehouse while I was in Phoenix last year for Creative Escape which I am very sad I will not be attending this year. All that paper and all those colors........wowza! And the Bazzill Matchmaker program on their website will match their colors to many, many lines of patterned papers out there.

My little one has her green thumb on and she has been gardening up a storm again this year and she has branched out from just the lone sunflower last year. Funny because I cannot grow anything without it turning brown and dying off. I think she gets this from my dear grandpa Joe who had a wonderful garden where he grew such wonderful produce. I remember going out to the garden to help him harvest the green beans which my grandma and mom would then can. I did help in that process as well. I used to hate it but now I realize how wonderful it really was. Besides, what does a kid really know about that anyway. All we want to do at that age is play - we're not thinking about food or about how absolutely amazing it tastes when compared to the crapola you buy in the supermarket. What I wouldn't give to have my grandfather's garden now.

Taryn is growing her usual sunflower, which you see above but also
basil,
green peppers, watermelon, acorn squash and lavender. She has 3 watermelon, 1 squash and several green peppers that are growing on their respective vines. She has had a good harvest of basil several times which one harvest resulted in this absolutely divine pesto. All I can say is YUM-O! It was super yummy and so easy to make and the fact that I have this little baby ~yes of course it is pink, did you really think it wouldn't be?~ made it so super simple. Can I just say again how easy it was. I have always strayed from making pesto because I thought it was so complicated but honestly it took me all of probably 15 minutes from beginning to end, the cleaning of the basil being the most difficult part. And my sweet hubby even liked it which was a bonus for me! Several other things I love to do with fresh basil is make lemon-basil mayo for my sandwiches. I created my own after having my favorite sandwich from this wonderful little cafe down on the square called Spoons. I always get this:

Laguna Beach........................................................................ $6.75
Provolone and Cheddar Cheeses with Avocado and Lettuce with Lemon-Basil Mayo on Whole Wheat Bread

and usually pumpkin soup which is also really good. I've found a recipe for pumpkin soup that I am going to try soon but the temps have to drop down just a little bit because as much as I like soup I just can't seem to wrap my head around hot soup on a hot summer day. It's the same for me with hot tea as well. Love it but not when it is 100+ every day. And the other thing I just love to do with my fresh basil is cut it up and put it on my own version of Nick & Willy's Aegean pizza which is this:

Aegean®

Our most popular pizza! Olive oil glaze, mozzarella, fresh garlic, spinach, marinated sun-dried tomatoes, feta, oregano.

The one thing I do differently is I actually use red sauce and also add fresh mushrooms and instead of oregano I use fresh basil.

Can you tell I'm not much of a meat eater? And my little one is following suit.

Nick & Willy's used to be about 1/2-mile from the house but they closed several years ago. We were really bummed about it because we all loved that we could go in and have our pizzas made fresh, and to our specifications, as we waited and then we could go home and pop it into the oven so it was actually piping hot when we were ready to eat. Definitely better than delivery any day of the week.

Last night Taryn and I made a last-minute trip to the mall for some bargains. What was intended to be a short trip turned into a 3-hour long adventure that will most certainly go down in the memory book. We walked arm-in-arm down the corridors of the mall - she putting her arm through mine - and we laughed and talked and she treated me to dinner with her Sonic gift card where we shared a grilled cheese, onion rings with lots of Ketchup and each had a cherry limeade. She told me stories and we shared ideas and we laughed. We looked for 'fashion' and she tried on clothes. It was an amazing time. She also got her first pair of Abercrombie & Fitch jeans for which I gave up my complimentary mall gift card for a portion of the sale price. Yes....that night will be forever etched in my mind.

We've finally gotten the Altima in pristine condition. Jack is learning how to drive a standard and after day 2 is doing amazingly well. He has even gotten the hang of the hills though we will continue to practice plenty until August 21st when he turns 16. I'm not sure he was completely over-the-top happy about it but I told him that it was going to be a requirement that he learn to drive a stick because you never know when you may be in a situation where you will NEED to drive one. One must always be ready and anyone who knows me knows how I am always planning and thinking ahead. Besides, I told him if he ever finds that dream car and it is a stick he will not have to think twice about it or learn later - with this he will know coming right out of the gate which is the best way for it to be done. Today he will be going out with his Godfather to drive. I have taken him the last two days and the improvement from day 1 to day 2 was quite substantial. Before that though, he and I are taking a short trip to the mall to return some jeans I bought for him last night that did not fit and he has already volunteered to drive. That's a kid who wants to get it down and I have nothing but respect for that.

We're winding down the month of July here and getting closer and closer to the start of yet another year of school. I'll have an 8th grader and a junior - how in the heck did that happen? I am not one of those moms who can't wait until their kids go back to school because the kids are grating on my nerves. I simply adore having them home - I've said it before and will probably again, they are so easy. They're simply not your typical kids and I know that it was to be that way because it has simply made things easier and most of you know what I am referring to. The relationship those two have is incredible. That's not to say they don't fight and argue like typical siblings, they do do those things but they do it differently. And that is also not to say that he doesn't pull out the typical boy guns and her the usual hormonal reactions but their connectedness. Their love for one another. It's so big you can see it. Their bond is so strong and sitting here typing this brings tears to my eyes because if you could see them together you would most certainly understand what I am saying. They are bonded in a way most siblings aren't and the one thing I can be certain of as I type this is that the two of them will be as close as siblings can be. He would go to the ends of the Earth for her and She will forever look at Him as her Hero.