yeah, Life is Good !

Today he's 9 !

Happy Birthday Jackson ! My firstborn ! I can remember the day so well, when he was born. I labored all day... 16 hours of contractions & dilating before he arrived ! Isn't that the most precious thing in the world, to have your newborn placed in your arms. Now, he's nine! He'll be starting school Wed going into 4th grade! He's a good boy and I am very proud of him ! We love you Jackson ! All of you ! Even when you're driving us all nuts, we love you !

Jackson's B'day cake...

Jackson asked for a skateboard cake for his B'day this year. He wil turn 9 on August 31. We had his cake this past weekend. He went to see X games the movie in 3D with 2 of his friends. Grant is already putting his cake request in for his birthday. This cake decorating / designing is not such an easy thing for me... then to have it just cut into, eaten or demolished... such as last year's volcano cake...click herethen scroll down a bit to see volcano cake, that was "demolished" ! I'm just thrilled to "impress" my 9 year old critic ! He's happy, I'm happy ! Still have 7 more days till school starts!

So Girly !

Madelyn and Grant had friends over last week for a playdate. I took this picture in Maddy's room of the girls playing... sooo girly ! I just need to paint the bedroom walls pink and then it will really be a girly bedroom ! : )

Grant went to preschool with Amanda's brother Jason. Took this picture of the boys playing LEGOS ! They all played great together !

Our " Stay~cation" in PA

So, this year our " vacation " was a trip " home " to Alabama over the Summer. Not what I would call a vacation... it's always a very rushed visit with as much friends and family you can arrange to see, not to mention the long drive ( 18hours+ over the course of 2 days). Exhausting, but nice to see everyone we miss so much and the kids have a blast doing all that they get to do there! So, last weekend my brother in law
and S I L and nephew, Justin made there way up here for a visit. She has family in Jersey, and they skipped on over to see us before driving back to Alabama. We went to Valley Forge, Knoebels amusement park, and showed them our Perkiomen Creek & trails. It was a nice visit. Comical, because we always go to Valley Forge, it has been a favorite place of ours since we have lived here...always amazed by the deer that inhabit the park. When we think of VF, we think of all the deer, then George Washington, the Memorial Arch, the battles and... oh yeah, sledding in the Winter ! So, I think it is funny, the photo of my family in front of the cabins... we've seen a million times ! I posted slideshows below of the " Stay~cation" Enjoy ! We still have a little over a week before school starts back !

Valley Forge

Ride to Elysburg ( Knoebels)...

It maybe took an hour & a half to drive to the amusement park. It was very pretty scenery on the way there. These PA mountains are the most beautiful , I've decided, when they are GREEN !

Knoebels

The Perkiomen Creek

how cute is this....

Me cell phone is not high tech, I do not text, I'm not among the iphone or blackberry
users. Just a simple Samsung camera phone, but look what I did...

Better than bling... my monogram ! I am crazy over all things personlized and monogrammed ! I love it !

ever " grilled" a pizza?

This is how you do it ... it's fun to make & tastes great !

You will need...
A variety of toppings. I found mini pepperonies, and used all natural Mozzerella and fresh Basil to top the first pizza we did.

I used a can of tomato sauce ( I'm all about shortcuts in the kitchen). I also added some minced garlic and some fresh basil and gave it a quick whirl in the "rocket" (it's like the " Magic Bullet" ... blender).

and the crust of course. I picked up some whole wheat dough at the market (shortcut)

Have all of your toppings ready to go and near the grill. Roll out the dough into about 6-8 inch rounds ( smaller transfers easiest to grill). Make sure the dough is floured very well. Transfer to your grill ( that you preheated to high then reduced to med/low). Cook for about 30 seconds then rotate the crust 90 degrees cook 30 more seconds then flip to other side & repeat. Remove your crust from grill then top it with what you like.

Once you have topped your pizza, return to grill and cover to melt the cheese and heat the sauce & toppings. I topped with fresh basil just before taking it off the grill or you will end up with "dried" basil.

If your crust is still has some flour after cooking, try brushing the crust with olive oil before topping & returning to grill ! This tastes just like a "brick oven" pizza ! Enjoy !

A trip to the Zoo

Just a visit to a locacl zoo. We have not been to the Phila zoo this year. In the past, we had gotten a membership to the Phila zoo, and so we have been many times and we decided today we would visit the Elmwood Zoo. Smaller than the Phila zoo and makes it simpler for the kids to walk without whining ! Get through the zoo much sooner.




My very favorite were the sooo cute Prairie Dogs! We all just wanted to take one home with us !

Back in PA

picking up from where I left, returning home from AL. These are some pictures of what we do here in PA ... visiting the creek and parks, hiking local trails.

Will Post Again soon...

Neglecting my blog. I know ! Summer is busy ! I want to post zoo pics, NYC pics,
parks, creeks, and skate parks. Family visiting from AL . Kids will be in VBS next week, hopefully can re~cap Summer so far on the blog... Hope you are having a fun filled Summer ! Can't believe only a few more weeks left then back to school !
Leave you with this to think about....



It reads... " You are Here"
then the small print reads... " Right where you are meant to be"
I remind myself of this all the time !