Colorado Renaissance Festival

So this post is a little late. We went to the Renaissance festival about 2 weeks ago.

It had been ages since going and I thought it would be fun to take the kids,now that they're older and more manageable!

We ate....like kings and queens, turkey legs and sausage on a stick. There was so much more but the prices are a little ridiculous.We did have a lot of fun walking around, playing some games and people watching but the best part (according to the kids) was watching the jousting tournament. Jax couldnt understand that it was only pretend, he thought that the poor knight was really dead after having his throat slit! This is the perfect place to people watch, LOL, every walk of life shows up there.

You have the die hard mid evil lovers who dress up in ancient clothes. You have the ones that have this weird thing with Pirates (I dont think these were in the same era? Were they?) and then you had the gothic/Conan the barbarian ones......she was actually really pretty and I had to have a picture of her, but the guys that were with her.....wow.

We shopped, even though I had no money to buy and even if I did....I dont think I would spend the money on half of the stuff!

This is the Kings horse, he had a mustache! Not the king....the horse. Look closely!!
Entertainment galore! This weird guy was the bell player. As strange as he was, he played some beautiful music!
This duo did awesome juggling and acrobatic tricks. The kids were amazed, so that's all that counts.
The belly dancer was amazing. If I could only move my body like that!










All in all it was a fun day! We will go again next year but take a lot more money with us. It definitely wasnt a "take $25 and that should be good" type of trip :)

Lost in Texas

The Hubby and I made a split decision to take a trip to Bay City Texas last week to surprise his mom. It was a much needed vacation and it was nice not having to think about work or all of the everyday crap that comes along with being home!

It was an eventful 5 days though! His mom was soooo excited to see us sitting in her mothers living room on a Tuesday afternoon. This day also happened to be her sons birthday, so it was a little extra oomph. Yes my sweet hubby decided to spend a whole day traveling with his family for his birthday. We were up at 4:45, on a plane at 6:30 with a 2 hour flight and a 2 hour drive all to see his mommy and he loved every minute of it! The kids did too. It was their first time traveling and flying on a plane. So they took in every moment of it and they did awesome!!! We were so proud of them.

We spent 3 days at 2 different beaches and only had one incident......Jaxson got stung by a jellyfish on day two. Yea, we didn't think we were ever gonna get the poor kid back into any sort of water ever again. It was very traumatic for a 5 year old! But....he did go back in on day three and he had a blast. Luckily there was no sign of the oil spill. I just wasn't expecting the water to be so murky. It was fun though, I loved watching the kids find seashells, play in the sand and marvel at the waves.

It was a great week visiting with Grandma and all of the other family but it was also nice to get back home. Why is it that you feel like you need a vacation from your vacation???

WW- Random Stuff!

Wow, this summer is just flying by and honestly I haven't even thought (much) about blogging. Even though we have been busy, there still isn't much to blog about! It's just the normal every day stuff and trying to keep the kids entertained. So this is going to be a basic mish mash of stuff, catching up and a review.

A night out with my best friend is always nice. Some of you may recognize her and some of you may not. It's Tasha from the Housewife Diaries! It was so nice to sit and visit. Neither one of us get that much alone time. Even our phone conversations are totally interrupted. You know how that goes, you're kids don't want anything to do with you until your on the phone. That's when they have their most important questions!Jax turned 5 and suddenly he's is an old man! He knows all and has become a demanding, full of attitude and emotion child. He thinks he's pretty cool. I received my fountain from CSN Onlines stores and have had the chance to try it out. So what do I think of it? I think it's cute. It was easy to put together, it's looks nice and it has that a little bit of a trickle sound. Would I pay $60 for it with my own money? I don't think so. I was expecting it to be a little bigger and the light at the top is not really ambiance to me.....it's a halogen light so it casts off that bright purple annoying light. But then again it makes a neat reflection on my kitchen ceiling when all of the lights are off. I am going to have to go out to my yard and find some more rocks to add to it too. So over all I think it gets a 6 out of 10 rating.

Notice it stands just a little taller than my hand sanitizer bottle!

Fourth of July was just ok. The hubby worked, my oldest was out of town and I took the 2 little boys to a fireworks show on Saturday. It didn't go well. At all. They were terrified and hated every minute of it! But I managed to get a few pictures. Fortunately, they did much better the next night, I wish i could say that much for the weather! By the time it was time for the kids to light off their fireworks....it was raining and freezing.Baseball season came to an end and I must say that this year went better than the last few, and we have decided that this is the team that we're staying with. Shaymus had so much fun and he learned a lot. So we're looking forward to next season!
Well, that's all I have for now! I will have something more to write about in the following weeks. Promise. We're taking a family trip next week, but I'm not giving too many details. Wouldn't want to ruin it :)

So everyone have a wonderful week and happy WW to all. Head on over to Seven Clown Circus for more fun and don't forget to say hi to Angie.

Gathering up Motivation!

Last year I totally lacked any motivation to plant flowers or veggies. Looking back now, I think I'm going to blame it on the weather. We just didn't really have a decent summer last year and the few things that I did do, grew like crap.

This year......is turning out sooo different! The weather has been perfect and I just cant get enough planting done!

I normally would have bought everything at once and been done with it but not this time; it seems like every time I'm out and about I buy something new to plant.

So far, I have lots of flowers and they are growing so well. My front yard looks so pretty (for once). I also decided to experiment this year so along with the 4 tomato plants I also tried jalapenos, pumpkin, strawberries and mint. They're all growing great and I cant wait to try even more stuff next year!

Next year is going to have to be a different set up though. It has to be put somewhere in my back yard instead of in containers on my front deck! Originally I had them in the back but the dog was really curious and he ate my bell pepper plant after only 1 hour of planting. I didn't trust him with the rest of it so it has all ended up out front. Oh well, maybe they will do better there anyway!

Wordful Wednesday & Yummy Rice Recipe

Well, so far this summer break we have been keeping busy! This week we've been to a gloomy wet car show. Yes, it was very wet and cold the whole weekend! It rained cats, dogs GTO's and Buick's :)

Today we went to Bellview park. I had never even heard of this place until last week. I've lived here my whole life and never knew it existed! Boy have we been missin out. In the park there is a train that the whole family can ride and a petting zoo with your typical farm animals, a creek with little beach areas for everyone to cool off in and a ton of picnic tables to hang out and eat your lunch at! Not only is it fun....it was cheap. $15 for all of us to ride the train once and go into the petting farm. The kids had a blast and whined about going home, so we had to promise to come back!

We've been doing a whole lot of grilling now that it's getting hot out and even though I didnt want to turn the oven on tonight, I did, because I was craving this dish with my dinner! This rice is so simple it's ridiculous! It's great any time of year and goes with just about everything and it's perfect for potlucks.

You'll need the following ingredients

1 1/2 c. raw long grain rice (I use white, but brown would be good too)

1 can Campbell's beef consomme soup

1 can Campbell's french onion soup

1 stick of butter

1 small package pre sliced mushrooms

Here's what you do

Pre heat your oven to 350 degrees

In a medium saute pan, melt the butter on medium high heat. Add the rice and continually stir it until it turns a light golden brown.

Transfer it to a medium size baking dish and add all of the remaining ingredients.

Stir once, cover and throw it in the oven! In 30-45 (check it, it's done when all of the liquid is absorbed) minutes you will be eating the best rice ever! If you have picky eaters you can omit the french onion soup and do an extra can of the beef consomme or leave the mushrooms out.

I hope your family enjoys it!

For more wordful Wednesday posts, head over to seven clown circus and say hello to Angie!

I'm back!!!! With an upcoming review too

Well I know it's been awhile since I've been out and about in our bloggy world and I'm so sorry!

Things have been so chaotic around here and it's been one thing after another. We had a little "accident" last month. Our main sewer line backed up into our fully finished basement!!! It was disgusting. Now we're in the process of getting it fixed. So far the lower half of the walls have been replaced, the carpet and tile removed and now were trying to decide if we should put a bathroom in to up the value of our house. Normally it wouldnt be too expensive, but we dont have a rough in already, so we would have to do it and thats where things DO get expensive! I was looking at a vanity and some possible fixtures, just to get an idea of what we may want and still stay on a budget. There are so many options out there!

On a new note, I have been given the opportunity to review a product from CSN Online Stores again! They have over 200 different online stores to choose from. Anything from home decor to mens shoes. So here's a hint of what I will be reviewing.

It can be used indoors or out, it uses water and it's peaceful. Any ideas???

Our new favorite snack/dinner

Well it started out by asking the family the usually 3:00 question....."What's for dinner guys?"

Actually I was making the grocery list and trying to come up with something new to make. My husband answered "Runza's" and I said huh? He proceeds to tell me that his mom made them when he was younger and tries to remember what's in them. It sounded like a calzone to me, but after a quick google search I repeated the ingredients to him and we had a winner. I made them the next night and the whole family loves them.

So, I'll pass them on to you for your next dinner creation. Actually they work really well for afternoon snacks or food on the go because you can just pick them up and eat em. No dishes required, but I would suggest a napkin!

Runza - Originated in Russia in the 1800's and it means a filling stuffed into dough.

This is what you'll need:

1 lb ground beef

1/2 lg onion minced

1/2 head of cabbage slice thin

salt, pepper, garlic powder

the recipes I found called for yeast dough but I used 1 lg package Rhodes frozen dinner rolls

Remove the rolls from the packaging and place them on a microwavable plate, "defrost" them for about 45 seconds on power level 3. Just long enough to get them workable. You will be rolling these out flat and filling them.

In a skillet brown the beef, onion and seasonings. When it's cooked thru and the onions are tender drain the fat off. Return it to the skillet and add all of the cabbage, cooking it until it's tender. Remove from the heat.

Sprinkle a cutting board or your kitchen counter with flour. Using a rolling pin roll out your now thawed rolls. I use one roll to make take along snacks and I use two rolls for dinner size portions. If you use just one, place a few heaping spoon fulls onto the dough and pinch them closed at the top. If you use 2 rolls place a large amount of filling onto one and cover with another then pinch around the edges to seal it. Place them on a baking sheet a few inches apart. Bake at 375 degrees until golden brown, about 15 minutes.

Enjoy!!!! Remember this is just a basic recipe. You can add any ingredients you like.

Wordful Wednesday, Week in Pictures

Well it's becoming a habit or curse or something because I just dont feel like blogging. Or maybe it's just because I never get a break! I dont know what it is or why but I just dont. So I guess I'm going to do our weekend in pictures and call it a day! yes, all of these pictures are from Mothers day weekend, it was go go go until Sunday night! I hope you all had a wonderful Mothers day.

So for more interesting Wordful's head on over to Seven Clown Circus and give Angie a shout.

Back in the Work Force......

And hating it!

Yes folks, I got a job. A job that I thought I would love, a job that I was missing all these years, a job that pays an actual paycheck! I love the work and I miss having stuff to do that makes me feel important, there is only one problem. I hate my boss. I get along well with everyone, or so I thought. This woman is horrid. She is the most unorganized, scatter brained, controlling bitch I have ever met. There I said it. She is so obnoxious that every time she opens her mouth or even comes to the front of the office I want to punch her in the face!!! That's how much this woman annoys me. Sad huh? So now I have a decision to make. Quit after only being there for a week or give it more time? Somehow I don't think that she is going to get any better or I'm going to hate her any less. Should I just cut ties and not waste each others time? Seriously I could write pages of the crap she has pulled in the past 5 days I have worked with her, but I wont bore you. I guess I just need to make up my mind. SOON.

Until then, have a wonderful week :)

photos courtesy google search.