gilbert tiger lacrosse.

 So my youngest decided to switch from soccer to Lacrosse.  He isn't small by any means as you can tell from the second picture.  I seriously LAUGH every time I see the second picture.  He plays defend and he plays U6 which means he is 6th grade or younger.

Side note: he was subbed out like 30 seconds after this little kindergartener was subbed in.  He told me after the game that he was worried he was going to hurt him.  He may be a giant but he is also a sweetheart--his nickname is Sweetness but I can ONLY call him that at home... ;)

So Fall ball has started and he has a few more weeks of that before their tournament in December.  He has a better stick now and a new pair of FANCY Lacrosse shorts--we are slowly building his necessary items (gloves, helmet, and pads--they are EXPENSIVE!)  Thankfully we could use his fancy soccer cleats that he LOVES!
here are a few close ups:

 I used the On this Day kit from Scrapbook Circle to complete this layout--my challenge was to use the wooden stars included.
Thanks for the visit today!

brother moment.

About a year ago December I took this picture of my dad and his brothers when they were in town.  It was a normal eat at Carl's Jr. (which my dad does OFTEN!) Anyway, I was excited because these are two of my FAVORITE uncles!  We visited caught up and enjoyed each others company.  Fast forward to March of this year.  My Uncle sitting in the middle passed away suddenly (I wrote a little about it HERE).
As I sat and thought about my uncle I was SO grateful for the positive sweet moments shared with him.  Remembering funny stories like the one my mom always tells of him changing me.  He was babysitting me while my parents were out, he was so worried to get the diaper to tight on my little body he didn't get it tight enough!  Yep, I guess I pulled that sucker off and made a WONDERFUL mess, he was HORRIFIED of course--poor guy! ;)   While I know he is gone from this earth I know that I will see him again and for that I am eternally grateful!  In my pondering I remembered I had taken this photo and I quickly texted it to my family.  I know the lighting isn't perfect or the fact that the soda fountain is framing the pic--it's PERFECT because of the people in it and the memories that we shared.
Remember that Scrapbooking isn't just about making pretty pages (which is fun), it's about preserving memories.
Thanks SO much for visiting today--hope your day is FANTASTIC!

orange chicken.

well hello!  WHERE have I been?  BUSY, BUSY!  I know the last post was about food and I DO have some creative things to share but don't have a moment RIGHT now--SO I'll share what I'm going to attempt to make tonight!  I've got a boy that LOVES orange chicken so he will be VERY excited to try this recipe!  (I've got to go work at a booth at the high school carnival tonight selling chocolate and t-shirts--WISH me luck!)

Orange Chicken Recipe

Ingredients:
For the chicken-
2 large chicken breasts, cut into 1 inch pieces.
3 eggs
2 tsp garlic salt
1/2 tsp hot sauce
1 cup of flour
1/2 tsp pepper

For the sauce-
1/2 cup of Mayonnaise
4-5 tbsp sweet chili sauce
Zest of half an orange
1/2 cup orange juice (I freshly squeezed it)
green onions/ chives for garnish

Method:
- Pre-heat the oven to 400F. Cut 2 large chicken breasts into approx. 1 inch pieces or bite sized pieces.
- In a bowl, whisk together 3 eggs, a teaspoon of garlic salt and a touch of hot sauce (siracha/tobasco…whatever you have).
- Add the chicken pieces to the egg and mix them around so that all they’re all coated in egg.
- In another shallow bowl/dish, mix together a cup of flour, the remaining garlic salt and some black pepper together.
- In small batches of 3-4 pieces, coat the egg drenched chicken pieces in the seasoned flour and place them on a foil lined baking sheet. You could also deep fry the pieces if you want, but I choose to bake them (although it doesn’t look the same as when you fry the chicken, when coated in the sauce it taste’s just as good!)
- Bake the chicken at 400F for about 15 minutes and them stick them under the broiler for another 5 minutes to brown them slightly.
- While the chicken is cooking, you can mix together all the ingredients for the sauce. Half a cup of mayonnaise, 4-5 tbsp of Thai sweet chili sauce (I used my home-made recipe), the zest of half an orange and half a cup of orange juice.
- Whisk it all together (I know it looks gross at first) until there are no more lumps.
- Pour the sauce into a sauce pan and bring it to a gentle boil on medium-high heat.
- Once the chicken is slightly browned and cooked through, add it to the simmering sauce. Mix it well so that all the pieces are coated in the sweet sauce. The flour on the chicken will make the sauce thicken and it’ll also start looking glossier and clearer.
- Turn off the heat once the sauce reaches the desired thickness.
- Garnish with some fresh chopped green onion/scallions or garlic chives.

credit goes to: Picture the Recipe

pinterest food finds. EASY homemade bread.

credit: Loving Marshall

5 Simple Ingredients: 

2 Cups of Warm Water 
2/3 Cup Honey 
1 3/4 Tablespoons Active Dry Yeast 
1 1/2 Teaspoons Salt
6 Cups Bread Flour 

5 Easy Steps: 

1. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together warm water and honey until honey is dissolved. Add yeast, and cover with a towel. 

2. In about 10-20 minutes, your mixture should look like the picture above. (I would describe it as frothy.) Mix in your salt, and then add the bread flour one cup at a time. 

3. I have a bosch mixer so I just throw EVERYTHING in it and let it do the work but iff you don't then, Add a little extra flour to your hands and knead the dough, about 5 minutes.  Place kneaded dough in a large, greased bowl and cover with towel.

4. After an hour, your dough should have risen significantly. Punch the dough  and then knead again for a couple of minutes. Divide into two lightly-greased loaf pans and cover with your towel once more.

5. After allowing the dough to rise for 30 minutes in the loaf pans, bake in a preheated oven at 325 for 30-35 minutes. 

This was a DEFINITE hit of all my bread loving people in my house--they ate EVERY bit event he ends!

pinterest food finds. stuffed shells.

credit: Kennan Family Huddle

Stuffed Shells

INGREDIENTS

1 box of jumbo pasta shells
1 jar of marinara sauce 
1 15 oz. tub of ricotta
1 cup of shredded mozzarella
1 egg 
1 packet of fresh chives
1 teaspoon of onion powder
1 teaspoon of garlic powder
1 teaspoon of dried basil
1 1/2 cups of chopped spinach 
salt and pepper 

DIRECTIONS

• preheat the oven to 350 
• cook the shells in boiling water for 10 minutes, drain and let cool (about 5 of my shells fell apart/got stuck to the bottom of my dutch oven during the cooking process
• in a bowl mix together the ricotta, egg and mozzarella
• add about 3/4 teaspoon of salt and 1/2 teaspoon of pepper and the rest of the seasoning, the chopped spinach and the chives (I just use scissors and cut them up right over the bowl)
• line a casserole dish with 1/3 of the marinara sauce
• stuff the shells with a heaping tablespoon of the ricotta and place in the dish, once all shells have been stuffed, pour the rest of the sauce on top of the shells
• cover with foil and bake for 30 minutes
• before serving, chop up the remaining chives and sprinkle over top 

*My favorite marinara sauce right now is one I can pick up at Costco.  Enough sauce in one jar where you don't have to double and it's TASTY!

my family.

Lately I've been finding all sorts of gems of pictures in "vintage" (funny when you are talking about yourself) pictures that have come from my grandma's picture books:

closer up:

I created this page using the SOLD OUT here + then kit by Scrapbook Circle.

What I LOVE about this page:

*I know I'm not even looking at the picture but I love what I KNOW about this page.  It was taken in my childhood home in Yakima Washington (I can tell from the window coverings)

*All of the clothes we are wearing were made by my mom--she is a pretty amazing seamstress!

*The rocking chair my brother is sitting in, we bought just especially for my baby brother--I remember going to the store and picking it out.  WAY on the upper level of the store--I was 5.  It now sits in my front room--a little more worn...

*on my ring finger of my left hand is a ring my grandparents made for me, I still have it but it won't fit on my finger now.

*of course the GOLD circles!

My challenge to you is to look at your pages and LOVE them!  Take time to maybe pick out just WHY you created that page--what makes you love it!  If you don't love your page--what is ONE thing you DO like about it! (I've gotta be real, sometimes I create something and put it RIGHT into the scrapbook so I DON'T have to look at it again...)

Thanks for the visit today--make your day FABULOUS!