Summer Fun... {A wrap up and a recipe!}

We started and ended our summer with some pretty significant parties. There's not much this Momma loves more than a big celebration of friends and family. And we've had LOTS of fun entertaining this summer, now that the deck and pool area are finished and the landscaping is grown in. The grass is lush and we still, even months later, are raving to ourselves about how restful and refreshing it is in our backyard. We have our own mini-retreat center after years of battling weeds, ugly rocks, ground-boring bees, and drab, colorless aesthetics. I'm so proud of the hard work that The Boss and my blue-eyed boy put in together to create this haven for our friends and family. 

Freshly washed and ready for the first big event back in May!

LadyBug had a Sweet 16 Bonfire and Night Swim party

on the Friday of Memorial Day weekend.

We "upped" the awesome factor by throwing

over 200 glow sticks into the pool once it was totally dark.

It was SO pretty!

BBE filled 11 hanging baskets with wave petunias in brilliant

red and purple for her party and for the second event,

my mom's 70th b'day celebration just two days later.

All these weeks later and the petunias are still hanging in there!!!!

So at the OTHER end of the summer fun was the Pool Party

we hosted for the local-to-us members of our adoption agency community. 

It was a great mix of old friends and new,

including some beloved staff members from the agency.

Everyone brought their own meat to grill for dinner plus a dessert or side dish to share. I'm telling you this because I made this amazing potato salad that MUST be shared before potato salad season officially winds down. I made it last week for a family event at my parents' house and it was such a hit that I had to try it again. Yes, I made it up. It's a tweak on The Boss's favorite Red Bliss Potato Salad but with a couple twists.

Blue Cheese & Bacon Potato Salad

 5 lbs red potatoes, washed and cut in bite-size pieces.
Boiled in salted water till fork-tender

and then set aside to cool to room temperature.

Equal parts of blue cheese dressing and light mayonnaise.

For 5 lbs of potatoes that is about 1 cup of each.

I particularly like this brand of dressing as it's yogurt based 

and so smooth without being too thick or rich for mixing.

**I am NOT being paid to endorse any of these brand name products.**

Oh, how I wish I were.

About 1 c. (give or take to preference) of crumbled bacon

1 medium Vidalia sweet onion, diced

1 (4-6 oz.) container of blue cheese crumbles

Parsley to mix in to taste AND parsley to garnish on the top.

Mix it all together very well, making sure that

 the salad is a little thicker than you wish for it to be when

serving time actually comes. It will loosen up when refrigerated.

This is one of those salads that DEFINITELY tastes better

when it sits in the refrigerator overnight for the flavors to blend. 

It pairs really well with any beef you might be grilling, 

but it's also super yummy with Balsamic Vinaigrette Marinated Chicken!

Next up will be The Gang's annual "First Day of School" post. I can hardly believe summer is over and my gang is all heading off to school already. ESPECIALLY, {gasp} our little Mei Mei. She's heading off to the sweet little pre-school that Li'l Empress attended when she was 3 and 4. I'm under no illusions that this will be an easy transition for her but we've been talking it up big for the last three weeks and her tour of the building and intake assessment will hopefully still be in her memory banks as a positive experience.

Heh.

One can hope, right? Right?! Sigh... I'm not even sure I believe that. But I'm telling myself that over and over, particularly when she melts down over me leaving her side to run to the grocery store or meeting a friend for lunch. EVERY time. Pray for us, ya'll. Just pray.

Field Trip to the Frontier

Last week, we took a few days to drive to the Shenandoah River Valley to see The Boss's parents. The Boss and Baby BlueEyes were planning to help Grandpa clear some brush and cut some trees into firewood. The girls and I had big plans to read, watch movies and do our nails.

However, knowing that those three sedentary activities would NEVER occupy Mei Mei long enough to actually be relaxing for anyone, I reached out to one of my adoption groups to see if any of my on-line friends would be interested in a meet-up. It took a little back and forth but finally, my friend and I settled on the Frontier Culture Museum of VA.  I'm not being paid to say this, but GUYS! If you are ever in the vicinity of Staunton VA (just south of Harrisonburg), get yourselves there for a day. It will take a full day and you should wear good walking shoes and bring a good amount of water. But it is SO worth the admission fee and the effort. What a BEAUTIFULLY maintained and managed piece of living history this place was.

The museum traces the history of the three or four main people groups that left their Old World to make a life in the Americas. Beginning in the 1600's with the enslavement of West Africans and moving through the English, the Irish, and the Germans, each exhibit is a real, working depiction of that slice of history. MANY of the structures across of the huge "campus" (for lack of a better word) are original to the region that they depict, having been disassembled and shipped to the site. There were interpretive historians on site to weave stories and give us a glimpse of daily life at each major exhibit (except the West African site. That kid was a little bit of a dud. :) ). There were animals roaming in the pastures and ducks and geese in the paths squawking for our attention (which BBE happily gave. In spades! Oh my word.) We were all completely captivated.

Here's just a few pictures of our great day. Sadly, I didn't get any pictures of the West African exhibit. It was super dark in the huts. Plus the younger kids were a little unsure of themselves in the new setting with new people. Plus plus, my new friend and I were talking our faces off getting to know each other while the kids explored. Most of the photo credits go to LadyBug.

The 1600's English farmhouse was the second exhibit on the walking path.

The dining room, work room and family room all in this one space.

This beautiful side board is an original piece.

From the 1600's!

Yes, I was drooling. It was full of lovely earthenware dishes

and cookware. More drool.

The kitchen was quite small and off the main living space, behind the stairs.

It was quite drab compared to the adjoining rooms.

The front of the 1700's Northern Irish farmhouse.

It's an original home structure, from Ulster.

The side building attached there on the right is the Weaving Room.

Each family had to produce a regular quota of cloth to pay their rent to the English landlords. 

This sheep was fantastically large.

And sat in the shade of the pasture like a dog.

Here's my gang with our super-fun travel mates!

The 1700's German farmhouse had many pieces of lovely furniture

with hand painted finishes. Quite familiar to this PA history buff :)

 This trunk was huge and very intricately painted with

a faux wood grain finish, very typical of that era.

This is the 1820's farm that is mostly still the original structure.

It's typical of the farms in the post-Revolutionary era in this

part of Virginia and surrounding colonies.

Just a few of the HUUUUGE sunflowers

in the garden of the first farm house.

The gardens of this log cabin were fantastic!

This is a farm typical of Virginia in the 1850's .

It was a massive home, with several outbuildings

and barns to support the family. 

The two little peanuts that are responsible for

this field trip so the Mommas could take the friendship

from on-line support to real-life relationship.

I love what the adoption community has added to our lives!

A great day was had by all and we came away with a lot of great memories and some wonderful insight into the rich history of Virginia spanning several hundred years. Really, if you are in the vicinity, you MUST go! And take lots of pictures. I'll bet it is simply breathtaking in the fall with all the colors changing.

DIY: Shabby Chic Photo Gallery

LadyBug and I have been working (albeit at a decrepit, arthritic snail's pace, I admit) on some inexpensive re-do's in her room to update it and to reflect more of her love of all things vintage. Last fall, she and The Boss turned a solid white, kind of boring bookshelf into great multi-purpose storage for her room.

The first pass of sanding it down.

The finished product.

Pretty, functional and a loooong way toward finishing off her desired look. But we both knew we just weren't done yet. Curtains to replace her former little-girl-esque sheers are STILL not hung. Updated wall hangings have been added slowly over the last 8 months. Storage that is both pretty and functional had already been tackled last summer. I love watching her sense of style unfold and taking our time with this room is proving to be a great way to get to know her better.

There was a huge blank space on the wall above her bed that we just kept meaning to get to. Now that summer is here and both she and The Boss have some extra time on their hands, I put an idea out there for her to consider. She got on board really quickly and we got down to it. I had first seen a similar project using big huge French doors and black and white photos in a DIY design magazines and used the idea of it to inspire LadyBug's creativity after she and I saw something similar on our new favorite DIY show.

My great friend came through with FREE frames to get us going.

What a cutie pie!!!!

After The Boss safely removed all the glass and cleaned up the splinters,

LadyBug painted them both with a light coat of creamy off-white latex

that we already had in storage.

Then LadyBug sanded very strategically and sparingly

to achieve that vintage look she loves.

Shaggy's girlfriend came up for the afternoon

to join in the creative process.

Incidentally, she has her own blog. You should check it out!

Your tummy will thank me, I promise.

The girls flipped the dried and sanded frames over

and used a staple gun to attach chicken wire to the back.

Even BabyBlue Eyes got in on the action.

They used hammers to sink a few of the stubborn staples

and to nestle the ends of the wire more tightly against the frames.

These girls aren't just a pair of pretty faces, my friends!

The Boss hung the frames on the empty wall.

And LadyBug got busy with the clothespins

and cute pics of her BFF's that she's been saving for a while now.

Once she's home from her youth retreat, I'm pretty sure that space

will fill up fast with quotes, more pictures, and other momentos.

I can't wait!

I love the finished look.

It completes that space so perfectly

and is so complementary to the already-existing

cottage-y feel her room has.

BEST of all? This great project only cost us

LESS THAN $20 with materials to spare!!

Now if I could just figure out the curtain dilemma.
But that's another post for another day, my friends.

SO. What crafty things are you doing this summer? I'd love to hear about it in the comments. Feel free to even leave a link and I'll come on by.

Playdoh Art

This is how the younger members of The Gang occupy themselves on summer nights.

Look at all the GREEN sports paraphernalia.

My little Eagles fans :)

Li'l Empress was baking strawberry muffins to share with Momma.

LadyBug got all artsy and did her rendition of "The Scream."

Ummm, and apparently, this is how The Boss

occupies himself on a lazy summer night!

Happy Friday, Folks!

On a Happier Note!

This week, there's been lots to celebrate here at The Gang's house.

As opposed to the "just get me through the day" of last week.

So celebrate we did.

Daddy's first day of the new job warranted a big rib dinner.

Li'l Empress has settled nicely after several intentionally quiet

and slow-paced days and a focus on routine.

Shaggy's car is back on the road after many longs weeks of DIY repairs and some SERIOUSLY AMAZING time, generosity, and dirty, greasy, sweaty hours of help
from multiple folks who know their way around axels, struts, brake lines, and so on.

Momma started a new "household management" weapon tool.

Hat tip to a fellow adoptive mommy blogger!

 And Baby BlueEyes got the honor of being first to pick a job to redeem his "stuff.

SERIOUSLY... THAT's the first thing he picked. That smirk says it all, doesn't it?!
It's a darned good thing he's so cute.

So we had cake, ice cream, and night time swimming to commemorate it all.

Sunday Snapshot

My three boys got a chance this weekend

to immerse themselves in the things that they love.

Dr. D's first official season of high school football

 has begun. He's #26 this year.

This is from his first scrimmage.

Just 10 plays each - offense and defense.

But he got his hands on the ball a few times.

And picked up some really nice yardage for the team.

This Momma was cheerin' loud and proud.

I'm already lovin' the chance to yell my brains out

on the sidelines. He can't hear me through all that padding.

Later, The Boss took Shaggy to one of his favorite

music stores for an end of season inventory sale.

Shaggy got to play some seriously top o' the line drum sets.

His passion for the drums has expanded.

This summer, he's been dabbling in music theory

and teaching (re-teaching) himself some technique skills.

And Baby BlueEyes?  Well, at almost 10 years old,

his passion is to be with and be like his brothers

and his Daddy. Whenever and However.

He went along for both rides and was a happy camper

All. Day. Long.

The fact that he made his Daddy and I laugh out loud

with this face was just icing on the cake for our little guy!

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Leave me a comment, here

and I'll come by to visit you, there.

Sunday Snapshot

It was a good day to be the Momma of this Gang.

They let me sleep in a bit.

We went to the church picnic.

Li'l Empress got super sweaty and really red-faced

with excitement at all the play time with her big sibs

and their "awdum" friends.

That is NOT a sunburn. It is truly how red

her face gets when she runs around like a loon

on even a mild temp day.

Which today was not.

We stopped by our local bank

to have a contract notarized.

THE contract notarized, I should say.

Then we came back to The Gang's House

and spent the afternoon poolside.

Some family came by to chill out and visit.

Shaggy and Dr. D's "awdum" friends stopped by

for some cool-down time.

Ice cream sandwiches were served

to fortify them for the water battles that ensued.

Later, the yummy, gooey peanut butter chocolate chip bars

refilled all the empty tummies.

The mosquitos filled up nicely on Dr. D's

sweet Italian skin.

The pool was full today.

And so was my heart.

Happy Birthday to me!!!!