A Place for Everything

Hallelujah, and everything is in its place! The garage is finally, finally organized and clean. No more slicing my foot open on a doorjamb saw laying on the floor, no more rummaging through numerous containers trying to find the drill, no more tripping over myself trying to bring the children's riding toys out onto the driveway. The project took about a day and a half, a new toolbox chest, and a handful of nifty little hooks from Lowe's. Onto the next project on the checklist...

Desperately Seeking Recipe

I KNOW a ton of you have a secret little gem of a recipe for zucchini bread stashed away somewhere. Help a girl out and share, would ya?

I am on a mission to prove to the rest of the fam that zucchini CAN be delicious. I figure this could be an alternate to force feeding.

FYI

Just a little tip...

I don't know if you know this....but just in case...if a whole jar of melted Scentsy wax falls into your child's hair and scalp....half a bottle of conditioner makes the hair slippery enough to comb the gunk out.

(Scentsy wax does not get hot enough to burn, and Liv is fine!)

Birthday Luau

Our baby boy is a baby no longer as he celebrated his 11th birthday out front with a luau/water fun extravaganza.

Vinyl banner courtesy of my fave Miz B.
There were various water toys out on the front lawn to include the 26 foot slip n slide slash skimboard runway and a limbo station.

Water gun and balloon battles were the focus of all involved.

The little man enjoying his birthday.

The big present of the year courtesy of Grandpa Jun. (so spoiled)

Zoo Time!

The Hogle Zoo held a grand military appreciation day last Friday, offering all military members plus family FREE admission to the park. SOOO, as expected every single military member, active, reserve, guard, Air Force, Army, showed up in droves! It was great fun. The zoo had enough interesting sights...the uber close encounter with the cheetah was the ultimate fave with the kids, but it was also small enough that I didn't have to subject my poor skin to prolonged roasting.

Object of My Obsession

These always come in phases, and they usually coincide with the seasons. During the winter, my thoughts wander towards indoor home improvements and planning the big family vacay for the upcoming summer. It starts to warm, landscaping projects and cleaning out the old are forefront in my mind. At this particular point of time, the kitchen is being blessed with critical attention. Old spaghetti-sauce-stained tupperware, minimally used utensils, and other unecessaries have already met their end during last week's trash collection day. The purge was followed by a glorious trip to Williams-Sonoma.

That is where I have met my latest fixation: the 10-piece Calphalon Unison cookware set. OH, the beauty of those heavy-duty pots and pans is unmatched! Our current set is falling apart, the nylon handles have cracked under the heat of the dishwasher and exposing the hot metal underneath. This set boasts of heavy ergonomic and stay-cool handles that will remain intact under the stresses of the dishwasher. I am in LOVE, folks!

Now, I just gotta work some days at the guard base to make enough moolah to fund this fix!

I Haven't

...dropped off the face of the earth, I mean. The drive back was just a smidge exhausting, and with that added onto a full drill weekend immediately following...it has taken me this long to get back into the swing of things. I apologize for being absent so long.

Today, the children had a joyous reunion with their favorite friends and frolicked in and out of the wading pool and the spray of the garden hose in the front yard. Meanwhile, I sat (in the safety of the garage shade, of course) with my fave Miss B and was reminded why I absolutely luv luv my friend.

Also, today earmarked the start of July 4 festivities prep. L received (finally) his Father's Day gift. He got a hamburger sliders grilling kit from Sur La Table. AND we did our annual fireworks shopping. It has been quite the circle tradition for Fam Och to host the firework extravaganza of the year.

For those nearby...there will be a grill cookout out front on the 4th. BYOM and a side. Around 6:30PM. Come one Come all! Hope to see you there!