Weekly Menu

Meal #1 Taco Pasta w/ chips & salsa
Meal #2 Zucchini Boat w/ tossed salad & fresh fruit
Meal #3 MYO Pizza night w/ tossed salad & fried zucchini
Meal #4 Shredded beef tacos w/ spanish rice & chips w/ salsa
Meal #5 Mac & Cheese w/ fresh fruit


snacks & treats to try:
Chocolate Caramel Slice
PB Choc Chip Cookie Dough Balls
Granola Bars
Iced Coffee {same way as PW recipe I have used but want to try the sweet cream!}

Old Home Days!

Every 2 years our village has "Old Home Days". It's a day filled with fun events sponsored by the library, fire department, historical society & church.   There is a pancake breakfast @ the American Legion,  parade, Chicken BBQ @ the Fire Station, garage sales galore, crafts @ the library & lots of fun kids games at the church, the historical society is open & this year their new building was open for viewing too & it was amazing! So much history packed into 1 building! They have scrapbooks with history of the houses...we found our page! ☻

Dave's grandfather came down and sat with us on the porch to watch the parade, then his grandmother and Aunt Connie joined us for lunch and some garage sales. 

  

 

This evening there were bed races {yea, how redneck is that?!?!} followed by a HUGE block party!

 



We ended our night with an outdoor movie at the church.  It's days like these that I realize just how much I LOVE where we live.  What a great community of friends and neighbors we have! I am so thankful my girls get to grow up here..yes even small country towns have their share of "bad" stuff but its great to be in a place where there is still a lot of innocence!

Beach Fun!

We spent the afternoon @ Jamesville Beach yesterday. For all of you local CNY'ers its a great spot, nice beach, playground, & bathrooms!  It was a cloudy day but lots of fun & we were not cooking in the hot sun so that was a bonus!  Lots of fun in the sand & the water was surprisingly warm!  We will visit again for sure, hopefully with more friends to play with too!

Aunt Connie had a milestone birthday turning 50 so in celebration we had birthday brownies {complete w/ sprinkles, candle & singing}!  We made a list of 50 reasons we LOVE Aunt Connie, I think she was pleased! ☻



Dave was able to take the day off work & enjoy it with us! Always fun when Daddy comes along!

Surprise dinner for Aunt Connie last night finished off our fun filled day!

Friday FAB finds!

20 habits making you fat

I found this article interesting!

Make this look
VERY cool site for sewing and/or learning to sew!

Mason jar lanterns
I have tons of vintage mason jars..this is an awesome project to use some!

Candy Buttons
I really have to try this..Savannah's MOST favorite candy & they are hard to find!

Yet another curbside creation!

I swear...I was not even going to stop for it....then I slooooooooowed way down to take a look & Savannah saw it out the window and said we should pick it up and take it home?!?!? Huh!??! This coming from the girl who normally says "leave that junk, its garbage!" {lets just say she has been very WELL trained by her father!}

So I told her if it was still there on the way home I would grab it but she would be taking the heat from daddy for it!  We made our grocery store run and came home, there it was....waiting for us!  So another Trash Transformation for the Barilla house!

Used paint from my stash & decided to give the interior a little pick-me-up as well with the same silver spray paint I used on the hardware!

Now....much to Dave's dismay this WILL be staying at our house & its part of the guest room mini makeover I have planned?!?! {ssshhhh.....don't tell him any of this} I desperately need a sewing space...and while I would LOVE an entire wing room in the house that's just not possible! So I can stop taking over the dining table & having to move my machine & contraband from place to place, I am carving out a little corner of the guest room to use & this sweet little cabinet will hold my fabrics and sewing paraphernalia perfectly! The guest room is in light blues, white & silver {luckily dear hubby has not picked up on the fact this was painted to match the decor!}

Zucchini Invasion!

We just happen to have great neighbors....who just happen to have a great garden every summer...who just happen to share their great bounty with us!  So....we are getting flooded with these HUGE zucchini over the past week! 

What to do with all these zucchini?!?!  Turn to one of my favorite recipes I discovered last summer! 

 Zucchini Brownies

{minus the walnuts of course & do yourself a favor..do NOT skip the frosting on these, its amazing!}

{photo from allrecipes.com}

Sit back and watch your non veggie eating, green food hating, picky eater kiddos scarf these down and beg for more..all the while you are doing the happy victory dance & shouting (in your head of course!) "Neener Neener Neener you just ate zucchini!!!"

Have any zucchini recipes for share with me? I seem to have an overabundance and they keep arriving! I have the standard zucchini bread recipe, plus we like to bread them {dip in egg & then seasoned breadcrumbs) and lightly fry in olive oil, I add them to spagetti sauce, puree them and sneak them into LOTS of meals, I am stocking my freezer this summer but would also like to use them fresh right outta the garden!

2 weeks of cousin filled FUN!!

Within just 2 weeks we got to see our girls with ALL their cousins which I just love! Just wish it didn't have to be so far between visits!

We got the treat of seeing both my sister's kiddos in California on our camping trip.  My girls think these teenage girls are the seriously the coolest people to walk the earth. Savannah & Kellen always have a blast together, only wish it could be more often!

Dave's brother and wife also made the drive out to California from Arizona to see us so we got double the family fun in 1 trip!  They have the 2 cutest boys EVER.  Brock is an amazing kid and so excited about monster trucks and sand castles and running into the ocean.  Brody is the sweetest little baby boy with the most amazing blue eyes & a silly grin that you cant help but smile back! 

Here is a great picture of Uncle Dave with his nephews {see that awesome cheesy grin?}

My sister in law Heather & I {my lovely sunburn, this NY whitey in CA!}

Sweet little Brody napping on the beach while Brock & Savannah built MEGA sand castles!

Well we got back from our camping adventure & Dave's sister Willow arrived in NY to visit with our niece Angelina.  This little girl is super feisty & nonstop energy..she wants to do it all and see it all & she calls me "Auntie Ice-cream!" which is a name I have earned with pretty much all my littlest nieces & nephews but especially her!  Beautiful little girl with long blond hair, her daddy better watch out when she gets older!!! 

These 3 girls would not sit still long enough to get a picture {even with the candy bribe} BUT I managed to get this shot of them on our front porch tonight!

Weekly Menu

Meal #1 Spagetti w/ fresh bread &, mozzarella sticks & tossed salad
Meal #2 Chicken Fajitas w/ tossed salad & fresh fruit
Meal #3 Cowboy quesadillas w/ spanish rice & chips w/ salsa
Meal #4 Chicken Lettuce Wraps w/ egg rolls & fresh fruit
Meal #5 Tomato & Mozzarella Pasta w/ tossed salad & baguette


Snacks & Treats
Healthy PopTarts
Steel Cut Oats -wanted to try these but never knew how, this is a MUST, sounds SO easy!
Brownie Chunk Ice Cream
Chocolate Banana Breakfast Cookies

Friday FAB finds

8 ideas using old crates

I have a 'thing' for these old wooden crates!

Realistic advice for teenage girls
God help me I will have 2 teenage girls in this house before I know it!

Summer Popsicle recipes
YUM - always looking for new cool treats for these super hot days!

Giant Kiddie Pool bubbles
How fun would this be?!?!

My first Silhouette project!

So..finally got my hands on a Silhouette...no I did not win one, even though I entered more contests monthly than I care to admit!  Dave finally said "Just buy one already", keep in mind this is when he was still glowing in the purchase of his "new" motorcycle! 

I finally made my first project with it and am in love...I have a LOT of learning to do with this machine still so its frustrating right now...I am seriously NOT a software person and so learning a new program is like learning a new language to me....but I managed to make some cute towels for my nieces & nephew to give them for our CA beach vacation last week!

For a reason way beyond me, my 3 teenage nieces have this absurd love affair with narwhals...what in the world is a narwhal you are probably asking right now...its like the "unicorn of the sea"...check it out here!

So I decided I would make beach cover ups for each girl & my plan was to have one large narwhal on each towel...well I could not figure out how to make them large since you are supposed to use those fancy schmancy carrier mats when cutting fabrics so I made 3 for each towel, yet you are supposed to be able to make things up to 39" long?!?!  I also did not have any of the fabric interfacing so I used No Sew Heat-N-Bond {totally unprepared I tell ya!} and it worked great! 

I really wanted to get pictures of the girls in their towels but with the craziness of the week failed to!  All I did was take a full size towel & sew strips of velcro onto each towel like this tutorial shows.

Without further adieu I give you the famous narwhal beach cover ups! These were seriously a hit, I had Dave wrap one around himself and the girls tackled him to the ground to get it until they realized I had one for each of them!

I could not leave out my crazy nephew who is insanely into anything & everything pirates! So I did a cape version for him rather than a wrap {just sewed the velcro at different points}.

It's hard to tell in this picture but its a pirate ship on the bottom! I bought all the fabrics weeks before the trip & bought towels later, forgetting the fabric was black so it was really hard to actually see the ship! Since I was making these at midnight the day before we left I had not time to fix that so we just went with what we had!

Weekly Menu!

Meal #1 Grilled skirt steak w/ fruit salsa & chips w/ salsa
Meal #2 Mac & Cheese w/ hot dogs & watermelon
Meal #3 Chicken Pillows w/ tossed salad & fresh fruit
Meal #4 Cheeseburgers w/ cucumber dill summer salad & cantaloupe
Meal #5 BBQ chicken w/ twice baked/grilled potatoes

Snacks & Treats
watermelon lemonade
banana cream pudding
frozen hot chocolate
orange julius

California Beach Camping!

I have been unplugged for the past week & its been fantastic!!! As much as I ♥ the internet, cell phones, television & microwaves it was so nice to take a break for a week! 

We met my whole family in San Diego and camped on the beach for the week with them!  My nieces and nephew had no idea that we were flying literally coast to coast to meet them so it was an AMAZING surprise!  We arrived and were just walking through the campsite, they saw us but at first didn't even notice..then when they realized it took a moment for it to even seem real! SOOOO fun & a great surprise!  My mom & both my sisters with their families do this every July the past few years & this year we crashed their campsite!

My whole family on South Carlsbad Beach

Thanks to my sister Paula {the Cruise Director as my sister Michele referred to her as} we had games EVERY night!  One night was Minute to Win It where each family battled each other in ridiculous games!  Everyone had a blast & I am totally claiming the Barilla Family WON it hands down!!!!!

  

 Makayla doing the "Candy Elevator" & Dave rocking the "Chocolate Narwhal"

Maddy working the "back flip"

Paula doing the "baby rattle" {check out those guns}!

Alyssa totally bombing at "bottoms up"  

Lots of play time in the sand & surf although Emerson only managed to get out of that beach chair and actually in the sand once!

Our family on our last night in Cali!

VERY happy to be home with power & a nice clean bathroom. Not to mention I have missed blog land & pinterest & facebook..WOW I am a social network junkie more than I thought I guess! Great memories to keep for a lifetime, thanks to my mom & sisters for everything, it was an amazing week!

Roadside Rescue!

So I have this thing with picking up "treasures" along the road that people discard. I swear I do drive by A LOT without stopping but I seem to pick up A LOT as well. I drove by this dresser 3 times last week, actually stopped & looked at it once then finally went back for it!

It was hard to get past all the garbage surrounding it, and the missing bottom drawer front, peeling veneer, etc....but I fell in love with the charm & details of the piece.  Knowing hubby would kill me for rescuing it I brought it home and started working right away...within 2 hours from it sitting on the curb it was sanded, prepped and mostly painted!  I had to remove the veneer totally from the larger drawer as well as 1 side of the dresser. Luckily everything else was ok just being sanded down. The drawers were in rough shape but hubby helped me sturdy those up {complaining all the while about yet another of my projects, but he is a trooper I tell ya!}

Out of all the bad, I saw the good! {really good if you ask me}

Recently Glidden had a paint giveaway..I love to have paint on hand & I love freebies so it was like heaven!  Anyway...I chose Glidden Truly Olive in eggshell finish, no reason or plan but now I knew it was fate ;)

{I am TOTALLY over the moon in love with this color!}

So, here is the finished piece....now if I could just talk Dave into letting me keep it!

                                                                                                   

Just look at that color on those details & a quick spray of black spray paint on the handles makes them really pop against the green!

I lined the drawers with this vintage looking fabric I had in my stash..the green is almost identical!

Part of me always wants to go back to the curbside I got the treasure from and show them what became of their discarded items...but then the other part of me fears they would demand I give it back to them! HaHa!

Friday FAB finds!

41 copycat recipes

You know how I love homemade versions of yummy restaurant treats, this is a GREAT list!

Caylee's Law

I was saddened & disgusted by the verdict in the Casey Anthony trial this week, signing the petition is the least we can do for this sweet little girl.

Bread Bags
Super cute idea for giving homemade bread as gifts!

Natural Swimming Pools
Super AWESOME! I have never heard of this idea, but now need to convince hubby we NEED one ;)

Beach Towel Cover-ups!

We intend to spend a lot of time checking out the local lakes this summer with the girls..I have seen tutorials all over for making swimsuit cover ups out of beach towels, not to mention seeing super cute cover ups in all the stores!  I finally grabbed a towel both girls could agree on and today cranked out 2 cover ups with enough left to make probably 1 more!  So for under $10 I get 3 swimsuit cover ups, not bad at all!

whether lounging by the pool

or having a fudge pop

I used this tutorial but without the shirring on top so they are a little baggy but my girls HATE tight clothing so it will work well for us. As all of you know elastic thread and I had a huge falling out and do not get along these days {I can hold a heck of a grudge!}. I hope one day to rekindle my love affair for the thread and make amends since its essential in countless cute sewing projects...but for now I just wanted to enjoy making these cover ups and playing with my new sewing machine!  YEP, the Brother machine I got is history and I found a Singer Ingenuity on Craigslist for a great deal....turns out I met a super nice local blogger too!  I always worry that I will come across from FREAK on CL but this time just the opposite!  Check out her blog,  ItsSewKiki. This is the amazing seamstress I bought the machine from since she recently upgraded.  I feel like its blessed and full of luck considering the beautiful things she has produced using it!  I swear its like going from a cheap tiny compact car to a Cadillac Escalade! ha ha :)

HAPPY July 4th!

We are spending the day mostly at home just relaxing.....we saw a great parade...then visited with our Awesome Aunt Connie.....followed by fireworks at the lake tonight.  A GREAT day!  I hope you celebrate this Independence Day with the ones you love!