Who Needs Starbucks?

I admit that I love Starbucks. And I hate that about myself! They are way too expensive, I hate the "names" of the sizes (how about small, medium and large?!) and we all know the calories in their drinks kill your diet efforts! So - I've got an alternative for you! This afternoon I made some "Cool and Creamy Coffee Freezes" and we loved them (except Blake who said they tasted like "cow poop" - I do hope he's never tasted cow poo..)! Remind me to make them for you if you visit this summer - if you're not stopping by - here's the recipe! Enjoy!

Pour 1 Cup of Skim or Fat-Free Milk into your blender. Add enough ice to measure 3 cups. Add 1 cup Cool Whip Free whipped topping, 1 package (4 serving size) Jell-O Vanilla Instant Pudding and Pie Filling and 1 Tbsp. of Maxwell House Instant Coffee (add more for a stronger coffee flavor). Blend on high 'til smooth. Add more milk if needed for desired consistency. Makes 2 large glasses or 4 small. Add a dollop of Cool Whip on top!

Take that Starbucks!

Life is a Highway! Ahh! Summertime!

School's out and I'm off! Woo Hoo! This is my first summer off since I was a teenager and I am thrilled! In three days, we've visited the library twice and spent a whole day hanging out at a local pool. Tomorrow, Luke is attending a free program at our local museum. Blake and I plan to stroll the streets downtown and find something cold to drink while Big Brother is in his program. I have to say - we're just in our first week off and I am really enjoying this!

Some of my favorite summer memories from high school include heading to a local lake with friends for swimming, fishing and camping. The summer before I left was also when I caught an enormous catfish (my parents saw it if you don't believe me!) and worked my nerve up to jump off a huge cliff into the lake. My car didn't have air conditioning so we always had the windows down, the stereo up, the sunroof open and our hair blowing like crazy! One of my favorite songs that came out just before leaving home was "Life is a Highway". Well - yesterday - I headed out for the pool in the summer sun in a minivan with two kids in the back. Boy - how things have changed since I was cruising around in that little beat up car! But just for memories of summers past, cranked up the new Rascal Flatts version of "Life is a Highway" and put the windows down (automatic, of course!). The boys must have thought "Mommy is crazy but she's taking us to the pool so I'm just going to keep quiet!" I haven't looked forward to summer like this in years! Yuliya and Alex joined us for the day and we had a great time!

Luke's class picnic was last Thursday. I love the pics of the boys. These were two of his best buddies this year. Hopefully, they'll be in the same class in the fall. Luke received the creative writing award for his class for his "spicy" writing which included a paper about his brother picking his nose in public - and I'm not kidding! Clever? Yes! Embarrassing for our family? Definately? But don't creative writers always push the limits?

Siblings were able to join us so "The Governor" came along. He ran into a buddy from the tee ball field and worked the crowd as always.

Hope you're all enjoying your summer as much as I am! You may not hear from us for a while! Just joking! I'll keep you updated on our summer fun!

Celebrate Life Dance

Before you jump to any conclusions - everyone in all of these pics are completely sober! We were simply "high on life"! Last night, we attended the Celebration of Life Dance. It was the first one without Jeff and was a benefit to raise money for the cancer department of Georgetown. There were a lot of fun moments and a lot of touching moments. We have all learned so much from the life and death of Jeff and the strength and faith of his family. I believe I can speak for everyone in saying we had a wonderful time dancing, singing (me, Ginger, Jan, Jen and Fran have now been named "The Hollywood Chicks" by Gaynelle for our version of "Old Time Rock n' Roll) and just enjoyed the company. One of my favorite moments of the evening was the last slow dance with Justin while we watched Frank and Evelyn (in their 80's) dance together with her little head on his chest, her eyes closed, just loving each other. Perfect. Life lessons are around us everyday. All we have to do is look.

Celebrate Life

As promised from last month - more pics from the Race for Hope. If you remember the blog from last month, you'll recall it was Sarah's birthday. She actually ran in her tiara and feather boa! She just sent the pics to me this week and it's actually perfect timing as tonight is our Celebrate Life Dance! I'll make sure I post some pics of that as well - these were just too fun not to share! Also - thank you Caroline for the "better late than never" sponsorship for the race! Greatly appreciated!

Family Fun and Film Fest

Wow! What a treat! Julie emailed me Friday asking about Luke's T-Ball game. I sent directions and hoped she and Rex would make it on Saturday. I didn't recognize Rex's new car in the parking lot so Blake and I missed them at first but spotted them near the field. You should have seen how excited Blake was to see Aunt Julie and Uncle Rex! Luke had a great game and looked back frequently during practice before the game just to make sure they were watching! It was SO nice to have some family members join us this season! Yay!

Rex and Julie decided to spend the day. We attended Justin's flag game and then headed up to a local park for an annual fun and film fest. We have never attended and didn't know what to really expect. Turned out to be a near perfect summer night! The kids ran around playing before we settled in for the playing of "ET" at dark. Blake camped out on a blanket while the rest of us lounged in chairs munching on popcorn and snacks as the night grew cooler. Both Rex and Justin admitted that they wouldn't have planned to attend this but agreed it was a great pick... wonderful family memories...