oh, hi... lots going on...

My sweet neighbor, Heather shared her beautiful hydrangeas with me this week... :)
Skype-fest with fam in UTAH!!

Sunday we celebrated Father's Day a little early... after a yummy dinner and skype with the family, we tucked the kiddos in bed, only to hear little feet walking down the stairs: Caitlin and Will bringing 'wrapped gifts for daddy' on Father's Day! how cute is that? Here are the kids with Daddy; and their gifts. (this made us laugh, because as they headed back to bed they took their gifts with them... haha!)
Monday: My totally awesome cousin, Linda (from Seven Years of Plenty) and I ventured north to about an hour to The Snow Farm to visit East Coast Food Storage!! I'm excited to say that I've officially started my food storage!! It's not much, but it's a start! We had such a fun time together: we got lost, we laughed, we even saw a BEAR!! Yah, folks. We know how to party! Will and Brinley were so good... fun afternoon. we've decided we need to spend more time together! Here's a pic from the Farm... so beautiful and peaceful.
Tuesday: Suzie hosted the famous monthly RECIPE CLUB for June... and our theme was Wedding Foods. I told Suz i wanted to try and make a wedding cake!! Here are a few pics of my FIRST Wedding cake with fondant!! Not BAD, eh???

Can you believe it? I MADE this... i had fun. (i couldn't just make it white. i had to spice it up with SOMETHING BLUE... <3
Wednesday: Our Darling William graduated from Preschool!! (he was wearing a handsome button down shirt before we left that morning, but he decided he was going to help me do the dishes... and it was soaked!! So, he rocked the Mario shirt at graduation, it's more "Will" anyway. he wanted to wear his Buzz Light Year costume... that battle i did win. Here's Will is standing as they called his name... FUTURE Kindergartner!!

Will receiving his diploma from Mrs. Williams.
Brinley's 2nd cupcake...
(had to include this pic...) I offered to take my friend's 'family' pics for them because their memory card was full on their camera... so, she offered in return... this was before our 'family' pic: Me doing the 'mom' thing: licking a napkin and wiping my kid's lunch off his face...

Will's Teachers and class. Miss Rachel, Mrs. Williams, and Mr. Wayne

(Buddy the) ELF Lasagna

Buddy, "Could you pass the Maple Syrup, please?"
Emily, (confused...)"It's spaghetti..."
Buddy, "Oh, wait... i think i have some!"
Emily, "You like sugar, don't you?"
Buddy, "Is there sugar in syrup?"
Emily, "Yes."
Buddy, "Then YES!"

OK, How many of us have quoted this scene and giggled to ourselves..."Who's crazy enough to eat that...?"

But have you every tired it?

Well, look no further... I've got the solution for you, about the same ingredients- different form- delicious none the less! May i introduce to you...

Elf Lasagna with **secret ingredient** Maple Syrup!!

(don't judge till you try it, and believe it or not, this recipe is actually healthy for you!)

The following recipe is for an 8x8 dish! (double for 9x13)

Ingredients:
9 strips of 100% Whole Wheat Lasagna noodles -you'll have to karate chop the noodles to fit 8x8 pan :)
3 Tbs extra virgin olive oil
3 garlic cloves, minced

1 white onion, chopped
2 Tbs 100% pure maple syrup
1 Tbs Italian seasoning
1/2 lb fresh firm tofu (not silkin)
4 cups kale (or spinach) chopped
1 cup diced zucchini
1 cup diced summer squash
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
2-4 cups tomato sauce
1 cup grated mozzarella cheese (or rice cheese)

Directions:
Cook Lasagna noodles according to package. Drain and rise with cold water, gently lay on clean dish towel to dry.

Prepare Filling:
in large skillet over med. heat, saute garlic and onions in olive oil until soft (about 5 min.) Add Maple syrup, Italian seasoning and stir. Open tofu package, and drain liquid. Wrap tofu in paper towels and press to remove excess liquid. Crumble tofu into pan with onions, stir and cook for 5 min.

Add zucchini, squash and fold kale greens into tofu mixture and continue cooking until soft (3-5 min.) Season to taste with salt, pepper, remove from heat.
Assembling:
Start by adding a little tomato sauce to the bottom of your pan and cover with your first layer of lasagna noodles. Add half of your tofu mixture and top with sauce and cheese, (repeat).

Finish your lasagna by adding the third layer of noodles, followed by sauce and cheese. (I find a "little" goes a long way, no need to smother this recipe in sauce or cheese, let the focus be on the tofu mixture!)Bake:
Cover with foil and place in 400 degree preheated oven for 20 min. Remove foil and bake another 5-10 min. Let stand 5 min before serving.
(this recipe is also great served with large stuffed shells: stuff shells with tofu mixture and top with sauce and cheese. bake the same as Lasagna.)

Enjoy!

A little Elf humor:


and while you are at it click HERE to read about nutrition info and health benefits for Maple Syrup!

my little buddies...

Friday, Will cashed in his "Good Deeds Sticker Chart" for a Spider Man hat and a bag of Cool Ranch Doritos. I just thought these pictures were so cute of will sharing his hat with Brinley.






This picture is the cutest... it's so "Charlie Brown baseball" to me... little kids with big hats... i love these little babies...

Caitlin was making Horse Trophies last week... with play-do...

'bout time we did something with dat family room...

OK, so we broke down and actually DID something with the family room. Whhoooooo! There are still a few things we need to do... but for now... lets just say... HUGE IMPROVEMENT, this house is starting to look like a home... OUR HOME!

Here's a pictures of the fire place and walls right after we had the carpet put in...
Soooo, we took the fire place 'face' off...
and did THIS to it.
and THIS to the doors... handles and wire screen thing...

While that dried... we decided to test out some paint samples... What's better than paint samples??? Little Helpers with little rollers... (love them!)





work that paint Caitles
Will's Turn... (sneak peak at the fire place... awesome, ay?)



Even Brinley got a turn... and this little artist was in heaven!


''swatches''-- we went with the bottom right color- Home De Pot, Behr: Mississippi Mud!
prepping huge crack in the wall...
Word. Primmer...
Ta-Daaa...

Kidz' Roomz

I finally added curtains and art to the kids rooms... (Not totally finished, I would like to add framed picture of the Temple in each room, too! as suggestion of Pres. Monson! :) That's my next project!)

Brinley's Room:
you might remember when i made this wall art.... Click HERE for the how to
My mom painted these two paintings in 1989... I used to look at them when i was little... pretend i lived in this little village... Brinley LOVES the Cows!




CAitlin and WiLL's room: