My Baby.

Can you believe that she... ...is my baby.

When did she grow up?
I really love her... Can you blame me?

Annie Oakley

I had to renew my Concealed Handgun License which required me to take a refresher course. The classroom portion was from 8:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. followed by a shooting test at the range. There were three of us in the class and I was the only woman. One of the other students is an ex-military police officer. Would you believe me if I told you I scored higher than either one at both the written exam and the shooting test? You better believe I did! Yeah baby! (I have to gloat when I can, as I'm never the best at anything. Never mind the fact that had it been a full class, I probably would not have had the highest score.) Want to see my target?

Hey, they didn't call me "Annie Oakley" for nothing! :) O.K. I'm done gloating now. Please forgive me.

Ginger Glazed Mahi Mahi

Dave has a terrible thing called gout, so we rarely eat red meat at our house as it causes him to have flare ups. So, I've been trying lots of new fish recipes, as chicken gets a tad bit old, and found a fabulous one tonight I thought I'd share...not to mention it was super easy!

Ginger Glazed Mahi Mahi

3 TBSP honey

3 TBSP soy sauce

3 TBSP balsamic vinegar

1 tsp grated fresh ginger root

1 clove garlic, crushed

2 tsp olive oil

4 (6 ounce) mahi mahi fillets

salt and pepper to taste

1 TBSP vegetable oil (I used coconut oil as I've read it's really good for you, unlike vegetable oil)

In a shallow glass dish, stir together the honey, soy sauce, balsamic vinegar, ginger, garlic, and olive oil. Season fish fillets with salt and pepper, and place them into the dish. If the fillets have skin on them, place them skin side down. Cover, and refrigerate for 20 minutes to marinade.

Heat vegetable oil (or coconut oil) in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Remove fish from the dish, and reserve marinade. Fry fish for 4-6 minutes on each side, turning only once, until fish flakes easily with a fork. Remove fillets to a serving platter and keep warm.

Pour reserved marinade into the skillet, and heat over medium heat until the mixture reduces to a glaze consistency. Spoon glaze over fish, and serve immediately.

*I served it with a green salad, corn, and whole wheat blueberry muffins. It was a hit at our house...Enjoy!

Girls Camp

This morning, I dropped this girl...

...off at Girls Camp. She will be gone until Saturday. She was very excited and has looked forward to it all year. The theme this year is, "There's no place like home" from The Wizard of Oz. As they arrived, they took their pictures with props. She's a 2nd year, so she is a very cute lion...

We will miss her but know she'll have a great time!

Even if it is 95 degrees outside!

Wall Art

When I saw this...

I loved it. I've had my eye on it for quite some time, so you can imagine how thrilled I was when it went on sale. I knew exactly where I wanted to hang it. See...
It's perfect, don't you think? Even if it was a HUGE pain to hang (according to Dave). Thanks honey! :)

Just the Girls

Carter's been going to a camp this week. He's gone from 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. My friend, Darlene's boys are also at the camp. So, she invited the girls and I to the lake so that Taylor could try skiing again. She was SO close the other day but with 5 kiddos and 2 mama's wanting turns, she didn't get a whole lot of time. So we dropped the boys off, then headed to the lake. This time I got video of her skiing...

She did so good! Now that she's figured out how to get up she needs to figure out how to stay up! :) That part usually comes much quicker.

Lauren was also much braver today and got up on the knee board! Yippee! She looked so cute knee boarding and was really pleased with herself. She did awesome!

I love summer!

A Day at the Lake with the Kids

Last Friday, my friend Darlene and I took the kids out on their boat for the day. We were beyond excited! They all got to knee board and Taylor even tried water skiing! They've been on a boat before but never gotten to ski, knee board, etc. so this was a first for them! I loved watching them do one of my favorite things! I spent a lot of time boating as a kid, so it brought back so many great memories. I got to ski too, which was an added bonus!

~Miles & Carter~

Initially, Carter didn't want to get in the lake, as it looked "too dirty". He's kinda irritating funny like that. It's a very clean lake, he's just not used to lake water. All the kids jumped in, except Carter. But, he soon joined them, after I threw him in! :)

He doesn't like swimming without goggles, even in a lake! :)

Taylor tried water skiing for the first time. She got up on her second try, but fell shortly after so I didn't get any pictures of her up. She did awesome and I was so proud of her!

Carter was the bravest of all my kids on the knee board. He was a natural and even tried doing a 360!

Carter's attempt at a 360...

...and a wipe out!

It was pretty choppy when it was Lauren's turn to knee board so she didn't try to get up on her knees. She just enjoyed letting the boat pull her around the lake! She was the most cautious of the kids.

Taylor also loved knee boarding...

Carter got to drive the boat which was definitely a highlight for him!

Thanks Darlene! We had a blast!

~Taylor, Miles, Austin, Carter, & Lauren~

A Visitor and New Arrival

Last week, my friend Liz came all the way from Colorado to visit and she picked to stay with me! Yippee! I felt so flattered as she's quite popular here and had many places to choose from. She got here on Monday night and left Friday morning. We went to lunch at Chuy's, shopped at Costco, took a little road trip to Six Flags, saw the movie Grown-Ups, and went out to dinner (at Chuy's again...we REALLY love Chuy's! In fact, if you come and visit me, I'll definitely take you there!) I am kicking myself for not taking pictures of our visit. Oh well...here's one from last year when she stayed with me (she's still just as pretty). Next year I'll be sure to snap a few pictures. :)

And, almost just as exciting, we finally got this... Luckily it came before Liz arrived, although I really didn't cook for her as we were too busy eating at Chuy's! There's always next time! ;)

Take a peek inside...

the freezer...I am loving all the extra space. It's quite a bit bigger than my last refrigerator yet the same dimensions on the outside. Pretty cool, eh?

Fourth of July

For the 4th of July, we went to Fort Hood Army Base, with Dave's sister and her family. Her hubby, Kevin, is in the army and recently returned from Iraq. They had tanks and helicopters that the kids could climb around in... Carter was in heaven!

They let the kids try on their body armor...
It weighs a lot! (Our guess is 50-60 pounds). It really makes you appreciate our service women and men that wear this in Iraq for hours and hours in the heat! I can't even imagine how miserable that would be!

There was also a carnival with free rides and games. The kids loved driving these remote control Nascar cars...

We had a great time! At dusk, they had the best fireworks show...imagine 45 minutes of what you would consider a "finale". The army knows how to celebrate!
We hope you had a great 4th as well. We are so blessed to live in this great country and owe so much to the men and women who give so much so that we can enjoy our freedoms. My heart goes out to all the families who's loved ones are serving or have served. Thank you.

Nitro Swim Meet

The kids had their first swim meet tonight and did awesome! They all did 3 events. Carter & Lauren did the 25 meter freestyle, breast stroke, and back stroke. Taylor did the same strokes but did 50 meters of each.

Carter, Taylor, Katelyn, & Lauren

Taylor...

Carter...

Lauren...

Katelyn & Lauren