Here’s a few shots of Charleigh’s baptism. (Notice her daddy is the one who did it) I really wish I’d have paid more attention to getting a good picture, I was too busy being wearing my “proud mommy” hat to put on my shutterbug one.

Here’s a pic of Joshua and his B-day Cake. (He decorated it) This is another example of a great day but no great pictures to show for it. . .


Joshua had an awesome birthday party! It was a “rock and roll” party. Some great friends of ours on the worship team at church came and rocked the place out for him. We got him a guitar and he was estatic to get to play with the band on stage with a huge audience. That night before he went to sleep he told me “In all my dreams I never dreamed a day could be as good as this”.

On October 5th Charleigh and her birthday buddy Kali turned 8. We had a mommy/daughter sleep over and the girls had a great time.

Every time Amy comes for a visit it’s a special ocassion. Here’s a picture of the two of us from this summer:


(I’m not really taller than her, I just tend to wear heels)

Here’s a link to a picture of Kaleb’s Baptism a few years ago.

I’m reposting this June post in honor of the Carnival of Recipes. Anne-Marie at A Readable Feast is hosting this coming week and her theme is “tried-and-true kid-tested and kid-approved recipes” While we have many kid-friendly recipes this one has been the biggest on going hit.

June 8, 2007-
Tonight the kids and I came across a new favorite recipe:

Fried Ravioli Recipe courtesy Giada De Laurentiis
See this recipe on air Thursday Jun. 14 at 1:30 PM ET/PT.
Show: Everyday Italian
Episode: Italian Street Food

Olive oil, for frying
1 cup buttermilk
2 cups Italian-style bread crumbs
1 box store-bought cheese ravioli (about 24 ravioli)
1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan
1 jar store bought marinara sauce, heated, for dipping

Pour enough olive oil into a large frying pan to reach a depth of 2 inches. Heat the oil over medium heat until a deep-fry thermometer registers 325 degrees F.
While the oil is heating, put the buttermilk and the bread crumbs in separate shallow bowls. Working in batches, dip ravioli in buttermilk to coat completely. Allow the excess buttermilk to drip back into the bowl. Dredge ravioli in the bread crumbs. Place the ravioli on a baking sheet, and continue with the remaining ravioli.

When the oil is hot, fry the ravioli in batches, turning occasionally, until golden brown, about 3 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the fried ravioli to paper towels to drain.

Sprinkle the fried ravioli with Parmesan and serve with a bowl of warmed marinara sauce for dipping.

The raviolis got thumbs up all around. Except from Kaleb, poor little guy, it was his idea to make them but with a 103 degree fever he just didn’t feel up to eating. I promised to make some more later.

These were quick and easy, although not very healthy…I was thinking of coming up with a great marinara and a pesto cream sauce and making this my signiture contribution to all the holiday parties next year. MMMMM

While we’re talking about store bought raviolis I thought I’d give them a little plug. My kids love them! We buy the Great Value Frozen variaty from Wal*Mart. I’ve bought more expensive brands but this is the one the kids like the best. A bag costs around 2 bucks and they take only 3 minutes to boil up. We use them in a multitude of ways, topping them with anything from homemade marinara, roasted garlic mayo, pesto, or alfredo. We even use them in place of lasagna noodles and ricotta to make a speedy mock lasagna. Simply boil them up and layer them with your meat or veggie sauce. You’ve already got the cheese and noodles so all you have to do is top it off with a bit more cheese and put it under the broiler till it looks golden and bubbly. WhaLa! Lasagna in less than 30 minutes. If we’ve got more time to bake it I do like to add a little more cheesy goodness to the mix. Rarely can you have to much cheesy goodness you know.

(Yes, I did get the idea from Racheal Ray of 30 minute meals. She uses this techique in multiple recipes. The first I tried was a creamy spinach version with lemon and thyme which is no longer available online but here are two still listed on her site: Ravioli Lasagna, Ravioli Vegetable Lasagna