Super Simple Summertime Pie

Recently, I made a big Friday night meal for our family.  Fridays are a big deal... Daddy's home for the weekend!  We don't eat meat on Fridays, so I was making a pasta dish with all kinds of yummy garden veggies on top and some bread.  I wanted a dessert... but something that followed that summery feel... hence this pie was born.  It is incredibly easy and incredibly tasty.  You ready?  Okay.

So, the crust you can really make any way you want.  I just used a frozen one, baked it until golden brown and was done.  After letting it cool, I spread just a couple of spoonfuls of whipped cream in the bottom and put down a layer of strawberries.

Next, I whipped up some lemon pudding (seriously, use the lemon kind... it's so good with the fruit!) and mixed in about half a tub of whipped cream (I know, I was really exact, here).  Then I poured it all in and let the whole thing sit in the fridge for a few hours.
 

Shortly before dinner, I decorated the top with some delicious organic blackberries and a few more sliced strawberries.  Gorgeous!  If there isn't enough sugar in there for you already... you can dollop some of the remaining whipped cream on top ;-).

Oh, and should you have a little one... definitely feed her blackberries while you work.  You won't regret it ;-).

Mountain Getaway

The weekend we moved, my dear, dear sister and her family invited us to join them in the mountains.  It was peaceful, beautiful and just a joy to be there.  That's about it, I don't have much to say... just pictures to share :).

New.

We moved.  And it was the best moving experience I have ever had.  Why, you ask?  Well, it may be that my mother and sister did most of the work, because they are amazing and understood a variety of things that kept me miserable and trying to catch up on my work. 

And?  It may be that the new apartment has washer and dryer, is bigger, has a bathroom larger than the toilet, has walk-in closets, did I mention the washer and dryer?!, has a fireplace, cuts down Daniel's commute by at least half an hour, and really, we have a washer and dryer IN our apartment.  Sure, there are a few small things we don't absolutely love, but overall, it's perfect right now (oh!  And we have wonderful friends who live one complex over, I'm thrilled about that!).

Miss Anni revealed several new skills over that time... which always happens when my mama is around.  She followed my mom as she vacuumed and had to touch the light on the vacuum as often as possible.  She also started to stand all on her own for brief periods of time when we let her hands go and is rocking the cruising.  She has taken to hugging and kissing... total heart melter!  She crawls around making kissing noises until you pick her up and kiss her back, though her favorite thing to kiss is definitely her dolls.  

Having my mom here is always wonderful... but my daughter getting past her severe stranger anxiety and playing happily for minutes on end with her?  So wonderful in so many ways.  I am so blessed to have such a wonderful woman in my life to look up to!
 

 

And speaking of wonderful women, having my sister and her family here was a blast.  One of the few things I dislike about living in Colorado are being away from my family and having Miss Anni not get the chance to play with her cousins all the time.  While she and Q had a love-hate relationship, she would play with the two older girls quite happily as if she was thrilled they would include her.

And, while rain made moving a little difficult, I am so grateful for it.  I just wish I could pass it on to all of the places who are suffering so badly for want of it right now.

So, this may be a little disjointed, because I worked on this entry all day while I had a few moments... and I'm too tired to proofread, so it's going to be what it's going to be.

and to all a good night.

The Fourth of July and the blogs that shall never be blogged

 Before the fourth of July came and went, was the Cedar Bluff vacation with my family.  Unfortunately, that came and went nearly a month ago... and I don't really see having the energy to put together a post about it.  So... I'm going to direct your attention to my lovely, darling sister's blog.  She did blog about it, and I supplied a good portion of the pictures :).  Here you can find day one, and here you can find days two and three.

Fourth of July weekend was busy, but we had a blast (until I got food poisoning, it was kind of downhill from there).

Miss Anni got her first haircut from the woman who not only gave Daniel his first haircut, but also the haircut he had for our wedding.  I haven't been able to dig out his haircut picture yet, but I will, oh, I will :).  It was a very little one, she had grown a very tangled little mullet in the back, so Paula just trimmed it up a teensy bit so it would grow in a little better with the top.

We don't have any stairs but outside stairs in our apartment, but our doctor wanted Anni to work on stair climbing.  She has mastered my in-law's stairs... which is both a tiny bit nerve-wracking and exciting!  She likes to stand at the top and cackle at everyone below... and then bump down the stairs with me :).

I made my first ever batch of homemade lemonade.  Anni helped.  Supposedly it was good... I got a text from a friend a few days later telling me he was thinking about my lemonade :).

... and we celebrated my brother-in-law's birthday.  Not only was it a blast to hang out with him again, but I got to request old stories of him and and my hubby when they were little :).  They were such adorable little blonde boys!

Then came the fourth.  It was brutally hot... which should have signaled us to avoid the fair we were headed to... but we got Miss Anni all dressed up (she went through three hats that day, each one cuter than the last).

See those pink cheeks below?  This was only 10 minutes into getting out of our cars at the stampede.  It was so, so hot!

We soldiered on... patted animals big (really, really big) and small.  Anni's favorite was the Alpaca, although this was the one animal in the petting zoo that went out of its way to avoid her.

And then, after spending a good half an hour in the art museum to cool off, we headed back out  to watch the lumberjack show.  If possible, it felt hotter.  We sat in the shade of the bleachers, occasionally straining to catch a glimpse of the action.  And, this may be one of the few times I ever say this, but thank goodness for McDonald's.  They came around with free mini fruit smoothies and gave each of us two since they were melting.  They were tasty and Anni loved them.  Plus, they cooled us down just long enough to decide to stay for five more minutes before we left. 

In those last few minutes, we bought Anni a cowboy hat and took her on the carousel... which was seriously the fastest carousel I have ever been on.  I spent the entire time trying to keep her from sliding off the horse and the hat from sliding off her head.  I should have spent the extra money to get myself a ticket so we could sit on the bench seat.  Next time... except probably not another next time there...
 

Oh!  And I didn't mention it, but we were there with the most lovely couple!  Mark is a long-time friend of Daniel's and was a groomsman in our wedding (and taught me how to properly make pie crust) and Erika is his beautiful, charming girlfriend!

The End.

I'll be back...

 

I am currently recovering from an overscheduled (but insanely fun) June as I prepare for a wedding next this weekend.  Oh, and there's a bout of carnival induced food poisoining.  But I'll be back.  In the meantime, you should go to my sister's blog and enter to win one of her cute hats :).