Kendry Diving Board

Busy Making Busy Bags

Tonight I was putting together several busy bags for the road trip with Little Man.   One of the bags needs a cute plastic bottle to stuff pompoms into.  

Pet Peeve incoming…..Trying to get sticky stickers off of bottles and jars (and whatever else) is probably one of my TOP TEN pet peeves….because I try to do it all the time… with little or NO SUCCESS at all.   Without getting off track I seem to have LOTS of pet peeves! (pumping my own gas (which I have done for 30 some years), wearing a bra(which I have also done for only 30 years ), losing my car keys in my purse…enough said!)

…. But this is a SERIOUS one! I can’t tell you how much time and how many different methods, substances, etc. I have tried in my search for the holy grail of sticker goo removers.

Off to the internet to do my research again.  Ding Ding Ding….it works…slick as a whistle.

PEANUT BUTTER!….I repeat   PEANUT BUTTER…Lather it on…wait 15 minutes…..

 

Wipe it off….used some Dawn Dish Soap and dried with a towel…Voilà

I kid you not…I couldn’t tell which side the sticker was on….I’m in love!

…Bring on the empty bottles!

Vegetable Plate Flower

 

This will definitely be on the table for Easter Dinner!

Little Explorer

If the weather is even slightly cooperating, we venture to the backyard…

We found lots of treasures….a soccer ball hidden since last summer..

A spider web…..

 

along with several lichens on trees, bird feathers, and grass that is “smushed “ from the winter weather. 

But before long we are back inside because this happens….eyes that are itchy!

Do you like to explorer when the weather is cooperative?

Yes ~ Again God Has Called a Loved One Home

Today my beautiful, sweet, loving, generous, kind…Aunt Nell joined her family in Heaven. Over the past few months grief has taught me many lessons. It is the simple things, the little things, which are often the ones that make our life the happiest. I love and cherish every minute that my life was touched by my Aunt Nellie. So often we focus on all the negative that comes from our grief, which has happened way to often for me lately, but for me it is important that I look at the lessons I have learned and realize that my pain, my incredibly hard journey has taught me to be a better person, be a happier person, do more as a person, and love my life more completely and fully.

I am truly gifted with a loving family. Once again I am gifted with the ability to understand the brevity of life. I am thankful for every second of happiness that life has granted me. I love you Aunt Nellie.   Rob, you and your family are in my heart and prayers.

Pasta e Fagioli at Home

 

Sunday afternoon we dined out at Olive Garden.   Gotta love their soup, salad, and breadsticks unlimited.   Their menu also has some very nice entrée that were very tempting, but we went with the Soup.    DH went with Pasta e Fagioli and I of course went with Creamy Chicken Gnocchi.  

Fast forward two days and DD tells me she would really like soup for dinner, she wasn’t feeling all that well again today.   So I did my best to make a nice big pot of Pasta e Fagioli. 

                                                                                     

Ingredients

1 pound ground sausage

1 small onion dice

4 medium carrots sliced thin

3 stalks celery, chopped

2 cloves garlic, mince

2 14.5 ounce cans diced tomatoes

1 15 ounce can red kidney beans (with liquid)

1 15 ounce can great northern beans (with liquid)

1 15 ounce can pinto beans (with liquid)

1 15 ounce can tomato sauce

1 bottle V-8 Juice

1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon oregano

1 teaspoon basil

1/2 teaspoon pepper

1/2 teaspoon thyme

12 oz package of ditali pasta

Instructions:

1. Brown the ground sausage in a large saucepan or pot over medium heat. 

2. Add onion, carrots, celery, and garlic and sauté for 10 minutes.

3 Add remaining ingredients, except pasta, and simmer for 1 hour.   Use enough V-8 Juice to get the consistency you like for soup.

4. About 50 minutes into the simmering, cook the pasta until al dente about 10 minutes.  Drain.

5 Add the pasta to the large pot of soup.  Simmer for 5 to 10 minutes more and serve.

Ditalini is a type of pasta that is shaped like small tubes. The literal translation from the Italian language to English is "small fingers". It has been described as "thimble-sized" and as "very short macaroni"

It was a hit with the picky eater… 4 year old… he ate a very large bowl full…that means it was worth the time it took to put this all together.