Football fun with Hubber ...

FREE tickets to a live football game?

Sure! Even if it is a Raider home game.

ha ha ha Seriously though folks, these games are not as scary

as people make them out to be.  Now if you sit in, or close too,

the infamous Black Hole {ooooo} then yes, you may see some crazy stuff.

But otherwise, it's not so bad.  We have taken Daughter to a few games too.

My in-laws are season ticket holders. Their seats are great and the people

around them are really nice. 

{Proof} I am a 49er fan and went to the game on Saturday wearing

a 49er jersey. It was so fun. And ya, I'm somewhat of a rebel. :o)

They are also part of a group called the Sacramento Raider Rooters.

This group charters buses to the home games and they organize an away game each

year.  Last year we went to New York with them and had a blast!

You can read about that trip here ... there are a few posts since I blogged by the day.

With the bus ride comes an amazing tailgate with food,

raffle prizes and lots of fun!

Here are a few pics from game day ...

(I really like the cotton candy man picture)

Such a great group of people even if you are rooting for the other team.

We had such a great time that we are taking Daughter to the Miami game.

Yep! She loves going and was a little upset that we didn't take her to this one.

I hope you show your team love this season no matter where you watch the game.

Until tomorrow ...

Just Jar It ...

Supplies:

Mason Jars

Fresh Garden Veggies

and I am not sure what else.

My in-laws have a hobby.  They love to garden.

Their garden is the envy of lots. They even make their own compost.

True story.  They are the ones we get lots of veggies from.

Woot! Woot!

The kids are all moved out so each night they can go outside and garden.

They always have fresh stuff and are trying new things.

Father-n-law started jarring (is that what it is called) the veggies.

He has made pickled asparagus, relish, pickles, pickled peppers.

All kinds of stuff.  The peppers are a big hit {I have talked about this before}.

I think he should start a business but he won't. 

I guess making jarring his job might take the fun out of it.

Anyhoo ... I was over there the other night to get some

football game tickets and some veggies - OF COURSE.

I look over and spot these ...

and these ...

Pickles and relish and who knows what is in the back of the rows.

Yep! He's at it again. That busy little bee.

I want to learn how to do something with mason jars other than

drink out of them.  Hmmm ... One day I will have him teach me his secrets.

Have a great weekend my fantabulous bloggy family.

Until Monday ...

Every weeknight ~ Confession

Weeknights are crazy in our house.

Hubber and I both work.

Daughter has school and softball practice or lessons.

When we get home we eat dinner {only sometimes this happens before practice}.

If not before then after which makes for a late night.

This is happening 4 nights a week. Yep during the week.

We like it though so it's cool. And we manage to still eat healthy ... most of the time.

I can tell you one thing; we are drinking gallons of water. True story.

Here is the confession ... I don't clean during the week.

Well, I do clean the cat box and the kitchen {most nights}. 

I always wipe down my sink in the morning with the towel I took off my head.

I like a shiny faucet.

This morning I started the dishwasher.
(before work) 

We can squeeze in a few loads of laundry.  And I do pick up clutter {sometimes}.

Daughter has chores but we always help her. She is busy too.

And now with Mr. Whiskers ... sheesh! He is cute though.

(stay tuned for the 8 minute video she made on my phone)

There is just no time to clean like I want ~ during the week.

Bottom line ... during the week, this is our life.

No the glove was not staged for a photo. This is where she set it while

she grabbed a glass of water and a piece of garlic bread.

Guess what? It stayed there until the next evening. :o)

Weekend mornings are busy ones for sure ... when we are in town.

Cleaning and laundry are the priority. Oh and now Mr. Whiskers too.

Happy weeknight cleaning to you!  Now where is my broom -

I have to be somewhere.  :o)

Until tomorrow ...

Wednesday's What's On Your Plate? * goes back to school

Wow how the time flies.
It's back to school already? No more summer?
Well the heat is still here, that's for sure! But the free time is not.
We are back to homework doing, lunch packing,
picking the next day's outfit type of nights.
Know what I'm sayin'?

Last year Daughter decided she no longer liked the school
lunches so we started packing her own. Which by the way, I like much better.
She is definitely eating healthier and eating almost everything.
{proud mom}

We pack the basics:
Pretzels, trailmix, cup of fruit or applesauce, cheese stick, fresh fruit, 
a bottle of water and a special note on the napkin.
The switchups are pb&j sandwhich, leftovers, lunchable, turkey or ham sandwhich,
raviolis or spaghetti Os {these have a full serving of veggies}
it's true. The can says so. :o)
Come winter she will have soup, chilli, stew, etc ...
I love that our little LOVE is not a picky eater and likes
the healthy stuff too.

I was thinking the other day that I would like to switch things up for her.
You know, make wraps or burritos instead of sandwhiches.
So I went on a hunt (thank you internet) and
I stumbled across laptoplunches.

There are some cute ideas there.  Check them out for yourself.

Happy lunch packing!  Until tomorrow ...

Her tomatoes have sprouted!

Cute huh?!

I was at Michael's craft store with a friend and

saw the cutest little growing kits on the clearance shelf.

A kit for sunflowers and a kit for tomatoes.

I decided that since we want to start an actual real life

raised bed garden in the spring that I would get a

little something for Daughter now. That way she could get

the hang of watering her {crops} every day. Right?! 

Well so far so good! 

Her maters are spoutin'!

So ... ummm ... ya ...

we aren't too sure what is, or was, in the small clay pots.

I got those from the $1 section at Target a while ago.

They have been in the dining window, the kitchen window, outside,

inside, knocked over by the cats, over-watered by daughter, etc.

Not sure if they are supposed to be herbs or plants. We can't remember.

I am not sure they even have seeds left in them.

Daughter insists there are still seeds in them

so I placed the little {dirt} pots outside next to her tomatoes

to be watered daily. 

No sprouts in the pots yet because they are dirt. Just dirt.

Oh well, we are having fun with it and that is all that matters.

I will keep you posted on our sprouting maters and dirt pots!

Until tomorrow ...

Dear BlackBerry

Thank you for being a camera phone among

all of the other uses you have.  You definitely have made my life

so much easier with your calender and internet access, just to name a few.

But most of all I love your camera.  You see I don't always

remember to bring the big camera or I just don't have room for it. 

You are the perfect size and well, you are a phone too, so I 

have you on me. Always.

Without you I would not have been able to snap this adorable

picture of daughter. 

So thank you BlackBerry.

Love, Liz

Have you thanked someone {or something} today? 

Have a great weekend! Until Monday ...

Do you want {parmesan} cheese on that taco?

Yes people this is a real life true picture of my daughter's

dinner the other night.

We were talking about making spaghetti on the way home from

practice and she says, "do we have taco shells?"

So my child who loves just about everything from veggies to seafood

decides to put her spaghetti in the shell.

Where did she get the idea you ask? Hey, We asked the same thing ourselves.

"They did it on iCarly" she tells us.

Hmmm ... how about I write iCarly and tell them to do a show

on carrot juice smoothies?

What weirdness have your kids asked for?  Until tomorrow ...

What's on your plate? Veggies! That's what?

Veggies! Veggies! & more VEGGIES!

I really can't get enough. Can't you tell?

Veggies are so good for you. You can do so much with them.

Just try to eat them in different ways. Use seasonings.

Puree them and add to your meatloaf. Your marinade. Your anything!

Look at the variety! Mmmm

photo source

And look what you can do to get your kids to eat them ...

SO CUTE!

photo source

(I heart finding these types of ideas)

Summer + Hot nights + Not feeling the heat of the oven = SALADS!

And lots of them.

photo source

You can add so much to salads.  I like to add leftover meat

or fish from dinner the night before.  Makes for a YUMMY lunch I tell ya!

Another easy dish is sushi! You can add what ever you want to your roll.

We are big sushi eaters in our house.  We even got daughter a

sushi roll maker (form thingy) for her birthday.

(the key to the sticky

is the correct rice people. Trust me on this. ;0) ...

photo source

I just love veggies and thankfully daughter does too. 

Hubber is doing much better and trying more stuff.  He really likes

butternut squash! YAHOOO!

Check out this site for free printable food coloring pages.

It's a fantabulous activity for the kiddies and hey, maybe coloring the veggies

can get them more excited to eat the veggies! Just a thought.

Also tell them they can build their own veggie bikes if they promise to eat them too!

Mmmm ... Happy vegetizing!  Until tomorrow ...

It's just the simple things ... today

I find that often it takes just the simplest things to make me smile.

I am greatful for everything and appreciate all of the fantabulous little things.

For example, I got this adorable headband in the mail yesterday

Don't you agree that it's adorable? Well it cost a little more then

I would normally spend on such headband but I thought why not?

It's, well, adorable and it will make me feel girly.  I definitely smiled when I opened the box.

Then daughter tried it on, smiled a huge heart-warming smile

as she turned and looked at me

So my headband became her headband too just because.

And ...

My morning lattes have become a big piece of my heart.  Seriously, if you

could only see how tired I have been lately.  Lots of stuff going and I am loving it.

In an effort to save some mula I occasionally will make my latte at home

and put it in this pretty blue cup.

I love the cup and my lattes that get stored in it.

I am a pretty good homemade latte maker.

Watch out all you baristas! ;o)

Like I said, some most days it's just the simplest things that make me smile.

Until tomorrow ...

Meet Mr. Whiskers ...

Ta da!

This is how it went down:

Scene ~ I am at my office. Grandma (my Mom) is watchng daughter. 

I get a phone call ...

Daughter: "MOM! We are at the pet store. Can I get a hamster?!"

Me: "Remember the fake hamster that you didn't take care of?"

{we did an experiment 2 years ago to see

if she could take care of a stuffed animal hamster}

Daughter: "Yes but mom I will take care of this one. I promise. I will even use my allowance to buy it stuff."

{she must want one badly}

Me: "I am going to say no but you can ask your dad."

{hee hee hee}

Daughter: "Ok! Love you. Bye!"

Phone rings ...

Hubber: {laughing} "She wants a hamster."

Me: "I know. She called me first and I told her no then said she could ask you." {hee hee hee}

Hubber: {laughing} "That's now how this works Buddy."

Me: "I know." {hee hee hee} "She wants one really bad. Let's give it a try."

Hubber: "Ok."

I call my mom back and ask her some additional questions.

All the while I can hear daughter giggling and making noises in the background.

She can barely contain her excitement.

I get daughter on the phone and tell her the good news - she can get a hamster.

I warned her that there are no exceptions! If it stinks or she starts to ignore it

the thing is gone.

She agreed.

A few hours later my phone rings again ...

Daughter: "Mom! I got a rat and his name is Mr. Whiskers!!!"

Me: "A what?! You asked for a hamster. Not a rat."

Daughter: "I asked for a hamster or a rat."

Me: "No you didn't. {grumble grumble} Same rules. If you don't take care of it we are letting it go."

Daughter: "Ok! I promise. Love you!"

So the day with Grandma turned into a trip to the pet store and the

purchase of a rat and all the goods for him.

My mom also got her a nice book which tells her how to care for and

train Mr. Whiskers.

Come to find out rats are more mellow and make better pets then hamsters

so we are fine with it.  And, she loves him already.

I held him yesterday. He is pretty darn cute.  Yes, I admitted it.

Happy cage cleaning to daughter!  Until tomorrow ...

Friday Fun Facts ~ cont ...

Here are the rest of the fun facts. YAY!

Not much left so here ya go ...

Fact #7

I have this facination with working out.

Not to be buff or anything like that, just to be toned.

Know what I mean?

Exercise + healthy food choices make reaching my

goals much easier.

Fact #8

I love the show Top Chef. Although I am

not a huge fan of cooking, I enjoy watching the show.
You can say it inspires me. Sometimes.

Well, (hee hee) last night I watched Top Chef DC

while on the elliptical.  Guess what happened next?

I cooked the ground turkey and seasoned it too.

Keep in mind I am not sure what goes good with what so

I just went for it and wa la!

Oh ya that's right (pat pat) it was pretty good too!

I used Italian seasoning mix, cajun seasoning, minced onion & garlic salt. 

It made our pasta dish so tasty and the family didn't complain.

Fact #9

We have had these adorable cookie jars for a long time.

My mother-in-law gave them to us when they moved. 

They are so cute ~ in my opinion.

These cutsie cookie jars are decorated on both sides but I prefer to keep

the fruit side out.  The fruits are more colorful. 

Which side do you like best?

Fact #10

We have 3 kitties.  They are the cutest kitties too.

I am sometimes jealous of how good these gentle little

animals have it.  I mean who wouldn't be?

Sleep 20 hours a day.  Get up only when necessary.

Food dish is always full.  They are always waited on.

Hmmm ... sounds good to me - sometimes. :o)

They love love love when we open the windows.

Fact #11

I think green tea is fantabulous. Really.

I drink at least 2 cups a day-unsweetened. It's healthy.

I will leave you with that.  Not super cool, I know but none the less

it's a little about me.  Well, I think I am pretty cool actually. :o)

Have a great weekend!  Until Monday ...

Getting in touch with my bathroom ...

That sounds funny huh? Getting in touch with my bathroom.

If you sit and think about it, what does it mean to you?

To me it screams,

'FINALLY MORE DECOR!'

Just a little though.  I have been wanting the

little tree things that look like a ball on a stick with some leaves

(this is how I described topiaries before

I knew what they were called)

for a while now.  I finally got into Michael's and picked some up.

As I was leaving the isle I saw the clip on flowers for only a $1!

With my quick imagination and my yearn to be a decorator (not really)

I instantly thought,

"how cute would those flowers be on my ball stick trees?

Pretty darn cute. In my opinion."

Purchase. Done.

I bought 3 - 1)there are 3 of us in the family &

2) things look better in odd numbers.

(Kim told me this years ago at a candle party)

Daughter placed the flowers. Pretty darn cute.

In my opinion

I want to get some twig topiaries with flowers for the fireplace mantel next.

I am imagining them looking very cute with a candle arrangement.

I see more decorating as fall arrives ~ YAY!

Have a great day.  Until tomorrow ...

Hey hey it's What's on your plate? Wednesday!

Do you have kids? No kids? Do you eat like a kid?

Are you trying to get your kids, yourself, your family

to embrace healthier meals?

Well, it may be easier then you think. 

First step: start with one meal at a time. How about starting with dinner?

Second step: Pick up Jessica Seinfeld's cookbook - Deceptively Delicious.

Trust me. You will fall in love with this one.

photo credit

Back in January Daughter and I made the meatloaf from this book.

I am not a huge cooking fan so when I do it and someone likes it you can

bet I am going to blog about it. Which I did by the way. Check the post out here.

And as you will read, Daughter LOVED it.

Simple and healthy. Yep, just my style.

Today for breakfast I had a bowl of Honey Bunches of oats

and skim milk.  Although I tweeted I was going to make a

latte, I didn't. I know! No coffee this morning and yet I was still productive.

Lunch was a late one and I got my grub down on a

spicy chicken sandwich. Lettuce and tomato included.  Got to wash it down

with a glass of unsweetened iced tea. YUM!

For dinner we are having chicken breast marinated in Sweet Baby Ray's

BBQ sauce. Have you tried this bbq sauce? If not, you should!

Green beans and sliced cucumbers to boot!

Oh shoot, just realized I haven't put the chicken in the marinade.

Eeek! Gotta go. 

Please share what's on your plate.  Until tomorrow ...

Some MLS fun ...

As mentioned yesterday ... more photos from the game:

We had THE best time with the inlaws, little {middle} brother, beautiful Ashley

and some of her fantabulous friends.  Seriously,they were very nice.

Ashley & I.  Isn't she adorable?

Although the Galaxy did not win (3-2) it was a very charged game.

Full of action. Lots of screams. Tons of spirit. For both teams.

Really, we had the Ronaldo (Real Madrid) cheering squad right behind us.

Daughter busts out with the following,

"he's cute but he is no Justin Bieber."

HA HA HA

Personally, I was diggin' his flourescent orange cleats.

What else? you ask? Oh sure. Here you go ...

Daughter & I ... Heart her!

We had amazing seats thanks to little {middle} brother.

We had close-ups on all of the action ...

Donovan scored ... of course!

Luckily Daughter made a sign for him ...

Such a great night. Thanks again little {middle} brother!

Casey, Ashley & Daughter

Good luck to the LA Galaxy on the remainder of their season!

Have a great night. Until tomorrow ...

Weekend recap ...

I think Monday {back to the grind day} came much too fast.

Don't you? Actually, I think Mondays always come to fast.

Just my opinion.

Anyhoo ...

We took a short road trip to L.A. this weekend.

By short I mean short lived. Left Friday night and

were back home Sunday night.

Yep! Definitely a short one. But so jam-packed and tons of fun.

Friday night we arrived at brother-in-law's place about 11:30pm.

We chatted for a while then went to sleep.

Saturday was an early morning. We had to get up, get ready

and meet the family for breakfast.  We ate at this

place in Long Beach called Pelican Isle. It was pretty tasty.

mmm ... I love breakfast food!

After breakfast we did a little shopping then headed to ...

we got there very early.  Like 6 hours before game time early.

We had too though since they were expecting a very packed house.

The game (LA Galaxy vs. Real Madrid) was

drawing a pretty big crowd.  There were tailgaters all over the place.

We had a good time just relaxing and taking in all of the festivities

at the Soccerfest.

Kylee's first trip over to the Soccerfest was with her grandparents

and then with Ashley ...

She wanted to go check everything out.  A few times. Three times to be exact.

While they were walking around we hung out. Chatted. Snacked. Took in all of the people.

There was a lot going on and it was fun.

Brothers ... just chillin'

Kylee came back to tell me they had turkey legs at the Soccerfest.

Oh boy! Only if I were hungry enough to eat one.

Turkey legs are my favorite stadium/amusement park treat.

FYI

After a while Hubber and I headed back to Soccerfest with Kylee so

she could have a portrait done. She referred to it as

the "bobblehead drawing".  It took me a minute to understand what

she was talking about. Then after her description I got it.

I mean how could you not know what a bobblehead drawing is

when you are told, "you know, it's where they draw your

head really big and put a tiny body on it." Ooooh ... got it!

And her tattoo ...

which is still intact by the way. Even after boogy boarding

in the ocean and a shower. Yep, it still looks the same today.

Sunday was pageant orientation.  Hubber dropped me off

then took daughter and her friend to the beach.  I heard they had a blast!

The orientation was really fun.  I enjoyed hearing from all of

the contestants and learning what their platforms are.

The young contestants were amazing.  I think it is so important

to get our youth involved in the community and boy does

this pageant really open that door for them. For everyone actually.

I got to meet a lot of amazing ladies and I am looking forward to

getting to know them better over the 3 days in September.

I am getting so excited!

(more later)

*Photos from inside the stadium will be up tomorrow.*

I must now get back to the grind ... Until tomorrow.