Midway through July!

Time is just marching on this summer! We've been making the most of the hot days, still getting out and having some fun! It feels good to check some things off my list.

16. Read 50 books (21/50)
I read 2 books in the "Thirst" series. They were alright. It is a young adult vampire series and at first I found it fascinating. The story got old fast. The first book ended on a cliffhanger, which is the main reason I read the second. My end review - remarkably unremarkable. :)

I read "Girl in Translation" during nap time yesterday. I couldn't put it down. It's about a young girl who immigrated to America from Hong Kong. The book was very well written and I really liked how the story unfolded from her perspective.

18. Try 25 new recipes (16/25)
I finally chose an enchilada recipe to make. It was really good. I plan to try it again using red sauce, I used green. I also want to add beans. Glen liked it but was not super impressed. He prefers his Mama's enchiladas. I'll beat them soon.....haha!

I also tried roasting some fresh summer squash we were given. It was a pretty presentation and I loved the flavor!

54. Organize my recipes into a recipe box
I'm obsessed with Google Reader and Pinterest. These obsessions have led me to "starring" or "pinning" recipe ideas. I have dozens of them. When I'm ready to try one out, I print them and the recipe ends up in a vertical letter tray. This letter tray tends to have a stack of printed recipes, and it just looks messy. I finally went through the stack, threw out the undesired recipes and wrote the rest onto index cards. I was surprised how many recipes are now in my box!

83. Do 20 art projects with Caleb. (5/20)
Last week we met our friends at Klaystation for some pottery painting. Caleb painted a trivet for his grandma. I think it turned out pretty cute.

We also practiced gluing with foam shapes. This was our first time using a glue stick and Caleb thought it was pretty cool!

84. Take him to a park 50 times (48/50)
So close to complete! We visited Laurel Hills park over the weekend. We enjoyed swinging on the swings, then took a walk to the little pond. Caleb got to see dragonflies, frogs, fish and turtles. It was a lot of fun.

Yesterday, Caleb & I stopped at Kiwanis Park. The park itself was super
small, but there was a fun surprise there! The fire department was doing a demonstration for a group of school kids. It was awesome! We got to see the ladder truck in action, a firefighter rode the ladder as it went up 100 feet in the air. Really cool!

This morning Caleb & I met our playgroup at the Wake Landfill Park. It was a really hot morning but it was fun to get out!





Also...if you look at my traffic feed on the left - notice I have a regular reader from Russia! Hello! Leave a comment and say hi! :)

18. Try 25 new recipes (14/25)

Stuffed Tomatoes
My garden is giving us lots of fresh tomatoes this year. I wanted to use a few up for a side dish but was lacking inspiration. This recipe was a good side with grilled chicken & potatoes. I omitted the bacon (only because we were out), I think that would have made them have a fuller flavor. Glen thought they were spicy - that's because I added lots of black pepper:)



Bubble Up Enchiladas
This recipe fell flat, but probably because I didn't use the right ingredients! I didn't have enchilada sauce so I used taco sauce/salsa. It was too spicy but I definitely think this dish has potential. I will be trying it again because it's a really quick meal!