Fairwell Laundry Basket

We have had this one particular laundry basket ever since we first got married. And before that it was my parents. Those of you who know me know I am pretty frugal. But, on the flip side, I enjoy cleaning out things I don't use. This blue laundry basket has been used up, worn out, made do, but now we are going to have to do without him. Goodbye my dear duck taped friend. I finally gave in and bought a new one with wheels and handles. Bonus!

What a blast!

This week my sister Liz and her kids came up for a few days. We had so much fun! We went swimming, to the movie, and played a ton. I love it when our toys get rediscovered by new kids. Even though after each day the downstairs looked like a tornado hit, Liz and I just let it go until the morning they were leaving. We had such a great time. Thanks Liz for making the effort to come up here!

We found Snakie!

Last weekend we went up to Wes's parents house and Byron and Grandpa caught a snake. We brought it home and after a few days the cage needed to be cleaned. We set it out on the front porch until we got around to it. The next morning the snake was gone! Byron was devastated. He cried and cried and every memory of Snakie brought tears. Today (like 3 days later) the neighbor kids were gathered around something and then caught it in a bucket. I told Byron and Wes to run out and see what all the commotion was. It was snakie! They found him over at our next door neighbors. We told them it had been ours, but it got out. About 45 minutes later they came over with it and asked us if we wanted it back, because they didn't have anything to keep it in. Byron still has a permagrin.

Summer is almost over?!

This summer has flown by! Does that mean I'm getting older, time gets faster and faster. Maybe it is just that I get busier and busier.
I love my little family! We have had such a great summer. I am getting very excited for the school year though. It's going to be a huge change of routine and our schedule, that's for sure. It's sad, but also going to be fun at the same time. I'm so excited to start my preschool. Ethan is going to love it and Lilly will mainly just have more entertainment.
It's going to be hard for Byron to be gone all day. All my kids are growing up way too fast.

Have a ton of Zucchini or Yellow squash?

My friend Brandy said that what she does is she grates two cup portions of Zucchini and puts them in ziplock freezer bags and freezes them. Today I did that and also shredded yellow squash. Then that way I can use them for zucchini bread or whatever dish I want to slip them in for my kids throughout the year. Thanks for the tip Brandy!

Here are a few recipes I made today:
Zucchini bread
1 C. sugar
1/2 C. butter
2 eggs
2 C. flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
2 C. shredded Zucchini or yellow squash
1/2 C. milk
(can add nutmeg, ginger and cinnamon)

Combine all ingredients and put in 1 large greased loaf pan or two medium size greased pans.
Place in 350 degree oven for 50-60 minutes, or until knife comes out clean.
Freezable! Mine always gets eaten before I can freeze it.
If you don't like Zucchini you can replace it with mashed bananas.

Zucchini Fettuccine
Becky Jones

1 Tbsp oil
1 Tbsp butter
1 clove of garlic, grated
1-2 C. shredded Zucchini
1/2 C. shredded Carrots
Fettuccine noodles
Salt & Pepper
Italian seasoning
Grated cheese
Parmesan cheese
1/4 C. milk

On medium heat in a pan add oil and butter (The reason why you should add oil to the butter is so the butter won't burn). In the mean time be boiling your water for the noodles. Melt butter in oil and add garlic. Cook for a minute or so and then add zucchini and carrots. Put milk, salt and pepper, Italian seasoning, and Parmesan cheese in with the zucchini and carrots. Place fettuccine noodles in pot and cook about 11 minutes. Drain water and place noodles in the pan with everything else. Add grated cheese. When cheese is melted it's ready to serve. It was yummy!
Enjoy.