Foodie Friday: Grilled Chicken Tex-Mex Pizza

We love grilling in the summer. One of our specialties is pizza. It isn't always easy, but the extra effort is definitely worth it. I came across this recipe for Grilled Tex-Mex Pizza at A Spicy Perspective and thought that we should give it a try. I used my usual homemade dough recipe. We also didn't take the time to grill the chicken first, although I am sure it would be tasty. I just cooked it up on a skillet on the stove. We used our normal method for grilling pizzas which involves a terra cotta plant saucer. It was delicious. Everyone happily ate it and there are a couple of pieces left over for a yummy lunch another time. Here is a link to the recipe: Grilled Tex-Mex Pizza, please note that the recipe makes two pizzas.

Weekend Daddy Days

Mr. Cherry's job is set up to be 4 9 hour days and then a half day on Fridays. We are extremly blessed to have long weekends, but those 9+ hour long days get long during the week. The girls love soaking up as much daddy time as they can on the weekends. This past weekend, Peachy was working on building a Lego house. Mr. Cherry had a bit of work to do, but promised he would help her when he was done. I offered to help in the meantime, but Peachy knows who is the better builder in our family and politely told me to keep my hands off. :o)

I happily settled down for a lazy Sunday nap, while she and Mr. Cherry set to work on the house. It turned into quite the masterpiece. I love hearing them play together as he tells her about structural soundness and weak areas. Cream even caused a few problems got in on the action when she woke up from her nap.

8 Years of Wedded Bliss

On this date 8 years ago, Mr. Cherry and I became husband and wife in front of our family and friends, but more importantly in front of our Lord. Looking back, it is so hard to believe that it has been 8 years. (And throw in one year of dating, one year of being engaged, and that makes 10 years of being a couple.) And then I look around and see that it has indeed been ten years. We now own a house. We now have two beautiful children. We now own a minivan!! I really can't imagine my life without this man by my side.

Have the 8 years always been easy? By no means! As with any relationship we have had our good times and bad times. There was the time in our first year of marriage that I was found sobbing behind the La-Z-Boy in our living room. (Don't worry, it sounds much more dramatic than it really was.) There have been times that I have had to confess my short comings to the man I respect the most in my life. There have been crabby days where we just don't see eye to eye and really don't care to.

But you know what? For each of those bad moments there have been moments of joy and happiness. Moments of just plain being 100% at ease and comfortable around each other. And those good time far outweigh any of the bad ones. I really can't believe all that the Lord has blessed us with in these last 10 years. I can remember that days when I was single and living on my own and I would pray that the Lord would send a God-fearing man into my life. And the Lord answered my prayers at just the right time with just the right man.

I write this with happiness in my heart and excitement for the days that lie ahead on our road together.

My favorite picture of the entire day! My hottie, the happy husband!

June, I'm Loving It

Another month, and another list of my loves. We are definitely enjoying summer in these parts, and this month my loves reflect just that.

1) Our Graco Double Stroller: We have an older Duo glide that we purchased off of Craigslist before Cream was born. The stroller is still working well for us even with over 60 pounds of kids in it. We have been using it every morning to transport Peachy to and from her park program in a timely manner. 

2) Lemonade: I love lemonade on a hot summer day. I always love Simply Lemonade, but recently purchased a three pack of a similar natural lemonade at Costco called Citrus Grove. And to prove that I am not a lemonade snob, I also purchase dry mix in addition to the frozen variety.

3) Our Cherry Pitter: I purchased an OXO cherry pitter at Target on clearance several years back and every summer, I am so thankful it did. It makes it supper easy to share one of my favorite summer treats with the girls, cherries. (There is a reason this blog is called Bowl of Cherrys!)

4) Outshine Fruit Popsicles: These are a healthier alternative to other popsicles. They are made with 100% fruit and no extra sugar. I am all for indulging in treats, but if you can, why not make them a little healthier? I enjoy these just as much as the girls on a hot summer day.

Foodie Friday: BLT Chop Salad

I love this time of year. When I can just mosey out to the backyard, cut some lettuce and spinach from our garden and make a yummy salad. Nothing beats fresh lettuce in a salad. Normally I just make my salads by throwing in whatever sounds good that we have on hand. However, I pinned this recipe from the website Key Ingredient and made it this week. It was so yummy. I wasn't sure how the lack of a true salad dressing would be, but we all loved it with just the olive oil and lime juice. Instead of the arugula, I used spinach. Otherwise, I followed the recipe. Jump on over to Key Ingredient for the full BLT Chopped Salad with Corn, Feta, and Avocado.

Lazy Summer Dayz

The girls enjoying playing in the backyard. Don't you love how Cream is the one pushing?

Well folks, we have been absolutely soaking up the gorgeous summer weather around these parts lately. And bad blogger that I am, I don't have nearly enough pictures to share with you all. (This would be the advantage of having a phone that took good photos. Maybe someday!)
Last weekend we joined Mr. Cherry's family at his parents' house for our annual Father's Day gathering. 18 people under one roof really can be lots of fun! What a blessing that we all are able to get together and enjoy being together. Ha! There were camp fires, fireworks, a 5k, lots of cousin time, great food, and wonderful company!

Bustling around in the kitchen at Mr. Cherry's parents'

Peachy is now in a summer park program. Monday through Thursday we walk her over to a neighborhood park where she plays, does art, and plays some more for an hour and a half. She is loving it. And Cream doesn't mind the one-on-one time with momma.
A local park opened a splash pad this summer. It is a big destination in town. We met up with some friends there this week and soaked up the water and sun. Peachy loved running through the various splashing toys. Cream liked watching. Ha! Every time the girl got the courage to join Peachy, she would get water to the face and quickly leave.

Cousin reading time

We have been enjoying spinach and lettuce from the garden. Yum! I will share a yummy salad with you tomorrow.
The house is a bit of a disaster right now. I just can't bring myself to take a break from the fun and clean. I would much rather be out on the deck finishing up my 400 page book or paging through a magazine.

Peachy's bouquet from Mr. Cherry's parents' yard.

Yesterday the girls and I enjoyed popsicles on the front porch. While I know Cream hasn't ever had one, I guess Peachy hasn't either. They were quite smitten.
I have been playing sand volleyball one night a week with a group of ladies from church. While we will not be joining the Olympic team, we have a great time. And this week we even came away with a win. I love the volleyball. It has been some time since I played, but I still have a love for the game.

Cream loved playing ball with her cousins' ball set.

It is funny how you can do all of these activities and still feel the lazy days of summer. Loving it!

Swimming with Peachy

Mr. Cherry and I haven't had Peachy involved in many activities up to this point. It is just our own personal parenting philosophy. This summer, however, it worked out well to put her in swimming lessons. She ended up taking lessons at a college in town, just a few miles from our house.

One of her friends was in the class with her, which worked out really well. The class went for 2 weeks, half of an hour each day. I was very impressed with the program and will definitely be making use of it again.

Going into these lessons, Peachy wasn't super comfortable in the water. She loves playing in pools, but doesn't even like getting her face wet in the tub at home. I figured this class would help her feel more comfortable. Kind of be an introduction to swimming.

Up until the last day of classes, I figured we would be repeating the level. However, Peachy grew so much over the two weeks. She became so much more comfortable and confident in the water. By the last day, she was swimming around with her float belt on.

Happily putting her face in the water. And guess what?? She passed!!! Her teacher even told us that as of Wednesday she wasn't going to. I was so proud of her. She grew so much in those 10 days!! (I may have gotten a little chocked up when she got her certificate.)

Swim, Peachy, swim!
(And a big thanks to my friend, Lisa, for getting these pictures for me. My little point and shoot just didn't cut it!)

What We Are Growing 2013

We once again have our gardens planted here. It is so much fun every year to watch everything come up and grow and grown. Here are our gardens from previous years. 2010, 2011

We have our two raised beds again this year.

The first has carrots, onions, and green beans. Our onions are going crazy!!!

The second has spinach, buttercrisp lettuce, and two tomato plants. We might add another tomato plant and a pepper plant.

We moved our herb boxes to the yard this year. We had them on the deck last year, but they got so much sun they crisped up and died. This one has basil.

This one has cilantro. I started the plants inside as seeds and transplanted them  a bit ago.

I planted a couple of mixed container sets in the front pots this year. They weren't looking too good right away, but they have settled in nicely.

And the wild flower garden is off to a good start. (If those are indeed flowers and not weeds.)

And here is the flower garden that started it all.
It has been a cool spring here, but the next week is supposed to be warm, so I am hoping for some good growth. It has also been rainy, which is good. Let nature take care of our plants. Keeps the water bill down and saves on some of the work.

The Paci Bucket

Both of the girls have been hardcore pacifier users. We have kind of stuck to the same weaning schedule with Cream as we did with Peachy. Around when they turned 1, we kind of enforced only using it when sleeping, in the car, or anytime we needed them to be quiet (in church), or if they needed comfort (when sick). We told Peachy when she turned 2 that she was a big girl and didn't need her pacifier anymore at church. I forgot Cream's pacifier about a month ago and we decided to just build on that and not bring a pacifier to church anymore. (Lets just say that these last few weeks have been a bit interesting at church.) We told Peachy that she would have to stop using her pacifier at night when she was 3 years old. I wasn't looking forward to breaking the habit, but she helped us out by losing the last one before bed one night. That took care of that. (I can't remember exactly when this happened. I know it was around 3, I am thinking she was close to 3 and a few months because I think Cream was around.)

Ah, the joys of the paci bucket!

We keep our pacifier stash in a little bucket on a ledge in the bedroom. We always gave both girls two, one to suck on and one to hold onto. Lately though, Cream has been snitching the entire bucket once we leave the room at nap time or night time. We hear the telltale clank of the bucket and know that she is playing with the bucket. There are some nights where I am pretty sure it is in the crib with her all night long. What a funny comfort object!
On a side note, Peachy started calling her pacifiers night-nights. We switched her from a Soothie brand to a Nuk style when she was a few months old in hopes of the pacifier staying in her mouth better. Cream calls the pacifiers naps or pacis. We tried to switch her to the Nuk style as well, but she never figured out how to use it and still uses the Soothie today.

Foodie Friday: Texas Toast French Toast Bake

We had some overnight guests as they were passing through this past weekend. This awesome family lives in the city I first lived in when I graduated college. It was awesome seeing them again. Unfortunately only one of their four kiddos made the trip with them. (I taught their oldest son in preschool. He is now 13!!! Eeek!) They weren't here for long, but we picked up right where we left off. The sign of true friends. The girls were already in bed when they arrived, but they both had a blast the next morning waking up to company in the house.

Couldn't these girls all be sisters?

Anyway, I have found a new breakfast dish that I like to make when we have company Texas Toast French Toast Bake from Chew Out Load. It is an overnight dish which is perfect for when you have visitors. You do a little work the night before and then in the morning all you have to do is pop it in the oven. And it is soooo good. One of my breakfast specialties is from scratch cinnamon rolls, but they are time consuming and are never ready super early in the morning. This Texas Toast French Toast Bake is almost as yummy and seriously a fraction of the work.

This picture was actually taken the next morning. Let me tell you, it is just as good  the second day.

Craft Booth Sign and Name Tag

So, before my sale last weekend, I decided to make a new sign for my booth. I also decided to make my mom and I name tags. Of course I always put these things off until the last minute. So, Friday afternoon when I should have been cleaning the house and loading the van, I was in my craft area creating these items. However, I handle pressure well and a deadline is sometimes  just what I need to sit down and hammer out a good project.

For the sign I used a spray painted frame I already had. I then cut out a piece of tag board to fit the opening and gave it several coats of chalk board paint. To give it a little support, I cut two pieces of cardboard to put behind the tag board. (I was classy and used masking tape to secure the cardboard. I am cool like that.) I did prime the board with chalk, but since time was of the essence I didn't wait the full 24 hours recommended to use it, but it all seems to have worked properly. I then added the rolled fabric rosettes to the corner. Thankfully I found a metal easel in the house and it worked perfectly to hold the frame.

For the name tags, I used rolled fabric flowers as well that I backed in felt. I added a bar pin as well as an alligator clip to the back. (Really happy that I did that as I ended up clipping it to my winter coat. Ha!) Then I attached one of my twill tape tags that I make as well as a piece of twill tape for my name. And a name tag was born.

Peachy and Cream Together

My royal children

Lately these two have been having more and more success at playing together. This does not mean that they always play together nicely, but they are having longer and longer stretches of playing without a huge disagreement. I came home the other day to find them dressed like this.

Cream does make a cute Prince!

Peachy informed me that she wad the princess and Cream was her Prince. (Mr. Cherry informed me that Peachy had to tackle Cream to get all of the pieces of the costume in place. However, when I arrived they both seemed happy with the set up.)

I believe that the prince is rescuing his damsel in distress here.

Cold Sale, Fun Sale

This past weekend I was able to be a vendor at a biyearly sale in our community. It was my third time participating. And I have had a blast every time. (You can read about time #1 here.) This time I did the show as kiki b omi designs rather than with my friends. So I didn't have to sit out there all day by myself, I recruited my mom to come and do the show with me! (I am totally kicking myself that I didn't have anyone take a picture of the two of us at the booth. Doh!)

This sale will always be remembered as a very cold and windy sale. However, the people still came and we all had a great, although chilly, time. I look at it like a merit badge. I made it through the coldest outdoor sale of all time!!! I am a hard core crafter, people!! Watch out! (Okay, that might be an exaggeration, but it is my blog.)

Anyway, Mr. Cherry came down with me to help me get my backdrop all set up. I have these peg board panels that I bought used. To spiff up the pegboard a bit, we have been covering it all with craft paper. (And by we, I mean Mr. Cherry. I like to leave all things that require precision and attention to detail to him. It just works better that way.)

Once we got the backdrop set up, I started playing around with the layout. We ended up taking one of the side walls down so that I could make use of my two tables. I set my 5 footer up on one end and then my 4 footer at the other. I ended up extending the 4 footer to the counter top height. I covered the tables with some of my vintage table cloths and started plunking down my displays.

For displays, I go around the house and look at anything that might be able to hold something. Then I throw them all into the van and figure it all out on sale day. Hey, don't mock it. It works! Anyway, I ended up with my all time favorite display for this show. Woohoo!

Then it was just a matter of waiting for the people to come and the show to open. The main attraction at this show is re-purposed and refinished items, mainly furniture. Hence the name, Junk Market. People start lining up over an hour ahead of time to get in! Even in the freezing cold, there were still people lining up. Gotta love living up north.

We are hardy here! And while there were quiet times throughout the day, it was a good show. And when it was quiet, I got to sit and chat with my mom. I also got to meet some cool people. The booth next to me was also being manned by a younger mother-daughter team. They were so sweet.

After being outside for around 10 hours, it was time to pack it all up and head home to Chinese food!! (We had been smelling Chinese all day and were craving it!!!)

The take away from this story is that not everyday will be perfect, but it is wonderful to know that people are out there to support small and local businesses! That was indeed heartwarming!

 Did you see something in these pictures that you might "need"? Check out my Facebook page to see if they are still available!! kiki b omi designs