Patriotic Porch

We are getting ready to host our 5th annual Fourth of July party with our neighbors on Saturday.  We share a drive way and our littles run back and forth between the two yards as if it were one.  So thankful for sweet neighbors.  And this party has become an event my wee ones look forward to all year.  As such, we have decked out the front porch to welcome our party goers.

Uncle Sam Door Hanger

Love my Porch Rules sign from Sparkled Whimsey (also on Facebook)

Morning coffee with the resident goofball

I love sitting on my porch and looking at this view - usually the yard is full of kids laughing and playing

Happy 4th of July!!!

xoxo,
TSS

Father's Day Fete

Swinging by quickly to share the fun we had on Father's Day.  Words simply cannot tell you how blessed and grateful I am to have had such a wonderful father.  Though no longer with me here on Earth, he is always in my heart.

As I am still working through some depression over that loss, I realized that I have royally sucked at celebrating my children's father over the past few Father's Day.  So the resident cheeseball went into overdrive and we fussed over my sweetheart all.day.long.  After a yummy breakfast, we headed up the mountain to spend the day in Blowing Rock and then back home in time for a yummy dinner.

LOVED this super cute Father's Day printable from Amanda Parker and Family

A cute breakfast inspired by Pinterest

The hubby loves Italian food so I whipped up one of his favorites, Chicken Marsala.  It is absolutely delicious and fairly fast and easy to prepare.

1/4 cup all purpose flour for coating
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon back pepper
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
4 skinless, boneless chicken breast - pounded to 1/4 inch thick (perfect job for the kiddos)
4 tablespoons butter
4 tablespoons olive oil
1 cup sliced mushrooms
1/2 cup Marsala wine
1/4 cup cooking sherry

In a shallow dish, mix together the flour, salt, pepper and oregano.  Coat chicken in the mixture.

In a large skillet, melt butter and oil over medium heat.  Place chicken in the pan and lightly brown.  Turn over chicken piece, add mushrooms, pour in the wine and sherry and then cover; simmering chicken for 10 minutes, turning once until no longer pink and juices run clear.

Serve over pasta or rice.

Hope y'all had a great day celebrating the Father's in your life!

xoxo,
TSS

Sunday Supper: BBQ Chicken Pizza by Pampered Chef

I had the pleasure of attending my first Pampered Chef party on Saturday.  It was the most fun I have ever had at a home party.  Usually, you show up to these things and mingle a bit, look through items or the catalog and then place your order. So when I found out there would be a full cooking demonstration complete with dinner, I was a little surprised - but walked out having had the best time!

Of course, this is due in large part to the sweetest hostess in the world and her fun friends - but it was interesting to see how Pampered Chef really worked.  I had heard of the product but never been to a party.  Now I find myself contemplating signing up as a rep - I mean, it is right up my ally.  I love cooking, entertaining AND cooking supplies.  Total trifecta!  We'll see......

We ate BBQ Chicken Pizza and it was amazing.  I looked up the recipe, which you can find here, and made it for the hubby last night.  I bought the BBQ pizza grill pan so I can't wait to try the pizza on the grill.

First, I had to prep the chicken and used a new trick I learned on Food Network.  I simply had two boneless chicken breast that I patted dry and sprinkled with salt and pepper.  I placed a few tabs of butter and half a tablespoon of olive oil in the pan and warmed it in a preheated 400 degree oven.  I then placed the chicken in the pan and covered with a buttered piece of parchment paper (tuck the paper down around the chicken - not around the pan).  I cooked it for 35 minutes and it was so moist and tender and tasted amazing!  I knew it was going to be mixed with BBQ sauce but this really would be a great way to cook chicken with other seasonings and not have it come out dry and stringy.

If you like pizza, this is a fun variation.

xoxo,
TSS

School's Out For Summer!

As of 3pm last Thursday, we officially have a 1st grader.  Harrison had such an amazing year - starting with the sweetest teacher.  He made new friends and had perfect scores.  His final grades had him performing at a first grade level, which is on par with his age, but still makes me happy that he is academically beyond his grade level.  I just could not have been more proud of his first year of "real school".

As I was preparing surprises for him to come home I was fully aware that I had become "that Mom" who goes a little over the top on occasion.....okay, for any little reason.  And I am pefectly okay with that because his face lit up when he saw all the fuss.  I want him to know he is worth the fuss....especially since our first order of business was a quick trip to the dentist for sealent on his molars.  TOTAL last day of school parenting fail.

Nice photo bomb, sweetie (under the poster to the right) - silly man

The Bogle Boy Summer Bucket List

Same sweet school Daddy attended

But a little ice cream cures all.  And he went on to hit his first home run later that night......it is going to be a good summer!

xoxo,
TSS

Summer Home School

The wee one enjoyed his first week of summer vacation last week but this morning, Mama Bear introduced our first summer home school lesson.

While I was shopping in Barnes and Noble last week I was thrilled to come across these great summer workbooks from Scholastic.  You may be familiar with them but since my babies are finishing 3 year old preschool and kindergarten, I am at the beginning curve of all these tools.

Each week is broken down into different levels with a quick, easy and fun activity page for each day. Even the pup got in on the action.

So here's to a fun AND educational summer.  I encourage you to pick up your own copy today.  They were not expensive at all.  So now that the studies are over for the day, we are off for some fun in the sun before it is time to pick up big bro from school.  3 more days till summer for the big guy!

xoxo,
TSS

Blue Cheese Burgers

After a week's worth of rain (and the hubby being gone) it was time to fire up the grill for a backyard bbq.  On the menu were, Blue Cheese Burgers from The Barefoot Contessa:  at Home.  If you like Blue Cheese, these are divine.  If not, the mixture would be good without the blue cheese.  Y'all should definitely try it!

We paired it with roasted potatoes and store bought cole slaw.  I love roasted new potatoes and they are super easy to make.  Just get a 2 pound bag, wash and slice them, sprinkle them with 2 tablespoons of olive oil, salt, pepper, and garlic powder to taste - and roast in a preheated oven at 425 degrees for 50 minutes.  Be sure to mix them up often during the cooking process as ovens differ and you don't want them to burn.

Aren't my dates cute?

We played hookie from Church today to take care of our overgrown yard.  I will never, ever think magnolia trees and ivy are charming again.  But the yard sure looks pretty!  And didn't Maggie (what I call my Magnolia tree) add nicely to my sideboard?

Happy Sunday Y'all!

xoxo,
TSS

Tooshie Kooshie

My oldest doesn't get out of school until next Thursday but my wee one got out last Thursday.  He had two of the sweetest teachers ever and we sent them off to summer break with their very own tooshie kooshie's.  These adorable gifts came from HKL Designs, which is based in my hometown of Marietta, GA.  They are reversible and perfect for saving bathing suit bottoms at the pool.
Be sure to check out her site - loads of cute stuff!

Well, I am off to get my own tooshie poolside!

X
TSS