Instead of typing up recipes this week, I'm posting links to some yummy recipes out there on the world wide web. Enjoy!

Healthy Dinners (or lunches)
Baked Pesto Chicken from Kalyn's Kitchen - fast, easy, yummy.
Honey Chicken Salad from Southern L!ving - I make this with less honey, I add some sweet relish to the mayo mixture, and I use toasted almonds or pine nuts because I'm allergic to pecans. Sometimes I put chopped boiled egg in it.
Salmon with Sweet Chile Sauce from Cooking L!ght - I use agave nectar instead of honey
Ultimate Mexi Salad from Passys to Parties- I fell in love with this when Katie posted it last year! I like to use romaine lettuce, and I do grilled chicken and no bacon.
Twice-Baked Spagetti Squash from Kayln's Kitchen - I'll just go ahead and say I recommend ALL of her veggie recipes. Like this one. And this one. And definitely this one. 

Indulgent Desserts
Congo Bars from Bakerella - I used mini semi-sweet chocolate chips
Ooey Gooey (Peanut Butter) Brownies from Our Best Bites - I left the peanut butter chips out the first time I made these because someone I was making them for had an allergy, and they were so good that way I've just never included them.
Peanut Butter Cup Rice Krispie Treats from The Brown-Eyed Baker
Red Velvet Sheet Cake from The Pioneer Woman
Mississippi Mud Cake from Southern L!ving - I used peanuts instead of pecans

Kid Food
Top 15 Baby Purees from Weelicious - We haven't tried all of these, but we've tried a lot. It's nice to have new ideas for baby food that isn't boring!
(Chocolate Chip) Oatmeal Muffins from A Dollop of My Life - Noah and I made these twice in the week after Lindsey posted the recipe, and again since then! I do them without chocolate or craisens and have done them once with apples and twice without. Both boys love them!
Oatmeal Pancakes from FamilyFun Magazine
Pizza from EatingWell - the pumpkin puree thing is pretty genius

Life in our little world has been pretty slow and easy lately, which is more than fine with me. Our summer started off with quite a bang, with our big beach trip followed by my unexpected surgery. Now I'm happy to be on cruise control for a bit.

Noah enjoyed "happy hour" with Mama Dot the other day. I think they'd both be happy if this could be a daily event!






Sam and I had some fun hanging out in the car after church last Sunday while Josh & Noah ran in kroger. Love this little boy










You can't see his little outfit very well in those pictures but I am just sick because I turned it pink in the wash.





It's one if my very favorite finds from Smocked Auctions and he just looks so precious in it. I had thrown a bunch of new red cloths in the machine after cleaning the house and then totally forgot about them when I put this load in later :( I'm trying some tips from my laundry coach, Morgan, and a couple of products that I found at Wal Mart last night so I'm crossing my fingers that this laundry nightmare can have a happy ending! If anyone out there, friend or blog stalker, has any tips I am all ears!

Speaking of Sam looking precious, his picture is going to be in the July issue of Arkansas Life magazine so check it out next week! It's actually a feature on my parents' backyard but I'm sure Sam will be the real star ;) Kidding.

Noah and I have been playing LOTS of these games lately.





We play a few rounds just about every morning while Sam naps (if we play while baby boy is awake, he gets a little grabby with the cards). Noah's actually really good, even if he does cheat a bit from time to time ;) He's also quite the little encourager, clapping and cheering every time I get a match.






Yesterday Noah did this little fireworks craft I found online.





It was fun for him to make, turned out really cute, and it was the kind of craft he could do with very little help. Perfect!









He didn't remember fireworks from last year so I showed him this YouTube video so he could see what they look like. He was amazed, and can't wait for July 4th now! I'm afraid he may be a little disappointed with how the country club compares!

Random note (as if this hasn't been random enough), but I've been cheating on Sonic.





McDonalds has large drinks for $1 all day long so I've been going there for my diet cokes lately. Aunt Nancy, I hope you won't disown me now. I can drive through Mickey D's without Noah begging for a limeade, so that pretty much seals the deal for me! I just hope my carhop doesn't think I'm mad at her ;)

Now for a couple more random pictures and a golf video to wrap up this Friday hodge podge!













I hope everyone has a great summer weekend. I'm looking forward to the first weekend in awhile without a single thing on the schedule!

PS. Do y'all see the title of that recipe from Our Best Bites on my sidebar??? Yummmmmm

I know that many of you who read my blog have been praying for Miller and the Woodruff family. I wanted to share that Miller passed away this morning. My heart is so heavy for their family.

The family has asked for prayers for Miller's comfort, big brother Cole's understanding, and Meredith and Patrick's strength. Please join me in continuing to pray for their family, and in thanking Jesus that they now know Miller is more than comfortable. I don't know how to link to their blog from my phone but you can click on it from my sidebar to keep up with any new prayer requests.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

I could go on and on--and then on some more--about teaching my kids healthy eating habits. I guess you could call me one of "those moms" in a way. I make homemade baby food for Sam and did so for Noah as well, I buy organic when I can, I limit sugar as much as possible, and I try to feed them real food more often than not. (Real as in not over-processed junk). Now pleeeeaaaase don't get me wrong. Noah's favorite food on earth is McDonalds cheeseburgers, and he eats a Happy Meal about once a week. Hello, over-processed! He eats plenty of yummy kid food. I don't completely withhold that kind of thing at all, I just try to limit it.We all have our "things" as moms, and this is one of mine. Obviously I know that it may not rank as high on everyone else's list, but I still want to share some recipes and ideas for everyone else out there who considers themselves to be one of  "those moms." So from time to time when I do my Recipe Roundup posts, I am going to devote it to Kid Food.

Today it's all about that yummy Kid Food staple, Mac n Cheese! Mmm. Definitely one of Noah's tip-top favorites. And I have good news: Mac n Cheese doesn't have to come from a blue box! You can forget the powdered "cheese" and make a delicious and wholesome meal from scratch (well, ok, the noodles aren't from scratch! I have my limits). The sauce has only 4 ingredients that are all real, and the whole grain pasta is much healthier than what comes with the famous boxed stuff. I love making this for Noah because I can whip up a big batch and store it in the fridge for several days, which makes lunchtime really easy. Just heat it up, stir in some extras, and lunch is served.

We had a great weekend celebrating all the wonderful dads in our lives! Josh is the best dad that Noah & Sam could ever hope for, which makes me a very blessed mommy and wife! We're all so grateful for everything that he does. He is there for the boys in every possible way, as both a playmate and as a disciplinarian and everything in between! That is so important, and pretty rare. He is an equal partner to me in raising them--pouring milk, wiping booties, teaching letters, enforcing time-outs, reading books, and on and on. I feel beyond blessed to have him, and I KNOW that our boys are going to grow up to realize how blessed they are to have him as well. He works oh-so-hard to provide for our family and make sure that all our needs are taken care of, in every way. He works hard at the office--often working long hours--and works equally as hard once he gets home. On top of that, he takes our boys to do fun things and spends extra time with them when I need a little break after a long day. AND he sacrifices his time each week to pour into the lives of a group of junior high boys at church. Can you tell that I think he is just wonderful? I am so grateful that we have sons, because it would be a shame for such a great man to not have the chance to raise up some more great men!


Of course I can't leave out my own dad! It's a good thing I married such a hard worker, because I was raised by a hard-working dad as well! Especially now that I have my own kids and feel the pressure of making sure they are provided for, I can appreciate just how hard my dad worked for us. He has always found a way to walk the fine line of providing for all of our needs without giving us everything we wanted, which was an important lesson to learn and one that I hope to teach my kids as well. My dad likes to joke about the time when I was about 8 or so and I asked him "Daddy, why do you play golf so much?" and he told me "Well, that's just what daddies do!" And I only recently admitted that when I was younger, I was convinced that he had a second family in North Carolina because he traveled there so often for work :) But really I have great memories of all the fun times our family had together. My dad took us on family vacations every year and he would have so much fun with us--taking us out in the ocean on the big inflatable boat, racing us around The Track, and teaching everyone the rules of putt-putt. Good times! And now he is a fun and involved "Papa D" to my boys, who just adore him!


Last but not least, Josh & I are both so thankful for his dad, my father-in-law, my boys' "Papa Jim". It's a real blessing to have great in-laws, and I hit the jackpot! I'm grateful to my father-in-law for the man that he raised. It also means a lot to know that he spends time in prayer for us and our family. My boys just love their Papa Jim, and it is so clear that he loves them as well. Wow, I am beyond blessed to have so many wonderful fathers in my life!

Now on to the weekend of celebrating these great dads!

Friday night my Mama Dot took me, my brothers, and our families out to eat at a hibachi restaurant. It was so fun seeing all the kids enjoy the show! And it was great getting together with Mama Dot and all the fams. Josh & I thoroughly enjoyed the yummy sushi we shared with Scott, and Noah was asking for more rice and chicken when he woke up the next morning :) Before we headed out to dinner Noah actually asked me to take his picture, so I took full advantage since that is to rare. I'm laughing pretty hard at what I got--Noah's idea of smiling is super cheesy, and Sam is constantly on the move. The results are pretty funny!






I planned a "Father's Day Weekend Extravaganza" for Josh where I gave him some choices about what we would do all weekend as far as what/where we'd eat and what fun things we would do. I guess it wasn't that "extravagant", but it was fun :) Saturday morning he chose Panera for breakfast, so the boys and I went there while Josh was still sleeping and picked up his breakfast sandwich and a couple muffins for the rest of us. After breakfast, Josh and Noah headed to golf class. Josh bought Noah his very own golf hat before class, and Noah felt like a true golfer! (See what a great dad he is? Buying his son a present during "HIS" weekend!) After class Josh wanted to take Noah out on the real course to actually play a few holes. The course at First Tee was closed for classes so they headed to a different course. They had such a good time together. I love it that they share the love of golf!




For dinner Saturday night I gave Josh the choice of going out to eat all together, or grilling out at home. He chose to put his new grill (his Father's Day gift) to use at home. I grilled porterhouse steaks, garlic shrimp, and squash & zucchini. Thank goodness it all turned out great! I had never grilled steaks before so I was a little nervous.


Sunday morning Josh chose a breakfast sandwich and donut holes from Shipleys for breakfast, so again the boys and I headed out bright and early to pick up food. We also ran by Starbucks for his favorite coffee. (which is just black coffee, I should point out. Ew. But he says Starbucks has the best black coffee, so that's what he got!) Before church we attempted a few pictures.




We went to church and heard a sermon on friendship that made me feel extremely blessed and also challenged, then we headed over to Mimi & Papa Jim's to celebrate more fathers! I should add Papa (Josh's granddad) to the list of dads that have blessed our lives. He has been an incredible influence on Josh and is such a strong patriarch in their family. I CANNOT believe I didn't get a single picture of the Osborne Father's Day celebration. Ugh. I had every intention of taking a picture of Josh with his dad and the boys, but then I got busy and forgot. Boooo.

Josh went to the driving range while the boys napped and then we went over to my parents' house for the final celebration.

I've had this fish recipe for years, and I think it originally came from allrecipes.com. I don't make it a ton but it's a "once-in-awhile" staple at our house! Now, this is a cheesy/buttery/mayo-y(?) recipe so I definitely wouldn't have it every night or anything, and keep your sides light. But it is low-carb, so it has that going for it! :) And really you don't have that much of the cheesy topping per serving so it is not too bad.

It was a fun weekend around here! Friday night we enjoyed a pizza night at Mimi & Papa Jim's house. It was nice to hang out, visit, let the boys play, and enjoy some yummy pizza and Mimi's delicious chocolate chip pie (recipe to come tomorrow!) I didn't take a single picture, oops!

Saturday we celebrated Brady's birthday with a fun party at the Jump Zone. The birthday boy had a blast! It was so funny watching him run around like he owned the place. Of course Noah had fun too!






After naps on Saturday afternoon, we headed out to the pool. It was our first family pool trip for the summer, and it was great! The pool wasn't crowded at that time of day. We enjoyed the "little pool" (can't call it the baby pool in front of Noah) all to ourselves and had fun chatting with another family we know while playing in the big pool.



The boys had their dinner at the pool, and after they went to bed Josh and I ate a yummy dinner at home. I made a delicious (and fast!) shrimp dish that my friend Morgan shared here. Loved it! (the only change I made was substituting agave nectar for honey). To go with it, I made this rice from Kalyn's Kitchen. Loved this one too! I stirred in some toasted almonds as well, which was yummy. I highly recommend these two recipes! Consider it a double recipe week, cause I'll still do a Recipe Round-up tomorrow too ;)

Today we enjoyed a wonderful church service and then headed over to Sunday lunch with the whole fam at Mimi & Papa Jim's house. This evening Josh made us some super tasty burgers on the new grill we gave him as an early Father's Day present. Noah was thrilled to have Daddy make him his favorite food right here at home.

I hope everyone had a great weekend and is looking forward to the week ahead! :)