Popsicle Cuties

New Type of Water Coloring

Last Christmas, Aunt Lisa found these cool board books that the kids can "color" with water and pictures appear. Sorta like the old water color pages we had as kids, except you can get several uses out of them. The little kids love them. We bought Ree a new one last week.

Family Party

This weekend we went to Brian and Angie's for a Birthday/belated Father's Day celebration. As Hammie said "we drove waaaaaaaaay up to the top of the mountain" to visit. Here are some pictures of their beautiful view and the kids playing outside. And....G eating pizza.

Hammie's New Scooter

The sweetest thing happened tonight. One of the ladies across the street gave Hammie her son's old scooter so that he could be just like G. It was very nice of her. Here are some pics of the brothers scooterin' together. Hammie thinks he's way cool.

Boy am I behind.

I haven't had time to sit down to Blog since Sunday. Been bizzy doing stuff, I guess.

We've been working really hard in our backyard all summer. It's been very neglected since the twins came along. Until this summer, they were too little to trust around gardening tools and we obviously couldn't leave them in the house alone while we did outside stuff. This year they're finally old enough to understand which tools they can play with and which they can't. Plus they're not taking naps anymore, so we can go outside during the day. We've really been enjoying getting back outside!

Another noteworthy yard topic, I was given a space from Mr. Galloway to plant a (very) small garden. I had lost my veggie garden privileges for many, many years. The summer after we were married I planted a veggie garden and neglected it horribly. What can I say? I was 23ish and obviously had better things to do than weed a garden. I'm proud to say I've been taking wonderful care of my zucchini, decorative gourds, and punkins. I've graduated from (flower) pot planter to garden caregiver! Bill is in charge of perennial beds. They're his pride and joy aside from ME and the kids. Once they're in full bloom, I'll post pics.

Here are a few pictures from our yard.

Chicken Caesar Pitas

Here's a favorite recipe of Bill, G, and mine.

3 Tbs. olive oil
2 Tbs. fresh lemon juice
1 Tbs. Dijon mustard
1 Tbs. soy sauce
3 cloves minced garlic (I cheat and use the jarred kind)
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
4 large pita rounds, cut in half
Chopped romaine lettuce (I use 3/4 bag of pre-washed)
Caesar dressing (I use 1/4-1/2 cup non-creamy light Caesar
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

In a gallon-size Ziploc, combine the first 5 ingredients. Add the chicken, seal bag, and refrigerate for 2-3 hours. Preheat oven to 350. Line a rimmed baking sheet with foil, remove chicken from marinade (throw away the marinade) and bake for 25-30 minutes or until done. Let the chicken cool on a plate for 15 min. Combine lettuce, dressing, and Parmesan cheese. Thinly slice the chicken and mix. Stuff into pitas and enjoy!

Serves 4

Gaming

Here is a pic of G and his friend playing video games. They have quite the set-up. Two t.v.'s and headsets so that they can talk to other friends they play with from other states. G has good friends he's played games with for probably the last 4 years from Oregon, Seattle, and North Dakota. There are others including some friends in Europe that he plays with occasionally. There's always chips and Mountain Dew involved and I make them smoothies, if I've got the ingredients, to counter-balance the junk food.

Blowing Bubbles

Here are some pics of Ree and Hammie blowing bubbles. I thought they were pretty sweet. Yes, Hammie is wearing a Spiderman suit. He's 4 1/2, what can I say? Ree's skirt is on backwards, but she put it on herself which is one less thing I had to do today. Just keepin' it real. I don't script this stuff.

They had 5 pre-school immunizations each this afternoon, but they're doing great, so far!




We're over halfway through this week of beautiful weather, YAY!!!

Melanie

Granola Bars

3 1/2 cups quick oats
1 cup mini chocolate chips
1/2 cup sliced almonds
1/2 cup shredded coconut (optional)
1/3 cup melted butter or margarine
1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/3 cup light Karo syrup
1 egg, well beaten
1/2 tsp. vanilla
1/2 tsp. salt

Combine all ingredients and mix well. Press firmly into a well greased 9x13 pan. Bake for 30-35 minutes. Run a butter knife around the edges and cut into squares with a sharp knife about 20 min. after removing from the oven.

You can substitute raisins, craisins, or chopped dried fruit for the chocolate chips and sunflower seeds, or a different type of chopped nut for the almonds. You can also substitute mild molasses or honey for the Karo syrup. I've used golden raisins and the almonds with molasses and it was a good combo.

Another tip is to use the crumbles (I usually have half a sandwich bag of crumblies) on top of vanilla yogurt. Here's a pic of the finished product!

New Cell and Running

G's new cell arrived today! Here are some pics of him with his new cell phone. It's his first one, so it seemed noteworthy.



Here is Hammie cleaning out his wagon. It was a serious and important task! He's all about cleaning. Especially when it includes copious amounts of water.



Onto the running segment. I've said for years that I would never run. Well, never say never. For some reason I decided to take up running. So last night on our family walk we ran/walked a bit. Bill pulled the kids in the wagon and I trotted alongside every now and again. Then tonight G and I went running together. I'd say we ran about 2/3 of the route. It was hard! I don't know that my ribs have ever felt my lungs expand and contract that much and I actually work out pretty regularly. Oh and there's the issue of eating. I'll definitely not run less than 2 hours after dinner. Lesson learned there. I enjoyed it and will probably get back out there either tomorrow or Wednesday....depending on how I feel in the a.m.

Have a good Tuesday!

Melanie

Kids say the darndest things

Every morning when I open the bathroom door after showering there is at least one body waiting on the other side. Most mornings it's the dog but on the weekends it's often Ree or Hammie + the dog. This morning when I opened the door, sure enough there was Addie and Hammie. Hammie walked in and said "what's it smell like in here?" I told him it smelled like shampoo and soap because I had just showered. He said "it smells misgusting in here!" "Did you get a skunk in?" I wasn't sure whether I needed to re-shower or immediately change soap brands.

Happy Father's Day!

Busy Saturday.....

Well, we had a busy day today. We took Ree and Hammie to see Kung Fu Panda. I highly recommend it. Jack Black made the movie. Ree didn't quite make it through the whole thing. She started getting antsy so we waited through the last 20 minutes in the lobby. Then we came home and I took the dog on a walk. We had the perfect weather today. After so much rain lately it's been nice to get back outside.

G got good grades this trimester so we took him to look at cell phones when grandma and grandpa came over to babysit the little ones. He found one that he really likes, but none of the stores we visited had any left. Luckily one store is going to hold one for him when they get a shipment Monday or Tuesday. He's pretty excited. I upgraded my phone....haven't done so in 4 years, so it was time. It was fun to hang out with just G.

Tomorrow we're going to Mom and Dad's for Father's Day dinner. I will take some new pictures to share.

Melanie

Two posts within a half hour!

I'm happy to report I figured out something techologyish before G did. I feeel really smart!!!

Here's a picture of Hammie's (Hammie is my 4 year old little man) Momma bird. He noticed her perched in her new nest right outside our picture window about 3 weeks ago. She's been an absolute joy to watch. She's protecting at least one egg.





Here are a couple of pics of G scootering around. Ever since the snow went away for good, he has spent countless hours scootering around the area.





Here is a pic of Hammie and G pondering the universe this past Sunday afternoon. I thought it was a good brotherly love shot.






Here is a pic I took of "Ree" (my 4 year old daughter) today. She crashed clinging to her box of goldfish crackers. It was an exhausting day!





All right, I'm off to bed now.

Mel

Picture trouble

Hello,

Went to post some pics and my format cut them in half on the screen. Leah, if you have any tips, I'd appreciate them.

We had quite the thunderstorm here. We all crowded on the couch to watch it out the living room window. Makes me wish we had a covered deck. I really enjoyed watching storms at Mom and Dad's growing up. Their covered patio kept us safe. Got a little annoyed when it knocked our satellite out during So You Think You Can Dance, but we only missed one performance. I love that show! Sure hope I can pick up dancing again someday........

When Mr. Galloway picked up the twins from daycare today both of them were tussling with others, which is highly unusual. I think it's time for a break from daycare. Their last day is Friday....until the next school year starts back up. G has a half day at school tomorrow and only goes for 2 hours on Friday. Then he's out. He's pretty excited.

Only 2 more days 'til the weekend! Father's Day weekend, at that. Happy Thursday to everyone and I hope to remedy my picture situation tomorrow.

Mel

Blogger: The Galloway Family Circus - Manage Posts

Blogger: The Galloway Family Circus - Manage Posts: "Inaugural Post Recipes
Inaugural Post

Well, this is my first post. Not sure about this, but we'll see how it goes. Feels kinda weird. My 15 year old, to be known in this blog as 'G' is giving me advice about what I should write about. He's really not helping much. Anyway, here is a recipe for clam chowder that I made tonight. It seemed to be a hit.

Clam Chowder

3 cans chicken broth
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 bag frozen hash browns (chunky style)
1/2 cup each chopped onions, celery (with leaves), and carrots
1- 8 oz. block reduced fat cream cheese
2 cans chopped clams (drained)

Spray a crockpot with Pam. Add the broth, soup, hashbrowns, and other veggies. Cook on low 7-8 hours. Cut the cream cheese into cubes and add with the clams. Cook on high for 30 minutes. Stir to evenly distribute the cream cheese, season with black pepper to taste and serve.

Serves 6
Labels: Recipes"