My May Daybook. . .

Outside my window. . . It's been such a cold spring this year,  but since we had tomatoes, that have been in the garage, we decided that we really needed to get them in the ground... right now they look terrible!  I'm hoping they grow well, and grow beautiful tomatoes for fall (which is actually right around the corner here in Idaho 😄😂😁  The other beds have onion sets planted in one, and the long, smaller bed will have a zucchini and a cucumber plant in it, it's way too cold for them right now.  That's what it looks like outside my window!  The high today will be 82 degrees!  Yesterday, on Memorial Day, it was 72 degrees.  

I'm just grateful that we aren't having the horrible weather that the mid-west and south have been experiencing.  I can't even imagine what they have been going through, and pray for them daily.

On my playlist. . . I've really been trying to stay positive and "think summer", and so I've been listening to fun and uplifting music.  You know me, I love the old standards, and I've always loved this song.  Just a side not about Tad Hunter, and I may have shared this before, but you know, I'm getting old, sometimes I do that!  When I was a little girl, someone gave me a wallet and it had a photo of Tad Hunter in the photo section.  I loved it so much, and told all my friends he was my boyfriend!!  The things kids do!  The apple Blossoms are in full bloom here, and so I thought of this song!

I'm wearing . . . I'm wearing gray jeans, a coral t-shirt and finally - sandals.  Hopefully by next week I'll be wearing shorts!

I'm thinking. . . What an incredibly busy month we've had!  I know that May is like that for so many people, and it's such a good thing to have fun things going on in your life... very good for my brain that needs sunshine to keep me happy!  I'll be glad when it slows down a bit, hopefully in June ;0)

First of all, Clara, one of my granddaughters had a birthday!  Her mom and dad took her out of town to do some things that she had wanted to do, so we didn't actually spend her birthday with her.  But, this is a cute photo of Clara with Emily last week-end.  They are so cute.

Clara is smart, funny, happy and very sensitive about others feelings and loves to help however she can.  She loves her family and gives the best hugs!  We love this amazing, beautiful granddaughter, and can't wait to see what this coming year has in store for her!  

This is a photo of Clara, in a school play a few weeks ago, she's the one kneeling.  It was a fun play!  We are always to happy when we are able to support her in her activities at school.  She is a good little actress :0) We were able to celebrate her birthday with her after the play.

Clara has always loved birthdays, and we love her!

Jessica, my youngest daughter, also had a birthday!  I won't tell you how old she is, but I will tell you she is an amazing woman!  Here she is opening a gift from Tanner, who is looking over her shoulder.  Jess isn't very big, but like they say, dynamite comes in small packages!  She is such a wonderful daughter, wife, mother, aunt and sister and friend.  She's a hard worker, and always willing to help others with anything they need.  She's also kind, beautiful, sweet, a great cook, has a green thumb, loves to walk, loves her children and chickens ;0) and has a heart of gold.  We sure do love this daughter of ours!

We also took Indy in to be spayed this month.  Here she is after her surgery with her dog, who she just loves and sleeps with every night.  I can hardly believe that she is already 6 months old.  She did great and was only down 1 day.  The vet told us to make sure that she was on a leash for at least 10 days when we took her out to go potty. . . that lasted 1 day, she was not having it!  After a few days, you would never know she had anything done.  She's such a fun pup, we just adore her. 

Mother's Day was super fun!  Look at these beautiful lilies that my husband gave me . . .  aren't they gorgeous!!??  All of my children were here and they always make me feel very loved.  We had a fun day and celebrated in our families favorite way . . .  with food!!  We had amazing burgers, hot dogs, potato salad, fruit salad and chips.  For dessert, cinnamon roll cake and ice cream, it was all delicious!!  It was kind of a blustery day, and so we set up canopy's to keep out the wind, but the temperatures were amazing so at least we were warm.  Of course, I didn't get any pictures 😖 I need to work on that.

Emily graduated from high school!!  We are so proud of this amazing young woman, who has excelled in everything she has set her mind to.  She graduated with honors, and is going to college in the fall.  In the meantime, she is working and saving her money this summer.

Her mom had a fun party for her, and it was supper fun!  It was an open house, so there were people in and out all afternoon to congratulate her and have a cookie!  

Her graduation night was exciting, fun and emotional for me.  It's hard to believe that my little grands are growing up and moving on!  Emily won my heart from the minute I held her in my arms18 years ago.  She is such a beautiful girl in every way!  Thoughtful, kind, smart, loving and always up for a fun adventure. She's a wonderful big sister and an amazing daughter, granddaughter, niece and cousin.  As she would say, with a wink. . . practically perfect in every way!  And to top off her night, at her all-night graduation party, she won a professional Kitchen-Aid!!  She's a lucky girl!!

I love making memories with my family, and the older I get, the more important it is for me to savor every second of these moments!

I'm creating . . . I've been making a family cookbook, so I have been going through all of my recipes and cookbooks to find all the recipes that my family loved growing up.  I have my mother's recipe box and several of her cookbooks and that has been so fun to go through them and remember the things she used to make for our family.  I have also found several of my grandmother's recipes that were hand-written by her. . . those are real treasures!  I will be putting copies of those in our family cookbook as well.  I'm hoping to have it done by Christmas.  I'll share some of these recipes here on my blog.

Bob has a birthday today!  He is 70 years old. . . how did that happen!!  We have had so many big events the last two months, and this is the icing on the cake. . . or should I say, birthday cake!  We always celebrate his birthday on Memorial Day, and this year was no exception.  Bob made his famous baby back ribs in the smoker, the kids all brought yummy sides, I made his favorite cake and homemade ice cream.  It was a full, fun, crazy day, and I know he felt very special and loved.

In my kitchen. . . Well, like I said, I've been going through cookbooks, and I have made some delicious meals.  This is one that I basically forgot about, but remembered loving this dish as a young mother.  Not only is this recipe easy to make, it's delicious and makes wonderful left overs.

IMPOSSIBLE TACO PIE

1 pound ground beef
1/2 cup onion, chopped
1 (1.25 ounces) envelope taco seasoning mix
1 (4-ounce) can green chiles, drained
1/2 cup Bisquick mix
1 cup milk
2 large eggs
3/4 cup cheddar cheese or pepper jack cheese, shredded
Toppings:

shredded lettuce
black olives, sliced
tomatoes, chopped
salsa
sour cream
avocado, sliced

Preheat the oven to 400 °F. Spray a 9-inch pie dish with nonstick cooking spray.  In a large skillet, cook and crumble ground beef (1 pound) and onion (1/2 cup), until the beef is done and there is no longer any pink in it. Drain excess grease. Mix in taco seasoning (1 envelope).  

Layer beef on the prepared pie plate. Add green chiles (1 can) to the top of the beef in a single layer.

In a mixing bowl, whisk together Bisquick (1/2 cup), milk (1 cup), and eggs (2) until combined. Pour over beef mixture.

Bake in preheated oven until a knife inserted in the center of the pie comes out clean, about 25 minutes. Remove from oven and sprinkle with cheese (3/4 cup). Put back in the oven until cheese is melted, about 2-3 minutes. Let stand 5 minutes then top as desired and serve.

Just Sayin' . . . Remember how loved you are!!

Have a wonderful week!!  Hugs and Love XOXO

    Barb