I've Been Tagged! Now, You're It!

One of the best things about blogging is that I've "met" some terrific people in the blogosphere. They are, as Sasha-one of my favorite bloggers at Barely Keeping It All Together- calls them, "Friends in my Head". So I was especially touched to get these nice awards (see the sidebar) from Tami and Deb. Thank you both, for the cute (and, oooh sparkly!) awards, for visiting, and for commenting! Check out their blogs at:
Tami- Diary of a Mad Woman
Deb- Life With Birk




Here are the award rules:
List 7 things that make you Awe-Summm and then pass the award on to 7 bloggers you love.
Make sure to tag the recipients and let them know they have won!
Also link back to the Queen that tagged you.




I've been so focused on my upcoming summer vacation with Munch. Most of my time has been spent researching fun and educational things to do with her. Here are seven Awe-summm bloggers I've recently discovered who are getting me inspired and excited:

Chrissie at Flipflops and Applesauce
Patricia at good + happy day
Mary Ellen and Sarah at Mom's Marbles
The PreSchool Mama
Cindy at Skip to My Lou
Amy at Let's Explore
Megan at Plum pudding

So, Seven Things About Me-
1. Seemingly never-ending baking sessions don't intimidate me.
2. Neither does a roomful of kids.
3. I can come up with a game to entertain the kids pretty easily.
4. I can also quickly tie it to something educational.
5. I'm a pretty easy-going person, except when I'm not :)
6. I have a LOT of patience.
7. I adore being Munch's mommy.

Family Get-Togethers

I cannot believe it's been 2 weeks since I last posted (sorry!) As I mentioned in a previous post it's report card time, which coincided with my joining the Mom Bloggers Club. I've loved discovering other great mom blogs through this site, but it's sure taking me a while to get around to all the members of the Follow Me group I joined and get through all the posts waiting for me in my reader! It IS fun having some new Followers though- if you're not a Follower yet (and want to be), check out the link to the right!


While we're in catch up mode, I've gotta thank Deb for the Kreativ Blogger award- what a wonderful surprise! (I'm especially relieved to have readers and that I'm not boring anyone to death...) Thank you, thank you Deb! Check out her sweet and funny blog over at Life With Birk. It's one of my new, fave finds!

So the rules of receiving this award are:
List 7 things that you love and then pass the award on to 7 bloggers you love.
Be sure to tag them and let them know they have won! Copy and paste the award on your site.

7 Things I Love-
1. Of course, my sweet husband and my adorable Munch
2. Lattes- sugar free, soy, but full-caff!
3. Schedules/plans- a structured day is a reassuring day
4. Blogging!
5. A good book- my books-to-read shelf is getting full!
6. Searching for good food
7. My best friend, Gina!

7 Blogs I Love/Can't Miss-
1. Dishing With Debbie (she's a hoot!)
2. Foodie at Fifteen (now 16)(I can totally appreciate the way this kid loves food!)
3. C. Beth Blog (I love reading about her cute kids!)
4. Conversations With a Cupcake (This blog just makes me happy...)
5. Sasha Says (as if I wasn't already a die-hard internet shopper- watch for those GDA's-"good deal alerts")
6.Of Mice and raMen (Veronica finds the most interesting photos!)
7. The Trekking Chelini's (Love ya Liz! How could I not include you on this list?)

So even though I've been lax on posting, I sure haven't missed many good meals! Last weekend we had AudioDad's family over for dinner because his niece, Kristen, was in town. Aunt Lynn sent another fabulous gift (note to self: write thank you letter...)- the biggest hit was a box of neon colored bendy straws-water was never so exciting!

Dinner was a big tray of lasagna along with a batch of beer batter bread, roasted broccoli, and a salad of baby greens, beets, oranges, and goat cheese. AudioDad was thrilled to have his sister Lara's adorable mini cinnamon rolls (makes it easier to justify eating many, many more than one...)

And the next night, since the house was clean and I'd had the fabulous idea of making two trays of lasagna, we had my family over to celebrate my mom's birthday. A dinner re-run, I suppose. For dessert, a strawberry and cream topped cake made with white wine. It's delicious and easy-

Wine Cake
1 c. sugar
2 eggs
1/2 c. vegetable or canola oil
1/2 c. white wine (whatever is open- I usually use something like a Pinot Grigio or Sauvignon Blanc)
1 1/4 c. sifted flour
1/4 tsp. salt
1 1/8 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. vanilla
1 pkg. frozen sliced strawberries in syrup, thawed
1 pint heavy cream, beaten to soft peaks with 2-3 tbsp. sugar

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9-inch cake pan. In a medium bowl, combine the sugar and eggs and mix well. Add the oil, wine, flour, salt, baking powder, and vanilla. Beat for about a minute then pour into the prepared pan. Bake for about 30 minutes, or until golden brown and a cake tester comes out clean.
Serve slices topped with a generous spoonful of strawberries in syrup and a dollop of lightly sweetened whipped cream.