Who Wants a Free T-shirt

I'm so very proud of the Husband.

He's wanted to design t-shirts for a very long time and as I mentioned in my Get Your T-shirts Here blog post, he's finally doing it! -Yay-

Have you noticed the ad for his t-shirt company, Steward, while reading the blog? That's right, I advertise for my man!

Now I realize that I may be biased but I love all of his designs. Here's a little sample.

If you want to see all of his great t-shirt designs click on the Steward ad to go to his online store, and please, feel free to purchase one, or two, or three t-shirts! He's designed t-shirts for everyone. Men, women, and children! Yep, I'm shamelessly promoting the Husband's t-shirt business! That's just the kind of wife I am!

And because the Husband is trying to drum up business, and because I am the kind of wife that I am, and because I'd like for one of you to get a new t-shirt for free, I'm going to ask all of you who are on Facebook to take a moment and go to www.facebook.com/gosteward and like Steward's Facebook page. Once Steward's Facebook page hits 100 likes, one lucky person out of those 100 likers (yes, I know likers is not a real word. It's a little funny though. Right? Anyone?) Anyway...someone is going to win a free Steward logo T-shirt. How great is that?? SO GREAT!!!

Please note that contest is for U.S. residents only.

The Husband and I are so grateful for the support! Plus, I told him that once he sold enough t-shirts he could get one of these.

He'd really like to get one of these!

So please and thank you and good luck! 

Christine

P.S. Don't forget to tell your friends so they too can have a chance to win a free Steward logo t-shirt.

Everything Must Go

Last week was crazy busy with preparations for our garage sale. 

I like going to garage sales much more than I like having garage sales, but it was time. I went through every room, every closet, every cabinet, and even the basement catch-all shelves. Yep, it was definitely time for a garage sale!

The sale was last Thursday through Saturday. 

Even though we had less traffic than we've had in the past, the sale went pretty well. Note to self...in the future do not plan a garage sale during the first days of the state fair! 

We sold most of the smaller items -Yay!- but not many of the larger items...like the little dresser that worked perfectly for Miss Emma Bean when she was a little girl but now is not big enough to hold her preteen sized clothing, and Miss Sofia's dollhouse bookshelf that is not exactly "teenagery". -sniff-

Teenagery is a new word in our household. So far I have concluded that it means things that pertain to, are perfect for, or are cool enough for one that is in the years between 13 and 19. Teenagery is not a dollhouse bookshelf. -double sniff-

Hopefully we will be able to sell some of the remaining items on Craig's list.

I'm super grateful the Husband was able to take a couple of days off from work to help with the sale. Having him around helped make things a little less crazy. He'd run to check on the garage sale signs in the morning and bring back a Starbuck's mocha for me. -Yay- He even ran to get lunch for us one day. This was in the bag of chips he got for me.

Happy chip! Silly, but it kinda made my day.

And if the Husband hadn't been home to help with the sale, he would have missed all the excitement when our Poplar tree was removed.

The tree was huge! It provided a great deal of wonderful shade for our backyard. We were so sad when we noticed, a couple of years ago, that some of the branches were dying. We held off on taking it down for as long as we felt was safe. When we noticed this summer that some of the large roots that are above ground were breaking, we decided we couldn't wait any longer.

The tree had some crazy roots man! The log Miss Sofia is sitting on in this photo, a root from the Poplar tree! Oh yeah. Crazy roots!

Anyway, the tree was getting worse and it had to come down. And since we were at it, we had the final old apple tree removed as well.

It's pretty amazing how quickly a tree can be reduced to a pile of branches and logs.

One brave guy in a cherry picker with a couple of chain saws is all it takes.

I would not want to be that guy!

It's fascinating watching a tree come down. It draws quite a crowd.

We lost our garage sale helpers.

As the larger branches began to drop the ground shook and the neighborhood children cheered.

I think we should have sold tickets to the show. It's not cheap to have a tree taken down.

It's not bad enough that all our lovely shade is gone, but we also had to pay to have it removed. -insult and injury-

Once all of the branches were removed, a rope was attached to the top of the stump, the other end tied to the truck,

a few precise cuts were made in the base, and one good pull from the truck...

BOOM!

SOB!

Then a little cleanup.

One guy pushed everything into piles and the other guy picked up the piles and dropped everything into the truck.

They made short work of clearing out that tree indeed.

I think it's a good idea for the guy making the piles to always be on the good side of the guy working the claw!!!! -Yikes!-

What took years to grow, only took a few hours to take down. 

Our new view.

I need more Happy chips or more tissues!!

Christine

A Few Loose Ends...Mickey's Diner

I almost forgot to tell you about our lunch at Mickey's Diner in St. Paul during our staycation.

Over the years the diner has been featured in variety of magazines, television shows, and movies. Mickey's Diner is quite the celebrity! The girls managed to get a photo but no autograph. Oh well.

I can't believe that it took a staycation to finally get us there. The Husband and I have talked about going for years.

It's Mickey's Diner! And we'd never been. -bah-

Well Mickey's did not disappoint!

We enjoyed quintessential diner food!

Sandwiches, burgers, fries, malts and my favorite...breakfast served all day! Whoop whoop! 

Pancakes at Mickey's are as big as your plate, and served with a smile!! I think the pancakes are the only thing on the menu we didn't try.

I ordered scrambled eggs and hash browns! See that mound of hash browns? Those were my order! The portions are huge!

While the food was great, it was Roger, a customer of Mickey's Diner for nearly 42 years, who was sitting next to me, and his banter with the staff that made our visit something special.

Roger told me about the history of Mickey's Diner and all about his family. He teased and grumbled at the staff, the staff in turn gave as good as they got, and he may have told a few jokes that left Miss Emma Bean wide eyed with disbelief that a person would say such things out loud. She and I talked later. It was fine. Sadly she's headed for middle school this fall and will hear far worse in the halls. -sniff-

Mostly Roger was kind and friendly, he made us laugh, and his love for the staff at Mickeys Diner was unmistakable!

If you ever get the opportunity to lunch at Mickey's Diner, I hope you get the pleasure of sitting next to Roger, and be sure to try the Mulligan stew!

Christine

I Resort To Poppy Seed Dressing

Every few years, or so, we like to take a little trip to our favorite resort Lost Lake Lodge.

With the swimming,

hiking, singing around the bonfire, turtle catching,

planned activities for kids,

and trips into the town of Nisswa for shopping, ice cream eating,

and turtle racing (oh yes, turtle racing!)

Lost Lake Lodge has become one of the family's favorite getaways!

While I too enjoy all of the aforementioned activities, I especially like that stays at Lost Lake include 2 gourmet meals per day.

Breakfast and dinner are part of the deal! -Whoop-

It's a little pricey, hence the only going every few years. You may have noticed that the girls look pretty young in the above photos. Our last stay was in 2008.  But it's worth it!

It's a huge treat to me to get to spend my vacation without figuring out where to eat every meal, wondering if the restaurant we chose will be any good, and hoping everyone will find something they like to eat. -bother-

At Lost Lake Lodge dinner is always excellent, and breakfast is divine! It always begins with pastry options! -oh my-

I can't wait for our next visit! It may be awhile though. So until then I'll have to settle for a little taste of Lost Lake Lodge at home. I was given the recipe for a salad with poppy seed dressing during our first visit.

The dressing is easy to make.

Spoon 1 cup mayo into a large jar. Make sure you have a lid for the jar. 

See the jar I started out with. I'd never used that jar before. I thought it would be cute in the photos. It wasn't big enough. Use a bigger jar!

Add to jar 1/3 cup sugar.

Add 2 tablespoons poppy seeds.

Add 1/2 cup milk.

And finally add 2 1/2 tablespoons white vinegar. I don't have a photo of this step but don't forget it!

Now put the lid on that large jar and shake it good!

For the salad toss sliced strawberries and sliced red onion with chopped romaine.

It's so pretty!

Pair the salad with breaded pork chops...DELISH! 

Almost as good as when someone else makes it for me.

Christine

Bottom Of The Ninth

Last night we went to a Minnesota Twins baseball game. 

The girls were crazy excited. It's all they could think about the whole day.

It was our first visit to the Target Field Stadium.

The stadium is amazing.

The stadium food is even more amazing!

When did this become stadium food? 

I like it! 

And yes, as the people around me were eating, I took photos of their food. It was either that or ask them if I could have a taste. Drat! I should have asked for a taste!

Besides having a great time, it was nice to forget for a little while that school is approaching faster than a 90 mile an hour fastball! That in 19 days the girls are gonna be outta here and back to early mornings, homework, and busy school schedules. -sigh-

I guess on the bright side it will be nice to have the house stay clean for longer than 20 minutes. Right?

Anyway, 19 days left and we're going to eek out as much summer fun as possible. In between filling out school forms, running to doctor appointments necessary for the start of school, orientation days for my new 6th and 9th graders, school supply shopping...BAH! I'd rather have an extension to summer!

Christine

A Few Loose Ends...Limoncello

Back in June the Husband started the process of making Limoncello. He said it would take a couple of weeks.

In the beginning of July, I was getting impatient for the process of making Limoncello to become the process of enjoying Limoncello! But the Husband discovered, upon further investigation, that the longer Limoncello sits, the better it gets. We continued to wait. -ho hum-

Ok, I'll admit, we did have a little taste shortly after step two in the process, it was too hard to resist! 

Since then we've talked about having a few friends over to taste the finished product. It hasn't happened. I continued to wait!

Limoncello sits in my fridge!!

For the last week that bottle of pale yellow nectar has been calling to me.

"Drink me!"

"Come on. You know you want to!"

"Drink me!!"

I finally begged the Husband to let us pop open the bottle! I kinda told him that we weren't being fair to you. You'd been waiting for so long to hear how the Limoncello turned out. We really owed it to you to drink it and tell you about it! Really I was just thinking about you! Uh huh! Yep. That's it! Just about you!

So the other night, while the kids and their friends enjoyed their own version of olympics, in the rain.

It consisted of driveway to yard long jump, flip flop toss, and distance soccer ball kick. I don't know why they haven't officially include these games in the olympics!

They've since progressed to thumb wrestling.

Unofficial olympic thumb wrestlers!

I think thumb wrestling has great potential for becoming a true olympic favorite!

While the backyard olympics were being played, the Husband and I sat on the porch and sipped Limoncello.

It's so good!

It's sweet and lemony. It tastes just like an old fashioned lemon drop candy. -yum, yum, yum-

But a warning!

It packs a wallop!! 

One little 4 ounce glass is perfect. Sweet. Refreshing. Very nice!

Two glasses...whoa!

Yep, it packs a BIG wallop!

So there you have it. 

Limoncello - good!

The Husband will be making it again. Yay!

I will enjoy it, one little glass at a time.

Christine