It's Not Too Late

Alice Kathleen & Company Trunk Show

Wednesday, August 17th 9:30 a.m. until 2:00 p.m.*
*or by appointment

A few new things....

The world's cutest coats

An adorable cardigan

Comfortable lounge wear

And don't forget their trademark appliques!

It's not too late to join us for this season's show! Email me at laurenbusbee@aim.com for location information or check out Alice Kathleen & Company on Facebook!

It's That Time Again...

Alice Kathleen & Company Trunk Show

Tuesday, August 16th 9:30 a.m. until 2:00 p.m. & 5:00 p.m.-7:00 p.m.
Wednesday, August 17th 9:30 a.m. until 2:00 p.m.

This week, I'm hosting a trunk show that features some of THE cutest kids' clothes. If you need some precious fall/winter clothes for your little girls and guys, please join us this Tuesday and Wednesday. You can contact me at laurenbusbee@aim.com for location information!

What We've Been Up To & A Recipe

It's hard to believe summer is coming to an end. I can remember back in May, when school was wrapping up, thinking that we would have a quite, relaxed summer! Well, it's been anything but quiet and relaxed, but believe me, that's a good thing!

We've stayed very busy and had LOTS.OF.FUN!

Last week, the kiddos wrapped up four weeks of gymnastics with their good friends Michael and Anna. The parents were allowed to "observe" the last day of class, and they sure put on a show for us!



Matt was out of town last weekend, so the kiddos and I enjoyed a few days at Dauphin Island. Here are Frances and Douggie post-nap...

We also enjoyed a birthday party at the Exploreum. They currently have a space exhibit, so Walker was very excited about all of the "space stuff!"

And in other news, we've got twins! Well, we don't, but the Momma Bird that's been nesting in my front porch fern sure does! She built her nest a while back and then several weeks ago she set up permanent roost there. Needless to say, I haven't been able to water it for fear of killing the baby birds. So, now I have a dead fern hanging on my porch. It's a small price to pay to look out the window and see her tending these two feathery babies (picture is blurry b/c I didn't want to get too close for fear of scaring her)....

And as promised, a recipe....

Zucchini and Onion Frittata

from myrecipes.com

Ingredients
3 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 medium zucchini, thinly sliced
1 medium onion, cut in half and sliced
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese, divided
8 large eggs
1/4 cup milk
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/4 cup chopped fresh basil
Garnish: chopped seeded plum tomatoes

Preparation
Melt butter with oil in a 12-inch ovenproof skillet over medium-high heat; add zucchini and onion, and sauté 12 to 14 minutes or until onion is tender. Remove from heat, and stir in 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese.

Whisk together eggs and next 3 ingredients at least 1 minute or until well blended. Pour over vegetable mixture.

Bake at 350° for 13 to 15 minutes or until set; increase oven temperature to broil, and broil 5 1/2 inches from heat 1 to 2 minutes or until edges are lightly browned. Sprinkle evenly with remaining 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese and basil. Garnish, if desired.

Lauren's Variations

I only use about 2 T of butter and 1 T of olive oil. To use more is really unnecessary. I also like to bake mine in a 9x12 casserole dish. It does require cooking it longer, about 20-25 minutes depending on your oven, but it works out better for serving purposes. For example, we made this recently for a baby shower, and it was easier to cook and serve in a dish than putting a skillet on the food table! I also like to slice roma tomatoes and place on top with some extra parmesean cheese before I broil for the last few minutes!

Be creative--I really think this dish could be made with so many different ingredients. I'm anxious to try asparagus and feta, but the options are truly endless!

It's Just What We Like To Do

The kids love drawing their own game boards. Don't ask me why, it's just what they like to do! I can't tell you how many renditions of Candyland they've drawn this summer. I have to admit, I prefer helping with Candyland rather than Chutes and Ladders. Drawing all 100 squares+chutes+ladders=one crazy momma!

I'm thankful both Kathryn and Walker enjoy drawing/coloring. It takes up tons of time, an it's something I really enjoy too. Because let's face it, I don't really enjoy "playing," if you know what I mean. I few minutes, yes. An entire afternoon, not really. I remind the kiddos that's why God gave them each other--built in playmates!

In other game board news,we also drew and cut out our own Memory cards. In an effort to knock a few more things off of our summer bucket list, we decided to put a twist on "Play Memory," by creating and then playing with our own cards!

Other variations to the list include:

Dance in the rain....replaced with....Swim in the rain (after we were caught in a sudden rain shower at the pool)

Make S'Mores...replaced with.....S'Mores Popcorn

Hopscotch..replaced with......Aqua Blast Hopscotch

Make popsicles....replaced with......Make yogurt pops

Making the list "our own" has really helped us accomplish lots of fun things. But rest assured, we've got a lot more things to do, and in a little time I might add!

At the top of the list, we are still hoping to accomplish baking cupcakes, painting with pudding and family movie night! I'll keep you posted on how those go:)
I

Let's Go For A Dip

You'll love this easy dip! It's great for summer and even better for all your fall football dippin' needs.

Black Bean and Corn Dip

2 cans black beans (drained and rinsed)
2 cans white shoepeg corn (drained)
1 bunch of green onions (chopped)
8 oz. feta cheese, crumbled
1 cup canola or vegetable oil
1 cup apple cider vinegar
1 cup sugar
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper

Combine all ingredients and refrigerate for at least 8 hours before serving. Serve with corn chips or tortilla chips.

A couple of other items on our menu this week included zucchini bread recommended by this dear friend and pasta primavera from Ree!

On a side note, we are up to week 3 in our effort to make the kiddos eat what the adults eat for dinner. Feels silly to even type that. Probably should have been doing this all along, but I confess over the years I've turned into a short order cook! Every night hasn't been easy (but thankfully I don't "cook" every night, so there's still plenty of PB&J and macaroni & cheese), but we have seen much improvement!

Miss Frances enjoying a late afternoon snack of zucchini bread. Can you tell she just woke up???

Some More, Please

When I saw this recipe for S'Mores Popcorn, I knew we had to give it a try! Kathryn loves s'mores and is always asking to make them. Well, an open fire isn't always readily available especially in the hot muggy south! This was the perfect compromise!

Look at the yummy goodness....


Kathryn, before the S'mores Popcorn...She asked me to take a picture of her. Gotta love it:)


The kiddos waiting for the popcorn...Can you tell they were in a marker fight? Notice Walker's half of a green marker mustache:)

The verdict on the S'Mores Popcorn....DELICIOUS!!!

I wouldn't change a thing! Well, I might add whole chocolate chips as well as the chocolate drizzle, but I'm just kind of crazy for chocolate like that. If you didn't want to melt the chocolate and prefer a more "trail mix" approach, I think it would be just fine with chocolate chips added to the graham cereal, popcorn, marshmallow mix!

Let me know if you try it!!!

S'Mores Popcorn

1/2 box of Golden Graham cereal
1/2 bag of miniature marshmallows
1 & 1/2 bags of Tender White Orville Redenbacher Popcorn, popped
1 bag of chocolate chips, melted

Mix cereal, marshmallows and popcorn in large bowl. Melt chocolate chips in microwave or double boiler. Spread dry mixture onto baking sheet and drizzle with melted chocolate. Wait for chocolate to harden and enjoy!!!

Very Special Guests

Saturday, we had the special treat of welcoming our sweet friends, the Anthony's, to our home. We hadn't seen each other in two whole years (since we moved from Memphis), and to say the kids (and the adults;) were excited would be an understatement!!!

In the midst of playing dress up, eating lunch, snacking on yummy cookies, and lots and lots of catching up, we tried to also take some pictures of the kids...



You see how well that turned out:) Ashley, if you have any better ones, please send them my way! Not sure what Walker is doing in this one:) Can't imagine why we didn't throw the little ones in the picture too!

We so enjoyed our visit. Please come back to see us again soon!!!