Little Bit of This and a Little Bit of That -- Random!

Do you believe it's the end of July already????

Boo hoooo -- July is my favorite month and it's nearly over!

Hibiscus -- Favorite flower!

The last few weeks have been a bit of a blur of 

driving here and there and back again to 6 AM cheer practice,

 8 AM pickup and back again

at 4 PM and another pickup at 6 PM with

other driving duties throughout the day.

Some days I felt like I was . . . in Jackson Browne's words,

"Running on empty, running blind . . ."!

Fave summer drink - Gin & Tonic -- I see one in my future!

Only a couple weeks til  high school starts for my adorable

freshman cheerleader!

Excited nervousness is how I would describe this time

in her life.  There's a bit of worry about the lockers

and locker combinations and getting to class

on time!!!!  I'm sure it will all be just fine!

One of the professional photos from Shane and Sunny

And we've been busy getting our Scottie feeling better!

She's had a rough summer and had to go to the vet's office a couple

times due to allergy problems and hot spots!

Muffy is finally feeling better and able to 

work her Instagram account again!  :)

Have a wonderful weekend!!

Happy Birthday Mr. Tennis!

Mr. Tennis (aka The Hubs) had a birthday recently!

So did I, but I prefer not to count my birthdays 

and if I don't celebrate on my actual birthdate,

I don't have to add a year!

Yes, that is how I am actually getting younger every year . . . 

that and botox!!!
[Ha ha - just kidding -- haven't had botox in years!
I do really love it though it's a splurge!]

He requested chocolate cake with 

chocolate frosting for his birthday!

Call me Betty -- I whipped that right up and

made a chocolate ganache frosting -- just

like the Barefoot Contessa and Pioneer Woman make!

My cookbook will be coming out soon -- (working title "Jboo Cooks??")
-- everything in it 

will have some type of chocolate ingredient!

Oooooh -- chocolate on chocolate = perfection!

Yes, well it was almost perfect until I slopped some

chocolate on my white top! 

Boo hoo - sadly that stain didn't come out -

but the ganache was so beautiful and delish, it was worth the sacrifice!

Besides playing tennis (hence the name Mr. Tennis),

he likes to ride his horse and do a bit of

golfing too.

Somewhere he fits in working! :)

While Miss M and I were at the pool recently,

he had some fun golfing.

Am afraid a golf cart may be on his b-day list next year!

Happy Birthday Mr. Tennis!

You're not getting older (yes you are)

you're getting better! :)

Happy Happy Birthday!

Cheer Photos!

Last week in the middle of their two-a-day practices,

the freshie cheerleaders had to clean up and

look pretty (not a difficult job for any of them)

for professional photos!

Camp photo - they won the spirit stick!

We whipped out the flat iron to make sure 

Maddy's hair was super straight!  

It really didn't matter that my hair

was super frizzy - that is my normal look in the heat
and humidity of summer, fall, spring and rainy weather!  

Anywho, we went out to the photographers

and the girls had a blast!

It was so much fun watching them.

After they photographed the group of 8 cheerleaders together,

they did individual photos with girls doing jumps, 

throwing pom poms and other 

most adorable poses!

How many Pius freshies fit on a golf cart?
8 plus photographer, Sunny!

Then they went outside for the more casual look!

Since the photographers live on an acreage, they

loaded the girls up on their golf cart!

My hair had already taken a beating

from the heat and humidity, so I opted to stay in the studio and chat 

with another freshie mom!

Best afternoon of photos ever!!

Funny . . . the photographer told 

the Moms ahead of time

to NOT annoy the cheerleaders during photos!!  

Like we Moms would do that??? 

So fun! 

 Proofs available later in the week!

Cooking Class - Healthy Eating 101

As a part of their 90th year celebration,one of our local

health care systems (a/k/a hospitals) Bryan Health is performing 90 acts of kindness!

Isn't that a great idea!

One was to provide a cooking class to the public for a small fee. It was called 

"Put Fresh in that Dish!" and featured fresh veggies and fruit.

Maddy and I thought it would be fun (yes, we are well aware we need to eat

more veggies and fruit!) and it was a blast . . .

Bonus -- after the dietician prepared the dishes, we got to sample! 

Photo and recipe from "a farmgirl's dabbles" blog

First up --   Summer Red Quinoa and Veggies Salad with Honey-Shallot Vinaigrette!

Now, this salad had all kinds of things in it that Maddy and I usually would

 not pick to put in a salad or select from a salad bar or even taste 

(we are not adventurous eaters!)

Have you tried quinoa?  Red quinoa? 

I can barely spell it or pronounce it, but . . .

Guess what -- it was delicious! 

As you can see, it is also very colorful!  

As the dietician said -- it's a good

example of the motto - "eat the rainbow!" 

The other dish she made and shared with us was Watermelon Fruit Pizza!

Instead of using a cookie crust and cream cheese/sugar mix for fruit pizza like

 most recipes call for,

 use a watermelon and add toppings like Greek yogurt and your fave fruits!

So simple and oh so yummy!

Photo courtesy of world wide web

Maddy has also decided to start making smoothies for herself as she

needs some extra energy for all those cheer practices!

Photo courtesy of world wide web

Happy cooking!

Cheerleader Camp 101

One of the ways Maddy's school prepares the

cheerleaders for their work ahead is by scheduling a

cheerleader camp for the girls to attend.

This year the camp was at our hometown University -

University of Nebraska-Lincoln - 

GO BIG RED!

Freshies with their Spirit Stick

Since this is her first year, we really had no idea what to expect  but figured it would be a 

lot of cheer practices. 

They stayed 3-1/2 days in the dorms and attended

cheer classes, drills and other cheer-related instruction

from a national group - Varsity and UCA.  Other squads from all over the State were also in attendance.

Freshman squad - award for Most Improved Squad!

This is not a camp for the light-hearted or weak!

Camp days began for Maddy at 5:30 am when she got up to shower

and get ready for a 7 AM breakfast/meeting.

Cheer camp started at 8 AM and often  lasted until 8:30 PM

with a short break for lunch and water breaks throughout the day!

It was quite the learning experience!

The freshman squad (known as freshies) were assigned the 

morning shower times as the senior, juniors and sophomores

claimed evening showers!

Pius X Cheerleaders

To say she learned a lot is an understatement!

Not only did she learn cheerleader skills, but maybe even more

important, she got to know the other freshman and upper class

cheerleaders better, making new friends and memories to last a lifetime!

Bonus -- a preview into dorm life --  it's not like a hotel! :)

Freshie team with their coach Katy

Cheer practices at her school have now started up and they are

having two-a-days!  If you thought two-a-days were only for football players like me,

you'd be wrong.  

The girls are practicing from 7 AM - 9 AM and then again from

6 PM - 8 PM three days a week!

So proud of Maddy and all of the girls as they are working so hard

and doing a great job!

GO BOLTS!

Ka-Boom! Fun on the Fourth!

We love the 4th of July --

celebrating our country and our freedom is so special -- 

and  let's be truthful here . . . 

having an extra day off work is also very nice!  :)

We had blasted hot, hot, hot temps before the 4th,

but then rain and chilly weather in the days leading up to the 4th.

We were hopeful for clear and sunny skies, and finally the clouds moved out,

the humidity moved in and the

 temps soared!

Look at that camel  whispering in her ear!

Maddy and I went to the zoo in the morning when it was rather

unseasonably cool out and NO crowds at all!  Sweet!!

After the skies finally cleared off, we headed to the pool 

for noodle races, ice cream sandwiches and 

the lovely smell of sunscreen!!

However, the chilly days prior along with a lot of

rain made the water temp icy cold! 

Brrrr!

Love the shades, but they are hard to see clearly through!

Then it was time to hit the fireworks stands!

Although I've been buying fireworks for what seems to be a million years,

I always forget which ones are the faves.

I neglected to get any artillery shells (really, I don't like to light those),

but smoke bombs, sparkling balls and some screaming bees and sparklers

all made their way into our bags.

Guess I have toned the fireworks way down

since the boys were young and every single year, we had a

fireworks-related "incident!"   

Not kidding here -- one time, a lighted firework fell over and ignited 

a bag of other explosives - burning a hole in our patio umbrella

and a burn mark on the patio table! 

Luckily for us, some neighbors had a quite a show

of artillery shells and we could see the

Country Club's fireworks from our driveway!

All in all, it was a fun and safe 4th -- just the way I like it!

KA-BOOM!  

Ka-Boom! Fun on the Fourth!

We love the 4th of July --

celebrating our country and our freedom is so special -- 

and  let's be truthful here . . . 

having an extra day off work is also very nice!  :)

We had blasted hot, hot, hot temps before the 4th,

but then rain and chilly weather in the days leading up to the 4th.

We were hopeful for clear and sunny skies, and finally the clouds moved out,

the humidity moved in and the

 temps soared!

Look at that camel  whispering in her ear!

Maddy and I went to the zoo in the morning when it was rather

unseasonably cool out and NO crowds at all!  Sweet!!

After the skies finally cleared off, we headed to the pool 

for noodle races, ice cream sandwiches and 

the lovely smell of sunscreen!!

However, the chilly days prior along with a lot of

rain made the water temp icy cold! 

Brrrr!

Love the shades, but they are hard to see clearly through!

Then it was time to hit the fireworks stands!

Although I've been buying fireworks for what seems to be a million years,

I always forget which ones are the faves.

I neglected to get any artillery shells (really, I don't like to light those),

but smoke balls, sparkling balls and some screaming bees and sparklers

all made their way into our bags.

Guess I have toned the fireworks way down

since the boys were young and every single year, we had a

fireworks-related "incident!"   

Not kidding here -- one time, a lighted firework fell over and ignited 

a bag of other explosives - burning a hole in our patio umbrella

and a burn mark on the patio table! 

Luckily for us, some neighbors had a quite a show

of artillery shells and we could see the

Country Club's fireworks from our driveway!

All in all, it was a fun and safe 4th -- just the way I like it!

KA-BOOM!