No fun? Really? {Sunday Snapshot}

Okay, this really, really long post is specifically for Harry.  See, Harry sometimes complains that our family never does anything fun! Can you believe that boy?!  When I hear him say that it is like hearing fingernails on a chalkboard to me because I try really hard to find fun things to do as a family.  So, I decided to keep tabs on the fun things we did this summer so that the next time he complained, I would direct him to this post.  {A lot of these are Iphone (and I don't have the 4G) photos hence the poor quality}

We did SO much his summer......

This summer we...

went to the zoo (it was SO HOT and I will never go in the heat of the sumer again!)

 visited the Childrens museum (where Harry and Will won a water balloon toss contest!)

went to the Science museum (in town and in the burbs)

went to the fine art museum (and the contemporary art museum and sculpture gardens)

We had chili cheese fries and milkshakes at The 59 Diner...

(these were amazingly delicious!)

I took Kate ice skating and to the butterfly exhibit while the boys were away at camp...

Kate rode a camel....

We celebrated Will and Kate's birthdays.  

We had a surprise gluten and dairy party for Harry!

Harry went to Vacation Bible Camp and he came home and taught Kate all the songs and dances:)

We made s'mores cookies.

We made pies (apple, key lime, cherry, blueberry and  chocolate cream)

Kate jumped on the bed:)

We went out for Mexican food with friends.


In fact, we ate out A LOT (because it as the summer with no dishwasher due to a small flood)!



We went bowling with friends...

Harry won this trophy at Sports camp...

We went to "happy hour" at Sonic for slushies and such!

We spent time at our neighborhood pool and the Bellaire pool.

We went to Discovery green.

We went to an Astros game or two.

I had a "teddy bear tea party" with Kate...

We saw the dock dogs. 

We went to see the Orange Show.

We saw a building being demolished.

We went to our neighborhood 4th of July celebration where hula hoop contests and bubble blowing contests were won by our family!

We had our annual family ice cream sundae party  (4th of July weekend).

Harry and Kate attempted a backyard camp out (it was too hot!)

We met up With Lily and Ms. Rachel at a resort....

Harry went to the National Judo Junior Olympics and won the SILVER medal.

Harry and Kate attended fabulous classes at the art school.

Harry created his first bronze sculpture...

(it had to be an abstract figurative sculpture--his is a baseball player and I think it is quite good.)

We saw Cars 2 and the Smurfs at the movies.


We went to Chuck E Cheese.  It was Kate's first time as I kind of loathe that place.

Harry went to sports camp, art camp, soccer camp and sleep-away camp.

Will volunteered at the zoo and  went to sleep away camp and a water park.

Kate did princess dance camp, drama camp, art camp and gymnastics camp.


We hung out a lot at Miss Amy's house swimming.

We took a family vacation to Seaside, FLA with family.

We spent Labor Day weekend at a resort with friends.


We ate A LOT since Harry's diet was no longer restricted.  And I must share with you that Harry gained 14 pounds this summer!!!! Which is good because you might remember some nasty comments people made about how skinny he was before.  And just so you know, we still eat pretty healthy.  Harry is on a medication for migraines that makes him hungry which is a big reason for his weight gain but we also relaxed this summer and let him experience foods he had never had before due to his prior food allergies.  So far he has not had any reactions.

The only thing I had planned to do but we did not get to was the Art Car museum and a drive in movie.  But there is always next summer.


So, there Harry.  Do not tell me that we don't do anything fun!!!!!!  I think it was a fun summer indeed!  And after reading this post, Kate reminded me that we went to Pump it Up and another indoor play arena!!!!

The winner of the headband giveaway is comment #66, Captain Stormfield.  Congratulations!  Please leave your e-mail and in the comments and I will forward it to the owner of Bella Reese Bowtique.   I will not publish your e-mail. I hope your parents' neighbor enjoys her new headband.

My heart and prayers go out to all who lost loved ones in the tragedy on 9-11.  I was home watching the Today show with my infant baby (Harry) and talking to my step father, Al (who has since passed away) on the phone.  Will was at pre-school and Dave was golfing.  I remember needing to be with people that day.  I went to my neighbor's house (an elderly woman, Miss Dorothy) and we were glued to the TV hardly believing what we were seeing.  I will never forget the horrible images of that day. Today, I am grateful for our military who fight to protect our country.

Chocolate Cream Heaven

It was time to get back to our Summer of Pie. So this week Harry, Kate and I made this chocolate cream pie.  It was pretty easy.  The hardest part was waiting the 8 hours for it to chill:)  I used Scharffen Berger bittersweet chocolate as I really think that good quality chocolate makes a huge difference in recipes like this.  But honestly, it might have been too good for Harry.  It was very rich and dark and Kate and I loved it.  But Harry thought it was "a little too chocolatey."  Men!  Don't they know nothing is too chocolatey?!!!  Actually, a small piece of this is plenty.

{I always want to take my time and style/prep the food photos I post but my kids are standing there with drooling mouths waiting to eat and I get flustered and rushed. One of these days, I am going to get better at food styling and photography.  It is a goal of mine}

So far we have made apple (Dave and Kate), key lime (me and Harry), cherry (Will and Dave), blueberry (me and Dave) and chocolate cream pie (Me, Harry and Kate).  I think Dave wants to make rhubarb and I am not sure what else we'll do.  We only have a few weeks left until school starts.

S'more cookies

Kate and Harry LOVE s'mores!  So when I spied this super easy recipe on one of my favorite blogs, we had to try them.  I am linking straight to the recipe but be warned, you will want to spend all day reading my new blog friend, Jennifer's beautiful blog:)

I'll tell ya they did not last long or I would have a photo of them finished/cooled too. 

We have still been baking our pies.  I made a blueberry one last week (below).  It was the first time I made the crust from scratch by myself. Dave is really the pro at that in our house. In fact, I did need Dave's help rolling it out.  The blueberry pie tasted great but I should have put something more in the blueberries to thicken them (tapioca or corn startch). I put a little in but it needed more.  It was delicious warm with some Bluebell Vanilla ice cream.

Will's Cherry Pie

In case you missed it, we have dubbed this summer the Summer of Pie.  We are planning to make a pie each week.  Sunday afternoon, Dave and Will set out to make a homemade cherry pie.  My sweet and thoughtful friend, Bagel sent Will a cherry pie recipe last week.  I think they used part of it and improvised the rest.

This pie making session was very different than the ones with Kate and Harry so far.  I guess teenagers just want to eat the pie not really make the pie.  Will was not terribly interested in learning the fine art of making pie crust from scratch and he definitely was not interested in precise measurement of ingredients. There was a lot of  "No WILL!" and  "Pay Attention, Will!" coming from the kitchen.  I think all in all Dave and Will had fun.  And I think we all agreed that this was one of the best pies we have ever had.  Dave makes a delicious pie crust but every time it is a little different.  This was truly THE BEST crust he has ever made.  It was the most heavenly combination of buttery, flaky, crispy and delicate.  It was pure perfection.  And even though we all said it was not a contest, even Harry had to admit this was the best pie so far.

Hamming it up for the camera.  They did butt heads a few times though:) 

 I am not sure Will wanted to follow the master pie makers instructions.

"Will, you need to pay attention."  {I am guessing Dave was saying that here}









It's not really baking if you don't end up with some flour on your face, right?



The finished product.  I really should learn to photograph food better.
 I  know there are even books on it. We were in such a hurry to eat this warm out of the oven with some Bluebell Vanilla ice cream that I rushed the shot.

Harry's Turn~ Key Lime Pie {Sunday Snapshot}

We probably did not choose the best summer to designate as the Summer of Pie because about 2 weeks ago we discovered a there was a hole in a hose of our dishwasher.  So there was a slow water leak that damaged our kitchen hardwood floors and our cabinets.   We have had huge heaters (yes, in the summer in TX) and enormous fans that are as noisy as a jet engine and water damage experts and insurance adjustors stopping by daily.  Starting Monday, the cabinet guy will be here working too.  It has not been fun.  It has been loud and messy and hot.  And we have not had a dishwasher in 2 weeks.  We are getting sick of washing dishes by hand.

And last week, I ruined Kate's delicious apple pie as I tripped over a cord to one of the heaters on my way to the refrigerator.  Our really nice Emile Henry pie dish broke and the pie went flying.  Luckily, we had all had one small taste (except Harry).

But we said we were going to make pies this summer and pies we shall make.  This week, it was Harry's turn and he wanted key lime.  Now, there is a key lime pie Dave makes but I decided that Harry and I would try a different one.  We chose Ina Garten's Frozen Key Lime Pie.

Harry did almost all the work from making the graham cracker crust and juicing the limes....

to separating the eggs (it calls for yolks only)...

It was fun teaching Harry how to separate eggs.

Harry had the beginnings of a migraine (he gets too many of them!) but he was a dedicated chef....

Harry and I had a really nice time making this pie together.  I loved spending the time alone with him.  We worked well as a team.  Despite the kitchen disaster we have going on, I am really glad we are doing this.  First of all, whoever is lucky enough to marry Will, Harry and Kate will be so blessed because all three of them will (and already do) know how to cook.  Secondly, it is so nice to work one on one with your kids to create something. When you have three children, you don't get a lot of uninterrupted time with just one of them.  I cherished this morning with just Harry.  And finally, it has sparked so much interest in cooking for Kate and Harry so far.  They want to cook everything now.

As far as the pie goes, the recipe is rather simple and straightforward.  It tastes delicious and it is perfect for the heat of the summer.   The hardest part was waiting for it to freeze (and that does take a long time!)  Also, you do not cook the egg yolks (although you can) and for some people that is not safe.

Just a note about Harry~ His stomach biopsies came back negative which is good news but kind of confusing since the skin patches were positive for so many foods.  So, for now he is still eating some gluten and dairy.  Unfortunately, while we were undergoing the previous tests, two new concerns were discovered.  One requires us to see a neurologist which we will do on Monday.  We are seeing the chief of neurology (who happens to be a friend) and we could use your prayers.

Next week, it is Will's turn to pick the pie and rumor has it he wants cherry!

Summer of Pie {Sunday Snapshot}

If you've read for a while, you know that summer in Texas is not really my favorite season.  But I am trying to be really positive this summer and we have tried to plan a fun (and stress-free summer).

One of the things we are doing is making weekly trips to the library.  This week Kate got a book called Amelia Bedelia's First Apple Pie.  It is a very cute book and after reading it, Kate desperately wanted to bake her own pie (she has helped Dave make pies before).  This led to a great discussion and idea in our family.  We decided it would be the Summer of Pie at our house.  Each week we will make a new pie.  This week, Kate wanted an apple pie (although she called it shoo pie).  So, since Dave is the master pie baker in our house, he assisted Kate.  Really, Dave's pies are SO good that people have suggested he start a business!

I love how Kate is looking at her Daddy here:)

She really did everything from peeling apples to rolling dough.

She might have even gotten a little bossy with her assistant;)





Kate was so happy.  She LOVES to cook and bake.  Just loves it.




She even made a little individual one with the leftover dough just as Amelia Bedelia did in the book.



I never even took photos of the finished products after they were baked but they tasted delicious!!!

Harry wants to make key lime pie.  Will wants to make a cherry pie and I am researching a good chocolate cream or grasshopper pie:) Any favorite pie recipes you'd suggest?