overdue...

Hi girls!!!

I'm still here.

Oh my gosh it's been so long.

Did anyone miss me?

I sure missed checking in with you.

I went a little M.I.A since the kids have been home from school for summer break.

Days have been busy and fun (not to mention scorching HOT here in Phoenix).

The kids and I have been able to spend a lot of time with my sister, Jessica filling up the back of my Denali with all of our finds from thrifting. Can't wait to share with you what I have found.

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We also brought back our Sunday Dinners.

We used to spend every Sunday evening cooking dinner together while the children kept busy playing with one another. Unfortunately...we all get so busy during the school year that we just kind of stopped having them. Jess and I both have mentioned that we would like to get back into habit of Sunday Dinner...so we started again last week!!

The children choose the menu while we were shopping at Trader Joes.

We prepared and served:

My (almost famous) Pesto Sauce on Flat bread with toasted Pine Nuts

Homemade Pizzas

Pepperoni and Cheese

Roasted Broccoli with lemon Basil zest

My Sister Jessica's Peanut Butter Fudgie Drizzled Cookies (yeah...amazing)

We seriously ate so much of the Pesto Flat Bread that we both ended up with a queer belly.

It is so yummy....and so worth having a queer belly for!!

Morgan's turn laying on the sauce.

Oops!

This is what Mr C was doing while we were preparing dinner...

Go back to watching the game, sweetie...

Now...back to the menu...

We used toasted pine nuts throughout the meal...I am addicted to these guys.

My sister brought over this recipe for oven roasted broccoli.

She watched Ina prepare it earlier on The Barefoot Contessa.

It is the best broccoli dish that I have ever tasted.

I will probably never go back to steaming my little florets.

Let me know if you would like the recipe.

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The first week of summer also brought us a football training class at my High School.

(go toros)!!!!

Mikey had been waiting for this night for a month.

It was a lot of fun and I could hardly believe how may kids were there.

About 200 of them!!

I sat in the bleachers and snapped 209 photos.

I'm pretty sure Mikey is still mad at me for that.

I love that he is wearing a Toro Shirt.

I wore those back in the day.

Class of '93 makes me feel old.

This little guy can't wait until next year to join the camp.

I'm going to smuggle him in a year early.

Landon is my little buddy.

I love this kid and I want another one just like him.

What?

(no mother, i am not pregnant)

(but would not mind at all if i was)

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Look at Morgan.

My only girl.

She like big sunglasses like her mom.

This was taken today on the way to the pool.

Our first official 'pooling' of the summer.

Why oh why did I buy the only house in The Valley of the Sun without a pool?

No matter...we went to Grandma's community pool.

(even though she doesn't live there anymore and we broke in and then rigged the lock on the way out so that we can get in tomorrow after the movie)

I mentioned that we have been thrifting like crazy and have filled up the back of my Denali more than a couple of times. We seem to have the best luck when we thrift together. So who am I to stand in the way of that kind of momentum?

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This is an old table...exactly what I have been looking for to put in my family room.

I wanted something 'worn' with a chippy paint look because this is the table the children sit on and color on and eat on and do all other things on even though I ask them not to....

It was thrifted for $15.

I found another vintage suitcase at the Goodwill.

This is my oldest one yet.

Metal hardware on the feet and is a boxy and hard as can be.

It's an old Samsonite and I love it.

It was marked at $10 and I bought it on Goodwill's 50% off day...so do the math ladies...a whole $5 bucks outta my pocket...not bad.

I found this lantern at HomeGoods.

She was on clearance for $15.

I saw one almost identical to this in PotteryBarn not too long ago.

I found this side table at HomeGoods also in the clearance isle.

I plan on using it in our front as a side table.

It goes perfectly with the French Farmhouse look that I am shooting for.

On clearance for $58.

This frame was found at HomeGoods also in the clearance isle for $5.

I haven't even changed the photo inside...I kind of like the picture it came with.

Summer is off to a wonderful start with great menus and great bargains.

I can't wait to share some of the other things going on Decatur Street.

It sure is going to be a busy summer.
Alright...I am promising that I don't let another 2 weeks go by before my next post.

Have a wonderful day, friends.

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p.s...does anybody have a pool I can dip my toes into?