Hiding Zuchinni

Summer is in full swing and I made the mistake of planting not one, not two, but THREE zucchini plants.  I know, what was I thinking.  Well, I was thinking that at least one of them would die or something, but I have three fabulously healthy plants on my hands.  The biggest problem with that is that I think that I may be the only one in the family that actually likes to eat the stuff.  SO then I am left with chopping it up and putting it in dishes like spaghetti, but you can't eat that for dinner every night.
  Last night, after a long day, I stared into the fridge waiting for some inspiration.  And then it came.  I had on my hands some leftover pulled pork, rice and black beans, and a fresh zucchini, tomato, and Anaheim pepper.  I decided that making tortilla wraps would be an excellent way to "hide" the entire gourd.  It was easy enough with the blender to mix the pepper and zucchini with a little salsa and fresh tomatoes.   Add in some corn and olives (because everything should have olives in it) and there you have it.  The kids didn't even notice since I dished theirs up and put a handful of shredded cheese on the mixture.  They ate it all and thanked me for a delicious dinner.  My husband also said that it was tasty and ate all of his.  I considered my incognito dish a success until he got up to dish himself up seconds when he exclaimed, "Hey, is there zucchini in this?"

Progress...well at least a little

With summer here you would think that we would be getting many things done on the house, but the longer days seem to find things to take up all of our time and then there is the yard, but we have been able to work on a few small things.

Getting ready to Paint

New favorite place for Lewis

printed off digital scrapbook pages and put under glass to add color

beachy mantle decor

I'm thrilled with how it looks..Total cost of Mantle and tile about $200

Crochet Beard

My two oldest kids are working in the Unitas (mountains) this summer, and decided that they needed to come up with a way to keep their faces warm at times.  We found a number of companies on line that made them, but at nearly $50 ea we were hesitant to spend that kind of money.  My Mom offered to try her hand at making one, and is still working on the one for my daughter, but I just had to share.

Summer Scout camp

A couple of years ago my oldest decided that she wanted to work at a Boy Scout camp.  Since then her summers are filled with adventure, and she had gotten her brother to join her in her adventures.  This year they applied for a camp in a different council and are super excited to be working in the Unitas.  Erik even talked a couple of his friends into going as well.   Days are temperate...between 70 and 80 degrees but nights can dip into the low 30's.  Erik slept in a tent last summer, but this is the first time Nicole will experience a summer of that.  I am super excited about the daytime temps, because my kids don't tolerate the heat well, but I hope that they stay warm at night.  I bought a queen sized 3 inch foam pad on clearance and cut it in half and made giant "pillowcase" covers so I can take them off and wash them.  I hope that they have enough layers to sleep comfortably.  Erik is on a spring army type bed and Nicole on a camping canvas cot, both with a provided two inch mattress.  I'm glad I sent the foam toppers... for comfort and warmth.

I am really excited to have them home on the weekends so I can hear about all of their adventures, because I really miss having them around, but I know that this experience is making them better people.

Nicole unpacking

Eating area

Aspen groves are everywhere

the Lake...I bet it's cold!

Waterproof Canvas Shoes (Chucks, Vans, Keds, etc.)

We found this idea on Pinterest using an old pair of Vans, but we had to try it on a brand new pair of shoes.  It really works!  We bought light colored beeswax (light cream, NOT yelllow) and there was a subtle deepening of color,(I liked the darker red anyway) It really worked!

Brand new pair of Chucks with the laces removed

rub beeswax all over the canvas

Keep rubbing! It takes a while!

blow dry to melt the wax

the color will be slightly darker than the 

original

reapply wax where needed

do this to entire shoe

Inspect for lighter colored areas needing more wax  to be applied

water test... if it beads up and rolls off, it is a success!