7 Quick Takes and Pictures

1. The salad in the picture above is a Thai Peanut Salad with Chicken. It is sooo good! Here is the recipe--
2/3 cup of bottled peanut sauce (I made my own using a recipe on the internet but I don't have it handy so if you want to make your own you will have to google it)
2 tbsp. soy sauce
2 tbsp. apple juice
1 lb. chicken tenderloins
matchstick carrots
sugar snap peas
lettuce

Combo peanut sauce, soy sauce, and apple juice in a small bowl. Reserve 1/2 cup. Pour the rest in a ziploc bag with the chicken and toss to coat. Let it marinate for about 15 minutes and then either grill the chicken or bake it in the oven. Then use the lettuce, carrots, peas, and chicken in a salad and use the remainder of the marinade as your dressing.
2. We went skating today for the first time in almost a year. The kids had a ball as usual! I had a good chat with a couple of moms.
3. See what I mean about the Klondike bars? Messy, messy, messy!!
4. Joe got two new bathing suits. He insists on wearing the rash guard shirts and is pretty excited about having one in orange--his favorite color. He also got a pair of bathing suit trunks that are 3D and even came with 3D glasses. They are pretty cute.
5. This is my little second cousin, Lily. We spent the day at the beach with her Grandma, Grandpa, and momma and daddy, and aunt and uncle. It was a beautiful day and the ocean was just perfect. I don't normally enjoy the beach but the great thing here was that the pool was right by the beach so we could jump in the pool and get all the sand off of us.
6. I've been reading up a storm--the last two books I read were both really good. The first one was, "Her Mother's Hope," by Francine Rivers. I love books by her and this one did not disappoint! It starts out with a young girl living in Switzerland and follows this young girl as she grows into a woman and makes her way in the world and then has a family and so on. Excellent read! The other book I read was kind of weird but I loved it and read it in about 24 hours. It was called, "The Girl Who Chased the Moon" by Sarah Addison Allen. It was set in NC and had a little mystery, a little magic, and some unique characters. I highly recommend it. BTW--I don't know how many of you ever scroll way down on my blog but on the left side towards the bottom I keep a running list of books I've read this year. Mostly for my own benefit but if could be for your benefit as well if you are looking for a book to read. I also have a label called, "book suggestions" and "book reviews" that I use whenever I talk about what I'm reading. The next book I'm reading is "Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry," Hannah read it not too long ago and really wants me to read it because she liked it so much. So, that's next up. After that, I just got the new Jodi Picoult book at the library--"House Rules." I can't wait to read that one! What are you reading?
7. A friend gave me a wonderful gift that we can all benefit from--she gave me all 4 volumes of Jack Handey's "Deep Thoughts" books. I have laughed so much reading these--here's a few of my favorites--

• If trees could scream, would we be so cavalier about cutting them down? We might, if they screamed all the time, for no good reason.
• To me, clowns aren't funny. In fact, they're kinda scary. I've wondered where this started, and I think it goes back to the time I went to the circus and a clown killed my dad.
• If you ever teach a yodeling class, probably the hardest thing is to keep the students from just trying to yodel right off. You see, build to that.