just that much better

when i'm not feeling well or am having a bad day...

 my bright colored little kitchen nook

fun colors make it just that much better

xo,

kass

what happens

when mama's not feeling well...

this is what happens

 the girls outrageously messy room (and this is not even half the mess!)

the girls watching big top pee-wee in our messy living room

hoping your weekend is cleaner and healthier than mine is starting out to be!

xo,

kass

oh, tyler has another WSA contest this sunday - praying he advances and gets in the top twenty!

delish

 grilled chicken with lemon basil pasta

find the recipe here

i usually eat a lot healthier than this but i was craving something super tasty and hearty and this meal sure filled that craving - delish!

*i ended up adding garlic, not using cream and i used organic whole wheat pasta

try it, you wont be disappointed!

i'm heading to santa barbara with the girls in the early afternoon to meet my dad for some shopping, picking up dan from his training for his new job, meeting back up for dinner with my dad and step-mom and then driving up to lompoc to stay with my mom and step-dad. saturday we'll be heading over to my granny's where she is planning on feeding us dinner and her famous lemon meringue pie for dessert. i can't wait to see my family, i miss them all so much all the time. on sunday we are meeting up with our wonderful friends kim and jeff and then heading off to our friends wedding at the santa barbara zoo. a fun-filled yet busy weekend.

what are your plans for the weekend?

xo,

kass

tall ships

this past weekend was the tall ships festival in dana point. 

we had been seeing signs around town and thought it sounded like a fun thing to do as a family... 

we listened to some music, spotted captain jack sparrow (tannyn was very excited about this), checked out the awesome ships, saw pirates mingling throughout the crowd...

watched a cannon fight between pirates and the british - i screamed when they set off the first cannon it totally took me by surprise... 

 and let dan take a photo of me in my cozy nautical sweater and admired how gorgeous the ocean looked with the green mossy rocks.

how was your weekend? what did you do?

xo,

kass

hangout spot

dan nailed a few planks of wood into one of the many trees on our hill so that the kids could have a hangout spot. i'm just hoping no ticks live in this tree because the kiddos seem to like it there...

maybe one day we'll build them a real treehouse.

enjoy your weekend my friends

xo,

kass

anthro whore

it's no secret that i'm an admitted anthropologie whore... my family and friends are well aware of this so you can imagine my excitement when i get anything from anthro. last weekend we made a quick trip to santa barbara and while there we stopped in at my dad and step-moms for dinner. my step-mom surprised me with this gorgeous candle from, you guessed it, anthro! it's the capri blue candle set in this pretty container that reminds me of an antique mirror. i've been lighting it just about every day since i got it on sunday and i love it. not only does it smell terrific but it's just so darn pretty too!

thanks, barbara, for thinking of me while on your trip up north... you're awesome.

are you a candle girl?

what's your favorite scent?

xo,

kass

on the first day

Now, Billy Joe McGuffrey
was a really clumsy kid.
On the first day of first grade
I'll tell you what he did.
He tripped over a pencil box,
flew up in the air,
landed on a kangaroo
who pulled out all his hair!
He needed first aid in the first grade,
first aid in the first grade,
first aid in the first grade.
You could buy a zoo with all the doctor bills he paid.

song by: veggie tales

ty and tann started school today - tyler in eighth grade and tannyn in first grade. the morning went off well, dan and i got up early at 6:30 which was a tad bit hard for me since the kiddos have been letting me sleep in till 9:00 all summer long. i got tann ready, did her hair, dan fed her breakfast and then it was time for photos. i made ty get up even though he doesn't start school until an hour after tannyn and he was NOT happy with me about it as you can see in the photo of him, tann and tayli but i really wanted a photo with all the kiddos. i'm a mom, it's how it is. we took tann to school and she did great - apparently she has the best first grade teacher in the school and she was very happy to see some friends from last year in her class. after dropping her off, we came home to get ty, i got one more picture (he was in a better mood this time) and then we dropped him off. as ty was walking to class dan yells out "i love you tyler joseph bacquet. i love you son!" it was pretty funny. i think tyler was just glad that dan didn't wear his cut off jean shorts and wife beater and walk him to class. ha.

now all is mostly quiet with tayli just home... ahhhh.

do any of you have any embarrassing stories from your first day of school? 

did your parents ever try to embarrass you?

xo,

kass

sweet treat

even though today was the last day of summer vacation for the kiddos, it sure as heck felt like fall. it was cloudy and chilly and the perfect day for baking so today we decided to make little bit o' chocolate bars, which my mom has dubbed wheat germ bars. my mom got the recipe out of some cookbook from the late 70's early 80's with healthy kid friendly recipes. wheat germ bars were a staple for me growing up, i ate them often for breakfast since i loathed milk and refused to eat cereal in the morning. not only are wheat germ bars great for breakfast but they are delicious for dessert too.

one of my favorite sweet treats.

mmm... don't they look delish?

little bit o' chocolate bars

(wheat germ bars)

1 stick of butter

1/2 cup brown sugar

1tsp vanilla

1 egg

1 1/2 cups flour

1 cup wheat germ

1/2 cup chocolate chips

mix together butter (i like to soften it for a few seconds in the microwave first), brown sugar, vanilla and egg with spatula. add in flour and wheat germ. stir until blended (i like to use my hands)

place in a greased pan and spread with hands, smooth down. 

bake at 325 for 25-30min, remove and sprinkle chocolate chips on top, let melt and then spread.

eat up and enjoy!

i would love to know if you try this family favorite of mine or if you've ever had it before...

xo,

kass

quite contrary giveaway winner

mary mary quite contrary how does your garden grow?

with silver bells and cockle shells, 

and pretty maids all in a row.

last monday the girls and i planted this little tomato plant and sunflower... i took these pictures yesterday and i am amazed at how fast they have grown. it seems as if they are growing half an inch every day - crazy! it's so fun to watch.

dan and i are hoping to plant a vegetable garden in our yard in the coming future and these little plants are giving me hope... maybe i have a green thumb after all.

____________________________________________________________________________

as promised, it's time to announce the giveaway winner

i used random.org to choose the winner and it came up with the number 3

congrats to brittan of little owl arts!

brittan, email me your address and we'll get the goods sent out to you asap

kassiunderwood@hotmail.com

thanks to all for playing along... enjoy the rest of your weekend!

xo,

kass

explore

the other day we discovered a park by our house with a lake that you can fish in... we were super excited about this and decided to check it out. while there, we walked the lake, rolled down some hills, played chase and checked out the pretty scenery... it's fun finding new places around your home to explore.

have you found any neat places in your neighborhood lately?

xo,

kass

ps. thanks for all your prayers and thoughts in regards to dan's job - he got an offer last week and took the job - he starts in a couple of weeks!

if you haven't entered the GIVEAWAY yet be sure to do so - it ends tomorrow!