Tip #32 From Mrs. Sunny

"Take time to try a new recipe!"

Since Sunny grew up eating food from his parents' restaurant, he's not a big fan of my regular meals being so regular...including tacos, hamburgers, spaghetti, tuna n' noodles, sloppy joes...all those great meals I grew up eating on the farm on a regular basis.

So my goal is to try a new recipe every Sunday starting yesterday!

"Sunday's Sunny Select" meal yesterday was:

Parmesan-Crusted Chicken
2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (halves and pounded to the same thickness)
Coat w/ egg and dip in 1 C. bread crumbs & 1/2 C. grated Parmesan Cheese
Cook at 450 degrees for about 15 minutes

(Hint: I don't buy bread crumbs...pop a piece of bread in the toaster and voila!)

Roasted Potatoes w/ garlic and rosemary
Cube your favorite potato
Boil for a couple minutes, then transfer to a baking sheet w/ oil, rosemary and garlic
Bake at 450 degrees for about 20 minutes!

Green Beans w/ butter & sea salt
Just heat with butter and sea salt!

So easy...let me know if you try it! Each week I will post my new recipe and it would be great to have a "Sunday Recipe Swap" with everyone!

Tip #31 From Mrs. Sunny

"Our cell phones are the greatest tool!"

I visited my good friend Steph this weekend and last night we had our kids to sleep, turned off the lights and whipped our our handy-dandy cell phones to use as a 'flashlight' to get to bed.

So what are the many uses for our phones? here's my Top 20 that I can come up with off the top of my head

1. To talk to people
2. To text people when we don't have the time to call and talk
3. Games
4. Check our email
5. Calculator
6. Time ( I can't stand a watch, my phone is my watch)
7. And my alarm clock!
8. Tip calculator
9. Address book
10. Calendar
11. Event reminder - Birthdays, appointments, anniversaries - I love it!
12. World Clock for the travelers - I wish I could travel like I was in college still! Once the kids are out of the house I spose! :)
13. Converter
14. Stop watch - Sunny used this when I was in labor with Kristofer and Kathryne timing the contractions - very handy! :)
15. Notepad - I've used this on occasion when I don't have paper to write a quote down or something... My recent: "Life is a fairytale - dreams really do come true!"
16. Blue tooth (can't say that I've experienced this feature :)
17. Camera - I still have pictures on my phone from when Kristofer was a baby...how time flies
18. Phone book
19. Mini music box - great samples when the boredom arises with the kids!
20. And of course a flashlight! There have been many nights where Kathryne dropped her pacifier and I'm scanning the floor with my phone!

Isn't it amazing what we can use our phones for? What did we ever do without them?

I guess we walked through the house in the dark stepping on toys and tripping up the stairs the whole way.... :)

Have a happy fathers day all you fathers! We're waiting for Sunny to get back from rehearsal!

Tip #30 From Mrs. Sunny

"God puts aggravating people in your life to practice patience!"

Sunny and I actually got a few hours to ourselves last night and went to a fundraiser event for Project Concern through his work last night. I have never been present for a live auction before and couldn't believe it when a cake went for $300! They did look really good, though.

We did try and win an overnight stay at a Hotel and 2 tickets to the Grand with chocolates through the silent auction. There were two and we put a bid in for both. With our anniversary in August and we really have never done anything too spectacular since we were married, I thought this was the perfect time to splurge a little for a good cause. The first one we bid at $150 and the other one was going lower, we bid at $110.

The aggravation comes soon....

We came back to the table, and I noticed who was bidding over us. This tall man with black hair. The whole night I felt like I was spying on him. And this was a man who was bidding on anything he had a chance to at the live auction - he obviously had money to spend. At one point he came over to our table and he wasn't wearing a wedding ring, so then I really wanted to outbid him. No unmarried man needs an overnight stay at a Hotel!

So he outbid us two times on both of them and then we outbid him two times on the lower one. It was exciting going back and forth and even more exciting because we knew who he was but he didn't know we were bidding over him. As soon as he would come back to his table from bidding, Sunny got up and outbid him. We had him! Just as they were announcing the live auction was over I saw this guy stand up and walk over to the tables. I thought he just wanted to see if he got both of them. He looked, and then took a pen out and wrote his name under ours! I couldn't believe it!

Okay, so this was more than aggravating. At one point, Sunny had his hand on my leg and I didn't realize I was tapping my foot so fast. I probably could have given him a few choice words. But I practiced patience, kept my mouth shut and walked out of the event aggravated.

Well, an overnight stay at a Hotel and 2 tickets to the Grand still sounds like a great idea for our Anniversary.

Tip #29 From Mrs. Sunny

"There is no darkness, only absence of light"

That may no be the exact wording...I was reminded of this quote at the Home School Conference Sunny and I attended. The speaker was amazing and related well to children. He spoke about the need to preserve the innocence and purity of our children. Children are growing up way too fast these days. There's no need to show them the evils of this world too soon. The only way you can understand darkness, is if you understand the Light first. "There is no darkness...only absence of light." Let them see the Light of Christ while they're young.

Tip #28 From Mrs. Sunny

"Vacations come and go way too fast!"

Last Friday night the Sundstrom family left for Western Iowa to see Grandma and Grandpa Sundstrom 5 1/2 hours away. Kristofer refused to fall asleep saying "Grandpa first" and he made it until 11:00 pm when we got there! We all enjoyed the relaxation, company and drive-in food from the Sundstrom Dairy Dandy! I will be craving that food all week! :)

Then we left for South Dakota to see Sunny's Aunts and Uncles. You know you're in a small town in South Dakota when there are no paved roads or sidewalks and they are not used to hills when there's a sign in the country saying: "Hill may obstruct view" - obviously! We loved the atmosphere, though. Aunt Sal has her own drive-in as well - the kids sure liked the food!

Then we drove back to Sunny's parent's house before heading to Sunny's sister's house back in Iowa. We had a great time going to Adventureland with her family and my sister and parents. We couldn't believe how much fun Kristofer had on all the rides. His favorite was the Tea Cups and I felt like throwing up after going on it once with him - as well as with the Lady Luck. My stomach does not do well going in circles...:b

And it was great having my parents along, so Sunny and I could sneak onto rides - Sunny was such a little kid - it was a blast. It had down-poured in the morning, so the park cleared out and we didn't have to wait for lines! I may not like the kiddy rides that go around in circles, but bring anything else on. I have jumped from an airplane with a parachute on my back. Our favorite was the "Space Shot" - what an amazing view.

Then we went to the Science Center of Iowa in Des Moines before heading to our Homeschool Conference. That was a great place for the kids to run around exploring how the world turns. We also saw a show in the IMAX Theatre about Dolphins which was awesome.

So we ended our vacation with the Home School Conference which was very inspirational and I have come back very excited about it. We planned on going to the Blank Park Zoo in Des Moines today, but with this endless rain it was cancelled. We visited with Sunny's other sister before heading home!

Home sweet home! The kids were so excited to be back, and although it's sad when vacation ends, it always makes home that much more sweeter!