4th of July Fare

So in case some of you are planning on grilling some hamburgers for the 4th of July picnic here is the recipe for the BEST hamburger I have ever eaten. Now you must understand, I've never really liked hamburgers. If we go to a hamburger restaurant, I usually order chicken. I remember once when I was little we were having hamburgers for dinner and I didn't want to eat it, but Mom said I had to have a bite. So I took my bite, excused myself from the table and went to the bathroom and spit my bite into a piece of toilet paper. She never said i had to swallow it. That being said Greg and I made these and I wanted seconds! The barbecue sauce is fantastic on everything, chicken, pork, and I even throw a little in my meatloaf. MMMMMM!!!!! I hope you enjoy it too!

Barbecued Burgers
SAUCE:
1 c. ketchup
1/2 c. packed brown sugar
1/3 c. sugar
1/4 c. honey
1/4 c. molasses (I've omitted this before and it still tasted great)
2 t. prepared mustard
1 1/2 t. worcestershire sauce
1/4 t. salt
1/4 t. Liquid smoke
1/8 t. pepper

BURGERS:
1 egg beaten
1/3 c. quick oats
1/4 t. onion salt
1/4 t. garlic salt
1/4 t. pepper
1/8 t. salt
1 1/2 lbs. ground beef
6 hamberuger buns, split (don't get the cheapy buns get a good Kaiser roll and toast it, fabulous!)
Toppings of your choice

Directions: In a small saucepan, combine the 1st 10 ingredients. Bring to a boil. Remove from the heat. Set aside 1 c. barbecue sauce to serve with burgers.
In a bowl, combine the egg, oats, 1/4 c. of the remaining barbecue sauce, onion salt, garlic salt, pepper, and salt. Crumble beef over mixture; mix well. Shape into 6 patties. Grill, covered, over medium heat for 6-8 minutes on each side or until a meat thermometer reads 160 degrees, basting with 1/2 c. barbecue sauce during the last 5 minutes. If desired put sliced cheese on top the last couple of minutes of cooking to allow it melt. Serve on buns with toppings of your choice and reserved barbecue sauce. Yield 6 servings.

Double French Braids into Messy Buns

I really liked this one. It looked so cute on Lorelei. It fits her spunky personality.

Life is like blowing bubbles

I know this is cheesy but bear with me while I impart some of my deepest thoughts. I was blowing bubbles with my kids the other day and it dawned on me that Life and Bubbles are a lot a like. They are both unpredictable, sometimes very exciting, other times disappointing, always mesmerizing. Sometimes you can't quite seem to get your hands on them and other times they pop in your face, and both are always fleeting. So go blow some bubbles!

Cool bun!

Okay, so this one takes some time, so hand your kid a lollipop and work fast. It's actually pretty simple. You make a 1"-1 1/2" part all the way around the head and pull the rest of the hair into a ponytail to keep it out of the way. Then make several little ponytails in the part, I don't think it matters how many, just make enough to go all the way around the head. Then divide each into two pieces and twist one piece from one ponytail with another piece from another, and add to your main ponytail. Does that make sense? After you have all of them in the main ponytail you make your bun by taking sections of your ponytail and rolling them away from the center, then pin in place. I was actually surprised at how well this stayed in.

Madalyn's Secrets to Glorious Hair

Madalyn has been trying out a new line of hair products this week and judging by how shiny her hair has been, it must be working. Maybe some of you would like to give it a try. You must follow directions exactly.

1.) Dump a small shovelful of sandy dirt on the crown of your head and massage gently to exfoliate your scalp and hair shafts. Wash with shampoo, repeat a few times to get all sand out.

2.) Get a large amount of vanilla yogurt (strawberry is okay too) and massage into scalp, starting at the ends and working your way to the roots. This step strengthens your hair and must not be skipped, if you feel it's necessary you may repeat several times during the week. Wash with shampoo after each application.

3.) Work into only the ends of hair a small amount of peanut butter and raspberry jam. The protein in the peanut butter will strengthen your hair and the raspberry jam will help exfoliate a little more.

4.) On the same day if possible, massage a small helping of macaroni and cheese and applesauce into your hair, if desired it's also very good for the skin so feel free to work onto face as well. Wash with shampoo after each application.

After this week of treatments your hair will shinier, stronger, and more manageable, either that or your scalp will be raw from washing it so much.

The picture above is Madalyn using the macaroni and cheese, applesauce treatment. She looks pretty pleased. Her shirt is unbuttoned because we had to take out the rest of her lunch she was trying to save for later, I guess.

Jacob's Kindergarten Video

Blogger has failed me with the whole uploading video thing so I've turned to youtube. Check it out here...I hope. The reason it cuts off funny at the end is because we ran out of tape and the exact moment they called his name, of course. You'll see him roaring at the audience because, he told us later that he was trying to tell them to be quiet. And towards the end he wiggles his little bottom, which is what he does when he is pretending to be a T-Rex, and well, him blowing his tassel around is pretty entertaining. Enjoy
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=InjG6QKoGHs

Double French Braid

I love this hairstyle on Lorelei, plus it's pretty easy, once I finally mastered the art that is french braiding. Lorelei likes any hairstyle that she gets to wear her flowers for, as you can see she's pleased.