Black Hat Racing

Wow - it's been a long time since I've posted.  I've been in a slump with not knowing what to post, what I want my blog to be about, spending too much time on facebook and pinterest, plus general family stuff.  While I'm trying to figure out the blog thing, I want to share our family facebook page for

It's that time again!

Race season has started my friends, and that means occasional updates on the Black Hat Racing Team!  To make things a bit easier for those of you that are interested in our racing activities, we've created a facebook page and you don't even need to have a facebook account to see it.  How lucky are you?!  If you look to the right of your screen, you will see our BHR logo.  Please click on the logo or here to view our page and get the most recent race results, cool pictures and videos, or the next race scheduled.  Here's pictures of #185 and #988 at the start of their races.  Keep checking back for more updates!

Sweet Sixteen

My oldest son turned 16 yesterday.  Somehow it doesn't seem possible that 16 years have gone by since he was born.  I remember moving into a new house when he was 11 or 12 days old, when he went to preschool, his first time trick-or-treating, catching frogs when he was 5, his first babysitter other than a relative, the first day of kindergarten, when he learned to ride a bike, his love for animals, how happy he was when his little brother was born, all of the elementary school parties and programs, dirt bike races, then it was junior high and high school, basketball practices and games, the first girlfriend, and taking drivers ed. More recently it has been looking for a car, a broken hand, and talk about finding a job.  My little boy is growing up.  We celebrated Kyle's birthday at Texas Roadhouse last night.

Kyle and Ryan

 

Sitting on the birthday saddle and having everyone sing happy birthday to him.

I think he had a nice day ;)  I can't wait to see what memories are made this next year.

Wow, can you believe this weekend is over?  I think we crammed as much as possible into it.  What about you?  Just a quick recap of what we did.  Saturday:  We went to Farmers Pike on the east side of Indy and I think we hit about 70% of the garage sales on the way there.  We did find some treasures - another square candle holder in the amber tiara sandwich glass pattern I'm collecting, an American flag (the people told us they couldn't even give it away - isn't that sad!), a wooden American flag, a hooked rug (I only paid 25 cents for it)  and Carl found a brad nailer gun (I'm not sure that's the correct name, but it it good for woodworking). 

The most exciting part of our trip was when Ryan decided he was going to be a sling shot.  Basically it was a bungee jump but in the opposite direction.  Before the kids were shot up in the air, they all got to jump on the trampoline and try to do flips.  It must have been harder than what it looked like because so many kids tried and tried and couldn't do it.  Carl did manage to get this awesome picture of Ryan though. 

On the way home we stopped at the Warm Glow Candle Outlet...ahhhh, the smell, the decorations...it was wonderfully inspiring...I'm ready to decorate for fall after that visit :)  However, I only bought one small candle and 3 placemats that I'm using on my entertainment center.   If you must know, I'm waiting for the Covered Bridge Festival to shop for more fall decorations and treasurers.  Carl and I like to go without the boys - it's a win-win all the way around :) 

Okay, please ignore the crack in the crock, but this should give you the basic idea.  Now I need to find some greenery to fill that crock and make it look pretty again.

 On Sunday Carl and Kyle went riding - Ryan's bike broke so he had to stay home with me and clean the house - poor guy missed out on the fun.  I did make a loaf of sausage bread and 2 loaves of cinnamon bread for the boys. 

Monday was a better day - Carl and I went to a small festival by our house and I found more amber glass (yippee for me!!) - I now have one (yes one) candle stick and a last supper plate.  I was so excited about that because I just saw some on shopgoodwill and ebay for much more than I paid.  I love it when I get a deal!

After lunch we went to Shades State Park with both of the dogs, walked some trails, went fishing and let the dogs swim.  Ryan caught two fish...the only fish of the day.

As the fishing was winding down, I told Carl that I was going to let the dogs go for a swim.  Snickers loves the water and can swim well - like a fish, and although we haven't been to the lake with Harley one would think he would be able to swim too. He is a retriever afterall.  Can you tell where I'm going with this story?  I also should have thought about the way they fight over sticks and balls when we play at home.  I threw a stick out and both dogs went in the water for it, fought over it, and were a pretty good distance from the shore.  Snickers won that round and started her way back, but Harley was (barely) treading water.  By this time Kyle came back by me and Carl was on his way back, and we are watching Harley tread water and then he went under.  It was pure panic!  Kyle went in after Harley and was the hero of the day.  From that point on each dog went in by themselves and we decided not to throw the sticks too far out for Harley.  We just can't figure out how he is swimming - I wish I had a video of him - it's kind of funny - it really does look like a dog paddle move.  Now our Indian name for Harley is Swims Like a Rock. I know both of the dogs are tired after today because they have been quiet all night - no barking at anything tonight.

To end our weekend, we made elephant ears.  After paying $5 for them at a couple of fairs this summer, we decided that we would make our own and save some money.  I found this recipe on Cooks.com

ELEPHANT EARS

2 c. flour

2 tbsp. sugar

1 tsp. sugar

1/2 tsp. salt

1 tsp. baking powder

2 tbsp. shortening

1/2 c. water

Oil (for frying)

TOPPING:

1 c. sugar

1 tsp. cinnamon

Blend everything, but water, as you would for pie crust. Add water and shape into a ball. Add a few more drops of water if dough doesn't handle well. If too sticky, add flour. Divide into 10 even balls. Roll out to 9 to 10 inch circles.

Dip in hot oil until brown. Flip, remove and put on cookie sheet. Sprinkle with topping. If thicker, elephant ear will be soft. If thinner, elephant ear will be crispy.

It was a wonderful weekend for us.  I love spending time with my family and this was perfect.  I hope your weekend was wonderful, happy, and full of memories.  I want to leave you with a post my sister had on her facebook page:  Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit.  Wisdom is knowing not to put it in your fruit salad.

Recipes, Dirtbikes, and a Cute Little Girl

Well, Sunday was another day of racing for the boys and they didn't do too bad.  Ryan came in 9th overall in the 65 class, and Kyle came in 3rd place overall in the schoolboy class, and 11th overall in the 125 class.  They raced at what we call their "home track", but in reality this was the first time we've been there this year to race.  The track was great and everything was very organized, now if we could just get home earlier.  Here are some pictures from this weekend's races.

Ryan waiting for his last race to start.

Kyle ready for one of his races.

Ryan on a table top.

Kyle at the billboard hill.

Kyle rounding a corner.

Ryan on a berm.

The boys are trying to get the more races lined up and I'm trying to talk Carl into riding an hare scramble.  Once in a while this woman wants to be a cheerleader for her man!  One of the biggest races I'm looking forward to cheering for him (and the boys) at is the Ironman at Tom's Marine Sales in Crawfordsville.  That is so exciting to watch!

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

It's time to share more pictures of my newest niece Anna Joy.  A few weeks ago, Health and Melissa invited everyone to her baptism and back to their house for lunch.  Mom and Kim were up from Florida with the spoiled step sisters and it was nice for everyone to spend time with them.  The food was good, cake was beautiful, got to spoil my oldest niece, and see my family - 2 thumbs up!  Here are a few pictures from the first two times we saw Anna.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

I also have some recipes to share with you - one is good (full of vegetables and some other healthy stuff) and one is not so good (aka a sweet, chocolately, delicious little gem for your tastebuds).   Let's start with the good-for-you recipe - Veggie Burgers.  This recipe comes from a cook at work - she runs the little cafe and makes some amazingly awesome food.

Veggie Burgers

These are good in a wrap along with some lettuce and sweet onion sauce.  These are the veggies that I used, but you can use what you want and the quantity you want.

eggplant

zucchini

medium yellow squash

large red onion

green pepper

red pepper

garlic cloves

asparagus

carrots

Wash and cut veggies into same sized pieces and toss with olive oil, salt, and pepper.  Roast for approximately 45 minutes at 450 degrees.  When veggies are cool, put in food processor and chop it all up.  Depending on how many veggies you made, you will probably have to do this in batches.  Once you have all the veggies chopped up, mix in 1 egg and some oats so that it will all stick together.  Time to fry them up and eat or freeze. These really are tasty and good for you.

Ok, I don't have a good picture of the next thing I made, but hopefully that won't mattter because they will be yummy in your tummy!!  I made these little chocolate chip cupcakes for Anna's baptism lunch and they were half gone by the time I thought to take this picture.

Ok, it's soooooo easy to make these.  Make the recipe on the mini chocolate chip package and bake them a mini muffin pan.  When you take them out of the oven, immediately make an indentation in the cookie (I used the end of a wooden spoon), then pop them in the freezer.  This keeps the cookies soft and chewy when you're ready to eat them.  You can make your own icing or use the premade stuff in the can.  Just pipe it in the cookie and eat!

So thank you for sticking with me through this long post.  I hope your week is full of sunshine and happiness. 

The Fair, Dirtbikes, and a Painted Room

Ahhh, the crowd, the food, the smells....hey wait.....what did I step in?  All kidding aside, we did go to the fair tonight and met some friends for dinner, although Carl said he was only going to see how many different foods could be fried.  Ryan did see a couple of friends - here he is with David.  I only wish my son would have smiled, but I will remember this picture and pull it out when he graduates from high school. 

We also saw a 2 week old goat.

The corn dogs and elephant ears were delicious, it was a fun evening spent with friends, but I'm happy to be away from the smells.  I even grew up on a small farm - you would think I would be used to it.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Kyle and Ryan raced three days this week.  They were at the Clinton County Fair twice and then at the Hendricks County Fair on Monday.  Ryan got 2nd place and Kyle 7th at Clinton County.  Then at Hendricks County, Ryan got 3rd and lets just say that Kyle had a rough night.  After a couple of wrecks, we were happy that there were no broken bones and no broken bikes. Here are a couple of pictures from the Hendricks County Fair.

Kyle....

Ryan and Carl.....

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Carl recently told me that he thinks our house needs "color".  I took a look around  and thought it had color, but then I started looking at magazines and other blogs and guess what - our house needs some color!  That leads to project #1 - painting the entry way.  It's basically a large box that we don't use for anything other than a hallway.  I did have some old porch posts around the doors and couldn't decide if I wanted to keep them there - well, they have been removed.  To see a before picture, click here.  We decided on Benjamin Moore Van Duesen Blue which is a dark blue and we love it!  I told Carl that we had to work on project #2 so I could find something else to talk about.  Here are some pictures of the finished project.

Porch posts have been removed.  Now I need to figure out if I want to put curtains (or something) on the doors. 

The walls are a bit plain, but that can be fixed by shopping! 

I'm going to hop on over to Leslie's blog to see what everyone has been working on lately.  If you like to sew, Leslie's blog is one to read.  She is soooooo creative! 

A new baby, a birthday, and a redo

We received exciting news today!  My youngest sister gave birth to her second daughter, Anna Joy.  She joins proud parents Heath and Melissa, and big sister Kay.  We just can't wait to see her.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

There was another big event last week - my oldest son, Kyle, turned 15 and he will be a freshman this fall.  Time goes by so fast, doesn't it?  I remember the days after he was born....such sweet memories.  Well, here are some pictures of my handsome teenager, my husband Carl, and his brother Ryan.

I wish every day was full of smiles like this, but sibling rivalry sometimes sneaks it way into our house.

Kyle received some shirts for his birthday and Ryan got one too, then they decided to model them.  It was so funny and there were too many to choose from, so in order not to bore everyone, this is the one I decided to share.

Ok, I have just one redo picture to share.   I finished the post thingy that I have on my front porch.  It goes well with the repainted shutters and the porch looks so inviting when the candle is lit.  To see what it looked like before, click here.

I must say that we have been enjoying our summer so far - a few parties, a trip to Holiday World, the boys have been going to the community pool, plus we've had some yummy fresh fruit and veggies.  The county fair starts tomorrow and Ryan has Snickers entered in "dogs".  Wish us luck - my shy boy is going to have to get out in front of people he doesn't know and Snickers is not wanting to listen to him - this should be interesting. What have you been doing this summer?  Traveling, gardening, relaxing and trying to stay cool?  Whatever it is, I hope you have fun doing it.

Dirt bikes, Recipes, and Flowers

Good morning everyone!  How about a beautiful beach sunrise to wake you up?

photo courtesy of Flickr

I feel like I have so much on my mind.  So much I want to share with everyone.  Lets starts with the boys and their dirt bikes.  They really haven't been riding very much this year because of bikes that needed repairs and busy schedules, but they did manage to go riding earlier this spring and this is the picture Carl sent back to me.   

I love seeing my boys like this.  When they are sweaty and have dirt all over their faces, that means they've had F-U-N!! 

I also wanted to share some pictures of my hostas.  We have so many trees around our house and shade-loving plants have become a big part of my life.  Now finding the time to weed my flower gardens is another issue....

I also wanted to share two recipes with you.  I've made both this week, but didn't take pictures so what you'll see is what came with the recipe.  I thought both recipes were delicious, but my family like the beef green bean stuff the best.

Thai Peanut Turkey Burgers

Recipe on cathe.com and cara's cravings

Preparation Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 15-20 minutes
Ready In: 25-30 minutes
Serves/Makes: 2
Level of Difficulty: Easy

Ingredients
8oz ground turkey
1 medium carrot, shredded
1 large scallion, minced
1/4 tsp sesame oil
1 tsp chili garlic sauce
2 tbsp natural peanut butter
freshly ground salt & pepper
1/2 tsp ground ginger

Mayo mix:
2 tbsp light mayonnaise
handful of cilantro, finely minced
1-2 tsp chili garlic sauce
hamburger buns of your choice
mixed greens

Directions:

Combine burger ingredients a mixing bowl and combine thoroughly. Heat a skillet over medium-high heat. Form the turkey mixture into two patties. Cook for about 7-10 minutes per side, until cooked through. Serve on buns with cilantro-chili mayo and greens. 

Note:  I didn't have chili garlic sauce, so I only used freshed, minced garlic.  I also put spinach on my burger instead of greens. 

Healthified Sesame Beef and Green Beans

recipe from eatbetterameric.com

Ingredients:
12 ounces frozen whole green beans, partially thawed and halved crosswise
1/2 cup orange juice
2 tablespoons reduced-sodium soy sauce
1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil
1 teaspoon cornstarch
1/2 teaspoon finely shredded orange peel
Nonstick cooking spray
1/2 cup bias-sliced green onions
1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger or 1 teaspoon ground ginger
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon canola oil
12 ounces boneless beef sirloin steak, trimmed of fat and thinly sliced
2 cups hot cooked brown rice
2 teaspoons sesame seeds, toasted
2 oranges, peeled and sectioned or thinly sliced crosswise

1. In a covered medium saucepan, cook green beans in a small amount of boiling water for 5 to 7 minutes or until crisp-tender. Drain; set aside.
2. For sauce: In a small bowl, combine orange juice, soy sauce, toasted sesame oil, cornstarch, and orange peel; set aside.
3. Coat an unheated large nonstick skillet with nonstick cooking spray. Preheat over medium-high heat. Add green onions, ginger, and garlic to hot skillet; cook and stir for 1 minute. Add the precooked green beans; cook and stir for 2 minutes. Remove vegetables from skillet.
4. Carefully add canola oil to the hot skillet. Add beef; cook and stir about 3 minutes or until desired doneness. Remove from skillet.
5. Stir sauce; add to skillet. Cook and stir until thickened and bubbly; cook and stir for 2 minutes more. Return meat and vegetables to skillet. Heat through, stirring to coat all ingredients with sauce. Serve over hot cooked brown rice. Sprinkle with toasted sesame seeds. Serve with orange sections.

Well, that's all folks.  I've got to get the boys up and get ready for church then I'm hoping to go to the pool later.  I'm going to try to finish the laundry that I started yesterday and get my menu planned for this week. I hope you have a wonderful day, stay cool, and share a smile with someone - it may be the only one they see today!

~Pam~