I thought I better get caught up here a little. The other day I went in and found Emma like this after her nap. She had been playing around before she fell asleep and put her coat on. It was so funny!

I'm an Aunt, again!

I just wanted to post and introduce you to our new niece, Hailey Jo Hampton. She was born Thursday, June 26 at 2:22 a.m. Lacey, Clay, Hailey and big sister Tess are all doing great. We can't wait to go see them this summer. 

Vacation Bible School

Mackenzie and Emma both enjoyed the program at VBS last Friday. The kids performed the songs they learned and showed a slide show from the week. Emma marched right up there and joined in too. 

Sprinklers 2

Sprinklers

Last week we had some really warm days so I told Mackenzie she could run in the sprinkler. She put her bathing suit on and got right in there. I didn't think Emma would like the water, but when I came back with the camera she was soaked. She had run through the water with her clothes on! They both had a lot of fun.

Countertops

The cabinets and countertops are in now. That piece that sticks up will hide the stove (we haven't moved it yet). Before there was no counter out behind it, so this is a major improvement on design and functionality. It's so nice to see things coming together. Today, the electricians were out to wire the dishwasher and check some things. The finish guy also came to replace baseboard and doors. 

It's been a busy week. I had a story due Monday and was frantic about trying to get it done amongst getting the floor finished that day too. I also had a magazine issue due this week, but it was sent to the printer today so I feel a load off at least for awhile. Mackenzie has enjoyed spending each morning this week at Vacation Bible School. My friend Lisa took her two mornings (thanks again Lisa!) and Michelle has watched the girls the last two days. I know they had lots of fun with her. Yesterday they enjoyed a picnic at the park and today they went swimming in Emma's new pool she got for her birthday. Tomorrow I plan on going with MJ so I'm looking forward to that. I really missed sharing the week with her, but we won't have house things going on next summer (at least I hope not!). Emma will be able to go next year too. The carpet will be installed next Thursday so it is possibly we could start moving next weekend. Josh thinks I'm crazy to say that, but he did start packing some of his things tonight. Maybe I am crazy because I really haven't started packing, but after the carpet is in there won't be much holding us back. I have to finish painting the trim once it's in, but that should be by Monday. Hopefully we can get a lot sorted through and packed next week. It's hard to believe we're so close to finally moving. Yeah!

Dill-icious Potato Salad

As promised I'm posting the new salad recipe we tried this weekend. I've never made one with red potatoes, but this was great. Definitely a different taste from normal picnic potato salad, and I think even better. It kind of has an upscale taste if that makes any sense. 

Dill-icious Potato Salad-I have to give credit to the Penzey's Spice catalog for this although I didn't use their spices. The sauce is a little runnier than a traditional one probably because of the vinegar. I think this would make a great green salad dressing too. 

3 lbs. red potatoes

1 TB lemon pepper

1-2 tsp. dill weed (I just realized I put in 1 TB. Oops! But, even that wasn't too dilly for us.)

1 tsp. Aleppo pepper (not sure what that is so I used black pepper)

2 TB. water (could eliminate to make less runny)

1/4 cup light mayonnaise (I used the real stuff, not Miracle Whip)

1/4 cup olive oil (I used a little less)

1/4 cup red wine vinegar

2 TB. honey

1 TB. prepared Dijon-style mustard (I used Grey Poupon)

clean and cut the potatoes into rounds; place in kettle of cold water. Bring to boil and cook 10-12 minutes, until fork tender. Rinse and return to empty pot on warm stove-top briefly, covered, to dry. While potatoes are cooking, cover the spices with the water in a roomy bowl. Let stand 3 minutes to wake up the spice flavor (a Penzey's thing, I guess). Add the mayo, oil, vinegar, honey and mustard to the bowl. Whisk vigorously to combine. Add potatoes, toss to coat. Serve warm or cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until ready to eat. Toss again before eating. We ate it warm the first night and cold after that. It was good both ways. 

Enjoy!