The 3rd of July...

was Friday night. And Friday night at the Farris house is PIZZA NIGHT. Not the kind you have delivered. Nope. Handmade, choose your own toppings, grate your own cheese kind of pizza. This past Friday we invited our friends Kristy and Justin over to join in the fun. Kristy is VERY pregnant with baby Peyton, due ANY day...and can I just tell you how super duper excited Grace is about this baby! She can hardly wait to "meet baby Peyton and hold him and look at his tiny hands" and "Mom, do they have chairs at the hospital? Because I want to hold baby Peyton and I will be very quiet, and very still Mom...and I will wash my hands" She says she is "SO decided (meaning "excited") for Peyton to come out of Kristy's tummy"...I'm excited too, just not that 4 year old kind of innocent, wonderful excited. It is fun to watch Grace anticipate this baby...thanks for letting us join in the journey Kristy. Anyway...Pizza night. I am on the quest for the ULTIMATE pizza crust recipe and have found that this recipe from EasyPizzaCrust.com is my favorite so far (please send me your recipes if you have them...I love to try new stuff!!):

4 cups all purpose or baking flour (I use half wheat flour) 2 cups warm water 2 tablespoons instant dry yeast 1/3 cup granulated sugar 1 teaspoon salt Mix all these ingredients into a bowl and stir them together until a sticky dough is formed. Cover the bowl with a moist kitchen towel and let the dough rise in a warm area for about 30 minutes. Turn the dough out onto a floured area and knead with your hands about 5 to 10 times. Roll the dough to about one half inch thick and top with sauce and your desired pizza toppings. You will want to bake this pizza crust for about 15 to 18 minutes. Set your oven to 375 degrees F.

We made a MeatLovers pizza with hamburger and turkey pepperoni! And a Veggie Parmesan Alfredo pizza with zucchini and onion (my personal fav!)! And I also made my first FRUIT pizza, decorated red, white, and blue for the 4th of July! It was a wonderful feast with some good friends! I love pizza night!
Sam loves pizza night as well...and he can eat it like a normal person now, too! No more cutting it up into little teeny tiny pieces! Nope, just throw a slice down on the highchair tray and homeboy gobbles it up. It's not pretty and he goes STRAIGHT to the bath after dinner, but it sure is some delicious fun!
I hope Kristy doesn't kill me for posting this one, but it's such a sweet photo...Kristy has been so gracious to share her pregnancy "journey" with our family. It has been fascinating to watch her tummy grow rounder and rounder. I know, I know...I've been pregnant twice, this should be old news to me now...But it's a totally different thing to be a bystander and not a participant! Sam loves belly buttons...ANY belly button, so when we pulled up Kristy's shirt to watch baby Peyton roll around, Sam discovered that moving, pregnant belly buttons are LOTS of fun!!! We can't WAIT to meet you Peyton...we have lots to teach you--like how to work the water/ice dispenser on the fridge, or how to climb onto the couch using the DOG as a "step stool". And we have lots of cars and balls for you to play with when you come to our house!!! Keep Kristy and Justin close in your prayers the next few days (and NIGHTS!)...the doc has decided that it is time for Peyton to join us in the real world and Kristy goes in tonight (July 9th) to be induced!! WE ARE SOOOOO "DECIDED"!!!!