Nothing to Say . ..

I know it is super hard to believe but I have nothing to say :-)  I have several posts in the works but nothing really ready to post today.  I think my brain is tired from getting ready for preschool to start at home and scrapbooking :-)

So, for today - have fun!


I will have a  recipe posted tomorrow!

Turn Up The Music

Several months ago, as I was driving home from a Scrapbooking crop, I heard this song by Point of Grace.  It's actually a song I've heard before but had never really listened to the words.  This time though, the song really hit my heart.  The problem was that the next day I could not remember one single thing about the song to actually find it again!  I hadn't forgotten why it impacted me but I really wanted to hear the song and be able to share it.  I happened to hear it again on Friday night - I was so excited!!

There is a line in the song that says " And go see your folks more than just on the holidays"  . . it made me realize that I don't honor my parents well because I don't take time to go see them.  My husband and I talked about this when I explained to him about this song and he agrees with me totally.  Before we got busy with life and then had kids, we used to go to my parents a lot - sometimes 2-3 weekends a month.  We really enjoyed our time there and actually miss those visits.  Now, it seems, the times we see them is on holidays or when I ask them to come over to babysit for me - so my husband and I aren't really even here.  I think, when you have parents who are as wonderful and supportive as mine are, that it becomes very easy to take advantage of them instead of enjoying them.  I've reach the realization recently that my parents will not live forever - they are still young but not as young as they used to be :-)  With all of this said, we are making some changes.  We knew we had to get through the month of August because, well, my parents are taking a much deserved vacation, but starting in September we plan to take time out of our schedule and spend time visiting my parents at their home.  (My parents read this blog and you can bet they are jumping for joy!!)  Sometimes it may just be the boys and I heading over on a Friday afternoon and returning on Saturday evening; other times it will be all of us leaving on either a Friday or Saturday afternoon, depending on Darryl's schedule, to stay the rest of the weekend.  I have a time frame in mind but I won't actually state that because some months, well, weekends are just busy, but we plan to do it as frequently as we are able to. 

Why do I feel this is important?  When I think about how much my parents have done for not only myself but also my brothers and their families, I realized that instead of honoring my parents and taking time the time to spend with them, I tend to take advantage of their willingness to do so much for me.  Don't get me wrong, I know that my parents enjoy the things they are able to do but they would also enjoy just some family time too.  I think that as adults, with busy lives and families, it is easy to push our parents aside - yet they are the reason, so often, that we are who we are and they deserve to be honored and respected.  I have the privilege of only living about an hour and half from them so there is no reason that we shouldn't be able to all see each other once every 4-6 weeks.  A Hundred years from now when they are gone (;-) ) I don't want to have a regret that I should have spent more time with them when I could have easily done so.

What about you?  Did you listen to that song and realize that you need to change How you Live?  Do you need to "Turn up the Music" and make some memories?  Whether it be with your parents, your siblings or your own children - don't let life pass you by.

Too Cute Not To Toot

I'm going to start right off with another idea for my future living room - I love this sign idea from Burton Avenue and it goes right along with my beach/cottage theme :-)  I think this would also be cute if you make it weather proof and hung it outside on your patio :-)

Check out this great idea from The Crafted Sparrow for making "stainless steel" magnetic alphabet letters.  Such a simple but cute idea!

Don't these look yummy?  Check out Practically functional for her take on the recipe and she also links back to the original source as well.

This idea from Our Pinteresting family is too creative not to share - I love the bottle opener idea.  Now, in our house, the only bottles we ever drink would be Pepsi or Cream Soda :-)  I might have to make one of these for my brother - his family drinks mostly bottled soda's and I recently saw him opening one with a screwdriver :-/

Personally, I really love this idea for a birthday calendar from de jong Dream home.  I love the whole concept and want make my own version.

Another idea from that Same Blog are these bath crayons.  My boys actually enjoy bath time - I think these would be fun for when they take a bath in the middle of the day, just for fun :-)

Have fun Crafting!

Summer Fun Week 10

To catch up on all of our summer fun, just click HERE.

So to start out week 10, I had made all of my plans and even did the prep work I needed for this week.  It still didn't go as planned though - it was more directed by my boys which is actually a good thing.

Monday - Our Summer Fun activity today was a trip to the doctor ;-) We had to drive into town to the big hospital to see an Orthopedic Doctor for Nate and then run a few errands.  It's actually a fun thing for the boys to be out, ride elevators, and play in a different spaces then they normally see.  Having never been to the Children's hospital I didn't know what to expect so I packed toys. Guess what?  It's a Children's Hospital so everything there is for . . .children.  It was perfect.  Basically, Nate has something that is called in-toeing because the ball that fits into the hip socket doesn't quite fit right.  It is something we first noticed back when he started walking and, at that point his walk was impacted pretty badly but it has improved a lot over the past year and a half.  The doctor did x-rays to make sure that it was doing what is supposed to do . . and it is .. so he doesn't need braces or even therapy.  This normally corrects itself by the time the child reaches ten . . .and then . .she told me that often kids that have this are faster runners HA!  We go back in a year for an appointment unless it has improved to the point we feel he doesn't need it. 

Tuesday - Today's fun . .. Nate went to the dentist!!  Again, it is just fun for the boys to get out of the house.  Nate did fantastic at the dentist but we did learn a couple of interesting things.  One, you may recall me sharing photos and talking about Nate taking a hit to the front teeth and then his tooth turning gray.  The x-rays show that there are dead spots in both front teeth - one worse than the other.  Basically, it might never do anything more then it has now and he'll lose his teeth eventually OR they could continue to die and become abscessed - then they will have to be pulled.  We are praying that doesn't happen :-)  In the process of looking at the x-rays, the dentist showed me his adult teeth that are sitting up there in his gums . .. and most of them are turned sideways.  Nice.  The dentist laughed and said I had better start saving my pennies now for braces.  She also mentioned that in some cases as severe as his, they start the process when they are as young as six.  The plan is to continue to watch them through the x-rays and she'll make a decision once he reaches that age on what to do.  Who knows, maybe they will straighten out ;-/ 

I did get some fun photos of the boys outside in the afternoon though.

Wednesday - I had my supplies all ready to go but, the boys wanted to do puzzles all morning so that is what we did - lots and lots of puzzles :-)  Plus, I got these brought to me:

My boys love to pick me flowers  - aren't they beautiful??

Thursday - So today was kind of rainy - the nice rain that the boys love to play in, so I let them do just that.  I had originally planned to get out a game that we hadn't played yet but when I got it out and started looking at it, I realized it was kind of . .. dumb so the rain was better anyway.  They played for a good hour outside in the rain with their matchbox cars :-)  Once they came in, we had a special treat!!

Friday - I don't even know why I ever plan anything on Friday HA!  It was a cold, dreary, rainy day so we did a lot of reading today. 

I have plans for this week but I also am working on trying to get our preschool lessons ready to go in a few weeks and get the room switch done so . . I'm not sure how much I'll get done this week as "special" things :-)

The Things My Kids Say

It's been nice to have the kids back home; to hear their little voices and laugh at the things they think of!! 

Joshua - On Sunday, Josh had a rough time in between Sunday School and Junior Church because he wanted his brother's candy that he picked out of the prize box.  Josh then sits with us for the song portion of the service and was grumpy.  Well, someone got up to talk about VBS and Josh leaned his head against his dad and, quietly, started to fake snore.  It was all Darryl and I could do not to burst out laughing HA! 

Nathan - On Monday, when we got home from the Doctor, the boys were, well, C.r.a.n.k.y.  The munchkin kept trying to play with toys but Nate kept putting everything away.  Then he said ""Munchkin" just needs to go home right now".  Now, yes I did laugh on the inside but he was reminded about being kind to others ;-) 

The boys - As I've mentioned before, Josh has taken over the job of cleaning up the yard after the dog and he takes it Very seriously.  On Monday afternoon, I saw Nate and him out in the yard deep in conversation - Josh standing there proudly with the pooper scooper.  Nate comes running inside and grabs the big stepping stool from the bathroom and heads back outside where he sets the stool up next to the dumpster.  I stood and watched as Josh got on the stool and realized that it wasn't high enough to throw out what he needed to throw out . . his solution was to send Nate in for another stool (umm not safe HA) So instead I lifted him up so he could finish his job - we'll be getting him a small trash can soon, trust me!

Joshua - On Saturday evening when the boys got home, we told Josh he was sleeping in Nate's room (because that is where the extra AC unit is) because his room was TOOOO hot.  So now, every night, Josh says, "Josh's room is too hot, I will sleep in Nate's room" :-)  Since the plan is to move them into a room together here in the next few weeks, we are not fighting the decision.  They love being in the same room.  As a matter of fact, they tend to stay in that room for an hour after they wake up just chatting away and laughing until Josh stacks all of the "aminals" in front of Nate's crib and helps Nate climb out.  Yes, they are both very proud of this feat too !!

Joshua - We picked up a new learning puzzle for the boys and they were very excited to work on it.  They had all of the pieces out and were mixing them up on the table waiting for Darryl to finish dinner so he would play with them.  I said, "Do not put the pieces on the floor or I will put it away right now "(There are a LOT of pieces and I didn't want them getting lost) Well, Darryl finished eating, and then proceeded to dump all of the pieces off of the little table onto the floor.  Josh's head whipped around and looked at me with is mouth open before he said, "Mom, I didn't do it, Dad did.  He did not Obey" HA!  So I guess even though the boys don't always open, they at least are understanding what it means!!

Both Boys - The other day, as the boys were outside and I heard them start to yell, "Papa's here, Papa's here!" So I looked outside and saw two very dejected boys as "Papa" drove by . . and I heard, "Papa didn't come to see us.".  Now, before you think poorly of Papa, it was not him, just a black Envoy that drove by  . .. and that is what Papa drives.  They love their Papa!!

Nate - I'm not sure what my parents did to him (hehe) but last Saturday evening we had Taco's for dinner and, based on past experiences, the boys love tacos.  We sat down to eat, Nate picked his up and said, "I do not like meat, I will not eat this." Seriously . Every night this week he takes any meat off of his plate and says "I don't like meat, mom".  Even when we had Spaghetti for lunch one day, he found one tiny piece of ground chuck in his sauce, spit it out and said, "No thank you, I don't like meat".  What is up with that? HA!

Weekly Menu plus a little recap

Welcome back :-)  Did you see the recipe post on Friday for the Chili Dogs?  Talk about a total success - I love those meals!  With that said, have you ever noticed that kitchen appliances seem to die quietly while they sit in teh cupboard so when you go to use them, they don't work?  I had planned Daddy Fries (homemade fries cut just like dad made them).  I heated up my deep fryer to 350 degrees, cut the potatoes, dropped the first batch in and they were dark brown in 30 seconds.  Ummmm . . apparently 350 degrees just got a million degrees hotter.  In an effort to save the rest, I turned it down to 250 degrees but the potatoes just soaked up the grease and were dark brown on the outside . . with lots of grease on the inside.  Needless to say, the Fry Daddy is now in the garbage and I'm going to be adding that to my wish list.  I would say Christmas List but I know I want one before that point so I need to do a little research and shop around.  One last thing - on Thursday of last week we ended up with a cool rainy day - you have no idea how thrilled I was to make pork chops and scallopped potatoes . . .something that cooks in the oven for 1 1/2 hours and it did not make my house hot!!  I think this summer I've probably cooked dinner in my oven a total of 8 times so I am so anxious for fall to start making some of those true family favorites from meatloaf to lasagna to soups!

This is the plan for this week.  Honestly, I've had some new recipes burning a hole in my . . . .recipe book . . .but who has wanted to cook in the scorcher summer we've had?  I've decide to try a lot of them this coming week so we'll see how that goes ;-)

Saturday: BBQ Chicken Pizza with Chips

Sunday:  Crock Pot Chicken Legs, Southwestern Dip/w chips and a simple fruit salad.  (Again, trying to keep Sunday prep work, clean-up to a minimum).  That will be our main meal and for a lighter "Lunch" in the evening we'll have Monte Cristo Sandwiches and left overs salads from lunch.

Monday: Meatball Stroganoff in the crockpot with noodles and salad.  (Now I'll be honest, I have a stroganoff recipe that we love but I thought this might be fun with meatballs - it will have to be a home run for me to keep it!)

Tuesday:  Mama's Supper Club Tilapia Parmesan, Squashed Potatoes, Broccoli and rolls.

Wednesday:  Darryl has a concert so I'm just planning to use up some Frozen pizza dough and make that for dinner

Thursday: Stuffed green peppers in the crock pot, green beans, savory rice and corn bread

Friday:  Man Pleasing Chicken, Bob Evans Mashed potoates, corn and biscuits.  (I've actually made this before and my husband loved it)

That's all - If any of the new recipes are hits, you will see them posted in the upcoming weeks on Friday! 

Food Friday - Chili Dogs

Chili Dogs
adapted from 5 Dinners 1 Hour

A friend of mine starting talking about the website "5 Dinners 1 Hour" and how fabulous it was so I decided to check it out.  What I found was this great recipe for Chili or Coney Dogs.  You cook them in the oven.  Seriously.  I already had Chili Dogs on the menu so I figured why not try this and guess what?  It was a home run.  My husband said this is the only way he wants chili dogs from now on - that they are unlike anything he has ever had and he loves them.  Well, I totally agree!!  I know it is surprising but these do not get 1 bit soggy - the buns have that "crusty" outside and yet hot and soft inside.  It makes it possible to actually pick them up and eat them.  When it came to serving, I found it easier to lift the dogs out with the tinfoil and lay that on a plate, then I could just pick them up and place them on plates.


Ingredients:

8-12 hot dogs
8-12 buns
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/2 cup relish (sweet or dill)
1-2 cans chili (I used Hormel Chili without beans)
1 cup chopped onion
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Directions:

Line a 9 x 13 baking dish with foil. (The 9x13 pan will fit 8 dogs; I only used 4 dogs and they fit perfectly into an 8x8 pan). 

Spread a thin layer of mayonnaise on one side of each bun.  Top with dob and place in the baking dish.

Top each with relish, chili, onion and cheese.  Cover with foil

Bake covered in a 350 degree oven for 40 minutes.

Enjoy!!