Dining Room Update

I thought I would share a few minor updates I made in the dining room.  My dining room is really my "photo room".  It is where most of the family photos hang but I was really getting tired of my old displays and wanted to do a little updating.

 This is my new favorite display.  I was at a friends house recently and she had hung up large canvas prints of her daughters and it made a huge statement.  I knew I wanted to do something similar but I did not want to spend much money since I plan on changing out the large individual photos at least once a year.  After doing some searching, I found that I could print 16x20 posters from Snapfish  from $14.99 each.  Even better, they often have specials where you can buy one/get one so I was able to get both for $14.99! 

 I hung family photos and baby photos together.  I'm not 100% happy with this arrangement yet.  I would like to maybe pull out some other older photos - like Wedding Photos of my parents and all of my brothers just to add to it.  Maybe a family photo of both Darryl and my families at about the same time frame.  I think that older photos really show family history.  I also need an updated photo of my In-laws to put on that wall too :-) I recently saw an idea on Pinterest that I love so I may follow that inspiration.

Finally, on another wall, I hung our wedding photo and then the two memory boards that house current family photos.  I will say that I need to update the frame for our wedding photo.  That will be on the list for one of these days when I end up at Kohl's - my favorite place to buy large frames since they are almost always on sale.

I love the changes. I rarely move furniture so when I "rearrange" I move artwork.  It really does freshen up the look of a room.  Now . . .to do touch up paint :-)

Some things I've Tried Recently

It's summer and that means  . .Flies.  Every year I have about 5 flies that think they need to live with me.  I don't care if I kill one, there are always 5 and it drives me nuts.  I had seen an idea on Pinterest using this simple cleaning supply:

 I decided it couldn't hurt to try and mixed up a spray bottle using half water and half Pine-Sol.  Now, I wipe down my counters and the dining room table using this mix and guess what?  It kinda works.  We  were eating dinner and there was a fly buzzing around yet it refused to land anywhere near the table.  I've also noticed that the flies are avoiding the kitchen.  Now, I guess I need to also clean every other room in the house with this cleaner too!

Sometimes I try new recipes that aren't really "recipes" but rather little things that go along with something else.  One of those was a Creamy Avacado Dressing from Krista's Kitchen. 

In the recipe, this dressing is meant for a salad but an idea on Pinterest was to use it on Taco's and that is why I made it.  It is pretty tasty - a little like a gourmet mayo (which sounds not so great with Taco's but it works!)  I've also used it to dip some fries in and also a cheesy breadstick!  I tend to use ranch dressing instead of ketchup and I think this is a great substitute for the Ranch.  Oh, I also used it in a Tuna Salad instead of Mayo and it was really good as well. 

Another recipe I tried recently comes from Stilletos to Legos and is the "famous" Zero Calorie Slushy".  I think it should really say "Zero Point Slushy as far as Weight Watchers points. 

I altered the recipe a little because I thought two bananas was a bit much .  For a "healthy" ice cold drink, this was pretty good.  I will say that by the time I had about 1/4 left, I was done.  It got almost bitter - which the second banana might have helped with, actually.  I did not add any sweetener to it but I might try that next time. 

Food Friday - Spinach Queso DIp

Spinach Queso Dip
adapted from Haystacks and Champagne

I had originally planned to make this for a Ladies Meeting but, looking back, I ended up just making cookies that night because it had been a long day :-/  So, I ended up making this to go with lunch on my husband's day off and it was so good.  The spinach adds nice color to the normal cheesy dip but really doesn't impact the flavor (unless you are my mom and hate spinach, then she is SURE she can taste it HA!).  I did this in a pot on the stove since it was a last minute addition to lunch but, personally, I think Velveeta melts better in a crock pot so if I was making this for company I would use the slow cooker for sure! 


HOT SPINACH SALSA QUESO DIP

• 10 ounces frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained
• 1 lb Velveeta cheese (2% fat--this is the reduced fat version)
• 8 ounces cream cheese (light)
• 1 jar salsa (I used 3/4 full jar of a 16 ounce jar)
• A handful of chopped cilantro (optional-but good)

Now there's 3 ways to make this:

1) Cut the Velveeta and cream cheese into cubes and place all ingredients in a microwaveable-safe dish. Heat until cheese has melted and stir to combine all ingredients.

2) If you prefer, you can place all the ingredients in an oven safe dish and bake until the dip is heated through--continuing to stir to mix all ingredients. I usually put the dip in at 350 degrees for about 15 minutes--keep an eye on it as it depends on how deep your dish is--it can take as little as 10 minutes or as much as 20-25 minutes to have all the cheese melted. When it's hot and bubbly, it's ready!

3) OR, you can place all ingredients in a crockpot and heat until cheese has melted (continuing to stir the mixture to combine ingredients). It should take somewhere around an hour to have the cheeses melt (but check as crockpots vary). This particular method is great if you can leave it on the low setting--then your dip will stay warm for a while. But I bet it won't last!

Serve warm with tortilla chips. Heaven! Should make a small crowd very happy before dinner is served (like 4-6 people). 

Weekly Menu - What we take on vacation

First up is Food Prep!! This is what I prepped for this week:

 It actually took me two days to do food prep because I didn't realize I was out of ziplock bags until I was home from the store.  On day one I prepped - Spinach for smoothies and salad; lettuce for salads, grapes, pineapple, raspberries, blueberries, strawberries and lemons/limes (for water).  With the fruit I also prep small bowls to send with Darryl in his lunch.  I also made a batch of my new favorite Salad Dressing - an asian dressing that is to die for. 

 On Sunday, I finished up by prepping bags of smoothie stuff that go in the freezer until needed, pickle/ham roll-ups for snacks, mix for homemade Ice cream and finally, the large square container has Darryl's lunch stuff - cookies and poptarts ready to go into his lunch to making packing it a little easier at 3:30 AM :-)  One other item not in this photo is extra Pork Chops that I cooked on Sunday for dinner.  I planned extra so I could slice them up into strips to use on salad throughout the week.

Food prep takes a lot of work, I'm not going to lie.  On Saturday, between shopping and prepping, I spent about 4 1/2 hours working on "food".  We are eating a lot more fruits than we used to though so that is good.  The smoothie prep is new this week - I'm going to see how it works out and decide if it is worth the time to do that or just to mix them up each morning.
On to other things!!

I'm in the midst of cleaning, washing, packing, and printing (all of our stuff we need) for vacation.  I shared our extended menu last week so today I'll just let you know what we normally take with us as far as food.  (I know, thrilling, isn't it?)

We are staying in hotel for 5 nights and that get a little pricey as far as snacks and drinks.  The hotel offers free breakfast which is a HUGE plus because I don't have to pack simple things for breakfast.  With kids, I know we will be up in time to catch the breakfast too :-)

Anytime we go away, I always pack drinks.  Pop machines are so rediculously expensive that to not carry your own drinks is crazy, right?  We will be taking our cooler and I think the room has a fridge.  (I don't trust those little fridges though - things can freeze so fast in there!!).  So, I always take a carton of Pepsi and Diet Sprite.  Plus a Package of bottled water since it is easy to add Crystal light packs to those and have lemonade for both the adults and kids :-)   This year I'll be adding Juice Boxes to the packing list for the kids.  I love them because they are easy to throw into my little cooler that goes in the kid bag for when we go on day trips.  Chocolate Milk is a must ;-)  I'll pick up some of those little Chugs to keep in the cooler for bedtime for the boys.

What about snacks?  Some times I WAY over pack when we go away and I'm trying not to do that this time around.  I would like to limit it to basically one snack per person. I have found mine - it is this awesome chocolate drizzled carmal corn (YUM!).  For the kids, I will pack poptarts and Breakfast bars along with some crackers/cheese boxes that they love.  Finally, for Darryl - I'm not sure ;-)  He loves Fig Newtons so maybe those plus he also likes the cracker/cheese boxes too ;-)  The nice thing about vacation is that you pick up stuff along the way like Fudge, or special cheeses, or crunchy fun stuff.  This year I also plan to pack fruit - grapes, strawberries and apples and cheese sticks.  Three out of the four of us love fruit (Nate, not so much) and fruit is a great snack to take alone on day trips too!

That's it :-)  With breakfast at the Hotel, we only plan a light lunch/snack and then an early dinner.  Then, everyone can have a snack before bed if needed.

Kids and Camping!

What to do with kids while you are camping?  That is the question that I faced this year as we prep for some future camping trips.  Sure, I love to sit by the fire or sit in the shade and read my book . . .in between naps but my kids need a little more activity.

I came across a great site on Pinterest called Leading Them to the Rock and was thrilled with the ideas that she shared.

Here are my ideas:

Beach Fun - the boys love the beach so we have new beach toys, squirt guns, and sand castle building supplies.  Throw in some towels, beach chairs and a beach umbrella (for all day fun) and life is good.  This stuff all goes into one big bag so that it is ready to grab and go to the beach. 

Items I gleaned from the post above:
1. Wooden blocks - my boys love to build so throwing in some blocks to use in the sand/dirt is a great idea.  Add in some Matchbox cars and dinosaurs and life is good.

2.  Bubbles and more bubbles - who doesn't love bubbles? 

3. Clipboards, paper, crayons and pencils.  For drawing and for doing leaf tracing or other fun things.

4  Searches - lists to go on scavenger hunts to see what we can find for fun.  Also, picking up maps at the guard station  . .. the boys can write on them and just "use them up" since we can always get more!

5. Squirt guns and a bucket.  Especially on a hot day - we can all have fun with some water :-)

6. Buckets and bug collection kits - Last year my boys collected acrons and we had no where to put them so this year we will have buckets with lids, a place to put bugs and anything else they find.

This year we are not taking bikes.  My boys have just learned to pedal but I don't want to have to watch them at every moment on the road.  Hopefully next year they will be better on bikes and we can pick a campsite where they can ride a little easier. 

As the boys grow, our list of things will change . .. balls, gloves, frisbees, and more.  :-)

Do you have fun activities you do with your kids while camping? Feel free to share!

Too Cute Not to Toot!

I'm slowly getting some ideas concerning redoing the living room and one thing I want to do is get rid of my curtains.  I like the idea of Roman Shades so I wanted to share this tutorial from Shanty-2-Chic.

This next idea comes from Lookie What I did!  and is something that I already do but thought I would share anyway.  She shares a great way for kids to easily eat in the car :-)  She uses a caddy from Target, I just picked up some rectangle Ziplock containers and use those for the kids food.  They can easily hold it on their laps without losing everything.

So, to be honest, I'm not scouring the web for ideas right now because, simply, I have a lot of things I've already posted that I want to make :-)  In order to catch up a little, I need to not post so much!  So for now, this is short and sweet . . .and it just may be that way for a several weeks.  :-) 

Summer Preschool - Our Curriculum for the fall

Lets keep it real - we've played a lot this week :-)  Just played . We are still enjoying some really nice days - so much better than last summer - so I am not about to stop the play.  Plus, I'll be honest, I'm enjoying not planning and not overseeing planned activities.  We all play together some times and some times I'm able to get some extra things done around the house.  I'm sure as the summer heats up, I will need to help the kids accomplish some things so that they don't get on each others nerves but we'll cross that bridge when we get there.

Anyway . .. here is our plan for the fall.

The main curriculum that I will be using for Josh comes from Confessions of a Homeschooler and is her K-4 program

This curriculum really covers all of the bases in every basic subject that a 4 year old should know.  We are not technically starting Kindergarten with Josh this fall since his birthday doesn't hit until the end of October.  We made the decision to wait one more year plus this put Nate and Josh only a year apart in grades which will keep them together through the years in other activities.  Not to mention that homeschooled kids tend to graduate a year early (not always but often) so waiting a year won't hurt him.  One of the things I love about this curriculum is that 36 weeks of lesson plans are provided and within the plans are links to everything you need to print.  It is awesome that the work is already done!

The main curriculum that I will be using for Nate this year also comes from Confessions of a Homeschooler and is a great preschool program.

Last year, the boys did the same curriculum because Nate wasn't really in preschool.  He just tagged along for fun and some days, left the table early.  Because he did a lot of the work with us, though, I had to find him something new to use in "Preschool" by himself this year.  This curriculum is a great option because it is similar to what Josh is doing so when he compares his work to his brother's it won't seem so different.  (It is my plan to use the K4 curriculum with Nate next year).  This curriculum comes with 26 weeks of lessons, pre-planned, with links, ready to go!! 

I like to add a Bible Supplement to our day because it is so important for kids to be grounded in the Bible.  I did a lot of research and found this curriculum from Positive Action that I really impressed me.

Bible is one of those subjects that both boys can do together so I will be working with both Josh and Nate on this study. The interesting thing about this is that I "grew up" on Positive Action material.  I complete 6 years of Pro-Teens as a teenager in my church so it excites me to share this same curriculum with my kids. 

I also plan to start Handwriting with Josh using curriculum found at A Reason For.

Learning to Read goes hand and hand with learning to write so plugging this in even once a week will help him alot.  I like that they use scripture verses as writing practice.

This last item is a bonus item - it is PE curriculum from Family Time Fitness and is a great way to do PE when you don't have a clue.

I want my kids to be active and enjoy sports.  I looked at this last year but my kids weren't ready for it at that point so I waited but I am planning to pick it up this year to use with the kids.  We also like to put our kids into an activity . . .our focus right now is actually swimming.  They will be enrolled in swimming lessons by the end of July and we plan to continue with those until both boys can swim with confidence.  We did gymnastics this past spring and the boys enjoyed that but swimming skills can save their life. :-)  We are also tentatively thinking about putting Josh in soccer this fall - we'll see! (Nate is too young still!)

My next step is to start working on our schedule.  I'm thinking about doing a 6 week on/1 week off rotation which would open it up for us to have a longer break in December and finish up our year mid-May.  Josh's curriculum begins with a lot of review so starting in Mid-July wouldn't be a big issue and we would only do his K-4 curriculum for a little bit each day.  I plan on using time next week to lay out the plan, starting printing the first 6 weeks of lessons and also get the other stuff ordered so I'm ready to go :-)