Summer Fun - June 28

Monday and Tuesday - We had planned fun because we were camping!  It's our first camping trip of the season and it was so much fun.  The weather was near perfect and the kids found lots of friends to play with too.

Wednesday - Today was a "recovery day".  After a busy weekend, I needed a day to "recover" the house and get things put away.  I also needed to do an inventory of food items for meals the rest of the week, go to the laundermat, plan the grocery list for the coming weekend and just get my normal lists made for the week. I managed to fit in something "fun" while the clothes were washing at the laundermat.  I grabbed a coffee (thanks to that wonderful gift card I've been able to use the past few weeks!) and took the kids to a little park across from the coffee shop.  They got to play for about 40 minutes and I enjoyed my coffee and book.

Thursday -So, for fun today we went . .back to the park :-)  We had to run to the store for a few things and I realized I had just enough left on my gift card to get one more coffee so, of course, it made perfect sense to get a coffee and go back to the park.  The kids had just under an hour to play which was perfect.  I also like doing park days when the weather is nice - not much warmer than about 80 degrees and no humidity.  Once the heat of the summer comes, parks are too hot!  I also printed a bunch of random 4th of July themed coloring pages which they enjoyed coloring throughout the afternoon.

Friday - Today it was just the boys and I.  The morning started with garage sale excitement as our neighbors were having a yard sale.  The boys made many trips back and forth and found many treasures.  We also picked up some fireworks to set off at home, made monkey bread to snack on and enjoyed our towns huge fireworks show from our front porch.  It was a fun day!

I think all in all, this was another great week of summer.

Happy 4th of July

We are enjoying a wonderful holiday weekend with family, both Darryl's and Mine.  I hope that you are all enjoying the Holiday as well!! 

My Playlist

This weeks song is "Its About the Cross" by the Ball Brothers.  Darryl, the boys, my mom and I had the privilage of seeing the Ball Brothers in concert recently and they are just amazing.  This song is one I heard around Easter and it has such a powerful meaning.  It has taken on a greater meaning as it was played at my Dad's funeral.  This is the message he would want others to hear.  My son, Josh, has it memorized and I will often hear him singing it quietly while he plays a game. 

Family Fun - Christmas

It seems kind of fitting that we are at the half-way point of 2016 and I'm just now writing about Christmas HA!

I will say that we had a wonderful Christmas 2015.  It's the first time in three years that either the boys or I or all three of us haven't been super sick.  I'm even more thankful for that fact now as we didn't realize at the time the major changes our family would go through and we wouldn't have another Christmas like this one again.  It also make some of this photos extra special.  

 The boys stockings.  I always have fun with their stockings and end up going over budget and with more stuff than will fit inside but that's ok. 

 My brother Ken and his family joined us this year and it was just so much fun.  We laughed and laughed.  These pictures of my dad are precious. 

 Ken and my mom. 

 The boys love my brother.  I haven't quite figured out why since he doesn't do a whole lot other than talk to them :-)

Braedon is Josh's hero.  He loves him and wants to just hang out with him whenever he can.  I think it's pretty cool and Braedon is pretty awesome because he takes time to actually listen to Josh and play with him.

Our day was great - we had a good breakfast, opened gifts for hours (that's what happens when there are so many in one house), had a fabulous dinner and hung out playing games and talking.  I would chalk it up as pretty much a perfect day.

Weekly Menu - It's 4th of July!

Can you believe that we are at the unofficial halfway point of summer (or it is official . . .).  I can't.  June was busy which made it go fast.  We have some family stuff planned over the weekend and I think the kids will end up being with my mom for a few days too.  So, here's my half way planned - little bit sketchy menu.

Friday - After leftovers and eating stuff to clean out the cupboards/fridge and freezer I figure I need to plan something.  So, to keep things simple (and tasty) burgers on the grill, fries w/cheese sauce, and fried zucchini. Tonight is also our town fireworks so we also have Monkey Bread, Goldfish, and popcorn!

Saturday - My mother-in-law is hosting her annual 4th of July picnic so we are heading there for the day.  I think I'll make the Summer Corn Salad that we love, Cucumbers in Vinegar because I love them, Chips and Dip, and some sort of dessert.

Sunday - Monday - We will be at my mom's house.  My brother, Ken, and his family will be there too so we are having a picnic on Monday.  I'm making the Strawberry Pretzel Salad.

Tuesday - Thursday - I think the boys will be staying with my mom for a few days so . . .you know what that means :-)  I won't be cooking!! (Seriously, one night, we are going to our favorite Mexican place!!)

I think after this week, we will have some semi-normal weeks throughout July.  

Less Is More

For several years I've been intrigued by the by the concept of minimalism.  The simple art of "Less is More".

I have a couple of friends who have embraced this idea already and it has worked for them.  There are different levels of minimalism (think about the Tiny House craze right now) and I'm not extreme at all.  Rather, I just really want to make sure that what we are living with is what we love and need.  I don't plan on getting rid of everything - just the things that don't really work in our home or life.

Every year, I seem to start the project of going through everything and cleaning things out but I tend to get side tracked about half way through.  It's a distraction, really, as you start to clean things out and get sucked into those on-line garage sale sites where you " think" you can make some extra money or the thought of a garage sale creeps into mind.  (I have two friends who did the garage thing recently and as one said, she made "$0.05  an hour" HA!)

Several of my summer goals focused on organizing or cleaning stuff out so this fits right into that plan.  It starts this week with the simple cleaning off of some shelves in the bathroom, cleaning out the filing cabinet, and cleaning out some kitchen drawers/cabinets.  I've picked up some boxes so that I can place things in those boxes that we don't love and don't use and then, as the box fills, it will go directly to somewhere else.  For the most part it will go directly to Good Will.

As I move along this path to "Less is More" I'm hopeful that it will help me focus more on when I spend money and what I spend money on in an effort to buy more and spend less too. 

What We Are Eating - California Spaghetti Salad

California Spaghetti Salad
adapted from The Recipe Critic

My husband loves Spaghetti Salad.  It was served at our wedding because it was his favorite thing.  I seldom make it though.  It's so easy, light and fresh so there really isn't a good reason NOT to make it.  I cane across this recipe on Facebook and decided to try it.  It's got all of the basics of traditional spaghetti salad but it doesn't use the classic Salad Supreme seasoning.  Instead, it calls from Italian Dressing with Parmesan cheese added.  I found that I really like it better with the seasoning mix.  I think I'll be making this often throughout the summer! 

Ingredients

• 1 pound thin spaghetti, broken into 1 inch pieces
• 1 pint cherry tomatoes, chopped in half
• 2 medium zucchini, diced
• 1 large cucumber, diced
• 1 medium green bell pepper, diced
• 1 red bell pepper, diced
• 1 large red onion, diced
• 2 cans (2-1/4 ounces each) sliced ripe olives, drained
• DRESSING:
• 1 bottle (16 ounces) Italian salad dressing
• ¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 1 tablespoon sesame seeds
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• ½ teaspoon celery seed
• ¼ teaspoon garlic powder

Instructions

1. Cook the pasta according to package directions. Drain and rinse in cold water. Add cherry tomatoes, zucchini, cucumber, green and red bell pepper, red onion and olives in a large bowl.
2. To make the dressing: Whisk together italian salad dressing, parmesan cheese, sesame seeds, paprika, celery seed, and garlic powder. Pour over salad and toss until coated. Cover and refrigerate for 3 hours or overnight.