Summer Fun Week 3

Week three of summer brings us right into July which, as I stated last week, is just a little crazy to me.  June started out HOT HOT HOT and ended with some almost cold days and lots (and lots and LOTS) of rain!  It waylaid some plans but I also love rainy days so I'm not really complaining.  Our summer routine is going well - I've shifted a few things because once we got going I found that some days were better for some things but for the most part, it all works well.  Here's a look back at what Summer Fun looked like this past week

Monday - Today was a stay home day :-)  We played 4th of July Bingo and then they worked on their pinwheels.  

Tuesday - Rain, rain, rain - the forecast is a broken record for sure.  No parks, splash pads or pools for now so I decided to take the 4 and head to a movie.  Tuesdays are "$5.00 movie days" so we went and saw Peter Rabbit 2!  

My mom joined us as did her friend and her friends two grandsons.  This is our favorite theater because it has reclining seats that are SOOOO comfy!  And yes, we really do take blankets every single time.  This was our first time back to a theater since February 2020 and it was perfect! 

Wednesday - The Princess had her Library day which was Bowling! 

Thursday - Our Friends are gone for the Holiday Weekend but Josh and Nate still attended the library bowling activity.   

Friday - Nate had TKD in the morning and then we just enjoyed our "free day".  

 

Weekly Worship - Matthew West - What If

(oops - I accidently posted two songs last Sunday so I'm reposting this one again this week!) 

Matthew West is such a creative song writer - this is another one of his real life songs that hits the nail on the head!    Honestly, I planned to share another song he released this week - Modest is Hottest - which was written as a satire with his girls but he got HUGE flack for it so he pulled it and apologized because he doesn't want to take away from what his heart is - to spread the love of Jesus.  

2021 Week in Photos - #22

 Welcome to another week!  Here's a look back at our week.  Since I also do my summer fun post - I'm trying to keep this one more related to our family unless it is something super fun/cute (like kittens HA!).  

Saturday - Darryl went on a road trip with his dad.  Josh, Nate and I stayed home for a quiet day.  Our "quiet" got interrupted when the tornado sirens went off and it was a little too close for comfort.  Our friends lost their barn and had damage to their home but thankfully everyone was ok. We then enjoyed dinner out with my mom at Pizza Hut.  

This shows the barn after the tornado went through and, for perspective . . .. .

This is the barn just a few weeks before the tornado went through!  Crazy! 

Sunday - Just a quiet day at home - more rain was forecasted but we ended up with just a hot, humid day and even saw the sun. 

Monday-Friday - Again, quiet days with some rain until mid-week when we finally saw some sun.  Friday evening we lit off some fireworks.  This year, Josh wanted BIG fireworks so he and Darryl went shopping a week ago and came home with some great ones. 

We started with sparklers and the "fountains" - which are the ones that just spark and pop out of boxes.  

Then came the big dogs.  I didn't get great photos but some of them were big boomers that went 100 feet into the air.  Yes, they were fun :-)  

Weekly Menu - Happy 4th!

 We had another good week of Hello Fresh Recipes - I'll share them in the next week.  This week we get to enjoy a holiday AND it falls on a weekend!  That's always nice!  Here's the plan for the upcoming week. 

Friday - It's take out night :-) 

Saturday -  Burgers and Potato Salad    

Sunday - I think we are going to my mom's . .. 

Monday - Baked Pork Chops, Mac and Cheese, Green Beans and french bread

Tuesday - Baked Tacos - in our first Hello Fresh order we had Flautas which are basically rolled, baked tacos and we loved them.  I'm going to remake them!!  We'll had chips and salsa and a salad with them. 

Wednesday - Chick-Fa-Lay Nuggets and Fries

Thursday -  Stuffed Shells, Garlic Bread and Salad. 

What we are eating - Mississippi Pot Roast

 This is a recipe I've seen shared multiple places, often on Facebook, and I finally decided to try it.  I have a "tried and true" roast recipe that my mom used and I then used but I have a kid who doesn't like onions and my recipe has onions in it!  This one does not plus it is a great crock pot recipe! 

This was such an excellant roast - it fell apart it was so tender and the flavor was super beefy.  There wasn't a piece left - Josh couldn't stop eating it.  Honestly, I had stopped buying chuck roasts because they were always tough  . ... I will be buying them often now and making this recipe!  It was that good. 

Mississippi Pot Roast

This is THE BEST POT ROAST EVER!

Buy a chuck roast.

Put it in the crock pot.

Sprinkle Hidden Valley ranch dressing on top.

Sprinkle McCormick Au Jus mix on top.

Put a stick of butter on top.

Put about 5 Pepperoncini peppers on top. (I usually add more because we LOVE them!)

(You buy them in a jar.)

Do NOT add water.

Cook in crock pot on low for about 8 hours. Tastes AMAZING!

What we are eating - Yorkshire Pizza

 A good friend of mine shared this recipe which is an old family recipe of theirs - one that they made every single Sunday night for years while the kids were all at home.  I had saved it a year ago, forgot about it and it was shared again.  We enjoy pizza in this house but so often they aren't great.  Well, this one was really, really good.  I liked the simplicity of the crust and that it was one of those "impossible" styles that grows as it bakes.  

Melt 1 stick of butter in a 9x13 pan in the oven at 400 degrees. 

While that is melting mix together 1 cup of flour, 1 cup of milk, 1/2 teaspoon of salt and two eggs by hand.  Mix vigorously until air bubbles form (lots of air bubbles is best!) 

Pour the batter over the melted butter in the pan.  Cook at 400 degrees for 15 minutes; reduce heat to 350 degrees and cook for an additional 10 minutes. 

Take the pan out of the oven - lots of air bubbles is good! 

If you love garlic, add two cloves of garlic (crushed/pressed) and then add all of your toppings (I did sauce and mushrooms because I forgot to buy anything else !!) .  Once you have added the toppings, top with cheese!  

Put back in the oven until the cheese is melted.  

I didn't realize it until I was making it but my friend also shared their sauce recipe to make this "authentic" ---  Sauté a small onion and mushrooms until they are really tender.  Add an 8 oz can of tomato sauce.  Season with garlic (fresh if you have it) and oregano.  Salt and pepper the onions and mushrooms while they are cooking. Let it summer while the crust is cooking and then use it on your pizza! 

I served the pizza with salad . .. isn't it pretty? 

Summer Fun Week 2

 

Welcome to week 2 of our Summer Vacation Recap!!!  One nice thing is that all Covid-19 mandates are now lifted so at least when we go places we don't have to worry about limited capacity or masks.  That makes everyone happy.  I'm still a hand sanitizer general though and we wipe down everything with Lysol wipes before we sit down LOL  

Lets look back at our fun adventures:

Monday - Hair cut day :-)  Josh and Nate each got their hair cut.  Josh then went to Nana's for the afternoon while Nate had his friend over.  

Tuesday - Today we stayed home.  The kids took a bike ride in the morning and then we worked on a craft in the afternoon.  They worked on their pinwheels for about 20 minutes and then played hide and seek for the rest of their "non-electronic" time.  

Wednesday - Today is the elementary Library program so I took the Princess to her Foam Party while the boys stayed with Nana.  Nate actually went to his friends house for the day.  When we picked Nate up, everyone got a chance to see the kittens. (Sometimes there will be repeat info from our "week in photos" post since, well, sometimes it's just that fun!) 

Thursday - The kids got out a game to play after lunch before heading to the Library for the "teen" activity.  My mom took them again this week while the Princess and I hung out at home and enjoyed the quiet house! 

This week they did "reverse painting" which is where they had to finger paint on the back side of the glass to make their picture.  It's a cool idea.  

Friday - It's "Free Friday"!  Well, not quite.  Nate still has Tae Kwon Do on Fridays but we moved the time to the morning which is actually kind of nice.  Otherwise the kids get to enjoy the day without anything else going on.  

I think week 2 of summer was a success!