Summer Fun - Week 2

Welcome back to week 2 of our summer fun activities (You can read about Week 1 Here). 

We had another successful week of fun little activies - some of them planned and one, not planned.

Monday - I decided to sign the boys up for the summer Library reading program this summer so we drove to the Library and, after signing up, I took the boys to the children's area so we could pick out some books.  The boys loved it - they looked at books and played games for close to an hour.  Here's a little funny story for you.  Our library is actually an old mansion - here's a photo of the outside for you - -

Isn't it awesome?  The children's area is on the second floor and I have never been up there before.  The librarian asked if I would prefer the elevator or the stairs.  I figures the stairs - no big deal since my kids do stairs all of the time.  Well, let me tell you, I almost had a panic attack about half way up those stairs and I don't even have a fear of heights!  It's a winding staircase so as you go up and the steps start to wind around, they get skinnier and skinnier on one end.  I seriously almost had to sit down on my hiney and slide back down HA!  My kids did fine.  Now, when we were done getting books, we took the "scary" elevator . . it's the kind with the accordion door on the inside.  Trust me, as slow and scary as that box was, the stairs were 700x's worse :-) 

Tuesday - This was our family day :-)  My husband had the day off so we took the boys to Boulder Ridge Wild Animal Park.  This park opened last year and we had heard so many good things about it.  It did not disappoint!  You can get close to many animals, feed the birds and take a wagon ride out to see all of the other animals.  Here are a few photos from our day:

Wednesday:  My original idea was to make Moon Sand to play with but then I thought about it - the kids love playing in their sandbox so why would I want to "make" sand to play with inside?  Crazy me!  Instead we made Sprinkle Dipped Ice Cream Sandwiches.  Well, kinda.  I picked up the mini ice cream sandwiches and gave each of the boys a plate of sprinkles.  In stead of dipping their ice cream sandwich in the sprinkles, I ended up teaching them how to gather sprinkles on their tongues by licking their plates.  What?  It was fun :-)

Thursday:  This is the totally unplanned fun activity.  I've been cleaning up the basement to make one area the toy room.  The boys came downstairs with me to hang out while I cleaned and they discovered the love seat that is currently in the basement.  Well, they then spent all afternoon down there and had a blast being "allowed" to eat their snack on the "little couch".  I put away my plans for today and just let them play.

Friday:  We were going to do what I had planned for Thursday but Josh specifically asked to get his Fish game out that his Uncle Kel and Aunt Debby gave him.  Considering the fact that I was saving the Fishing Game for a rainy day activity anyway, I just used the game as our activity for the day. 

So once again, I chalk this week up as a total success.  Looking forward to next week :-)

Here is one last photo - do you know what those are?  Those are sunflowers!  Yep, they are popping up already.  (Excuse the weeds - not top on my priority list HA!)

Happy Father's Day!

First, I want to wish my Dad a very happy Father's Day.  I think he's a pretty good day - I mean he wore a WIDE Snoopy Tie long after it was in style just because I bought it for him :-) LOL  Plus I guess since he had 4 kids who all turned out pretty fair, I guess he has some good fathering skills ;-)  For real - he's the best dad around!!

We did something different for Father's Day this year.  I happened to look ahead at the weather this past week and we noticed it was going to be a hot weekend.  My husband said "Lets get a hotel".  Now, let me say that in all of the years we've lived in this house we have said, on those really hot weekends, "We should go to a hotel" but we have never, ever done it.  I went on Priceline.com, something else we have never done, and bid on a hotel.  We had a very small budget and that is what we stuck with - we ended up with a SUPER nice hotel and we were thrilled!  How is this a Father's Day Gift?  Simple.  Darryl had to work Saturday and today.  By staying in town at a hotel, he gained about 3 hours of time.  The boys and I ran some errands before meeting him for dinner, then we went back to the hotel and hung out, swam in the pool, ate popcorn and cupcakes and the boys got to enjoy their sleeping bags for the first time :-)

 The boys each picked out a new book at the bookstore and Darryl got to read them to them - the boys were very excited.

 Even more exciting to them was crawling into the bed, under the covers, and listening to the story. The first they did when we got to the hotel was crawl under the covers :-) 

Darryl is reading to them while they are in bed :-)  It was after this that we headed down to the pool for about an hour.  Once we got back to the room it took awhile to get the boys in their sleeping bags - Josh decided he wanted the floor but when Darryl got up at 3;30 to go to work, he ended up moving up  in the bed with Nate. 

Today, we are back home, Darryl is working.  As he says, he doesn't really put a lot of emphasis on days like this - to him a "designated" day is not always the best day to celebrate something - instead we just take time out to have fun and do things as a family when ever we can.  As the boys get older I'm sure they will make things for him but right now, the best Father's Day gift for both the kids and their dad is spending special times together!


Happy Father's Day to my Husband - he truly is an awesome dad who loves his kids beyond measure!!

Weekly Menu Plus

Welcome to my weekly menu post!  I also like to do a little update and throw out random things periodically in this post :-)  We had a great week - the weather was pretty much perfect making it easy to get things done.

I became reacquainted with an old friend this week.  Who, you ask?  Well, you need to ask "what" because it is Nestle Quik (Nesquik).  See, I love Chocolate milk.  I try not to buy it but . . well, I love it :-)  What I don't like is Hershey's Syrup in milk to make Chocolate milk so I finally gave in an decided to buy some Quik and see if it tasted ok.  Wow.  I forgot how good it is - it tastes "almost" just like the REAL Chocolate milk.  The good news is that it is a little better health wise than Chocolate milk - less calories, fat, carbs (especially since we drink fat free milk anyway!)  So yes, now I can have chocolate milk every day for breakfast :-)

It is supposed to be warm and humid this coming week so I am planning meals to try and keep the kitchen kinda cool - grilling and the crock pot :-)   My kids usually love bread with things . . .I have decided yet to serve some rolls/bread or not.  If I do that means I have to turn on the oven and I'm trying to avoid that in the late afternoon.  The salads I plan on making first thing in the morning so the main cooking is done before the house heats up too much

Here's what we are eating this coming week

Saturday - Eating out

Sunday - Chicken Tacos, Cilantro Rice, and Chips/Salsa

Monday - Hamburgers on the grill, Pasta Salad, Fresh Pickles, and Honey Lime Fruit Salad

Tuesday - Slow Cooker Coke Chicken, Seven-layered Salad, Mixed Veggies

Wednesday - Beef Tips and Noodles in the Crock pot with noodles and left over salads

Thursday - Parmesan Chicken on a bed of greens with Lemon Vinaigrette Dressing and Grape Salad

Friday - I'm going scrapbooking so I have Chili Dogs, chips and left over salad planned (or Broccoli salad if the others are gone) for the "Boys". 

Food Friday - Chick-Fil-A Nuggets

I have to be honest, I think I've only eaten at Chick-Fil-A once or twice - while flying to Florida years ago.  There was one in the airport in Atlanta.  So yummy!  Well, when I saw this recipe for Chick-Fil-A chicken nuggets and their special sauce I figured it might be good :-) 

Chick-Fil-A Nuggets
adapted from Table For Two

These nuggets are so juicy and tender yet have great flavor.  My kids loved them and, more importantly, my husband loved them and said that I need to throw away all fried chicken/nugget recipes and only use this one.  As a matter of fact, he has even requested that I use this recipe to make some fried chicken - not just nuggets.  I was really surprised that he also loved the sauce.  He isn't usually a fan of a "honey mustard" type sauce but the mayo really rounded it out and made it pleasing to everyone.   I did not truely deep fry the nuggets - I had about 1/2 inch of oil in my pan and just make sure to turn them over so they were done on both sides. 

Ingredients:

For the sauce:

1/2 cup mayo

2 tbsp. mustard (regular prepared yellow mustard)

1/2 tsp. garlic powder

1 tbsp. vinegar

2 tbsp. honey

Salt and pepper, to taste

For the nuggets:

8 chicken tenderloins or 6 chicken breasts, cut into bite sized pieces

2 1/2 cups flour

1/4 cup powdered sugar

4 tsp. salt

3 tsp. pepper

1 tsp. paprika

Peanut oil or canola oil for frying (I used canola)

Instructions:

1. In a small bowl, combine all the ingredients for the sauce, mix well, and set aside or pop in the fridge.
2. In a large dutch oven or stockpot, heat up the oil over medium high heat to 375 degrees (see note below).
3. While the oil is heating, in a gallon ziploc bag, combine flour, sugar, salt, pepper, and paprika. Seal it and shake to combine well.
4. Throw the chicken bites into the ziploc bag, close it, and shake til all are coated well.
5. Using a slotted spoon, fish out the nuggets and shake off excess flour and place on a clean plate.
6. Before you start frying, prepare a plate by lining sheets of paper towels to drain the nuggets after frying.
7. When ready, place about 10-12 nuggets in the oil and let cook for about 5 minutes (but it also depends on the size of your nuggets).
8. Remove nuggets from oil with a spider strainer or slotted spoon and set on lined plate to drain. Continue until all nuggets have been cooked.
9. Serve hot with dipping sauce and/or ketchup

Decluttering (Phase 1)

You may recall from my June Goal Post, that I have some pretty high hopes this month when it comes to decluttering.  I thought I would share with you what I did during the first week.

I am going through every room, closet and cupboard and being brutal.  I decided to start with the kitchen for no reason other than that is the room I always start with :-)  The kitchen includes a cupboard in the bathroom where I store extra kitchen stuff.  I'm not against having stuff that you love and use but sometimes, things start to get lost in the back of a cupboard or you realize that they just don't work for you any more.  My goal was to look at everything and make sure I'm using it.  When I did this a few years ago, I kept some things "just in case" but this time those items are going if I haven't used them.  I also wanted to make a list of things that I need or want to replace.  I sold Pampered Chef for awhile before I got married and ended up with lots of things - those things are all starting to wear out!  I ended up taking several boxes to Good Will :-) What's the point of that list I made?  I think it makes it easier to look for things on sale when you know what you want - I'm a Bed Bath and Beyond Fan so watching for sales, clearance items and using coupons is a great way to get new things! Next week I plan on tackling the Bathroom. 


Second, the basement.  Remember I said I was going to divide it into sections?  The first section I wanted to conquer was the soon to be play room and the bottom of the stairs.  Stuff has just piled up in this area.

It's the "drop zone" - we are bad at dropping things in this area to put away later and then, it never happens.  Again, I had to be brutal in this area.  I am not a hoarder but I believe in using things and getting the money out of them.  Sometimes I feel bad about letting go of something because I feel like maybe I haven't used it to its fullest - especially if it is a gift.  My mindset has changed.  I'm 40 and I'm going to stop being so concerned about what others might think and just do what I want HA  Also as I mentioned in that goal post, we are getting ready to do a big room switch and I'm quickly learning that my styles have changed.  So much of what I decorate with, I've had for 10 . . or even 20 years! (WOW!) and I'm tired of it.  So all of those things I packed away for future use, we'll most of it is going.  I want the freedom to be able to pick out new things instead of feeling trapped in what I have now.  Anyway, I cleaned that area out and it is ready to become a play room.

Next week I plan on conquering two areas 1)The laundry room - I want to do some decorating in that room, move a freezer, and CLEAN 2)The Pantry area - I need some more shelving and am hoping I can get my husband to put a few up for me.  I also need to clean out the pantry and make sure that the stuff down there is fresh and the shelving is set up for good storage.  3) Take out some junk - there is an old chair, some blinds, and a few other odd larger items that I know we aren't keeping and need to get taken out to the trash or to Good Will to open up some space.  Should be a busy week!


Oops - I meant to actually post this on Sunday of this week and forgot so, as you read this, understand that I working on the Bathroom and the next area in the basement this week :-)  Also, I had planned to post photos but I haven't taken my "after" shots yet - Hopefully when I post next week I will have photos to actually share!

The Longest Breakfast Table and Some Family Fun

If you were around for my 40x40 list (a list of things I wanted to accomplish by the time I was 40) you may remember that one of those items was to eat at the longest breakfast table in the Cereal Festival in Battle Creek, MI.  Obviously, the festival only happens once a year so it just didn't work out until this summer.  It was such a fun time!  We got up  on Saturday morning and loaded up to make the drive.  We got there and found the cereal station - because we didn't get there until just before the end  there were only a few options for cereal so we grabbed two bowls, got some milk and found a seat at one of the tables. 

 The boys loved eating the cereal - Josh devoured his shredded wheat - it kinda surprised me that he loved it so much.  The day was perfect - sunny, almost a little too hot but there was a great breeze which made it bearable. 

 My three "boys" - such a fun day. 

 Do you notice the camera?  We were sitting there enjoying cereal when two camera guys stopped by and asked if they could film the boys.  Of course we said yes.  They started talking to us and then asked if we would mind talking on camera.  Now, we are normally the people that say no because, have you ever noticed that most people look dumb on TV?  Well, we agree so I answered the questions and then they filmed the boys for a few more minutes.  It was kinda fun actually :-)

Once we finished our cereal we wondered around the festival.  The boys are more watchers than doers so they didn't play any games.  I think these two photos show my boys personalities.  Nate just smiles throughout the day; Josh is actually having fun but he gets overwhelmed with all of the noise and people surrounding him.  Honestly, in the next picture I took - he was smiling :-)

After the festival we headed to my Mother-In-Laws home for a small family reunion.  I took a lot of photos but I just picked out a few to share.  We spend the entire afternoon outside (they live on a lake and have a beautifully shaded yard so between the shade and the breeze off the water - it was a fabulous day) 

 The boys enjoyed the afternoon so much - they never stopped.  They rode the little outside toys all over, picked up acorn tops and tasted them (ha!), ran in and out the old-fashioned screen door, laughed and played hard.  I do have to brag on them - one of my mother-in-laws cousins told us over and over how well behaved the boys were and she THANKED US!  Yes, thanked us for having such good kids.  We know we are blessed beyond measure with the kids we have and the personalities that God gave them but it sure is nice to hear it from someone else too :-)

 This is a true favorite photo.  The boys sat on the deck with Grandma Lebeck watching the water.  It is just too cute! 

 The "cousins" - in the front row are Keith and Nancy who are brother and sister; on the end in the stripes is my mother-in-law.  The guy in the back row is her brother Jim and standing next to him is their cousin Tory. 

The whole bunch!  We really had a fun day hanging out with the family .

Do you know how you know your kids played hard?  When they don't wake up when you get home.  Wow.  I got Nate out of the truck, carried him inside, changed only his shorts out for PJ shorts (left his tank top on him) and laid him bed.  He never once woke up - he just whined a little in his sleep, then when I laid him down, he rolled over and was out.  I think he was tuckered out :-) 

We do plan on trying to get back to the cereal festival in future years - it's such a fun experience!

Too Cute Not Too Toot

To start out this week is a great idea for a craft from Nothing But Country for a cute nightlight.  Not only would it just be fun to do with your kids; it would also make a great birthday party craft, VBS activity or room mom idea!

Father's Day is literally around the corner so when I saw this cute idea from Michelle Paige for a Father's Day Party.  She also gives a link to her idea from last year at the bottom of her post.

And, that's all folks!  I guess I just wasn't inspired this week :-)