Food Friday - Chess Squares

After having to post a post last Friday with an actual recipe, I went out to Pinterest and started searching for some new things to try.  I came across quite and few and planned to be busy cooking this week but, the high heat changed those plans!  I did actually manage do bake something on Monday, which is amazing to me.  I guess I thought the kitchen was already so hot, who really cared if it got hotter!! 

Chess Squares
adapted from Kevin and Amanda

When I first picked out this recipe, I wrote it down as "Cheese" Squares, sure that the blog author had made a typo but after re-reading it, I think that that the name really is "Chess" Squares even though I have no idea why!!  They did sound very good though - especially with the cream cheese involved :-)  This is a super easy recipe and it would be an easy "go-to" dessert because the list of ingredients are so small and it is items I almost always have on hand.  Of course, I ate a small slice as soon as it was cool enough to eat but it is one of those desserts that gets better as it gets cooler and are perfect at room temp.  I do store them in the fridge though, because of the cream cheese and, well, the heat right now - they would just be sticky mess - and they are also good cold.  I think they might be good with some cherry pie filling on top too :-)

1 box yellow cake mix
3 eggs
8 oz cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, melted
4 cups (1 lb) powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 300 and spray a 9×13 dish with cooking spray. Mix cake mix, melted butter and one egg to a soft dough. Press into the bottom of the pan. Mix powdered sugar, softened cream cheese and remaining two eggs until smooth, about 1-2 mins. Pour on top of crust. Bake at 300 for 40-50 minutes until top is golden brown.

What I'm Reading

Instead of sharing specific books I'm reading I wanted to share my favorite site for free books which is Inspired Reads.  When I first got my Kindle at Christmas and found a few "Free Book" blogs/sites, I was just picking up free books left and right.  Most of them were non-christian based books because, honestly, it was hard to find good fiction Christian books for free.  I made a few comments on the Inspired Reads facebook page about wanting more of those types of books and they have not disappointed.  I've even had some from my favorite authors like Ann Tatlock and Lauraine Snelling and Susan May Warren.  I've also found that if you follow their posts daily you can often end up with an entire series for free like The Green Series by Judy Christie, which I love and the "Always a . .. , Never a Bride by Sandra D Bricker. This site also supplies quite a few links to free non-fiction books - I've picked up several devotions and other inspiration books over the past few months as well.

Periodically I "open" a book that I picked up from one of the other sites and, one in particular stands out, my mind cringes at the words that are used by the author.  Don't get me wrong, I read non-Christian books but for those simple reads, I'd rather pick up things that don't have the language and "scenes" in them.

If you enjoy great Christian fiction - check out this site and you can also find them on Facebook :-)

Enjoy reading!

Happy Fourth of July!

This past Saturday, we had family photos taken and I thought I would share a sneak peek. 

 Happy Fourth of July from our family to yours!!

Special thanks to Signature Photography Studios for once again making us all look like superstars!

Too Cute Not To Toot!

I've seen, and maybe have shared, the idea for making a fun sprinkler using PVC pipe but this one is the best from The Scrap Shop with a fantastic tutorial. 

Sticking with the water theme, this slip and slide looks like tons of fun from Diary of a Preppy Mom.

This next post is something I really need to take time and read . . as well as posts one and two.  Cheerios and Lattes is sharing basic "learn how to swim" techniques for kids.  I want to read these so the next time we are in a regular pool, we can work with Nate - who LOVES to swim!

It's a "Short" list this week - it's been too hot to sit with the computer for long periods of time so I haven't focused on getting posts up :-) 

Enjoy your holiday week!

Summer Fun - Week 4

Welcome to another week of Summer!  You can check out our first 3 weeks of fun by clicking HERE. 

Last week was a little differant because the kids were gone to Papa and Nana's house part of the week.  So the summer fun for Monday, Tuesday and Wedensday was . .. fun with Papa and Nana :-)  I know they had tons of fun and wore their grandparents out!!!  The boys came home on Wednesday and we are glad to have them home.  Yes, I LOVE my children more than anything but every once in awhile it sure is nice to have a break.  My husband and I, as I shared earlier this week, enjoy a great day out on Saturday.  We cleaned out the garage on Sunday, took apart the treadmill on Monday and moved it out on Tuesday.  Not to mention I did a lot of cleaning and organizing without any extra help ;-) LOL  We are at the front end of a forecasted heat wave so I think we will be spending lots of time in front of a fan or in the pool. 

Thursday - This day was horrible with heat - we hit 95 degrees with a heat index of 100.  We didn't do much - the boys played in the pool for awhile but then came in and just hung in front of a fan. 

Friday - Even though it was still hot, the humidity was down. I found this cute idea for ice boats over at Alphamom and thought it would be fun to make them and float them in the pool. 

 Ummm . . .yeah.  Not such a good plan.  The boats all fell over sideways.  The straws did not freeze right in the middle of the ice and the ice kinda cracked in weird places so this was kind of a "fail" HA.

 As a matter of fact, Josh said, "Mom, those are not boats, THIS is a boat" - and then he went and found that tub boat.

 He even went a step further and said that they did not belong in the pool - he promptly removed his and put it on the steps.

Nate is like, "What is the world IS this thing?" LOL  Oh well.  In the end, we ended up just playing in the water.  The boys had fun dumping buckets of water on me since I accidently filled the pool with COLD water (yes it was COLD!!) and in the end, Josh ended up letting the giant ice cubes melt just enough and he ate them instead :-)  

This week  should be fun - I've finalized my July plans - I'm throwing in more "pool" days on the calendar - in this heat, the pool is the most fun thing and I've also realized we don't have to do a NEW thing each day, we just need to do something. 

I will confess, the library program has totally fallen off the radar.  It's too warm to load the boys up in the middle of the afternoon for the weekly activity and we aren't doing a lot of reading - we all prefer to sit in our own chairs with our own fans :-) 

Goals for July (and a Recap for June)

It's that time again - time to plan out some goals for July and also to give you a recap of June.  I feel pretty good about what I accomplished in June and, considering the fact that sometimes summer is my very slow, non-productive time, that says alot.

Here's June's Recap:

1.  Summer activities - I wanted to make sure everything was ready to go the week before and I did pretty good on this except for the last week.  I did get our couple of activities done for the week by mid-week but it is less stressful to do it the weekend before.

2. Decluttering - My goals were the basement and then going through every room/closet and cleaning stuff out.  I accomplished both.  Well, to be honest the basement is about 90% done - I have some surfaces to finish clearing off - a table, a shelf and some things on the cedar chest that need new homes.  I did get through all of the rest of the house and, in total, I took about 6 trips to Good Will. 

3. The Big Room Switch - The treadmill is gone (I was actually sad to see it go - I wish I had a place to put it where I could actually use it but I'm thankful that my parents will be able to use it!); about 1/2 of the carpet is pulled up (I had hoped to have all of it and the carpet tacks gone but we didn't get that far), and I cleaned out our family files and put them in a portable file plus I also finally got a file box just for our taxes from past years - no more searching through an old shoebox when I need something! 

4. Potty Training . . . uummm not for lack of trying but we are making very little progress. 

5 . Clean the garage - DONE!!! :-)

So now, on to some goals for July.  Lets be honest, July tends to be pretty hot here in Michigan and I keep hearing talks of a heatwave.  Our A/C is a bunch of fans and a kiddie pool so I am going to try and keep my goals very doable despite the heat.  I am not complaining at all - I just know myself and what I will accomplish in the midst of sweating season.

1. Summer Activities - Continue with the plan to prepare things a week in advance including making sure we are prepared for field trips and outings. 

2. Decluttering - The goal is to finish up the final things in the basement.  As in most homes, our basement is cooler then the rest of the house so I'm going to use that to my advantage in finishing up this project. 

3. The Big Room Switch - We want to get the carpet and carpet tacks out of the master.  I would like to have my husband hang up some shelving in my pantry which will then allow us to move the freezer into the area we've been using as canning storage.  Then I can move my husbands dress clothes downstairs and can also hang the boys winter stuff in the master closet.  See, just little steps :-)  I would also like to pick out the paint for the walls, and figure out the decor so I now what to make and possibly start making it/finding it to buy.  Along those same lines I also want to pick out colors for the new "master" as well as decor and decor ideas for the classroom.  I'm not sure if I will get any of the plans done but I need to plan first!

4. Homeschooling - this is a new goal item.  In July I need to register my kids for Friday School at our local homeschool building, order/print some of the components - I say some because some will have to wait until August.  My main goal really is to accomplish at least one complete task each week toward preschool this fall. The last thing I want to do and really, pray about, is joining a MOPS group.  There are none "local" so I have to drive about 20-25 mintues away.  I'm interested in this for me but also to give more interaction of my kids with others.  Not sure I want to commit to that yet (Why do people plan things SOOO early LOL and YES when I have to leave home at 8:00 AM - it is EARLY!)

5. Potty Training - Just an on-going process at this point.  It will happen when it happens, right???

6.  Photos - I want to finish backing up all of our photos and also all of my educational files.  I'm so close and just need to wrap up lose ends so I can then store all of our back up discs off site (ie at my parents house).  I also owe my Father in Law and My mom some photos so I need to get those printed/burned as well!

7.  Celebrations - As July rounds the corner, I have to start thinking about birthday parties and Christmas.  My goal in July is to completely plan Josh's 4th (WOW) birthday party.  Yes, just plan.  August will be the execution of the idea month!)  I also want to start some Christmas lists - yes it is early but by doing this we can start watching for some things and also we can budget better.  I think it is a great idea to start shopping for Stocking stuffers now since that is what always seems to mess with my budget later!

You may have noticed that in July there are a lot more planning and desk goals then really strenuous goals.  It's a lot easier to work in front of  fan and NOT sweat.  :-) 

Our Menu

I really have nothing extra to add this week - we've worked to stay cool and, other than Thursday, did pretty good at that.  This next week is also supposed to be hot - I think you'll notice our menu kinda shows that too!

Saturday - Burgers and Corn on the Cob (Yep, Burgers once a week!)

Sunday - Probably KFC - I have a concert and my husband has to work; we'll walk in the door about the same time and then I have to run the babysitter to church . . the easiest thing is to grab dinner out.

Monday - Slow Cooker Chicken Tacos, Rice, Chips and Cheese

Tuesday - Chicken Fried Chicken, Bob Evans Mashed Potatoes (easy peasy - you buy them in the store all made and they are REAL and GOOD!), and green beans

Wednesday - It's the Fourth!!!  Pork Chops on the Grill, Baked Beans, Outback Salad, garlic biscuits and then Strawberry Shortcake for Dessert

Thursday - Pork Roast in the Crock pot with potatoes and carrots cooked right with it.

Friday - Sloppy Joe Trianges and Hashbrown casserole.

Several of these recipes are new but make use of things I have in the freezer.  I hope they all taste good.  Also, it is possible that on Tuesday, we are going to feed the kids something they love like Mac and Cheese and we'll order out - kinda a date night with dinner and the watching our local fireworks outside in our front lawn :-)