Food Friday - Fresh Blueberry Pie

Fresh Blueberry Pie
adapted from D. Mundy (A friend)

This pie is so refreshing because of the lemon that is used in the cream cheese layer.  I also love it because the recipe is actually for two pies so it is great (and easy) to make for a crowd or to take to a party.  It's also fairly easy to cut in half if you just want one pie :-)

3 cups fresh blueberries
8 oz package Cream Cheese, Softened
6 oz Frozen Lemonade, undiluted
14 oz Sweetened condensed milk
8 oz cool whip
2 graham cracker crusts or 2 baked pie shells

Beat cream cheese until creamy; add lemonade and sweetened condensed milk.  Fold in ¾ of the cool whip and 2/3 of the blueberries.  Spread in pie shells; chill.  Garnish with remaining Cool Whip and blueberries.  For one pie, half the recipe.

What I'm Dreaming of . . . .

Yep, I'm done with summer but it isn't done with us yet!  I told my husband recently that in the first big blizzard we have, I'm standing outside on the deck in my bathing suit so I can soak up the COLD!


On a different note, for all of you Pinterest Users, have you ever been blocked and locked out before?  That is what has happened to me due to suspicious activity on my account.  They tell me that my pins are safe but now I have to wait for them to investigate and then send me an e-mail to reset my password.  I knew I should have been printing some of the stuff I needed this weekend!  Oh well.  I'm still hoping that it will be fixed by tomorrow . . .I miss it :-)

Bringing Back My Books

Earlier this week, I mentioned in a post that I realized that I have stepped away from my old goal of reading certain books within a quarter - these are books that will build me up as a mother, as a wife, and as, well, me.  I shared a link on Tuesday to Joyful Mothering that included her list of books that she wants to read in 2012.  I like her list - it has books that I already on my long list of "want to reads" plus there were quite a few new ones.  Anytime I can find a great source for books, I snatch it up, and that post seems like a great resource.

As was my pattern when I set my reading goals previously, I plan on setting a goal for 3 months worth of reading - basically a quarter. (The first quarter will begin August 1st).  I set the bar high and hope to read 3 books a month for a total of 9 books.  (Like you couldn't figure that out yourself. )

Here's my list for the first quarter.

That's My Son by Rick Johnson (Not Shown)
Wild Things; The Art of Nurturing Boys by Stephen James (Not Shown)
Shepherding a Child's Heart by Ted Tripp

It Starts at Home by Bruner and Stroope
The Virtuous Woman: Shattering the Superwoman Myth by Vicki  Courtney
The Power of  a Positive Mom by Carol Ladd

Conversation Peace by Mary A. Kassian
The List by Marian Jordan
Jesus, The One and Only by Beth More

Also, I wanted to share another link that has a bunch of great parenting books - many of the books on this list will be added to MY reading wish list so I can tackle them in future months. Check out the post at Women Living Well.

Too Cute Not Toot!!

Welcome back!  I'm back with one of my favorite posts this week and am going to start out with a great idea for out doors.  I love things that decorate outside.  This summer we haven't been able to really hang outside a lot due to the heat but I am looking forward to the fall when we can play outside more.  When I saw this cute idea from Sew and Dipity I had to share it and I'm going to add it to my list of things I want to do for next summer. 

I don't know about you, but I love the Olympics.  I'm not sure how excited I can get my kids about the upcoming Olympics but I love all of these ideas for the future - in 2 years, I think I can really get them going!!  I will be printing this idea from Alililyblog and putting into my theme notebook for "school" :-)

Yes, I know it is the middle of summer but this soup recipe from Jam's Corner is too good to pass up.  I plan on printing this now and saving it for the first few cool fall days.  It's a bonus that it is a crock pot recipe :-)

This next idea was posted at Boy Oh Boy Oh Boy and are from Kiwi Crates.  Basically, you sign up and get a crate each month with crafts in it and you can add a sibling plan and get enough for two kids (or order two crates so they each get their own).  The crates are $19.95 a month but you get two crafts in each crate and it includes all of the supplies.  Anytime I've seen these, I've loved them so I'm hoping that sometime over the next year I can join and get these for the boys (using the sibling pack idea).  I think it would be a great addition to our homeschool routine.

Oh Boy Oh Boy Oh Boy also is doing a series on "Books for Boys" so I wanted to share the most recent idea - you can use this link to also find the older posts on this series.

This next idea is not a craft but a list of books.  The list comes from Joyful Mothering.  I've realized recently that I've gotten away from reading any books except "fun" books.  This list has some great books in it - some already on my list and some that are not.  I'm going to be posting soon about my updated book list  . ..

I Heart Crafty Things shares a great indoor game for kids using just a diaper box and some balls. 

This next "idea" is actually something to purchase but I want to save it here so I remember.  It was posted over at Happy Go Lucky - I want to get these for both boys for Christmas :-)

Summer Fun - Week 6

To see the rest of our summer fun, just click HERE.

Wow, six weeks of summer already gone?  It's kinda crazy!  I will admit that this past week, well, I dropped the ball.  It was a total "recovery" week from the heat, from the holiday, from the unplanned get away. 

Monday - I totally just worked on putting everything back together.  The temps were perfect - I worked in the kitchen for about 2-3 hours and never broke a sweat (and our kitchen is the hottest room in the house!!) On this day, the boys just enjoyed being home, playing with their toys while I cleaned, did laundry, prepped food for the week and just tried to pick up all of the stray things that had been left about during the horrible heat - when it was just too hot to clean anything.  My floors were thanking me as I vacuumed them ;-) 

Tuesday - Today I filled up the pool thinking the kids would want to play in it . . .but, again, with temps in the 70's and no humidity, they enjoyed filling cups of water and watering plants (i.e. weeds in the yard) but otherwise never got it in.  I worked on more stuff - like the basement and organizing things. 

Wednesday - I'll be honest - there wasn't a lot of "fun" in this day.  We got up to discover that thanks to the wonderful execs. at Direct TV, we have no Nick Jr.  Before you think my kids are TV junkys (which I'll admit, they watch a lot, especially when it is really hot outside . . .and inside!) but they have their morning routine - toons, poptarts, and chocolate milk.  You try to explain to a 2 and 3 year old why their favorite tunes are gone.  Not to mention the stuff on the Disney channels we still get, well, I'm not a fan of at this point.  Then, I called to make reservations for our dog at our kennel only to learn that they are closing as of August 1st (which is after I need them but still!)  I'm so sad :-(  We've taken our dog there for 8 years - they are fabulous and, well, well priced.  Finally, Josh got stung.  I was inside when I heard him start screaming (which, for a three year old, is pretty normal HA) but he came in and told me he got stung - then he showed me his eye.  Yep, sure thing, right about his eyebrow.  The good thing is that he is not allergic at all - it swells up for a bit but within about an hour, it's all gone.  Here's a photo - he wanted me to take it :-)

Thursday - I spent today catching up on paperwork.  By mid-afternoon I knew I had spent too much time "working" this week and not enough time with the kids - their attitudes and behavior where showing it.  So I wrapped things up and headed outside - they were happy with me just sitting out there watching them play :-) (Yes, they are wearing winter hats . . .they found them, put them on and said "We are wishing for snow" then headed outside.  Yes, they are truly my children. 

Friday - Today, I made up for the week!  We played puzzles, then built a fort (or has Josh calls it - his house!), had popcorn for snack, cleaned - the boys love to vacuum and yes, they do a good job AND put the vacuum away - that's all the cleaning we did . . the floors needed it, made pizza for lunch, filled the pool and swam for the afternoon and then played trains until Darryl got home.  He brought home dinner for the boys so I could leave and go scrapbooking. 

Because of the crazy week, I wanted to plan some fun things this weekend too.  Darryl originally was going to work all weekend but he needed a break so he unexpectedly took Saturday off which was great.  On Saturday the first thing we did was take bags of clothes to a friend who just adopted a baby boy.  Then, we took the boys to a "new" park - well, new to us.  It has an interactive fountain which I thought the boys would really like - they were not thrilled with it and only Josh ran through it a couple of times - Nate was ready to come home after being there just about 15 minutes. 

On Sunday, we skipped church . .. our church that we are attending right now does not have A/C . . .sorry, no A/C on a hot summer day = no Jackie in church.  I live without A/C at home but I wouldn't wear to church what I wear at home ;-) LOL  We hung at home for the morning but then went on an adventure.  I took the boys to get a treat (they have discovered a love for shakes), then we drove out to a Farm Stand, back to the bank and finally to the store.  I let the boys each push a small cart and we wondered through the store looking at toys and the fish for about an hour before picking up the few things we needed.   Today and Tomorrow will be pushing 100 degrees again so we don't plan on doing much.  Like my boys indicated earlier in the week - I'm reading for winter . . .or at least a very cool fall!

The Things My Kids Say

Joshua - His car play mat was in the dining room when he went to bed; I noticed later in the evening that it was "missing".  When he got up the next morning he informed me, "I had to get my car mat because I couldn't go to sleep without in my room".  I looked in his room and not only was it in there, it was spread out perfectly flat with the fan sitting in the middle of it.  He did a lot of work after he went to bed LOL 

Joshua - for the first time ever this past week he said, "Mom, I need something to do" which really means "Mom, I'm bored" HA!  Seriously?  Already?

Joshua - He hates it when I cut (ok, bite) his fingernails so the other day I went to grab his hand for something and he pulled it back and said "No, mom, don't bite my nicklenails" ;-)

Joshua - Any time he stubs a toe or bumps a shin he says "Mom, I have a whipty do".  I also noticed that anytime he bumped anything (his head, his hand . . whatever) He's said "Ow, I hurt my oboe"  I thought he was calling things "elbow" but then figured out he meant . .. Boo boo HA!

Joshua - One day, he put on his flip flops and came to me and said "Look Mom, I have on "little mom" shoes" (I ALWAYS wear flip flops)  Then we went outside, we went and got the pooper scooper and told me he would pick up dog poop because he had on his little mom shoes.  Trust me, I did not stop him ;-)

Nathan - He hasn't said  any doosey's lately but I so love hearing his little voice say things like "Mom, please help me" and then once I'm done, he says "Thank you Mom".  I also love that, even if I leave the house to just get the mail, when I walk back in he gets all excited because "Mom, your home!  I missed you!!" :-)

Joshua - One morning, he got up and went out to sit on the porch.  I heard him start talking then . . . "Mom, look, the sun is waking up too" and . . "Oh wow, the flowers are starting to wake up!!"  It was so neat to hear him notice the morning!

Linking up over at: 

Weekly Menu!

We had a much nicer week this week!  The weather was really nice - not humid and fairly cool until the end of the week when the temps went up.  I made one mistake last week - I planned my menu based on the food from the week before that we didn't eat except I forgot that the chicken I had taken out had to be thrown away because it sat in the fridge so long - which then put me off one meal this week but I got creative and come up with something else.

Here's what is on the plan for this coming week:

Saturday:  Chili Dogs, Chips and Dip and Lego Jello (If this idea works - I promise to share!)

Sunday:  In keeping with my plan to have burgers once a week - we are having Hamburgers, Chips and Dip and Corn on the Cob

Monday: Pulled Chicken and Slaw Sliders, Salpicon and Devil Egg Spread with crackers (something new I want to try!)

Tuesday: Thai Chicken and Pineapple Stir Fry with rice and Layered Jell-O Salad

Wednesday: Pork Chops on the grill, Mac and Cheese, Corn and Muffins

Thursday: Tacos with savory rice and chips and salsa

Friday:  Hot Dogs, Chips, and salads (we'll be roasting over a campfire!!)

Happy cooking!