Savoring Summer!

There are countless reasons to love summer.

We could talk about the sunny skies.....the relaxed schedules....the chance to sleep in (or at least stay in bed a few extra minutes and answer pressing questions like "Is it Tuesday now?" with at least one eye still closed.).....rosy sun-kissed cheeks.....no Homework (yup, Mom's enjoy the break from that as much or more than the kids!) rainbows of flowers.....family vacations....it's a long list!! But one of the best things about summer is the

 F.O.O.D.

We start with juicy, red Strawberries

 

And then we get fabulous Salads  (made fabulous of course by the garden fresh abundance!)

 

 And Corn on the  Cob!! (mmm! the simple perfect addition to every meal)

Not to mention Watermelon. Blueberries. Fresh Tomatoes for those BLT's. Peaches. Green Beans. (they really do taste different when you pick them yourself then they do from those little plastic bags in the freezer section) O Yumminess! 

 Plus we get to break out the grill (ok, so really we do this all year round but it's a lot more pleasant in flip flops than with gloves and scarves :o)

And the best part is it all comes almost completely Guilt Free!!! 

(Well at least until I added a generous helping of those homemade croutons. Blasted things!! I don't care for the store bought ones so I never had to worry about throwing useless calories on my salad until I met these. I've made croutons before with less then stellar results but these babies are my downfall.)

And of course we have to save a few calories for some of these now and then! :o)

What's your favorite summer treat?? 

(I'm thinkin' a Yogurt Parfait with Fresh Blueberries right about now. :o)

Just Like You!

(I'm a bit on behind with this post but on behind is a place I spend a lot of my time so why not??)

On Sunday we celebrated Father's Day. I've noticed that typically on Mother's Day we hear sermons at church on how wonderful mothers are. We hear about all the amazing things they do. We hear how their influence changes world. But on Father's Day the sermon usually goes more like this....."This" is what you need to do better, "this" is where you need to be stronger, "this" is what you're gonna be held accountable for, etc. Now I'm not against either of these things (although I can't say I always buy all that "your amazing" stuff, I have plenty of "you need to do better" areas too) I just think Daddy's could use a pat on the back occasionally too. I suppose it stems mostly from the fact that when it's  a Father preaching it would be a bit awkward to sing his own praises, but it still bugs me. Anyway, enough of my soap box.

At my house there are 4 little boys who really truly do want to be JUST LIKE DADDY! Here's the proof......

Lots of Baseball games going on around here. (In fact, we were so busy with games and tournaments we really didn't even have time to adequately celebrate the great Daddy he is.)

Learning how to make that truck sparkle and shine!

We did surprise him with a pair of golf shoes. (In support of another habit that seems to be seeping down through.)

So together we will work to teach these little men how to be just that MEN. Of course there is a lot more to that job than things like baseball and trucks. (It's just really hard to take pictures of Honesty, Integrity, Patience, Forgiveness and Generosity.) It's something we will only accomplish together. Because Mommy's are not perfect, no matter what it sounds like on Mother's Day. And Daddy's need some affirmation, perhaps from, say somebody like Mommy (ouch, my own toes are getting a bit sore even as I write.)

Because someday, someone will likely turn there sweet little girl over to the love and care of our son. Will he be equipped for the job?? If he is JUST LIKE HIS DADDY the answer will be YES!

One of THOSE days....

.....when I was informed at 6:30 A.M. that a swarm of critters had taken up residence in the bedroom where my son was supposed to be sleeping. Yes, I was still in bed (it's summer vacation for crying out loud!) and No, I wasn't in the mood to play exterminator.

.....when it's cool and dreary and my energy level is about a minus 2.

....when my "fresh brewed" coffee was not so fresh by the time I got a chance to drink it (to the tune of "yuck, I don't think I'll bother!")

.....when everyone seems to be bent on tormenting everyone else.

.....when there is not a single toy in the universe (and certainly not the ones in our very own, well stocked toy room) that could keep my children busy for 10 consecutive minutes.

 

.....when I have 100 things I could do, but nothing that I  have to do. (Combined with the MIA energy, this doesn't look promising!)

....when nap time ends with a boy who is even grumpier (who knew that was even possible) than he was when he went in.

....when writing a post is interrupted by so many arguments that even though it was started early in the day it doesn't get finished until after bedtime.

Yup, it's just been one of those days. Hopefully, yours was better than mine!!

Please Note: Above pictures are posted NOT as a reflection of today's activities but as a reminder of better days and happier moments. They SHALL return (quickly, I hope!)

Teacher Appreciation Night

I invited the boys teachers and bus drivers here for a picnic to thank them for their job well done this year. Both of the boys had a really good year and we've learned along the way that most of that falls back to the teachers credit. It's one of those things that has floated randomly through my mind many times in a "that would be really nice" kind of way. But it just never made it to the "actually get on it and get it done"  list. But I had several reasons for deciding that this is the year to get it done! Because it was a little bit 'planned at the last minute because I wasn't as organized as I thought I was'  impromptu, only 3 of the six teachers/bus drivers were able to be here but we had a great evening.

Mr. Time, Zachary's wonderful bus driver who has been known to deliver Z to the front door on a rainy day or when his mommy just simply forgot to come out to meet him!

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I tried to do a little outdoor decorating to make it kinda specialish! I didn't have unlimited time or resources....surprise, surprise.....but this is what I came up with.

Couldn't keep the candles lit but that was ok, we were happy for all the breeze, it was toasty out there.

 

I probably don't need to mention that with little boys playing outside the tricycle didn't stay 'decor' for very long. It's all good though.

 Punch and appetizer.

 Summer Goodness.

 Special thanks to the hubs for helping with the kabobs (and during the Phillies game at that!)

He's sweet like that!!

 Dinner Menu: Chicken and Steak Kabobs, Roasted Potatoes, BBQ Beans, Macaroni Salad and Breadsticks.

 

Came together something like this. Mmm! Yum!

And save room for dessert! Strawberry Pie with the first fresh berries of the season!! 

Double Yum!!

 It was supposed to be all about the school boys and their guests but guess who tried to steal the show.

And she gets away with it too!

 Okay, maybe she has a little competition on that sometimes! It was in the 90's but he insisted on wearing the way too big, cocked at a silly angle, helmet! And who knew a chocolate covered pretzel could be so entertaining??

 It was a really fun evening. I especially enjoyed getting to know the teachers better. With 3 little munchkins at home I don't get to go in a volunteer in the classroom so I don't get a lot of interaction with them through the year. I wish I had done this sooner!!! Tyler's teacher has been teaching for 7 years and she told me she's never gotten an invitation like this before. 

Go ahead, feel free to steal borrow my idea, the people who are influencing our little people everyday need all the appreciation they can get!!!

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In other news, it was a great weekend for yard sales!! Gorgeous weather and bargains make a great combination!!!

Craziest Deal of the day.......

.50 cd player with headphones. Yeah, he's about 10 years on behind but he's thrilled to pieces. And I, I don't have to listen to Veggies Tales c.o.n.s.t.a.n.t.l.y. anymore! Whew! just in time!!

Best deals of the day.....an Aeropostle winter coat for me for $1 (quite possibly never worn) and Nike sneakers for the boy who's growing like C.R.A.Z.Y. for $3.

With mixed assortment of other treasures!

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And we ended our holiday weekend with a wonderful, lazy, day and some super fun pool time with the cousins!

It's gonna be a good summer, I can just feel it!!

The Chocolate Project

....as promised here.

Sweet Girlie cousins!

If you read blogs much you know that these are not original with me. In fact, I'm probably far enough behind the times that I may be at risk for boring some of you with ANOTHER cake pop post. I first saw the idea on  this blog. Yes, that says Valentines Treats, it takes me a little while to get to my ideas sometimes. Of course when I was ready to make them I couldn't remember where I had first seen them, so I collected tips from all over Google before I started. Here's how it worked out for me....

TAKE

...One 9x13 cake (yup, straight outta the box, I suppose it would be more "homemakerish" of me to make it from scratch but by the time it's all doctored up I don't think it'd be any better) baked, cooled (completely) and crumbled.

...Add Half a can of bought icing. (again, you could do the Martha Stewart thing and make you own. In fact I usually don't care for the bought stuff much but it works for me here.) Many of the blogs I read used a whole can but the first site I read said this made problems for her so I stuck with a half as per her advise.

I decided to go with chocolate overload on these but you can use any cake/icing combo you like. (I also did white cake with Betty Crocker's Strawberry Mist icing. They were cute and nice and girlie pink but there's NO substitute for CHOCOLATE!!)

....Mix Well!

....Just for fun I stirred in about a cup of mini chocolate chips. I was serious about that overload bit!! I'd love to try other goodies too, nuts, toffee chips......Mmm!

When it's mixed well, dig in, get your hands messy and start rolling into balls. I used my #60 cookie scoop for a head start. Somewhere (no idea where anymore) I found a tip that recommended dipping the stick in a bit of chocolate before inserting them into the cake balls to give them a sturdier start.

When the sticks are firmly in place and the balls are super cold. Your ready for some melted coating chocolate and ooey, gooey, messy, chocolatey, dipping fun.

I had a bit of trouble with the temperature of the cake balls. If they're not cold they turn into mush and fall off the sticks while you try to coat them. They dip beautifully when they are frozen but then I had trouble with the chocolate cracking as it got hard. So getting a happy medium "frozeness" was definitely my biggest challenge of the whole project.

Styrofoam covered in foil works great for holding them as they dry.

These are all sprinkled with nonpareils but I also did some with chocolate drizzle,

just in case they weren't quite chocolatey enough! :o)

Found this black and white crock at Goodwill for a couple of bucks and it was great for making

an arrangement for our

Mother Daughter Banquet Dessert Buffet.

Finished Product

almost too pretty to eat....ALMOST!

 

This was a super fun project but it did take MUCH longer than I thought it would. Not because it was that difficult it was just time consuming. I got about 45 pops out of each cake mix and I made 2 kinds so I guess making almost a hundred of anything isn't gonna happen in a few minutes. Next time I will start much earlier in the day. Chocolate is much more fun to play with when it's not the middle of the night!!

When the going gets tough the tough eat chocolate!! :o)