Summer Fun and Rants

Boy this Summer has gone by really fast I cannot believe that my girls will be back in school in only several weeks. They visited my parents for two weeks in Michigan as soon as Summer Break began. As soon as my parents brought them back off to Michigan City, Indiana we went for fun in the sun and lots of beach time on Lake Michigan.

 I tried to catch Aliya making a hand heart against the sunset after several attempts her arms were tired so this had to do.

This was after the sun had set on the horizon.

 The girls spent so much time on the water, they even got the hang of the kayak's for the 1st time.

  

Here is the view from the beach house. This is beautiful Lake Kai, the same lake that the girls got to work on their kayaking skills.

Can you believe it not even an hour after we returned home. A terrible storm rolled in with 80mph winds and it knocked down my kids fave tree. Thank God that we and the car were all fine but we will definitely miss our tree, it practically grew up with the girls.

 Have a great one and remember to love your home.

Fourth of July Food,Drink and More

Happy Birthday USA. I cannot believe that you are 236 years old today. All over our nation, family and friends get together to celebrate your birth.

Usually we go to a parade and then to the community fireworks which is always a blast. We skipped the parade today because it was just miserably hot. With the heat index it was already in the low 90's around 9am this morning as I was giving my flowers a drink.

I also decided to get most of the eats together so that we could all just chill later in the afternoon.

This delicious yogurt pop was made the night before ready for the kids to indulge on this hot Fourth of July. It was very easy to make and not as time consuming as it may seem. I just purchased a tub of Vanilla Yogurt and layered the popsicle molds. I took several huge spoonfuls of yogurt and added red food coloring until I got the color that I desired and I let the 1st layer sit in the freezer for about 30 minutes, then the next layer is pretty simple just add the vanilla right in and freeze for about 10 minutes, last but not least add blue food coloring to about several spoonfuls of yogurt (in a separate bowl I forgot to mention). Now place the sticks in and freeze until ready. There are tons of ways to make layered frozen treats this was a healthy one that I wanted to try and the kids loved them.

Even with the air conditioning on in our house, it was still a little on the warm side so we had to make these festive Red, White and Blue ice cream sandwiches fast. You can see what I mean looking at the right side of the sandwich. All you have to do is unwrap them and dip the edges on a plate sprinkled with your fave decorations. We only had a little of the candied sprinkles so that sandwich was eaten before I could grab my camera. This one was made with sugar sprinkles. Easy Peasy.

Our Red, White and Blue Spritzers were a hit also. All you have to do is pick your fave drinks in America's colors making sure the way you want them layered are based on the sugar content in each drink. Our blue had about 31 grams , the white or clear (Jones Cream Soda) had 25 grams and the Red had no sugar at all. So you see the highest sugar content goes on the bottom and so on. Remember to pour these slowly to get that cool affect. Refreshing.

This Confetti Corn was really good and easy to make. 1st dice red and green bell pepper and suatee in a skillet (I used my cast iron) with a little bit of your fave oil. I used two cans of 16oz corn not realizing until I made it that one was regular kernel corn and the other sweet cream corn. I mixed them anyway and it was delish. Oh yeah don't forget a little salt and pepper for added taste.

My family loves Mac and Cheese so I had to make it. I always bake mine the coloring on top you see is a little Chili Powder. You can omit this step if you'd like. Here's how I make it.

Other than that we had burgers, dogs, and pulled pork sliders not pictured here. Now a little rest before we run out to see the fireworks. From our family to yours Have a Happy and Safe Fourth of July.

Summer Vacation Organization

Can you believe it?  Summer vacation is finally here. I'm not sure what's usually the first thing on your list to kick off your summer to do list but to keep my mind at ease. I put the girls to work right away on the first full day of Summer Vacay.


I have them gather up anything that they brought home from school. That includes supplies, tests, quizzes, etc. and we pretty much have a purge party.

Here's what things looked like after the process. I know it looks like junk but let me tell you why. Well, I left this here to show you first of all the piles of stuff they brought home. Trust me it was much neater before this because everything had a home.

We go through absolutely everything and they don't have a problem with it. I grab shopping bags as trash bags seen in the photo and they go through their binders and pull out things that aren't needed any longer. Old quizzes, tests and even important handouts that they can possibly use for the next school year we keep. I take those and put them in sheet protectors and either put them in a binder or an acordian file folder for reference. Any supplies like pens, pencils, pencil pouch, lunch bag, back pack etc. are stored away if they are in good shape. I say why waste money if my child's supplies still look great.

Next school year both of my girls will be in Middle School. No more babies in elementary :(  I really hope this post helps someone. I rather get rid of the unwanted now and not bother them with it mid summer, don't you agree?

Until next time. Have a great Summer!!!!