Looking Back and then Ahead

August is almost over! It flew by in a blur of back to school madness and a massive heat wave. Last night I felt the first hint of relief from all of the heat. I was able to open the windows while we slept and the house was nice and cool this morning. Hopefully the nights continue to cool down and maybe we can get some fall baking started soon! As far as school goes we are now in the full swing of things. I am starting to get pretty good at packing lunches the kids will eat and our schedule seems to be working out well. 

I have all sorts of plans for September. I want to get some holiday planning done, craft with the kids, plan birthdays for Zack and Mia, paint a room or two in the house, read a good book, and have a few more late summer cookouts with friends and family.

What are your plans for September?

Chocolate

We have decided to ignore the heat today and bake these brownies from  Journey Kitchen.

Mondays could use a little added sweetness anyway.

Weekend wrap-up

The weekend is over!

It went by quickly. Ty went golfing for the first time with a group of docs and CRNAs from work. He works in Palm Springs so it was only a matter of time I guess! He had a really great time and would like to continue golfing. Who would have thought that Ty would be a golfer??

This weekend was hot! 100 degree weather hot. Too hot to cook hot! I am hoping that by the end of this week I can enjoy being in my kitchen again.

We have been eating a lot of leftovers and crackers with cheese.
In spite of the hot weather Zack is sick with a bad cold. Ty stayed home with him for the first 2 hours of church and I took over for the last hour so that Ty could teach his Young Men's lesson. Zac started antibiotics this morning so he should be feeling better within a day or two.
I am 26 weeks pregnant now and feeling it. Kind of like someone hit me in the head with a bowling ball and then strapped said bowling ball to my stomach......but it's okay.
I am excited to have this little baby in our lives!

Ty will be working long hours every day this week so I am making plans without him for the next 7 days. I am sure we will survive, but it will be a long week.

Back to school and schedules tomorrow!

I hope everyone had a great weekend!

Despicable Me

The kiddos in this house are big fans of the movie, "Despicable Me"

Ty and I like it too!

We all especially like the minions in the film. Ty and I were at the store picking up some milk and Ty asked if we should buy a box of twinkies to make our own minions.

 It seemed like an awesome idea! Zac was excited :)

 We dove into our project on Friday night, because we are wild and crazy like that.

Ty used amazing precision with his frosting application. (That's just what a twinkie needs is a good layer of extra frosting.)

 Max spent a lot of time on his minion as well.

And here are the finished minions:

 Max's minion.

 Ty's minion.

and little Mia's minion with rainbow hair.

We made a big mess and everyone was high on sugar afterward, but it was fun! To complete our minion filled evening we watched Despicable Me.

It was a great Friday night!

Wednesday

Hurray! Halfway through the week!

Here's 5 thoughts for the day!

1. We are having the missionaries over for dinner tomorrow night. I have decided to make P.W.'s chicken fried steak with mashed potatoes and gravy. Now should we have rolls or cornbread?

2. I am 25 weeks pregnant and thought for sure I was over all that morning sickness.....I was wrong :(

3. Mia's first day of school yesterday went great! It was strange just having one little person at home for a while. (I was able to get all sorts of things done at home, however!)

4. I spent a lot of the morning working on the music plan for Sunday and I am almost done! It always makes for better weekends when I can plan ahead.

5. Pinterest is awesome! I have so many ideas and projects. Love it!

First Day of Pre-K

 Today is Mia's first day of school! She is attending Pre-K classes at Cherry Valley Brethren School.

I made baked egg cups with ham and cheese for breakfast. I wanted her to have a good start. She was really excited to go to school. She was sporting her Hello Kitty backpack with it's matching Hello Kitty lunchbox.

I was worried that she would be nervous and have a hard time saying goodbye but she did great!

It always feels so strange to drive away without your little one on the first day of school, but I know she is going to have a great time. I hope she meets lots of new friends and gets excited about learning.

We love you Mia! Good luck :)

This Afternoon

Ty is working late tonight so it looks like cookies and milk for the kids and I!

We are making these Chocolate Chip Cookies from the Girl Who Ate Everything.

Happy Monday!

Miz Mooz Boots

 Miz Mooz Hugo Boots

Miz Mooz Kailia Riding Boots

I love my boots and I need a new pair for this fall and winter. These are great looking and pretty affordable.

Now if we could just get the weather to cooperate!

Hashbrown

Zackary is not a big fan of our busy school morning schedule. He would prefer to wake up, sit around in his pajamas, watch cartoons, and eventually enjoy a leisurely breakfast of waffles or pancakes.

This morning there was time for a little chocolate milk and then we were out the door. After dropping Max off I had to make a stop at the store. I told Zack that if he was good we could get him a Mcdonald's hashbrown after. I knew he was starting to get hungry!

He was great! 

After our errands he got his hashbrown and he was very happy. Now we are home again and he can relax and drive his cars all around the house!

Max's Birthday Celebration!

 Ty picked Max up from school 1/2 hour early so that we could meet up with my parents at John's Incredible Pizza for Max's birthday fun.

 After eating way too much pizza we headed over to the rides and the games.

 Max had a blast!

He tried all sorts of games. He did a great job in this little bowling alley.

 Ty helped him improve his skills and by the end of the game he was pretty good.

 Max and Ty did some games together and then Max, Ty and my Dad got together to do the bumper cars!

 The lights and mirrors made it hard to take pictures, but they were having so much fun!

 Mia and Zack had a great time as well. There were games and flashing lights everywhere. Kind of like a casino for kids!

 After all the play and pizza we all headed back to our house for cake and presents.

 The pirate ship cake was not as easy to make as I had hoped. I had one failure yesterday, but I was able to recover with a pretty decent cake.

 It was pure chocolate goodness anyway!

 My parents got Max a brand new skateboard.

 I know Zackary will enjoy pushing himself around on it while Max is at school!

 Ty and I got Max some Heelys. He has been asking for a pair.

I think they are going to take some getting used to and I kind of feel like he needs to wear his helmet while wearing them, but after a while I think he is going to be great on them!

We love our Max! We are very proud of him. He is a great brother and a great friend. He is our most favorite first grader!

Happy 6th Birthday Max!

For The Wall

 We did a little painting project.

I painted the kids hands different colors and we made prints on canvas paper.

Zackary was very offended that I had painted his hand.

 Max and Mia thought it was a great idea!

Mia's is the purple hand, Max's is the orange, and Zackary's is the green.

I am putting them up on the living room wall. In December I will have one more little hand print to add to the collection!

ICE

 I took some of Zackary's little matchbox cars and froze them inside of a giant ice cube.

 Mia and Zack worked really hard to free the cars.

We ended up taking some help from the sunshine and letting the ice melt, and the cars were rescued from their deep freeze.

It was a fun activity for a seriously hot afternoon.

Today!

 

Chocolate Peanut Butter Bars from:

The Parsley Thief

Max will be enjoying these with milk for his after school snack.

Happy!

First Day

 Of First Grade!

Max chose to wear an Iron Man shirt and his Iron Man shoes. His backpack is covered with Spider Man so there was some balance. His lunch was packed with his favorite school lunch: pizza lunchables, peaches, fudge stripe cookies, and chocolate milk.

 We found his classroom. The school was filled with parents and their cameras. It was chaos!

He was really excited and ready to go. I hope he has a great first day!

No More Monkey Business!

Because today is the very last day of Max's summer vacation!

Tomorrow he starts school as a First Grader!

We tried to fill the day with all the fun we could. We went for one last summer swim, ate ice cream, played video games, colored pictures, played games, and practiced tarted shooting with the nerf guns!

Max is really looking forward to starting first grade. I am interested to see if we are able to make it out of the house by 7:30 in the morning!

Tonight we are having grilled cheese sandwiches and peach smoothies for dinner, followed by some special family time before the big day.

Good Luck Max!

Sunday Morning

Mornings start early around here, and they always start with chocolate milk!

It makes sad little people happy and keeps them feeling good so I can put off the pancake making for just a little while.

Today is supposed to be hot and sunny. I am looking forward to a relaxing morning, hoping for a successful 3 hour block at church, and excited for a fun dinner with friends this evening.

Happy Sunday!

Dinner Inspiration

 Last night, after we had eaten dinner, Max requested stuffing for our next evening meal. Max loves stuffing. We eat it a lot in the colder months, but obviously, it has been a while! I pulled out a box of stuffing this morning and started looking for some chicken recipes to serve with our stuffing, because man can not live by stuffing alone!

I found this great idea from Iowa Girl Eats. Savory Peach Chicken. Perfect for using up our peaches!

Anyway...That is what we will be eating tonight. Along with our stovetop stuffing.

Happy Saturday :)

For the moms of the boys who married the girls

Love this!

Bookmarking

 Next week we are going to be celebrating Max's 6th birthday! I found THIS recipe for a decadent and rich chocolate cake that I am going to be using to make

THIS pirate ship cake.

Max requested a pirate ship birthday cake for this year and the how-to looks super easy! I am going to use little lego pirate men to man the ship.

We love birthdays!

Craving

My mom called this morning and told me that she was making cookies for my dad, so of course I got all crazy craving cookies as well. I found another great recipe from PICKY PALATE. Chocolate chip and peanut butter truffle swirl cookies. Sounds perfect!

Ice Cream Sandwiches

 The best way to compete with the evil ice cream truck that drives around every evening is to have a well stocked freezer. We found these tiny oreo sized ice cream sandwiches at Trader Joe's.

 In the late afternoon and early evening our backyard is shaded so we head outside for some ice cream and play time.

It has been something we have enjoyed all summer.

5 thoughts for Monday

1. Ty and I stayed up late last night watching "The Village". We haven't had a movie night at home for just the two of us in a long time and it was really fun!

2. 23 weeks along now and friends at church were saying they could finally tell!

3. Peach crisp made with fresh picked peaches is awesome. (Ty and I ate 1/2 the  pan)

4. I wish someone had cleaned my bathrooms while I was sleeping last night. Oh well.....

5. Planning a trip to Costco today. We are out of bread, butter, milk, cereal, and baby wipes. Hoping for lots of samples to keep the kids busy and happy while we shop!

Have a great Monday!

An excellent choice

For Dessert

Today we are having Ree's Peach Crisp.

So delish. Gotta love that pioneer woman !