Weekend Fun.....

We just got back yesterday around lunch time. We had a nice time visiting family & friends. The kids got to go on lots of tractor rides, which they all enjoyed.

We went out to my brothers acreage and the kids had a blast playing with there cousins.

They jumped on a huge trampoline,

roasted marshmallow over a fire and ate some smores,

played with sand and Gabe's favorite part was probably the caterpillar digger & wagon.

What great times we all had.

Other things we did.....

We ate lots of red raspberries, which Gabe could not get enough of...

made chocolate chip cookies, which Noah finished up a bit of the dough.....

the kids got to go fishing with mommy and grandpa.....

and on the ride home they slept a bit because they were so tired from all the activity.

Gone for the weekend......

We are going to visit my family for the weekend. It's been a few months and the kids are super excited. I am also looking forward to the quiet country and peaceful mornings. There is nothing like waking up and looking outside to beauty. I know the kids will keep me plenty busy. We are hoping to do a little fishing, hang out with some friends and see family. Have a great weekend!

Garage Sale Find......
I have the kids kitchen and tool bench set up in the garage. It is perfect for summer time because the kids love to play outside. For a while I have been wanting to find the kid some play food to go with the kitchen. Actually just last night I was on eBay looking to see what I could find.Well.....

today went to some garage sales and came across a kids kitchen with a bag of play food. I asked right away to see if they would just sell me the bag of food and right a way she said sure. She also said they had a whole bunch more in the house and went inside and bagged more up. I got a big bag full for $3. What a deal:)

As you can see the kids got busy cooking & creating right away.

Super simple meal plan this week and everything the kids love to eat and mom and dad too. We didn't make it to visit my family this past weekend, so we are heading there this coming weekend. I am looking forward to getting a way for a few days and having fun with friends & family.

Monday: Haystacks

Tuesday: Tacos, Homemade Guacamole

Wednesday: Leftovers

Thursday: Hamburgers, French Fries, Corn

Friday: Gone for the weekend to visit Mom & Dad, we ended up not going last weekend.

To find more meal ideas visit Organizing Junkie.

Ouch......
I had myself a little accident on Wednesday. I was trimming the bushes out back and cut off the tip of my left pointer finger. It hurt and bleed like crazy. I called my hubby right away and he tried to calm me down. I then called a friend who came over for a while to help me out. When Brandon got home around supper time he decided that I should go in to Urgent Care to have it looked at. They cleaned it, wrapped it and then gave me a tetanus shot. I am still in shock that I did this , but am just thankful that it looks like it will heal up well. I guess I just won't be playing piano or guitar for a while, which is a bummer.

Green Bean Fun....
This is the first summer that I have planted green beans and I don't know why that is. I love to eat them and the plants produce so much. My mom gave me the seeds last fall. Thanks Mom!

The kids helped me pick the steams off, so I could blanch and freeze them. They were a big help and enjoyed helping mommy.

I got 5 - 12 oz bags and there will be a lot more of those bags before the plants are done. I love eating my own home grown vegetables all winter long.

Look at Me.......

It's been a few weeks since I have done a menu and to be honest I have missed it. I even had a friend comment that she missed my menus. I hate to ask the question every night what should we have. It's much easier to have it planned out for the week. Plus with the kids it's easier to work a head. So here's what will be cooking at our house this week. To find more menu plan ideas visit Organizing Junkie.

Monday: Salmon, Fried shredded potatoes & Broccoli

Tuesday: Baked Chicken, Mashed Potatoes, Salad

Wednesday: Spaghetti & Meatballs, Fried Zucchini

Thursday: Pizza

Friday: Gone for the weekend to visit Mom & Dad

Garden Bounty.......

Yesterday I was out looking at my garden and noticed a string bean hanging on my string bean plants. I then took a closer look at my cucumber plants and found the perfect size cucumber to eat. I also picked a nice size bowl of broccoli, which is my third picking so far. It's so nice to eat fresh veggies from my garden. Probably only a week or so and I will have zucchini coming out my ears. I made a yummy stir fry last night for supper.

I'm looking forward to a nice weekend. The weather looks like it's going to be perfect. I'm not really sure what we will be up to, but I'm sure we will find something to do for fun. I know one thing I will not be doing is baking. We have been finishing up all the deserts from the 4th of July weekend and I told my hubby no more deserts for a few weeks.

Dentist Appointment.....
Today I had to take Anna in for the second time. She had a tooth that was bothering her, so they had to fix the problem area.

What a trooper!

Happy Birthday Hubby......

4th of July Weekend....

We had a nice weekend with friends. Our home town always has a nice parade each year and then a wonderful fireworks display, which is right across the street from our house. The kids look forward to the 4th each year and for me it brings back wonderful memories from when I was little. My family would host each year a huge celebration, which was so much fun.

The kids had such a hard time waiting for the fireworks to start, but when they did they were all excited. Unfortunately, the dogs had a different story to tell. They didn't like the loud noise of the fireworks.

The kids have been enjoying a lot of popsicles. This is the picture that I found one afternoon. Anna had gotten both herself and Gabriel a popsicle and were sitting outside in there little chairs.

How was your 4th of July weekend?

Summer Activities......
During the summer here in Wisconsin they have a nice farmer's market on Tuesday evenings and then a concert in the park in the evening. The kids have really been enjoying both activities and so has mommy.

The most exciting activity for the kids is this coming weekend. The 4th of July parade and the fireworks. They have asked about it several time since last year and the weekend is finally here. Now I just have to keep reminding them that the parade is not till tomorrow. If only kids understood time! I think tomorrow they are going to be super excited and the weather is looking really nice.

So what are your 4th of July plans??

It was 9 years ago that I married my wonderful hubby. Wow how the time flies.

New Recipe

I finally had a chance to post a new recipe over on my recipe blog. I made up some cinnamon rolls last night with a recipe that I got from a friend. To find the sweet dough recipe go here. Try it out and you will not be disappointed.

Shaving Cream Fun.....
The kids thought this was lots of fun. We found the activity in one of the magazines that the kids get.

And yes I sat the little guy on the toilet. Wow he is getting so big and He thought it was pretty cool.

Water Fun.....

There has been a lot of water activities the last few days, since it has been so hot and humid. The kids have been having a blast and I've enjoyed watching the fun and getting a little wet myself. There is a free swimming pool that's only about 20 minutes from our house that I plan on taking the kids to sometime this week and a nice park right by it too.

Garden Progress.....

We had a pretty busy weekend, but I did manage to take a few pictures of the garden. It is doing very well. We had had a lot of rain and now the weather is pretty hot and humid, which makes the garden grow like crazy. This weather also helps the weeds to grow, but I have been doing pretty well at keeping a head of them. I am so picked a couple bowls of strawberries from my patch, which has been great. Gabriel loves fresh strawberries, but the other two kids don't.

Zucchini plants - I think I will be getting some pretty soon.

The tomato plants are doing great. I moved my plants this year to part of the garden that gets the longest sun light and it has helped because my plants are really big and better then they have ever been.

The string beans are doing very well. Thanks mom for the seeds. I also have been picking spinach for salads. The only plants that are still pretty small are my pepper plants. I'm not really sure why. The cucumbers & squash plants are growing well.

I also just picked some broccoli last night. We will be enjoying that for supper one of these nights.

So how is are garden growing?

Cute Song.....

I came across a video on You Tube that I thought was cute. To listen to it go here the song is called "Walking Daddy Blues".

Just Hanging Out......

We have had a busy week. We visited some friends this past Sunday at there church and then talked the afternoon away while our kids played. Then on Monday I had to play catch up from the weekend, since I was not home much. I had plenty of dishes, laundry & cleaning that needed to be done a long with taking a nap.

Tuesday was another day of activities. The kids and I took a walk to the library & park. I had a dentist appointment in the afternoon and then we went grocery shopping at Woodman's before we headed home. The rest of the week has been a blur. I some how picked up a scratchy throat and watery eyes, which has also made me tired. I am ready for it to be over.

The humid heat wave has hit the area, which has not been pleasant, but is great garden growing weather. My garden is do great. We have already had some broccoli & spinach. I will take pictures some time soon and share them with you all.

Women's Conference......
This last weekend I had a chance to get away for the day. The speakers were Patricia Appleby who has a ministry called "Women of the Well International Ministries" and Lisa Griffin who did the special music with her daughters. It was a very encouraging day and was nice to see friends that I have not seen in a while. Thanks to my hubby for taking care of the kids for the day. Below are pictures of some of the lovelies at the conference.

Simple Craft Projects......

I love to find simple craft projects for the kids to do. I have a few kids craft blogs that I enjoy reading, which have lots of little projects. Another project that we did on the same lines as the marshmallow letters was gluing macaroni on paper in the shape of letters. The kids also enjoyed eating the marshmallows and macaroni while crafting away.

Hope you all have a wonderful weekend. Happy Crafting:)

Rhubarb Cranberry Jam......
I picked some rhubarb from my garden and decided to make some freezer jam. I love freezer jams because the taste of the fruit is so fresh tasting. I used a very easy recipes, which can be found here. It made 3 pints plus this extra jelly container you can see in the picture. I enjoyed it on my homemade bread this morning. My mother in law was here to visit a few weeks ago and I learned that I can make up a double batch of this homemade bread recipe in my bread machine on the dough cycle. Then just take it out afterward and divided it up between to bread pans, let it rise, and bake it in the oven. I then just freeze the extra loaf, so that I don't have to bake bread as often. I also love to eat homemade bread with my oatmeal in the morning and the boys also love oatmeal and bread for breakfast too. This makes a great start to the day!

Gabe's Kind of Fun....
Some of the things that Gabe likes to play with are....
tools, tractors, & diggers

Grandpa & Grandma Came to Visit.....
Last weekend we had a nice visit from my in-laws. We had a nice time visiting & Brandon's dad is a Mr. Fix it, so we got some nice projects done around the house, which was nice. They brought Gabriel a little John Deere tractor that had a plow and wagon with in. So the boys went to the sandbox to do a little plowing.

I even got a new grill, which works great and went out on a date with my hubby.

We all had a great time together & we had such nice weather.

Flowers from a Friend......
These are the exact flowers that I had for my wedding. I just love them and they brighten my day.

Where Have I Been.......
I have been busy the last few days with my in-laws visiting. We had a wonderful time and the kids enjoyed seeing them & sleeping in there huge camper. Now that I think about it I wish I would of taken a picture of it. Anyway I am playing catch up here with getting laundry done and put a way. The kids are also resting extra because they are worn out from lack of napping and just the over all excitement. We had a great time and I will share more over the next few days and pictures as well.