Insta-Friday.

Hard to believe another week of summer vacation is over. :( We must have had a good week though because I can't believe it's Friday already! It feels like it should only be Wednesday.

Took a trip to the Dairy Queen after lunch one day and used our free ice cream treats/50 cents off mini-blizzard coupons that came on our kids' meals from a couple weeks back. I never let the kids get those desserts the day we're there-- it's just too much food in my opinion. Besides, it makes it more fun to go again another time and get some ice cream dirt cheap. And since we all order kids meals because I am too cheap to order off the regular menu, we usually have 5 coupons to use.

A 9:30pm pajama run for some french fries at McDonalds. It's been a family tradition since Meghan was about two. Without warning the kids are told to get shoes on and head to the car-- pajamas and all. Then we drive to McDonalds for some hot salty french fries. The later it is, the better the fries are and the more the kids love it.

Dinner at the Farmer's Market-- what could be better?!??! We listened to a quartet while we sat in a grassy area eating our fresh from the farm goodies. So relaxing. So enjoyable. So.......summery.

Experienced the laundromat several times since my washing machine bit the dust on Sunday. Up until this week I had never even stepped foot in it, this week I was there three times. I do have to admit that I like getting 4 loads washed at the same time though-- HUGE time saver!

Took the kids to the dentist. Always a pleasure since they all love getting their teeth cleaned. Weird for a kid, I know. But they get it from their mom. I love getting my teeth cleaned, too.

We finally went to the bakery in town. Only took us 11 years. Should have gone sooner. It was awesome. HUGE cookies for a mere 59cents........ gigantic cow pies for $1.25......and the most delicious breads. I can see that we'll be "regular" customers from now on.

Went to the pet store in town after our trip to the bakery. Again, only took us 11 years to get there! While I could have done without the mouse/rat section (it was disgusting), it does need to be noted that their fish section is amazing. I kid you not it is aisle, after aisle, after aisle, after aisle of exotic fish. The kids loved it.

Biked to the pedestrian bridge one evening and waved at all the cars passing underneath. It's always fun to see how many cars will honk and wave back. Even the police will honk and wave- which Noah thinks is the absolute best. Lucky for him three cops passed by that night.

After the pedestrian bridge we biked to our town movie theater and bought popcorn to bring home to eat while we watched The Big Bang Theory.

This was a common scene at our dining room table this week as I attempted to study. I use the word attempted loosely because I just wasn't feeling it. Which is a bummer because that means I now have to cram on Friday to get all my homework finished and turned in on time. :(

Took the kids to visit this sweet, sweet lady and her husband. I absolutely love my grandparents, I love listening to their stories, I love just getting to talk with them and just being around them in general and I think it's awesome that my kids think they're so great too.

Tasty Tuesday.

Life has been very hectic lately (read: the past 14 months) so my usual routine of cooking dinner every night has been virtually non-existent. No joke, there have been times when we have not had a home-cooked meal for two weeks. It's sad really, but it's the season of life we're in right now.

Anyway, I set a goal for myself this week to try to cook at home all week long. But the stipulation I had set for myself was that they needed to be easy meals. We're talking either 20 minutes or less on the stovetop or crockpot meals because that's about all I have time for.

For the most part the planning went well. I was only one meal short. It wasn't a big deal, the world wasn't going to end, but it was frustrating me a bit because I was so determined to be a domestic goddess this week and cook, and clean, and even bake some cookies and iron clothes. And then yesterday this recipe showed up in my email.

Whew! Food problem solved! Flylady saved the day and I have not failed as a wife and mom!

Five Minute Lasagna
1 (26 ounce) jar spaghetti sauce (your favorite)
1 (30 ounce) bag frozen large cheese ravioli, not thawed
1 (10 ounce) package frozen spinach, thawed and drained (optional)
1 (8 ounce) package mozzarella, shredded
1/2 cup Romano cheese, grated

Make It!
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Lightly grease a 13-x-9-inch baking dish and spoon in about 1/3 of the
sauce. Arrange 12 of the raviolis on top; then evenly lay all the spinach
over the top of the raviolis. Top that with half of each cheese. Now cover
with another layer of raviolis, the remaining sauce and the remaining
cheese. Tent with foil (don't let cheese touch the foil or it will stick)
and bake 25 minutes; then uncover it and bake for 5 to 10 minutes more
until bubbly.

Peach Cobbler.

Saw this recipe on this blog this morning and instantly knew that I had to make Peach Cobbler today.

Insta-Friday.

We had a pretty quiet week this week. Lots of time spent close to home. It was a nice change!

Took advantage of the killer deals at Old Navy and took these two back to school shopping on Monday.

And because we worked up such an appetite shopping, the kids wanted Arby's for lunch. So, the dollar menu it was because I'm just cheap like that.

Spent an afternoon teaching this little munchkin the joys of flying a kite.

A favorite activity of ours this summer was mini-golfing. Gotta love Addison's granny stance!

Finally made it to the local farmer's market. There's just nothing better than fresh from the garden fruits and vegetables, in my humble opinion.

Stopped off at a new-to-us park on our way home from the farmers market. We seem to have found a few of those this summer. Makes me wonder what rock we've been living under these past 11 years!

Countless batches of these have been consumed this week. They have made especially tasty great afternoon snacks-- especially when eaten outside on a blanket in the yard.

Button Magnets.

Last weekend I felt the need to make something but I didn't feel like making anything big. Or time consuming. Which is really kind of a lame thing for me to say because all projects feel "big and time consuming" since I'm not really a crafter, but all the same, I wanted to try my hand at something, just not something that required a lot of skill. (maybe that's a better statement!)

Anyway, my mom has these magnets on her fridge and all they are are buttons of various sizes and colors glued together. Easy enough. Cute. Useful. And something I could do without too much hassle. So that's what I did.

After making a quick run to Walmart to get magnets (gotta love that Walmart is open 24 hours and only a mile and a half down the road!), I gathered up all my spare buttons and Marty's bottle of Gorilla glue and sat down to make button magnets.

So easy. Definitely an "if I can do it, you can do it too" type of project. Only the next time I make them I think I will branch out and use better buttons.

Chocolate Club Bars.

I decided these are a "must make" this week after finding them here the other day.

Chocolate Club Bars
45 Club Crackers
2 sticks butter
1 cup packed light brown sugar
1 cup Peanut Butter chips
1 1/2 cups chocolate chips, melted

Make It!
Place 15 club crackers in the bottom of an 8×8 inch square baking pan that’s been lined with foil and sprayed with cooking spray. Sprinkle 1/2 cup peanut butter chips on crackers. Meanwhile, melt butter and brown sugar in a medium saucepan over medium high heat stirring constantly for 4 minutes, until bubbly, smooth and creamy caramel forms. Pour 1/2 cup or so of caramel over peanut butter chips then add another layer of crackers, peanut butter chips and caramel. Top with one final layer of crackers then spread with melted chocolate.

Yields 15 bars.

Bleach Pen T-Shirts.

Tie Dying t-shirts was on "the list" per Meghan's request. I was a good sport and obliged her request to add it to the list, but just like with Noah's bird feeder idea, I had no clue how to go about it. So again, just like with Noah's bird feeder idea, I procrastinated and I procrastinated until I just couldn't procrastinate any more. I finally had to break down and figure something out.

So, after a bit of research on the internet for alternative ideas, I found Bleach-Pen Drawing. It wasn't messy. It was inexpensive. And all three kids could do their own-- even little Miss Addison. In short, it was PERFECT!

All we had to do was buy some Clorox Bleach Pens and some dark colored tees from Walmart, figure out what we wanted to draw, slip some wax paper inside the shirts so the bleach wouldn't bleed through and draw. Once the bleach dried (about 45 minutes) we rinsed them out and popped them in the dryer. The kids have been wearing them ever since!

Linking Up With:

Insta-Friday.

We had a good week this week! Definitely trying to make the most of our last few weeks of summer. And so, so thankful that I get to enjoy this time with my kids.
I took the kids hiking at a nearby state park. The peacefulness of the park was loved by all. So was the scenery.

Made fruit pizza as our summer dessert on our summer list. Forgot how easy it really is to make. Definitely need to make it more often.

Walked along the trail by our house for a bit before walking over to the library to watch a magic show. As we walked, I was truly grateful for where we live and all the great things it has to offer.

Went to a nearby park after dinner one night to shoot some hoops, play some tennis and play on the playground equipment. Much to Noah's chagrin, Meghan won every game of PIG and BANANA. I guess that basketball camp really paid off!

Spent a lot of time drooling over the goodness that is the IKEA catalog. Marty may need to get another job!

Went hiking along an abandoned dirt road by our house to collect rocks because you can never have too many rocks! Hopefully next week we'll have time to paint some of the rocks we collected.

Grilled mini-pizzas for lunch one day. Five out of five Schires' surveyed said they loved them and can't wait to do it again. Plus, we were able to cross yet another thing off our summer list. (whew-- lots of things still left on our list and not a lot of time to do them in)

Enjoyed some Good Mood Food at Arby's one afternoon.......if you can call Arby's good mood food that is. At least the price was right! Hard to beat $1.00 for a small shake. Their $1.00 apple turnovers aren't too bad either.

Partook in some free bowling with these two while Addison was at daycare. I swear, the kids bowl free program is the best thing around. You should look it up-- www.kidsbowlfree.com.

Had way too many McDonalds runs this week, but it's hard to say no when their ice cream treats are so good......and so reasonably priced.....and the weather is so hot.

Linking up at:

Alphabet Game.

After being inspired to make a homemade alphabet game by this post a few weeks ago, I am proud to say I have finally accomplished this goal/project!

While hiding out in my bedroom watching a Hallmark Channel movie, I punched circles from scrapbook paper, adhered them to one side of the wooden circles then stuck ABC stickers on the other side. I ended up making two of each letter. Just enough to spell some easy words or play a quick game of memory.

Easy peasy and Addison loves it!

Linking up with: