Summer days...

It's now day 3 of summer vacation and the kids have been outside from sun up to sun down since getting out of school.  They have been having neighborhood water gun fights, slip and slide time, swinging, running, laughing, etc...  It's so wonderful to see and reminds me of my own childhood, my siblings and I spent every minute we could playing outside.  We had neighbors we played with all the time, they were all boys but I never seemed to mind (even had my first crush on one of them at age 5).   I am so happy to see my kids outside soaking up the sunshine and fresh air.

Do it yourself microwave popcorn...

I love popcorn!  It's my go to snack.  I have been buying microwave popcorn for as long as I can remember.  It's convenient, quick, and delicious.  However, I've read recently that the chemicals in the bags may not be that great for you, in fact there are carcinogens that may cause cancer... um... no thanks!  I can't remember where I saw it, but I heard about an easy way to make your own microwave popcorn.  It's just as easy as the store bought popcorn, but with added benefits.  First, your not getting the chemicals found in typical microwave bags, and second you can control the amount of butter, oil, and salt.

All you need are some brown paper lunch bags (you know the ones you always had to bring a bagged lunch in on a field trip, the ones that guaranteed your food would be squished by lunch time).  You also need some popcorn kernels (super inexpensive and you'll be amazed how much popcorn you can make from one jar.  And finally some oil, butter, salt, or any other toppings you desire (you can get creative here).

Measure a half a cup of kernels and put them in your brown bag.  Next you fold the bag top down a couple of times and put it in the microwave.  I cook mine on high for 2 1/2 minutes (wait until there is less then two seconds between pops to take it out of the microwave).

And there you have it, a healthy alternative to microwave popcorn.  Just add your toppings and enjoy!

Magic Beans...

I love looking at comparisons of how the kids grow since I don't always notice it day to day.  This morning I took a picture of them in the same place I always take first day of school pictures.  It's the last day of school and I wanted to see how they compared.  Tyler wouldn't put on shoes so it's hard to get an exact comparison, but you can still see that he's grown a bit.  Juliana has grown so much it was shocking to see the difference.  The pictures are taken at a different angle so it's not an exact comparison, but you can still see where the tops of the heads are on the mantle.  I think they've been eating magic beans!  ;)

First day of 3rd and 5th grade vs last day of 3rd and 5th grade:

A yucky day... but a good day for lighting.

It's been on the verge of raining all day, and just a general "yucky" day.  However, when it's overcast, it's the perfect time to snap some pictures (no shadows or over exposure from the harsh sun today).  I took a little walk around my backyard and got a few good shots. If I was more of a gardener (or a gardener at all) I'd have more variety, but it's not something I will ever aspire to become, so these shots are the best I could find.

My "favorite" cupcakes... lemon cream cheese.

This is a very ease recipe for super yummy cupcakes.  I love cupcakes, and these were extra delicious.  The recipe was quite simple (a semi-homemade recipe), doesn't get better then that.

The recipe:

what you need

1 pkg. (2-layer size) white cake mix

1 pkg.  (3.4 oz.) JELL-O Lemon Flavor Instant Pudding

1 cup water

4   egg whites

2 Tbsp. oil

1 pkg.  (8 oz.) PHILADELPHIA Cream Cheese, softened

1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter, softened

2 Tbsp.  lemon juice

1 pkg. (16 oz.) powdered sugar

make it

HEAT oven to 350ºF.

BEAT first 5 ingredients in large bowl with mixer on low speed until moistened. (Batter will be thick.) Beat on medium speed 2 min. Spoon into 24 paper-lined muffin cups.

BAKE 21 to 24 min. or until toothpick inserted in centers comes out clean. Cool in pans 10 min.; remove to wire racks. Cool completely.

BEAT cream cheese, butter and juice with mixer until well blended. Gradually add sugar, beating on low speed after each addition until well blended. Spread onto cupcakes.

Top with a zest of lemon.

Two more weeks of school... OH MY!

I've said it once, or twice, or a million times... but I will say it again, "WHERE DOES THE TIME GO"?!  It seems like just yesterday I was getting my kids ready for their first day of school and here we are facing just two weeks until summer break.  Don't get me wrong, I LOVE summer break, I just cannot believe how fast the school year went.  Juliana is getting ready to complete her first year of middle school!  I don't understand how I can possibly be old enough to have a child going into sixth grade, I can remember sixth grade in such detail, it makes this almost surreal.  She had her end of year concerts for school, she is in both band and chorus and loves them both.  We opted her out of Spanish so she could be in both music programs (I know, bad parents, but does it really matter if she can count to 100 in Spanish).

Ready for her band concert (she's a drummer/percussionist)

Ready for her chorus concert:

She is almost done with her first season of travel soccer:

Here she is sleeping with the cat, it has nothing to do with school, it's just cute:

Tyler is about to end his 3rd grade year, and will be beginning his final year at Elementary School in the Fall.  That just makes me want to scream!  He's my baby, and getting too big.

He had a project to do on the history of our town, he took all the pictures himself:

Yesterday was his 3rd grade recorder/chorus concert:

He made a recycled robot:

And his mohawk is back:

That's all for us right now... two more weeks and our summer will officially kick off!  Woo hoo!!