The hardest part about blogging...

I haven't been blogging this summer, summer is normally my high time for blogging.  I love to capture all that we do as a family and that the kids do over summer vacation so that when they are older they can look back at all the memories I have saved for them.  Whenever I have a new blog that involves the kids my mother in law always emails right away with a comment.  I got to the point where if she didn't email me within a day I was disappointed (although that only happened probably once).  Sadly my mother in law passed away earlier this month after a 3.5 month battle with cancer at age 62.  It's been a really sad summer for all of us, as she was a fabulous person, and it's also left me not wanting to blog as I know there won't be a follow up email anymore.  As I write this blog I have tears streaming down my face, I am sad for me, I am sad for my husband, I am sad for my father in law, I am sad for her Mother, and I am really sad for my children.

I am 36 years old and still have both of my Grandmothers in my life (they are both 87, how lucky am I)!  My children are 8 & 10 and know what it is to loose someone you truly love.  Juliana has taken it harder then Tyler, I think age and gender have a lot to do with that.  I tell her all the time how she has to not be sad about the loss, but happy about the time she did have with her.  I tell her to remember all the fun they had together, and know she'll always be in her heart.

I don't quite think that her passing has really sunk in for all of us just yet.  I think that's how it is when you loose someone, you think you'll see them again, it's hard for the brain to process that you will never see them again.

I've been going through so many pictures of her, it's been quite fun to see her and my father in law when they first got together (in high school), and pictures of my husband when he was young.  I love photography, that's always been obvious, but when you are gone sometimes all people are left with are the images frozen in time, and that is my favorite thing about it.

This was taken in 1976 of Steve and his Mom, I love the decor, the emotion, the smiles:

And some with Juliana and Tyler:

May she rest in peace.

It's only been two weeks...

It's only been two weeks of summer vacation and we've already been so busy.  The kids spent the first week with all the kids in the neighborhood in our frontyard playing a Nickelodeon game called Figure It Out.  It was really cute to see them all playing so well together, and all ages could play.  I went out late one afternoon and saw how it was all set up.

Tyler did some beading on the last day of school, he made his teacher some earings and a bracelet, and a necklace for me.  He insisted we go out and buy some more beads and he made the neighbors some things (who doesn't love a guy who can make you jewelry).

Juliana's school has a bunch of afterschool clubs, her last trimester she did one called, Beach Bag Bonanza, they made flip flops, tye dye shirts, bandana bags, etc...  They also made an organic foot scrub, Juliana and our neighbor Jillian were trying it out the other day.

Last year we bought a little pool, it was super cheap and it goes up in less then an hour.  The kids have so much fun in it.

Tyler had a picnic for gymnastics and got a trophy for his participation this year (his was the first name called of the day).

Our neighbors had an outdoor movie night.

 

We went to the movies (Madagascar 3, very funny).

We went to two concerts with several perfomers the kids loved, they were outdoor concerts and the kids zeroed in on the "fun" food.

We went to the beach with cousins (Erin & Grant).

And to Misquamicut beach in Rhode Island with our old neighbors from Massachusetts.

It's only been a little over two weeks and we've already done so much... I can't wait to see what the rest of the summer has in store for us!

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!!