Happy Homemaker Monday

Happy Monday to you Friends😊

It seems like we are flying with lightening speed through yet another month! This past weekend we celebrated some birthdays. My son's was last week and my Dad's is this week. My son came up to stay with us this weekend (his partner Jill was out of town with friends). So we celebrated both bdays together this past weekend. To me, their birthdays are always a sign of how late into summer we are - and how close September is coming. 

It has been such a dry summer so we are also already seeing moments of leaves changing color around our area. And the geese have been flying over, or gathering on the bay, in abundance. More signs of Autumn in the air. 🍁

I have the windows open today as it's only in the high 60's and partly overcast with a nice breeze. It feels heavenly! I was cleaning up from our birthday party fun from the weekend this morning. And doing my morning workout. Now that my back is feeling better I've been back to it (gently). And it sure feels wonderful to feel back to myself. And I know many kiddos started back to school this week. Including my Annie away at college. I think the local public schools here start right after Labor Day as well. So there is that back-to-school feeling in the stores and everywhere now too. I just sent Annie a fun goodie box to wish her a happy new school year and to send a few cute things for her new apartment. I always loved this time of year as a kiddo myself and I still embrace that  fresh start feeling in everyday life. I've been organizing some things in my bathroom and office. And the next job I will tackle will be our pantry cabinets in the kitchen. I guess that's my version of jumping into the start of a new season. 🍎❤️

THE WEATHER OUTSIDE IS:

ON THE BREAKFAST PLATE THIS MORNING:

 

I fasted this AM and just had iced coffee

ON MY TO DO LIST THIS WEEK:

errands, run things to my Mom & help her with Fall decorations, lunch and walking with a friend, groceries, cleaning projects, hospice work

THINKING ABOUT: 

how fun it was to catch up with my Aaron and how I hope Annie has an amazing school year ahead

THINGS THAT MAKE ME HAPPY:

sitting outside on the rocking glider with a cool breeze reading my book and hearing geese fly over

CURRENTLY READING

I still need to finish my latest book but not sure what I'm going to dive into next?

 

ON THE TV TODAY:

Big Brother, Ted Lasso, I am watching Sanditon I never watched it when it was on PBS, we may start Widows Bay in the future? we still need to go back and finish this season of House of the Dragon though too

ON THE MENU THIS WEEK:

    MONDAY - french onion soup and leftover pasta salad & veggies from the weekend

TUESDAY - fried eggs with chili crunch on toast or protein pancakes, berries

WEDNESDAY - slow cooker honey garlic chicken (new recipe) with jasmine rice, green beans from the garden & broccoli

THURSDAY - sesame ginger chicken crumbles over cauliflower rice, veggie spring rolls

FRIDAY - out for dinner or leftovers

TO RELAX THIS WEEK I WILL:

work on holiday projects, read 

TIPS OR SOMETHING TO SHARE:

 

FROM THE CAMERA:

It's been fun picking things out of our little garden to add to our dishes. The green beans are really coming in and we have had several meals with them as our side dish already. I pick a handful like this almost every couple of days. One night we had a yummy garlic & herb pork roast and with it some zucchini & the garden green beans sauteed with garlic and oregano from our garden too. Also, roasted potatoes that included rosemary from our garden. Love that part of this time of year. :)💚

We set the table for our birthday celebration and my Dad and step Mom came over. We started with some appetizers and then Matt grilled steaks, burgers, & corn on the cob... and we had veggie pasta salad, and melon too.

the card I got for my Dad (gnomes always remind me of him)

I made Ghiradelli brownies for Aaron and I made these apple dessert bars for my Dad. I made a short bread crust and baked it a little, then apples I tossed with sugar and cinnamon etc on top of that... and then I added a streusel topping and baked the bars until they were done. I topped them off with salted caramel sauce before serving. They were a hit! I will share the recipe in the future.

I follow a gal on social media that makes the best overnight oats recipes and she recently made a peach cobbler one - so I made that today to have tomorrow. They look &smell so good! I will share that recipe in the future too. Basically I cut up a peach and sauteed it in a tiny bit of butter with a tsp of maple syrup, vanilla, and cinnamon & nutmeg. And the oats have vanilla protein powder, milk, greek yogurt, chia seeds & a tiny bit of maple syrup, cinnamon & nutmeg too. 😋 Tomorrow I will stir it up and top with a little bit of granola or crushed graham cracker.

pretty late summer on the bay:

PRAYER LIST:

 For an end to the conflicts all over the world and anyone living in war & fear, especially everything going on in the middle east right now. For peace and unity in this country, especially from hate and shootings or violence.  For anyone sick, suffering, in pain, fear, loneliness etc ... that God bring them comfort and peace. For a friend that recently went through a break up :(

For the Lord's love and peace to fill all ❤️'s.

For Christ's Light and Love to cast out the darkness everywhere and help the world find its way to loving our neighbors as ourselves. 🙏🏻

PRAYER, INSPIRATIONAL QUOTE OR DEVOTIONAL:

I wish for you many of those wonderful unexpected moments my Friends. 

I'm sharing this with Sandra of Diary of a SAHM for Happy Homemaker Monday.

Happy Homemaker Monday

Hey there my Peeps! 

How are you doing on this fine Monday? Did you have a lovely weekend?

We were away to see family for a little reunion in Green Bay WI. Matt, Annie & I traveled down to the vrbo rental we had rented...and to meet other relatives for the weekend. It was a gorgeous property right on Green Bay (the actual water not just the city) and it was perfect for all we needed. We have several family that live in that area - as well as a few more relatives that flew or drove up for the weekend. 

We celebrated a few momentous things besides just catching up as family. My ex's Uncle had passed recently and he was a big GB Packers fan. Annie had asked if maybe we took a little of his ashes we could sprinkle some of him there. Matt & I as huge fans as well, were happy to oblige. Plus, in another life he had been my Uncle too. :) 

We also gathered at my Aunt's condo on Sunday for a little birthday celebration of a great Uncle of mine. He turned 98! So we had a little luncheon buffet and cupcakes and sang him happy birthday. 

We were blessed with lovely weather. We played bocce ball out on the lawn. We sat out in the sun and visited. Matt and I took sunset walks with my Aunt Mary Jo and had great deep conversations. We ate a lot of good food and played a lot of games. I don't know that I've laughed that hard in a long time. It was so nice as some cousins that never met Matt finally got to meet and know him. Many family members came up to me and kept saying how he fits in our family so well and how much they just love him. Yep, he's a keeper for life. 😊💗 

THE WEATHER OUTSIDE IS:

ON THE BREAKFAST PLATE THIS MORNING:

ice protein coffee and half of a bagel with scant amount of veggie cream cheese

ON MY TO DO LIST THIS WEEK:

errands & groceries, lab appt, cleaners come (we have company coming to stay this weekend and sometimes hiring help is a useful thing), visit my Mom, hospice work

THINKING ABOUT: 

things I want to accomplish and to grab to make for company coming this weekend (making lists) as well as Father's Day plans for my Dad (& step Dad, Matt)💙

THINGS THAT MAKE ME HAPPY:

watering and tending to my flowers in the morning as I listen to the birds sing, someone mowing the lawn in the distance, and geese honking on the bay

CURRENTLY READING

I have not been in summer reading mode yet - too busy during the day or too tired at night, but I have lots of good books lined up!

 

ON THE TV TODAY:

  Jeopardy, old seasons of big brother & the office, Castle Impossible, AGT, Sweet Magnolias

ON THE MENU THIS WEEK:

    MONDAY - leftovers we brought back in a cooler from the reunion

TUESDAY - asian chicken crumbles with sauce (Costco) over cauliflower rice, veggie spring rolls

WEDNESDAY -  

THURSDAY -  

FRIDAY - 

*need to plan out the rest of the week before we get groceries

TO RELAX THIS WEEK I WILL:

organize some of my craft area, play with my flowers/garden

TIPS OR SOMETHING TO SHARE:

I thought you might enjoy this "cozynooks" channel from youtube that had ambiance of a strawberry garden  🍓

 

FROM THE CAMERA:

Watering my flowers this AM and I could see all the ants crawling on my peony bulbs. They will bloom soon, yay! 

My great Uncle Paul is in the yellow shirt. He is a retired priest and we had a little 98th birthday for him at my Aunt's condo:

Here are some moments of family time at the VRBO. We took turns being teams playing bocce ball or being the cheerleaders on the sidelines.

The VRBO was a 5 bedroom 3 bathroom place and had several levels and a few different decks. Matt and I loved this one for coffee in the morning as we were often up earliest.

This is the back of the property standing on the big dock looking back at it. And I caught some sunset pics when were walking back from one of our walks with my Aunt:

Here are some pics of the property. Matt & I secured the VRBO and handled menu planning, grabbing the groceries, and made a lot of the menu items (Matt did the grilling too) - so they insisted we have the primary suite. Which was the whole 2nd floor! 😍

I forgot to get a photo, but besides the dining table it had several stools along the island and the cutest breakfast nook connected with the island that had benches.

the lower level had a bar, big screen tv and fuseball:

The whole 2nd floor was a primary suite that included the bedroom, bathroom, and a hallway that had 2 very large separate walk-in closets and full laundry. Matt & I loved it!

The top floor was like a little cuppola with a desk area....basically a nice quiet work area with an amazing view!

Matt, Annie & I took a visit to Lambeau football stadium and said hi to Vince Lombardi (the statue where Matt & I got engaged). We had stopped there to sprinkle some of my ex's Uncle Gary's ashes (Annie's great Uncle) as he had been a huge Packers fan. Matt & I love Lambeau and were happy to help. We picked out a lot number in the parking field so there was kind of a designated spot to know where he is. I said a few words and we all said an Our Father prayer over him and then Annie sprinkled him and I got some pics for her dad. 

PRAYER LIST:

 For an end to the conflicts all over the world and anyone living in war & fear, especially everything going on in the middle east right now. For peace and unity in this country, especially from hate and shootings or violence.  For anyone sick, suffering, in pain, fear, loneliness etc ... that God bring them comfort and peace. For healing for my Mom. 

For the Lord's love and peace to fill 2026. ❤️ 

For Christ's Light and Love to cast out the darkness everywhere and help the world find its way to loving our neighbors as ourselves. 🙏🏻

PRAYER, INSPIRATIONAL QUOTE OR DEVOTIONAL:

I am so grateful for the gift of family. And I consider my good friends (like you) family I get to choose to have in my life too. 😊💗 

Blessings on your week Friends!

I'm sharing this with Sandra of Diary of a SAHM for Happy Homemaker Monday.