Happy Homemaker Monday

Happy Monday my Friends!

Well we've marched straight into August and it already feels like another speedy month. 

We continue to try to soak up the joys of summer each day...and we spent the weekend up at the lake cottage with Matt's folks. Time at the lake  always slows time a bit. So that was wonderful. 😊 

Did you have a lovely weekend? I sure hope so. 💗

We have had horrible hazy days from smoke due to the wildfires in Canada. It's very far stretching throughout Minnesota and Wisconsin - so we have it here and at the lake. So up at the cottage we mainly hibernated inside and didn't get any pontoon time in...so that was a bummer. But time with his folks is always fun and we chatted lots, played cards and games, and watched movies. We had a living room picnic Saturday night and watched Happy Gilmore and Happy Gilmore 2 - which was cute and funny btw, but we also love golf. We had a sort of charcuterie spread in the dining room and loaded our plates and sat in the living room and watched the movies. I highly recommend that, it was great!

But now all too soon it's back to a new week. It looks like kind of a rainy one too. Might be more hibernation inside in my future. Lol 

 

THE WEATHER OUTSIDE IS:

ON THE BREAKFAST PLATE THIS MORNING:

1/2 an apple cinnamon bagel, iced coffee

ON MY TO DO LIST THIS WEEK:

some paperwork, items for a special surprise party coming up (more on that in the future), work on some of Annie college stuff, errands, groceries later this week, hospice work

THINKING ABOUT:  

some fun events coming up and getting to see relatives, always a fun part of summer 💛☀️ 

 

THINGS THAT MAKE ME HAPPY:

that feeling when the laundry is caught up :) 

CURRENTLY READING

I think after I'm done with all my current mags  I may dive into Summer at Little Beach Street Bakery  by Jenny Colgan

ON THE TV TODAY:

 Americas Got Talent, And Just Like That, The Gilded Age, The Office, Big Brother,The Last Kingdom, American Pickers, The Pitt (I'm watching this one and love it)

ON THE MENU THIS WEEK:

    MONDAY - breakfast for dinner (always an Annie fave)

TUESDAY - taco salads we didn't do last week

WEDNESDAY - Asian soup dumplings with chili crunch, veggies

THURSDAY - 

FRIDAY - 

*Not sure about the rest of the week as we will need groceries. But thinking a veggie lasagna (another thing Annie would love), possibly a lemon chicken stir fry? 

TO RELAX THIS WEEK I WILL:

read, hang with my girl, play games

TIPS OR SOMETHING TO SHARE:

I need to try this for Ruby!

FROM THE CAMERA:

The sunsets and moon rises have been so weird due to the smoke from the wildfires:

The lilies have still been so pretty and garden going strong. And still lots of bunnies in the yard every single day:

Headed to the lake and Ruby was all cleaned up for the occasion. The peaches have been so good - I made a cobbler for the weekend and I'll share that recipe soon :) 

And even though I adore summer days and that my Annie is still here and basically all the summer goodness...you who know me well, know that this is in the back of my mind all through August. I LOVE Fall nights out on the deck by the fire with a cozy blanket on my lap sipping a warm drink. Soon...not yet, but soon. 🍁

PRAYER LIST:

 For an end to the conflicts all over the world and anyone living in war & fear. 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 the wildfires to be put out and for anyone suffering from natural disasters.

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

PRAYER, INSPIRATIONAL QUOTE OR DEVOTIONAL:

I wish you all a beautiful week ahead! 

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

Wednesday Wonder: Bobcat

 

Happy Fourth of July and a fun Summer Recipe

 

Hello Friends! 

Happy Independence Day to my Friends in the USA. ❤️💙 I hope you have a fun day planned ahead. We were invited to our bestie's, the C's, cabin...but Matt and I are having a mellow fourth because we both work tomorrow. And I'm kind of thrilled because June went by in a blink because we were so busy! So chilling sounds great. 

One of the reasons we were so busy was because our Annie graduated high school. She graduated in early June. Then we went on our big Europe trip...so we had her grad party late in the month. For those that didn't see about it - we did a Hawaiian theme as Annie dreams of going there one day, and because she loves pineapple flavored anything! As you can see, we had fun getting into the theme including a photo op spot with palm tree and basket of lei's and pineapple sunglasses. :) 

One of her favorite pineapple related flavors is pina colada flavored things (she's not old enough to drink yet 😉). So I found this recipe for a pina colada dip and it was a hit and went fast! What was left over, Annie ate up the next day. Lol

We had a separate extra big fruit tray - but we kept a smaller one next to the pina colada dip, and the strawberry cream cheese dip...along with nilla wafers and cinnamon graham crackers too. The nilla wafers were especially delish with the pina colada dip! 

I toasted some coconut to garnish the top and I highly recommend that extra. The recipe is pinned on my pinterest board labeled "Annie grad party" It came from diprecipecreations.com 

The only thing I didn't do was the coconut cream because we couldn't find it. We only found cream of coconut, which is not the same thing. See the note below. So I instead added some extra coconut extract. But the rest I kept the same. It turned out great! 

Here's the recipe:

I'm off to play some ladderball with my fellow, take Ruby for a nice walk, BBQ, enjoy my book on the deck, and hopefully go watch the local fireworks tonight. 

I hope you enjoy! xo

Wednesday Wonder

 

My happy place on hotter days. ☀️

*planning to share recipe post tomorrow and the post about the trip on Friday (can't believe July 4th is tomorrow already! 💙❤️)

Happy Homemaker Monday

Hello and Happy Monday! ☀️ 

I hope you had a wonderful weekend Friends. ;) It was a nice one here for the most part. I made a nice family dinner for Matt, Annie & I Friday. Matt and I went out for dinner Saturday. Sunday was a lot of the usuals...church, brunch, errands (& brought things for my Mom and step Dad), a 2 mile walk and a girlfriend of mine popped by and we had a nice chat on the deck. But then last night I ended up in the ER.

 I had been having pain in my side thinking it was a pulled muscle and took some pain pills and mostly ignored it past several days. But last night I had like muscle spasms and terrible pain that made me really nauseous too. Matt insisted he take me to the ER. Turns out I have a bruised rib (no idea how I bruised it) and I need to limit my activity for a while. Ugh! Not something I'm great with as I love being active with my fella and around the house. But I know it could be worse and I'm grateful I didn't have a fracture. So I will be a good girl and work to heal up. 

I hope your weekend was lovely and far less "exciting" in any crazy way. Lol 😆 

THE WEATHER OUTSIDE IS:

ON THE BREAKFAST PLATE THIS MORNING:

yogurt with granola, iced coffee

ON MY TO DO LIST THIS WEEK:

meeting 2 different friends 2 different days to catch up, errands, computer work to do, gentle projects around the house, hospice work from home and at facility

THINKING ABOUT:  

Fun things planned for this summer 😊 

AS I LOOK AROUND THE HOUSE

Sun is streaming through the windows and it's the perfect summer day outside. I spent some time on the deck earlier and it's truly my happy place. 

CURRENTLY READING

planning to start a book my Mom gave me called What if God Wrote Your Bucket List by Jay Payleitner

ON THE TV TODAY:

  HGTV and cooking shows, AGT,some vlogs on youtube, I may watch Persuasion on netflix 

ON THE MENU THIS WEEK:

    MONDAY - pasta, Italian salad, garlic bread 

TUESDAY - sushi night?

WEDNESDAY -  going to throw bacon jalapeno popper smoked sausages on the grill with corn on the cob, veggies and have melon

THURSDAY - ravioli lasagna, salad

FRIDAY -  Mediterranean orzo pasta salad with chicken swarma slices and tzatziki sauce, fruit

TO RELAX THIS WEEK I WILL:

read, garden, meet up with friends

TIPS OR SOMETHING TO SHARE:

I looked this up and they do have deals - some are up to 50% off - but lots of other discount items too. 

FROM THE CAMERA:

my happy place 💕 

PRAYER LIST:

 For an end to the conflict in the Ukraine and other areas of the world living in war & fear. For peace and unity in this country, especially from hate and shootings or violence.  For anyone sick, suffering, in pain or fear... that God bring them comfort and peace. For His Light and Love to cast out the dark everywhere. 🙏 

PRAYER, INSPIRATIONAL QUOTE OR DEVOTIONAL:

Have a blessed and sunny week ahead! I'm sharing this with Sandra of Diary of a SAHM forHappy Homemaker Monday.