Happy Homemaker Monday

Happy 1st Monday in August my Peeps!

August is here, and you know what that means? We are only 1 month away from the "ber" months. Yay!! 

For the moment we are still soaking up all things summer though. We have been busy bees over here. We visited with family in cute Bayfield WI (which I shared in my last post). Then this weekend we went to Brennah & Isaac's wedding. Brennah is the oldest daughter of our besties (the C's) It was so much fun to see the C's and their families. I have known the C's since we were all in high school together. My closest girlfriends (also since high school) were there with their hubby's too. We were missing one of our bestie group because she lives out in California now. We had such a blast and I was so happy for the lovely couple! They got a gorgeous day and everything went beautifully. 

Then yesterday we met up with my Bro & SIL for some lunch and mini golf. It's been busy days with my Annie, but we know she heads back to FL for college soon - so we're enjoying every minute!

THE WEATHER OUTSIDE IS:

ON THE BREAKFAST PLATE THIS MORNING:

a small 100 calorie hashbrown patty that I air fried and put a little put of salted mashed avocado on top and a drizzle of hot honey. So good! And my iced protein coffee of course 😋

ON MY TO DO LIST THIS WEEK:

errands, cleaning folks I hired for my Mom's place, bring things for my Mom, we meet with the company that is doing a bathroom renovation for us soon (they came to do final measuring and the design team is going to show us the full rendering of their plans), a lab appt for me, a virtual MD appt for me, hospice work

THINKING ABOUT: 

I was just looking at the cute jacket that my step Mom gave me when we spent the Bayfield day with them. She found this seamstress that makes beautiful creations and she got it as a bday gift for me from her and my Dad - even thought it isn't currently my birthday. Lol  But she said she couldn't wait to give it to me because she thought I'd love it so much and would want to wear it as soon as Fall weather begins. (my birthday is really in October) It is the sweetest jean jacket and a true original creation. I love it! The details are so cute. 

THINGS THAT MAKE ME HAPPY:

grilling while we sit out on the deck and listen to the bird song and watch the sunset 

CURRENTLY READING

The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion by Beth Brower volumes 1&2

 

ON THE TV TODAY:

Jeopardy, Big Brother (some old seasons and the current one), AGT, taped, we need to get back to House of Dragon and finish this new season

ON THE MENU THIS WEEK:

    MONDAY -grilling burgers and teriyaki veggie & pineapple skewers (for Annie my non-meat eater), salad, corn on the cob, melon and lemon meringue s'mores for dessert  *this was meal we were going to do last week but Annie wanted pizza instead

TUESDAY - maybe leftovers (Annie & Kris may be out with friends)

WEDNESDAY - breakfast for dinner: french toast, bacon, eggs or omelets (Kris loves ham & cheese ones and I've made him one already for lunch one day he said was "awesome"), fruit

THURSDAY -  ?

FRIDAY - maybe out for dinner

*I have so many fun recipes I have saved on different social media sites. Right now I'm catering to a lot of Annie's requests while she's home. But once she heads back to school I hope to make at least one new recipe a week I can try... and then share with you to share it with you and if we liked it our not.

TO RELAX THIS WEEK I WILL:

read, watch shows, play ladderball or "bags" with the kids

TIPS OR SOMETHING TO SHARE:

 

FROM THE CAMERA:

the blushing bride (my honorary niece)

the bride's sister (my other honorary niece)

the bride & groom's daughter Thea

the C's (our besties)

the venue was so perfectly "them" (they each have a horse and they met at a stables - and the bride has a degree in equine management)

my other besties and their hubbys

they said do something goofy and I was jokingly going to kick my leg up and my friends started to grab it (there may have already been some alcohol involved. Lol 🙈)

the husbands

It cooled off a bit lately, so Matt & I also got a couple miles of walking in:

some lemon balm and hydrangea

dreaming of Fall but still dressing for summer

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 the newlyweds and their beautiful future together.

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:

Love to you all dear Friends and have a great week! 

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

Cooking Thursday: Gingerbread Overnight Oats and Summery Pinterest

 

Hello beautiful Blogland Besties!

How's things for you this Thursday?

I had some honorary Aunties over for lunch - so that's why I'm getting to this post a little late. We had a great catch up and I served some monte cristo sliders with raspberry preserves, melon, veggie tray and apple cinnamon kringle. 😋

Here's the table all set. I used my blueberry placemats and some new linen summery napkins I had picked up. 

Since I'm talking about food - I thought I would share a few delicious looking dishes from my pinterest. 

I'm still thinking summer things - other then next week we're going to do a Christmas in July time when Annie's bf comes for a visit. She & I have made a plan. He loves Christmas and holiday music like I do. :) So I'm going to make a more holiday-like meal, a Christmas related treat, and we're going to listen to Christmas music and color (or they may do a lego set). Plus, I've already got some little gifts for them and Matt just for fun. So even though it won't be on the 25th of July - I'm still going to have my little "fix" before the end of July. 

But back to summer ideas....

You can find all of these on my pinterest board called "summer" if you click here.

I've always wanted to make this and I'm determined to do it before summer ends.

Annie has been into all things lime - so I may make these before she heads back to school.

this is a recipe for Italian grinder chicken salad - doesn't it look tasty?

my summer board also has all kinds of different red, white, and blue ideas for the season

It also has other summer related things - like summery quotes I've liked.

And of course there are several different Christmas in July ideas. :) 

even a doggy popsicle idea

This is not a pinterest thing - but I saw this on social media and my daughter & I both really liked it. We stretched out a fruit roll up and wrapped it around a coconut popsicle. It makes the fruit roll up a crisp texture and the strawberry flavor with the coconut was really yummy! 

Another fun Christmas in July idea was the overnight oats I made the other day. They were gingerbread flavor and I added some chopped walnut and some chopped apple (not shown in the pic). It was really good and definitely had that molasses gingery flavor. I found the recipe at a site called healthynibblesandbits.com I made it according to the recipe but tweaked a bit of the amounts and also added a little maple syrup and some chia seeds. Here's the recipe:

My hydrangeas are going strong! 

I hope you're still enjoying these summer days. They are so fleeting in the northwoods...so I'm trying to soak it all up before it's gone. (even though Autumn forever has my heart)😉

Happy Homemaker Monday

Hi there Friends! 

Happy new week to you.

For those in the States I hope you had a lovely Independence Day weekend. 

We went to the lake to spend it with Matt's folks and Annie came with us. They love when kiddos come and especially love the fact that my kids have embraced Matt's folks as other grandparents to them. 💗 Matt and I love that too! 

The weather was a little rainy/stormy on Saturday. But we had fun playing games, watching a movie, and then later it cleared enough that we could watch some of the fireworks across the lake. 

Then Sunday was gorgeous out and we got in a pontoon ride before lunch and then heading back home. 

Another lovely July 4th in the books ❤️🇺🇸

I know my fellow Autumn loving Friends feel the same way I do though. That once July 4th comes and goes we allow ourselves to let in a little Fall thought here and there. Lol In the northwoods July is the epitome of summer and then August becomes pre-Fall so it's easy for me to think that way. 

But don't worry my Summer loving Friends. I am still all in on Summer vibes. I still have a lot of flowers and garden to love, walks to be had, iced coffee to be sipped, golf to be golfed, BBQ's to be grilled, sunsets to be watched by a fire, swimming to be swam in the lake, and pontoon time to be relaxed upon. I just needed to be honest for a moment about who I am and that I do enjoy the allowance of an Autumn thought because it's always in my heart. As well as, I plan on some Christmas in July to be shopped and celebrated too. 😉❤️💚

But that's another story....

THE WEATHER OUTSIDE IS:

ON THE BREAKFAST PLATE THIS MORNING:

ice protein coffee, whole grain toast with a little natural peanut butter

ON MY TO DO LIST THIS WEEK:

errands & groceries, getting ready for an Aunt to visit that is having surgery in the area and will convalesce here overnight (need to work on menu as she has a gluten allergy), check in with my Mom, projects, yard work, hospice work

THINKING ABOUT: 

As a Taylor fan (my daughter & I saw her in concert before and she was amazing!) - I'm glad she got her happy ending and that she had her big wedding with Travis over the weekend. It will be fun to see photos when they release pics of the big day. 

THINGS THAT MAKE ME HAPPY:

fun bonding chats with my Annie boo

CURRENTLY READING

I'm happy to report I'm back to the book I was reading a month ago and making a dent on finishing it. Then I can dive into my new pile. (still finishing it 🙈)

 

ON THE TV TODAY:

  Jeopardy, old seasons of big brother Castle Impossible (we have several yet to watch), AGT, Sweet Magnolias (I need to finish this one), new Big Brother starts this week!

ON THE MENU THIS WEEK:

    MONDAY - green goddess pasta salad (for Annie & I), Matt will probably have a turkey sandwich too as he doesn't like to eat only vegetarian Lol😂

TUESDAY - maybe breakfast for dinner? (eggs, breakfast potatoes, I will make pancakes if Annie wants, fruit)

WEDNESDAY -  chicken salad low carb wraps

THURSDAY -  grilled chicken, roasted regular or sweet potatoes, romaine salad with fruit veggies & feta with balsamic viniagrette, gluten free rice krispies bars

FRIDAY - out for dinner?

TO RELAX THIS WEEK I WILL:

projects, maybe read, work on a craft for a future Christmas gift

TIPS OR SOMETHING TO SHARE:

 

FROM THE CAMERA:

A few shots from around home - including my goofy Hubby's humor. He put this monster plant in my garden for me to find. Lol Also some pics of the pretty glow at night. I love solar lanterns everywhere. 

Some pics from July 4th weekend at the lake. Crazy clouds before it got stormy. And the July 4th tradition Matt loves is to watch and see if Joey Chestnut can defend his hot dog eating contest title each year. I made some patriotic goodies for the weekend including chocolate covered strawberries. And this cream cheese berry french toast bake that was SO good. I will share the recipe this week. 

Sue (my MIL) wanted to take a pic of all of us to send to her Bestie back in AZ who always sends pics of her grandkids to Sue. I love that we always need take 2 because in the 1st one Matt is always being such a dork. That's my goofy Hubby. ::sigh:: It's never dull. 😂 

Also, you gotta love that I always look like I'm standing in a hole because I'm so short compared to everyone else. Lol 🙈

The weather cleared up enough to give us a pretty sunset and allow for us to watch some fireworks going off across the lake. 

Then Sunday was nothing but blue skies and a lovely day to take a ride on the pontoon. I love the last pic of a Mama Loon we came across that had a baby on her back:

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 my Aunt's surgery this week to go well.

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:

See, still mostly iced coffee and summer thoughts around here. 💗 Blessings on your week ahead. 

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