Five on Friday: Good Week

Happy Friday! 

For my five things today I thought I'd share some highlights of the goings on over this past week. 

ONE:

I've been loving some things around my home. I put up my strawberry garland (an etsy purchase long ago) for the summer. I love it hanging from the shelf above my scrapbook work station. How I wish I could crochet!! One day. I also love this caddy in my kitchen window that I thought I'd put some fresh herb clippings in, but I've been loving it for flower clippings instead. And after finishing with my hair and make up the other day I loved the light coming in through the stained glass bathroom window - thus a window selfie! Lol

TWO:

Annie's trampoline was finally put up and she's in heaven of course! And the weather has been lovely, so it's been wonderful deck time with family. My MIL was really good this week too so we had a lot of laughs.

THREE:

We've begun a new landscaping project! Do you remember where we had those stairs going down our hill - that then go down to our dock? Well we have such trouble with them peeling every year, and the faux wood decking is SO expensive. I said to the hubby, "why can't we just take a lot of it out and have a natural hill and think of a new way to access the stairs?" Well he went for it and we are now going to fill in that area and grow grass (the back hill yard really feels huge now!). Where the hill is steepest (where you see the well) is going to change. We're going to take out the well (it's not a functional thing) and put a platform deck there that will jut out over to the existing stairs left and take you down to the dock. We're dreaming of a stone fireplace there and it being a little party deck before heading down for a boat ride. Not sure if we'll get to the deck this year, that's why we left upper stairs there yet. We took out all the deck and railing around Annie's garden too. I put my little veggie trug back here now as you can see as it needed more sun. We plan to put down a new flagstone side walk that will run from the front of our house around Annie's garden and up to our existing deck. Big plans and we're hiring a landscaper for a bit of it too. We'll see how it goes - so stay tuned! 

FOUR:

All of the June magazines have been coming (& I've picked up a few) and I've had such fun lounging a bit more and doing some light summer "reading"! 

FIVE:

I've been continuing to love and care for my flowers and just love how they're thriving already. Look at that pink dahlia just taking off! Flowers make me so happy. How about you? 

 I'm linking with Amy from Love Made my Home for Five on Friday.

Thought I'd leave you with this video of Annie for a little flip for Friday too.

Slow Cooker Wild Rice Pudding

Here is the rather unique recipe I mentioned in Monday's post. It's for this wild rice pudding that I had recently and it was excellent!! First of all, I'll share the recipe then we'll discuss how it came about.

WILD RICE PUDDING

3 cups of wild rice (washed in cold water)
6 cups of water
Cook in slow cooker for 3 hours.

Then add: 
1 cup of sliced almonds
1/2 cup of butter
1 cup of dried cranberries
2 cups of milk, cream, or both
1/2 cup of maple syrup
Heat to boil then simmer for 3-5 minutes.  Top with blueberries

Addendum: I did hear from the other school Mom. The amounts are correct for a doubled recipe.  I think Annie added the 6 hours of cooking to double everything, so I'm guessing it only needs to cook 3-4 hours. According to the Mom's directions you cook the rice and water in the slow cooker first on low. Then add the other ingredients and bring to boil then simmer. I think a halved recipe would be just right for a family or small group.

Now I'm double checking the accuracy of this recipe as this is what my daughter had copied down for me from her teacher, but not sure if some things got "lost in translation". However, I'm waiting to hear back from a Mom that actually got the printed recipe from Annie's teacher.  If there are changes or adjustments to this I'll let you know ASAP. My daughter also told me this is a doubled recipe. I will say that I was skeptical about this pudding when I heard what it was but it was DELICIOUS!! Annie's teacher had also topped it with fresh blueberries when it was done.

Here's the story behind the recipe. The last week of school I was at Annie's class for a presentation they did regarding a book they had all completed. I'll preface this by saying Annie has had this same teacher (Ms. Shane) for 2 years. When Annie was in 2nd grade Ms. Shane taught a split level class of 2nd and 3rd graders. This past year she just taught 3rd grade and Annie was fortunate to have her both years (2nd & 3rd). She is a wonderful teacher that focuses so much on community and nature/sciences...and what I really loved is her focus on science and math which is a wonderful thing to nurture in young girls!! She lives out in the country and even keeps her own bees! Her classroom also has a pond and they had a turtle and fish they cared for daily.  Annie now is obsessed with science and nature and was 2nd in her class in mathematics this year. 

Anyway, last year they also made a book based on different professions in the community and Annie interviewed my girlfriend - who is a nurse. It was a lovely bound book. Here was this year's book:

There's my Girl holding the sign

The different topics covered this year included: invasive species, responsible community members, pollution and restoration (one topic here was wild rice). 

Ms. Shane is the teacher looking person among all those kiddos

Annie chose "responsible community members" and did hers on responsible pet owners. It was pretty cute as she had to talk about walking dogs and mention dog "poop" a few times. She was SO worried everyone was going to laugh when she read her presentation, but it was fine and every one was quite professional about it. Lol

Annie, and the whole class, did a great job and I was very proud. I was enjoying the moment so I didn't take photos. But it was pretty neat as the students had made us place mats and had a whole spread of goodies and served us...again more of that professional stuff. We had banana bread, fruit, green iced tea with fresh mint and the wonderful wild rice bread pudding!

My little author

The amazing Ms. Shane!

The world needs many wonderful teachers like her! 

Liebster Award

       I have been nominated by the lovely and talented Carrie Ann from the blog Anniehow for a Liebster award. If you haven't read her blog you should definitely check it out! She is a very talented writer that has been participating in Blog Battle challenges where they give folks one word for inspiration and then they write a short story using that word. My favorite she's written so far is this one called A Day in the Loop. 

I'm a little delayed in responding due to a busy schedule this week and a tooth infection that's giving me continued grief! By the way, to those of you wondering and sending your support (thank you!) - the tooth implant has to come out. Good grief has this process been a pain. But that's a story for another time.  On to the Liebster. I thank Carrie Ann for this honor - obviously more of a fun award and I'm so grateful that she enjoys my blog! Now I'm allowed to nominate other blogs which I love reading (Carrie Ann has stolen a few already) and let them know I enjoy them. There's no pressure to accept the award either way. I then answer some questions Carrie Ann gave me and I come up with new ones for my nominees. Here are the official rules off of Carrie Ann's post:

• Include the Liebster Award sticker in the post too.
• Nominate 7-10 (supposed to be 10) other bloggers who you feel are worthy of this award. Let them know they have  been nominated by commenting on one of their posts. You can also nominate the person who nominated you.
• Answer the ten questions asked to you by the person who nominated you
• Make ten questions of your own for your nominees.
• Lastly, COPY these rules in the post.
• ALL THE NOMINEES ARE FREE TO ACCEPT OR REJECT THE NOMINATION

Here are my questions:

1. When you were a child, what did you want to grow up to be?  Have you fulfilled that dream?

First, I wanted to be a forest ranger. Then I wanted to be a doctor. I sort of fulfilled the first as I feel like I have a wildlife preserve in my backyard and I deal with lots of plants and critters regularly. As far as the doctor thing: I started to work on a degree in nursing but then changed to medical social work. So I guess I 1/2 fulfilled both dreams. ;)

2. Who was your favorite teacher and why?

I was so blessed with many wonderful teachers. But one of my favorites was my anatomy and physiology professor in college (Dr. Cizadlo). He looked like a biker dude, but he was so brilliant at taking very complex ideas and material and breaking them down into simpler terms that made the material relate to every day processes. I could have listened to him for hours! 

3. Do you have any musical talents, and what are they?

I can play a few tunes on piano. I can also whistle and make a creepy wind/moan sound at the same time so it sounds like something out of a haunted movie. My daughter loves that one! 

4. What decade, that you have lived through, is your favorite and why?

I loved the 80's! I was in my teens through a lot of it and it was such a fun time to grow up. Lots of great music, some fun fashions (horrible hair - Lol!), but I think of it as such a carefree time. Also, high school was fun and where I met my now hubby.

5. When was the last time you really laughed and what was it that made you laugh?

My dog Ruby, she was running really hard down the hill for a ball I threw for her and ended up doing somersaults down the hill. She has a lot of personality and makes me laugh a lot.

6. Do you like or dislike surprises?  Why or why not?

Depends on the surprise. I love to surprise others. I love a surprise like if a long lost friend popped in unexpectedly or called. I would dislike a big surprise party where all the attention was on me. And I hate it when one of my kids hides and then jumps out and yells to scare me. NOT a good surprise.

7. What is your favorite holiday and why?

Fall is my favorite season, but Christmas is truly my favorite holiday. I listen to Christmas music all day as soon as Halloween is over and I love the baking and thinking of gifts for loved ones. The decorating is so fun too and twinkly lights in the snow are the best! Not to mention how beautiful and sacred the church season feels during that time and preparing for my savior's birth.

8. What is your proudest accomplishment?

My Children.

9. Shuffle the songs on your iPod or Phone, which song comes up? Or what is your favorite song and why?

Ok - totally not making this up, but on shuffle the first thing that came up was a Christmas song by Michael W. Smith. Lol So i hit the forward arrow to see what would come up not Christmas music and it was AC/DC Back in Black as we're all on the cloud as a family and my son had that one in there.  ::sigh:: How's that for an eclectic mix?

10. If you were a super-hero, what powers would you have and why?

I would love to fly!! But of course you probably guessed that knowing that we're all about the fairies over here. ;) 

Here are my nominees, and again you're free to accept or reject the nomination, but just want you to know how much I enjoy your blog! Several of you were already nominated by Carrie Ann. I would nominate her too, but I'll give her a break this time. I love your blog Anniehow!

Love Made my Home

My Little Corner of the World

Blessings of a Stay at Home Mom

Afternoon Coffee and Evening Tea

Life at Sylvan House

House Honeys

Beatrice Euphemie
Liberty or Death

Spoonful of Joy

September Violets

Here are my questions for you:

1. What are some of your favorite hobbies?

2. Why did you begin blogging? How long do you think you'll continue?

3. If you could live anywhere in the world where would you live and why?

4.Do you have pets? How many?

5. What are your favorite foods? Do you do the cooking?

6. What is the best lesson you've ever learned?

7. If you could do any profession what would it be?

8. Would you rather travel to the past or go forward to the future and why?

9. Do you prefer snail mail or email to send letters to friends or family?

10. You're shipwrecked on an island what one thing would you have to have with you?

I look forward to reading the responses of those who participate! I love my blogland friends and all that you share each day. Thanks for letting me be a part of it. 

Final Fairies

Hello Friends! Sorry I'm later to post today. It's been a busy morning and I'm soon off to a busy rest of the day too. I'll try to get around and visit everyone tonight. But I wanted to thank you so much for the lovely comments, prayers and support yesterday. I have my big "tooth appointment" today and hopefully will get some kind of answer. I just need the tooth drama to end one way or another. Lol I will keep you posted. Again thanks so much for the kind support!! 

I also wanted to say I was recently nominated for a Liebster award by my friend Carrie Ann from the blog Anniehow.. Thanks Carrie Ann! I have not had time to address it yet (I hope there isn't a time limit!) but I will tomorrow. I'm sure many of you who have been blogging a long time (I'm still a bit of a newbie) have heard of this. It seems to me to be a fun award with low pressure that involves my answering of some fun questions, nominating some friends and then coming up with my own questions. Again, more on that tomorrow. 

Now on to my rather quick post for today. Annie and I finally got our final fairy pot planted so I thought I'd share some fun photos. We have such fun with these each year and I'll miss it when she doesn't want to do it anymore. She has so many little fairy things that we had to use a REALLY big pot to use a lot of them up. She has the other pot in her garden but this one is in the front of the house by the new bench and flowers.

That's a big pot of fairy goodness

Flying in for a closer look....

I think this fairy is trying to light her lantern, or maybe working on it if it's broken? Another nice fairy looks like she's coming to help.

This sweet fairy is taking a little rest and I don't blame her. Flying around is probably hard work!

Sun worshiper or flower smeller? Not sure??

I see one of the fairies parked their bike. Maybe they like to give their wings a break and get some different exercise. Who is that over there checking it out?

Oh, it's just Mr. Frog and his friend. Aren't they cute? 

Happy Tuesday! 

Happy Homemaker Monday

Happy Monday....and happy SUMMER!!! Yay, it finally truly feels like it has arrived and I'm ready to soak it up. We had a lovely weekend overall. Saturday was chilly but yesterday was beautiful and we accomplished some big projects outside (I'll share more in the future). But some little projects that also got done included putting together our new bench as our old one was getting pretty rough.  And Annie's last fairy pot was planted as well. Good productive stuff. On to the week ahead!

THE WEATHER OUTSIDE IS:

Looks like another lovely day! It's almost 70 already and it's supposed to hit upper 70's. Sun is shining too - yay! 

ON THE BREAKFAST PLATE THIS MORNING:

Annie had a friend sleep over last night and so when I went to pick up my mom-in-law we decided a treat breakfast was in order so we grabbed french toast sticks from Burger King. Naughty buy yummy.

  AS I LOOK OUTSIDE MY WINDOW:

Sunny and blue skies! The sun just sparkles on our bay as I look out my window. Just love that. If you look on my header photos with Ruby looking at the water- it looks like that out there. I think it's going to be a sparkly day. 

RIGHT NOW I AM:

Chatting with my MIL and watching the morning news with her. Ruby is laying on my feet. We're making our plan for the day.

AS I LOOK AROUND THE HOUSE:

Pretty tidy other than the things laying around that Annie and her friend have been playing with and art work they were doing. Will throw in some laundry and do a quick sweep up. Our house is such an indoor/outdoor kind of house that in between vacuum jobs I need to sweep up the tile pretty often.

ON TODAY'S TO DO LIST:

I'm going to make some bread or muffins.  I'm also going to make up some spaghetti hot dish to send home with my MIL for dinner for the in-laws when I bring her home later. Also, plan to get some good outside time and go for a lovely walk later.  No grocery trip today.

CURRENTLY READING:

Lots of new magazines that have rolled in lately!

ON THE TV TODAY:

I still haven't watched the final Outlander. I don't think I have too much more taped. We've been enjoying America's Got Talent now, but already watched last week's episode. Such a fun show we can all watch as a family.

ON THE MENU THIS WEEK:

I never made spaghetti hot dish for the in-law's last week, so going to do that tonight. Not sure what I'm making or shopping for later this week. I was thinking maybe pork chops on the grill and a side of cinnamon apples & other sides. Also, maybe BBQ baked chicken one of our cooler days with roasted red potatoes. I think I may bake some blueberry bars as well. I have a wonderful recipe that was my MIL's for cranberry bars but in the summer we make them blueberry bars with cream cheese frosting. So good! 

WHAT I AM CREATING AT THE MOMENT:

I've been doing some organizing of things to finally work on my big project focus for this summer which is the heritage family scrapbook album for my Mom's family. It will be such a fun project to work on together and hopefully get some neat stories from my relatives to put in with the pages.  

NEW RECIPE I WANT TO TRY THIS WEEK:

I'm not making a new recipe but I recently received a new recipe I'll share later this week. When Annie had her presentation in her class on her last week of school they had snacks for us and her teacher made a really unusual and wonderful treat that I will talk about later in the week!

TIP OF THE WEEK:

Something that I have always used is a standing toothbrush holder in a different way. Do you know which I mean? The kind that has its own base and round ring at the top with open areas to put your toothbrush in and let it lean on the sides. I love to use one in my cabinet as a place to hold my make up brushes. When I wash them it works great so they can stand up in there and dry too. I like keeping my brushes separate from my make up bag (except when I'm traveling) so they don't get full of other stuff. 

FROM THE CAMERA:

This is next to our front door. This is the new bench. The last one had wood and metal and didn't hold up as well as I think this all metal one will. I have a flowering vine planted that will grow over the summer on the little trellis in the back part of the green planter.

One of Annie's friends accidentally broke one of my lanterns so now I only have 2 but I put the candle from it in the bird bath. They still all light up at night. So pretty among the flowers.

PRAYER, INSPIRATIONAL QUOTE OR DEVOTIONAL:

I have been struggling with a tooth issue (&dental implant) for almost 2 years now and just when it was finally supposed to be completed I got another infection. I'm really struggling with maintaining my patience and upbeat attitude about it and I've been doing a lot of prayers for healing and resolution. I have an important appointment this week so any prayers and good thoughts you want to send my way would be greatly appreciated! 

I'm linking with Sandra from Diary of a SAHM for Happy Homemaker Monday.

Five on Friday:Crazy Week

Hello to All! TGIF, right? It was a crazy busy week around here, but not that I'm complaining. There was a lot of fun "action" going on - but I am looking forward to a slow-down kind of weekend. I didn't get to post or visit yesterday as it was the big carnival day at school. It was a lot of work in the making and a ton of fun! But boy was I exhausted at the end of the day! More on that later in this post. For my five things today I thought I'd share a bit of what was making up this busy week.

First of all, it's the final week of school for my kiddos. One day this week my daughter had a presentation of a book that her class had made and they each read their section and served us iced tea and snacks. It was very sweet and they did a great job!  Here's a photo of my daughter that day - all dressed up and shining bright on a gray day:

There was also a "moving up" ceremony for my son at his school:

This means my son has officially left middle school and is moving up to high school. Yikes! Where did the time go???

I've also been trying to spend more time here:

I try to walk outside when the weather cooperates, but otherwise I use my treadmill down in our media room. It's rapidly becoming the season when I need to wear less clothing, which means showing more of actual "me" (super yikes!), so working on toning up quite a bit more. It's a never ending battle but always a stronger focus in the summer. I truly focus on exercise to maintain health too.

On the more pleasant weather days, I've also been out enjoying my flowers and caring for them and I love this bouquet of lilacs I showed you the other day that I picked from my in-law's yard. 

\This week has been about peak for the lilacs and blooming apple trees all around town. It smells so wonderful everywhere and is pretty to see when driving here or there. I've soaked it up all I could this week!

I also wanted to share that today is the final day of school for both kiddos and I was able to snap this photo of my daughter after she was showered and all ready and just about to head out for her last day!

she's growing up so fast ::sigh::

And the final thing I wanted to share was some quick photos from the carnival yesterday. It was a gray day but the weather was really pretty pleasant and not too cold otherwise. It's quite the event and I've been heading up the committee that puts this on for several years. We receive a generous budget and we begin working on it in January! We had 4 big different inflatable bounce houses/obstacle courses. We have some for each of the different levels of grades and one just for the special education students. Not to mention soccer, kickball, karaoke, some inflatable pony hops to race, a dunk tank, and a book walk with a scavenger hunt! It lasts the whole school day and we usually have about 40 parents volunteer at it! These are just a couple photos from my phone, but I took several with my good camera and haven't uploaded them yet.

Annie & her friend with "props" at the karaoke station

At the end of the day a bunch of the teachers used the pony hops the kids played on earlier to race each other. It was hilarious and the students LOVED it!

And what's better than a chance to dunk your principal?? Lol

I even captured a little video of a student hitting the bulls-eye and sending him in!

I'm linking with Amy from Love Made my Home for Five on Friday.

Wednesday Wonder

Lilacs

Joy is the fragrance of a bouquet of lilacs.

Mixer Transformation

This morning I was playing around with a wonderful new product that I had picked up recently from Kathy at kathys cottage blog who has the etsy store hens in daisies. Her store has several fun products like homemade pillows and some antiques, but especially these mixer decals. And I LOVE how my new decals turned out on my mixer!

Before and....

After! 

(please ignore my crock pot of BBQ ribs next to it) I was tired of my plain boring white mixer, which I've had forever. I've seen so many fun patterned ones lately but I knew my mixer was still in great condition and there was no need for a new one. So this was an easy and very affordable solution!  I love the red poppies!

I want to make it known that I don't know Kathy or have any benefit from sharing this info - she's just a fun etsy store that I found and I picked up these decals and also this pillow which I love too!

Can you tell I love pops of red? It's actually my favorite color, but it's so bold that I don't wear it very often or use big splashes of it in my decor. However, it's always been a color that speaks to me.

The decals came with these easy see-through grid type sheets that made it easy to see where you were placing the sticky decals. Then I just used my fingernail to rub the top and get the decal to start to stick. Then I peeled off the paper and used a smooth sharpie pen to smooth out any bubbles. 

view from the top

Then I kind of went off the pattern she had a picture of on another mixer, but you could play around and place them however you'd like.  It was quick and easy to do and there was enough decals that I have leftovers in case I need to replace any. These decals feel like a material that will be washable too. 

Here's the opposite side - so I did them fairly identical on each side. Yep they cover my whole mixer!! She had several different patterns of decals if you were interested in something like this but want a different color or pattern. Here's a few:

             

How cute is this one if you had a 50's style kitchen?

I almost got this one with the bunting - I just love it too!

And how sweet is this lace & flowers one, especially on a pink mixer!

And I love the cheerfulness of these bright sunflowers!

Such a simple solution that really makes a big impact and difference to the look of a household appliance. Here's a final before and after of my transformed beauty!:

From plain to pretty special. Love it! 

Happy Homemaker Monday

Happy June! I can't believe it's officially the month of summer already. But I'm ready to dig in and enjoy it!! It's going to be a busy week as both my kiddos are in the home stretch and this is their last week of school. It's going to be a week filled with activity including that large carnival I told you about earlier that has been consuming my world lately!! Lol. It's a lot of work but I truly love it and we all look forward to it every year. However, I won't mind giving up the "worrying about it" part once it's over. But let's focus on today.

THE WEATHER OUTSIDE IS:

A little chilly (probably upper 40's) but supposed to get up into the 50's. It's bright and sunny though so that always helps on a Monday! And it's not raining which is amazing. It has rained every Monday for weeks and I know as my hubby & I couldn't golf in our league (which is on Monday's). However, our friends decided to brave it with us last week and we did golf in the cold drizzle. I will look much more forward to it tonight! 

ON THE BREAKFAST PLATE THIS MORNING:

Whole wheat toast with peanut butter and honey, cantaloupe, and iced coffee. 

  AS I LOOK OUTSIDE MY WINDOW:

I'm enjoying the beautiful sunshine!! All of my flowers are looking so great too, I could gaze out at them and the water for hours.  

RIGHT NOW I AM:

Listening to my daughter practice her piano while I type this - I guess she decided to jump right into her Monday. I need to bring her to school soon and then go pick up my MIL. I often do this post in stages. I start it first thing in the AM, then go pick up my MIL and finish when I get back. Or sometimes I don't even start it until I've gone and picked her up first. It just depends on how early I've started my morning.  I need to work on my grocery list yet too, so starting to think about what I'm going to make this week.

AS I LOOK AROUND THE HOUSE:

Need to throw a few dishes in the dishwasher. I think I'll make some brownies to have around as a treat a bit this week. I need to load next load of laundry too. Otherwise, still pretty tidy from the past weekend. We had Annie's friends over after we took them all to a movie and it remained pretty tidy around here. Lol The sun is coming through the trees and making pretty ripples of light through my curtain in my office. Love that. 

ON TODAY'S TO DO LIST:

Go grab groceries with my MIL, water my flowers and veggies with her (she loves seeing all the flowers), play with Ruby on the back hill, bake brownies. Good Monday stuff.

CURRENTLY READING:

Nothing really new here but stay tuned! 

ON THE TV TODAY:

Some cooking shows but not a whole lot taped right now. I'm glad too, it's the time of year to be outside more. 

ON THE MENU THIS WEEK:

I think I'm going to do crock pot ribs with sides one day, spaghetti hot dish another day (in-law's meals). Then maybe chicken on the grill another night. Still figuring out what I want to make, but that's a general idea.  I've been craving s'more's so may have to have those after a meal this week! Mmmmm  

WHAT I AM CREATING AT THE MOMENT:

Mainly some scrapbooking and I'm excited about a project I've had on the back burner for quite a while and will finally jump into this summer. So will see how it goes and I'll keep you posted! 

NEW RECIPE I WANT TO TRY THIS WEEK:

Nothing new I'm planning as of now.

TIP OF THE WEEK:

I saw this (I can't remember where) and thought it was a great idea! Take an old pop top container (like the kind I have my antibacterial wipes in to wipe down counters etc) and take off label and cover with pretty paper or card stock. Then put all your plastic bags left over from Target or stores like that -which we always keep and reuse on top of each other. So place one on the counter then another on top of it but towards the bottom of it and make a whole line up of bags. Then roll them all up and place them in your pop top container and you can pull them up one at a time as you need them. Contained all pretty but handy!

FROM THE CAMERA:

Love my pretty rustic cathedral window of flowers. Fills my senses and my soul!

PRAYER, INSPIRATIONAL QUOTE OR DEVOTIONAL:

I'm linking with Sandra of Diary of a SAHM for Happy Homemaker Monday