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

Happy Monday!

How are you Friends? I hope the sun is shining wherever you are and that you feel refreshed after your weekend. 

We had Annie's grad party as I mentioned in my last post. So a lot of our weekend was spent tidying up outside and inside. So other than running some errands, grabbing groceries and going to church and out for dinner - our weekend was all about that. 👩🏻‍🎓 

It was a wonderful party. We got perfect weather and it was so nice seeing family and friends and celebrating our Annie. I missed lots of photos of folks but caught what I could when I wasn't visiting or replenishing food. We probably had about 40 people come throughout the afternoon. A big highlight was when Annie's favorite teacher she ever had (she was one of her grade school teachers) surprised her! I had sent her an invite to the party but didn't tell Annie in case she couldn't make it. She showed up and Annie was sitting out on the deck and I filmed her teacher going out and surprising her! Annie got emotional and was SO shocked. It was awesome! She hung out at the party for an hour talking to Annie and catching up on everything. So grateful that she popped in!! 

 I can't believe it's another grad party in the books and an end of an era now. No more sports to run to and cheer at, projects to help with at her school, helping her with homework etc  She will be down in Florida for college (so far away from the northwoods) and it's sure going to feel like an empty next for a while. This Momma heart is so excited for her, but aches a lot too. 

Now that we got through her graduation, the big trip, and now her party - it's time to get back to more wedding planning things. But I'm also planning to truly enjoy some sweet slow summertime goodness too. June felt like an absolute blur. So now it's time for reading in the sun out on the deck, pontoon rides, evening fires with s'mores, golf outings, visiting his folks at the lake, mini golf and fun with friends, long walks with Ruby, pickleball in the driveway, and watching the sunset snuggled on the deck swing together. Bring it all on! ☀️

*PS: I will work on some posts about the trip this week! 

THE WEATHER OUTSIDE IS:

ON THE BREAKFAST PLATE THIS MORNING:

sugar free iced coffee (fasted)

ON MY TO DO LIST THIS WEEK:

Help my Mom with some things, getting together with my Dad & step Mom (belated for Annie graduation), finish wedding invites and mail, get ready for July 4th weekend ahead, errands, hospice work

THINKING ABOUT:  

Nothing today - just cleaning up from party but taking some chill time to now think or do today too! 

AS I LOOK AROUND THE HOUSE

Still some of Annie party remnants, but I've cleaned most of it up already. Matt was SO wonderful and did so much to help set up the party and clean up too - so it never felt overwhelming and was just a lot of fun! Sun is shining in and it just feels like the first day of summer for me - all the "homework" is finally done! Lol 

CURRENTLY READING

I read an old book I hadn't finished on my kindle on the trip. So I have the new Nora Roberts trilogy I dowloaded to read this summer. Magazine catch up too! 

ON THE TV TODAY:

AGT, House of Dragons, Grantchester, some other taped shows to catch up on, HGTV shows too

ON THE MENU THIS WEEK:

    MONDAY -  sandwiches, fruit, chips

TUESDAY - party leftovers with my Dad & step Mom (maybe a pontoon ride after) 😊

WEDNESDAY -  maybe breakfast for dinner?

THURSDAY - not sure yet, but might BBQ something up?

FRIDAY -  out for dinner

  

TO RELAX THIS WEEK I WILL:

read, catch up on shows with Matt, enjoy sunshine on the deck

TIPS OR SOMETHING TO SHARE:

Not sure how accurate this is? But good knowledge for Target loving folks if it is. :) 

FROM THE CAMERA:

Set up before the party:

on the right is pina colada dip that turned out so yummy! I will share the recipe soon. 😋

I made a pineapple upside down cake too, and a pineapple bbq sauce for the pulled pork sliders. We did the Hawaiian pineapple theme as Annie wants to go to Hawaii one day (big bucket list one for her) and she LOVES pineapple anything. So it fit to do the Aloha Grad theme for her party. :) We also had mac & cheese, ham or turkey sandwiches, a cheese tortellini pasta salad I made up, potato salad, pineapple coleslaw, veggie & fruit trays, chips and pineapple salsa, several desserts, a raspberry lemonade station and coolers filled with drinks. 

I got this shirt dress on the Amalfi coast and I just love it! And it worked well with the theme. :) 

Video of Annie's teacher surprising her:

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 His Light and Love to cast out the darkness everywhere. Gratitude for the wonderful future ahead for my sweet Annie boo 🙏🏻

PRAYER, INSPIRATIONAL QUOTE OR DEVOTIONAL:

I hope you're getting time to read, lounge in the sun,  and enjoy whatever summer past times you enjoy! I'm sharing this with Sandra of Diary of a SAHM for Happy Homemaker Monday.