Summer Home Tour

Before we got rid of our cable TV, one of my favorite channels to watch was HGTV. I loved seeing how people decorated their homes. Since I can't watch those shows anymore, I love that lots of blogs do Home Tours. Picture after picture of immaculate homes, fun decorating ideas and me dreaming about what my house would look like if I was crafty and talented in the area of home DIY. This past week, as I was getting ready to have my kids home for the summer I checked out this Summer Home Tour on one of my favorite blogs. There is also a link to even more homes to look at. After looking at all the beautiful homes I was inspired to take pictures of my house and share how we decorate for summer. Enjoy my own Summer Home Tour!

In our family room we usually have some kind of fort or tent set up during the warm summer months. The kids love to play in their special hide-a-way and it's also great when entertaining their friends.

We recently moved all of our toys in the TV room and made it the "fun room". In the summer we like the "tornado of toys" look. Since it's often too dang hot to play outside the kids will fight play in the TV room while they watch movie after movie after movie.

TV/Play/reading/let's make the biggest mess we can room

In the summer we like to decorate our kitchen table with paper, colored pencils, tape, glue, crayons, scissors and all other kinds of art supplies. 

Random paper crafts placed around the house for those fun pops of color

We like the "unmade bed" look in our home over the summer. It makes the house feel more casual and gives our home that "lived in" feel

Every now and then you can find a shirtless boy in pajama pants reading in his unmade bed. 

Towels are often found on bedroom and bathroom floors in the summer since we love to swim and no one seems to know how to hang them back up.

Storm troopers and Darth Vadar add to the playful atmosphere of our summer home!

Thanks for stopping by and taking a peek into our home! How do you like to decorate for summer?

Summer School

I know lots of my friends are just like me and anticipating the beginning of summer. And with summer vacation comes Summer School! I love planning a schedule for my kids to follow over the summer and incorporating some fun educational games and activities. Here are some of my favorite Summer School websites:

• Easy Peasy All-in-One Homeschool I LOVE this website. I used it a lot when I homeschooled Trevor. You can find things for all grade levels and all subject areas. You can find videos, games, stories, projects and more. There are lots of fun science activities, music to listen to and links to other great websites. 
• Xtra Math - This program is awesome! My kids all did this last summer and they will do it again. The best things about this program is it teaches kids to memorize simple math facts so they can do math in their head faster. The program takes only about 10 minutes a day and you will be sent weekly e-mails to see your child's progress. Kids can do it all on their own and I like to make it one of their daily tasks to do over the summer.
• FunBrain - This is one of my "summer school" websites for my kids. Over the summer my kids have a few days a week where their computer time has to be one of my approved summer school sites. I love it because all of the games are educational and my kids don't complain about playing it.
• Cool Math Games - My boys love these games. They play this website at school and over the summer it's one of their favorites.
• Blast Off To Reading - This is a workbook I purchased for Colin. He really struggles in reading (we think he has a mild form of dyslexia) and we are going to be using this over the summer to help with his reading. I have a friend using this book for her son and she loves it. If you have a struggling reader, this would be a great tool to use over the summer. (There are different books for all ages/grade levels).

What are some of your favorite Summer School activities?

DIY - Decorative pillows

I am not a crafty person, nor am I good at home decorating. But one of my New Year's resolutions was to learn more about interior design/home decorating, so I've been determined to make/buy something for my house. For the longest time I've wanted some cute, decorative pillows for my living room couches. These couches were our first ever new furniture purchase when we were newlyweds. We bought them when we bought our first house and they have been the best couches ever. They were inexpensive and they are 12 years old and still in the best condition. But they needed updating. I tried a slipcover but it looked horrible. Dave told me to go find some cute pillows, but they are so expensive. I could not bring myself to spend that much money on a few pillows. And then I saw THIS post on one of my favorite blogs and decided I could do the same thing with place mats. I ran to Target, found some place mats on sale for $2.48 each and made my own decorative pillows. So cute, super cheap and easy (especially if you have an awesome mom who can sew!). I love how they turned out and the splash of color they add to the living room. Go buy a place mat! Make a pillow!

Why I love being a working mom

I don't want to offend anyone, but this has been on my mind lately. I keep wondering if there are other moms out there who feel the same way I do. I love my kids. I love being a mom. But I am not the best baby/toddler mom. Before I got married, before I even graduated from college, I knew I wanted to stay home with my kids when they were little, but I also knew that I wanted to work or do something other then just being a mom. I hope that phrase isn't offensive. "Just being a mom." I have heard women say that before when they introduce themselves: "I'm just a mom." And I know that is the most important thing I can do and will ever do, but I wanted to be able to do more because I knew that one day my kids would all be at school and I would be left home alone. I always had a plan that once my kids were in school all day I would substitute teach. And now I do. And I love it. And I noticed something when I started working again. I was happy. I felt smart and like I was contributing to my community. I like eating lunch in the teachers' lounge and having other grown ups to talk to. I got all giddy and excited when I got my first paycheck in the mail. I felt like I was doing something good for myself and my family. I have always known that I am not the best baby/toddler/little-kid-under-the-age-of-4-Mom. The older my kids get, the more I like being a mom. I didn't NOT like being home with my kids when they were little, but it's not something I would want to go back and do again. It was not my favorite stage in life. I knew I wanted kids and I knew I wanted to be a mom, but I also knew that my personality and my talents were better for older kids. And now that my kids are older and now that I can work because they are all in school I am a happier person and a happier mom. I am a better mom because I get to work. I get to do something for me and not just do for everyone else. I get to go out and be with lots of other people for the day and not just be confined to my little house. I know there are lots of women out there who love having babies and little ones home with them. That is awesome for them. That is so great that they love that stage of motherhood. But I didn't necessarily love it. There were definitely great moments during those stages of my kids' lives. I have very fond memories of my kids when they were little and I did enjoy them when they were babies and toddlers. But I am so glad for new stages and new opportunities. Yes, I made the choice to be a stay-home mom and I am grateful I was able to do that. I think it was important. But I am also grateful that I now have the opportunity to work. I look at my friends who worked while their kids were young (and the ones who are doing it now) and I applaud them. They are awesome. They do an amazing job balancing everything and they are amazing mothers. And my friends who don't want to work and who love being homemakers - you're awesome too! I sometimes wish I could be more like that. I love how we're all different, how we all mother in different ways and have different strengths when it comes to raising our kids. No one is right and no one is wrong. We all do what is best for us and our families. And on the days I get to work and see my kids in the halls at school (or better yet, be their teacher for the day) I feel so lucky. I feel like I have the best of both worlds.

Oatmeal Wheat Pancakes

We are a cereal family. I have about a hundred boxes of cereal in the pantry and we will eat it for breakfast, lunch and dinner. But sometimes I get tired of cereal and I want a real breakfast. Saturdays are usually the time I make something for breakfast and today I wanted to try a new pancake recipe. Dave and I have been trying to eat healthier so I found 2 recipes in my Cooking Light Cookbook and combined them to make this recipe for Oatmeal Wheat Pancakes:
1 1/4 cups milk
1/4 cup vanilla yogurt
1/2 cup quick-cooking oats
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 egg
1 1/4 cups White Wheat Flour (yes, this is whole wheat flour - just made from white wheat and not red wheat)
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt

In a medium bowl whisk together the milk and yogurt. Add the oats and stir. let sit for 10 minutes. Add the oil and egg and whisk until combined. Add the remaining ingredients and stir until combined. It should be a thick batter, but if it's too thick add a little milk. Cook like regular pancakes.
Trevor wanted chocolate chips in his - the rest of the family had already eaten so no one else got to try them. The verdict: Trevor said, "These are healthy? They taste so good!" I loved them. They came out really thick and hearty. The serving size is 2 pancakes (I usually eat 3 or 4) but 2 was just enough. And they keep you full all morning long. This made enough batter for 10 pancakes so I froze the extras to have for busy mornings when I don't want cereal. Try em! You'll like em!

Garlic Cheese Bread

I needed something the other night to go along with my spaghetti and meatballs. I had a really good bread stick recipe from Pinterest that I have used before so I thought about making those. Then I saw a recipe on Facebook that looked so good. So I combined the two and come up with this:

Here is the recipe:

For the dough-
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons warm water
1 1/4 teaspoons yeast
2 Tablespoons sugar
3 - 3 1/4 cups flour
1 3/4 teaspoons salt
3 Tablespoons vegetable oil

In a standing mixer mix water, yeast and sugar and let stand 5-10 minutes. Add remaining ingredients and mix until dough forms a ball and no longer sticks to the side of the bowl. Dough should be soft and slightly sticky. Transfer dough to a greased bowl, cover and let rise about an hour.
After rising, punch dough. Make small rolls with the dough. Dip the rolls in the following mixture:
1 stick melted butter
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1-2 teaspoons dried parsley or chopped fresh parsley

After dipping the rolls into the butter (make sure they get completely coated), roll in grated Parmesan cheese. Place rolls in greased baking dish  (my rolls were all squished together to make pull-apart rolls) and drizzle any remaining butter. Because we all know butter makes everything better. You can even add more cheese on top if you like. Cover and let rise about an hour. Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes.

These got two thumbs up from everyone. We loved them! Dave and Trevor were super impressed when I brought them to the table. "You made those? From scratch?" Why yes, yes I did.

Freezer Meals

Last week my friend came over so we could make some freezer meals. I don't do a ton of complete freezer meals, but I do a few things that help make dinner faster and easier. When my friend was here we made meatballs, cooked ground beef, shredded chicken and a freezer meal from THIS website. I gave my friend a list of dinners with recipes she could make easily by using her cooked ground beef, shredded chicken or the meatballs. When you cook meat and then freeze it, you save a ton of time when it comes to making dinner. I always have cooked ground beef and chicken in the freezer and I try and keep my pantry full of things I can use for casseroles, soups, chili, pasta dishes, etc. When I make my grocery list I first make a menu for that week and then make my list off of that. Lots of times I don't have to buy any meat or pantry items since I already have them. I also like to look for sales and buy lots of meat when it's on sale and then cook and freeze it (freeze in 2 cup portions) or make a freezer meal. Today I saw that chicken thighs were on sale at Smiths for 99 cents a pound. I LOVE chicken thighs because they are so cheap and I think they taste better than chicken breasts. Today I baked my chicken at 375 for an hour, covered. Once it's cooked the skin comes right off and the chicken just falls off the bone. I paid $5.76 for the chicken and I can make three meals from that as well as have enough for leftovers for lunch. Want to save money on ground beef? Smiths marks down their beef EVERY MORNING. Whatever they did not sale the day before gets marked down the next morning. It has to get marked down by 9 a.m. so go shopping early to get the good deals. My friend got ground beef for $1.99 a pound last week because she looked for the marked down packages. (They don't always have marked down beef - it's only if they don't sell it all the day before. Talk to the butcher at your favorite store and ask when they put out their marked down meat to get the best deals) I also keep lots of frozen veggies ready for side dishes and have chopped lettuce ready to make a quick salad for dinner. I buy a package of 3 Romain hearts at Smiths for $2.99. I wash and then chop the lettuce, place it in a ziplock bag with a paper towel and I have lettuce ready for salad or sandwiches all week long. I love adding chopped apples and dried cranberries to salads, or chopped dried apricots and croutons. And when it's all ready to go I'm more motivated to make a salad for lunch or dinner or to add lettuce to my sandwiches. I love cooking dinner for my family and with our schedules getting busy and me going back to work (yay!) it's nice to know I can do a little prep work ahead of time and keep dinner one of my favorite times of the day.