Summer Dining

Summer dining at it's best!

Chicken salad on homemade rolls with fresh fruit salad!

The rolls were so easy! I made them from a new dough recipe that you store in the fridge. You mix it up (no kneading!) and after it rises you set it in the fridge. When you want bread you just take some out and set it out to rise and then bake. As it sits it develops a sourdough flavor. Not too strong though...the boys ate it without noticing a difference. The first time I made it, I made a round loaf and there were no leftovers. This time I thought I'd see how it did in roll form. The rolls were a big hit!

I got the recipe from the book Artisan bread in five minutes a day : the discovery that revolutionizes home baking or you can find instructions here.

Music to our ears!

I love reading blogs! I use Google Reader to keep up with my favorites. If you don't use a blog reader of some kind and read blogs frequently you are missing out! You can organize and check all your favorite blogs in one spot. It sure beats clicking on bookmarks or going to various sites manually each day.

Anyway, I read all different kinds of blogs. One of my favorite Christian blogs recently had a giveaway and I thought I'd enter. Well, guess what....I WON! I thought it was a pretty great prize too...18 CDs by various Christian artists. I won a few weeks ago but the package just arrived today!
Speaking of music, Eli LOVES music. He naps with his little MP3 player everyday. He usually uses those little ear bud headphones because those over the head ones aren't as popular and they are hard to find. Last week I ran into the dollar store and found a pair of the old style headphones and bought them for him. He still wanted to use the ear buds at nap but has taken to putting the MP3 in his pocket and using the new headphones so he can listen while he walks around or scooters in the cul-de-sac. Today he shared the music with a friend:
This has nothing to do with music...it's just a picture of JD. He's thinking about pulling himself up to stand but isn't quite there yet. But he sure noticed there was some different stuff on the coffee table and wanted to check it out. Here comes trouble!

Nature!

Yesterday was a "good day" according to Wesley. He saw two "firsts". When the neighbor kicked a ball into the small tree in our front yard a robin got very upset with us. We figured there must be a nest in the tree somewhere and after a bit of searching...sure enough. A nest with four babies in it! Wesley was so excited...while he has seen baby birds in photos and empty nests or egg shells he had never actually seen baby birds. He proclaimed them "adorable"! Momma was not happy with us for intruding so on her space and this morning when Wesley checked all the babies were gone. I don't know if they were just out and about or if they up and moved.
Tonight, we did see a baby on the back patio for a bit. It was just standing there all alone. It let the boys get pretty close before we told them to back off. I am guessing it is one of the birds from the nest in the front but guess I have know way to know for sure. He(she?) sure was cute!

Then if the nest full of baby birds wasn't enough excitement we saw a double rainbow too! I was coming home from the grocery store when it started pouring right above me while the rest of the sky was sunny! I called the boys to tell them to look at the rainbow but they had already seen it. Just as I pulled in the driveway (not a drop of rain here!) it started to fade. I took a quick picture but it was already disappearing. I wish I could have gotten a shot of the double rainbow!

Computer Calendar

I know how you all love my organizational tips! So here is another one for you. How do I keep track of when to flip my mattress? Or dentist appointments for 6 people? Or what to make for lunch on Thursday? With a color coded calendar, of course! It is a lot easier than you think thanks to the iCal program that came on our Mac. If you don't have this program you can use one of several similar, FREE online calendars like those offered by Yahoo or my favorite Google (through a gmail account).

I put everything on this calendar. The menus including breakfast and lunch for the kids and my recent additon...finally...dinner menus! Each person has their own color (well...not exactly...the twins still share since they don't have many activities just yet and all their appointments are usually the same time). There is also a color for "family" (in case we ALL have to go) and I added holidays including days to put out the flag.

I like that you can set events to repeat. So once I put in someone's birthday I don't have to keep putting that info in again each year. I also have a cleaning schedule so that is why you see so much pink. I don't clean the house all in one day anymore. Now I just do a room or a bit each day. I think the house stays cleaner this way. I don't have a block of 3 or 4 hours to just clean any more anyway! Laundry isn't on there since that is a near daily chore. This is a great system for seasonal chores (like changing the battery in the smoke detectors) that I tend to forget.

I can set any "event" to remind me ahead of time. When I remember, I put when my library books are due and set an email reminder for the day or two before. It works great...when I remember to put the due date in. I do have it set to remind me a week ahead of time for out of state birthdays...so I remember to get cards! Now if I could just remember to mail them on time!!

Off on the right is a "to do" list...things that don't really have a date but I want to get done.

Some days I don't even have to open the calendar program since I have a calendar "widget" on my desktop. I can see what I have on the calendar for today and coming up. This is what that looks like:
Now since I live in the real world I don't always get these things done but it is nice to have a plan. If I skip something...it will come around again eventually! Or I just have a day where I play catch up and get more done. I try and keep it simple and if it doesn't work I change it!
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[Thanks to Roz for helping me figure out how to take a "screen shot" on the Mac!]

Here's a math problem for you...

1 baby sitting nicely in his highchair
+ 1 box of Cheerios (just opened this morning)
+ 1 helpful brother (that would be Hayden)
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1 big MESS for Mom (and some FUNNY pictures)

Hey JD...why don't you have a few Cheerios?

Click to enlarge this one for the full effect!

A Tip to Stay Cool

I got this tip from the guy that installed our AC at the old house. Sorry, it won't work for you guys in Arizona. Here in WI, it is a good day to try it out! I should have posted it sooner.

It is much cooler inside our house than outside today even though the AC is not running. This morning before it got warm, I closed all the windows. I also closed all the blinds where the sun was directly shining in. Then I went to the thermostat and turned the fan to the on position but left the AC off. This circulates all the air in the house including the cooler air in the basement through the whole house.

This trick won't last all summer but it works when the days are hot and the nights are cool. As the sun moves over the house shut the blinds/shades as needed or if you won't be home just leave them all shut. The trick is to keep the heat/sun out as much as you can and bring that cool air in the basement up. This works well even in a two story house.

Even when you run the AC, if you have certain rooms of your house that warmer than others keeping that fan running will even out the temperature. It worked great for us in the old house and it seems to be working well in this house as well.

What's for dinner?

I have started making a dinner menu in addition to our breakfast and lunch menu. It has been working out quite nicely. Half the battle of dinner for me is just thinking of what to make. I sit down and plan it out for a week or so at a time and save myself the daily distress. We have been eating out considerably less and eating more varied dinners. I have tried several new recipes too. We have been spending less on groceries and the menu has definitely been helping with that.

I don't make a menu in the traditional way in that I put down what I want and then go buy the ingredients that I need for those meals. Those things might not be on sale! I plan the meals from items we already have on hand. Remember the "pantry principle"? Then I buy things I know we will use at the lowest price each week and work them into a future menu. Of course, I still have to buy milk, bread, and produce each week but the big items I buy are sale items to stock the freezer and pantry.

On the menu last night...homemade calzones for the big people and pizza for the little ones. I also made some garlic breadsticks and a big salad. The breadsticks were pretty much gone before I even sat down! My boys love anything with butter and garlic! Here's what their pizza looked like:

First Soccer Game for Wesley

Wesley had his first soccer game tonight. He was so excited! When Justus asked if we were going to "the park for Wesley to practice?" he was informed, by Wesley, that this was NOT practice this was a game!
Someone forgot to turn on the sun and heat today so it was pretty chilly sitting out there...it definitely did NOT feel like June! I don't think we broke 60 degrees but thankfully it wasn't raining during the game. What a difference from the "old days" of watching Roz play on brown grass in the baking hot sun of Arizona! I have to say it was a bit different watching a bunch of little boys run around! They are quite a bit rougher than the girls!
Wesley (#4) is playing in the U8 division which means under 8 years old. There is also U6 though so that means he is on the younger end of the kids on his team and some played in past years and have a bit more experience. He did well though and ran towards the right goal...sometimes even with the ball! All in all, not bad for a first game. The other team must have done some better scouting though since they pretty much ran the game! That combined with some ref "irregularities" made for a losing first game. The ref was all of 9 years old and had a few rules down wrong but the kids had fun (the other team more than us!) and that is all that matters!