Our Summer Bucket List

WOOOHOOOO!! It’s finally summer. I’ve been looking forward to summer break since January. And what kid (and college student) doesn’t love a whole two months of no school?! I know I do.

I decided to make a list of things I want to do with the kids while we have lots of time on our hands. I’m a list person. I make lists of everything. I also like schedules. I’m not some super strict mom where every minute is detailed but I do like to do things around the same time each day. It benefits the kids, too. And my kids are the type that gets bored of doing the same thing each day (but what kids isn’t?!). So that’s where our summer bucket list comes in!

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Activities
1. Swimming. Duh. And it helps that we have 3 family members who own pools:)
2. Play in the sprinklers. We do this at our house. We have about three different types. It’s great to cool off on a hot day. And Dobby loves the sprinklers just as much as the kids haha!
3. Library visits. Our local library has a Summer Reading Program in June on Wednesdays. We will definitely be attending that. And it’s FREE! We will probably go weekly or bi-weekly to get new books, too.
4. Play at the park. This will be reserved on the “not so hot” days. This will ensure that my kids don’t melt along with the playground equipment.
5. Chuck E. Cheese. This might happen once or twice this summer. It can be pretty pricey, but the kids love it. And we will definitely NOT go on a weekend. Have you been to Chuck E. Cheese on a Saturday afternoon? Never. Again.
6. Disney Movie Day (or night). Probably once a week, we will pick a Disney movie to watch and have a craft & snack to go along with it. (I will probably enjoy this too haha!).
7. Nature Hunt. This will give the kids something to do outside since we don’t have a swingset anymore. Plus, they will be learning AND having fun! Double win!
8. Zoo. We haven’t been to the zoo in almost three years! Tucker was only 2 months old so of course he doesn’t remember anything about it.
9. Mommy/Daughter date.
10. Mommy/Son date.
11. Daddy/Daughter date.
12. Daddy/Son date.
13. Local Minor League baseball game. The Jackson Generals usually has a couple of fireworks shows each season, along with hilarious half-time (is there half-time in baseball??? I have no clue…and my husband is going to kill me for that LOL!) shows. Bonus: we get FREE season tickets each year. Boom.
14. Glow in the dark bubbles. Saw this on Pinterest, duh, and I’m hoping it works! I know the kids will just love this!
15. Write a letter to a Disney character. I’m thinking we can do this around the kids birthdays.
16. Visit the Children’s Museum in Memphis.17. Ice cream trips! Baskin Robbins has a $1 scoop night on Tuesdays.
18. Paint war! Put them in play clothes (or one of Daddy’s white tees) and let the squirt paint on each other.
19. Glow in the dark bath paint. Tucker loved the bathtub paint we made him, so I’m sure making it glow in the dark will be the icing on the cake.
20. Safari Park. Yes, we have a safari park in West Tennessee:)
21. Fishing. Doug has been wanting to take the kids for awhile now. And I'm like a pro at fishing. Not so much baiting or taking the fish off....but I can sure catch them!

Crafts
1. Painting outside. I really wish the kids hadn’t BROKE the easel we had. But they can just paint on the ground. They won’t care.
2. Flubber! I’m sure this will entertain them forever.
3. Giant bubbles. I want to see if this really works.
4. Chalk Paint. 5. Cloud dough. I’ve been wanting to do this forever. I know they will just love it.
6. Make a bird feeder. We love watching the birds! Well, I do the most. I swear, I’m a little old lady trapped in a 24 year old body.
7. Popsicle stick puzzles. This could be a rainy day activity.
8. Foam dough. Shaving cream + corn starch.

*I'm sure I will be adding to these lists throughout the summer*

 

Are you doing anything fun for the summer? I would love to hear your ideas! 

And be sure to be on the lookout for the posts about our summer fun activities!

Mother’s Day recap

 

I know, I know. I’m behind on this post. Better late than never, eh?

This Mother’s Day was so special to me. My kids actually understood that the day was all about Mommy and I woke up to “Happy Mother’s Day” “I love you” all that morning! Precious, I tell ya. I got them ready for church and of course had to take pictures.

I am so blessed to have beautiful, smart, funny children. Yes, they drive me crazy 80% of the time, but I would still do anything for them and I love them more than life itself!

Doug took them with him that afternoon so I went with my Mom to eat lunch at my Uncle’s with the rest of the family. It was nice to spend some one on one time with my Mom. She even got ME a gift!

Aren’t these coasters just adorable? She also got me a beach/pool bag, which I LOVE.

After all the family gathering/eating was over, I came home to a CLEAN house. Doug cleaned up the whole house. He vacuumed and everything. He’s a keeper.

Then the kids gave me their gift:

They made me garden stones with their precious handprints! They even decorated it themselves. I love them so much! And of course, my husband for coming up with the idea. I think homemade gifts are just the absolute best. I will cherish these forever!

I’d say my Mother’s Day was a success, don’t you think so?

Strawberry Yogurt Holy Goodness of the Earth Bundt Cake.

 Yeah, it was THAT good.

At least I thought so. Maybe it was because I made it myself from scratch and got to use my bundt pan for the first time.

And the fact that I probably ate HALF of that sinfully delicious masterpiece by myself.

 

Ingredients

1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
2 cups sugar
3 eggs
3 Tb. lemon juice, divided
Zest of 1 lemon
2 ½ cups all-purpose flour, divided
½ tsp. baking soda
½ tsp. salt
8 oz. plain Greek yogurt
12 oz. fresh strawberries, diced
1 cup powdered sugar

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Grease and flour a 10 inch Bundt pan (10-15 cup pan.) Sift together the 2 ¼ cups of flour, baking soda and salt. Mix in the lemon zest and set aside.
2. With an electric mixer, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then stir in 1 Tb. lemon juice. Alternate beating in the flour mixture and the yogurt, mixing just until incorporated.
3. Toss the strawberries with the remaining ¼ cup of flour. Gently mix them into the batter.
4. Pour the batter into the Bundt pan. Place in the oven and reduce the temperature to 325 degrees F. Bake for 60 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.
5. Allow to cool at least 20 minutes in the pan, then turn out onto a wire rack and cool completely. Once cooled whisk together the remaining 2 Tb. of lemon juice and the powdered sugar. Drizzle over the top of the cake.
6. Eat your heart out. And your self-esteem.  

This recipe was originally found here.

It's O-V-E-R!!

That's right. You heard me. It's OVER! If I had to go any longer, I would have reached my breaking point and died.

I have REACHED summer break, you guys.

 

I have one super easy final to take Monday night, and THEN I will be officially out for the summer.

Thank the Lord, Hallalurjer.

This semester has kicked my butt. And next semester will be worse...I can taste it.

So....that's why I've been absent.

Again.

I really suck at blogging.

BUTTTTTTT, I do have a life ya know.

 

Anyways.

I will have more interesting posts later to come.

Or just some regular posts.

You know the bizz-nizz.

 

 

Weekends are never long enough.

This weekend was jam packed with stuff to do.

And I'm not even being sarcastic this time!

Saturday was soccer, of course.

It was her last game of the Spring :( I'm ready for the Fall to watch her play again!

Oh, and I gave Tucker my iPhone to entertain him during Kenzie's game....he took lots of pictures.

 

Hey, he's not so bad for a two year old.

After the game I took the kids to McDonald's for a healthy and nutritious lunch.

haha

Then we came home and I got to cooking for dinner.

We had grilled steaks, baked potatoes, homemade mac-n-cheese, and rolls. Oh yeah.

I also made this beauty of a dessert.

It's Strawberry & Yogurt bundt cake and it's heaven.

I'll have the recipe on here soon.

Believe me. You will want to have it.

And if you follow me on Instagram, you got to see these beauties:

My flower arrangement from my Azalea bush.

My amazing night in the tub after the kids went to bed. Stella Rosa + book + Pandora + bubbles.

Needless to say, Saturday was a pretty good day/night. *wink wink*

I say *wink wink* because I drank the whole bottle of wine. Ooops.

Sunday was yard work day. Blah.

At least it wasn't a million degrees outside! 

AND I managed to get some much needed sun on my arms.

Even though I despise yard work, I always feel so accomplished after it's done.

And in case you were wondering, it took us from 8:45am to 2pm to get everything done.

Yeah.

Now you know why I don't look forward to doing yard work.

But I did have an awesome supervisor:

 

Lauren's Loves/Wants/Needs

These are a few things I've added to my Summer Wishlist.

Because in Tennessee, you don't really get a Spring. You just hop right on over from winter with 30 degree weather to 70 degree weather and then 100+ degree weather.

So summer will be here before I know it! (Like next week).

Summer Wish List by tennessee-honey featuring logo sunglasses

1//Heart sunnies! I really want some but Doug keeps making fun of me.
2//Nude wedges. 
3//Hair wrap thingy. I think they are lovely.
4//Bright yellow nail polish! 
5//Aztec iPhone case = LOVE.
6//Jean vest. I'm really loving these and need one to go with some of my dresses!
7//Brown cross-body purse. I love me some cross-bodies. They help TONS when you need about 8 more arms attached to you. #momprobs     

I'm also linking up for Coffee Talk!

  

     

Things are green again.

I thought we were going to have winter forever around here. I'm ready to start complaining about how hot it is outside. 

Reasons I love Spring weather:

#1. The weather. Obvs.

Dobby agrees. This weather is great for exploring.

#2. Sports. I have a Soccer Queen on my hands!

 #3. Things that aren't dead!!

And #4. Bright colors are good to go!