Friday Funny

(Can you hear the song now?)

 

Cooking Thursday

Bob's workplace had a summer picnic on Saturday evening. The theme was a Mexican Fiesta and I was asked to bring something for dessert. I love mexican food, but wasn't sure what to bring for dessert.  I goggled it and found this recipe which sounded perfect.  I have made a version of this many times where there is chocolate in the cream cheese and not cinnamon, so I thought it would be good.  And it was! It's so easy to put together, and the creamy filling and cinamon topping is delicious!

Sopapilla Cheesecake Bars

2 packages crescent roll sheets

3 8 ounce packages cream cheese

1 1/2 cup sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla

1/4 cup butter

1/2 cup sugar

2 teaspoons cinnamon

Heat oven to 350 degrees

Spray 9x13 pan with cooking spray.

Lay out one sheet of crescent roll dough and stretch to cover bottom of pain.

Bake in preheated oven for about 8 minutes.

While it is baking, beat together the cream cheese, 1 12 cup sugar and vanilla until smooth.

Spread cream cheese mix over prebaked crescent roll crust.

Take the other roll of crescent dough and stretch to cover cream cheese.  (I place it between two pieces of wax paper and roll it just a little to fit the pan.)

Melt the butter and pour over the crescent dough in pan.

Stir the remaining sugar and the cinnamon together and sprinkle evenly over melted butter.

Bake for 35 minutes or until top is set.

Cool for 20 minutes, then refrigerate.

Wordless Wednesday

 

Easy tie dye shirts

 When the girls were over, we made some easy tie dye style shirts. I saw some fabric paint in spray bottles in Hobby Lobby. It was in a package of 6 with colors I knew the girls would love.  Hobby Lobby also sells plain t-shirts for a very reasonable price.

Here's what the bottles looked like.

So I got the paint and t-shirts and on Saturday we got ready to decorate some shirts.

They each chose different ways to paint their shirts.

Ruby just wanted random colors sprayed on her shirt, so we put parchment paper inside and laid it out to wrk on.

Alaina wanted hers twisted up in the more traditional tie dye method.  So we rolled it up and put brown paper on the table to protect it.  She sprayed it with one color, then opened it a little and sprayed another color, them repeated it with one more color.

Here are the finished shirts.  The nice thing is, you really can't make a mistake!

We made one for Cassie too and it was a mix of both styles.  First we twisted it and Alaina did her spraying, then we opened it and Ruby added spots of color.

Here they are with Cassie and her shirt.

This was such a fun and easy project!

Fireflies, legos and other fun things

 Our girlies stayed overnight this weekend.  We picked them up after supper on Friday and came back to our house. 
As we were driving, for some reason the girls were talking about bleeding.  Ruby asked if I ever got blood on my clothes and I said yes, every once in a while.  Then she asked if it ever got on my skin and I said sometimes.  Then Alaina piped up - "Gues that's just nurse life, right Grandma?"  We had to laugh at that!
We stopped for ice cream at Dairy Queen which tasted good because it was so hot out.
We watched a kids version of Pilgrims Progress which was pretty good.  It was about 9:30 and we were going to get them into bed, when Ruby saw a firefly outside the window.

So, we went out on the porch for a while and watched the show.  There were quite of few of them, along with crickets chirping and frogs croaking.
They went to bed about 10 and we never heard a peep from them.

They love Lego's and spent a lot of time on Saturday working on a house.
We also did a fun craft that I will share with you tomorrow.

Shortly before noon, we packed up and made a drive to Heather and Andrews house.

Of course, they were thrilled to see Cassie.

And she was happy to see them!

Then we went to my Dad and stepmoms and had McDonalds with them.  Great Grandma slipped them a cookie too.
When we got in the car, Ruby said - Grandma makes the best cookies in the world!  Alaina replied - You take a bite and they melt in your mouth!  I had to call and tell her abou those rave reviews.

Then it was back home for them.  They were happy to be home because their neighbors with a pool are on vacation and told them to come swim, so they were planning a weekend of swimming.  Fun times!

Friday Funny

 

Cooking Thursday

 It's tomato season!  I'm a huge tomato lover, and when I saw this recipe, I knew I would like it.  It can be used as an appetizer or just do up one tomato to have for a quick lunch.  

Baked Parmesan Tomatoes

2 large beefsteak tomatoes

1 cup shaved parmesan cheese

1 tablespoon dried basil

1 tablespoon dried oregano

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Spray baking sheet with non stick spray or cover with parchment paper.

Slice tomatoes into 1/4 inch slices and arrange on baking sheet.

Top each tomato with parmesan to cover it, then sprinkle on basil and oregano.

Bake for 10 minutes until cheese is melted and bubbly.

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Wordless Wednesday

 

Favorite Finds!

 Today I thought I would share a few things I'm enjoying at the moment.  I know I've gotten some good tips from fellow bloggers, and actually one of the things I'm sharing today is something one of my friends recommended.  So here's my latest finds!

Isn't this the cutest little pan?  My friend Jenny from I'm Having a Thought Here posted about it recently, and since she is pretty trustworthy, I thought I would order one!  I'ts a Norco, 8 cup pot with a straining lid. I like that it is deep and I use it all the time to boil eggs.  It's also great for just heating things up, plus it's cute. You can check it out here, on Amazon.

I like to have something in my car to collect trash.  I don't like something that takes a lot of space of get's in the way, so this mini trash can is perfect.  It fits right in a cup holder, and is perfect to hold those little bits of paper and trash you find yourself with.

See how it fits in the cup holder?  If you want to see it on Amazon, check right here.

I love candles and frequently have them burning.  I get sick of lighters that run out of fuel or won't light when held a certain way.  This lighter has a flexible neck which makes it easy to use and it uses an electirc charge!  You can refill the charge by connecting it to your computer nad the charge lasts a long time.  Here it is, if you want to know more.

This is my favorite spot!  My chair with a basket next to it, where my laptop waits for me.  The thing I am showing you today is the lamp.  I looked for a new lamp for some time when we were redoing our living room and I found this one on Amazon!  I like the retro look and the way the light shines just righ on whatever I am reading or working on.  Plus the light is easily adjuted if the height isn't right. You can check it out here.

And last, but not least is this book.  One of the nurses that I work with had gotten it for herself, and enjoyed it so much that she got 5 more copies and gave them to people she thought would appreciate it. I alwas enjoy Max Lucado's writings and this is no exception.  This book is full of stories of how God worked in bible times and is still working today.  It has a study guide in it so can be used in that way, but is also good to read on your own.  You can find it here.

Hope you enjoyed these, and maybe have a few of your own to share!

Fernwood Gardens

 Laura, Aaron and girls gave us a membership to Fernwood Botanical Gardens for Mothers and Fathers Day. The cool thing about this is it allows us to visit about 330 gardens and nature centers all over the country. Several are close to us, Fernwood is about 2 hours south of us, in Niles Michigan.  Bob and I seem to rarely have a Saturday off together, but last weekend we were both off.  We decided to have a little getaway and drove to Niles after work Friday evening.

We stayed in a Hampton Inn where we had something strange happen when we arrived.  It was about 7:30.  We were going to check in and then run out and get some supper.  We went up to our room, tried to flash the key across the pad and nothing happened.  We tried with the other key and nothing.  We went back down and a manager came up.  She couldn't get in and said the battery in the door was out.  She went to get things to fix it and we stood outside and waited.  While we stood there, 2 ladies came to get into the room across from ours.  They asked if there was a party in the hall and we told them we hoped they could get in.  Can you believe - their door did the same thing?  So there we all stood.  It took about 20 minutes to get us in and things fixed.  However, after that all went well and it was a nice hotel.

The next morning, we headed for the Gardens.  It covers 105 acres, with space for an arboretum, prairie restoration and several different gardens.  

Here's the back of the visitors center, as we startted on the trails.

Check out this tree!  You can see Bob in his hat at the edge of it, to judge it's size.

When you part the branches and go through this is what you find.  There is even a swing on one of the branches.  Kids would just love this.  I wish I knew what type of tree it was.

Another tree with cool fronds hanging from it.

There were quite a few cute birdhouses scattered through the gardens.

This is an herb garden.  There were so mnay different types of herbs planted all around this cute little building.

There were also lots of benches scattered around.

This is the home of the original owners of the property.  They bought it in 1941.  The lady loved to garden and people came to see her flowers.  They donated it and more land was added to start the gardens.

This working water wheel was a charming addition.  However, at this point we were in the woods and the mosquitoes were awful.  We hurried through and hardly stopped to take pictures, because we were being eaten up!

It may be called Fernwood because of all the huge ferns on the property.

There is a large pond with lots of turtles and frogs.  The frogs were very noisy when we were there.

Coneflowers

A little visitor we saw in the bird watching area.

Lots of cheerful daisies!

This was part of the Japanese Garden.

There was a fun Childrens Garden that had a big train set running through it.

The last section we visited was the naturalized prairie area.  The plants in the area were surprisingly tall.

This is a viewing deck that was built to be abou the level of a Conestoga wagon, to give people the idea of what it was like for the early settlers as they rode in those wagons across the prairie.

And here we are at the end of our time there.  I have a horrible time with selfies.  My eyes close when I smile, so I'm trying to look at the camera, smile, and keep my eyes open!  :)  Of course, Bob looks good in every picture.  We were laughing at the crazy shots and this is the best we got!
It was a fun little getaway together!

Friday Funny

 

Cooking Thursday

 I came across this recipe for a spaghetti dish that promised to be a pasta that everyone would like.  It has 4 types of cheese, sausage, fresh basil...  That sounded like a winner to me!  It's kind of a mix between lasagna and spaghetti and it was really good!  Another bonus is that it freezes well.  I made half - which was still enough for 2 meals for us, and froze the other half.

Million Dollar Spaghetti Casserole

3/4 pound dried spaghetti noodles
2 eggs
1/2 cup parmesan cheese, shredded
1/4 cup fresh basil, chopped
2 tablespoons butter
1/4 cup onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1 bell pepper, diced
1 pound Italian sausage
8 oz. cream cheese, softened
8 oz. ricotta cheese
24 oz. jar of marinara sauce
1/4 cup sour cream
2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese

Heat the oven to 350 degrees and grease a large 3-quart casserole dish or 9x13 pan.
Cook Spaghetti to al dente, drain and return to pot.
In a medium sized bowl, combine the eggs, parmesan cheese and chopped basil.  Whisk until smooth.  Pour this mix over the cooked pasta, along with butter and mix until well coated.
Transfer pasta to pan.
Add ricotta and cream cheese to the pot and melt on medium heat, stirring continuously. Pour melted cheese over the noodles and smooth it out.
Add onion, garlic, bell pepper and sausage into the same skillet you have been using. Cook over medium heat until veggies are tender and meat is cook through. Drain grease.
Add marinara sauce and stir in sour cream,  Mix well and pour meat sauce over the cheese and noodles and smooth out.
Sprinkle mozzarella cheese over top evenly.  Bake for 35 to 40 minutes until cheese is bubbly and slightly browned.
Remove from oven and let cool for 5 minutes before serving.n the pot after draining the

Wordless Wednesday

 

Sleepover...

 We had Alaina and Ruby overnight last weekend and had our usual fun time!

When we picked them up, they had to show us Franklin the turtle.  He was Alaina's class pet last year, and the kids from the class get to take turns watching him in the summer if they want to.  They were thrilled to have him at their house.

We stopped for ice cream on the way home.  The girls chose play dough ice cream.  It looked like play dough which didn't look great to me, but they said it was good!

We watched a movie and they went to bed a little before 10.  (They get to stay up late at Grandpa and Grandma's house)

On Saturday morning, they played outside while I did some baking.  Bob had to work, so it was just us three.

Fun times!

Then they played downstairs, in the playhouse Bob made for our kids when they were young. They had a great time setting things up and called me down to see what they had done.

We made a flag craft for the 4th of July.  These are paint stirrers, painted red and white, then glued together and blue painted in the corner.  Then they added white dots for stars.

Our town was having some fun Independence Day activities in the park.  We stopped and got hot dogs for lunch.

There was a car show.

Even better, there was a petting zoo.

So many cute little animals.

There were pony rides!

On the way out, we stopped and got some real lemonade which they thought was pretty good, with the lemons floating in it.

They wanted to stop and see Great grandpa and great grandma on the way home.  They brought them some popcorn from the park and had to sit outside on the swing for a little bit.

After that, I took them home.  They were still full of energy, I was tired!  :)  (But happy!)