Stuff

Trying to milk every last second out of summer before it ends is not an easy task. One thing I had hoped to accomplish this summer is getting slightly more organized. With two kids, organized is a relative term and I am not fooling myself into thinking it can ever REALLY be accomplished with so much testosterone in one house…..but there are a few areas that have been driving me crazy.

 

One being this one…….

 

 

This is one of the cupboards in my kitchen and could quite possibly go down as the most poorly designed cupboard in history. It’s deep, dark, has no pull-outs, and things simply get lost in the dark confines of this crappy hole.

 

 

It goes wwaayy back and actually runs the whole length of the breakfast bar. There is no “back access” like some designers with half a brain cell provide and so I usually have to crawl inside of it to get to things and it’s usually a disaster.

 

One of the blogs I frequent posted about this very cupboard. Amanda has this same cupboard in her house and she obviously felt my pain. When I saw what she did it to, and saw that she got the organizational gadgets at Wal-mart…….I was all over it.

 

 

The new and improved cupboard:

 

 

I am so excited! Look how that gizmo in the back houses all my covers, cutting boards, racks, etc (all those skinny things).  How awesome is that? Although I love the frying pan thing, I think that thing in the back might be my favorite. I couldn’t believe how many things I could pile into that. I know Amanda showed it even housing her muffin tins and cookie sheets. I was able to put THREE pots in there that otherwise I was storing in another cupboard in the kitchen because there wasn’t enough room in this one. Hallelujah.

 

 

Next week on the organizational list….boys closets. If anyone has any ideas on what to get to organize those without costing an arm and a leg…..I would love to hear about it. Right now there is a regular wire rack for hanging clothes and then another down lower to store things on. I am willing to part with that one. I would take a picture of them to show you just how desperate I am with these closets, but it’s just too offensive.

 

Crazy days is this week in town. I usually never shop retail downtown because it’s just too expensive. I just don’t spend that kind of money on shoes and clothes. But, this year I decided to go down and take a look and found this little number……

 

Isn’t it dreamy? I just love it. It’s perfect for work and I just love the colors.

 

 

I love the detail on the sleeves and I can’t wait to wear it this fall. Gives me a little something to look forward to in an otherwise sad time (going back to work).

 

 

You wanna know the best part? It was $12!! Can you believe that? I was very happy.

 

I am gearing up for my summer visit to Indiana. Just me, by my lonesome. My friend is worried I will swelter in the heat, but she doesn’t realize the kind of MN summer we are having. It’s been hot and humid here so I can take it. BRING IT ON! Plus, there is always air conditioning. Ha! We are going to see Jersey Boys, drink martinis, enjoy lazy days together, and relax. I can’t wait. Wish I was there now.

 

Happy weekend everyone,

LB

The Lake

My kids don’t swim in lakes. They boat in them, fish in them, throw rocks in them…..but they don’t swim in them.

We own a boat. We have offered to buy the kids a tube to pull behind the boat. Not a single wee one was interested.

This past Sunday we went out the “the lake”. Mike’s aunt and uncle own a cabin on St Olaf Lake just a short 30 minutes from our home.

 

There is the cabin! That building right in the center. I haven’t used the map feature on here in a long time…thought I would give it a whirl. Always feels like quite the conquest when I can actually locate something.

 

 

Mike’s aunts, uncles, cousins, cousin’s kids, sister (and family), and mom were all there. We enjoyed a nice lunch and then out came the boat.

 

I looked out of the corner of my eye to see my kids’ reaction. I knew tubing was on the agenda. Noah has always been scared to ride on the tube and Connor is scared because Noah is scared.

Because Noah’s cousin was first to request a ride….Noah agreed to ride too and THIS mama went to get the camera.

Getting on the tube and starting wasn’t too big of a deal.

 

 

 

 

 

  Looks like they are having a good time.

Then I started getting nervous. I wondered how Noah would survive falling off the tube into that big lake. Even I get a little squeamish thinking about the weeds and fish and SHARKS.

Oh no….starting to fly up a bit!

No worries. They actually flipped themselves off.

Noah is pretty darn happy with himself!  See him waving at me!

 

 

 

Then is was Connor’s turn. Again, my stomach turned. This could go VERY well or VERY badly.

 

 

  Connor looked thrilled from the minute he got on that tube.

He had no trouble falling into the water.

Connor thought it would be faster to just drive off the boat and swim to the dock! Until I told him to get his butt back in that boat.

The kids played by the dock and completely ignored any weed, stick, or rock. They didn’t seem to miss the chlorine from the pool at all!

 

Baseball can be played anywhere, ya know.

 

 

 

 

  This is my gorgeous boy winking at his mama. Yeah, that’s what I keep telling myself.

 

A great time was had by all. It was a perfect ending to a hot steamy weekend.

I guess our kids aren’t the pool snobs we thought they were……

Peace,

LB

A Shower for the Bride

We have a lot of boys in this family. My brother has two children, they are both boys. One of sisters has three kids and they were all boys. I have two kids and they are boys, and then there is my other sister, she has one child. AND IT’S A GIRL!

 

Devon came along when I was 13. With my sister being a single mom most of Devon’s life, Devon spent a lot of time at my house. I grew up with her feeling more like a little sister than a niece (plus it’s weird to be an aunt at 13!).

My lovely niece is getting married Labor Day weekend! We are so excited for her and love her fiancé, Justin. I threw a bridal shower at my home in honor of the gorgeous bride-to-be this past weekend.

 

 

 

 

It was so fun to do a girly shower! I just don’t get to have that much girly stuff at home and I went all out with flowers, candles, and pretty things.

Devon made a haul with gifts. I can remember vividly how awesome it was to get nice things when you have nothing! She had a blast opening all the gifts (some mailed in from those that couldn’t make it) and we enjoyed watching her.

 

 

 

 

 

Devon and her future Mother-in-Law. Thanks for taking such good care of Devon for us Mary! 

 

 

 

 Carrie (Devon’s mom) and Aunt Lisa

 

 

 

 Aunt Tracy and Grandma

It was such a nice time. It was nice to finally meet someone from Justin’s side of the family. I know they are a huge part of Devon’s life because they live near her, and we do not, and we look forward to meeting everyone else in September. It’s the first grandchild in the family to get married so it’s pretty darn exciting!

Can’t wait to celebrate the wedding!!

Much love,

LB

Dells 2010

** As a side note, I am having trouble with Live Writer. I am regretting switching over to it. I spend so much time spacing my blog out so people can read it easily. I space out the pictures so they aren’t crammed on top of each other. I try to make reading of it smooth…..and then the minute I publish it smooshes everything back together. So then I go back and redo every paragraph and picture and space out my text again and maybe ONE line will work. I have googled to try and find out what the deal is…no answers. So sorry. I know this is hard to read, hard to know which text goes with which picture, hard to tell where gears switch. SO ANNOYING!! GRRRR!

A little pressure from TK leads me to posting tonight. Now maybe she will leave a comment! Bwahahahahaha!

We spent the 4th of July weekend in Wisconsin Dells. It was a great couple of days and we did some fun things we hadn’t done in previous visits.

We stayed at the Great Wolf Lodge.

A couple of prerequisites I have about where we stay:

1. Can’t be open to the public because the crowds are horrendous.

2. Needs outdoor and indoor areas in case of bad weather (which we had some of).

3. Can’t cost more than the Taj Mahal (which most hotels in the Dells barely squeak by this one).

I finally figured out the difference between the Wilderness and the Great Wolf (which had been the two resorts we seem to go back and forth between. I used to not be able to to tell a difference, but now I know what it is.

The Wilderness has many more areas of play, the Great Wolf is quieter and cleaner. I missed the pool side music cranked from the pool side lounges at Wilderness while I basked in the sun, I did not miss the noise at night.  So, it’s a toss up each year as to which one we will go to!

We discovered this drive-in theater one year while visiting the Dells. We love it. This year we actually waited (and didn’t rush out the weekend it opened, shocking I know) and saw Toy Story!

I was smart and brought the kids’ gloves and balls so they could play catch while waiting for dark.

 

 

We made five trips to the concession stand and enjoyed lots of yummy treats!

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The kids hit every slide this year. Even the Howlin’ Tornado which I can barely look at pictures of…….

Coming off a smaller ride. They could be poster children for “Fun at the Water park!” Huh?

I had to take this picture to prove who won “the race”. My kids aren’t competitive or anything.

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For the first time we went on a Duck Boat tour. It was a lot of fun. We learned a little history, saw a deer bedding down, and saw some gorgeous sites. We had this guide that had just graduated from high school and he cracked jokes the whole time. He fed us so much bunk that when he said we would get wet when going from land to water…..we thought he was kidding.

He wasn’t.

Apparently this sandstone is only found 3 places in the world. I thought it would look nice on my back splash in my kitchen or as columns on our new bar we are hoping to get. Loved the colors. I guess it crumbles in your hands when you touch it, so I suppose I shouldn’t use it for the aforementioned home revisions.

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We totally lucked out and found out that our hotel was doing fireworks right outside our hotel room! So, we swam until 9:00 and went up the room, showered, and took some snacks out to our balcony to watch the display. I must say, I don’t think I have ever been so close to fireworks! I could not even get a decent picture.

It felt like they were on top of us.

Right when they started it began to POUR! I felt bad for all the people on the grass on blankets. They all ran for cover. We huddled under the roof of the balcony and we very thankful that we scored room #430.

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Mike and I were there too. In case you were wondering. I got to eat at my favorite place in the Dells that I discovered last year, The High Rock Cafe. Yum.

Successful trip all around. Hope you enjoyed your 4th!

Big weekend ahead.  Mike’s yearly trip to Canada, a bridal shower I am hosting for my niece, and being a single mother for a week. Hope I come out alive.

Peace Out,

LB

 

Amazing Muffins

 

Two posts in one day. Crazy. If you need to see 4th of July fireworks, please scroll down.

I am packing and baking for our trip to the Dells tomorrow. I wanted to make some muffins to take with us to use up some blueberries I had. I have never made real blueberry muffins. If you know me, anytime I am venturing into unknown territory I research it and read reviews.

So, that’s what I did. I researched a great blueberry muffin recipe and ran across this one called “The Best Blueberry Muffin Ever” or something like that. I wasn’t sucked in with the title. I got sucked in by the 4000 reviews this muffin had. Anytime something is reviewed that many times, you know it’s got to be outstanding. People gave this muffin 4.5/5 out of 5 over and over again. So, I had found my recipe.

Can I just tell you….these are amazing muffins. Honestly, sooooo good. I followed the recipe exactly and they came out perfect. I had to post in case some you wanted something yummy this holiday, and also so I don’t lose the recipe! :)

 

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup white sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/3 cup vegetable oil
• 1 egg
• 1/3 cup milk
• 1 cup fresh blueberries
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup butter, cubed
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Line with muffin liners.
2. Combine 1 1/2 cups flour, 3/4 cup sugar, salt and baking powder. Place vegetable oil into a 1 cup measuring cup; add the egg and enough milk to fill the cup. Mix this with flour mixture. Fold in blueberries. Fill muffin cups right to the top, and sprinkle with crumb topping mixture.
3. To Make Crumb Topping: Mix together 1/2 cup sugar, 1/3 cup flour, 1/4 cup butter, and 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon. Mix with fork, and sprinkle over muffins before baking.

If you do try it, let me know what you think!

LB

Happy 4th of July

 

Last year I kind-of figured out how to take photos of fireworks without having them appear blurry.

 

 

 

I had to take about 60 pictures to get 4 good ones.

 

 

 

Don’t ask me how I did it because I can’t remember.

 

 

 

 

 

 

This year we will be at the Great Wolf Lodge in Wisconsin Dells for the 4th……….

We will take in Toy Story 3 at the drive-in, eat at some yummy places, swim until we are puckered, and take in the fireworks at a new place.

Hope you all enjoy the long holiday weekend!

Peace out,

LB