It's very quiet here. Mike and the guys are at work. Roxie is with a friend. Peaceful. Tranquil. The calm before the storm!
I have much to do, and not a lot of time, so once again, a brief (yet very informative) post!
RANDOMNESS #1 - As promised, I will be sharing my menu for our family 4th of July get-together.
I'll be making The Pioneer Woman's Spicy Pop Pulled Pork. This is a huge hit with The Faulkner Five, and it will definitely feed the 15 who will be eating here at lunch.
Instead of just having pulled pork sandwiches and/or plates, we're going to throw the ever-popular baked potato into the mix.
Add cole slaw, baked beans with sausage, Brownie and Fruit Kabobs (see below), a Bavarian Cream Cheese Birthday Tort (strawberries and blueberries) from Klingler's for Mom AND Bev and homemade ice cream, and I think we'll have a nice red, white and blue meal.
Everything can be made ahead of time (and with Bev and Mom bringing a little of this and that) it will be easy, breezy.
That's the plan.
Stay tuned Thursday to see what REALLY happened.
RANDOMNESS #2 - I wrote this one year ago today. What I've been whining about the past few weeks actually began LAST year... and because I'm 50 I guess I forgot!
The Faulkner Five Epic Summer is so different from any summer we've ever experienced before. It's not bad. It is just totally here, there and everywhere.
For those of you not yet living with teenagers, I thought I'd take the time to post a "Top Ten List of Things You Do During the Summer When All of Your Kids are Teenagers or Young Adults." (I know. It's a ridiculously long title, but I'm working on less than six hours of sleep this morning. Work with me.)
10. You make lots and lots of plans to spend quality family time with your teenagers and young adult children. They, in turn, make lots and lots of plans to spend quality time with their friends. Although you have your plans written in ink hanging on the refrigerator for all to see, their plans are somewhere in cyberspace and they use words like "hang out" and "see you this afternoon" and "later." NOTHING has a specific time attached to it. NOTHING!
9. Because some or all of the teenagers and young adult children are working shift work, one or two will be leaving when one or two are coming home. You will immediately have to wash the uniform of the arriving worker, knowing you will have to do another load as soon as the other worker arrives home eight hours later.
8. Supper is always up in the air. Who will be sitting down at the table? Who will have already eaten? Who will be eating later? Rule of Thumb... The bigger the dinner you cook, the less likely anyone will be home to help you eat it. My Suggestion... Just bake a chocolate pie for supper. I know I'll enjoy that!
7. Because you never know who will need to get their car out of the driveway at any given time, only two cars can go into the driveway. All other vehicles have to park in front of the house. It looks messy, but there's no way around it... literally.
6. Teenagers and young adult children do NOT go to sleep before midnight if there are no specific plans the next day. It goes against everything in their being. They watch movies, wrestle, play X-Box, read and talk. Because of the energy and activity in the house between the hours of 10:00 p.m. and 1:00 a.m., as a parent of teenagers and young adult children, you feel the need to participate in some of their late night activities. Last night, I played Farkle with The Boy at 11:45 p.m., and when I finished, I walked into my bedroom where Mikie and Roxie were watching ONE MORE episode of NCIS. Austin and Josh then watched a television show together before heading to bed around 1:00 a.m. Mikie and I went to bed, but Roxie was at the foot of our bed finishing her detective show until 12:35 a.m. (Mikie and I are NOT getting much sleep... and he is half a century old now... and I'm fast approaching that age, too.)
5. One of my teenagers isn't driving yet, but she is incredibly socially active. That means she still needs me, but only for my Big Gold Van. This doesn't hurt my feelings. I accept it and am thankful for the "need."
4. Teenagers and young adult children do not eat lunch during the summer. They have breakfast between 10:30 a.m. and 11:30 a.m. Thus, they want dinner around 5:00 p.m. If you haven't fixed anything by that time, they make other arrangements.
3. Teenagers and young adult children do not put on "real" clothes, shower or brush their teeth before noon if there are no specific plans for earlier in the day. I won't sugar-coat it. It is gross.
2. Teenagers and young adult children may not finish all of their chores before 4:00 p.m. (and that includes making their beds). It's okay though. I take what I can get.
1. Teenagers and young adult children do not like to play in sprinklers any longer. When they do, in fact, go outside, they are showered, dressed and holding car keys in their hands. The urge to run through a sprinkler is gone... and will not return until they are around 50 years of age. (I rarely pass up a sprinkler these days.)
These are the facts. They aren't meant to discourage you or warn you. It is what it is.
If you have little ones, enjoy your summer! And if you have teenagers and young adult children, go ahead! Enjoy your summer, too!
4th of July Recipes
These are ALL from Pinterest. I have so many in my 4th of July file, but tomorrow I will only be making the Brownie and Fruit Kabobs (for my something "new").
Brownie and Fruit Kabobs
I'm just going to post it like it was written on Pinterest... so it will look a little different from one of my normal recipes.
1. Start with a pan of baked and cooled brownies. (Preferably thrown in the refrigerator to chill and firm up to glorious decadent proportions.)
2. Choose a few other kabob-worthy items, such as fruit (strawberries and blueberries in this case), marshmallows, etc.
3. Thread the brownies and fruit onto the skewers, drizzle with chocolate sauce if desired and eat.
Festive AND delicious!
Star-Spangled Pie
You will need the following:
1 1/4 cups Keebler Chips Deluxe Rainbow Bite Size cookies
1 package (8 ounce) cream cheese, softened
1/3 cup sugar
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1 tub (8 ounce) frozen non-dairy whipped topping, thawed
1 Keebler Ready Crust Graham Pie Crust
Red, white and blue sprinkles
1. Chop cookies. Set aside.
2. In small mixing bowl, beat cream cheese on medium speed of electric mixer until fluffy.
3. Add sugar and lemon juice. Beat until combined.
4. Fold in cookies and whipped topping.
5. Spread in crust. Refrigerate at least 3 hours or until set. Garnish with sprinkles. Store in refrigerator.
Independence Day Punch
This was shown being served in a large glass drink dispenser. It was beautiful!
You will need the following:
Cranberry juice
Blue Gatorade Frost
Diet 7-Up
Ice cubes
1. Fill the drink dispenser with ice.
2. Add the container of cranberry juice.
3. Pour in the container of Blue Gatorade Frost, BUT make sure when you're pouring the Blue Gatorade Frost you pour straight onto some of the ice to gently add the layer. If you pour it directly into the juice it will mix!
4. Pour the 2-liter of Diet 7-Up. (Remember to pour directly onto the ice cubes to prevent from mixing.)
You SHOULD have a beautiful white, blue, red punch. (You may want to practice in a glass before trying the whole giant glass dispenser thing! I know I would.)
Have a great Tuesday. I'll be back with an incredibly patriotic post first thing tomorrow! I'll also be sharing our extracurricular 4th of July activities. (We have two this year!)
Take care, and I'll talk to you early, early in the morning.
Sincerely,
The Enchanting Belinda
P.S. I have a few more OLD 4th of July pictures for today's post. I PROMISE I'll take a picture of something today!
Since Grandmother celebrates her birthday on the 4th of July, we made her a cupcake tower cake... with a Goo Goo Cluster bottom. She loves Goo Goo Clusters! (We have a different kind of cake for tomorrow's celebration!)
Brad and Grandmother.
MamMa and Mikie.
It was a Bunco kind of 4th...
Katie won!
And Roxie and Tommy didn't seem to mind!
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