Yesterday I posted about our Summer Bucket List.

On it it says, "Saturdays from a Jar."

I will explain.

Have you ever had one of those Saturdays? Where each one of you is itching to do something, but you're not sure what?

We do. A lot.

This is my solution to life's most perplexing question... "What do you want to do today?"

Saturdays in a Jar should actually be called Saturdays in 3 Jars.

One is labeled with a $. A second is labeled with $$ and the last, pretty obviously, labeled with $$$.

This is, of course, is so we can have something do to any Saturday, no matter our fundage situation. Surprisingly enough, I have a lot of $ activities and it was really hard for me to figure out the $$ and $$$ activities.

Let's fast forward to Saturday. This {very possible} scenario takes place...

"What do you want to do today?"

"I don't know what do you want to do?"

"I don't know, but I don't want to sit around all day."

"Luke, any ideas?"

"Buy Legos and have a Lego-putting-together-party?"

"Um, no."

{Cue the bright lights & angelic music}

So we pull from one of the jars- most likely the $ jar. And we may pull out "Create a sidewalk chalk city." or "Go to the splash pad." or "Wash the cars (and the bikes!)"

If we pulled from the $$ jar, we'd get to have friends over for an ice cream sundae party or go to the beach.

And, on the Saturdays when we saved up our cash during the week (ha ha ha ha ha ha! Oh my. Sorry, fit of laughter there), we could pull from the $$$ jar and go to the drive-in theater or go to a Silverhawks game!

The fun thing is, if we think of other ideas that aren't in the jars already, we can always add them!

If you did Saturdays in a Jar, what activities would you add?

Another fun thing we did on our snow day yesterday was making snow ice cream.

It was super easy & fun to make!

It was tasty, too. Although Luke disagreed. His first thought was that there was bird poop in it. When I finally convinced him there was no bird poop in it, he decided it tasted like coconut. I think he's the coconut.

Today we actually had a snow day! I think that's the first one in two years.


We're pretty diehard here in our town, but apparently a Blizzard Warning is cause enough to cancel.


We got a decent amount of snow, probably about 15 inches in the not drifted parts... and it was HEAVY to shovel!


Well, we made the most of our snow day. We bundled up- well, Luke did. I left all of my snow gear at school by accident. And I sent Luke outside to paint the snow!


What you need:
*water
*food coloring
*empty spray or squirt bottles
*snow


Unfortunately for me, Luke was much more interested in building a snow castle with a moat than painting the snow. But I had a little fun with it!

We had Luke's 7th birthday celebration with his friends yesterday. There are only so many places we can have a fun birthday party in the middle of winter. So, we splurged and took him and ten of his friends to an indoor water park. They had a blast!

Last week, when we were talking about birthday cakes, he said he wanted rainbow cupcakes. I can do that! When I mentioned that I was going to make them, I had a lot of people asking how. So, without further ado, here's how.

You need: a white cake mix (or make your own if you're adventurous), any type of frosting (Luke chose white with funfetti sprinkles), food coloring, one bowl for each color you're going to make. Or course, you'll need a mixing bowl, several spoons, a cupcake tin, cupcake liners, and whatever else you need to make any kind of cupcake, too.

First, mix the cake as directed on the box. I like to use a whisk to mix because it breaks up all of the clumpies easier. (Side note: I use a whisk to mix everything... cake mixes, sauces, and even to mix my flour, salt, & baking powder for not-boxed things. Love my whisks!)

Next, divide up the cake batter into as many bowls as colors you want in your cake. I used six colors- red, orange, yellow, green, blue & purple. If I had thought about it before separating, I would have added turquoise to the mix, since it's Luke's favorite color.

Mix in the food coloring to desired brightness. (The yellow was NOT my desired brightness... however, that's how it turned out. So be it. It was a nasty, nasty yellow, though. Think Spongebob.)

Take a spoon and spoon one color at a time into a lined cupcake tin. The amount of each spoonful is dependent on how many colors you have. You will still want to have your liner about 2/3 of the way full when it's all said and done.

Once each cupcake tin is filled, I "stomp" it on the counter a bit to get out all of the air bubbles. I don't know if it's necessary, but it's kind of fun.

Bake according to the directions on the box.

Let cool completely before frosting.

Decorate to your liking. As noted above, we opted for white frosting & funfetti sprinkles. I think it was a nice touch. Good choice, Luke!

After spending a whole week in Cleveland, we arrived back home late afternoon yesterday. We had a ton of fun... spent a ton of money... and made a ton of memories. But more of that later, when my pics are all uploaded and edited.

I wanted to share what I came home to... my very first blog award. :)


Thanks, Melanie, for the blog love! If you haven't read Mel's blog, you should. She always makes me smile. And my favorite posts of hers are the Not Me Mondays posts... because I can so easily relate! Oh! And she's clearing off her nightstand with book giveaways right now! Go! Enter!

So from what I understand I now tell you seven {very random} things about me. So here goes...

1. I despise cilantro. I chalk it up to when I lived in Ecuador and had to eat Ecuadorian food. And most Ecuadorian food has a lot of cilantro in it. Or at least in my mind it does. Ew.

And that leads me to...

2. I lived in Ecuador. Twice. The first time I went with a group of kids (of course we weren't kids back then, but man, that was ten years ago!) for a semester abroad in college. Then, after college graduation I returned with a good friend of mine to teach for a semester.

3. I get really excited for alone time when grandma and grandpa take Luke for a day or four. Then, I complain because it's too quiet in the house and I'm bored.

4. I just bought a Nook for myself. Well, technically, Joel bought it for me and I bought one for him. Early Christmas presents. But we do this every year- this buying early Christmas presents thing. And we still end up getting each other Christmas presents at Christmas time.

5. I want another child. I've wanted one for about five years now. We've come close twice, but lost them early on in the pregnancy. I'm learning that God's plans are not always mine. And I'm ever-so-grateful he blessed us with Luke (who was a pleasant surprise, btw).

6. I have a farmer's tan. There. I said it.

7. I'm kind of liking this blogging thing. I just hope I can keep it up once the school year starts. (I'm a teacher, in case you didn't know. And that would make eight things about me.)

And now it's time to pass along the award. Today's recipients are...

Shannan from Flower Patch Farmgirl

Heather from The Life of a Modern Day Hippie

And my hubby at Too Long for 140, who won't follow the directions and resend to anyone else, gets it anyway

So I have a small list of "things to do before summer is over." It really started sinking in this week. I've only done one thing on that list. And summer is basically over in 2 and a half weeks. I need to get busy!

The one thing I have checked off my list is the garage sale. It wasn't so much to have a garage sale, but to declutter my house & basement and get a little cash out of it. We managed to make almost $250 in two days! I was so proud of myself- I actually sent a LOT of the leftover to Goodwill! It felt SO good not to bring that junk home.

*I kept the kids clothes to take to the new local kids' consignment shop, who gives you 50% of what she makes. Not too shabby!

*The baby bedding I'm going to relist on Craigslist for less than I had it before.

*The GeoTrax I am going to offer them at bargain price to two different people who came to the garage sale for their preschool/daycare. If they don't want it, bargain price to Craigslist.

And that should take care of what's left. WOOT!

Today I'm going to go to Target. I'm going to get new cute sandals. I'm thinking either wedge or t-strap. I got a cute new dress for $14 at OldNavy.com.



You like? I love. And it's SO comfy. And that's the 2nd dress I've bought this summer. That's double of what I've bought since I've been married.

Back to my list of things to do before summer is out.

We want to have a Back to School Bash with an outdoor movie. How fun would that be? But it's going to have to be planned QUICK. Like this weekend. Because we want to have it in less than two weeks. EEP! We'd been wanting to do an outdoor movie for awhile, but Family Fun reminded me in their latest issues, which arrived yesterday.

But as my hubby and I were chatting about it. It doesn't really get dark until 9:30 or 10 (thank you Mr. Daniels for adopting DST for Indiana. Boo.) And the Friday before school starts... most people are trying to reinstall an early bedtime for their kids. So poo. Maybe we can just have a back to school bash without the outdoor movie. And save the outdoor movie for Labor Day. Because, well, having a BBQ with friends is another thing to do before school, and it could be a Back to School BBQ Bash. Right?

This week on Sweet Shoppe Designs, our blog assignment is to write about the type of Christmas shopper we are.

I start thinking about Christmas shopping sometime in October. One of my best friends and I always have a fall shopping trip to kick off our Christmas shopping. This year, it's next weekend! WOOT!

I'm usually done by Thanksgiving... sometimes I have a few more stocking stuffers to get after that, but the gift-buying is usually done.

Just writing about it makes me that much more ready for Christmas!!

I am so not a reader of adult books. I have tried on numerous occasions to be a reader of adult books. It just doesn't happen. So my list is going to be favorite children's books- fitting since I have a five-year-old and I'm a 2nd grade teacher, no? Ten of my favorites, in no particular order.

The True Story of the Three Little Pigs by Jon Scieszka and Lane Smith



The Kissing Hand by Audrey Penn




The Crippled Lamb by Max Lucado



James and the Giant Peach


The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe



Time for Bed by Mem Fox


First Day Jitters by Julie Danneberg and Judith Dufour Love



The Wretched Stone by Chris VanAllsburg



The Lorax by Dr. Seuss



Skippyjon Jones by Judy Schachner



Of course, there are a zillion other winners out there. These are the ones that I swiped off the top of my head. :) Enjoy!

1 qt. strawberries
4 c. sugar
1 box Sure-Jell
3/4 c. water

Prepare containers and fruit:

Wash and rinse with boiling water and drain. Use 1 to 2 cup glass or rigid plastic containers with tight fitting lids.

Have fruit at room temperature. Wash and drain well. If using food processor, take care not to puree fruit. Use exact measure of prepared fruit; extra fruit can affect sets.

Remove caps from berries. Thoroughly crush fruit one layer at a time. Measure 2 cups into large bowl. Measure exact amount of sugar (4 cups). Add sugar to fruit and stir thoroughly. Let stand 10 minutes. Mix 3/4 cup water and contents of Sure-Jell in small saucepan.

Bring to a full boil, boil for 1 minute, stirring constantly. Stir into fruit and continue stirring for 3 minutes. (A few sugar crystals will remain.) Ladle quickly into prepared containers, filling to within 1/2 inch of tops.

Wipe spills with a clean damp cloth. Cover at once. Let stand at room temperature 24 hours. Store in freezer. Small amounts of unfrozen jam or thawed maybe covered and stored in refrigerator up to 3 weeks. Makes approximately 4 3/4 cups.