The Grand Portage

One of our day trips wile we were in Grand Marais was up to the border of Canada. We did not bring our documents with us so we could not actually cross the border but we really really enjoyed the sites traveling up there. We had heard that those are probably some of the best views of the whole lake from anywhere. I think I just might agree.

We did stop though at Grand Portage State Park so we could see the falls.

 It was a 1/2 mile paved trail up to the falls.















Than we went to Grand Portage National Monument and learned that Grand Portage received its name from The Grand Portage that the Indians made. I found this all very interesting and I learned a lot. I kind of wished that Little Might was old enough so he could have learned all about the portage as well.

The portage was an 8 mile treacherous journey inland from Lake Superior, Indians used to make every year before winter. The hike was pretty much up hill into the mountains, bypassing the waterfalls on the Poplar River. They would need to make this trek with there canoes and all there supplies. This was definitely a trek I would not have wanted to take.

The national monument also included a replica of an active trading post in the early 1800's.

As I was learning about this trek I gained great respect for the Indians, They were a people that needed to work hard to survive daily life, and especially the harsh winters. Nothing came easy to them back then. 

Adventures Up North!

I finally have the long over due pictures to pass on to you from our camping trip Up North along the North Shore.

We stayed in Grand Marais! One of my favorite things that we did in Grand Marais, was walk to Artist Point, it is called artist point because many people have captured the beauty of Lake Superior at this point, through photography, and paintings.

One of the neat things that people do is they build rock sculptures out of the rocks that are on the peninsula. We decided that we needed to try out our own artistic skills.

We couldn't leave Little Might out of all the fun, here Mr. T is helping him put the last rock on the top of the sculpture.










After we built the big rock sculpture, I decided to make a small sculpture myself, that included three rock pyramids.

We enjoyed eating donuts and coffee, from the World's Best Donuts, they really were very good.














I am also very excited to report that my wonderful dear husband even got up with me at 5:30am to watch the sunrise. He is so good to me.









We stayed at a campground directly on the shores of Lake Superior, it was beautiful! I hope you enjoyed the pictures and tomorrow I will include pictures from a one of our day trips.

Blessins,
Joy

Manic Monday

Welcome to another Manic Monday!

This week will actually be a normal 5 day work week for us. That will be a bit different for us, after so many short weeks this summer. I think though that we will have to make good use of one of the few weeks left before everything starts in mid September with teaching RCIA and at a Home-school Co-op.

Menu for the Week:
Monday: Bratwursts on the Grill
Tuesday: Spaghetti alla Carbonara
Wednesday: Turkey Burgers
Thursday: Boneless BBQ Pork Ribs
Friday: Tuna Melts

Hope you each have a wonderful week, and enjoy the last official week of summer before Labor Day!

Blessings,
Joy

Sabbath Sense Saturday

Today in the Roman Catholic Church we celebrate the feast of St. Monica. The mother of St. Augustine of Hippo. St. Monica for a very good reason is the patron saint of Married Women and Mothers. She herself went through a lot in her marriage and in raising her three children, especially St. Augustine.

She was given in marriage, by her parents, to a man by the name of Patritius, even though he was a pagan and she a devout Christian. From what we know he respected her but at the same time mocked her for her beliefs and for the christian virtues that she lived by. Her husband did not allow the children to be baptized and she feared and ached for all of them, but especially her wayward son, Augustine.

At one point she even tried to vanish Augustine from her house, her table because of his immoral actions and beliefs. Due to a vision though from Christ she allowed him to come back to the table. She however NEVER stopped praying for him, for his soul.

Eventually though her prayers were answered and St. Ambrose confirmed Augustine on Easter in 327.  St. Monica died shortly thereafter. Believing that their was nothing else for her to live for.

What an amazing example of perseverance St. Monica is to each of us women.

St. Monica, Pray for Us!

Blessings,
Joy

 

Frugal Friday - Shutterfly

It's Friday and it's Frugal Friday here at Adventurous Beginnings.

Part of me is excited that its Friday but the other part is overwhelmed because I am so NOT caught up on all of the housecleaning and laundry from being gone for part of the week, but that just may have to be the way it all goes.

Today's Frugal Friday is all about Shutterfly, which I am not sure how using Shutterfly is all that Frugal, when I could simply become more creative and make all my photo albums by hand, or maybe even a more inexpensive way on the computer but I have not found one, OK truthfully have never looked.

On the up side I have received some deals from Shutterfly in the last two weeks deals that have made it so we have one brand new photo album$ from Mr. T's and I honeymoon with another new photo album on its way that includes all of the Adventures of the Summer thus far including Little Mights 1st Birthday.

I have realized that every time you purchase something via Shutterfly you receive a "FREE" 20pg 8x8 Hardcover Photo Album, you do have to pay $7.99 for shipping and and you have to pay $1 for every page over 20 you have. It is not the usual 80 cents. So before I knew it my "FREE" photo album still cost $15 but it did save me $30. Which is pretty good that way.

This is the second time that I was able to get a "Free" photo album, the first was after I ordered the birth announcements for Little Might, they again sent me an email for a free photo album. So from now I am going to be prepared and have a photo album ready to go. I am already planning on what I would like to do, when I order Christmas Cards. I should state that you only have about half a week to send in your order. That is why I was up until 2am the other night working on the one for the Summer Adventures.   

What started all of this, this time around, was that I received an email a few weeks ago advertising Free Shipping and 20% off Photo Albums. It was at that time that I decided to create and surprise Mr T with a Photo Album of our Honeymoon. For it was long overdue and I new that I needed to just do it. In the long run I did save $10 but I never got the Free Shipping. :-( The photo album still cost a pretty penny but I do have almost 50 pages of memories, in a beautiful hardcover album.

In the long run I am very excited about both of these two photo albums. Likewise I am looking forward to creating more photo albums via Shutterfly with there new Custom Path which gives you so many more options.

Blessings,
Joy 

Adventures...

Yesterday, I simply wrote about the beauty of having our wedding vows renewed during our vacation Up North, but, the weekend away was definitely filled with more adventures than that. Yes, unfortunately, not all adventures were ones that I would have chosen to have.

Truck difficulties, are NEVER fun! That was the case last weekend. The difficulties started on Sunday and continued off and on through out the weekend. On Sunday we tried to journey into the BWCA. I was on a mission! I wanted to do some hiking and more than that I really wanted to see a moose! Well, due to some minor problems with the truck I saw no moose, and no hiking was done.

Can I say that I desperately need to learn to take things more with the flow. I also realized that I need to be happy and excited just to spend time with my family. Yes, it can be nice to have activities that you would like to do, but, simply, spending time with the family needs to be the priority. Personally at least I feel that with that kind of priority I would be able to enjoy the vacation more and go with the the flow.

However, one of the interesting tidbits that I learned this weekend ties into the second adventure dealing with AAA, and another truck difficulty. I learned that bear cubs will climb a tree upon the coaxing/order of the mother bear and will stay up there until she calls them down, which could be for hours if not days, till she believes that they are out of danger. This made me think in general of the wrath of the mother bear and how you NEVER want to cross her path. Sometimes as a mom I get the same attitude, don't mess with me.

I need to admit that this is what happened when I called AAA on Tuesday when we had truck problems again after we thought that it was fixed. This time in the middle of rush hour traffic on the side of a major freeway. So anyway I called AAA and for the second time, they were not able to help, we were instead helped by a State Trooper who came to our rescue, the same thing happened last time I called AAA. At that time I was pregnant with Little Might and was stranded on the side of the road with a flat tire.

Back to this adventure though. When I called AAA I right away stated that it was a Road Side Emergency, but instead of getting to the emergency they proceeded to ask me a series of questions including rather or not I would like to add an email address to my account. Which at that time I calmly stated that maybe we should get to the point of my phone call - the EMERGENCY. Which than when I told him the situation and what we though was wrong he told me that no that is not whats wrong! Which turned out that yes, getting a new battery, started the truck up again.

So yes, unfortunately we did have a few adventures within our trip, but, all in all, it was a great trip.

I promise that I will share some pictures of the journey Up North!

Blessings,
Joy

Renewel of Wedding Vows!

Wow, what a weekend! It is good to be back home. I was hoping to do some blogging while up the North Shore, but at the same time it was nice not to have excess to good internet service.

It was a really nice weekend away though for our anniversary! Which we celebrated on Monday the feast of the Coronation of Mary, it is always nice to ask Mary our Mother for her intercession, for everything, but especially for our marriage and family.

Mr. T and I were blessed to have the chance to have our Wedding Vows renewed again this year, after mass on Saturday night. We went to the same church that we went to last year on our anniversary weekend, and when asking the priest if he would be willing to give us a blessings he instead offered to renew our vows. Every time we renew our Wedding Vows I am amazed by the new meaning that these vows take on after living those vows. I have copied the standard text of the wedding vows. I changed the vows to add a few words, to make it applicable for the renewal of wedding vows, I believe that this is what the priest did on Saturday.

"(Name) and (name), have you come here freely and without reservation to give yourselves to each other in marriage again?"

"Will you honor each other as man and wife for the rest of your lives?"

"Will you continue to accept children lovingly from God, and bring them up according to the law of Christ and his Church?"

Priest (or deacon): Since it is your intention to enter into marriage, join your right hands, and declare your consent before God and his Church.

Groom: I, (name), take you, (name) again, to be my wife. I promise to be true to you in good times and in bad, in sickness and in health. I will love you and honor you all the days of my life.

Bride: I, (name), take you, (name) again, to be my husband. I promise to be true to you in good times and in bad, in sickness and in health. I will love you and honor you all the days of my life.

I am not sure if adding the words is liturgically correct, but, it is what the priest did. Non-the-less, it is still amazing to remember the covenant that Mr. T, and I entered into two years ago, and to recommit to living out that same covenant, which wow, those words really do take on new meaning. I was so naive when I got married, and somehow I think Mr. T was to and I actually believe that to some extent we all are, which is a blessing and a gift. For at that time when we first say those vows we are filled with that tabor vision of of spouse, we are "In Love".

When you renew those vows, you are renewing them knowing knowing more about that other person, you have a better understanding of what the good and the bad, and sometimes even the ugly, look like. Which is what gives those vows even more beauty and more meaning.

To Mr. T, I love you and thank you for your commitment to love and to hold me from this day forward!

Blessings,
Joy

Frugal Friday - Latest Find on Craigslist!

I am very excited to report that Little Might now has a brand new mode of transportation for himself, his very own Kelty Kids Carrier, which combine that with moms or dads legs, and he is all set, ready to see the world.

I was hoping to find a Kelty Carrier on Craigslist and I did, I found many of them but a only a few that were in the price range that I wanted under $50 and I actually was able to get it for only $25. So that is a steel, they usually run for over $200 in the store. This one is a few years old, but it is in GREAT shape and it will definitely do the job.

I am hoping that we will use it a few times this weekend, can we say on the shores of Lake Superior and maybe even up in the BWCA for an afternoon early evening jaunt, I would love to see some Moose.

What makes this find and deal on Craigslist even better is that this same lady was selling an REI carrier as well. So I called up a friend of mine who has talked about wanting a carrier as well, and after discussing it with her husband they decided to go with the REI one. So over all it was a great find, two packs for $50!

I do like Craigslist, what kind of good finds have you found on Craigslist?

Blessings,
Joy

What I have been doing all week!

Greetings!

Wow, what a week it has been, I cannot believe that it is already Thursday! That means one more day and we leave again. I am really really excited to go up to Grand Marais this weekend, but, having back to back camping trips, oh my! Need I say more.

A month or so ago I saw a post on another blog with 7 quick takes on what the author had been doing instead of blogging! It was a wonderful way to learn a little bit more about the author, so I decided that I would do the same today! Yes, I have come to realize that 7 quick takes usually happen on Friday! On Adventurous Beginnings, today it will be 7 quick takes Thursday.

1.Getting ready for the school year for the Home-School co-op and for RCIA, I will be teaching again this year, I am really excited it looks as if the parish of St. Gregory's has a nice turnout for RCIA again this year.

2. Cuddling Little Might, he is getting his first set of molars, and it is so sad to see. He wakes up in the middle of the night, and sometimes from his nap just screaming, with his head still down, then when I come in there he starts rubbing his mouth and face in pier desperation. Poor little guy!

3. Cooping with seasonal allergies, they just hit yesterday.

4. Researching and hopefully purchasing a used Kelti kid carrier through Craigslist.

5. Working on Mr. T's Anniversary Present, shh its a surprise; a photo album of our honeymoon. We have wanted to put something together ever since we got back, yeah, two years ago. I finally put it together and submitted it via Shutterfly, it should be arriving tomorrow just in the nick of time.

6. Learning more about the Demontreville Retreats, so Mr. T can have a weekend away on retreat. This will be the other portion of his present this weekend. We have already talked about him going I just thought I would have some fun, and let him know/encourage him to go via a present. So just by chance he is getting two presents.

7. Last but not least, packing, doing laundry, menu planning, and grocery shopping for this weekend.

All in all though it has been a good week, and as I read the list I think a few things have been accomplished so that is definitely a good feeling and I am also excited to report that we even got to the zoo this week and hosted some friends last night for supper. So many blessings!

What have you been up to all week?

Blessings,
Joy

Manic Monday

It's Monday - Oh My!!!

It has been a very busy day here in the Mr. T household. Mr. T is working late, and I have been staring at the computer screen all day. This is what I get when I leave all my prep for home-schooling to two days. I will be teaching two DSST college prep classes for a local home-school co-op; Introduction to Computers and World Religions. I am actually very excited about the syllabus that I have created for each class and am looking forward to the open house tomorrow night.

Non-the-less though here is the menu for this week.
Monday: Michael enjoyed his dinner of leftover rice and veggies and Mr. T is bringing pizza home. It's just been one of those days, and I have been craving pizza.
Tuesday: Mr. T will be one his own
Wednesday: Pasta Shells with Salad
Thursday: We will not be home for the evening
Friday: The start of our long camping weekend, with experiencing a Samboree for the evening with my parents.
Saturday -Tuesday: Camping for our 2 year Anniversary on the shores of Lake Superior!
I have not made a menu yet for the weekend. I am hoping that it will include some fresh fish from Lake Superior.

Blessings,
Joy

Frugal Friday - Christmas in August!

I received a package yesterday! Actually I received an order from a Norwex party that I hosted a few weeks back,I was so excited though for this package to come, and to use all my brand new cleaning products. Yes, you read that right I was excited to clean.

All my new cleaning supplies!

That is exactly what I did I cleaned, trying out all my brand new items. I mopped the floor with the antibac mop pad, without a mop and bucket, it took me about 1/4 if the time, and floors feel clean not sticky. Than I dusted with the antibac dust mitt, next was the kitchen where I used a spirnett to clean the stove top, which is actually starting to shine again. On top of all of that the screen on my laptop is finally clean streak free, so is the tv all from the window cloth.

I am excited to continue to use all of my products which still includes trying the chemical free dish soap, the dryer balls, as well as a large antibac cloth, and antibac kitchen cloths. The best thing about all of my cleaning today is that I cleaned it all with no chemicals. The second best thing is that I did not pay an arm and a leg for all of these products I paid under $40 for everything, that was because I got so many hostess bonus items.

I also believe that in the long run all of these items will continue to save us money. It is estimated that on average a household spends over $500 on cleaning supplies. I for starters will not be buying any more Pinesol for the floor, Scrubbing Bubbles for the bathroom, or fabric softener for the clothes. That is just for now, we will see where my quest for using no more chemicals leads me.

Another tid-bit for being frugal, a person can save even more money if they would decide to sell the product. However, if you do not have the desire or enough motivation to sell the product, I will save all that for a future post, you can still think about hosting a party, most home direct sale companies have awesome hostess benefits, so, I definitely recommend hosting parties for the products that you enjoy and use.

That will be it for this edition of Frugal Friday!

Blessings,
Joy

A Dinner Just for Me

So the dinner schedule for this week, went a bit array for this evening. Mr. T decided that he wanted fish sticks and I was heading to Trader Joe's for a quick stop right after swimming at the local pool with Little Might, before heading home to cook supper. So before I knew it I was purchasing the ingredients for a total dinner just for me. It felt kind of nice to have a shopping trip that reminded me of the days when I was single, not that I want to go back to that state in life, I love being married and being a mom. It is fun though to go out an by flowers for yourself, and to enjoy cooking for yourself.

So for this all encompassing meal; I enjoyed a mixed green salad with baby arugula, my new favorite green, I love the unique taste of it, with baby spinach, and other mixed greens, with olive oil and blackberry ginger vinaigrette drizzled on top. To accompany the salad I enjoyed part of a French baguette with cheese spread on top. A truly delightful meal that was topped off with a glass of a crisp refreshing glass of Pinot Grigio.

Till tomorrow enjoy the simple things in life.

Blessings,
Joy     

Summer Vacation Adventures

As most of my readers know we took a family vacation to Ohio this past weekend. It was the furthest away from home that we are planning to go this summer. We have coming up and have had plenty of long weekends of camping, but I think at least for me this weekend actually seemed like a family vacation because we went road tripping 12-14 hours away from home and because we stayed in a hotel. 

We left on Thursday night and traveled straight through. Starting in Minnesota, traveling through Wisconsin, into Illinois, and than into Indiana and finally into our destination state, Ohio. I started off driving and took us all the way to Madison till Little Might needed some attention and Mr. T realized that he was not going to be able to sleep anymore, this was a bit of a disappointment I was hoping to drive through Chicago. I however became the back seat driver and the dispenser of toll money. Mr. T. than took us to the Indiana border, 

while I slept, than I took over for the rest of the way.

Those last two hours of the journey were my favorite. Mr. T crawled in back to sleep and Little Might was out as well. I took over the wheel and had my cup of coffee and praise and worship music playing from the CD player. I literally had the opportunity to watch the night turn into day as the sun rose and the low lying fog in the trees and the valleys drifted away. Truly beautiful!

The rest of the trip was just as nice. While in Ohio we had the opportunity to do some sightseeing, including German Village a unique part of town that has been completely restored with all the neat little brick buildings and cobble stone streets, at points you almost think you walked back into history. We also saw a replica of the Santa Maria sailed by Columbus, and I received a refresher course on my American history, oh my I need to brush up before I start teaching Little Might.

On Saturday night after the wedding we had the opportunity to do some joy riding around town. Little Might was totally zonked out and the need for milk for him took us throughout town. Which than promoted us to just drive and to enjoy each others company. We saw the distinct neighborhoods of Columbus some which are extremely beautiful and some that are not so nice.

On the way back home from Ohio we stopped in Chicago for a night and stayed at a Double Tree by Hilton Hotel near the airport. I again got an amazing deal through Expedia unpublished rates. It had a nice pool area and our room was on the first level with a patio going out into the garden courtyard, and did I mention that it had an amazing king size bed with all down, down comforters, pillows, and a thick, down mattress pad. It was GREAT! I should of taken pictures to share! :-) Yes, I know sometimes it does not take much to impress this SAHM!

We also took the L into Chicago for the evening, not something that I would recommend with a stroller, but we managed.



We stopped at the House of Blues for a quick peak, and to give Mr. T a chance to take a few pictures and to purchase a few souvenirs.



Than on to Navy Pier for a bit to eat, and a few beautiful views of Lake Michigan and of Downtown Chicago!

Than on Monday, after milking out the hotel for all its worth, including breakfast and a swim in the pool, we left for home, which included taking a scenic drive through the beautiful country side of northern Illinois into Wisconsin, where we dreamed about future road trips for next summer.

I hope you and your family have had some wonderful family moments this summer - Enjoy!

Blessings,
Joy

"O God Beyond All Praising"

At the wedding that we attended last weekend the Recessional Hymn was beautiful, and was titled "O God Beyond All Praising" by Perry Holst. I  have heard this song before, but not at a wedding, I don't believe. As we were traveling yesterday, I ran across the Worship Aid, which had the words in it, I took a moment to read through those words again and realized how truly inspiring they are. For me they reminded me of ALL the blessings and gifts that the Lord does bestow on us, on how many times I take those gifts for granted. As I was reflecting I also realized that no matter what is going on in life the blessings that out way the sorrows. For we have the gift of Jesus and His love and promises that will always be there to sustain us.

O God beyond all praising,
we worship you today
and sing the love amazing
that songs cannot repay:
for we can only wonder
at every gift you send,
at blessings without number
and mercies without end:
we lift our hearts before you
and wait upon your word,
we honor and adore you,
our great and mighty Lord.

Then hear, O gracious Savior,
accept the love we bring,
that we who know your favor
may serve you as our king;
and whether our tomorrows
be filled with good or ill,
we'll triumph through our sorrows
and rise to bless you still:
to marvel at your beauty
and glory in your ways,
and make a joyful duty
our sacrifice of praise

Blessings,
Joy

Manic Monday

We are still on the road traveling back from Ohio, and a beautiful sacramental wedding of one of my friends that we attended on Saturday. I so enjoy seeing two faithful individuals get married, especially when you know that they are taking the commitment of the covenant of marriage seriously and when the Nuptial Wedding takes place within the mass on the Feast of the Transfiguration - Beautiful! I will plan to share more about the family trip and maybe even include a few pictures, later this week.

This week will be another short week in the Mr. T household as we will be going camping this weekend as well. I have come to the conclusion that Minnesotans make the most out of their three months of summer - or at least we seem to, especially now seeing we will be out of town the next three weekends.  Which I stated might just mean that we would be eating Ramen Noodles for all our meals at home, no it may mean though eating a few of our lbs of Turkey! :-)

Menu:
Tuesday: Ramen Baked Pasta Shells
Wednesday: Ramen Turkey Burgers
Fajitas: Ramen Fajitas
Friday - Sunday: We will be camping with Mr. T's side of the family, and I am thinking that we will be dividing up the meals. So I at this time have not made up a menu for the camping trip.

Blessings,
Joy

Frugal Friday - Sharing Deals

For today's Frugal Friday I am going to share an amazing deal that I came upon thanks to great friend of mine over at In the Life of an Actor, in the link post she talks about this great deal that she also shared over Facebook!

Rainbow has this new 10 for 10 deal every week. This week they seemed to have an exceptionally great line-up which included Louis Rich Ground Turkey part of the Kraft line of foods, not affiliated with Cargill and the massive recall, and Whole Wheat Bread, protein and carbs!

I tend to use ground turkey instead of beef, for I try not to use a lot of red meet in my cooking. So with that in mind anytime that I can get ground turkey for only a buck I am very happy, usually it is on average $2.50-$3.00 - what a deal.

Another staple in the Mr. T household as in many households is bread and I was shocked to see that the price of wheat bread had gone up to over a buck normally, at Rainbow. I soon realized that this week whole wheat bread was also part of the 10 for 10 sale.


Needless to say I went to Rainbow earlier this week and stocked up, or at least as much as I can without a Freezer Chest, yes that is on my wish list as well. Before I went to the store though I checked in with one of my SIL's that try's to feed 6 kids on a tight budget and shared the wealth, I ended up purchasing over a dozen lbs of ground turkey for the two of us. Next time you find a good deal, share it!

It is always a good shopping trip when you save more than you spend. 

Blessings,
Joy

The Adventures of Mr. T in the Kitchen

Mr. T is a wonderful cook, and I do enjoy the days when he cooks, I left out on that, and yes, I think I made out pretty good all the way around for Mr. T is a great husband.
 
Back to the adventures in the kitchen. One of the things that Mr. T likes to do is try new recipes, and a few weeks ago he did just that, he made Cajun Bourbon Chicken, he really likes the Bourbon Chicken at Leann Chin's, what he suffers with when his wife does not make a lunch for him. :-)

Mr. T found the recipe on the cooks.com website.

He divided the Bourbon Sauce in to two and made part Chicken and part Turkey.

The Turkey and Chicken is Marinating, at this point it will still Marinate Overnight!

Cajun Bourbon Chicken it's whats for Dinner

We ate the Turkey the next day it was delicious. We waited a few days though till we ate the chicken, neither one of us would recommend that, it had a strong bourbon taste to it. In general we would also recommend only using 1/2 of the bourbon that is called for.

All in all though this was a great Adventure in the Kitchen.

Blessings,
Joy

A few summer recipes!

Last week I hosted a direct sales party in my home, which prompted me to put my thinking cap on and to roll up my sleeves in the kitchen, which I love to do. So anyway here is the recipe for the Mint Lemonade that I made, the Lemon Bars, and the Homemade Brownies. I unfortunately got too caught up in getting ready for the party that I forgot to take pictures. 

Mint Lemonade
I cheated a bit on this beverage, the base of the drink was from a lemonade beverage mix, but I wanted to spice things up a bit, and I have a whole flower box overflowing with mint. So I made a simple mint concentrate, where I took 3/4 cup of chopped fresh mint and boiled that with 2 cups of water, after boiling I let it sit for 5 minutes.
I then added the 2 cups of mint concentrate to the lemonade.
For the lemonade I only used 4 cups of water with the lemonade mix required for 2 quarts of lemonade. Then I added the mint concentrate to the lemonade and had a very refreshing summer beverage, and I served it in water goblets with fresh mint sprigs and lemon wedges.

Lemon Bars
Mr. T's favorite dessert is Lemon Bars, which is why I decided to make them. It is so nice though to actually use a recipe when making them. For my Bridal Shower a few years ago I needed to make these bars without a recipe. They were edible but, these I think were much better.
For the first layer combine
2 sticks butter, softened
1/2 cups white sugar and
2 cups flour
Press this mixture into a 9x13 inch baking pan and bake at 350 degrees for 20 min.
While the above is baking combine
4 eggs
2 cups sugar - I only used 1 cup
4tbs flour
1/2 tsp baking powder and the juice of
2 lemons
and lightly whip.
When the first layer is done baking pour the lemon mixture over the crust and bake for an additional 20 minutes at 350.
Sprinkle with powder sugar.
Enjoy!!!


Homemade Brownies, from Scratch 
I have never made homemade brownies before, I usually buy the box mix but forgot to purchase that when I was at the store so I set out on the adventure of making them from scratch. I think I have been sold, they tasted great and were so easy.
Melt 2 squares unsweetened chocolate add
1/4 cup butter
1 cup sugar - I always use less sugar than the recipe actually calls for
2 eggs, beaten
1 cup all purpose flour, sifted
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
and I added a dash of cinnamon
Than simply poor the batter in a 8x8 or 9x9 inch greased pan.
Bake at 350 degrees for 30.
Cool for 10 minutes than sprinkle with powdered sugar. 
ENJOY!  


One of the things that I loved about all three of these recipes is that I had all of the ingredients on hand, all I needed was the lemons - that makes for a very easy shopping list.
I hope you enjoy these recipes .

Blessings,
Joy

TRUST, a scary thing unless your a toddler,

This weekend we spent part of our time at the pool on both Saturday and Sunday! Little Might had so much fun crawling around while learning about the whole idea of splashing. It was fascinating to watch his interaction with the water and with the water geysers. It was truly a joy to watch his face that was simply filled with Wonder and Awe!

Look at me, ain't I cute!

Did I just do that...wow!

Splash, Splash!!!

Complete Joy and Wonder and Awe!!!

It was also amazing though to watch his inhibitions go and to be filled with NO FEAR simply filled with adventure and truly not being a afraid of anything. OK, truth be told this was kind of scary for mom here. Having a toddler that had no fear - in water. He would just crawl and crawl TRUSTING mom here to keep him out of harms way.

The truth is that he does that all the time, he just crawls and crawls around the house exploring, getting into every nook and cranny; trusting that I have baby proofed the house, so that he will not get into harms way. He trusts that I am going to hold onto to him / catch him when he .  He also  trusts that the food I am giving him at meal time will nourish him and not harm him.  

Is this trust though not what our Heavenly Father expects out of us? Yes, indeed it is. He expects us, but he also does more than that, He invites us to place our trust in Him. He that created us in his own image, for good not for harm, asks us to put everything in His hands. Past, Present, Future, Friends, Family, Health, Finances, Struggles, Conflicts, as well as our Joys and Aspirations.


What does that trust entail though, it entails a realization on our part that the Lord will not only provide but that the Lord knows what is best for us. That all his plans are laid out for us and for good not for evil, Jeremiah 29:11!

So may we each have the strength and the courage to do as the following bible passage encourages us to do. 

"Trust in the LORD with all your heart

And do not lean on your own understanding."

Proverbs 3:5 

Blessings,

Joy

Manic Monday

Greetings and Welcome:

The forecast for this week here in Minnesota is HOT and HUMID! We have already surpassed the record for number of a days over 80 and we just continue add on! I am not a big fan of the heat, I would be very content with 75 we are way above that with 90 being the high for whole week!

So with that in mind my menu for the week is going to be full of salads and things that do not need the stove or the oven. I try not to do any cooking per se with the microwave so I will not be relying on that to much.

This week will also be a short week in the Mr. T household for it is road tripping time. We will be headed out of town for a wedding this weekend in Ohio. We are being a tad bit adventurous, we are trying the whole driving straight through bit, with a toddler in the back seat. I should probably start praying for God's Mercy right now and asking for the intercession of St. Christopher.

Menu for the Week:
Monday: Tuna Fish Sandwiches with Cantaloupe and Cherries
Tuesday: Salad
Wednesday: Fish Tacos 
Thursday: Packed Sandwiches for the road with fresh veggies.
Friday:
Breakfast: Homemade Muffins with Fruit
Lunch: Sandwiches with veggies

I hope you each have a great Monday!

Blessings,
Joy