A Day Filled with FAVORITES!!!

Yesterday was another super FUN day of summer!!!  I think the kids are starting to rub off on me as I'm beginning to find myself thinking, "What else can we do?".  It's almost addictive trying to cram more and  more in, but OH are we having a great time!!!

I actually woke up and got out of bed before the kids yesterday and made breakfast!  And the real bonus was having time to leisurely sip my coffee in the peace and quiet of a still house! MMMMmm!  One of my newest favorite things!  I know not too far down the road, I'll think of that "quiet" as a painful thing when the kids are grown, but I'm going to leave the future in it's place and just relish this right now!

After breakfast, we headed out to meet some friends at the art museum downtown.  They have a GREAT kid's floor and the kids always have a blast!  I love just watching them have the freedom to explore, seeing their minds at work, and their little personalities develop.  And, I got to spend the morning catching up with some of my friends.  A perfect playdate!  One of my favorite ways to pass the time!!!

Since we were already downtown, we took advantage of making a stop at "THE" chocolate shop in town, Veletta's.  I guarantee, if I had to make a top 10 list my absolute FAVORITE things, you can bet chocolate would be on it!!!

Such a beautiful sight... looks like a heavenly glow coming down!  LOL!

Decisions, decisions.....

Chloe didn't need to think about it for a second!  She had her heart set on a chocolate dipped strawberry from the beginning.  That girl knows how to pick 'em!  I got a couple extra to take home!  That happens to be my favorite way to eat chocolate!!! MMMmmmm! 

We then headed over to my favorite place on earth.... the grocery store!  I'll confess I was a bit nervous that having all the kids with me would taint my experience, but thankfully they all know how much I LOVE grocery shopping, so they obliged me with their best behaviors!!!  Since we've been cooking together in the kitchen a lot lately they are starting to share in my excitement of buying ingredients too!  However, I really didn't plan my day too well, as I had to carry the strawberries with me around the store! LOL!  It was too hot to leave them in the car and they were way TOO expensive to just let go to waste!   Funnily enough the cashier totally understood my "delima".  LOL! 

We spent the rest of the day just "vegging" out, another one of my favorite things!!!  Since we've been on the go so much the past week, the kids were perfectly content to play in their rooms, read, and watch movies!  Such a blessing, because we can't play outside from the hydromulch still "sprouting".  It's constantly muddy and apparently the little sprouts are too fragile to be walked on.  LOL!  Hopefully in about 2-3 weeks it'll be a completely different story!  On top of that we had more thunderstorms last night.  I was so thankful because we were able to turn the sprinkler system off for a few hours!  Supposedly our water bill this first month of "germinating the hydromulch" will be anywhere from $700-$1500 dollars!!!!  ON WATER!!!  I don't even want to think about all the shoes, dresses, purses, etc. I could get with that!  LOL!

After dinner I decided to surprise the kids with baking one of my favorite childhood cookies, Lemon Whippersnappers!  Mmmmm!  I'll post the recipe because it's so easy and perfectly kid friendly!  You can actually use any flavor of cake mix.  We've made chocolate, strawberry, and butter!  All equally good, but lemon has and will always be my favorite because of its nostalgic value!  Takes me back to being a little girl helping my mom in the kitchen.  I think this was the first thing I ever learned how to bake!!!  The kids all helped me roll them in the sugar and stir the batter.  So fun!  I embraced being "fun mommy" and even let them eat a late night snack in their pjs.  Afterall, they worked so hard on them!

LEMON WHIPPERSNAPPERS

Ingredients:

1 box lemon cake mix (can use other flavors)

1 egg

2 cups (1/2 regular tub) of whipped topping (aka "cool whip)

1/2 cup powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 350.

Combine cake mix, egg, and whipped topping.  Stir to combine.  Batter will be very stiff! 

Pour powdered sugar into small bowl. 

Roll cookie dough into balls 1 tsp at a time and place on a GREASED cookie sheet.  Bake for 10 minutes.  Cookies should be slightly brown.  Be careful not to overbake.  Remove and cool on a cooling rack and ENJOY! 

What a great day!