My Fall Deep Cleaning Schedule

It's time... time to get my house in shape for cold weather to arrive, to head into a new season and to prepare for the upcoming holidays... woo! Thanksgiving and Christmas are on their way! :) *Happy Dance* 

My fall deep cleaning this year shouldn't be to hard. I have kept up with it all pretty well. I do have a lot of organizing to do in closets and such and paint touch ups and fix ups. 

This here is my plan, my goals... will I get it all done in the next two weeks? who knows... life happens... but I sure hope so. 

September 17th- 21st

Monday- Master Closet, Sons Closet, Bathroom Closet

Tuesday- Carpet Clean Floors Wash out all trashcans, and wash windows.

Wednesday- Organize cabinet in bathroom, Deep clean bathroom

Thursday- Clean out and organize desk, Clean out my son's toy box.

Friday- Back Stairway to Hubs shop, Clean oven, oil door hinges if needed. Replace Lightbulbs and Nightlight Bulbs, Batteries, Bag up all the Cans and Bottles to bring back.

September 24th- 28th

Monday- Thorough Dusting in all rooms

Tuesday- Wash Walls and dust trim, Wash out light fixtures, Disinfect door knobs and remotes etc.

Wednesday- Sweep Porch, Wash and put away kiddie pool, Clean up Hubs shop

Thursday- Wash Curtains, Wash pillows, Clean fridge coils

Friday/Saturday- Paint Trim, Touch up walls, Fix a couple wall holes, put trim back onto the door, Clean out gutters, clean fans and put away.

October 1st-5th

* Plant Mums and decorate porch with pumpkins and such*

* Bring cold weather coats and shoes out of storage and wash*

My summer in photos

Update time!! So our summer has been...WONDERFUL! Such a fun few months! This year I wanted to focus on being less busy and keeping our calendar pretty open to spend more time enjoying life, enjoying my family and just have fun and rest.

... I love this place

Vacation

My little boy enjoying the grandparents backyard

Walks are a must during the summer

 Love this place... so much fun!

Fresh from the garden veggies...YUM!

CAMPFIRES!!!

Isn't Gods creation magnificent?!

Father and Son bonding haha

Birthday party for my niece and a get together with our youth group

Summer evenings

Our Youth Group haha

Kite flying!

Handsome Fella

Crafts

Family

Playgrounds

Taking time to stop and smell the flowers

Cooling off with some ice cold limeade

Fair time!!

Relaxing pool side haha

Grampys garden

Spending time together

Caramel Hot Chocolate

OH. MY. GOODNESS!!! What a wonderful delicious way to welcome Fall! I am a coffee drinker and not so much a hot chocolate drinker. But this kind?... this has made me crave hot chocolate
So easy and so stinking yummy in my tummy for real!

Caramel Hot Chocolate

Let's start with these ingredients-

Milk ( I used soy but have used regular too, both are great!)

Caramel Syrup

Spray Whipped Cream

Hot Chocolate powder mix

A big Mug 

(Can you tell where we do our shopping? haha)

Start by putting 1-2 Tablespoons of Caramel into your mug. 1 should be fine but if you want it super sweet then go with 2.

Next up measure out 1 cup of milk and 3 Tablespoons of Hot Chocolate mix and put in a saucer and stir baby stir to mix both ingredients well. You only need to heat to desired temperature. (I like mine cool enough to drink right away)

Once chocolate mixture is hot pour into your caramel covered mug. After that spray on however much whipped cream you would like and drizzle with a little more caramel sauce. And that is it folks! Simple huh?  

ENJOY!!!! 

Butternut Squash Pie that pretended to be a Pumpkin Pie

Butternut Squash Pie

From Southern Foods website

Ingredients:

• 1 unbaked and chilled 9-inch pie shell
• 1 large butternut squash, cooked and pureed, about 1 1/2 cups pureed squash
• 1 cup light brown sugar, firmly packed
• 3 large eggs
• 3/4 cup evaporated milk or half-and-half
• 1 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon melted butter
• 1 teaspoon vanilla

Preparation:

To cook squash:
Cut the squash in half lengthwise; remove stem and scoop out the seeds. Place the squash, cut side down, on a foil-lined oiled baking pan; add about 1/2 cup of water to the pan. Cover loosely with foil and bake at 400° for 45 to 55 minutes, or until the squash is tender and can be easily pierced with a fork. Let cool completely then peel and mash or puree the squash or put it through a food mill. Measure 1 1/2 cups of the squash and set aside.

Reduce oven to 350° F and position an oven rack in the center of the oven. In a mixing bowl with electric mixer, beat the squash with the brown sugar. Add eggs, evaporated milk, spices salt, flour, butter, and vanilla. Beat until well blended. Pour the filling into the chilled pie and place on the center oven rack. Bake for 45 to 55 minutes, or until set. Check after about 35 minutes and loosely set a ring of foil or a pie crust protector over the browned crust so it won't get too dark. When the filling is set, transfer the pie to a rack to cool.

Strawberry and Banana Smoothie

Smoothies are big in this household. My son and myself are huge fans. The Hubs... well, he thinks they are... ok. We have them about 5 mornings in the week. I have made many different kinds but the little one and I agree, that this strawberry and banana one is by far our favorite :)

Strawberry and Banana Smoothie

Frozen Strawberries ( about 1 cup... this will replace the ice called for in most smoothie recipes)

Banana ( 1 large )

Milk ( We use organic soy milk, sometimes original sometimes vanilla... but regular milk works fine too)

Yogurt ( I like to use greek because of the amount of protein and help benefits but all- natural works as well)

Throw into a blender and TA-DA! YUM!

Well, hello there Autumn... oh how I have missed you so...

It's almost that time of year again!! Autumn is just around the corner and summer is coming to an end. I have had a wonderful summer and will be sad to say goodbye... but boy do I LOVE fall! Such a mega fan right here people! :D I am patiently waiting until the weather cools down a bit more and the official first day arrives to really start decorating, baking cool weather dishes and all that...but, that has not stopped me from planning on how I will decorate this year,searching for warm, comforting cool night dishes to make my family and that fun stuff.

So, here are a few ideas from Pinterest I am hoping to try out. 

Elegant! and easy to put together, love it!

I really want to try this!

- Gorgeous!! Simple, would cost little money to make and would add such a cozy feel to a room

-Adorable. We don't normally decorate for Halloween and if we do it's the playful kids part to the holiday never all evil and scary. This looks like a fun project to make with the little one :) and what a wonderful keepsake.
Cute! Easy and again inexpensive!
Great idea for making a Thanksgiving memory! Use every year.
Oh good grief I. LOVE. THIS! nuff said!
Sweet! Would be a wonderful addition to our thanksgiving table
Easy decoration, love it!

Menu Plan for the week of 7/2-7/7

Hard to believe it's already July! AND almost Independence day!

Breakfast

Monday- Cereal with Fruit

Tuesday- Bacon, Egg and Toast cups

Wednesday- Sausage and Egg Muffins

Thursday- Apple Sauce Muffins

Friday- ~Muffins from day before~

Saturday- Breakfast Casserole with Cheese, Hashbrowns, Sausage and OJ

Dinners

Monday- Crockpot Tacos with black beans, sour cream, queso blanco and corn
Tuesday- Chop Suey with Sausage
Wednesday- lunch- Subs with all the fixings and Chips ( Picnic after the Parade)
                      dinner- Grilled Burgers with Bacon, Grilled hotdogs, Pasta Salad, 4th of July cake
Thursday- "Baked" Fried Chicken with Mashed Potatoes
Friday- Date Night! <3
Saturday- Lunch/Dinner BBQ with my family in law.