We spent our day of the 4th with a BANG!

The 4th of July here in Oregon either brings one of two things, rain or heat, and this year we got the heat!  It made for a nice time outside though.  The sun on your back and a cool wind blowing through.  We did our normal yearly routine, bought the fireworks and had fun lighting off the small items during the day.  The town has a "Star Spangled Celebration" at the same location as the Strawberry Festival just without the rides.  The vendors are always there and food made by the fire department and other groups, but we always head out to the other side of the lake and watch from there.  Mainly to avoid the crowds of people that gather to watch the fireworks show the city puts on.

We let Skylar pick out a few random fireworks this year.  This is actually the first year he knew what some of the words meant and knew which ones go BOOM and which ones go SNOOZE,  Ha!

Our firework goodies!

 

Smoke Bombs are always a hit at our house.  We all like the pretty colors and they are fun for Sky to light and they don't go BOOM in his ears when he helps light them!

Baz wore his festive 4th of July t-shirt too!  :)

(He didn't care for the fireworks though)

 
The Chinese Dragon was sort of a neat little, small firework.  It sparked and rolled around for about 5 minutes. It even blew sparks out of its mouth.

Skylar even made his own firework to light off during the day.  It was so cute how he took a toilet paper roll and stuffed it with paper and even wrote on it, "Skylar's Firework Company."

Skylar using the hand protection we made.  These sparklers weren't that bad about popping back in your face though.

And what kind of Fourth of July would it be without "POP-ITS!" :)

Hope your day of the 4th was just as fun and banging as ours was!

View more photos of this day HERE!

Staying more organized all year long

Along the same lines of the "Board of Great Things" it's better to be organized and know when certain occasions are, such as a dentist appointment" and not be fumbling around trying to remember where you need to be and at what time.

An organizing board that allows you to change and update when needed and stylish, yet functional is always the best way to go, but there aren't a lot of choices out on the market that serve every purpose and are still pretty enough to hang anywhere in your home.

This project gives you just that and allows you to customize it to your liking and change it when you want with different color options and combinations.

Here's how it's done!

Starting with any size picture frame and paint swatches/chips you want to create an attractive board worth displaying anywhere in your home.  I have created three different color patterns to change out for the seasons.  Bright colors for summer, greens and earth tones for fall and light blues and cream colors for winter.  

The paint swatches/chips can be picked up anywhere.  I grabbed a few at a time every visit to Home Depot and Lowe's and finally had enough to create my board.  They are free and come in a variety of colors to pick from.  I have even seen ones in the shape of Mickey Mouse, so the possibilities are endless really.

Start by taking your frame apart.  Mine came with a matting board so I just held onto that for a later project.  You can get a frame with a matting board and use it, just make sure your frame is large enough to be able to see past your matte board once it's all assembled together.

Using the back of the white sheet that comes with the frame, lay your colored swatches/chips down in a pattern you are seeking and begin gluing them to the white sheet.  I also used a piece of cardboard from another frame just to make the layout stable enough to move and flip over without it bending or creasing.  Simple white glue works fine for this project.

Place your color swatches/chips against the glass of the frame and replace the back.  That's all there is to it!

Simple, yet effective and stylish too.  Using a dry erase marker you write directly on the glass and wipe clean with a towel or dry eraser.  Changing out the color pattern backs from season to season keeps the board hip and stylish all year long.  You can play around with different colors and see what works best for you!

Happy Organizing!

The "Board of Great Things"

My son, last year, had a summer break just like all kids do and we tried to fit in as many trips and fun activities as we could in such a short time.  It is 3 months worth of a summer break here, but I always felt like we were running and going with no time to actually sit down and enjoy each other's company during the time off.  So this year I changed all of that.  With the 3 months still at our disposal we created the "Board of Great Things" with all the things we want to do over the days of summer.

The "Board of Great Things" is an idea I sort of took from one of his 2nd grade class projects called, the "Ring of Great Things."  Where the kids sit down at the end of the year and write great things about the other classmates and they get to take it home and have this wonderful ring of index cards that the other kids said great things to them on.

So with that idea in hand I created our own "great thing" with the board.

  

I used my label maker and numbered the many days he had on his summer break, which is 90 days!, and then once numbered we started thinking of all the great things we wanted to get done over the break.

The first task was, of course, to make the "Board of Great Things" and then move on with other fun adventures from that starting point.

                      

It took us about 2 days to come up with all the fun and exciting things we wanted to get done while on summer break.  We thought of things like flying kites, learning to tie a shoe, to having a pillow fight and washing mommy and daddy's cars.  Once we do an activity we highlight through it and move onto the following day.

The "Board of Great Things" is such a great tool to help organize your summer break and to get in all the fun activities you've been waiting for and not miss a thing.  We have ours hung in our kitchen so that we can all see it and remember that each day brings something new and fun to do as a family.  :)

For a printable version of a good summer board, check out the one over at The Crafting Chicks!

Cheesy Chicken Pasta Bake

This dish is so filling and cheesy and such a snap to make!

What you'll need:

• 6 tbs. butter

• Salt and Pepper

• 1 box (14.5 oz.) Whole Wheat Penne

• 1 tsp. Extra Virgin Olive Oil

• 3 Boneless, Skinless, Chicken Breast

• 1/2 cup (roughly) Flour

• 4 tbs. Chopped Garlic

• 6 cups Whole Milk

• 1 (8oz. jar) Sun-Ripened Tomatoes, chopped

• 2 cups shredded Provolone & Mozzarella Cheese

• 2 cups grated Parmesan Cheese

.

 Heat oven to 400°F and butter a shallow 4-quart baking dish or 2-2 quart baking dishes to freeze one for later.

Cook the pasta until tender, according to the package directions. Meanwhile, prepare your chicken for cooking.  In a skillet, heat olive oil over medium heat and add you chicken after preparing them as below.

Cut any fat off of the chicken and cut in half lengthwise.

Then cut through the middle so that the chicken opens up like a butterfly.  Cut pieces away from each other.

Lay them in the skillet pretty snug and season with salt and pepper.

Remove your pasta from the heat and drain.  Set aside the pasta and once the chicken is completely cooked through (165°) remove from pan and place on a non-wood cutting surface.  Cut chicken into bite-sized pieces and set aside.  

While the chicken skillet is still warm, add in the butter and the garlic and saute until the garlic is golden brown.  Add the flour and while whisking add the milk slowly to form a "gravy-type" consistency.  

Whisk until the mixture is thick and add in the tomatoes.  

Remove skillet from heat and stir in the Provolone and Mozzarella cheese.  Then add 1/2 cup Parmesan to the mixture and combine.  Transfer your mixture to a large stock pot and add the chicken pieces and the cooked pasta.  Season with salt and pepper and pour the entire dish into one 4-quart dish or divide among two 2-quart dishes.

Sprinkle the top with the remaining Parmesan cheese and any Provolone/Mozzarella cheese you have left.  Bake uncovered for about 30 minutes or until golden brown on top and all the cheese is melted.

ENJOY!