Watermelon drinks for Memorial Day!

I wanted to find a recipe for a cool watermelon drink, and found this (but i subtracted the alcohol reference, since i don't need that added).:

Can't wait to try this weekend...

Watermelon Coolers with NO alcohol

PREP TIME 5 Minute/s

Ingredients

• 4 cups cubed, seedless watermelon, chilled
• 1 cup ice cubes
• 1/4 cup fresh-squeezed lime juice
• 1/4 cup coconut milk

Instructions

1. Blend all ingredients together until smooth.
2. Rim glasses with granulated sugar and serve up watermelon lime coolers!
3. Garnish with a lime wedge or small watermelon slice.
4. Enjoy!

This above is a modified version of a recipe found from Style Me Pretty Living.  

Or you can make it with lemonade and 2 tbsp honey and use these instructions:

• Freeze the watermelon in a ziploc bag until just frozen, about one hour.  Add the frozen watermelon to a blender, along with your lemonade and honey.  Process until blended, and pour into frosted jars or glasses.

Decisions, decisions!

This and more can be found on the links from my Pinterest Board:  SUMMER.  Check it out!

MINI diy MOM 

formerly

SOLO dot MOM!

Happy Holiday Weekend!!

Making the Most of Easter and Other Holidays Alone

Spring has sprung and Easter arrived to celebrate new life, and for Christians – the new life you received  when you accepted the very Easter story. His story in history is what gives us joy unspeakable. 

I celebrated the day without the kiddos (it was their dad’s weekend, you know). Following a morning of worship celebration at church, I went with friends to a dynamic 2 hour drama of the Resurrection of Christ in Radford that night. The day was full and the focus was obvious. 

It is tough when you have to celebrate some of the holidays without your children being there. I know.  I get it. But making the most of your holiday, even when you are alone, is where you have to focus your time, your energy, and your planning. 

It can be so easy to let yourself get caught up in the gloomy, oh-my-life-stinks mode.  But how much more enjoyable it could be if you would just refute that mode and with intentionality make the choice to fill your day with friends and things you enjoy.

1. Plan a special time to celebrate with the children on a different day than the holiday falls, if they will be “visiting” on the holiday itself.
2. Make the tradition and fun be about the holiday season – not just the specific day.  Spread out the celebrating so it falls on more than one day during the season.
3. In advance, contact friends and make plans for the day when the children will be away.  Plan a meal with friends or family, an outing, or plan to join them in their family time.
4. Make a list of things you don’t get to do when busy with the children.  Have it available to pull out when you feel the “blahs” of your me-time. Here’s my list for me-time I put together three years ago.

These are just a few simple ideas to keep yourself from focusing on the negative when you have time on your hands without the children, especially during a holiday.

It’s normal to think about them, wishing they were near.  But just think, when they are off to college and doing their own thing on holidays throughout the year, you will be this much more prepared for it.

For some of us, those college days are closer than we like to think about.

Technorati Tags: Easter story,Easter Holiday,holidays,me-time management,single mom,single mother,unspeakable joy,Christ,Christians,Resurrection,holidays without children,lonely,Easter,planning,lists,family time

Photo Credit: Katherine Shinault

Funniest Christmas Moment 2010

We had a lot of fun this Christmas from making snowflakes to getting snow Christmas Eve.  We blended our traditions this year as Mr. M. and I plan possible future Christmases together.

But one moment sticks out in my mind as the funniest.

Mr. M’s sister and her family came in town the day after Christmas.  My kiddos had already left for their dad’s house the night Mr. M and I exchanged presents with her family.  I brought the gifts for Jas and Kass home with me for them to open when they returned later that week.

When Jas and Kass opened their presents from his sister’s family we were at our house.  When Jas opened his present he pulls out a box kit of Rice Krispy Holiday Treats Maker.  He looks at me with a look of bewilderment.  I said, “Well maybe she thought you like rice krispy treats, so we could make some.”  He said, “Okay,” and put the box aside under the tree.

Later that day, the neighbor and Kass’ dear friend, E came over to see what they had gotten.  When Kass started telling her about the gift from Mr. M’s sister… she showed E what Jas had received and that we thought it was funny (since Jas is almost 16).  E said, “There’s tape on this box.  Did you try to open it?”

Well I hadn’t seen the tape and he hadn’t tried to open it.  Jas came back into the room and opened the “Treats” box to find a cool hoody from Foot Locker inside.  It fit him great – and he loves it.  What a surprise!

I got so tickled over us thinking he got the treat making kit that I couldn’t stop laughing later when I shared the story with Mr. M.  His response: “What a dork.”

What’s your favorite funny moment from Christmas 2010?

Find yourself… keeping it real.

Technorati Tags: Rice Krispies Treats,Christmas,Funny,family time,single moms,blending family,traditions

A snapshot of Christmas Eve thru December 26

A Christmas present to me… excavating the backyard to get rid of the large mounds of dirt from the back yard and level it out.  Getting ready to put it on the market!  This was Christmas Eve when they finished leveling all the dirt.

 

Then we headed to Kevin’s place: Here there were presents everywhere as we waited for Santa to come that night.

Christmas morning!

Our kiddos merged Christmas morning for the first time.  Some different traditions – but it all worked together.

Mr. M opening presents.

We also got a white Christmas!

From the vehicle…

Sledding with Mr. M, his youngest son and his nephews the day after Christmas.  We got more snow overnight!

Mr. M – just a big kid at heart.

The duo

A snow angel to end the set.

Hope your Christmas was full of memories.  Ours sure was.

Find yourself… keeping it real.

Maraka’n Christmas to You!

 

Messed around with Jib Jab till I realized I had to pay $12 to send this card around to fam and friends…. so, I just made an image of a screen from the clip.

Merry Christmas, everyone!

Find yourself…. keeping it real.

Snow time like the present

As I sit on the sofa, curled up in a blanket with my laptop on me and Kass plays with her Lego city she is making on the loveseat, I look out the window at the snow.  It’s our first snow day. The office was closed and of course the schools were as well.  Ice covers our street and snow lays a few inches thick over everything.

We have been so hectic crazy busy lately that I haven’t blogged in eons, it seems.  Not really.  A few pics here and there, but that is all I have been able to post.  Finally with a snow day bringing some time to spare, what do I dare say here when it comes to my thoughts, my fears, my personal growth, my future?

It is what it is. 

Life is good, life is hard, life is beautiful.  But sometimes we have to look a little harder to see that beauty; to see through the muck that comes our way.  This includes expenses that pile up to keep a vehicle on the road, or paying higher electric bills for the season.  It’s not easy.  I’m not going to pretend that it is… to keep up with everything.

But here is what I do know. With a little faith, a little hope, and a lot of prayer, it can be done.

And happiness and contentment can be found.  Even taking care of all the “muck” as a single parent, it can be done. With wrapping paper staring at me in one corner and gifts that need to be wrapped in the other, I know it is still possible – to get it all taken care of, even in the midst of the gift giving season.

Laundry may be piling up and I never get a completely empty sink in the kitchen, but the kiddos are fed, playing, talking to me about recent adventures with friends, and enjoying the most up-to-date techno gadgets.  Plus I know where they are, what they are doing, who they are with and overall that they are staying out of trouble. They continue to make me proud. What more can a mom ask for?

What are you grateful for this Christmas?

As a single parent, what are you asking for this Christmas?

How do you define happiness in your present moment?

Share your thoughts in the comments section below.

Find yourself… keeping it real

Technorati Tags: Christmas,happiness,single moms,single parents,life,personal development,contentment,parenting

The gift – a sunrise

The grass is brown and the air is chillier than normal for this area in December.  But this gift of a sunrise my daughter, Kass, wanted me to photograph was so beautiful as it lit up the sky in all its splendor of colors.

  Just another memory caught on film (in a matter of speaking).

During the hectic pace of this holiday season, have you stopped to take a moment and enjoy the beauty of the season and the world around you?

Find yourself… keeping it real.

More Memories

My baby girl at her Christmas program Sunday morning. Isn't she cool with her sleeves rolled up. My niece is in front of her here with the bell. She sang a solo during the program. We were so proud of all of them.

Find yourself... keeping it real.

Snowflakes

   Last night while it snowed outside, we were busy making snowflake crafts for the Christmas tree inside.  Mr. M had this great idea to buy snowflake forms and use beads from his jewelry making (and I bought some colored beads to match my tree) to make these snowflakes.

The kiddos and I drove home later through the beautiful winter wonderland as the snow piled up on the grass a few inches, but the roads were fine.

It was a wonderful Christmas memory we were making along with those snowflakes.

Here’s my tree I finally got put up earlier that day.  We have another one in the dining room the kiddos and Mr. M’s boys decorate. (Yes we have two large Christmas trees in the tiny house.)

Even my son, Jas got in on the snowflake making:

Here’s his creation.

 

What Christmas memories are you making this year?

Find yourself… keeping it real.

Happy Thanksgiving

My kiddos happened to be with their dad for the whole Thanksgiving holiday.  They left Wednesday after school.  So with that in mind, Mr. M (who also wouldn’t have his boys till late in the day Thursday) and I decided to take a short trip for our holiday.

We ended up here at Natural Bridge enjoying the sites, the attractions, and the lovely resort where they also had unbelievable food.  Good thing we had our reservations for the Thanksgiving feast. The place was packed when we headed back to the resort for our meal.

 

 

 

  

 

Here is the Indian village they had created on the grounds of Natural Bridge. Inside this Palisade Mr. M. and I learned interesting facts about the early days of the Indians that lived in Virginia, how they made their tools and what they used for trade.  We could have listened to this guide for hours, but it was getting close to time to eat.

After this photo, the batteries died.  But you can see from these pictures, we had a great time.

Hope your Thanksgiving was a memorable and enjoyable one.

Find yourself… keeping it real.

Technorati Tags: Thanksgiving,travel,resorts,Natural Bridge,Virginia,hiking,photography,photos

A Day at the Lake

Part of our weekend celebration for Independence Day included a day at Smith Mountain Lake.  We tried a different community park this time: it wasn’t crowded and was very relaxing.  As the kiddos played in the lake, this butterfly got Jas’ attention so I grabbed the camera and caught it in mid-flight. 

He enjoyed trying to catch it literally.

I enjoyed catching him and one of God’s beautiful creations on film.  (Correction they are both God’s beautiful creations, just don’t tell him I got all sappy, ok?)

Earlier that day we were getting everything together and ready to head out.  The list included beach towels for each of us, sunscreen, a mat, plus my big beach blanket.  And I was able to get all of that into my new personalized beach tote I received for a review post from www.simply-bags.com.  I absolutely love it.

When they contacted me about doing a review on my blog, I had to stop and think about it for all of twenty seconds before I hit reply with a resounding “Absolutely!”  Totes are my weakness, I will admit and this one is my new fave.  It is not only roomy but it also zips across the top to keep all my goodies from falling out while carrying it across the sand.  We had quite a bit in there for our trip as you can see.

Our day was as full as the beach tote.  The kids had a blast.  Here’s Kass and our neighbor, E, enjoying the water…

I didn’t get any good pics of the guys…but

 

…I captured this other beauty that landed on my knee and beside me on the blanket several times. 

And of course, Mr. M, himself…(quite the catch isn’t he?)

Find yourself… keeping it real.

Photo credits: Katherine Shinault

Technorati Tags: beach totes,personalized bags,www.simply-bags.com,family time,holidays,lakes,vacation,photography,butterflies,dragonflies

Graduation celebration…for three days and three nights

The graduation day itself was wonderful.  Kass was graduating from elementary and we make a big deal of things like that around here.  Since Jas didn’t have any exams for his last day of school he didn’t have to go to school – so he went with me to his sister’s graduation. I took pictures of her getting classroom awards, etc. and when she was crossing the stage for her promotion to middle school, I stood up and got close to the stage in the middle of the room… aimed the camera, click… click… nice; the battery died and I missed it.  Snap.

But I didn’t let that ruin the day for us.  Following the ceremony, we went for a quick lunch and dropped off Jas at the house so Kass and I could have some girl time.  We went to see “Letters to Juliet” at the theater which was just awesome by the way.  It’s definitely on top of our buy list for dvds. 

Then we went shopping –- more fun just for us girls.  The day couldn’t have been any better…. well maybe if I could have gotten that snapshot of her crossing the stage during her promotion… but that’s ok.  We still created some great memories.  Later that day she went to stay at one of her friend’s house for a couple days to continue celebrating.

Saturday, she returned so we could go and have a big graduation dinner at Reb Lobster.  It is our tradition every year one of my kiddos graduates from a level of school, we go out to eat at Red Lobster.  The kiddos love the restaurant and that one night – they can get anything they want.  Mr. M, his boys and his mom and step-dad joined us for the fun.  It was a a lot of fun and more memories.

 

See, we love to celebrate around here.  We don’t mind finding a reason to have a party.

How did you celebrate the end of the school year?

Find yourself… keeping it real.

Technorati Tags: graduation day,celebrating,parties,Red Lobster,Huff Lane,Letters to Juliet,movies,shopping