"Mom, when can we eat dinner?"

I'm guilty of allowing my daughter to play outside til 8pm. It's light outside til about 9-9:30pm and the neighborhood kids all get together to play and ride bikes. Lately, I have been slacking as I've been outside enjoying it with my daughter and chatting it up with my neighbors. Then I look at the clock on my cell phone and say, Oh boy, it's almost 8pm and I haven't started dinner yet. So I grab the kid, get her into the bath, and attempt to make something rather fast for dinner. Who doesn't do this? I just feel guilty over it because I end up not making what I wanted to make.

Because of this I decided to come up with a plan of attack for the summer and I'm hoping I can stick to it.

-Wake up (no later than 9am)
-Eat breakfast with daughter
-Exercise
-Shower
-Misc "me" time (usually means making the bajillion phone calls I need to make or grabbing a moment to do whatever- be it blogging or email/internet)
-Eat lunch with daughter
-Send daughter outside to play while I begin clean up (regular chores)
-Chop up veggies, preassemble dinner if possible and stick in fridge, covered
-Go outside and enjoy the rest of the day

See, if I can hold to a schedule like that, and have my dinner ready to bake or whatever, then life should be good. If I plan on making a meal in the crockpot I can always start it after we have lunch or before.

I am hoping to keep this kind of schedule not just for dinner's sake, but to be more diligent about exercise and keeping a routine, which I suck at.

Waving my Welcome Summer flag

The weather has already begun to change here. While it's not a glorious Memorial Day today, it is dry and warm yet cloudly. Next week our temperatures will edge up into the mid to high 70s. We've already dug out the fans we put away during the Winter and have them ready to go. I just need to purchase one more for my daughter's room. Air conditioning is not necessarily needed here because it never gets too hot or too humid. Although, in my opinion during late July to early August is when the humidity tends to peak and where you are up at 10pm and clothes are sticking to you. It's just uncomfortable, but bearable. Nothing a cool shower couldn't take care, basically.

My daughter has only a few weeks of school left, my sister is flying out on the 7th to visit us for a few days, there are birthday and end-of-the-year parties to attend, and things to get ready for. I think the one thing I am looking forward to the most is my sister visiting. I haven't seen her in a year and a half! We're planning on going out and going swimming if the weather is nice (which I am sure it will be), and maybe going out to Birch Bay and walking around there and having a picnic.

With the warmer weather I find myself unusually lazy in the kitchen, and waiting til later at night to cook supper so I don't heat our house anymore. A few days ago it was very warm and sticky and I waited til 8pm to cook dinner. There's only so much tuna salad sandwiches my family can handle, so I need to figure out better ways of cooking without turning my house into an oven or a sauna. I guess maybe we could grill meats over the weekend and then stick them in the fridge and reheat in the microwave- that's an idea. The funniest part about this? This is always such a challenge for me every year, despite asking people for ideas and everything. It's like I forget.

I will tell you another thing I am looking forward to- FRESH strawberries, cantaloupe, melon, peaches, and corn on the cob. What is summer without them? Thanks to Kristen of Dine & Dish, she posted this delicious looking Strawbery Cheesecake Trifle Recipe on her blog, and I can't wait to make this! Enjoy!

2 (8	ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
2	cups powdered sugar
1 (8	ounce) container sour cream
1/2	teaspoon vanilla
1/4	teaspoon almond extract
1	cup Cool Whip, thawed
4	tablespoons sugar
1	angel food cake, torn into bite-size pieces
2	quarts fresh strawberries, thinly sliced

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1. In a large bowl, beat cream cheese and powdered sugar until fluffy; add sour cream, 1/2 tsp.
2. vanilla and the almond extract; set aside.
3. Fold the cool whip into the cream cheese mixture.
4. Gently stir in cake pieces; set aside.
5. Combine strawberries and sugar, stirring until sugar is dissolved.
6. Layer in a large glass bowl, starting with 1/4 of the strawberries, then adding 1/3 of the cake mixture.
7. Continue layering; finish with strawberries.
8. Cover with plastic wrap; and chill several hours.

The countdown to summer begins

It's almost June...which means kids getting out of school, vacations, camping, holidays, etc. My neighbor Jen and I were discussing ways to keep these kids occupied this summer since my daughter plays with her youngest son. Last summer we first moved in here and I met them and felt comfortable once I got to know them, so my daughter had a blast last summer. Due to the fuel costs, my goal this summer is to have my husband drive my truck (ironically enough, our most fuel-efficient vehicle) to and from work on the days I don't have doctor's appointments or engagements. For the most part we decided no summer activities due to the fuel costs, except for soccer, which starts up in mid-August and runs into fall.

Another thing about summer- we were planning a camping trip on the Fourth of July but it is not doable at this point in time, so I compromised with my husband and we are going to try to get into a campground somewhere nearby (but not TOO close by) for Labor Day weekend. Unfortunately, the one place we looked at (Birch Bay Campground/State Park) is pretty much full to capacity, so we eliminated that one. I haven't been camping in a long time and am looking forward to it. Here's a question though- what to take food-wise? I mean, there's the usual food fare- burgers, hot dogs, pop, chips, etc. What else could we do on 1, a meager camping budget, and 2, not a lot of cooking equipment (enough to last us 2 nights, 3 days)? I'm thinking beans, but that seems a bit blahh too. How well does milk hold up for a few days if stored in a cooler full of ice? I feel like such a novice when the fact of the matter is, we used to go camping every summer when I was a child. However, the planning was left up to my parents (obviously). I just got to sit back, relax and enjoy the fun. Now I am the one who is planning this (well, with my husband's help, of course!). Should be interesting.

Another culprit of the summer is the summer heat- and that nagging lack of desire for wanting to cook. How many days can one go on eating sandwiches or cold foods without getting sick of it? My thought is to make more crockpot dishes considering it doesn't let out a lot of heat. If you have any other suggestions, I'm open to them as well.

I don't know about you- but I am looking forward to the summer, mosquitoes, heat, children home and all!