A Yummy Smoothie

Yesterday I made a really yummy smoothie for brunch.  I didn't have breakfast and it was a little too early for lunch so I had brunch!  Don't you just love this Mickey Mouse glass with the straw to match.  It would have looked even better if I had switched the straw around!  My bad!  :)

I made the smoothie with Kroger's Private Selection Handpicked Blackberries, Strawberries and Blueberries.  I didn't measure it out.  I just grabbed a handful of each.

I added one scoop of Lean Body Vanilla ice cream protein mix, a cup of ice and about 8 ounces of water.  Surprisingly I wasn't hungry again until dinner.  In fact, I never once thought about grabbing a snack or anything.  I am going to make this my "go to" from now on.

The hubs has been so busy with work for so long now so I surprised him and had the grass cut when he got home from work.  We are supposed to get a lot of rain on Friday and Saturday so this way he doesn't have to worry about it.  He can enjoy a clean house and the yard work being done as he does paper work.  :)  And lots of quiet!

I hope you have a wonderful weekend doing the things you love with the people you love.  I will be traveling tomorrow to Kerrville, TX to attend the Kickapoo Kamp for Girls with my daughters and granddaughters.  It is their mother/daughter weekend so we are all going.  We paid our monies way back in January.  It should be a lot of fun!  I imagine I'll have lots of photos to share with you.  Like the ones I haven't shared yet of my trip to AZ.  It's on my list!

Take care,

xoxoxo

Debbie

A Quick and Easy Meal

Today I want to share a quick and easy meal I throw together when I don't get around to cooking.  It's true.  I don't cook every day.  Almost every day since I've been home.  :)

I like to order the Oven Baked Chicken Breasts from Schwan's.  They are not as good as Chick-fil-a but they'll do in a pinch.  I bake them in the oven at 400 degrees for 20-25 minutes, flipping them over half way through. 

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Sometimes we have sweet potato fries but this day we had frozen tater tots.  I believe it was Kroger's brand.

It's a quick and easy meal that is ready in less than 30 minutes.  The hubs likes to add sweet-n-sour sauce for his chicken.  I either eat mine plain or with honey mustard.

This would be great for you moms that are running from school to ball practice or dance classes.  The kids can get their baths while dinner is cooking.  :)  And the best part...there's little mess.  I placed foil in the pans and we used paper plates!

Hope you have a wonderful evening!

What I'm Loving Lately

As I write this post the song that comes to mind is "Girl Crush" by Little Big Town.

I am crushing on these LED Candle sets with daily timers.  Like really hard.  I have been admiring them for over a year now and would not pay the price at Pottery Barn, Frontgate, etc.  Just couldn't do it.  Wouldn't do it.

If you know me you know that I LOVE candles.  I've shared this with you here, here, here and here for just a few!

I bought my first set of LED candles a couple of months ago at Palais Royal.  It was a set of five candles in various sizes for $50.  I bought them for $13.00.  SCORE!!!  Be sure and look for a coupon before you purchase them.

I know the hubs thought I would never shut up about it.  The grandkids love them.  They like anticipating when they are going to come on and when they will go out.  They all come on within minutes of each other and stay on for four hours.  They think it's magic.  :)  So do I!  Ha ha!

These little jewels allow me to place them high up in areas I can't burn a real candle.

I placed one in the large glass globe on the coffee table in the family room.  The three candlesticks you see in the background are LED candles.  I scored those bad boys today at Palais Royal.  They come in a set of two for $20 and I paid $8.99.  And yes, I bought two of them.  :)  I just need to put the batteries in them.

I love candles, low lighting, and Christmas lights.  I love the ambiance it creates.  So warm, cozy and relaxing.  Makes my heart sing.  For real.

Before long you will find them throughout our home.

On another day I will to do a post on all the times I have created messes with real candles.  It is a wonder the hubs allows me to have them in the house.  Seriously.  And I am a careful candle burner.

I'd love to hear if there is anything you are "crushing on" lately.  Or am I the only one crazy 'round here?

Take care,

Debbie

Overnight With the Grandkids

The grandkids stayed overnight last night.  I made the Penne Pie for dinner.  Surprisingly all three of them ate it.  I'm not sure if Ms. A liked it or if she was being polite and ate it.  Sometimes you can't tell with her.  :)  It makes so much.  I sent the leftovers home with their mom.

Sweet P put together the Snow White puzzle in no time at all.  She was grabbing the pieces and putting them together so fast.  The last time we worked on it it took way longer than it took her and there were several of us working on it.

Mr. W wanted to be included in the photo.

 He was so proud of the puzzle.  You would have thought he did it all by himself.  :)

 He and I have his bedtime ritual down to an art.  He goes to the bathroom, watches one episode of Super Why on Netflix then it's lights out.  He does not complain or anything.  He laughs, kisses me good night and goes right to sleep.  So easy!

Isn't he cute?  Maybe he can relate to him?  :)

The girls and I watched Charm City West's Cakes.  I had recorded the Monster Truck, Skylanders, an electric guitar and a few others.  Duff Goldman is so incredibly talented.  The girls were blown away.

A visit to Maw Maw's is not complete without Sweet P getting her fingers and toes painted.  She likes to paint each nail a different color.  She chooses the color and the pattern.  Today she did her toes just like her fingers.

Here are the colors she chose.

Can you tell she is into pinks?

 I apply a base coat, two coats of regular polish, a top coat of gel setter finished off by Seche Vite's fast drying polish.  Believe it or not it dries fast enough she does not get a chance to mess them up.  Hopefully they will last a while.

 This morning they had a really healthy breakfast of donuts.  :)  Their favorite.

Hope you are having a great week!!!

Take care,

xoxoxo

Debbie

Weekend Recap

Good morning and happy Monday to you!  I hope you all had a good weekend.  We worked on our "to do" list and managed to get a few things done.

Here's an update on the coping that was replaced around the pool.  We went with the brown walnut Travertine for the coping.  We chose a one inch coordinating glass tile to cover the exposed area that was previously covered with the original coping.

Here's a before photo to refresh your memory.

We are very excited with the new look.  Even more so with the fact that this issue will be done with for good.  There will be no more worrying about whether or not the white calcium deposits spots will return.  Woo hoo!  Here's a photo of what the spots looked like.  It didn't matter what they did to alleviate the situation these bad boys always showed up.

We are very happy with the new look.

After giving so much thought in choosing the accent tiles, we are very pleased with the way the smaller tiles coordinate with the original tiles.  We wanted something that would blend in like it has always been here.

We removed the curtains from the patio.  They were so gross and covered with so much dust.  You may be wondering why I waited for the hubs to do this project.  I have shared with you before my fear of lizards.  Honey, have we got lizards, geckos, whatever you want to call them.  They love to "hang out" in the panels of the curtains.  :(

So picture this.  He is taking down the curtains which requires a good bit of strength to slide the end caps off of the rods.  I fold them up and stack them to be washed.  All the while I am folding the curtains I am shaking them really hard to make sure there are No Lizards!  OMG!  One goes to hop off and gets on my hand! I start screaming because it is on me.  Not a happy moment for me!  He's looking over at me like are you crazy because I was embarrassing him.  :)  Our new neighbor was having a pool party yes I was so jealous because our pool is a hot mess!  I gave him a look and kept going.  There was one more incident and then I stopped.  I let him fold them and carry them to the washing machine.  I have my fingers and toes crossed that no lizards pop out when I go to wash them today.  If you hear someone screaming it will most likely be me.

Isn't it crazy how plain it looks without the curtains?  I can't imagine ever going without them again.

We changed out the artwork over the fireplace.  I love having color again.

I am changing things up and moving things around.  This large candle holder has always been in the main bath.  I've always been tempted to move it in the past but I was so happy with it where it was I didn't move it.  This time I stepped outside of the box and moved it.  I have to be honest with you.  I didn't think I'd leave it here, but so far so good.

Here's what it looks like in the main bath.  I moved the welcome plaque and added the candle.  I always felt good about burning a candle (with it inside the glass globe) when the kiddos were here.  Now I will burn the candle when they aren't here.  That way I am not worrying about whether or not they are tempted to play with the fire.  You never know with kids.

We rehung the "Home Sweet Home" plaque in the foyer.

I love the way it goes so well with the chest.  Don't you love it when things come together like this?  I know I do.

I'd love to hear what you did over the weekend.  Did you get any projects off of your "to do" list?

I hope you have a great day today.  I have an interview this morning, some consulting work to do, and I need to go to the grocery store for a few things.  The kiddos are coming over this afternoon for a stay over and I want to be prepared.  We are going to have the Penne Pie for dinner.  Yumm!  This is my new "go to" dish.  It is so easy and so darn good.  I shared the recipe with you here.  This will be my third time to make it.  I've changed it up a little by adding more sauce and extra cheese.  You really should try it.  I think your family will love it.  And you, my friend, will feel like a rock star!

Take care and see you soon!

xoxoxo

Debbie

Comfortable Walking Shoes

I am sure you'd agree.  There is nothing more important than having a comfortable walking shoe.  :)  I had a feeling it was about time for me to replace my current tennis shoes but after our trip to Waco, TX I had no doubt.  The back of my heels were hurting almost like I had a blister even though I didn't.

I thought my old shoes still looked pretty good.  However, the comfort was gone.  My old tennis shoes were Nike Cross Training shoes so I know I am not comparing apples to apples.  More like apples to oranges.  :)

I thought this photo was interesting.  It shows how I was walking on the outside of my foot.

I began researching comfortable walking shoes and up came Ryka.  Ryka is a women only sport company.  So I thought a company that caters to women should know what they are doing, right?  I began to read the reviews, lots of them.  Everyone had great things to say about their shoes.  Especially these.

The Devotion Plus Walking Shoe.  I normally wear a size 5 shoe but I like to size up my tennis shoes and boots so I have extra toe space just in case I wear thick socks.  I don't know about you, but I can't stand crowded toes!

 

I love my new walking shoes.  They provide so much support and cushioning.

I am very happy with my new shoes.

Especially my feet!!!

Hope you have a wonderful weekend!

Take care,

xoxoxo

Debbie

Caught Red Handed

Good morning and happy Friday to you!!!  I am so grateful for this beautiful and bright sunshine day!  

We have an abundance of squirrels running freely throughout our neighborhood.  For the most part, I find them very entertaining.

That is until they get into my flower/plant pots and start digging up the dirt or completely digging up the flowers.

Here's one climbing into the pot with my hibiscus.

It appears to be staring me down, right?

Apparently it didn't find what it wanted so it moved on to my flowers in the beds.

On another day I caught this bad boy on top of my topiary eating.  His claws pull out the moss on the balls.

These balls have seen better days so I am going to replace them with ferns.

I have to admit I do enjoy watching them out of the window in my office.

Until they start digging in my flowers!

I recently read that Cayenne pepper is a good deterrent.  I am going to give that a try and see how it works.

I hope you have a wonderful weekend with lots of sunshine.

Take care,

xoxoxo

Debbie