Trials of Summer- Tire Swing How To

Summer is in full swing (pun intended) and we wanted something fun for the kids and we have the best yard and trees...I was like "tire swing!" My husband gave me the look that he knows this is all on him. But t was easy and a great idea, what are you going to do?

Here is the easiet $30 ish dollars we have spent with every kid's perfect outdoor plaything...a tire swing.  Here are the steps broken down with instructions.  It really is the easiest thing you will do all summer.  We got a free used Cooper tire.

We bought the rope and there cans of spray paint from Home Depot. So easy I could have done myself, but why do it when I have the hubby around to do it...plus he loves this stuff.  His childhood was not the best; he enjoys making all these perfect touches to our children's lives.  Memories that will be in their hearts forever.  Things he did not get to do...ever. But I digress from the joy of summer.

Here we go!

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1. SCRUB HARD, You have to get this sucker clean so that the paint will adhere. Plus they had a lot of fun doing this together.

2. We tried with three holes to start, but it wasn't enough to drain very fast. Five was the magic number for us. It must drain all the rainwater so it won't get nasty.

3. Spray paint in a well vented area. Outside of course! It took three coats, but we are doing one more over this weekend to cover a little better.

4. Dry, then rotate and do the part that it was resting on obviously. It is so pretty...color choosing was the fun part.  We went with Buckeye Red. Go Bucks!

5.Make sure you have a sturdy branch...we are not responsible if you do not. Get it? We used 40 ft. of rope as seen here.  We will have to adjust again this weekend.  It stretches pretty quickly.

That is it. Childhood dream made simple.  We checked a lot of sources and felt these were the best.

Be safe and enjoy your swing and your summer!

How to Wow with This Easy Chicken Queso Dish

Chicken is a staple of my diet for health reasons, and I like to keep it from getting boring.  Especially when you have guests.  Dinners should be budget friendly and delicious.  Sometimes these two things are hard to put in the same crockpot so to speak. I took a recipe from www.thepinningmama.com  and made it way easier for me.  Kind of what I do.  When I have guests, I want to visit, not cook forever. This is a great recipe and you can easily prep ahead. The recipe on the pinning mama's website has you baking all this in one pan, which you can see on the link above.  I am just weird about how I cook chicken.

Chicken Queso Dish
4 large chicken breasts grilled
Prepare two cups two cups rice, quinoa is my preference
Mix in a bowl, drained cans of:
corn
black beans
Add a can of Rotel to corn and bean mixture

To serve:
Plate your rice or quinoa
Add your chicken portion and top with corn, Rotel, bean mixture
Add cheese sauce from a can if you want to live on the edge or top with a healthier version
Serve with avocado slices for an added protein and good fatty boost

It is colorful and delicious. And overall, not a bad choice health wise.

For a breakfast treat while my sister in law Kayla and her son were here, I also made a chocolate crescent roll breakfast casserole. Hold on to your taste buds, it's about to get real up in here.

Take two cans of crescent rolls and pinch them up on a greased 13 x 9 pan.  Cover generously in chocolate chips. I didn't quite use the whole bag. Click here for the recipe on www.plainchicken.com entitled Chocolate Croissant Breakfast Bake. Chocolate, Cream Cheese and Croissants, oh my!

First off let me tell you...it is worth the calories. You can't even eat a normal sized potion.  It is so decadent, your eyes will roll back in your head.  Not even joking.
The next time you want to wow your guests or bring something unique to a potluck or sign up at school to bring a breakfast or dessert (it works as both), you will be the new "it" mom and will be requested to make in the future.  This totally lives up to the hype.  I don't think I have ever made something so delicious that was so easy.  This dish is beautiful plated with some powedered sugar on it.  I am telling you this was the greatest find I have ever seen on Pinterest.

Now that you have a unique dinner and breakfast that will serve up a few hungry relatives, enjoy saying "Yes, we'd love to have you come for a week!" because you are prepared with a standout meal.

I will be posting later this week to play catch up after my vacation and road trip to my best friend's wedding.  The trip was a success and we all made it out alive.  Tired, but alive.  The next post will include a few other handy, fast, and crowd pleasing breakfasts for your house guests that will have you becoming the hostess with the mostess.  I guarantee!

Enjoy!

Trials of a Road Trip Warrior

So here is the latest news. My best friend is getting remarried and I am so happy for her.  There is one little hiccup in this whole happy ever after week that is now THIS WEEK! I can't believe it is here. I haven't seen her in two years and we live across the country from each other now.  So there is the hiccup...travel.  I have to travel with my three kids who are awesome in the car.  But I am driving to Ohio for an overnight break with family, then the next day will be on to Iowa where we used to live for the wedding.

That my friend, is a lot of miles from my starting point in Southwestern Pennsylvania.  I am mentally preparing for the onslaught of what we parents are used to:

Are we there yet?
I have to pee.
He's touching me.
She's touching my stuff.
When can we eat?

You get it. We've all heard this. I am preparing snacks and such that will not leave Dorito crumbles all over my car and kids. Something to fill them up and be healthy. Now I have seen tons of stuff on Pinterest for travelling with kids. Like this one from kitchenfunwithmy3sons.com

It has been my hope since trying to be the perfect mom to do this one. Which none of us are perfect, but I have moments when I try to do something awesome to amaze my kids. How cool would this be? 

But here is the hard, cold reality of this trip coming up in just a few days as I type this: I don't have the time to get this done.

I am so excited my sister in law and my youngest nephew were here for a long weekend, so I want to be with them. This is my priority.  I have to wash and pack everyone. Plus load some gifts I have been storing away like the little chipmunk who lives under my porch, hoarding things as I find them. You see, I will be busy. Can I take my own advice and carve out the time for a Dollar Tree trip to get something to put this in? I hope so.

I would like to think I would make the chain for each hour of the trip to hang on the back of the chair too for my little guy, I mean how neat is this for the little ones in the car to mark the passing of time? Although, my concern is, will I be asked a thousand times an hour if it is time to take one off? I am afraid it would be. Check out smallfriendly.com for more tips and tricks like the chain below.

Summer is upon us and road trips will abound so I am trying to find everything I can to make this pleasant for us all.  I mean, we are NO stranger to road trips.  I am from Texas and we are always making trips back there and have been for years.  Each year, I try to up my parent game with new ways to keep everyone happy and content and save my sanity by not wrecking my healthy eating...which that alone is hard enough when stopping at travel stops and Combos are calling my name.

As the kids have grown it has gotten easier.  There are tablets and such to keep them entertained. Books are always a staple as are coloring books.  I did get some new travel activities for good prices at Five Below.  I got my son a new Jurassic World activity book along with a new superhero one. Although with two teenagers in the mix now, that won't be an option. But hey, my little guy can still color!

I usually pack a backpack; you know there are tons of ways to re-purpose old school backpacks that are still usable.  We have used them as church bags when the kids were smaller and they make great bags for road trips. They each already have their own bag. I fill it with snacks, juice pouches, water bottle, and whatever age appropriate thing they are into. When my son was small, it consisted of cars, Batman figurines, Iron Man and Spider Man. It also held the ever popular coloring book and crayons. Board books are usually small and I would stuff several in there for him.

As he is now, almost 7 (less than two weeks), it still will have basically the same components, but board books have been replaced by actual books which is awesome. He can practice his reading to me in the car and he stays on top of his reading over the summer months whenever we go somewhere over 30 minutes. If you haven't gotten a backpack in the car full of age appropriate books, I insist you do so immediate. It is a lifesaver. Seriously.

The backpacks are stored easily as well. I try not to bring too much (which never happens). This road trip will be no different as we are going to a wedding.  We will be going out, seeing people we haven't seen in years, the shoes alone for summer outfits, forget about it. I am not even getting into jewelry and other accessories like eye wear.  I mean seriously. 

So with that being said, I hope this post has helped you plan your trip a little better, a little lighter and helps keep you sane during the wonderful summer months where travel is pretty much mandatory. I will let you know if my well laid plans for snacks and paper chain worked or if I even did them. Please pray I do.  I am going to blast 80's on Eight til they beg for mercy.  This is a "No Justin Beiber Zone". Stay smart moms! We are all in this together. We are road warriors and we shall survive!