Tuesday is Park Day & a Surprise for Jennifer!

Tuesday is park day...this week we were at Rotary Park in Livonia. We have never been to this park...but today we ended up there twice! Our mops group was there in the morning. Hannah had fun playing with all of her mops friends...but she sure loves Joshua. She was asking for him on Monday afternoon...so it was a good thing that Tuesday was coming. They had fun on the swings, the bouncy elephants, and playing in the water fountain. To see more pictures, you can go to Joshua's blog here.

After dinner, we headed back to Rotary park to surprise Jennifer for her 27th birthday! She had no idea that the surprise was coming. :)

Happy Birthday Jennifer!!

Parmesan Baked Chicken

Per request of one of my readers: here's the recipe from Happy Homemaker Monday :) Makes for a super easy weeknight meal!

1/3 cup mayo-type salad dressing (I use the light & fit version from aldi)
1/3 cup grated parmesan
3/4 tsp. garlic powder
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
3/4 c. italian bread crumbs

In a medium mixing bowl, combine salad dressing, cheese, and garlic powder. Coat chicken with mayo mixture & cover each with bread crumbs. Arrange chicken on an ungreased baking sheet (I just LOVE my large bar pan). Bake at 425 degrees for 15-20 minutes or until lightly golden and juices run clear. Makes 4 servings.

ENJOY!

Happy Homemaker Monday

The weather in my neck of the woods:

It's a mild day, and is suppose to be like this all week. 80 degrees and sunny...we'll take it!

One of my simple pleasures: walks around the park with my hubby and baby girl

On my bedside table: "Remarkable Women of the Bible" by Elizabeth George

On my TV: tonight Seth and I are going to try to watch some of "The Way of the Master" series. We have kinda been missing out; the rest of the church has been watching these videos during Sunday School, but because we both teach we haven't been there. We are gearing up for a weekend of evangelism this coming weekend...so are excited to watch these in the evening this week.

On the menu for tonight: Parmesan Crusted Chicken & red potatoes

On my To Do List: where to begin? Would you pray for me this week? We have a lot going on...I'm getting things all together for the preschool program for kids kamp, plus I need to be packing for family camp which is next week, and we are getting ready for the Founders Festival this weekend.

New Recipe I tried last week: Kettle Corn! I LOVE it! We went to "Art in the Park" on Friday, and the smell of popcorn made me want to come home and make my own. I figured I could at least try to make Kettle Corn. I found a recipe in one of my cookbooks and gave it a whirl...yummy!

In the craft basket:Preschool crafts for kids kamp...anyone have any great preschool craft ideas to share?! Feel free to post a comment with ideas...I'm still looking for one or two more.

Looking forward to: The Founders Festival this weekend. Excited to share the gospel with our community.

Homemaking Tip for this week: keep popcorn in the freezer, it lasts longer and pops better.

Favorite Blog Post of the week (mine or other): Just a Glimpse by Erica. I'm SO excited for my little niece/nephew!

Favorite photo from last week: It's always hard to choose one favorite photo: but I really do love this action shot...looks like my little one is ready to take on the world!

Lesson learned the past few days: When I am weak, HE is strong

On my Prayer List: time management, my sister and sister-in-law who are both expecting :), upcoming ministries at church: Founders Festival and Kids Kamp (like vbs)

Devotionals, Scripture Reading, Key Verses:
"And God is able to make all grace abound in you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will be able to abound in every work."
1 Corinthians 9:8

Graduation Parties

This morning Daddy left bright and early for a golf tournament. Mommy and I spent the day at home. Mom tired to catch up on some house work and spent time playing with me too. We read lots of books and practiced the Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear rhyme. I have almost all the motions down...and will post a video soon. When Daddy got home, we headed off to some grad parties. First stop was Aarons house...we didn't stay long, because we still had to visit Danny. I had a lot of fun there though...he had a bouncy. There were no other kids using it..so I got bounce all by myself. I ran from one end to the other and just had so much fun.

Art in the Park

We continued Fridays theme of free fun by taking in "Art in the Park" in downtown Plymouth. We went Friday evening after Seth got home from practicing for his golf tournament. We enjoyed a beautiful summer evening together. It was fun to look at all the art, eat some ice cream, and play on a nearby playground with Hannah. More of life's simple pleasures :)

enjoying an "orange creamsicle" ice cream cone with mommy

down the slide with Daddy...whee!

our brave little girl ready to take on the world..this is definitely a favorite picture!!

after a few times of crawling up the steps, she decided that she wanted to hold onto the railing and walk up. My little girl is growing up right before my eyes

A GREAT giveaway

I don't usually blog about giveaway's but this one is really great and I would love to win it! It's for a Bubleride Indie Twin Stroller. I don't need it yet...but would love to put it away for one day when I have 2 to push around (Lord willing ;o)). You too can enter to win...head over to Two of a Kind Working on a Full House to enter!

Free Fun Friday-Concert in the Park

Every Tuesday at Capitol Park there is a free concert! We took in our first one of the summer this week...and had a nice time together just relaxing as a family. Amazingly, Hannah sat on the blanket the WHOLE time...she really loves music! We enjoyed some Irish music and Hannah loved to clap her hands.

There are so many FREE FUN activities going on all around us (esp. in the summer)...we just have to find them. If you don't live in Redford...I'm sure that your city has free fun activities too. Just log onto your cities website (and the others around you: there are tons of great things to do all around metro Detroit) and see if you can find some free fun. What kinds of free & fun things have you been doing this summer?! For more ideas for local fun head over to Run the Earth, Watch the Sky and share your free idea too!

A self portrait of our family. There was a man from Redford there taking pictures for our yearly calendar and he took a shot of our family too...who knows..maybe you'll see us on this years calendar :)

Seth has been picking up the camera more these days, and I'm glad he has...I just love this shot he got of Hannah!