i'll be back to regular posting next week....right now I will be enjoying the start of Summer Break, and my first weekend of Summer!

Have a great weekend...I will be having some great giveaways next week!

Down on the farm, and a winner!

The last week is finally here!  I feel like this has been the LONGEST school year...maybe becuase this is was my first full year away from Jack.  But we made it, and now we have a long time off to relax and have fun!

Over the weekend we went to a birthday party at a local farm.  Jack had a blast!   I think his obsession with fire trucks has now been replaced with an obsession with farm animals. 
Any time you ask him about the farm party he laughs...which probably means he loved it.

Showing his muscles:

Which leads us to our winner.....congrats to lucky #1, Christina, the winner of the Chex Mix giveaway!

An email has been sent to you!

Have a great day!!!!

Starting the week off right...with a winner

The winner of the Belle Fleur earrings is #35 Megan from This Loved Life.  Megan please contact me at justanothermomdayblog@gmail.com within 24 hours to claim your prize!!!!

Happy Monday!

low entry giveaway ending tomorrow!

I hope you are having a great weekend!  I just wanted to remind you that the Chex Mix giveaway ends tomorrow, you have a great chance to win!  Click here to enter!

I will be announcing the winner of the Belle Fleur Giveway tomorrow as well, I am sorry I am a bit behind.  

One more week of work until Summer Break!!! I am counting down the minutes!! Have a great Sunday night!


 

Just had to share a deal!

For those of you that like movies, Living Social has 2 movie tickets for $9!   That is a great value with all of the movies coming up and with the price of movie tickets now!

If you are interested check it our here!

Wordless(ish) Wednesday....moods

I took the day off yesterday, and we had a ball.
But I wanted to share with you the moods that Jack is now going through.  Thinking about them makes me laugh, but it's amazing how fast moods can change, and just how MAD he can get.

Jack was having so much fun with his water table and hose....

 then I told him we had to turn the hose off becuase he was spraying Lenny and Mommy too much....he threw his hat on the ground...

 then he stepped on it...

 So I went out and bought him his own spray bottle....

He is one happy kid....

Mondays, Muddy Buddies, and a Giveaway!

We all have certain things that remind us of our childhood.  Maybe it's a smell, a place, a song....even a food. When I received my Chex Mix Muddy Buddies in the mail, I instantly thought of when I was a kid.  My mom and friend's moms would always make this!  Well now, it's available already made, and it's super delicious! 

I recieved Chex Mix Muddy Buddies 10.5 oz package, a zak! designs snacking bowl, a Muddy Buddies "chip" clip, and an OXO airtight sealed container with the Chex Mix logo on it. Very cool, right? Absolutely and it only gets better:

Chex Mix Muddy Buddies offers a unique combination of Corn Chex cereal, peanut butter, and chocolate, dusted with a powdery sweet coating. It´s the same delicious snack you've been making at home for years, now conveniently packaged and sharable for all occasions. Plus, it´s made with 50% less fat than regular potato chips so you can enjoy the taste without the guilt. Yum! A serving size is about 1/3 of a cup (28g) and contains 130 calories.

 

Chex and MyBlogSpark are giving one my readers the same prize pack I received!  Once you try Muddy Buddies, you will be hooked!

Here's how to enter:

MANDATORY ENTRY:

• Visit  Chex Mix website and tell me what Chex Mix Snack Mix you like best.

EXTRA ENTRIES:

• Like Chex Mix on Facebook. It would be awesome if you thanked them for this giveaway and that I sent you. 
• Visit  Chex Mix Recipes and tell me which recipe you've tried or would like to try.
• Follow Chex Mix on twitter.
• Follow my blog

Please leave your email with one of your comments so I can contact the winnner.  Contest ends Monday June 13 at 11:59 pm.  Winner will be choosen via random.org and contacted by email.  Good Luck!

In the spirit of full-disclosure, Chex Mix has provided a Chex Mix Muddy Buddies gift pack that includes a bag of Chex Mix Muddy Buddies, an airtight sealed container, a snacking bowl, and a magnetic clip through MyBlogSpark for my family and 1 lucky reader to enjoy. No payment was given and, all opinions given here are my own.

I'm smitten....for Summer Strawberry Cake

Reason #142 of why I love Summer, is berries.  I love all berries; blue, black, rasp, straw.  You name is, I love it.  So when I came across Smitten Kitchen's Strawberry Summer Cake, I immediately ran home and went to work.

It was a unanimous vote....heavenly.  My husband said it tasted like "strawberry shortcake, only 1 million times better".  I just think it's delish.  It does take some time to bake, but the preparation time is simple and quick.  I highly suggest this for your next summer party or bbq or for dessert tomorrow.

Enjoy!

Strawberry Summer Cake

6 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature, plus extra for pie plate
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon table salt
1 cup) plus 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 large egg
1/2 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 pound strawberries, hulled and halved

Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter a 10-inch pie pan or 9-inch deep-dish pie pan (what I used).

Whisk flour or flours, baking powder and salt together in a small bowl. In a larger bowl, beat butter and 1 cup sugar until pale and fluffy with an electric mixer, about 3 minutes. Mix in egg, milk and vanilla until just combined. Add dry mixture gradually, mixing until just smooth.

Pour into prepared pie plate. Arrange strawberries, cut side down, on top of batter, as closely as possible in a single layer (some overlapping is okay!). Sprinkle remaining 2 tablespoons sugar over berries.

Bake cake for 10 minutes then reduce oven temperature to 325°F and bake cake until golden brown and a tester comes out free of wet batter, about 50 minutes to 60 minutes. (Gooey strawberries on the tester are a given.) Let cool in pan on a rack. Cut into wedges. Serve with whipped cream.

** Cake can be stored at room temperature for up to 2 days, loosely covered, ours will not make it that long

My very own Superman

Ever have those days???  You know those days when you get caught up in everything that really doesn't matter, but for that day, and that moment, stresses you out, and wears you down?  I have them often.  I worry about work, and my hair.  I worry about every little thing I put into my mouth, and if my outfit is too "mom" looking.  I worry about bills and money and wonder how we will ever save enough to buy a bigger house. 

But when it is all said and done, I come home to a HUGE smiling face.  I come home to snacks, and trucks, walks, and new discoveries.  I come home to the things I love most in this world, and it makes me wonder why I ever worried about any of it at all.  It makes every single worry I have seem small and silly.

The house can wait, I'll have time to clean it later.  My weight or my hair are not what defines me.  And the bills will still be there, whether I worry or not.  So instead, I'm deciding to go for a walk, enjoy his discoveries and let the little worries in life go for a while.  One thing I've learned about being a mom is that life moves way too fast and is way too short to worry about the little things.  It won't change anything.

I don't need a superhero to save me from my worries or my everyday problems.  I have my own little superman here. This superman has saved me in so many ways no one can ever see, and continues to each and every day.  

I'll forgive you...this time.

Maybe it was the holiday weekend, and many of you did not catch my post, because I can not believe that with over 500 followers I only have a small amount of entries for my Belle Fleur giveaway!!!! 

In case you missed it, click the image above and check it out.  They are perfect for summer and her shop has so many cute items!  

Wordless(ish) Wednesday...

It rained all Saturday and Sunday.  Monday was sunny and 87, which means we were outside ALL DAY.  With as few words as possible here is a recap of our Memorial Day.

 

Happy Memorial Day!

I hope you are all having (and will have) a relaxing, fun filled day on this Memorial Day. 

With that, it's always nice to remember why we have this day.  I always like to think about my Grandpa, Angelo, who is a young, 97, and served in World War II. 

He is one of the few WWII heros left.  If you have some time today check out this article about my Grandpa, either way, remember those who fought and still do fight for us. 

What I'm making...

The rain is never ending.  Seriously.  It rained all day yesterday and all day today.  We sat in the garage and looked at the rain, built some forts, watched some movies and are slowly becoming bored out of our minds.

Tomorrow is forecasted to be 85 and sunny, which means I'll hopefully take some pictures, and which means we will get to spend the day outside!

What I want to share with you are is what I made for dinner:

Yes, those are blueberries on top of pork chops.

Now before you comment and tell me what a great picture I took, let me tell you I didn't take it.  My pictures did not turn out like I hoped so I used the picture from Rachel Ray. Rachel's Grilled Pork Chops with Fresh Berry Compote, is the perfect way to start off summer.  The blueberry compote adds the perfect sweetness to the heartiness of the pork chop.  With it being my first time making pork chops, I was very pleased with myself (and my husband for grililng them!).   This meal was so easy for any night of the week!

So it rained today.  The sun will come out tomorrow....so they say.  What I know for sure is Rachel made our rainy Sunday a little bit brighter (and tastier).

I hope you all are having a great Memorial Day weekend!

Grilled Pork Chops with Fresh Berry Compote

Ingredients:

• 21/2 tbsp. Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• 1/2 small red onion, thinly sliced
• 1/2 pt. blueberries
• 1 tbsp. sugar
• 1/2 lemon, zested and juiced
• 2 sprigs thyme
• Salt and pepper
• 2 bone-in, 1/2-inch-thick pork chops (7 oz. each)
• 1/2 box (10 oz.) couscous (1½ cups)
• 1/3 cup flat-leaf parsley leaves, chopped

Directions:

1. Preheat a grill. Meanwhile, in a medium skillet, heat 1 tbsp. olive oil over medium-low heat; add the onion and cook until softened, about 5 minutes. Stir in the blueberries, sugar, lemon juice, thyme sprigs and 1/2 tsp. pepper. Simmer until the blueberries have released their juices and the compote has thickened, about 5 minutes. Discard the thyme sprigs and keep the sauce warm.
2. Brush the pork chops with 1 tbsp. olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Grill, turning once, for 8 to 10 minutes for medium; remove from the grill and let stand.
3. Meanwhile, in a small saucepan, prepare the couscous according to package directions. Fluff with a fork, then stir in the parsley, lemon zest and remaining 1 tbsp. olive oil. Season with salt and pepper. Spoon the couscous onto plates. Add the chops and any juices and spoon the berry compote on top.

Welcome Summer...and a giveaway!!!!

Summer is here!! At least that's what Memorial Day means to me. Now, I only hope the weather gets the message. Either way, it is great to have a 3 day weekend.   I am hoping to relax, get some gardening done and maybe even get to the pool. 

What better way to celebrate than with a giveaway, right?!?!?!

Belle Fleur on Etsy has beautiful, garden inspired jewelry.   Jewelry that will go perfectly with that new summer outfit you can't wait to wear.  Stacey has so many amazing pieces, and adds new pieces daily.  Here are just a few of my favorites:

All beautiful, aren't they?  Each of her pieces would make a perfect gift for yourself, or anyone else!

Stacey is offering one of my reader's these lovely earrings....

Just the sight of those earrings makes me want to relax on the beach with a nice cold drink!

Belle Fleur is also offering 10% off your first order, if placed by June 10! Just enter code JUSTANOTHERMOMDAY10.  (International shipping not available at this time)

I hope you all enjoy your weekend, and have some time to relax and spend with friends and family....

To Win (mandatory):

Visity Belle Fleur on Etsy and tell me your favorite item in her shop!

Additional Entries:

1. "Like" Belle Fleur on Facebook

2. "Like" Just Another Manic Momday on Facebook

3. Follow my blog

Please leave your email address with your entries!  Contest will end June 10th at 11:59pm.  Winner will be choosen via random.org and contacted via email.  Good luck!

 

Wordless Wednesday...