Blueberry Dump Cake

Traditionally, I do not bake much because my will power is extremely weak around sugary treats.  However, we had some extra blueberries so I tried a Blueberry Dump Cake.

Simple ingredients include cinnamon, cake mix, butter, sugar, and blueberries.

You mix the blueberries, sugar, and cinnamon on the bottom of a 9x13 pan

My little helper mixing it all together.

Pour dry cake mix over blueberries.

Cover with pats of butter or melt the butter and pour over the batter.  i would melt the butter next time because the cake mix stayed dry in places.  I ended up stirring it up, which made it not so pretty as you will see next.

OK, so kind of ugly right, but put it on some vanilla ice cream and you have a yummy treat!

Weekend Activities

This last weekend was a crazy one.  We went to Jamestown for about 24 hours to attend a wake and visit with Shawn's dad for Father's Day.  Here are the kids ready to go.  Ethan looks thrilled.

We were able to go out to dinner with Shawn's dad, brother, and family.  My mom and her boyfriend also joined us for some chow.

Eliza and Daddy on Father's Day.

Prior to leaving for Jamestown, I was able to squeeze some fun in with my garage sale buddies, Allison and Angie.  I found this great antique planter and put some green moss inside of it.  The flowers I used make it look even more antique I think.  Check it out.

M is for Monday and...

While Monday is not typically people's favorite day of the week.  I thought I would honor this overlooked day by posting some of my favorite things that start with M.  Here goes:

M&M's (the peanut variety):  I could eat them everyday!!

Mashed Potatoes, especially if my Grandma or Mom make them with homegrown potatoes and half & half- oh I'm salivating at the thought.

McDonald's Sweet Tea:  I try not to indulge too often because it is packed with sugar- sometimes I order it half sweet and half unsweet as a compromise.  I can thank my dear friend Angie for this addiction.

Movies:  I love going to the movies with my favorite girls.  I especially loved the Bridesmaids movie that just came out, this picture is from the best  and most hilarious scene in the movie. 

It included a bridal shop and food poisoning- you can only imagine!!



Tell me some of your favorite things that start with M.

Prim Pinwheels

With Flag Day and Fourth of July fast approaching I feel the need to decorate.  I am not typically a fan of decorating with patriotic decor.  I love this country and feel honored to be a part of it, but the red/white/and blue does not go with much in my home.  However, this time of year it feels necessary.  I also want to honor my mother-in-law, she loved decorating with flag decor.  These prim pinwheels were something I came up with last year.  I fused two complimentary fabrics together and then cut them into squares.  Cutting up the diagonal and folding four corners to the center.  I embellished the centers of the pinwheels and added fabric ties and some faux berries to dress it up. I tea stained the tag and wrote Prim Pinwheels on it.  The cost was only about $10, which is the best part.  Home of the Free...Because of the Brave!!

Garage Sale Mother Load!!

Angie from Baseball and Ballet and I went on a garage sale spree this weekend.  We hit the mother load at a cute little cottage on the lake.  These two women had the best stuff and I am pretty sure we were their first and probably most excited customers.  I had been looking for a vintage school house desk for a few years.  This one was in terrific condition and she only wanted $10 for it...you read that right: TEN DOLLARS (woot woot).  I also got the empty frame which I hung as is and used a wreath I already to hang in the middle to add texture.  The print on top was also a great find, I left it as is as well.  When I got home, I cleared out the cute little table and lamp I had there and set up my garage sale finds in minutes.  The two suitcases was from another sale we went to on Saturday.  I am always tempted to embellish the things I find at sales, but this time I left it as is and like the way it turned out..for now anyway.

Spring magnetic message board and fabric flower magnets

A while back I found some tin decor at Hobby Lobby (one of my favorite stores in the whole world).  They were 12 by 12 and on sale for $2.99 and I envisioned wrapping them with fabric and making fabric memo boards.  I finally finished one of them using scrapbook paper and distressing the edges.  I added some images and decoupaged them on along with scrabble letters spelling "BLOOM".

Then I made some fabric/felt flowers and attached magnets on them.  I really like the variety.

For the center of this flower I braided three strips of fabric and rolled it into a floret.

I made a yo yo for the base and added buttons and a felt leaf.

I ended up using this one as the center of the ribbon hanger.

Memorial Day

We went to western New York, where my husband and I are both from, for Memorial Day weekend.  This was my first visit back since Shawn's mom, Prudie, died suddenly at the end of March.  We stayed at Shawn's parents house, which we normally do when we go home because they have a lot of room and it's close to Shawn's brother, his wife, and three boys.  It was very sad to walk in there and not have Prudie waiting for us with a freshly baked batch of cookies.  It feels so weird to be in the house, I still feel like she is there and imagine how much joy she would get from watching all of the kids together.  George is doing as well as could be expected I suppose.  He has been trying to get the house in order and stay busy with his gardening.  He gets lonely and I don't think ever imagined that he would be in this life without her.  My brother-in-law and his family take good care of him as they live one driveway away, but it is hard to lose your partner of nearly 50 years.  They were high school sweethearts and had three children and now 6 grandchildren.  Prudie adored her grandchildren and loved to take pictures of Everything they did.  This weekend we tried to honor that memory and took some really great shots of the kids playing.  We also made sure to fly the flag she loved so much.  She loved anything patriotic, something that probably happens when you are born on Flag Day.  We miss you Prudie, mom, grammy, wife, and friend.  I hope that you felt our love this weekend.

Eliza

Drew and Eliza

Trent and Eliza

Piper the wonder dog

   

The flag at dusk

Giving Ethan a High Five

Mel and Drew