Memorial Weekend

It was a long weekend. The weekend was good, sad, emotional, busy, hot, and long. I took Friday off to attend services for a wonderful woman that lived on the road I grew up on. I have many dear memories of Ma B and still find it hard to believe that she has gone to a better place. I will miss her and yet, thank her for so many memories – the hugs, the talks, the hours and hours of time spent in her home with her five children. Good memories forever locked away in my heart.

Saturday I shopped in the morning then changed into work clothes as the lawn needed to be mowed. I mowed around the house, under the pine trees as well as some other trim work that needed to be done. John mowed on the rider. We finished the lawn late afternoon and the yard looks great. It was a mad rush as John travels for work and left yesterday so things had to get done. Sunday was a calm day – no lawn to mow. We took the kids to his mothers’ and we went shopping and out for dinner. It was a nice end to a busy weekend.

The dreaded day. The day John had to leave us and fly away. I was up early to make sausage bread for him. The mornings have been so nice and we spent time on the back deck talking. And the minutes ticked by. He actually left earlier than planned. Why delay the good-byes and tears? I was pretty good. I did not cry but my eyes were swimming in tears. So we busied ourselves with gathering items and making lunches for our trip to Watkins Glen. We stopped to drop off some goodies to my mom then went to the state park. It was a hot day so the cool stairwells and falling water was enjoyed. We walked to the top, ate lunch and walked back down. We logged in some miles as we parked 3 blocks from the park entrance. The kids wanted to go to Seneca Lake to go swimming so we drove the short distance to the park. Funny, once we arrived, Elliott changed his mind. He is a stubborn kid. Olivia enjoyed the water for about 40 minutes then we left. On the way home, we stopped for ice cream – yum!

Once home, we all drank some cold water and the kids relaxed in the family room in front of the television and fan! It was a hot day – low 90’s!

Here are some pictures from our hike. We plan to go back next weekend and hike different trails.

Ready to hike!

First stairwell - nice and cool.

Nature's beauty

Love this picture

At the top - finished!

Don't Wash Your Hands

As I held the spoon early this morning, ready to scoop more of the delicious mixture up so I could roll in into balls, bite-size or huge, that was the dilemma I was pondering, all I could think was, why roll this into balls? Just eat it from the bowl with the spoon that is already in your hand. My self-control kicked in and I refused to listen to thoughts like that (those thoughts that only lead to trouble). I could eat it, all of it, but not at once, without sharing and I would not feel guilty. I don’t think I would feel guilty? So I stood there rolling it into balls and placing the balls in a container.

Wonder what I was rolling? Well, I found a recipe for No-Bake Energy Bites and I had all the ingredients in my kitchen. Since I usually have some time alone in the morning, I decided to mix this up yesterday. I really wanted to try them and I am sooooo glad I did. These could create an addiction!

In a bowl, combine:
1 cup oatmeal
½ cup peanut butter or other nut butter
1/3 cup honey
1 cup coconut flakes
½ cup ground flaxseed
½ cup mini chocolate chips
1 tsp. vanilla

Mix everything together until thoroughly incorporated. Place the bowl in the refrigerator for 30 minutes. Once chilled, roll the mixture into balls. Store in an airtight container and keep refrigerated for up to one week.

Well, yesterday morning was running short on minutes as we had to leave the house. Olivia helped me roll some and I put two in a container to take to work. The rest went back into the refrigerator. I planned to roll them all up last night. However, after making dinner, cookies, cleaning the kitchen and exercising, I figured I would take care of it this morning. And I did – some of it, not all of it. I rolled more balls but ran out of room in the container. I must be rolling mini-mini balls as I have more than 18-20 bites. That’s good news!

Really - One week, I can’t see them lasting that long! Make the recipe, I guarantee, you’ll love, love, love this and it is so quick and easy. Easy enough to make daily, um, I mean weekly. You should probably think about eating straight from the bowl and… will you share?

Bites of yum-yum!

As I finished making the bite-sized balls, my hands were a mess, so I washed them. In all honesty though, I should have licked them, and I could have because I was in the kitchen alone. So you decide, lick or wash those hands?

You don't have to tell me.