September Fave Fives!

Friday.   School started yesterday.  The past week flew by.

Time for the Fave Fives.

Time to reflect back on the week, find some faves that made it special, and thank Susanne for hosting this.  If you are new to the FFF, head over to her site, and find out how to participate.  Leave a comment and I'll be by sometime later today or this weekend to read all about your fave things!

MY 5 FAVES

• ONE LAST BEACH DATE! Last Friday was an absolutely gorgeous day.   It was our last day to be able to head north to one of the Adirondack lakes and swim at one of the public beaches.  We invited some good friends of ours who also have 12 year old daughters who are in the same youth group as Claire. Even my neighbor and her daughters came.....with friends!  All together there were 3 of us moms and 9 preteens/teens.    Claire had loads of fun with her friends. And of course all of us moms chatted away, cooled off in the lake and swapped stories of our plans for autumn.  Almost everyone had to leave mid-afternoon, except for Claire and I. We had decided to make a day of it.  So, we all walked up to town to get ice cream and after they all left, Claire and I enjoyed swimming together and reading on the beach.  Of course Claire spent most of her time texting some school friends, making plans for the first day of school!  There is nothing like being on Lake George, in this town, until late in the day, enjoying time in the sun surrounded by the pines and clean air....always a fave!

Claire in front of Grandpa/Grandma M's house
Central NY
c. faithe MTPics 9/3/11

• VISITING MY FOLKS  Last Saturday, we awoke to a humid day that was overcast...we had originally had a hiking trip scheduled but because of the threat of thunderstorms, we cancelled the hike but headed out to Central NY anyways.  This is my hometown area.  My folks still live in that area, although in a different house than the one I grew up in,  and we had a good visit with them, enjoying their backyard full of flowers, and a walk along the creek, which was very high due to Hurricane Irene.  In fact, my parents have had 3 floods in this house over the last 20 years.  This time, the basement stayed dry due to the wall around the creek that you see below. Normally, at this time of the year, Fulmer Creek is just a trickle in this part of town. If the wall wasn't there, the road would be flooded.  It's always fun to go back to the Mohawk Valley and show my daughter the area I grew up in...and watching my 12 year old chat with my parents is always a fave with me......

Fulmer Creek
 Mohawk, NY
c. faithe MTPics 9/3/11

image taken from
alleviateanxietystress.com

• ORGANIZING & MENU PLANNING  Sunday was another humid, rainy day.  So, we took advantage of this and stayed home after church to organize and prepare for the upcoming week and start to the new school year. I was able to go through my desk and eliminate unnecessary items,  organized items I will need for Claire's start to junior high school, and totally organized my kitchen. I also went through recipes, discarding ones that we no longer use or that are not "hits".  I also sat down and did a meal plan for the week (dinner only).  This really helped me cut down on our grocery bill.  I was loving my house again by the end of the day...getting organized for a new school year...always a fave with me!

image taken from tasteofhome.com

• MEXICAN ALFREDO CHICKEN  Oh.My.Goodness. I prepared this dish for the first time on Sunday evening.  I had been looking through recipe mags for some new ideas and saw that I had all the needed ingredients in the cupboards. I even had a pre-cooked, baked chicken breast to chop up. This dish was a huge hit with Dave and Claire.  We determined this is a keeper!  It has a lot of spice due to the taco seasoning mix......and it's so easy to prepare!  It sure will taste great on a chilly autumn night.  I added some cut up watermelon and fresh strawberries to the table and voila....a late Sunday evening dinner that was a snap to cook...always a fave with me!

• MOVIE DATE!  This movie came out in 1998...the year I was pregnant with Claire.  We found it at my parent's house so we borrowed it to watch together on Monday night....my last official night to stay up late before the start of school/work.  I had read the novel before the movie came out and remembered watching the movie with Dave but I thought Claire would enjoy this "family friendly" flick.  She loved it!  We both curled up on the couches with small bowls of ice cream after a dinner of Indian food (one of her faves) and while Dave did some writing in the basement office, we enjoyed the movie.  A nice ending to a long, humid weekend.......and time spent with my 12 year old...always a fave!

So that wraps up my week.....my oldest daughter texted me that she received our first care package and that she loved the brownies I baked....I already have plans for the 2nd one that will go out with us for Homecoming/Family Weekend in a few weeks.

Weekend Plans anyone??  What are you all doing this weekend?

I'm sure my 7th grader will have some violin practicing to do, and some homework but since school just started for us, the homework load won't kick in too much yet....probably just math, English, and Russian.  We are going to try to carve out a good amount of time to get some biking in.....IF my husband can get our bike rack fixed for the back of the car, and I have some weeding I want to do, along with some outdoor painting that had to be put off due to 3 days of rain!

Other than that.....we plan on just hanging out on the deck, church, and getting more reading done!

Whatever you do, enjoy it!!  Live simply.....and relish these last couple of weeks of summer! :)