Tag - summer

How We Made Our Family Vacation About A Little More

June 28, 2017

Last week our family went on a little getaway, the first with all three of our boys. Since we weren’t sure how well 6-month-old Isaiah would travel (he won’t take a bottle or pacifier at all, which has been fun), we knew we might have to make more frequent stops. That’s why we decided to vacation a little closer to home, picking an area within a 5- to 6-hour drive from us. We also decided to go for only 4 days.

In preparation for this grand adventure, I made an extensive packing list, stocked up on car-friendly snacks, printed out some drive-time scavenger hunt sheets and other traveling activities for kids, and created an on-my-visor behavior clip chart to help our older two boys stay on track.

(You can read more about how that worked and get additional tips and tricks for traveling with kids from me and other moms in this post on The Merry Momma.)

The on-visor behavior clip chart…on a string.

The night before our road trip started, Brad was praying with our boys at bedtime. Toward the end of the prayer, he asked that God would use our trip to bless not only us but others.

And God gave me an idea immediately of a very easy way to accomplish that and make our family vacation about more than just us.

The morning of our trip, we loaded the car, got the boys settled, and I hung the clip chart string on my visor. Then I put 3 large wire clothespins on the left corner of my visor. Even Brad looked at me in confusion.

“What are those for?” Elijah asked.

So I explained.

“These three clips are for the three big days of our vacation. Last night Daddy prayed that our trip would bless others, right? Well, each day our family will do a random act of kindness or find someone we can help. When we’ve completed our task for the day, we’ll take a clip down. Until we do, though, these clips will remind us to be on the lookout for ways to be kind, encouraging, or helpful to other people.”

My boys, especially Elijah, were excited about the plan, and they began coming up with ways we could bless someone.

Over the next few days, amid the excitement of hotel stays, daily adventures, and eating out, I was surprised by how often my boys (or my husband or I) would mention an idea for a random act of kindness. Their suggestions weren’t always feasible, but at least I knew they were busy thinking of others.

So what DID we do?

Enjoying our treats at Dairy Queen (note my surprised look as Isaiah tried to steal my shake)

Our first fun act of kindness was passing out ice cream bars to a group of construction workers staying at our hotel. They had been sitting outside when we took the boys out to the pool early in the evening, and they were still there later when we were headed out to get a treat at the nearby Dairy Queen. Before we left the restaurant, we grabbed a pack of ice cream bars, just in case they were still outside when we returned.

When they questioned us about the gift, we just told them that we wanted to do something nice for others as a family and show God’s love. I’m not sure who enjoyed the surprise more – our boys, who were very excited to share, or the men and ladies who were delighted with not only the ice cream, but seeing our boys’ excitement to share with them.

Dinner at the diner.

We earned our next day’s clip in a more subtle way. Since much of our day had been spent exploring a state park (and on a weekday), we didn’t interact with many other people until we went to dinner. Throughout our meal, I noticed that our waitress seemed a bit stressed, and while our boys weren’t behaving badly, they were energetic enough to add a little more chaos to the atmosphere.

We didn’t try to initiate much of a conversation with her or find out how her day had been going because, honestly, when you’re wrangling three little boys during mealtime, it’s much kinder sometimes to focus on keeping your children’s mess and noise to a minimum and just let people work. But I knew that she should be on the receiving end of a little kindness before we left. Even though I didn’t mention my observations to Brad, halfway through the meal, he quietly suggested to me that we leave her a substantial tip (far more than just 20%) as our kindness for the day. So we made sure to express our appreciation for her attentiveness and excellent service both verbally and monetarily.

Family selfie, blocking most of the view of the beautiful mountains behind us.

Our third clip…well, we actually didn’t get to do anything for our last clip, which really bothered our boys. The last day of our trip was spent mostly traveling home, and we didn’t even go through a drive-through, so the easy idea of paying for the person behind us couldn’t even be used. When we did stop for dinner, there weren’t any other people in the restaurant until we were leaving.

However, I don’t feel as though it was a failure because, again, my boys were looking hard for opportunities to help others (whenever we were around other people. Haha). And I know that the two clips that we used were definitely ones that God directed us to do.

So despite only accomplishing two out of the three things, getting my boys to think of others often during our family vacation and knowing that we were obedient in doing what God asked us to when the opportunities were there, to me means that we were successful in making our vacation about much more than ourselves.

And those three clips will be staying in the car so that we can continually be reminded to think of others and look for ways to be kind, helpful, and encouraging every day.

(Next vacation I plan to be much better prepared to continue this tradition, so check out the links and resources below that I’ve found with ideas we can use.)

Random Acts of Kindness

101 of the Best Random Acts of Kindness Ideas

30 Random Acts of Kindness to Do with Your Kids

Super Easy Act of Kindness for Kids (We are TOTALLY doing this soon!)

67 Awesome Random Acts of Kindness for Kids

HOW DOES YOUR FAMILY SPREAD KINDNESS?

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Tried It Tuesday: Homemade Blackberry Muffins

July 12, 2016

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Life in Lape Haven: Tried It Tuesday: Homemade Blackberry Muffins. Delicious, quick, and easy homemade muffin recipe using fresh blackberries and a secret ingredient to give you tender, fluffy muffins.

One of the many things I love about summer and this time of year is that you can get all kinds of fresh fruit and veggie. I especially look forward to all the berries – blackberries, strawberries, raspberries, and blueberries.

There are so many yummy ways to enjoy fresh berries, but the down side is, if you don’t eat them or make something with them, they will go bad quickly. (Booo.) Sadly, this week I had to throw out some once-upon-a-time beautiful strawberries that I had only had for a couple days. It was so disappointing. Looking around at the containers of blackberries and blueberries nearby, I was determined to make good use of those other berries that I had purchased at the same time as the strawberries before they, too, got mushy, moldy, and yucky.

The blackberries were my first concern because they tend to have a shorter shelf life than blueberries. Plus, I already have a great recipe for blueberry hand pies.

So, the hunt was on for a new blackberry recipe that would use up my 12 ounces of tasty blackberries and one that wouldn’t be too involved. (It’s VBS week here, so our days are busy.)

Thankfully, I found one quickly, and before long the boys were anxiously awaiting their first taste of homemade blackberry muffins.

This recipe was very easy to put together – mix your dry ingredients, mix your wet ingredients, combine them all together, add your berries, fill your tins, bake, EAT. Plus, muffins are perfect anytime of the day – breakfast, snack, dessert, or anytime this expectant mommy is hungry…again. 🙂

According to Simply Recipes, where I got this blackberry muffin recipe, the secret to these muffins being tender and fluffy is the sour cream. However, for my version, I used plain Greek yogurt instead of sour cream because it’s what we had, and it worked out wonderfully. I also used a bit more cinnamon.

I found that my muffins could have actually come out of the oven EARLIER than 17 minutes, which was the shortest cook time given. I would say maybe 15 minutes would have been perfect. Since my muffins overcooked just a smidge, they were a little drier than I had hoped once they cooled. But they are still yummy. Oh, and just a reminder: expect some seeds since you’re baking with blackberries. 🙂

: Combine dry ingredients, & combine wet ingredients.

: Mix them all together, then fold in berries.

: Fill your muffin cups.

: I could have put more in mine to have bigger muffins.

: Bake at 400 for 15-20 minutes. Enjoy!

Overall, these are definitely some muffins I’ll be baking again. I may even try them with blueberries instead of blackberries, maybe in the next few days since I have some blueberries that I don’t want to go bad.

Here’s how I made Homemade Blackberry Muffins.

Delicious, quick, and easy homemade muffin recipe using fresh blackberries and a secret ingredient to give you tender, fluffy muffins.

Yummy Cherry Cream Cheese Bars

June 28, 2016

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Life in Lape Haven: Tried It Tuesday: Yummy Cherry Cream Cheese Bars, These tasty little treats layer dough with a homemade cherry pie filling, cream cheese, and a sweet glaze. Great way to use fresh cherries!

Have you every picked fresh cherries? Have you ever picked fresh cherries with your children? Those are two very different events, aren’t they? 🙂

Even if it’s a little crazier, it’s definitely a lot more fun when the kids get to take part!

Since Elijah was about two or three, one of our summer traditions has been to help my parents harvest the cherries from their row of cherry trees. We’ve spent a day or two each June picking cherries, and the boys love that they can reach some of the cherries and help Grandma and Grandpa.

They have a wonderful time getting their hands sticky as they fill their buckets and wander from tree to tree, picking a few cherries from each one. Each boy tries to get more cherries than his brother, although Josiah tends to get tired of picking cherries sooner than Elijah is.

After we take our buckets inside, I get to spend some time that night or the next day separating and pitting whatever my boys and I have collected. Talk about getting tired…

Last year’s picking was especially memorable because it was a very bountiful year, plus on one of the days we went over, we were there the same time as two of Elijah and Josiah’s cousins, so the four boys helped to gather quite a few cherries (when they weren’t chasing each other around the trees)! We ended up with so many cherries that I think I might still have some in the freezer!

This year’s harvest was definitely less impressive, but our family still managed to come away with enough cherries to make something yummy. My sweet mom even pitted them for us (me) before we left their house.

My first step when I have fresh cherries is either to go ahead and freeze them or to make homemade cherry pie filling. I have found a really tasty recipe for cherry pie filling over at Crumbs and Chaos.

Since I’m not a huge cherry pie fan, I wanted to find a new recipe to use our cherries in. My parents’ cherry trees produce sour cherries, so I knew it had to be something with enough sweetness to balance the tartness.

I thought about making hand pies with the cherry filling, but then I remembered a cherry pie bar I made last year with some of our bounty. However, this year I couldn’t find the recipe that I used. Instead, I came across another one that I had saved a while ago, one that adds a cream cheese layer to the bars.

Cream cheese? Why, yes. I think we will try that! 🙂

I don’t think I’ll even need to worry about that other cherry pie bar recipe.

These Cherry Cream Cheese Bars by Inspired by Charm are delicious. The cream cheese and the almond extract really set these cherry bars apart. While they are a little involved, with all the layering you have to do, they are worth it!

: Spread out some of the batter.

: Top the batter with a cream cheese layer.

: Next comes the homemade cherry pie filling.

: Top it all with the rest of the batter.

: Bake to golden brown and drizzle with glaze.

: Slice and serve. Great with vanilla ice cream!

They were great while they were still slightly warm (though kind of messy to cut), and they were really yummy once they were cooled completely, but they are perfect when topped with some vanilla ice cream. I took them to our family reunion over the weekend, and everyone else loved them as much as we did.

I’m pretty certain you will, too.

Here’s how I made these Yummy Cherry Cream Cheese Bars.

Homemade cherry pie filling plus a smooth cream cheese layer combine to make a delicious bar, perfect on its own or a la mode.

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Tried It Tuesday: Sweet Vinegar Slaw

May 31, 2016

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Sweet Vinegar Slaw - Life in Lape Haven. A yummy recipe for a vinegar-based slaw that is always a summer hit. Great side dish for barbecue and easy to make.

When Brad and I were first married, our church had a picnic once a month in the summertime, which meant that as a newlywed who was still building her recipe repertoire, at first, I didn’t have a lot of ideas for what to take each time. After all, there’s a bit of a difference between cooking for two and cooking for a crowd.

After a couple of summers of taking things like fresh fruit salads, cookies, or random recipes, I was inspired by a side dish at a new local barbecue place, a side dish that I loved and knew I could recreate or at least get pretty close to: Sweet Vinegar Slaw.

I’ve never been the biggest fan of traditional coleslaw. I mean, it’s okay with your bucket of fried chicken and all, but I could take it or leave it.

However, when I first tasted this vinegar-based slaw at the barbecue restaurant, I was hooked. It wasn’t like the creamy, mayonnaise-y taste of regular coleslaw, but rather a sweet, sour, tangy, crunchy yumminess that is especially awesome with barbecue ANYTHING.

: Thinly chop cabbage, onion, and grate carrot.

: Place in a LARGE bowl with room to mix.

: Sprinkle sugar over and mix thoroughly.

So, I went home, hit up Google, and found several recipes that seemed to mimic the slaw I’d had.

I honestly don’t remember where I came across the recipe that I finally made (and I tried looking it up), but it’s been written in my little recipe journal for several years. It’s a definite go-to recipe, especially in the summer.

From the first time I made it to every time since, this slaw has been a hit. It’s great for potlucks, picnics, and family gatherings, and unlike creamy coleslaws, you don’t have to worry too much about this in the summer heat. The vinegar and sugar won’t spoil as easily as mayonnaise. Plus, this recipe goes a long way.

: Boil dressing, then allow to cool completely.

: Toss slaw in dressing and refrigerate.

While it’s a good side for just about anything, we LOVE this on barbecue pulled pork sandwiches. It’s a tasty little culinary match made in heaven. 🙂

So, to get your summer started off right, here’s how I make Sweet Vinegar Slaw. Enjoy!

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My Strategy to Thrive During Summer Vacation

May 16, 2016

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Life in Lape Haven: My Strategy to Thrive During Summer Vacation. WIth a plan for flexible structure, individual responsibilities and chores, and lots of fun activities this summer, I hope that our family can more than survive summer vacation. Lots of helpful links for how we can thrive as a family, enjoy our time together, and make great memories.

We are only about a week from the start of Elijah’s summer vacation. Over the last two weeks, thanks to built-in school calamity days that didn’t get used this winter, Elijah has had Fridays off, and I’ve had a small glimpse of what it’s going to be like to have all my boys at home all day again.

It hasn’t been pretty.

You would think that it wouldn’t be that big of a deal. I mean, I’ve been a stay-at-home mom for nearly eight years. I’ve dealt with my boys being with me all day, done my grocery shopping and errands with them all in tow, and managed to cook meals and keep the house clean while they are clamoring for attention or fighting with each other.

But apparently, I’ve gotten soft over this school year, used to the ease of having only two children for most of the day.

From previous summer vacation experience, I know I needed to start preparations now if we’re going to have a good summer all together. So, I have put together a 3-point strategy to survive our summer vacation.

1. STRUCTURE

Not only do children need it, but I accomplish so much more when I have an organized plan of action for my day. Now that I’ll have both older boys again, I’ll need to adjust my school-year daily schedule and transition it to a summer vacation daily routine.

I say “routine” because I’m not going to set specific times for everything, but maybe more just a general idea of what we should be doing “around-about” when. I don’t intend to schedule every moment of our day – that’s just a recipe for frustration when you have children. Flexibility is key! For example, if my boys would by some miracle actually sleep in, I’m not waking them up for a scheduled breakfast unless we have to be somewhere that day. Nope – if that would happen, we will all revel in it, and I’d totally take advantage of it! 🙂

(Of course, I’m not counting on many of those days because even now, they pop out of bed on the weekends (or days off school) earlier than even school days because, as Josiah says, “it’s sunny now.”)

Not only do I plan to have a general schedule for the day, but I’m also going to make sure that the boys know how the day should go. While looking for inspiration for my summer strategy, I saw this cute printable “Morning Checklist” for kids from Not Consumed. Since we won’t be doing school work over the summer, I may recreate this idea and make it fit our plans, but the idea is great.

I love that the checklist includes a devotional time and a reminder to do daily chores because my next strategy point goes right along with that.

2. RESPONSIBILITIES

Since my older two boys are getting old enough to take on a few daily chores, this is definitely something we’re going to incorporate into our summer strategy. Right now, Elijah’s big responsibilities have been feeding our dog and bringing down his dirty clothes in the morning, while Josiah just gets to help Mommy throughout the day as he can.

Josiah likes helping whenever it means he gets to play in the dirt.

This summer, I’m going to up the ante a bit for them both by adding an item or two to their daily chores. I’m sure they are going to LOVE this part. (Hahahaha).

Of course, since they are both still learning, I know that they will need a lot of instruction and supervision, at least at first, with some of the more “big kid” tasks. However, teaching them now means they’ll be really good at it when they get older. 🙂 (My mom was awesome for “encouragement” and an answer when we were young and doing chores. If we complained that we did it all the time, she’d tell us, “Then you should be able to do it quickly and really well.” If we tried to use the excuse that we weren’t good at it or didn’t know how, guess what? “Now, you can practice/learn.” Haha.)

For help with this strategy point, I’ve pooled all kinds of resources from Pinterest, including age-appropriate chore ideas and printable chore charts.

Preschool Chore Charts

15 Chores Ideas for 4-year-olds

34 Free Printable Chore Charts for Kids of All Ages

38 Age-Appropriate Chores for Kids

Editable Chore Cards for Kids (This one even gives them step-by-step directions!)

3. ACTIVITIES

Of course, I won’t expect my boys to spend the summer slaving away for me. I’m definitely not going to!

So, I need to have a healthy stash of activities ready to go once we’ve completed all our responsibilities for the day. I already know that my boys enjoy visiting the nearby parks, plus we plan to participate in our library’s summer reading program, and we can always visit family and friends for play dates. For what we can do at home, my boys like our Homemade Sidewalk Paint and playing with bubbles or on their swing set, so those are always on the list, but I’ve also gathered some new ideas for ways to make memories and spend a fun summer afternoon.

One of the easiest summer activities that my boys love is going on a picnic.

50 Fun and Free Summer Activities for Kids

32 Summer Boredom Busters

Summer Activity Schedule for Kids (Free Printable)

Summer Bucket List – 150+ Activities for Kids

21 Fun Summer Activities

And if they seem to find that structure, responsibilities, and the activities I’ve come up with aren’t enough, I’ve also found this great little printable to help them out when they think they are “bored.” (Elijah likes that word lately, so this is definitely going up in his room.) 🙂

Having been through “summer vacation” before, I know that my strategy isn’t all that we’ll need, but having a plan is better than being completely unprepared, right? Hopefully with a little organization, planning, and advance preparation, we can sail through this summer fairly happily, making great memories and enjoying the time we have together so much that we’ll hate to see it end. My hope for this summer vacation is to more than survive it. I want us to thrive in it together as a family. That sounds like a good plan to me. 🙂

WHAT IS YOUR SUMMER SURVIVAL STRATEGY?

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Tag - summer

How We Made Our Family Vacation About A Little More

HOW DOES YOUR FAMILY SPREAD KINDNESS?

YOU MAY ALSO LIKE:

Tried It Tuesday: Homemade Blackberry Muffins

Here’s how I made Homemade Blackberry Muffins.

Tried It Tuesday: Sweet Vinegar Slaw

YOU MAY ALSO LIKE:

My Strategy to Thrive During Summer Vacation

1. STRUCTURE

2. RESPONSIBILITIES

3. ACTIVITIES

WHAT IS YOUR SUMMER SURVIVAL STRATEGY?

YOU MAY ALSO LIKE: