Easy Cheesecake Recipe

 Next to anything chocolate, cheesecake is my second favorite dessert.  I usually just buy my cheesecake {Costco has a really great one!}, but when I tried this one at a friend's house a few months back, I was smitten.  Not only did it taste good but it was sooo easy to make!  

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Recipe for Cheesecake:

2 8oz. cream cheese

1 8oz. tub of whipped cream

1/3 cup sugar

1 tsp. vanilla

warm cream cheese in the microwave for 1 minute :: then, in a bowl, cream together all of the above ingredients.  Set aside.

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Cheesecake Crust:

option 1:  6 Tbs butter {melted}

                9 whole graham crackers {crushed}

                1/4 cup sugar

               mix melted butter, crushed graham crackers, and sugar in a bowl :: then pour mixture in a pie plate                   and press down around the bottom and all the way around the sides.

option 2:   buy a ready-made graham cracker crust!

Add cheesecake mixture to graham cracker crust and refrigerate for three hours {...or less if you just can't wait to try it!}.

For extra flava I topped my cheesecake with some strawberries.  {the only kind I had were frozen, so I defrosted them a bit in the microwave...still tasted yummy.}  However, drizzled chocolate or any other kind of berry would be delicious too.

And that's that!  It's so simple, isn't it?  

I. Love. It!

Simple Moments

I usually put my three kiddos to bed at a decent hour {even in the summer} because no matter what, they are always early risers.  After they're in bed, they can read as long as they want until they fall asleep.

The other night I went in to check on the two girls in their room and this is what I found.  These two are such silly sisters!  I'm not sure how much reading was going on, but at least they were having fun!

Kitchen Duty - Help Wanted

My kiddos have been home for summer break for almost two weeks now.  We've picnicked outside, read lots of stories, played at the local spray park, enjoyed fun play dates, eaten a  lot of otter pops, etc., etc.  But along with all the fun going on this summer, I'm trying to teach my kids more responsibility at home by giving them some more regular chores at home.  I figure, they have the time + they help make the messes too, so why not?

They still have the regular stuff like cleaning their rooms, picking up dog poop in the backyard, or doing other odds and ends that they get asked to do.  But now in addition to that, they are helping out more regularly in the kitchen.  

To stay on top of this new responsibility of theirs, I made a 'Kitchen Duty' chore chart.  I bought a magnetic platter {7.99} and one sheet of scrapbook paper at Craft Warehouse. 

Then I saved up a few juice concentrate lids, traced the lids onto the sheet of scrapbook paper, cut the circles out, mod podged them to the lids, hot glued a magnet to the back of the lids, wrote the name of each kiddo on the front of a lid and wa-la!  Magnetic name tags for a magnetic kitchen duty chore chart.

{please ignore the chippy nail polish job...they will get repolished by church on Sunday!}

 I wrote 'Kitchen Duty' and 'breakfast', 'lunch', and 'dinner' onto the tray with a chalkboard pen {that way I can wipe it clean if I want to change up the chores at all}.

My children's kitchen responsibilities include clearing off the table, wiping off the table and the counters, loading/unloading the dishwasher, and sweeping the floor after each meal.  Because the kitchen is cleaned thoroughly after each meal, it doesn't add up to too much work ...and I'm right there to pitch in and help/guide each child {especially Cali who is only 3.5 and is just learning}.

Also, each night, before I go to bed, I rotate the names so that they're not cleaning up after the same meal everyday. {i.e. dinner cleanup is typically much more work than lunch and it wouldn't be fair to keep one child on that duty forever.}

So far this system is working out wonderfully this summer.  I'm not the one stuck in the kitchen all day cleaning up by myself while the children are off playing.

Also ...we get to all take turns helping + I get to spend one on one time with each child + they are all learning valuable little skills.

I'm so happy that this is one chore chart that is actually working and that we're staying on top of it!

How do you manage kitchen cleanup in your house?

Linked here: Just a girl

Simple Reading Nook

Just a few days ago I made this simple little reading nook for my kiddos in their playroom.

Now when I say simple,

I. mean. simple.

Like it took me literally less than five minutes to do this.

I've wanted to utilize this corner of the playroom as a reading nook forever.

But I thought I should maybe wait until I had the budget to do something fancy and really cute and creative.

That was stupid thinking.

My kids don't really care how cute and creative it is.  They just like that they now have a small little area of their own that they can go to with a favorite blanket, a pillow, and a book.

If you have an empty corner of a bedroom, a playroom ,or even a family room that you would like to use as a little reading nook for your little ones {or maybe even for yourself... ;) }, this is all you need:

2 sheer curtains {because they're light weight}

+

about 12 thumb tacks

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Yup, it's that simple.

I gathered the curtains at the top and kept them in place on the ceiling with the thumbtacks.

I thought the thumbtacks might not be strong enough but my three kiddos have tugged on these curtains a ton and they haven't fallen down once.

 My curtains were homemade from like 2004 and they were pretty long. 
So towards the bottom, I tied knots in them so they wouldn't drag on the floor so much.

So far, this little corner has been a very popular place for summer reading.

Those Lazy Hazy Crazy Days of Summer

...have begun.

School got out last Friday.  Yipee!!!

This means that summer vacation has officially begun at our house.

Today it's supposed to get up to 80 degrees {finally!} so we broke out the slip n' slide.

Pretty soon I'm going to break out a bunch of popsicles for my kiddos and the visiting neighbor kids.

And then I'm going to go find my missing flip flops and break those out too. :)

Hellooooo Summer!!!

New Dinner Plates ...You'll Never Guess Where I Found Them!

A couple of months ago my in-laws traveled a few thousand miles to come visit us.

We hadn't seen them in a super long time so it was a really special visit.

While they were here,

I knew we'd be sharing a lot of nice home cooked meals around the dinning room table.

So to make the meals even nicer, I wanted to buy some new dinner plates.

My current ones were from our wedding, which by now,had tiny chips all over the sides of them.

{...not pretty.}

I hit the jackpot when I found these plates

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at the dollar tree!

{Nice!!!}



My two favorite things about these plates:

...the subtle bead pattern around the edges + the price!

Happy Monday Everyone!

This is the last week my kiddos are in school and I can't wait for summer vacation to start!

One Year of Blogging Giveaway Winner

{image}

This image is like a dream to me right now.

Outside today, it's currently cold, windy, and wet.

Not at all what I'd expect in June.

But I know warm summer days filled with picnics and running through the sprinklers are just around the corner.

Can't wait!

:)

Now on to the winner of the "one year of blogging" giveaway:

Congratulations to Vicky T!!!

Send me an email Vicky and I will ship the package to you a.s.a.p!

Happy Thursday Everyone!

Simple Moments

...are the best.

This little one of mine, pictured above, insists on helping with the dishes by herself.

In almost every situation she insists on doing it by herself.

To be perfectly honest, sometimes that is just down right annoying

...and sometimes

it's the sweetest thing ever.

Three year olds are the best!

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p.s.

she's wearing an apron that my mom made for me when I was a little girl

;)