Poke Cake

Duncan Hines white cake mix
1 1/4 c water
1/4 c applesauce
3 egg whites

Prepare and bake following the directions on box except using ingredients above. Reduce baking time 1-2 minutes.

Let cake cool 20 minutes.  With fork, poke holes every 1/2 inch across top of cake 

Stir 2 (.3 oz) boxes of any flavor sugar-free Jello into 2 cups boiling water for 2 minutes until dissolved.

Pour evenly over top of cake. 

Refrigerate 3 hours. 

Top with Cool Whip free and enjoy!

This dessert is so cool and refreshing on a hot summer day!

1/12th of recipe = 5 points plus  

Ice Cream in a Bag

I love Family Fun magazine. Have I ever mentioned that before?

In the most recent issue, I saw a recipe for Ice Cream in a Bag. It looks easy, it looks fun, it looks yummy! I'm always looking for activities that everyone can do and enjoy. I think even my two year will get into this.


Forget endlessly cranking the handle of an ice-cream maker. After combining the ingredients, each person can simply shake up his or her own pouch of soft serve--and it's done in just 5 minutes.

Ingredients
2 tablespoons sugar
1 cup half and half
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup salt (The bigger the granules, the better. Kosher or rock salt works best, but table salt is fine.)
Ice cubes (enough to fill each gallon-size bag about half full)
1 pint-size ziplock bag
1 gallon-size ziplock bag

Instructions
Combine the sugar, half and half, and vanilla extract in the pint-size bag and seal it tightly.
Place the salt and ice in the gallon-size bag, then place the sealed smaller bag inside as well. Seal the larger bag. Now shake the bags until the mixture hardens (about 5 minutes). Feel the small bag to determine when it's done.
Take the smaller bag out of the larger one, add mix-ins, and eat the ice cream right out of the bag. Easy cleanup too!
Serves 1.

We are going to try this this weekend! I'll let you know how it goes.

Our Schedule

Because Mary asked, I figured I would show you our "schedule". I use that term loosely.

My disclaimer: I have no idea what I'm doing. I'm not a schedule person. You may look at this and think That's ambitious or That's not ambitious enough or That is the dumbest thing I've ever seen. That's ok. This is what I think will work best for our family.

We have yet to follow it exactly. Will we ever? Maybe, one perfect day. Unfortunately, when you involve kids, you never know what to expect next. Some days it takes them two hours to finish breakfast; other days, ten minutes.

This is just a guide to get us through our days and add some structure to our lives. You'll notice I also snuck some chores in there. I picked times when their blood sugar levels were at their best hoping for positive results and not 100 I'm hungry's.

I think I've procrastinated long enough. Without further ado, I give you The Schedule:

7:15   Get up
7:30   Breakfast
          Clean up
8:00   Dress, get ready
          Make bed, chore
8:30   Play

9:30   Snack
          Clean up, chore
10:00 Play

11:00  Walk

11:45  Pick up, get ready for lunch
12:00  Lunch
            Clean up, chore
12:45  Get ready for nap/quiet time
1:00     Nap/quiet time

2:00      If older kids cooperated during quiet time, they can play outside while little ones (hopefully) continue to nap
3:00      Snack
             Clean up, chore
3:30      Story time
4:00      Play

5:00      Pick up, get ready for supper
5:30      Supper
             Clean up


8:00      Get ready for bed, 
             TV or stories 
9:00      BEDTIME

Note that this is our Summer schedule. All of the times labeled Play are basically free time to do what they want. In order to encourage them to do their clean up and chores quickly, Play usually comes right after. If they dilly dally, they are taking away from their free time.
It's not perfect but it'll work.
Hope you are having a fabulous summer vacation so far.

Schedules

Ok, so I'm not much of a schedule person. I'll just say that right away. My kids have never had scheduled feedings or naps or anything really. This has worked rather well for our family simply because my kids go with the flow (of our crazy life) and we're not chained to the house to accomodate their schedules.
With that being said, I also think that schedules can be helpful. I'm starting to see that. So, I've been working on putting together a summer schedule. It's been hard, folks! Not only am I trying to schedule my four kiddos but two days a week I watch 2 other little boys as well.
I'm convinced I can do this (in order to stay sane this summer) but it may take all summer to figure it out.
They all have such different needs and I have certain needs as well (like staying sane - have I mentioned that?). I put together a rough draft today. I know it will change. I also know that I won't stick to it every day because we like to get out of the house as much as we can. But, for those days that we are home, it's good to have a plan in place.
My goal for this summer (besides staying sane) is to get some help from my kids, teach them some responsibility, not waste away our days, and HAVE FUN!! Is that too much to ask?
What about you? Do you have a schedule? What kinds of things do you schedule?