Hello Moms,

I hope you all are well and I hope you enjoyed your 4th of July holiday.  

My family and I had a spectacular 4th of July this year.

Last week I didn’t have a productive week at all in terms of my businesses.  I was busy preparing for the 4th of July weekend for my family’s cookout on Sunday, July 6th.  Friday, July 4th, I cooked and cleaned just about the entire day, but my husband helped me.  I had him sweeping and cleaning our hardwood floors in the living room.  He swept behind the sofas and he also cleaned the dining rooms floors.  We used part vinegar and water to clean our hardwoods; the vinegar cleans amazingly.  After the floors dried, I had him put varnish down on the floor to give it a beautiful shine.  My cousin uses baby oil to shine her floors, but it is just too slippery and someone could get serious injured when they walk on the high shining floors.  Olive Oil is a good way to shine hardwood floors, but the varnish lasts a long time which means the floors look good for a long time.

After my husband cleaned the living and dining rooms he headed into the bonus room to clean it and that was major work because we have so much stuff jammed in that room.  Once again, he did a wonderful job organizing everything.  It looked like a whole new room when he got finished cleaning it.

After that, I headed into the kitchen where I prepared my potato and seafood salads.  This year, I decided to cut my celery and onions in advance.  I even mixed them altogether adding the mayo, relish and all my seasoning as if I was actually making the salads right then and there.  It’s a lot of work prepping, but I wanted to make things a little easier on myself so I decided to prep earlier than usual.  The only thing that I didn’t add to my potato salad this time was my hard-boiled eggs because one of my son’s friends doesn’t like egg in his potato salad.  Both of my salads tasted incredible; just truly delicious.  I couldn’t believe it myself even though I am an excellent cook. (Lol) I should be on the cooking network with my own cooking show.  I love to cook, bake brownies and peanut butter cookies which is why I cannot wait for Thanksgiving and Christmas to get here.

My Newest Dessert;

The Pepperidge Farm Banana Pudding.  Too Good To Be True!

Sunday came and I was still super busy making even more food.  I wanted to be sure that I had more than enough food to feed my guests.  I always make more than enough food because my guests love to take home a plate or two!  My husband and I had to make our way to Giant Supermarket to pickup some last minute items that I needed to make my Pepperidge Farm banana pudding that my husband can’t seem to get enough of.  The banana pudding is out of this world and I have made a vow to make it for my husband every Sunday.  We have to watch out though because this banana pudding is so scrumptious it can pack the pounds on you!  My husband doesn’t have to worry about putting on any weight because he can eat just about anything and not gain an ounce of weight.  

The cookout turned out to be really nice although it was just my two sons’ friends who attended.  My husband and I just enjoyed each other’s company and we had a grand time sitting outback of our home listening to some of the greatest sounds to ever grace the airwaves.  The food was some of the best I had made in a long time in terms of a cookout and my sons’ friends loved everything that I cooked.  From the ribs to burgers, everything that God supplied us with turned out to be absolutely delicious.

Until our next cookout, I’ve got to get busy working again because I miss it and I miss it because I love what I do.  I hope you’re well and are enjoying this season of caring, sharing and giving.