Summer Thoughts & Chicken Salad Ideas

What do you want to hear first? My summer thoughts or some chicken salad ideas.
I'm always hungry so let's go with the chicken salad ideas first.

My first chicken salad idea comes from my sister Karen.

Karen visited my house a while back, and my pantry and fridge were pretty bare,

and she threw together this delicious salad.

How do people do that? I was amazed.

Here's her salad:

•  lettuce
• white chicken meat (canned or rotisserie)
• chopped up apples
• white cheese (mozzarella, string cheese, feta, etc.)
• almond or pecan pieces (optional)
• Ranch, or bleu cheese dressing

Last week I put together this salad. I amazed myself.

Karen would be proud of me.

• lettuce (dark or light whatever you've got in the fridge)
• white chicken meat
• cheddar cheese
• canned corn (drained)
•  canned black beans (drained) (you can also use kidney or maybe even pinto)
• crushed tortilla chips
• tomatoes
• olives
• salsa
• ranch dressing or Litehouse Salsa dressing

 I used this salsa dressing for the 1st time. Delicious!

The kids had no interest in the above salad that I made for our dinner.

Even though Chris and I loved it.

Our options for the kids were:

-Send them to bed for the rest of the night since they refused to eat salad

-Let them eat cold cereal

-Ground them from swimming ever again this summer

-Let them make their own peanut butter sandwiches

Now here are some of my summer thoughts:

1. The salad ideas aren't that original, but I'm always needing a salad idea, so I thought I would share.
2. Summer is going okay. The kids still get bored, even though I have a list of things they can do.  They complain about doing their easy chores, but I keep trying anyway.
3. I thought my kids were old enough to put themselves to bed. But that hasn't really worked. They get to bed too late, and then by midweek are CRANKY! So I must be better at putting them to bed earlier. This is the part I hate the most as a mother. Putting my kids to bed. I have completely failed in this area, they run around the house like wild animals for bed time. Fall time, summer time, Santa coming, etc. It's absurd, Chris and I are tired by their bedtime. I need a break from the kids, and they take HOURS. . . . H O U R S to put pj's on, brush teeth, and then have the nerve to ask for 100 stories.
4. This is also the hardest part of summer: my usual job of 8am-9pm is now 8am-11pm. I'm pulling 14 hr - 15 hr shifts, and the weekends are even longer. It's crazy.
5. Sometimes I still can't believe how hard motherhood is. It is HARD. I'm seriously doubting my ability to raise all these kids.  My oldest is only 8. I have years, and years to go. I know we haven't even hit the tough stuff yet. I need more energy.
6. I don't have enough chocolate in the house.
7. Hope your week will be great, Happy Monday!
8. Post Edit: My sister Molly, did a much better post than I about a mother's summer thoughts. Ditto everything she said!