Friday, March 30, 2018

Weekly Menu

Welcome to Easter Weekend.  A few months ago my kids asked why the date for Easter changes so we looked it up (thanks Google!) and read all about the reason why it changes all willy-nilly every year.  Despite knowing the reason behind it, I still say that when Easter comes early, it's just too early!  I don't have time to prepare for it - it needs to be in the middle of April to give me time to recover from the other Holidays! HA!

No matter, there are still 7 days in a week and I still have to plan for 3 meals and snacks every single day holiday  or not! So, with all of that deep thought, here's the plan.

Friday - My mom is arriving today for the weekend!  Sloppy Joes, Baked Beans, Mac and Cheese and Chips and dip are on the menu

Saturday - On the docket today is Easter Egg Hunts!  My mom offered to "Cook" dinner tonight and I won't ever turn that down! 

Sunday - Easter Sunday!  We are all heading to my in-laws for the day.  My in-laws church has an awesome full breakfast followed by a great service and my mother-in-law sings in the choir.  We are going to have a slightly non-traditional dinner - Ham Sammies with salads, chips and dessert.  Trying to keep it easy but still super yummy!

Monday - I'm packing dinner tonight.  The boys have choir and then Tae Kwon Do with only an hour between so lunchables will be our friend tonight.

Tuesday - Crock Pot No Cook Manicotti, Garlic Bread and Green Beans

Wednesday - It's spring break week so there is no AWANA . . .I know I should technically cook but . . I never cook on Wednesday night!

Thursday - Tacos :-)

Saturday, March 24, 2018

Our Week in Photos #35

Here's to another fun week!
St. Patrick's Day is one of our favorite holidays.  The "Leprechaun" hides treats all over the house (Rolo's) and "he" does it very sneakily so that two curious boys don't see him.  Let me tell you, that poor Leprechaun has his work cut out for him because those boys are always watching!  Here they are writing him a letter.  Nate's words were, "Mom, I'll know if it is you by the handwriting on the note the Leprechaun leaves.".  Well, when they got the note Nate said, "Wow!  It's NOT you mom - his handwriting is so squishy and he makes his letters backwards HA!  WHEW!
 The cat was trying to catch the leprechaun too HA!

 We spent the afternoon at a local cafe making hula hoops!  For real! 
 Josh and his hoop.
 Nate and his hoop.
 We love St. Patrick's Day shirts!!!  The boys and their finished hoops :-)
 They were both naturals - Nate has some serious hip action and can keep is going for quite a long time!

 Darryl had some fun playing with the hoops when he got home from work too.
 Our annual dinner of Stuffed Cabbage, Crash potatoes, Rainbow Jello and Green Mac and Cheese :-)

 Josh found a recipe for "snow" on a science youtube channel he watches so he made it.  And they played with it for two days.
 My house smelled fabulous from teh cream rinse used and there was a light dusting of baking soda all over the dining room but - they had tons of fun with it and lots of legos!
 Thursday night was the final night of the bowling league.  What a great program this was!  The boys had a blast and picked up some skills too.

Since it was the last night, they got free pizza, t-shirts, trophies AND they turned on the "glow bowl" lights for extra fun!

 The boys decided to create and sell artwork.  Josh is holding the "For Sale" sign.  Amazingly they sold some - a total of $9.00 worth.  A neighbor bought some . . ..
and Darryl might have bought some too HA!


Friday, March 23, 2018

Weekly Menu

My grocery shopping routine is so off-balance right now I don't even know when I will go next!!  Bowling on Thursday nights has been awesome but that was usually the night I went Grocery shopping so I've been stretching it out, having Darryl and the boys go and pick stuff up while I'm at choir practice or just making quick stops.  So I have a little plan but not much for the next week

Friday - Frozen Lasagna, roasted zucchini and garlic bread.  Easy Peasy.

Saturday - Left over Tacos.  Yep.  I made plenty on Thursday on purpose - so we could eat the leftovers on the weekend.

Sunday - There is a banquet after church so we will eat our main meal there.  For dinner we will have scrabbled eggs, toast, and sausage patties.

So the truth is, since I don't plan to actually go to the grocery store until Sunday late in the day, I'm not sure what I'm cooking the rest of the week.  I want to wait until the shopper comes out Sunday morning so I can base my shopping on the best sales :-)  So for now, it's a suprirse! 

Monday - 

Tuesday -

Wednesday - AWANA Night :-)

Thursday -

Saturday, March 17, 2018

Our week in photos #34

What a week it's been!

 Last Saturday, the boys and I went to a Mother/Son Event at the local middle school put on by some local businesses. 


 There was some hula hooping, Mother/Son Yoga, Crafts, Legos, and snacks.
 Oh, and a photo booth.
 Me and my crazy boys.
 On Sunday morning, we got up bright and early to go to Darryl's concert.  Here is one of his groupies :-)  Nate loves to carry the guitar.

 Nate plans on having his own band one day so he likes to be in the middle of everything.
 He sat right by the singers - he told me he was pretending he was in the group :-)
 Josh had his own interests. .. . playing games.

Monday and Tuesday were both quiet followed by AWANA on Wednesday and bowling on Thursday.

 On Friday, the boys had a friend over and they played outside for hours. 
 Then, Friday evening was our Co-Op Presentation night.  These are my tables with all of my display items from my two classes.
 Josh and Nate were in Lego Robotics.
 They built this.  It is a working water feature.
 All of the students work on a song/verse and presented it to kick the evening off.
 Josh and Nate did Tae Kwon Do moves :-)
Josh's sign language class sang three songs - it was super cool to see him using sign language :-)

Friday, March 16, 2018

Weekly Menu

Our past week went a little different.  I ended up down with a Migraine on Saturday and then sick at the beginning of the week with a really badly swollen and sore throat.  I didn't actually go to the store until Tuesday so we were getting creative with meals here (but amazingly, we didn't starve and there was always something for dinner!)  That's one way to clean out the freezer, cupboards and fridge!  Thankfully I'm feeling better, I did grocery shopping and life is getting back to normal :-)

Friday - Tonight is presentation night for our Co-op so I don't have to cook!  There is a Pulled Pork dinner being served so that takes care of dinner. 

Saturday - It's St. Patrick's Day!  It's our traditional dinner of Stuffed Cabbage in the Crock Pot, Crash Potatoes, and Rainbow Jello. 

Sunday - Beef Tips and Mashed Potatoes and Salad.

Monday - Sticky BBQ Meatballs, Cheesy Cauliflower casserole and Marinated Veggies

Tuesday - Sausage and Cream Cheese Breakfast Casserole, Grits, and Fried Zucchini

Wednesday - It's AWANA night!  (What am I going to do when AWANA is done - I won't have excuse to not cook HA!)

Thursday - Our typical night of Taco's before bowling!

Saturday, March 10, 2018

Our Week in Photos #33

We had a pretty busy week!



 We went to my mom's on Saturday and Sunday last weekend.  It was a great time which included eating lunch at Frankenmuth and doing some shopping. 

On Monday, the boys had their first day at the co-op Choir - I didn't get a single photo because I was running kids back and forth and just ran out of time!

On Tuesday, I was able to take the kids to a new art class.
A friend of mine found it and we both signed our kids up.  They seemed to have fun and they painted these bird houses.  We might try to go once a month. 

 Wednesday brought a surprise - a snow storm!  We got about a total of 8 inches of snow before it was done and it gave us an unexpected day home! There was no AWANA and Darryl was even home for the evening.  I loved the beautiful snow and loved the day "off" during a busy week!


 Thursday was a fun day.  First, the kids and I drove to Grand Rapids to meet a high school friend of mine for lunch.  Nope, no photos but it was a great time!  Then, Thursday evening was bowling!  It was another great night and I'm so thankful we signed up for the is league.



 On Friday, the boys tested for their next belts in Tae Kwon Do.  Both did great and passed - Josh moved up to the Orange belt and Nate moved to the Yellow Belt. 


By the time Friday night rolled around we were all pretty wiped out and enjoyed a quiet night at home! 

Friday, March 9, 2018

Weekly Menu

Last week was a very busy week with something going on every single night.  It just meant getting more creative with dinner since we either ate early, ate late or ate at different times.  It all worked out though and we made it through the week while still getting to do some fun things.  This week isn't quite as busy but, still, our evenings seem to be tied up a little more than normal.  Here's the plan for the coming week.

Friday - Easy Peasy.  Frozen Lasagna, Roasted Zucchini and Garlic Bread. 

Saturday - The boys and I are going to a Mother/Son activity and, despite knowing that there are snacks there, we need to eat something for an early dinner.  Leftovers it is!  Leftover Sloppy Joes with Mac and Cheese and chips.

Sunday -  Darryl has a concert today so we will eat out after the concert and then later in the day, soup and sandwhiches.

Monday - The boys have choir which puts us back to the house after 5:00.  I learned last week that the last thing I want to do is start cooking so I'm going to utilize the crock pot.  Beef Tips and Noodles with green beans.

Tuesday - We are home tonight!  Meatloaf, Mashed Potatoes, and roasted zucchini

Wednesday - AWANA night so the boys and I eat out.

Thursday - Bowling night so it is Tacos (fast and easy!)

Saturday, March 3, 2018

OUr Week in Photos #32

 Our week started with the boys first Grand Prix Race.  It was new to all of us so we had a learning curve on figuring out the timer and basic rules of the double elimination. 

 Nate and his car.
 Josh's car.
 Josh and Nate with their cars.  It was a long morning that ended with disappointment because they didn't get a trophy.  But, all in all, they did really good and lasted until close to the end.

After the race, we "raced" to my in-laws to drop the boys off so Darryl and I could enjoy his birthday presant from me!
 I got Darryl tickets to see Steven Curtis Chapman at the Blue Gate Theatre in Shipshewanna Indiana.  It was a fabulous concert!!  It was just him, solo, and he shared lots of stories with his music.  Darryl and I both said it felt like going to church :-)

 We stayed the night at the hotel and it was just a great time away.  It is always nice to get away from home!
 Of course, we had bowling again this week too.  Both boys are doing better each week.   Nate even managed to get a 105 this week (with bumpers).  Josh is getting better at getting his ball to go straight and got several spares. 
 The boys spent a few days at Grandpa and Grandma's house where they had fun.  They got to help with the wood pile.

 And, even more importantly, they got to drive the Golf Cart.  This was a huge deal.  Both boys had a chance to drive it and just loved it.

While the boys were gone, Nate made this Ipad holder from one of the you tube channels he watches. 

So yes, a fun and busy week!  I just made our March calendar - it's busy HA!