Friday, April 29, 2022

Weekly Menu

 After a week away (I'll share about our vacation soon!) it's back to reality and we are hitting the ground running this week!  Joshua and Nate have state testing this week so I am away from home Tuesday-Friday while they test.  Dinners need to be "old favorites" that are easy and quick.  

Friday -Sunday - We are still gone/traveling

Monday - Today is the only day we are home but it's also the day I need to unpack and go to the store!  So, Sloopy Joes, Potato Salad and Chips are the plan! 

Tuesday - Tacos on this Taco Tuesday!

Wednesday - We actually have nothing on this Wednesday now that AWANA is done!  Spaghetti and Garlic Bread for the win tonight

Thursday - I'm heading out this evening so dinner has to be easy for the guys - Leftovers :-)  There should be left over Sloppy Joes and left over taco meat.  I'll also have soup on hand just in case.  

Monday, April 18, 2022

A Little Recap

 Do you remember those spring break goals I posted a few weeks ago?  I figured it was time to update you all on the progress since spring break is done and gone. 

First and foremost, spring break was cold and wet.  I took full advantage of the dreary days to enjoy a blanket, book and coffee and I read.  I finished my book club book and started a new book!  It was great. 

Second, Joshua, Nate and I went through their clothes; cleaned out the winter stuff as well as summer stuff they had out grown; made a trip to Wal-Mart to purchase anything needed for the summer.  There was also an order placed on Amazon for the stuff we couldn't get at Wal-Mart (like Tall size Small Shorts - there really is such a thing!) 

Third, my main focus was photos/scrapbooking.  I went through and figured out where I had stopped uploading and ordering photos for the years I still needed to finish and then proceeded to upload and then order everything through 2020.  I put completed pages into scrapbooks.  I also cleaned out my file drawers and pulled out the last of the memorabilia that needs to still go into albums. I also was able to scrapbook over two weekends!  It's been since November so it was nice to get back into the groove once again.  Finally, I got all of the photos off of my phone, out of the cloud, and off my camera into my computer.  Then, I sorted them into folders by month/year.  It doesn't seem like a big deal until I state that all of that photo organization, downloading, uploading, and then uploading to Snapfish to order took about 30 hours total.  I still have to order a few months in 2021 and then January-March 2022 to be current but that is budgeted into May.  At that point, I will have everything ordered and ready to be scrapbooked so I can then just (hopefully) keep up monthly with ordering photos.  WHEW  Now I can focus on scrapbooking the photos instead of ordering them all.  


Now that I have my photos up to date again I hope to get back to my weekly "Week in Photos" post.  It's always fun to look back at it each year and see what we've done and what has changed!  




Friday, April 15, 2022

Weekly Menu

Can you believe that it is already Easter Weekend?  I will admit that I kind of miss the simplicity of what we did in 2021.  We still hadn't returned to in person church yet so we just gathered at home with my mom.  We started our day with a wonderful brunch followed by an Easter Sunday School Style Bible activity before watching a service on-line.  Then we did our traditional things - Easter Baskets and Easter Egg Hunts before heading to my moms for Easter Dinner.  It was a perfect mix of remembering what Easter is really about, having traditional fun, and, well, just relaxing.  This year is more "normal" with church, Choir, and Easter dinner at my mom's.  It is still good, just got me thinking about last year :-) 

This weeks meals will be a little more simple as we get ready to head out on Vacation. 

Here's the plan for the coming week:

Friday - Shrimp and Grits :-)  We loved this so much last time and I have almost everything on hand I need to make it so I shall!  I'll add roasted asparagus as a side. 

Saturday - My mom is cooking :-) 

Sunday - Dinner at my Mom's for Easter :-) 

Monday - Amish Chicken, Noodles, and Green beans

Tuesday - Tacos!  (It is Tuesday after all!) 

Wednesday - Tonight is AWANA awards - hard to believe both of my kids are done with this great program!  Anyway, time will be limited for dinner tonight  so it will be something I can heat up quickly like grilled cheese or leftovers! 

Thursday - Pulled Pork, Baked Potatoes and Corn

 

Friday, April 8, 2022

Weekly Menu

 The last two weeks meals shifted some due to either forgetting items at the grocery store or just forgetting about things going on!  Sometimes when I plan  -  I don't have my calendar in front of me or have more fun looking at recipes then looking at the events of the upcoming week!  But, we did eat some great food recently :-)  I love my new SkinnyTaste Cookbook as well as recipes I'm finding on her website.  They seem to have alot of flavor . .. even if they do take some extra time to prep and cook sometimes.  

With that said, here is the plan for the coming week.  

Friday - Homemade pizza and salad.  A friend shared her pizza crust recipe a few weeks ago that I've been wanting to try so I think it's time :-) 

Saturday - My mom's for dinner

Sunday - Slow Cooker Chicken Tacos (SkinnyTaste) with chips and chili cheese dip (Josh's favorite) and Salad

Monday - BBQ, Mashed potatoes, and Garlic Bread (quick and easy on a busy night)

Tuesday - Mississippi Pot Roast, Baked Potaotos and Corn.  

Wednesday - Nate's last night of AWANA (Say it isn't so!) and Josh has youth group so we all go different directions

Thursday - Roasted Pork Loin, Mac and Cheese, and Applesauce

Tuesday, April 5, 2022

Spring Break

 I referenced some things in my April Goal Post about spring break.  I thought I would break that down a little more and (hopefully) give an update at the end of the week!  I'll try to remember to take before and after photos (I'm not great at remembering the before shots!)  

What exactly is spring break for me?  It's a week where I can focus on things I want to get done instead of focusing on school and making sure everyone gets everywhere they need to go. Music lessons are usually cancelled and there are no extra things like youth group or AWANA.  

Technically our break started this past Friday (Yes, April 1st - April Fools day!) I took that day off HA!  Actually after pushing super hard the last two weeks to end school at a certain place lesson wise, we were all ready for a break.  It continues through Sunday, April 10th.  Because we are going away in a few weeks, we won't be doing anything "fun" but rather just sticking close to home and just getting stuff done around home.  

My original plan including some out door projects but it is supposed to be colder and rainy so I changed gears and am going to focus on the inside! 

Here's my basic plan: 

Delcutter Calendar - I went through January-April and made a list of what I still need to accomplish.  I'm going to follow a plan I did a few years ago and that is to do the number of things that match the date.  So, April 1st, I need to tackle one thing, April 2nd, two things, and so on.  

Basement - I'm going to just tackle it by "date" - similar to above.  On April 1st, I'll clean off one shelf or empty one bin; April 2nd, two shelves/bins; Until Thursday, April 7th.  Why the 7th?  Because I want to give myself Friday to catch up or relax!

"Everything in it's place" cleaning - I have a list for each room that I want to accomplish - a lot of putting things away and getting things into their rightful homes is what needs to happen.  My plan is to tackle one room a day.  In reality it won't take long but a good 15-45 minutes should wrap up it up in each spot. 

Scrapbooking/Photos - This is my "everyday project".  I want to get things organized again, know where I'm at on projects, and be ready to scrapbook again!  I also have to work on getting my photos organized from my phone/camera onto my hard drive and then figure out an easier way to upload things again. 

Summer Clothes - It's time to update closets with summer clothes.  I also need to take both guys to pick up anything that they need for the summer.  

I'm looking forward to having some time to get some things accomplished on a week when we have nothing extra!  Once this week is done we have the big push through the end of our school year! 

Monday, April 4, 2022

April Goal Post

So, as I mentioned last week, a lot of March goals are carrying over into April.  I'm hoping spring break week will help me accomplish some things!  I mean, I technically get about 10 days with no school, our co-op is done, no field trips - nothing except (hopefully) hopefully working on projects!  

Here's the plan for April : 

1. I'm working on following a "Declutter" calendar from a blog that I've followed for years.  My goal is to finish all of the April tasks and also to catch up on any tasks from January, February, and March that are not done. This is a spring break project - my plan is to mark 1-2 items off each day. 

2. Work in the basement - we had made a lot of progress last year but then we added drums and a "band" space for all my guys to play together and stuff got "shoved".  The plan is to drag everyone to the basement one day in March and spend a few hours working together.  That way we can sort and get things out together.  Josh is really great at this - he worked by himself a few times last year.  

3. Scrapbooking - I was really organized and well planned the last year and a half but then I stopped scrapbooking for a bit and am now a little unsure of where I stand.  Therefore I have a few goals with scrapbooking.  A) Get all of my pages that are done into albums and make a list of where I'm at for the 4 years I'm working on B) Write down where I'm at ordering photos so I don't re-order photos.  C) Set aside one weekend at least to scrapbook D) Upload all photos from my phone and camera and continue work on organizing my photos This is my #1 spring break project.  First I have to figure out how to get photos off of my phone - something has changed with how the phone and computer talk and they don't like each other.  So it is time to solve this mystery and then move on from there! 

4) Lego Room/Play Room - We have some old bookshelves that we attached to the wall years ago but they are about ready to fall apart.  I want to get those emptied and taken down.  This will also open up a little space for storage and a Lego Building area. 

5) Reading - My goal this year is to read 52 books this year with 12 of them being non-fiction.  So my goal this month will be to read a total of 4 books - 3 for fun and 1 for learning.  I also want to sent up a Pinterest or Facebook page to record what I read all year. I did join an on-line book club this year so that will help with my reading too!  My added goal for April is to figure out what I've read so far and post those! 

6) Music - Learn one piano song this month and then play it at church as a prelude.  Also, work on a special music number. 

7) Family Fun - April's focus in my birthday.  We have some ideas but whatever we do will be the family fun this month.   Darryl and I also trying to go on a "date" once a month (even a simple coffee shop visit is fine).  Also plan some future events - maybe some concerts that are coming up or camping trips this summer, etc.  I just need to get an idea on some dates and costs to see what we can actually do 

8) Bible Study - Complete my Bible Study 3 days a week and create my prayer journal  

9) Make Darryl's to do list :-)  And then get some of those things done! 

10) Learn how to make a really good Shrimp and Grits. 

11) Restock our toiletry and medicine cabinet.  

12) Update my holiday plan - I still need to do Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years, and now Valentine's.  Plus plan St. Patrick's Day and look ahead at Easter. 

13) Usually planning for co-op goes here but since we just wrapped up the semester and I don't really need to plan for the fall yet.  Instead, I need to start planning our summer fun!  I'd like to get 4 weeks nailed down.   

14) Clean out my vehicle - it always gets a little crazy between October and March when I don't want to stand outside and clean it out! 

15) Work with Nate to clean his room and move stuff that he wants moved. 

16) April is the month where I like to clean out the garage.  It isn't too hot or too cold so we can get it done.  Along with this we start to clean up the yard.  

17) Put memorabilia in completed scrapbooks. This will free up some file space too! 

18) Spend less money :-)  Really it is "track our spending" - when I track it and plan it out each week, we spend much less because it is already accounted for and it gives me a goal to work towards each week.  (And in case you didn't know, I like goals!) 

19) Get my steps in every day.  Now the the weather will hopefully be slightly better for walking this will be easier. 

20) Do Yogo (or Mindful Stretching) once a week.  A few years ago, Nate did a "Yoga" style class at our Co-Op and I was able to help in it a few times and actually like it.  I'd like to find a super easy "beginning" program online to follow.  Who knows, maybe I'll like it more HA!

21) Go through my kids closets and figure out what fits (or doesn't fit!) for the summer.  It won't be long and it will be time to buy all the summer goods! 

22) Mattress shop.  Who knew buying a new Mattress is almost more stressful than buying a car (which we are in the process of doing right now!!) but it is!  Darryl's back requires certain things with a mattress so it makes it harder to find what will work.  So we will see! 

Friday, April 1, 2022

Weekly Menu

 I've recently learned that this post is a favorite of all of my brothers.  They look forward to it every single week !!! No Foolin'!  HA!  Actually, today is my least favorite "holiday" of the year.  When I taught school I always warned my students that April Fool's jokes were not something that I appreciated so don't do them!!!  Same with my kids.  I'm just not a fan!  I do normally make "Kool-aid" (Jell-O) for dinner because it is a long time standing tradition but no one even eats it HA!  

April - how crazy is that (I say that every month it seems).  This next week is spring break but we are sticking around home since we will be enjoying a get away later in the month.  I have some projects on my "to do" list along with scrapbooking and reading!  We also have to eat :-)  Here's the plan for the coming week. 

Friday - Cuban Pork Loin and Fries. 

Saturday - So, last week we had planned to head out to celebrate the anniversary of our engagement where we got engaged but we had to post pone it due to freezing rain.  So, we are going to try again this week! 

Sunday - Pulled Chicken and Chili Cheese dip and chips

Monday - Mississippi Roast in the crock pot, mashed potatoes and corn

Tuesday - Tacos (Because it bothers my brother Jeff when we don't have Tacos on Tuesday HA!) 

Wednesday - French Toast Sticks, Bacon/Sausage and Fruit

Thursday - Shrimp Fajita bowls and salad (because we did not get to this recipe last week! )

I decided to do some favorites this week since we did quite a few new recipes last week :-)