Weekly Menu

 It is a Holiday Week!  Plus family is in town and Darryl is recovering from surgery!  My menu shifted some last week partly because Joshua saw that some of his favorites were on the menu and asked me to move them!!  

Friday - Homemade Pizza and Chips

Saturday - I might be heading to an open house so I'm going to put a pork loin in the crock pot to have with some rice and green beans after I get home.  

Sunday - I'm thinking we might eat Sunday lunch with my mom, brother and sister-in-law.  They just don't know it yet HA!

Monday - Spaghetti Carbanara and French Bread

Tuesday - It's the 4th of July!  We are having a BBQ at my mom's house

Wednesday - Mississippi Pot Roast, Potatoes, and Noodles

Thursday - Dill Shrimp Pasta and Garlic Bread

Summer Week 3

 

This week is busy, but different because Joshua and Nate will be gone every day at Worship Camp! 

Monday - It's the first day of Worship Camp.  Nate also has the last Taekwondo before summer break.  I also have my last choir practice before we take July off.  

Tuesday - Day 2 of Worship Camp.  Today they headed to Camp Victory in the afternoon for fun at the camp. 

Wednesday - Day 3 of Worship Camp.

Thursday - Day 4 of Worship Camp. 

Friday - Last day of camp including the concert! 

Saturday - A day at home, getting Joshua ready for summer camp, and spending time with my brother. 

Sunday - Joshua is heading to his first ever week of summer camp and I (Jackie) had a concert.  Darryl had to get Josh off to camp without me!!  

Weekly Menu

 Summer is flying by!  Or at least it feels like it because our June has been busy.  All good things but I am looking forward to a slower pace :-) 

Here's the plan for the coming week! 

Friday - Joshua and Nate have their Worship Camp Concert.  They will eat at camp and Darryl and I will eat something before the concert.  

Saturday - Dinner at my Mom's (at least I'm assuming so even though my brother is in town HA!) 

Sunday - I have a Choir Concert and Joshua leaves for camp.  Not really sure who Sunday will play out but at some point we will eat. :-) 

Monday - Spaghetti Carbonara and French Bread

Tuesday - Homemade pizza

Wednesday - Amish Chicken, Noodles, and salad

Thursday - Out.  Darryl actually has surgery today so I'm not sure who things will happen today either . Depends on timing :-) 

Again, I'm guessing we will end up eating dinner at least one night this week with my mom and brother but I'm not sure.  (Lots of "I'm not sure's" this week!) 

Lunches - Joshua is at Summer Camp all week :-) 

Friday - Sandwiches

Monday - French Bread Pizzas and Fruit

Tuesday - Chicken Nuggets and Fries

Wednesday - Pancakes and Bacon

Thursday - Lunchables (for Nate - I won't have my extras due to Darryl's surgery) 

Summer Fun - Week 2

Week 2 of summer was a busy week!  

Monday - June 12

Today we actually hung out at home.  We are moving slow into our "routine" as I like to give them time to decompress from all of the busyness and expectations of school. 

Tuesday - June 13

Nate's Connection Academy Year End Field Trip happened today for the first time since Covid!  It was a fun day! 

They all ran the "Fun Run" (a mile) together.  Our friend Cooper came in 1st, Josh came in 6th, Nate came in 9th, and Maeve came in 13th.  There were about 25 runners.  

Nate and his on-line home room teacher - Mrs. Jones.  He said she is his favorite teacher from Connections Academy.  

Wednesday - June 14

Josh had a hair appointment and Darryl and I had a date night :-) 

Our day started with me taking Darryl to work on Wednesday morning so that we wouldn't end up with two cars in Grand Rapids.  Its been a lot of years since I've been able to take him to work (or needed to) so it was actually kind of fun despite the early hour.  Later in the afternoon, I headed into town to meet Darryl at work and then we headed to dinner.  We went to the Adobe, which we both love (best Tacos ever!).  We had a little down time so we went to the John Ball Zoo Park and enjoyed a shade tree and maybe a little nap HA!  We also so the cute mother duck and her duckling.  

Our Date Night was a concert!  It was actually Darryl's birthday present.  We saw the Fleet Foxes - which are an Indy band that Darryl has been listening to for years and had always wanted to see in concert.  Their music is pretty cool - kind of relaxing and enjoyable to listen too.  It was a great concert. 

Thursday - June 15

Today was a quiet day at home :-)  I did finally take our year end photos though! 

  

Friday, June 16

ANOTHER field trip HA!  This time with our Co-Op group to a place called MOOville.  We had a picnic lunch, got to see the animals in the petting zoo and they all got an ice cream treat. 

Saturday - June 17 - A quiet day at home.  Nate had a friend over for the afternoon.  

Sunday - June 18 

Father's day! We took Darryl to the lakeshore for a picnic by Lake Michigan and then we enjoyed just hanging out at the beach. 

Sitting in the sand, enjoying the waves and the view.  

Darryl and his Guys. 

Nate loves the water and always goes in - that is as far as he went but it was COLD!  I mean like ice cube cold HA!  The rest of us went in about ankle deep and that was enough.

Our picnic!  I made some of our favorite salads, picked up Subway Subs, and we had chips.  After spending the day at the beach, we went and got ice cream.  :-) 

 

Weekly Menu

 Here comes another great week of summer!  Last weeks meal planning was great.  I even created a menu to put on the fridge so no one had to guess what we were having.  The kids/teens all enjoyed this too because then they knew what was coming for lunch too.  My brother Ken, and sister-in-law, Lynnette, come in to town towards the end of the week so I'm sure that we will enjoy some meals wtih them as well which might change up my menu! 

Here's the plan for dinner: 

Friday - Chili (A carry over from last week as Darryl and I were gone Wednesday - check out the weekly update on Monday to see what we did!) 

Saturday - My Mom's house for dinner

Sunday - Chick-Fil-A Nuggets, Summer Corn Salad, and Spaghetti Salad

Monday - BBQ Cups and Freis

Tuesday - Spaghetti Carbanara and French Bread

Wednesday - Ham and Cheese Quiche, Sausage Balls, and Banana Bread

Thursday - Crock Pot Fajitas

Joshua and Nate area actually gone every day all week for Worship Camp but lunches here will look similar. 

Friday - A Picnic on a field trip and then an ice cream treat. 

Monday - I'm going to treat my two extras to lunch after a leadership meeting. 

Tuesday - Pizza (since we didn't have it Monday) 

Wednesday - Waffles and Sausage

Thursday - Tacos

Summer Fun Week 1

 

June 1-11

Our "week one" of summer fun is a little longer than one week just so I could include the first weekend in June in the recap!  

Thursday June 1st - Nothing exciting - just school as we are trying to wrap up our year!

Friday - June 2nd - We actually did some school on a Friday for the sole purpose of trying to finish up our year!  Then, we went to a friends house for the evening for a bonfire, smore's, games, and to hang out for a few hours. 

Saturday - June 3rd - It was a quiet day.  Darryl and I went to his dads before heading to my mom's for dinner 

Sunday - June 4th - Church.  My guys did a youth group service project with our youth group.  Then, in the evening it was parent night at the other youth group they attend. 

Monday - June 5th - Field Trip!  My guys had the opportunity to attend a field trip with our co-op at car shop owned by a family in our co-op.  Nate also had TKD. 

Our field trip was to Christian Brothers Automotive. Tom taught the group how to change oil, change a tire, check fluids and more.  It was a really great trip! 

On the way home, my guys and I picked up some Jet's Pizza/McDonald's and had a picnic at a great little park.  I love hanging out with these guys. 

Nate enjoys TaeKwonDo on Monday evenings.  They are wrapping up classes for the summer.  He is ready to test for his black belt but is holding off as he waits for a friend to be ready too.  

Tuesday - June 6th - The morning started with taking my mom and her pooch to the vet for surgery (the dog, not my mom HA).  Then school and finally, Joshua and Nate had a their piano recital. 

Wednesday - June 7th - We wrapped up school and went out for lunch. 

We usually end our school year with going out to lunch before our friends are done for the year.  So, we did just that with the help of gift cards :-)  

Sweet Molly came home today from the vet to recover at my mom's house from her ACL surgery.  

Thursday - June 8th - Our friends had a half day and Nate had a hair cut but otherwise, it's just a "chill out" day. 

Friday - June 9th - Today is our friends last day of school.  So again, just a quiet day as everyone kind of decompresses from the school year. 

Saturday and Sunday - Nothing!  We have alot of "busy" the next few weeks so enjoying a quiet weekend is always a good thing. 

Weekly Menu

Summer is here - at least summer break is!  My guys are done with school and so are our friends that hang out with us all summer.  I decided to go through my recipe file and pull out all of our tried and true favorites and plan a month at a time.  I took time last week to fill in the June calendar and we will see how this goes! Sure, I enjoy trying new recipes but I find that what we really love are the recipes I've been making for a long time. It's also helpful with grocery shopping as I know what I need for a future recipe if I happen to see something on a great sale :-)  

Here is the dinner plan for the coming week:

Friday - Meatball Soup and French Bread

Saturday - Dinner at my mom's 

Sunday - Brats, Macaroni Salad and Chips and Dip 

Monday - Beef and Acini Soup with yeast rolls

Tuesday - Slow Cooker Chicken Tacos, Salad, and Chips and cheese

Wednesday - Chili 5 Ways 

Thursday - Shrimp and Grits and Fried Zucchini.  

Now that summer is here I also have to plan lunches.  Don't get me wrong, I plan lunches all year but when school is out and there are 4 kids/teens eating I actually have to plan more specifically.  I do plan a schedule and we stay pretty consistent with the favorites.  \

What is the plan?  Simple - Monday is pizza (pizza rolls, French bread pizza, homemade pizza etc), Tuesday is Chicken Nuggets/Chicken Fries and French Fries, Wednesday is Breakfast foods, Thursday is my variety day - Dr. Pepper Meatballs, Spaghetti, Tacos, Sausage balls and muffins, and Ham with homemade mac and cheese, and Friday is Sandwiches OR something special (like a treat of pizza hut pizza, taco bell or some other fun outing).  The idea is to keep it simple for me, keep the grocery list manageable but yet make good food! Sometimes the rotation changes based on our activities for the week. 

Here is the lunch plan for the coming week:

Friday -It's the last half day of school for our friends - so I'm actually doing Chicken Nuggets/Fries and chips. 

Saturday - When we are home, we do YOYO . .. .You're On Your Own!  Basically everyone just finds what they want for lunch and makes it (or asks for help!) . 

Sunday - Our "lunch" is dinner and our "dinner" in the evening is technically lunch I guess.  Most often we just have cereal.  We might try doing some bonfires (when it isn't so dry) and roast some hotdogs, s''mores and such too. This week it will just be cereal :-) 

Monday - Pizza Rolls, Chips and Fruit

Tuesday - We have a field trip today so I'll be packing lunches.  I'm leaning towards lunchables as those are super easy.  

Wednesday - Pancakes and Sausage with fruit cups

Thursday - Spaghetti and Garlic Bread

Summer Time Planning

 

The past few summers I've taken a few weeks to plan out our summer - no matter how simple or . . . well, not simple.  This year I haven't thought much about it before now!  I feel like as my guys get older, I plan a little less and let them do the things they enjoy more.  While I miss some of the planning like lap books and crafts, I also enjoy the fact that they have things they love, friends they like to do things with and that they can entertain themselves!  With that said, I am still doing some planning for the sake of experiencing a few things in the midst of our laid back summer time.  

In reality our June kind of planned itself for the most part.  We will finish up school next week.  The following week has a couple of field trips planned.  Then comes two weeks of camp - 1 week with both guys involved and then Joshua is off to summer camp for a week.  Added in to that is my brother and sister-in-law are coming for a couple of weeks means we have a lot going on!  The rest of the summer is kind of quiet so I hope to maybe put a few things in to keep the summer days from getting to long! 

When I plan for the summer I try to keep days "themed" - mostly because I like consistency.  For example, Monday might be "sport" day - we will go up to the local baseball field and throw footballs, play a game of kick ball or throw a baseball around (by "we" I mean the kids HA!).  Tuesday will be "travel Tuesday" - we will head out to a local park, walking trail, or the airport viewing park.  Wednesday is "Wet Wednesday" - our friends have a pool we can use sometimes so hopefully we can do that on Wednesday or we will head to a local lake, splash pad or set out sprinklers and water guns.  Thursday is for the library program.  Friday is always "Free Friday" - maybe we will swim in our friends pool or we will just hang out at home.  Now, truth be told, some weeks we do nothing HA!  

Also I try to have everyone "unplug" for a bit each day.  I kick everyone outside for at least 30 minutes in the morning before it gets too hot.  Then in the afternoon we are either off doing the things listed above or we read and play a game or some other fun things for about an hour.  Again, truth be told . .. some days we don't unplug and just stay inside and stay cool - especially by the end of July!  

A few years ago I made an amazing summer calendar with activities and plans and all kinds of fun stuff.  We did about 20 % of it LOL  So now I plan less and look for opportunities to do things spur of the moment.  

The other thing I love about our laid back summer is I plan to get some things done too.  From cleaning and organizing to scrapbooking - things I don't always have a lot of time for during the school year.  My blog usually gets a little more active during the summer too as I have more time to plan :-)  .  

So, starting next week on Mondays I will start sharing our "Week of Summer Fun" with a recap of what we did the week before and hopefully some photos!  

Weekly Menu

 We are wrapping up all the things.  A few weeks ago was the final Wednesday Night Yough Group.  The following week guitar and Friday TKD wrapped up.  This coming week both drums and piano lessons will wrap up.  That leaves just Monday night TKD and Choir, also on Monday - both of which will wrap up by the end of June giving a month or two of a free calendar!  I love the "dog days" of summer - I guess it is the teacher in me - where we can just read (and yes, my kids read novels now), hang out together, and not do much of anything!  We are still wrapping up school - we lost momentum mid-April and are limping along to the finish line this year - so I haven't event set into motion my summer plans yet.  The one thing that remains constant is . .. we always have to eat!  Here's the plan for the coming week. 

Friday - I'm cooking up a batch of my spaghetti sauce and plan to make Stuffed Shells this week and will use the sauce later in the week for straight up Spaghetti.

Saturday - Dinner at my mom's

Sunday - Joshua and Nate have another youth service project so they will eat lunch with the youth group.  Darryl and I will grab lunch - not sure what or where. 

Monday - Sloppy Joes and Chips.  I ended up making sloppy joes last week and froze half it to use this week to keep my Monday easy with both TKD and Choir.  

Tuesday - Tonight is the piano recital.  To keep it simple, I put a pork loin in the crock pot to have with "Souper" Rice and green beans.  (I'll have to share both of those recipes soon - both tasty and simple!) 

Wednesday - Spaghetti and Garlic Bread (Using some of that sauce I made last week!) 

Thursday - Tonight I have a dinner out with ladies from church.  To keep it simple at home, I'll cook up leftover pork into pulled pork BBQ with biscuits and a salad. 

As we go into summer I'm hoping to double up meals both to save in cost and time.  Three examples this week - the sloppy joes, Spaghetti sauce, and pulled pork.