Weekly Menu - It's time to camp again!

When we camped earlier this summer, we made the decision that we weren't going to camp if we couldn't go for four days.  It's so much work to set up and tear down that we really wanted to be able to enjoy two full days of camping inbetween.  So, that's what we are doing!  I've also done alot of Pinterest searches to find some really easy but delicisous ideas for meals.  I worked on planning ahead and cooking up as much before hand as possible so I can just throw meals into the crock pot at the campsite without needing to do any real cooking!

Here's the plan:

Friday:Tacos - I made Tacos a few weeks ago and had lots of meat left so I froze it.  We will eat that to keep life simple!

Saturday - Chinese Chicken and Broccoli

Sunday - (Day 1) - Tortilla Wrap ups, Perfect Picnic Sandwich, pasta salad

Monday - (Day 2) - Breakfast: Muffins, donut holes and hard boiled eggs; Lunch - we will eat at our favorite pizza resturant; Dinner - Steak Kabobs over the fire, fried zucchini and a tossed salad

Tuesday - (Day 3) - Breakfast - Premade breakfast burritos; Lunch - Sloppy joes and other leftovers; Dinner - Pineapple pork tacos, corn on the cob, and chips and cheese

Wednesday - (Day 4) - Breakfast - McMaster McMuffins; Lunch - On the road home : Dinner - Leftovers from camping

Thursday - I don't usually plan anything after camping only because we almost always come home with at least one meal not cooked that I planned.  So, dinner will be whatever is left OR whatever is in the fridge/freezer.

What I'm Reading

I finished up this book this past week (I talked about it here) and look forward to reading the next two books in the series but . . I'm already reading a couple of other books so I'm going to finish those first.

 "The Wood's Edge" I started while camping back in June as one of the books for the reading challenge.  I got distracted by the series I posted about here (I still need to read the last book in this series too).  Now I'm back to it.  The story takes place during the 1700's at the time that the British colonists are often fighting against the Native Americans.  Major Aubrey, one of the main characters, does the unthinkable and steals the white baby of an Oneida mother, leaving behind his stillborn son instead.  As you can imagine, this will haunt him and his family throughout the story.  I'm not too far into it yet and, honestly, am still struggling to keep people straight but I'm hopeful it will pick up and end up being a good read.

This is a book I'm just getting into this week as part of my yearly goal of reading some books.  I'm such a planner that sometimes, when things don't go the way I plan, it really frustrates me.  The fact that this book is supposed to be about "Finding peace in God's Pauses and Plans" make me hopeful that I can glean some truths from it to improve my way of thinking in those moments.

I'm looking forward to getting some reading in while camping - there is nothing more enjoyable to me than sitting by a campfire, on a cool morning, reading a good book.  :-)

Family Photos 2017

It's been awhile since we've had professional family photos done.  I've scheduled them a few times and then had to cancel for various reasons.  Well, this year I made sure that nothing else interfered, stuck away a few bucks each week since spring and we took off for our photo shoot with our wonderful photographer, Barb, from Signature Photography Studios.

 I have always told Barb that her main job is to not make us like aliens.  (Yes, a long time ago, a photographer did just that HA) I love everything about this photo - the location was amazing; a local farm with a wonderful hayfield and the sprinklers in the background.  Just perfect! 

 Joshua my sweet 8 year old.  She captured his smile perfectly. 

 The grownups. 

 Barb truly loves my boys and knows just how to get them laughing.  She's been taking their photos since they were 1 1/2 and 2 1/2 so she knows what it takes! 

 The Flag.  So perfect since they love America so much! 

 Sweet Nate - Barb got him to smile for real.  I love that sweet face! 

 Brothers

 They had so much fun! 

Fabulous!

This is just a snapshot of what Barb took.  It was such an enjoyable event and I've promised myself that we need to do this at least once a year! 

Gifts in Grief

Part of walking the road of grief is finding ways to associate new life with what has been lost.  I think my kids are best at this concept. 

Not long ago while driving somewhere, Nate said, "Mom, I've figured something out.  You know when there are clouds and then you see a hole in the cloud and you can see right through to blue?  Well, that's a hole to heaven.  Jesus is letting us see heaven and he is letting Papa see us. 

I find that kids have an insight that adults often lack.  That hole in the cloud is a gift to my sweet 7 year old who misses his hero.  

Josh is much more vocal about sharing about his Papa.  Not long ago, we had some amazing rainbows after a storm.  We were standing out on the deck admiring God's masterpiece; a reminder of His promise when Josh said, "Mom, rainbows are a gift from Papa so we know he is thinking about us." 

He has said this about any rainbow he has seen since my dad passed away - sometimes they are small and sometimes they are huge, like this one.  We find that we get much more excited when we see this "gift in the sky" than we used to. 

As with any funeral, we received so many beautiful plants and flower arrangements and they were truly appreciated.  I picked out a few to bring home and one of them came in this brass pot seen below.  By about February of this year, the plant died and I set the planter outside thinking that maybe I could replant something in it in the spring.  As spring arrived, I noticed what I thought was a weed growing out of the dirt.  A few weeks later I realized that it wasn't a weed, it was a gift . .one of my favorite flowers was growing from a pot that had been frozen solid that had never contained this plant - a Sunflower.  The kids and I all see it as a gift - a gift of the wonderful reminder that life is beautiful even after dark days. 

These gifts are just gentle reminder to our family that even though we lost such an important person in our life, God is always with us.  If you are walking through a path of grief, don't be afraid to look for gifts . .. gifts that bring reminders of joy.

Something Yummy - Crock Pot Mac and Cheese

Crock Pot Mac and Cheese
adapted from: Tammilee Tips

Before we went camping last month, I found some really good (looking) crock pot recipes that I thought I'd make and then I remembered I don't like to cook while camping HA!  I still wanted to make this Mac and Cheese so, well, I did.  One thing that appealed to me about this recipe (besides the bacon) is that it did not have any flour or cornstratch in it.  So many mac and cheese recipes do and that just makes it pasty.  My husband raved about this dish and it really was quite good for a homemade version (I'm still partial to the fake blue box stuff though HA!).  I did not have elbow mac so I used two different sizes of seashell mac - the larger shells did not get totally "done" so really, a small elbow mac is the best pasta to use to ensure that it cooks totally.  And, no, you do not cook the macaroni before putting it in the crock - the small pasta does cook perfectly in the liquid provided in the time allowed.  Do not overcook or it will start to become like cement (good ol' cheese!) 

A couple of notes:  It seemed really "cheddar"y to me so I might try a milder shredded cheese next time.  Make sure and stir it every 30 minutes or so - I think without stirring, the noodles wouldn't cook and it would just be a big blob (so no, this is not a "leave it" recipe)


Ingredients:

3 cups uncooked elbow macaroni
4 strips of bacon, cooked and chopped
3 tablespoons butter
2 1/2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
1 can Cheddar cheese soup
1 cup milk
salt and pepper

Directions:

1. Coat crock pot with non-stick spray
2. Combine all ingredients in the crock pot and stir together
3. Cover and cook on low for 2 hours, stir every half hour to evenly distribute the cheese.

Scripture Sunday

Our Week in Photos Week #4

Saturday - We took a day off ;-)  For real.  We've been running like crazy doing just tons of fun things so on Saturday, the boys and I hung around in our PJ's most of the day.  Now, truth be told, we had family photos schedule for Saturday evening so we just hung out and tried not to be sweaty HA!

 Josh loves it when "Itty Bitty" (aka Harley) sits with him so this made his day. 

 Love that sweet face. 

A photo of the photographer :-) 

Sunday - Church, some time at the pool, VBS, and then an all out nerf battle.  

Monday - We had a bonus day as Darryl took Monday off for a Dentist appointment and the two I babysit had the day off.  We saw another free movie and then day 2 of VBS! 

 The free movie is great because it is free.  We just had to look past the hot theatre (they didn't turn the air on), the preview that had a swear word in it, and the really loud kids talking throughout the movie (what, it was free - everyone came out of the woodwork and in Ionia, that can be a little . . .scary HA!) 

 The boys are enjoying VBS - look at the T-shirts!!  The theme is Camp Out - Get S'more of Jesus!

The craft they made at VBS

Tuesday - A trip to our favorite Christian Bookstore -Baker's Books for a fun time hanging out with the Kentwood Fire and Police departments followed by some fun at a local park. 

 Ok, this motorcycle cop was the best police officer ever.  He was kind, interested in the questions that the kids asked and just an all around good guy.  He was a favorite of both boys!  The best question from one of my kids?  "How fast have you ever gone on your bike?" . . the answer? 120 MPH!  Geesh! 

 After sweating to death outside, we came back inside the book store to relax in the cool air while the boys played trains.  I love this book store and could spend every day in there!

After we were done at Bakers, we went to Meijer (which was an adventure because it is so much bigger than our Meijer!) to pick out food for lunch for a picnic.  We ate our picnic at a local park that also has this great fountain that the kids love to play in!  So much fun on a very hot and humid day!

Wednesday - We had a day at home thanks to some pretty big storms that rolled through for most of the day but we did end the day with the last night of VBS which was "Parent Night".  

 The boys always love signing the VBS songs with motions.

 My crazy kids

The boys got a certificate and bookmarks for saying their verses

 The kids had made blankets throughout the week and then presented them to the local fire department.

My future fireman :-)  Nate loved putting on the fire suits.  Josh had zero interest :-) (It was really hot out!)

Our week ended quietly.  Lots of playing inside thanks to storms and super humidity.