Summer Fun Week 11

This week we are back to our "norm" as our friends are back from vacation.  That tightens my schedule a little because I have to watch the clock!  (Last week I did not!)  This is also kind of a boring week HA!  For real.

Here are some goals/plans for the week.
1) Sunday Darryl and I are heading out for dinner for our anniversary (which was Saturday the 4th) The kids are going to hang out with my mom while we are out.  Plus our last VBS starts tonight!
2) I want to finish up the cleaning of the playroom in the morning before heading to the pool . . on Monday.  Don't forget VBS in the evening!
3) It's time to clean the master bedroom - it tends to be the catch-all while I'm cleaning other rooms.  So, that will fill the morning before swimming in the afternoon and VBS in the evening . . .on Tuesday
4) We are camping this weekend so I want to focus on camping - gathering the things we need that aren't in use like extension cords, sheets/blankets/sleeping bags.  Making lists and planning our trip.  Can you guess what we will be doing in the afternoon? Swimming!  And VBS in the evening . . .on Wednesday.
5) Thursdays are laundry and shopping most weeks.  If we can squeeze it in, we will swim and then it's the last night of VBS.
6) Swimming on Friday :-)  I'm tired.
7) There is a kite festival at our Fairgrounds that I want to take the boys to in the midst of packing for camping on Saturday :-)  There is also a customer appreciation day at our favorite farm market and friends are selling cupcakes at a local farmers market too.  Not ot mention we have to get ready for camping!  WHEW!

Our week was pretty simple - we swam a lot which was great.  The pool is probably one of my favorite places to be in the summer!  Darryl and I did go out for our anniversary at one of our long time favorites - Chinese (First Wok) followed by some shopping.  The kids did attend our local community VBS throughout the week.  The master bedroom did get cleaned and the playroom was finished.  On Friday I took time to take "formal" photos of the kids to hopefully pick out a new photo for our wall.  Saturday we didn't do anything except go to the laundrymat and get ready for camping.  Nothing else really worked out timing wise to do but that's ok.   I also didn't take many photos this week! 

Weekly Menu - it's time to camp!

This weeks menu includes days of camping which is great.  Camping is either a ton of work or a little work and this time Darryl and I are striving for the second.  As much as I enjoy camping with the kids - the planning, packing, and set-up is just about enough to make me run and hide.  Since we haven't camped yet this summer, it has given me lots of time to try and come up with ways to make everything quicker.  I've already cleaned out the camper and rearranged our supplies so they are where we use them or where they are easy to get to the one time each trip we use them so now I don't have unload everything from the camper when we set up.  Also, because of the distance of this trip, we decided to take one vehicle instead of two.  This means we have to pack light (and strap the bikes on top!)  One way that I'm helping with the packing light is we are not grocery shopping for the camping days until we arrive at our location.  AND we are shopping light - keeping it simple for sure!  So, with that said, here's the basic plan for the week.

Friday - Pulled pork, baked beans, mac and cheese and broccoli.

Saturday - I'm on the fence for dinner tonight - on one hand, I should plan something in the crock pot but, on the other hand, I have to get laundry done, pack and load, and make sure we are ready to pull out early Sunday since Darryl has a concert before we can get on our way.  So, we might cheat and get pizza or KFC.

Sunday - It's time to camp!  My plan is to make meatballs and take those so I can throw them in the crock pot as soon as I can get to it.  That way they will be ready to eat by the time we are done setting up.  Our sides for most meals will stay the same - Macaroni Salad, Potato Salad, a Green Salad, and chips. Once we get a camp fire going, there will be hot dogs and stuff for smores.

Monday - Breakfast is simple (I've learned through the years that we are not breakfast eaters) - muffins and donuts.  Lunch  - We are eating out on a little road trip.  Dinner - Tacos and sides.

Tuesday - Breakfast is the same; Lunch - we have a favorite Italian place that we like to visit so we will have lunch there.  Dinner - our annual Steak and Chicken Kabob,  baked potatoes (Crock pot), and any other sides left.

Wednesday - Breakfast is the same; Lunch - Sandwiches or leftovers; Dinner - we will grab something somewhere.

Thursday - I wait until we get back from camping - sometimes we have leftovers (I hope not - that's the point of shopping when we get there!).  If we do, we'll eat those, if not, I"ll have to pick something up !!

Summer Plans Week 10

So I decided to do this weeks post slightly differently.  I thought I'd list our goal/plans for the week and then give a recap with some photos.

With that said, here are the plans/goals for this past week.

1. Have a picnic with family on Sunday!
2. Haircuts and Move the Camper to the driveway on Monday!
3. Meet Family at the splashpad on Tuesday!
4. Weed the flower bed and sandbox, trim the willow tree and mow the grass (if it isn't done yet) on Wednesday.
5. Open up and clean the camper; clean off two shelves in the garage - one is full of camping stuff someone gave us two years ago. Once that is cleaned off, I can move stuff from another shelf to that shelf so that I can then move the second shelf into the playroom . . ..on Thursday!
6. There is an event in the next town over so we "might" go to that . . .but I'd also like to work on cleaning the playroom - on Friday!
7. Finish the playroom on Saturday!
Add to this swimming and anything else fun we might happen to come across to do! I'd also love to get some scrapbooking done - it was one of my July goals and now that my desk is cleaned off and my scrapbook shelf/art shelf is organized maybe, just maybe I can get to that too!

Before I post photos - I just want to recap a little (since I didn't take photos of everything!)  The camper did get moved, opened up, cleaned out, and reorganized.  We did weed the flower bed, sandbox, twim the willow and mow the grass.  I also did the cleaning in the garage, moved the shelf into the playroom and we started to playroom cleaning - we didn't get as far as I wanted but it should be done soon!   I did not scrapbook - I worked like crazy and we swam and hung out with family.  It rained some on Thursday so I got some reading in as well as the laundry :-)  All in all, it was a great week - I think it helped that I was on "vacation" from babysitting this week since the kids I watch were, well, on vacation!!  

Weekly Manu

Another week, another menu.  I threw last weeks menu out on Sunday HA!  There were leftovers from the picnic my mom put together on Sunday that changed menu since I love to use up leftovers whenever I can!  Also, by using leftovers it carries over meals to the next week and helps the budget!

This week the boys are attending our local city VBS so dinner's will be quick and easy.  Thankfully, the VBS is 5 minutes away so that does help!

Friday - Ham and Scallopped Potatoes and green beans

Saturday - Tacos!!

Sunday - Mac and Cheese for all of us!  I'll add something to mine and Darryl's like cooked ground sausage to beef (or is it pork) it up!  I think some good rolls would be tasty too.

Monday - Spahgetti and garlic Bread

Tuesday - Tacos (Of Course!)

Wednesday - maybe out?

Thursday - Pulled Pork, baked beans and broccoli.

August Goals

I didn't do great on accomplishing my July goals.  I kind of feel like July disappeared before it even started but I think that's because we had so much fun!  So maybe my July goals should be . . Have Fun!! I did accomplish two huge things.  1) The boys room got emptied, cleaned, rearranged, and totally organized.  2) I cleaned out the boys desks and organized thier school books and supplies so that I know what they need for school.  and 2b) I cleaned off my desk! I still need to really clean it out more but I didn't want to get buried in cleaning out the drawers the day I was cleaning. 

A funny story.  The neighbors have been coming over and playing with the boys inside.  I find that when they are here, I clean like a mad woman.  Why?  Because it stresses me out to have neighbor kids in the house touching stuff HA!  I feel like I can't sit down because I need to keep an eye on them so instead I just start cleaning.  So, maybe it's good when they are here except it just wears me out HA!

So, here's my basic plan for August

1.  Cleaning.  Just continuing out with doing cleaning out.  I'm hoping to get the garage, camper, and Playroom completely done.

2. Scrapbooking - Just do something!  Uuugg!  I feel like I'm stuck in a rut and I can't get past it.  I'm on the fence about attending my favorite weekend crop in October - if it works out I think it will motivate me once again. 

3. School - It's time to think about school and some goals I want for the year.  I also need to start putting together plans for the classes I'm teaching in our co-op.  I'm teaching Michigan History so I actually need to have some knowledge locked in this old brain of mine :-)

4. Celebrations - As we enter the second half of the year we also enter celebrations!  Halloween, Josh's Birthday, Thanksgiving, Nate's Birthday and Christmas!  It's time to start thinking and planning so we can enjoy all of those times of years.

5. Just have fun - Sound familiar?  This is my mantra for August.  We have the full month without school so we are going to enjoy it.  Swimming, activities, and camping. 

What I read in July

Here's what I read this past month!

First, I did read two books from the library this month.  I didn't write them down before I returned them.  They were both good but were not Christian based books so there was some language in both of them.

 I actually started this book last month but finished it this month.  It is written by Laura Story who sings the song "Blessings".  It's the story of her life with her husband as he went through a traumatic brain injury due to surgery.  I liked the story but did skip some sections that were more of the "lesson" part.  Why?  Because I found the writing a little elementary making it kind of boring to read.  That happens sometimes in an Biography so I wasn't too surprised by it.  I did enjoy learning about her actual story though so it was worth the read. 

This was another $5.00 special :-)  I would classify this as a cutely written book.  It started a little slow but then got really good in about the last 1/4 of the book and was sad that it ended.  It was a modern day book which is not normally my style but I ended up really likely the main characters and the underlying themes throughout the book.  I would recommend this book as an easy read on a summer day!

Oops, didn't do so well this month!  I did  finish two other books but I put them away before I wrote about them!  Uugg!  So, anyway, six books this month.  I guess we didn't have as many rainy, reading days this month!  (We swam alot instead!) 

Summer Plans Week 9

Can you believe that it is the last full week of July? I can't!  Just like last week, I re-evaluated my original plan to make needed changes.  I am still extremely thankful that I sat down in May and wrote out a plan for June, July, and August.  Yes, as we are hitting the end of July and August, there are changes but it gave me a great focus.

Sunday - Darryl has a concert today.  (This was a "surprise" concert - we had no idea it was on the calendar until a few days ago - oops!)  This went as planned but I didn't take photos this  week :-) 

Monday - We are going to attend a 5 day club in the area.  This is something new to us but it is a great opportunity to take our friends to hear about Jesus :-)  If the weather is nice, we will swim in the afternoon.  The kids attended day one of the 5 Day Club. It was a rainy day though, so instead of swimming, we continued work on cleaning and organizing the boys room. 

 I didn't take a single picture of the 5-day club but I did take photos of these awesome cows :-) 

Tuesday - 5 day club in the morning.  We will swim in the afternoon - weather permitting. Finally, we could swim again!  

Wednesday - Day three of the 5 day club :-)  This afternoon I think we will work on the boys room. A perfect plan.  The boys and I finished up their room and we went swimming in the evening! 

Thursday - We have to miss the 5 day club today because today is the Library Party in the Park!  Depending on the weather - we may have a picnic and play at the park for a bit in the afternoon. The Party was fun!  We then went swimming in the afternoon AND evening! 

Friday - Today is the last day of the 5 day club.  Swimming is on deck for the afternoon. The last day of 5-day club was great but, then it rained so we stayed home and the boys and I worked on their school desks and my desk (ok, I did most of the work and they just did a little HA!)  BUT,  I also took more cow pictures :-) 

Saturday - It's Christmas in July at the campground - based on last year, they had some fun things for the kids to do so we will hang out at the campground :-)  It was an enjoyable day at the campground! 

 The boys played a few games of checkers.

 Decorated some cookies. 

 Hung out at Nana's camper. 

 They got gifts from Santa.

 And . .. we swam :-)  (Nate jumping into the pool) 

(Josh jumping into the pool) 

It was another great week of summer fun!