Sunday Worship

JJ Heller shared this song today on Facebook - it's new, not recorded and shows up on Facebook only so hopefully this works!

Click here to here the song (hopefully!)

2020 Weekly Photos #13

This week we went form just being home to "shelter in place" which basically shut down a lot of things and "requires" that people stay home as much as possible.  It doesn't change much for the boys and I as we are home anyway but this pandemic continues to cancel our plans.  Darryl continues to work - you can't drive a Taxi from home and his job is considered "essential" since it provides transportation.  I tried to take some photos of things we were doing this week :-)

Saturday - This was my big shopping day.  When are truly grocery shopping once for the next 7 days, it takes awhile.  BUT I did it, and we had food all week long.  Saturday evening we had dinner at my moms - the last time for awhile since we are practicing "safe distancing" due to the virus.

Sunday - What did we do?  We stayed home.  We watched/listen to church and then just hung out at home as a family and played games.  We taught the boys how to play Dutch Blitz!

Monday - We woke up to SNOW!  Not just a little either!  So, we had a snow day!

 The kids played outside for awhile in the morning knowing that the snow would all melt by afternoon (which it did!) 

 Normally I make the kids go outside for at least 30 minutes in the afternoon but since they had played for hours in the morning AND by afternoon the yard was muddy, we did kids yoga instead.  

Tuesday - It was a quiet day.  We did school and the kids played outside in the afternoon for a while. 

Wednesday - This is when our days start to look the same.  We did school in the morning and they played in the afternoon. 

 There was a lot of fort building this week. 

Thursday - School, play time, riding bikes and . .. I went grocery shopping.  No, it hadn't technially been a week but, I decided I wanted to try and go at about 6:30 to see what it was like and it was wonderful.  The store was pretty empty but the shelves were well stocked.  So now I'm done until the end of next week. 

Friday - Yeah!  We made it through week 2 of staying home.  We did do school today since we took Monday off.  The kids built another fort and then headed outside.  Nate and his friend ended up staying outside from about 2;30-4:00.  I loved looking out the window, seeing them sitting on my swing and in the yard just talking away.   

It is also Dash's birthday!  It turned 7 today.  

Happy Birthday Dash!!!!  We are so glad you are ours! 

That was our week.  Maybe next week I should make the kids pose for pictures every day HA! 

Weekly Menu

You would think that with all of this time at home I could manage to get my weekly posts up on time HA!  I think the days are all running together and, some days, I'm not even sure WHAT day it is right now!  Anyway, we are, of course, eating ALL meals at home so I'm planning three meals a day for all of us.  We are taking advantage of breakfast and lunch program through our local schools so that has been a nice "treat" for my kids - school lunch HA!  It's offered a nice variety, given us lots of milk, and LOTS of carrots (no one eats carrots but me!)

So, here's the plan for the coming week:

Friday - Homemade Pizza!  This is a big deal because our store has been out of yeast and flour!  Guess what?  They had flour when I went to the store on Thursday night AND they had pizza yeast (not regular!) So we enjoyed pizza at home.

Saturday - My mom is bringing dinner over :-)  Ribs, beans, muffins - yum!

Sunday - (as I'm sitting here writing this I'm realizing I don't know where my menu paper went and I can't remember my plan - oops . .. I think I can kind of remember my plan) Chili with Spaghetti and Biscuits

Monday - Pork Chops, Baked Beans, Mac and Cheese and Veggies (probably cooked carrots HA!)

Tuesday - Chicken, Noodles, and a Veggie

Wednesday - French Toast Sticks, Sausage, Bacon and Fruit

Thursday - Pork Loin, Baked Potatoes, a veggie and garlic bread.

2020 Weekly Photos #12

What a difference a week makes.  We are "restricted" to being at home due to the current health scares.  Amazing, I took more photos this week then I have in weeks! 

Here's what a week at home looks like:

Saturday - We were all home together and just hung out and then went to my mom's for dinner.

Sunday - We stayed home and watched church online - a good friend of ours who pastors a church in the Upper Peninsula. 

Monday - This was a huge day.  Both boys got their braces off! 

Tuesday - Our friends are with us all day right now so there is lots going on.  We are continuing to do school for at least a few hours a day while trying to balance keeping things enjoyable for everyone.  We actually have about 3 hours a day that are "no electronics" hours and it has gone so very well!

 There have been many games of monopoly started this week. 

 There is a requirement of 30 minutes outside every day (as long as the weather is nice).  Dash is loving it because he gets to go on a walk every day. 

Nate's crazy hair!

 It was also St. Patrick's Day.  We did as much of our normal stuff as we could - the Leprechaun left gold "coins", used the bathroom (green toilet water!) and the boys had fun shirts too.  Plus we had our normal dinner of Stuffed Cabbage, Crash Potatoes and Rainbow Jell-O. 

Wednesday - Another day of school and play. 

30 minutes of time outsie. 

Plus building with Straws and Connectors. 

Thursday - and it's the same routine again :-) 

The cat is wondering why we are always home HA!  He was perched on top of the corner of the bunk bed looking out of his "kingdom". 

Friday - More games and activities. 

 Our homeschool Co-op hosted a Lego building event today.  The kids build their own Lego creations and then we posted a photo on our co-op page.  It was fun to connect with our friends. 

 Josh's creation

 Nate and Cooper made a creation together. 

There is also a whole lot of this going on in this house - Maddan Football on the X-box, and yes, Darryl plays when he is home from work too. 

Weekly Menu

What a difference a week makes.  A week ago, we figured it would be a normal week but then, life changed and everything shut down.  We have eaten every single meal at home.  My shopping list last week was very specific to make sure that I didn't miss anything (and yet, I still forgot one thing!) so that I didn't need to go back to the store if at all possible.  My husband has picked up milk for me - which I never ask him to do - all to avoid going out. Craziness. 

So, here's the plan for this coming week - another week of 100%, 3 meals a day, eating at home. 

Friday - Pizza and Chips.  This week it's just frozen pizza because I knew by Friday I'd be kind of tired of cooking all week.

Saturday - Dinner at my moms. 

Sunday - Chicken Lazone, Pasta, and garlic bread.

Monday - Barbecups, French Fries, and peas/carrots

Tuesday - Baked Parmesan Crusted Pork Chops, Buttered Noodles, and peas

Wednesday - Shrimp Cocktail, Sausage wraps, and fruit and dip (I have the shrimp and little sausages in the freezer left over from Superbowl so I figured we might as well enjoy them!)

Thursday - Stuffed Shells, Green Beans and garlic bread

I'm working really hard at planning meals that are enjoyable in some form by everyone, make some leftovers for lunches at times, and keep the budget well in check. 

Sunday Worship - Keith & Kristyn Getty - He Will Hold Me Fast (Official Lyric Video)

I'm watching a Live Stream service today as we worship at home during this time of "Self distancing" due to health concerns in our country.  This is one of the songs played during the service -what a great song.

2020 Weekly Photos #11

This week was weird.  I was looking forward to a fairly normal, quiet week but the coronavirus has totally changed things. 

Here's a look back at our week . . and it's boring because I have no photos. 

Saturday - The boys had a friend stay the night so they enjoyed having him over for the day. 

Sunday - We had church and then worked on some things around the house in the afternoon.

Monday - A school day followed by TKD. 

Tuesday - We enjoyed our monthly Leadership Meeting followed by Nate's haircut and piano lessons. 

Wednesday - A school day followed by AWANA.

Thursday - We had a great family day.  Both Darryl and Nate had a doctors appointment in the same office so we all went together.  Then, we went out to eat at one of our favorites - Wolfgangs.  Darryl then took us on a tour of the city, which the boys loved.  Once we got home, I went to the grocery story while Darryl and the boys took Dash to the vet.  Finally my mom came over for dinner! 

Friday - We were supposed to have our last day of Friday School but everything was cancelled due to the outbreak.  Darryl worked while the boys and I stayed at home and just . .well, stayed home.