Weekly Menu - The one without Kids

So, we have no kids this coming week (well for most of it) so you know what that means?  NO COOKING!!  Yes!  We aren't even having Tacos tonight because, when I made the menu last week, I forgot the boys and I were leaving for my parents house on Friday!  Instead we grabbed dinner on the go and Darryl grabbed something to eat at home.  (He has to work tomorrow so he stayed home)

Here's my wonderful cooking plan for the coming week:

Saturday - I'll be returning from my parents so we'll eat once I get home.  Depending on the time, Darryl will pick up Popeye's Chicken or we'll grab Taco Bell.

Sunday - After Church, Darryl and I are going to have a date day.  We are going to enjoy brunch at Anna's House, a great breakfast place we enjoyed with my niece-in-law this summer for the first time.  Then we plan to do everything from test out mattresses, to look at Bunk Beds, to even maybe checking out the end of the season deals on some clothes.  We may have to hit Grand Traverse Pie Company for sandwiches and pie before heading home :-)

Monday - I've done something I have never done for no reason before - I took the day off.  Yes I did.  I asked my friend that I babysit for if she would mind if I took a selfish day off since my kids would be gone.  It worked with their schedule so, yeah!  I plan on doing stuff at the house but then plan to meet Darryl for dinner somewhere once he is done with work.

Tuesday - This is the last "no kid" night.   Darryl and I are going to drive over to the next town and eat at a great Mexican Restaurant we found recently. 

Wednesday - Ok, back to reality!  The boys come home today so it is back to cooking.  Ok, not really.  It's Wednesday, Darryl may or may not have practice tonight and we have AWANA so I keep it simple.  Right now I'm thinking Waffles, Sausage and Fruit.

Thursday - Last week I cooked a whole pork tenderloin so I'm going to use the leftovers tonight for Pulled Pork BBQ Sandwiches.  I'll make some baked beans and Mac and Cheese to go with it too.

Friday - Yep, it's taco night!  This is such a great tradition.  I don't mind cooking it because it is so easy to prep which keeps us from eating out on Friday nights (since I'm tired from the week by the time dinner time comes around!)

Fifteen Years

As the year turned to 2015, one of my friends on facebook pointed out that there are as many years to 2030 as there have been from the year 2000.  Now, that is a simple statement but it stuck with me as I realized that the next 15 years will bring so many changes.  It's kind of overwhelming really.  I mean, 15 years ago, I wasn't married - we were just starting to date - but not married yet.  When I think back to that year, 2000, I thought about all of the great things to come and how fun and exciting life would be.  But now, when I look ahead at the next 15 years, reality is a little more difficult. 

1) In 15 years, my kids will be 20 and 21 years old.  They will either be working or in college and most likely will be spending more time away than at home.  

2) In 15 years, most of my siblings and their spouses and my husband will be in the 60's.  

3) Over the course of the next 15 years, it is most likely that I will lose all of my aunts and uncles and Darryl and I realize that we could face some other difficult loses as well.  I'd like to believe that people live forever but the don't and that is a hard reality to face, isn't it? 

4) In 15 years, I will be at the tail end of the 50's - what is up with that?  I still feel like I'm in my 20's . . .ok I don't FEEL like it but in my head I still am HA! 

When you start to look at how life marches on, it would be easy to get beat up and discouraged but, ultimately, I am so thankful for life in Jesus Christ because I know that whatever comes our way, God is in control.

What We Are Eating - Egg Drop Soup

Egg Drop Soup
adapted from I wash You Dry

We love Chinese food - love it.  So I've set out on a mission to find some really good recipes for some of the things we love and one of those is Egg Drop Soup.  I used to think that Egg Drop Soup had raw egg in it but it doesn't, you stream egg into the soup while constantly stirring it and the heat of the broth cooks the egg.  Now, my streaming process is not perfected and I do end up with huge chucks of egg white that I fish out before serving it :-)  I also add stuff to our soup like our favorite resturant does - especially baby shrimp :-)  Also, the fried wonton strips?  So totally worth the extra effort to make - I didn't make enough of them!

Ingredients

• 4 cups + 1/2 cup chicken broth
• 2 tbsp corn starch
• 1 tsp ground ginger
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 green onions, chopped into 1 inch pieces
• 1 cup blend of frozen corn, peas and carrots
• 3 eggs
• 1/8 tsp black pepper
Garnish (optional):
• 5 wonton wrappers, stacked and cut into 1/2 inch strips + oil for frying
• diced green onions

 

Instructions

1. Combine 4 cups of broth, ginger, garlic, salt and green onion pieces in a pot and bring to a boil for a few minutes to flavor the broth. Remove the green onions with a slotted spoon and discard.
2. Add the frozen corn, peas and carrots; return to a boil.
3. In a separate small bowl combine the remaining 1/2 cup broth with the corn starch and stir till no more clumps. Slowly dissolve into the soup. Let cook for a few minutes until it starts to thicken.
4. Whisk the eggs in a measuring cup then slowly stream them into the soup while slowly stirring the soup in a clockwise rotation. Season with black pepper.
For the wonton strips:
5. Heat a small amount of oil (about 1 inch deep in a small pot) to medium high. Once hot add a few wonton strips and fry until golden brown, about 30-45 seconds. Remove from oil with slotted spoon to a paper towel lined plate.
6. Serve the soup with wonton strips and diced green onions. Enjoy!

Teaching Tuesdays - We are back in session

I don't have any great photos to share this week or any links to pages - I know, I know I'm a slacker but I can tell you what we did.

1) The most important thing of the week is  that Josh learned to read.  After spending the first half of the year focused on letter sounds, vowels sounds and blending all kinds of sounds, we pulled out the first book in our curriculum and Josh read the whole first story.  We then talked about plural words and how you add an "s" to show more than one (Hat vs. Hats).  His smile was HUGE.  Now, Nate keeps bringing him books and asking him to read to him.  Josh just shakes his head and and says, "Not yet Nate, I can't read ALL those words" HA!

2) On Monday, we did school at the grocery store.  Timing didn't allow me to get to the store for full shopping until Monday.  I decided to take the boys and the princess after the munchkin got on the bus.  We started out in the store doing all kinds of school stuff - Counting Fish, using the fish tanks to make math problems, finding letters/numbers on things (Such as, find a V and an 8 on a juice bottle or look for juice thiat says it is 100% !  Well, that lasted through about 5 aisles and then I said, we are done, I need to finish shopping and get out of here :-) 

3)  We did School in the morning on Wednesday.  Darryl was home and I knew the boys wanted him to play in the afternoon so we got all of our work done before lunch.  Then, after lunch, the best thing ever happened.  For the first time in almost 14 months, Darryl was able to get on the floor with the boys and build train circles (Play with their wooden track).  Yes, there were THREE happy boys (one big one and two little ones) as they worked together to build the perfect track. 

So yes, our homeschool start up after Christmas was a full success.  Now we will cruise through to the end of the year that will end sometime early May!

Make It Monday - A Bible Study Idea

I've been focusing more lately on my Quiet Time with God.  So when I came across this Bible Study idea that revolves around the concept of what I can give that blessed Babe in the manger, I really loved it.  I also love it because it's a great focus study for after Christmas because, lets face it, before Christmas life is busy - I'm more focused on teaching my Kids about the true meaning of Christmas than taking time for my own study.  I found the idea over at Brightlystreet and it is so simple to put together. 

You are able to print out everything you need from the above mentioned sight for free.  I had this little bucket on my desk so I taped the tag on the front, cut about the Character Traits, folded them and placed them in the bucket.  Now, I can pull one out, do some research and find a story about Jesus that teaches that trait, read it, and write about it in my journal. 

Now, to keep it real.  This is sitting on my end table ready to be used but I haven't pulled one out yet.  I started my accountability group Bible Study this past week and have found that I don't have the extra time for this study as well.  I'm thinking that I might try to do one of these each weekend instead. 
 

Things My Kids Say

* The boys were playing "Rock Band" this past week.  Josh was beating away on their homemade drums (chairs, tables, kitchen utensils ect) while Nate and the munchkin sat nearby watching.  The munchkin made a comment about them being Rock Stars to which Nate replied, "No, Josh is the Star, we are just the Rocks.  Some day we'll be good enough to be the stars."

*Driving to AWANA last week the boys could see stars as the clouds were finally parting in the sky.  Josh told Nate to wish on the stars and tell him what he wished for.  Nate replied that he wished we lived right next door to Papa and Nana's so they could go there anytime they wanted.  He said that we would live in the house that connects to their fence and Papa could put a gate in so they could go through the gate.  Then Josh added that if no one else wanted to go to Nana's house, that would be ok, since he could go through the gate, he could walk there all by himself anytime he wanted.  I think it is safe to say that the boys love their Papa and Nana very much.

* Nate likes to ask me, "Mom, do you know what I'm thinking?"  I will say, "What"? and he'll reply, "I'm thinking about YOU because I love you so much!"

*Nate had on a shirt recently that had a pocket.  He found a pen, put it in that pocket and said.  "This is what Papa Does.  Now I'm a man with a pen in my pocket"  Seriously?  LOL

Family Fun - Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve was a little crazy.  When we went to bed the night before we were still up in the air about going to my parents house due to fevers and sickness.  When the boys got up Christmas Eve, everyone seemed to be ok . . .so I made a decision that we go.  The boys were excited about going, I was excited about going so, I put it in overdrive.  I had food to make, bags to pack, the truck to pack, the dog to load up not to mention we still had to stop at the store and pick up the gifts we had planned to shop for on Monday but couldn't due to illness and pick up a few other things.  My goal was to leave the house by about 12:30 and we got out pretty close to that time and spent a good hour in the store.  By the time we were in checkout Nate was in tears due to saying his ears hurt and Josh was feeling very warm but, at this point we were "all in" so we hit the road.  Both boys were sound asleep by the time we hit the expressway which gave me a very quiet, relaxing ride which was very nice :-)  When we arrived at my parents, both boys walked in the house and curled up in chairs - so unlike them.  Nate fell asleep on the couch and didn't move for hours.  Darryl arrived a little later and I went to (attempt) to attend the Christmas Eve Service at my parents church but an intense round of coughing sent me to the foyer and I ended up returning to their house instead.  When I got there, Nate was lethargic and was running a fever of over 103 so we made a call to the doctor to see if we needed to take him to the ER - at that point, the Doc felt that if we could get his fever down, we could wait a few days to get him in to see his regular doctor.  So, here are a few pictures from our crazy night once Nate's fever was done.

 The boys opened their Christmas Eve gifts with little fan fair and not a single photo.  They got their new Christmas PJ's, slippers (which have to be returned since they don't fit) and an awesome spiderman motorcycle.  You can see in Nate's face how he doesn't feel good even though he is trying to hard to have fun!

 At this moment, Josh seemed to be doing ok but this was just the beginning of the downward spiral.  Our tradition on Christmas Eve is to eat snacks after attending church.  Yum!

 Nate (this was after opening his Birthday gifts so he was happy!) with Papa - one of his all time favorite people ever. 

 Josh took over Nana's chair and said he was freezing . . . .notice his face?  Yep, his fever was creeping up fast.

 The Christmas tree!!

 Cookies, Carrots, and Chocolate Milk for Santa and his reindeer.  The boys asked me to get this ready for them since they couldn't do it. 

 My poor sick boys - this is the only photo I got of them together this Christmas Eve.

Nate was willing to stand in front of the tree for our annual picture but Josh just wasn't up to it so I also didn't get our traditional "facing the tree photo" either.  Oh well - some times, you just have to let go and be thankful for little things like we did NOT spend Christmas Eve in the ER, right? :-)