Our weekly snapshot

 We had a pretty quiet week because of the bitter cold and snow.  I personally enjoyed days of staying home but I think my guys were glad when we could venture out again! 

On Saturday we finally enjoyed Christmas with Darryl’s family.  Josh snd Nate both got Lions sweatshirts. 

On Sunday Joshua and Nate went to Winter Jam (a huge Christian Concert) with our youth group. 

Joshua used is blood testing kit he got for Christmas to find out what type of blood he has.  

Finally we had our co-op and they had to build towers ….. without talking😊

Weekly Menu

 This past week we dealt with arctic temps - it was crazy!  On Wednesday morning when Darryl left for work it was -4 with a feels like of -27.  Thankfully it is going to slowly start to warm up and we are supposed to be above zero finally HA!  Because of the brutal cold everything extra we do was cancelled so we (well, the boys and I, Darryl still worked!) have enjoyed just being at home.  Joshua still had school to do while Nate had finished his first semester classes last week.  We also ate at home and all together every night this week instead of running different directions most nights!  

Here's the meal plan for the coming week

Friday - Spaghetti and garlic bread. (This is great for busy nights because I can make it the day before and just reheat it!) 

Saturday -One last party!  Nate's birthday get together is done.  We don't do big parties every year but they always get to have a few friends over if they want.  This year Nate decided to not do an over nighter (he actually does not love them - he loves his sleep HA) but rather he wanted to have a few friends over for the afternoon to hang out, play games, and have dinner.  So, that is what we are doing today!   

Sunday - Chili with Fritos

Monday - Chicken Tortellini Soup 

Tuesday -  Amish Breakfast Casserole and banana Bread 

Wednesday - Youth Group - Leftovers

Thursday - Spaghetti Carbonara and French Bread

Joyful Week 1 - Co-Op Class

 While I know this doesn't interest everyone, I like to share my co-op class lesson plans and ideas along the way because I search for ideas every semester and I wish that someone would share more!!  Especially teen classes.  So many teen classes are heavily educational and/or for credit.  That is not what I enjoy teaching - I focus more on relationships with our teens.  We spend 4 days focused hard on school for the sole purpose of being able to enjoy our Friday Co-Op, hang out with friends, and build relationships. 

I started teaching my Joyful class several years ago for the sole reason that Joshua asked for a "just teens" class so he didn't have to take all three hours with younger kids.  Well, teaching teens was not high on my to-do list!  I created this concept because I was already focused on the idea that we need to find joy in all aspects of our life.  When I first offered the class I had 5 students.  By the end of the first semester I was asked to offer it again . .. and then again. . .and again!  Each semester is fairly unique except we do "Breakfast and Bingo" every semester.  My class now fills up (15 students) and the idea of teaching it two hours so that more teens can participate has been brought up.  For now, though, I enjoy my one class.  

Week one of our semester started last Friday and here is my lesson plan: 

1) This semester I am sharing a short devotional around the idea of why we memorize scripture.  I'm taking my thoughts from HERE.  There are 10 Biblical reasons to memorize scripture so I'm sharing one each week. 

2) We then do our Joyful Bucket.  Each student has to name one thing that brought them joy throughout the week.  Sometimes this is hard.  I try to help them understand that their item doesn't have to be a "thing" - something they did or experienced - but rather even something simple they saw that brought them true joy. They also get to chose something out of our treat bucket. 

3) We review our scripture memorization.  We spend the semester memorizing scripture that we then share at presentation night. 

4) Our activities!  We did two activities this week.  First up we played a simple ice breaker game called "Human Taco". 

The basic overview is that each person received a paper with part of a taco listed on it.  They then had to find four other people with the different parts of a taco to make theirs complete.  We played two rounds and it went pretty quickly.  They laughed, it was was fun.  It would have been better in a larger space so I could have sent them to different corners making it hard to find people.  The game can be found HERE

Our second game was The Toilet Paper Game: 

The basic overview is that you pass around a roll of TP and each person takes "as much as you think you will need.".  Some took 1 piece and some took upwards of 20 pieces.  Once everyone has their pieces they are informed that they must share one fact about themselves for each piece!  Boy, we got some laughs.  I think those that took 1 wished they had take a few more and those that took over 20 (yes there were a couple of those) wished they had taken a few less!  One of the girls took 25 pieces and when she was done everyone said, "After that, we still didn't learn one new thing about you" HA!  I would recommend this game to any group.  It really was fun and you can find complete instructions HERE. 

Both of these games would make great activities for a youth group.  The Taco game would be great with a larger group too - the more people; the more crazy the search would become! 

Weekly Song - Jeremy Camp - Again (Official Lyric Video)

  

Another great new song!  A great reminder that God is our redeemer - he can pick you up from anywhere and help rebuild what is broken!  I think even when we aren't at a low point, a song that reminds us of what God CAN do is great.  I'm thankful for all of the blessings God gives me each an every day. 

Our Weekly Snapshot

 I told myself last week that I was going to work on taking even just one photo a day for a glimpse into our week but I almost forgot to take any!  Despite that, here's a quick glance into a few things we did this past week. 

Last Saturday we enjoyed dinner at my mom's house and played a game Nate got for Christmas.  We had lots of laughs and look forward to playing this game again! 

On Thursday we headed to the doctors as Nate had an appointment.  Always creative, these two turned a crumpled up Kleenex into a football.  They even figured out how to actually throw it so it would go the distance!  Nate is fine - he has been battling a cough for about 12 weeks; he had bronchitis back in November and could not shake the cough.  Come to find out it is related to his asthma and the fact that his lungs are inflamed.  He's on a high dose of steroids to hopefully relieve that and get rid of the cough! 

Our sweet pooch Dash in his favorite place - under the fuzzy blanket :-)  I love that I caught his cute tongue :-)   We love this little guy and I think he loves us too! 

Our Co-Op started today.  It was a really great day and we all enjoyed our classes.  The photo above is from Joshua and Nate's afternoon class which is a Teen Game Challenge.  The photo below is of my Joyful class.  I have 15 teenagers in my class and it is awesome.  We are loud and rowdy but it sure is fun! 

That's a quick snapshot of our week!  Now on to a great weekend! 

Weekly Menu

This is also the week our Co-Op begins again so Friday's are long, tiring, but very fun days.  We were given some amazing gift cards for Christmas so I do plan to enjoy them a few times on Fridays for the sole purpose of not having to cook!  

Here's the plan for the coming week.  

Friday - Super simple dinner - Pot Pies.  They taste great, are filling, and all I have to do is pop them in the oven.  

Saturday - We have Darryl's family Christmas party today so that is where we will be for dinner.  

Sunday - Joshua and Nate are heading out on a youth activity after church.  They did this last year as well; we ordered pizza after church to eat lunch before they headed out.  I'm assuming we will do the same thing again this year. 

Monday - Beef and Pasta Soup and rolls

Tuesday - Homemade Spaghetti and Garlic Bread 

Wednesday - Youth Group - Soup and Bread

Thursday - Amish Breakfast Casserole and Banana Bread

2025 Goals - January

 

It's been a year or so since I've shared my monthly goals.  Don't get me wrong, I still had them.  I just didn't share them 😀  This year I worked hard on writing my "25 for 2025" goals for the accountability group that I am part of with some friends and then took that list to create my January plan. 

A couple of things to understand about writing goals - just because you write a goal doesn't mean it will happen.  Why?  Because life and time don't always go as planned.  A goal might seem important at the 1st of the month but then things shift even a week into the month and you realize you need to do something else instead or first.  As a goal oriented person, I am perfectly fine when I don't accomplish all of my goals because what goals do for me is give me direction.  That list helps me focus on specific things instead of wondering what I should be doing.  Of course accomplishing goals feels GREAT!  It is such an awesome feeling to check something off of the list!  I will come back at the beginning of February and let you know how I did. (I bet you can't wait).  

Any, here is my list for January!  

1. Follow the declutter 365 plan for January and do every task that applies to me. 
2. Follow Flylady weekly plan for decluttering then cleaning each room - 15 minutes at a time.
3. Pick a room cleaning - 15 minutes decluttering
1. January's room is the bathroom 
4. Spend 15-20 minutes a day cleaning the basement - this months goal is the laundry room side
5. Finish all of the odds and end in Josh's room (hang things, paint closet) 
6. Finish things in Nate's room (hanging things and fixing a drawer)
7. Replaced burned out lightbulbs inside and outside
8. Go on a date with Darryl
9. Read!  As many books as possible but at least the 2 for my book clubs
10. Do my daily Bible study, prayer journal and word study
11. Scrapbook 
1. Finish 2017 and 2018
2. Upload 2024 photos to Snapfish
3. On January 31st upload to Snapfish, order and then scrapbook 1/2025 by the end of February
4. Order large prints for my wall
5. Do virtual scrapbooking weekend
12. Co-Op
1. Plan Joyful weeks 1-4 and make a sub plan
13. Go through my music books and pick one song to practice
14. Update some seasonal items 
15. Write my blogs each week
16. Finish taxes
17. Plan Darryl's birthday (February)
18. Plan Valentine's Day
19. Plan February goals/activities by the end of January
20. Finances - continue to work on tracking everything and limit spending
21. Computer clean -up - Go through every file on my computer and clean things out.
22. Update Josh's gradebook by January 31st
23. Host Nate's birthday party (1/25)