Our weekly snapshot

 Here’s a look back at our week: 

On Saturday I attended a Ladies Tea with some friends. 

On Sunday we had a Mother’s Day breakfast at church. 

Followed by a great cook out at home! 

Wednesday night the guys had youth group.  

Nate enjoyed TKD on Thursday. 

We had an activity with our co-op on Friday!  

Weekly Menu

I'm continuing on with my rabbit trail of last week and going through my blog looking for recipes I haven't made in a long time and/or forgot about.  I was getting really bored with our standards so this is a nice way to shake it up!  

Friday - Darryl will be at his dad's tonight so I try to keep it simple at home (or we end up just grabbing a pizza HA!)  Spaghetti and Garlic Bread makes everyone happy! 

Saturday - We are heading to my mom's for dinner

Sunday - Dill Shrimp with Angel Hair Pasta  This is another old favorite.  I first made this at a freezer meal gathering before Nate was born to have meals in the freezer for those first few weeks after he was born.  We loved it and I make it a few times a year.  It is a great because it can be made ahead and frozen then pulled from the freezer to thaw and cook up quickly.  I'll add asparagus and French bread to the menu. 

Monday - Garlic Bread From Heaven and Crock Pot Pork Chops  I'm wondering if this Garlic Bread will be as good as I made it sound in my recap of the recipe the first time.  

Tuesday -  Pork Loin Stuffed with Spinach , potatoes and carrots.  This is an old favorite - I think Darryl made it first years ago for Valentine's Day or some sort of Holiday.  I made something similar for Christmas a few years ago but without the spinach. 

Wednesday - Youth Group 

Thursday - Veggie Ravioli Bake and Garlic Bread.  I also plan on making this Peanut Butter Chocolate dessert. 

May Goals

 May is the month that we wrap up all things school.  Not to mention many of the extra things start to wind down and our schedule loosens up a little.  Or maybe it isn't so much that it loosens up but rather we don't have school work interfering with the schedule HA! 

I do have goals for May (I mean, why wouldn't I!) and I'm hoping to keep up the momentum that I had in April.  I'm also working on setting up some goals for the summer - some bigger projects that need bigger chunks of time then just 15 or 20 minutes in-between lessons. 

Also, you may remember that my word of the year is "worship".  Some things I've done working on this idea is to create a couple of Spotify playlists to listen to in the evening instead of watching tv aimlessly.  This has also helped me get a lot of books read!  We've been able to already attend a few concerts and we aren't even to the free summer concerts yet!  I started out the year taking good sermon notes but then slacked off a little - I need to get back to that again.  I still need to read my books on worship - that is on my goal list every month!  I've also sat down at the piano more to work on piano worship.  It is easy to lose focus on this word of the year so I have been trying to revisit it every once in awhile.  

Here's the plan: 

  

1. I'm keeping Delcutter 365 and Flylady Zones on the goal list.  I think that as I declutter/deep clean spaces both of these ideas will help keep the areas clean.  

2. Continue on with the basement declutter.  Last month a started with a "bag/box/bin" cleanout a day.  Basically I just worked to clean out at least one thing.  Most times I ended up cleaning a whole shelf or a whole corner but it really helped make it seem more doable.    

3. Deep clean the garage (hoping for more consistent decent weather to empty it, clean it, and organize it for summer) 

4. Finish the odds and ends in Josh's room. 

5. Clean up the yard - get rid of junk that accumulates thanks to the winds of winter, clean up flower bed, spray weed killer where needed, and set up the yard ornaments. 

6. Now that the Dining Room is done - it is time to move on to the next room which is . . .. the Living Room!  My list is a mile long so hopefully I can get it done this month! 

7. Go on a Date with Darryl (this is an every month goal!) 

8. List curriculum for sale on-line.  

9. Read at least 6 books this month

10. DO my daily Bible Study.

11. Scrapbook :-)  

12.  Clean out my vehicle . . well, and clean it HA! 

13. Finalize Josh's 11th grade curriculum and budget to order it before September. 

14. Write a weekly to do list and stick to it (I did this in April and it helped me stay more focused on my goals) 

15. Wrap up all things related to my co-op this semester -  Figure out the Google work space access so I can upload documents for anyone on the Leadership Team to use/print/see.  Also, go through all of my co-op files on my computer and clean them out. 

16. Learn one piano solo.

17. Learn a song to sing in church. 

18. Update my home for spring.

19. Buy and hang new curtains in my living room. 

20. Visit Boulder Ridge Zoo with Josh, Nate, and my mom. 

21.  Attend various field trips/meet-ups - A park day and a trail walk are on the plan for this month.   

22.  Work on finances/budgeting - looking ahead at what needs to be paid, like summer camps, and budget for paying those things.  Track daily/weekly spending so I can see where funds are going. 

23. Go through my guys clothes for summer;  make a plan to purchase all that they need in the coming weeks.  (shorts, shirts, dress clothes, shoes - thinking about camps this summer and what they need) 

24.  Put away all winter gear - snow pants, coats, boots ect.  Also go through ALL of the jackets hanging up and only keep what we wear/use.  

25. Accomplish at least half of this months goals HA! 

Love of God (LYRICS) by: Song by Brandon Lake and Phil Wickham

This is such a beautiful song.  Enjoy! 

Our Weekly Snapshot

 We had another quiet week - just normal activities for the most part! 

On Tuesday we had a ladies dine out with ladies from my church.  It was  fun night! 

On Wednesday Nate and I attended a band concert as Nate had several friends playing in the band.  

Meanwhile Josh and I took lots of photos of this guy 🤣

Weekly Menu

 This next week is one of the most normal, average weeks we've had in a long time.  There is nothing extra outside of the 100% normal activities!  

Well, I went down a rabbit hole.  I clicked on the "recipes" link at the bottom of my blog which links to any recipes I've tagged and just started scrolling HA!  Well, first I realized I make a lot of the same food I've always made which must mean we like it and I also realized I've forgotten about a lot of things I've made before!  Maybe that is why I stopped posting recipes every week - I don't make much new anymore!  Anyway, I'm going to add a few things to my menu this week that I've made before and see if we like them. I'll include links for those recipes that are posted on here on the blog. 

Friday - Amish Baked Chicken, Noodles, Green Beans, and Crescent Rolls

Saturday - dinner at my mom's

Sunday - It's Mother's Day!  Our church hosts a great Mother's Day Breakfast so we push Mother's Day dinner a little later.  The past few years I have enjoyed hosting for my mom - we have burgers on the grill, fried zucchini, and our favorite Amish Macaroni Salad.  Plus dessert! 

Monday - Meatball Soup and Crescents.  (I made this a few weeks ago - one of my favorite soups - but used premade meatballs and accidently used beef broth instead of chicken broth and it totally changed the flavor and I was very disappointed HA!  So I NEEDED to make it again because it is normally so very good!) 

Tuesday -  Tacos and Sour Cream Rice  When I originally post this I said that I liked that it was a Mexican style rice that was not tomato based.  I also said we really liked it so we shall see! 

Wednesday - This is youth group night :-)  

Thursday - Deep Dish Pizza I gave this recipe a great review so hopefully it is good!  The only difference between the last time I made it and now?  Last time I made one pizza - this time I will need to make two HA!  I'll make a salad to go along with the pizza as well. 

I found quite a few great ideas I want to "re-try" including some of my favorite summer drinks and some great dessert ideas!  

April Goals Recap

April was much more successful then the past few months.  It got derailed a little near the end when I ended up sick again for a but but overall I felt like I was able to accomplish alot. 

Here's my plan for April:  

1. Start fresh with the Declutter 365 for April.  Complete all of the April tasks then go back to Jan-March and finish up items from those months (Not every item on every day pertains to my home so it gives me time to "maybe" catch up.). Then also work towards the Flylady Declutter plan with doing daily missions and spending 15 minutes a day in the weekly zone decluttering and/or deep cleaning. (If decluttering is done, then deep clean) I'm not sure why it is so hard to accomplish these two things but I never even got to these once this month! 

2. Deep clean the Laundry Room.  Done! (and the washer is fixed too!) 

3. Deep clean the garage (hoping for more consistent decent weather to empty it, clean it, and organize it for summer) 

4. Finish the odds and ends in Josh's room.  (We had busy weekends in March - April looks a little more open!) 

5. Clean up the yard - get rid of junk that accumulates thanks to the winds of winter, clean up flower bed, spray weed killer where needed, and set up the yard ornaments. 

6. Replace lightbulbs Done! 

7. Go on a Date with Darryl (this is an every month goal!) Done!

8. Plan a family activity (the goal is once a quarter so I will put it in my goals each quarter until it is done) Done! 

9. Read at least 6 books this month Done!

10. DO my daily Bible Study.

11. Scrapbook :-)  

12. Clean out my file cabinet Done!

13. Clean out our firebox Done!

14. Clean out all of my music and organize it Done! 

15. Wrap up all things related to my co-op this semester - this includes putting everything away in the right place, organize all of my supplies that are in various places, and gather anything I won't use and donate it.  Figure out the Google work space access so I can upload documents for anyone on the Leadership Team to use/print/see. I stored my things away and as I am cleaning the basement I am sorting through things to use this next fall.  I have not figured out Google work space. 

16. Learn one piano solo.

17. Learn a song to sing in church. 

18. Update my home for spring/Easter (I'd like to have spring things that will stay up through May and a few Easter decor items. ) I did decorate for Easter!  Now to shift into spring.  My neighbor gave me a gift card for the Dollar Tree because I helped her with a project so I'm going to use that to hopefully pick up a few things. 

19. Buy and hang new curtains in my living room. So, I bought curtains and rods; I returned the curtains because I didn't like them and now need to order what I want. 

20. Visit Boulder Ridge Zoo with Josh, Nate, and my mom. 

21.  Attend various field trips/meet-ups such as our Bowling Field Trip, the teen brunch, the Butterfly Exhibit, and see the latest Paddington Movie :-)  Also, plan a teen game night for our Co-op in May. We did all the things!  I decided against planning the game night because we have other activities in May with our Co-Op 

22. Schedule my guys wellness check-ups. 

23. Go through my guys clothes for summer;  make a plan to purchase all that they need in the coming weeks.  (shorts, shirts, dress clothes, shoes - thinking about camps this summer and what they need) 

24. Deep clean the dining room - move "everything out" (as much as we can) and clean; wipe down baseboards, wipe down walls, touch up paint, rearrange, wash curtains, wash the rug (or maybe get a new one!).  Possibly get a new clock (I love clocks). Done!  There are a few big projects that I've slated for this summer so that I didn't get bogged down in the deep cleaning (repainting trip, cleaning and shortening the blinds, and cleaning my rug) 

25. Accomplish at least half of this months goals HA!  Done!  I counted 13 things done which is just over half!