2020 Weekly Photos #16

This week was actually pretty quiet.  Plus, my regular camera lens is not working so I only have my telephoto lens which makes snapping quick photos in the house hard.  I have to say, "Wait, everyone back up!" HA!  I'm going to have to check and see if the camera stores are opening back up yet!

Here's a look back at our week:

Saturday - We hung at home, I scrapbooked and my mom brought us dinner!

Sunday - We hung at home, I scrapbooked, and we treated the kids to their favorite take out places - the first time we ate out in a month.

Monday - Our main focus today was school.

Tuesday - More school today :-)

The dog LOVES having us all home, all the time. 

Wednesday and Thursday - more of the same! 

Friday - We actually did some stuff! 

 We finally got a new swing and chains to replace the one that broke last summer.  Nate was especially happy as he loves to swing.  They also love to play "kick the ball" while swinging! 

 The boys finished their AWANA books this week so I printed certificates for them!  

We ended the night with a bon fire to burn some brush.  

We get a lot of Apples in the kids breakfasts/lunches that I get from the school so our new favorite thing is to have apple crisp on Friday night.  We surprised my mom tonight by stopping by her house with some crisp and cool whip!  

That's our week!  

Weekly Menu

Who would have thought back in mid-March that we would still be in a lock down/stay at home state at the end of April.  I'm so thankful that my family has stayed healthy so far through all of this and we continue to pray that it stays that way in the coming weeks and months.

While there are lots of things we miss, this time at home as been good too.  Meal planning and grocery shopping were things I had gotten "lazy" in but now, it's a well oiled machine.  Eating out used to be an easy to just do but we've broken that habit and it is now a rare treat.  Hopefully we can keep up some of these new "normal's" once we return to the old normal!

So, here's the plan for eating this next week.

Friday - A friend posted a recipe this week for Crockpot Creamy Chicken Nachos so I'm going to try it!  I'll serve a salad alongside.

Saturday - My mom is bringing us dinner!

Sunday - I'm hoping for nice weather so we can grill out - Chicken on the grill, baked beans, veggies, and biscuits. (If not, we will just cook the chicken inside!)

Monday - It's my birthday!  Steaks on the grill, "daddy fries", Fried Zucchini and Garlic Bread.

Tuesday - Pork Loin, Mashed Potatoes and a veggie

Wednesday - Ham and cheese quiche,

Thursday - BBQ Pulled Pork and French Fries

2020 Weekly Photos #16

Here's a look back at our week (just a few days late!)

Saturday - we hung at home all day.  It was a nice relaxing day!

Sunday - Easter!  It was a different Easter this year as we are stuck at home.  Our day included an Easter Egg Hunt, a great Easter Dinner, taking dinner to my mom, and we colored Easter Eggs.

 Haircuts needed and no new clothes this year for Easter photos :-) 

Monday- Friday . .. We did school every day and stayed inside since it was cold, rainy and yes, even a little snow! 

Weekly Menu - a little bit late

I realized that I forgot to post my menu on Friday!  I know my brother, Kel, enjoys seeing what we are eating!  Last week, honestly, when I planned the menu I wasn't sold on it.  Then there were things I couldn't get at the store and that threw me off a little bit too.  In the end, we ended up with some great leftovers one night and then I made spaghetti one night because it was easy.  As I planned for this week I tried to be a little more intentional and make sure that I planned meals that would be easy to find ingredients for and easy to make :-)

Friday - Pizza.  Just frozen pizza along with a corn and black bean dip to have with chips.

Saturday - My mom brought us dinner.

Sunday - The original plan was actually sloppy joes but the kids have been so great about not asking for things that Darryl and I decided to relax our "no eating out" policy during this stay at home time and surprise the boys with their favorites.  Little Ceaser's Pizza for Josh and McDonald's for Nate.  They were so surprised! 

Monday - Sloppy Joe's and French Fries

Tuesday - It's  Taco Tuesday :-)

Wednesday - French Toast Sticks (Meijer had them in stock so I bought three boxes to have in the freezer!!!), sausage, bacon and fruit.

Thursday - Zuppa Toscana Soup and Muffins.  I decided we needed to have a favorite soup one more time before it starts to warm up!

2020 Weekly Photos #15

It's been another stay at home week!

Saturday - We totally just hung out at home.  I'm not sure if any of us even got out of PJ's.  My mom brought us dinner and I had a Zoom call with my brothers. 

 Josh and the cat!  The cat sat with him one day - the cat loves that we are home all day, every day. 

Sunday - We enjoyed church at home and then went for a drive. 

 Josh and Nate had Sunday School via Zoom.  I love that their teacher put this together for them. 

 We surprised my mom and stopped by to chat.  Thankful for some really nice weather! 

 We then drove around town and took some photos to remember this time by. 

Monday - The weather was amazing!  I think I sat outside for a total of 2 hours and read my book! 

 This dog is just loving the sun! 

Tuesday - We continued with some really warm weather.  

 The kids played outside for awhile doing some bottle flippin' and taking lots of walks. 

 And the dog does this often - checking out to see if the neighbors dogs are out so he can attack the fence! 

Wednesday - Darryl was actually home because his cab was broken down!  

Thursday - We got snow!!!  

 It turned cold on Thursday - cold enough to snow!  

 This two actually sit near each other at times.  

Nate got to FaceTime with his friend Morley and they practiced Tae Kwon Do.  He loves being able to connect with friends.  

Friday - You might find it hard to believe but we hung out at home HA! 

It was spring break so there was no school or schedule.  The kids just had to take 60 minutes off from electronics and go outside during that time for about 30 minutes.  

Weekly Menu

I will fully admit that I'm starting to get tired of planning 3 meals a day, 7 days a week.  Ok, technically 2 because breakfast is cereal . . ok, technically 1 meal a week since we get breakfast and lunch from the school but still HA!  Actually, it's not too bad.  Since we have no other plans, I have plenty of time to prep and cook throughout the day so it is better then when we are running in different directions!

Here's the plan for the coming week:

Friday - Stuffed Shells and Garlic Bread.  Normally we have pizza but this is a favorite and it's easy to cook so I don't mind making it!

Saturday - My mom blesses us with dinner on Saturdays :-)

Sunday - It is Easter Sunday!  Now, if you know me from years past, I really don't enjoy cooking Easter dinner but that is more because Easter Sunday is just busy.  Well, since we aren't going anywhere, it's not such a big deal! I debated what to cook, actually.  I decided to get a ham out of the freezer and make cheesy potatoes and Green Bean Cassarole.  Pretty traditional :-)  I have a recipe for Garlic Bread Pinwheels I want to make as along as I can get the ingredients.  Maybe I'll add a salad of some kind -- I'll decide before I go to the store :-)

Monday - Easy Stromboli and Salad (I also have a pizza in the freezer in case I can't get what I need for this meal)

Tuesday - Beef Enchiladas, Beans and Salad.

Wednesday - French Toast Sticks, Bacon/Sausage, and Fruit (Pancakes if I can't get French Toast Sticks)

Thursday - Chicken Noodle Soup and Muffins

April Goals

I feel like it's almost a little silly to write goals for April but there is still a lot that can be accomplished at home.  So, to keep motivated and not just sit around all the time and do nothing, I have goals!

1) Scrapbooking.  I'd like to make this a focus in April.  1) Make sure that all photos from January-April are uploaded to snapfish  2) Order one months work of photo pages 3) Order 1-2 months worth of photos 3) Scrapbook, dare I say, all of the current photos I have on hand

2) Reading - My goal this month is just to read.  I'd like to finish a book or two :-)

3) Cleaning - Complete my 20 days of cleaning list for the month.  This month my main focus is the bathroom and then also beginning to help the boys clean too.  They need to go through all of their bins and piles in their room(s) and clean stuff out and organize it better so they know what they have!

4) Family Time - We have Easter to celebrate this month!  It might look different then past years but we will still celebrate!  This is my birthday month too so we will do something to celebrate :-)  (Even if it is at home!) Plus, board games, video games and movies!

5) Another main goal this month is my niece's graduation book - I want to get photos picked out and send out the letter to my family to get them working on letters!

6) Darryl's list - 1) Run the 2nd ethernet cable 2) Help Josh with his telescope and VR headset 3) Work on a way to display Nate's boards

7) Homeschool - To end April current.  This will be hard, honestly, because of our scheduling right now but I'm hoping to get there.  Also, I want Nate done with his Michigan History Project and his Opinion Paper.  I want Josh done with his Social Studies project and his Opinion Paper.   

8) My MISC list - 1) Go through everyone's clothes, clean them out and figure out what is needed 2) Clean out my truck.

9) The basement - I'm hoping to pick up about 4 bins this month and then work on sorting stuff - I've been working on getting rid of all the bins that aren't see through and transferring stuff into clean bins making it easier to see what is in each one.  This also allows me to declutter stuff!

10) Music - Work on a piano and a vocal song for the future!

11) Co-Op - Our Co-op ended kind of abruptly this year so I'm looking forward to the fall.  I want to start working on my classes so my goal this month is simple - two finish 2-3 weeks worth of lesson plans for each class (2) I'm teaching.

My list is a little shorter this month because there are some things I just can't realistically do at this point but hopefully I can focus on what can be done and get ahead of the game!

2020 Weekly Photos #14

Here's a look back at our week at home!

Saturday - We just hung out at home.  (Surprise!)  My mom brought us a wonderful dinner of Ribs and Baked Beans.  I also did a Zoom meeting with my brothers and mom which was just so much fun!

Sunday - We "went to church" via live stream in Munising, MI.  Then we just enjoyed the quiet of the day at home.

Monday - School!

Tuesday - School !

 Good thing for the boys, they have a mom who not only plays the piano but used to teach piano lessons so we are continuing lessons.  They get 2 weeks to complete their practice but I want to keep them moving through their books. 

 We are doing school! 

 March is Reading Month - on this day the boys favorite teacher read a book she wrote about cows while sitting next to her newest calf at their farm in the barn while the cows were all mooing.  It was awesome!!!  

Every afternoon the kids have to go outside for at least 30 minutes.  They take a walk every day. 

Wednesday - April Fool's Day! We started our day with school of course! 

Doing school - notice Josh's hair?  Yes, that is a headband.  His hair is so long now it is "hanging in his eyes" (it is actually touching his eyebrows and he hates it HA).  He said he is wearing it until he gets a haircut.  We sent his hair stylist a photo and it made her laugh. 

 The annual tradition in this house is that I make Jell-O in our normal cups to serve as the drink.  It's always fun to see the first person try to take a drink :-) 

Playing football with the precious TP!! 

We took a photo today, April 1st, to showcase the beginning of a full month at home.  Yes, we've already been home for a few weeks but we are home until at least April 30th.  So, I'll take a photo on April 30th and see what we look like HA! 

Thursday - The sun!!! (oh, and school too)

This little guy is LOVING the sunshine coming through the slider.  He lays there all stretched out and cozy! 

And this guy, who is super social, is loving having us home all the time.  

Friday - We wrapped up school and enjoyed the sunshine.  I sat outside in my swing reading for an hour and even got a teeny tiny bit of sun.  It was amazing. 

The kids took their daily walk and then played a game of PIG in the driveway.  It was just an amazing day of sun and warmth. 

So, really, we had a good week.  Yes, we are missing our fun stuff but my boys are home bodies.  They haven't complained about being home or not doing anything.  They just enjoy hanging out at home, playing on their x-boxes, and watching Facebook Live Video Concerts!  

Weekly Menu

We are still under lock down and many things are shut down so we continue to eat at home!  It has put me back into the menu planning mode which, I admit, I  had gotten out of so that's a good thing!

Friday - Pizza night!  I actually enjoy this new tradition of pizza on Friday night.  Some weeks I make it, some weeks we have frozen but either way, it's super easy and so good.

Saturday - My mom is doing a porch drop-off dinner - she's the best :-)

Sunday - I've found that I don't love cooking on Sundays right now, or at least big cooking.  I like to relax on Sunday right now since I'm working on staying super busy during the week :-)  So, for tonight, I'll throw together crock-pot Fajita's (a favorite) and we will enjoy some good Mexican Food for dinner!

Monday - I think we will continue the Mexican theme for another night and we will have Tacos (or left over Fajitas!)

Tuesday - Chick-Fil-Lay nuggets (a family favorite!) and Fries

Wednesday - Wednesdays have become my "breakfast for dinner" So, tonight we will have Ham and Cheese quiche, Fried potatoes, and Fruit

Thursday - Pulled Pork BBQ (using leftovers from last week), baked beans, Mac and CHeese  and a veggies

So, there ya go.  That's the plan!

March Goal Recap

Here's a recap of my March goals!  


1) Spring is arriving so this month I want to make sure we take time to visit one of the amazing places in Grand Rapids to take a photo.  Darryl is my key to making this happen because he knows where everything is!  I know we will be downtown two different times this month so we just have to make it happen. Well, as we all know a virus changed all kinds of plans.  So, there was very little chance for photos but we did manage one when we went out to eat at Wolfgangs downtown Grand Rapids! 

2) Scrapbooking - This months goals are as follows: 1) Upload all March photos through 2020 2) Find time to scrapbook - I'm not putting a time on this or even how far I want to get through photos; just that I want to find time to scrapbook this month.  There are no crops scheduled this month so I'm on my own  3) I would like to order photos/photo pages for the previous month.  So, basically order all February photos that I don't currently have on hand. You would think that being stuck at home would have allowed me time to do this but it didn't!  

3) Reading - I have my same goal as the last couple of months.  I'm in the middle (ok the beginning) of two books so I want to finish both of those. I did manage to get a little reading in - I finished one book and am about 1/2 way through another. 

4) Cleaning - I am trying to keep to my "20 days of cleaning" schedule but I don't always have 20 specific days to set aside during the school year so I'll set up my schedule based on the days I know I have the time to put into it (I usually set my 3:00-4:00 hour for cleaning) Done!  This is the one thing I DID have lots of time to do!  

5) Family time - Some things on my radar this month 1) Going out to breakfast at a favorite place downtown GR 2) Going to a Hockey game 3) Celebrating St. Patrick's Day 4) Celebrate Darryl's birthday with just him and I (I have the plans - just need to find the day!) 5) We have a few field trips as well as a trip to the symphony planned 6) We also have a little get away planned with my mom.  I guess that means we have a lot planned! So, we did #1 - we went out to breakfast; #3 - we did Celebrate St. Patrick's Day . . everything else got canceled this month! 

6) It is time to start thinking about the graduation album I have to make.  My goal for March is to gather and print all of the photos I want for the book. This one will move to the forefront in April! 

7) This is what I cause my "Darryl list" - The list includes 1) Replace the light over the sink 2) Run Ethernet cords for the Xbox's 3) Hook up our new antenna and see if we want to cancel cable to save money 4) Help Josh set up two of his gifts - his telescope and VR headset (He's better at figuring out all that kind of techy stuff) 5) Hang up shelves for Nate's broken wood boards from TKD So, #1 is done; #2 is 1/2 done (we had to get a longer cord for one of the boxes); #3 we did and then returned the antenna since it didn't work  . .. and that's it! 

8) Homeschool - My goal for March is to end the month on or ahead of schedule.  I'd like the boys to master their 4's-6's in multiplication facts as well.  They also need to be current in AWANA as we end the month as well. So, we have had our scheduled messed with due to having my extra kids here while school is closed for them.  We are doing 1/2 days on school so while we are pushing hard, we probably will end the month a few lessons behind.  They are staying current in AWANA even though we aren't meeting right now too. 

9) Here's my misc. list:  1) Clean up and put away a bin in the bathroom that just needs, well, put away 2) Get new dress pants for Josh (again HA!) 3) Clean out the boys clothes - both winter and summer and see what they need for summer 4) See what both Darryl and I need for summer as well (as far as clothes) 5) Sort my music - I need to organize it all, clean out what I've held on to for years and never looked at and make it all easier to use 5) Nate got a wall hanging birthday calendar that I need to finish up for him (the writing of the names and dates!) #1 is done; #5 is done; and the second #5 is also done!  I guess in April I really do have to focus on cleaning out closets so I know who needs what  . .. right now PJ's are pretty common in this house HA! 

10) Set up at least one camping date this summer I've held off on this until we see how long this "stay at home" order is going to last. 

11) The basement - the goal this month is just to clean up and organize the laundry room area The laundry room is done as is the "playroom" area and I even worked on the main storage area some too.  

12) The garage - get the garage door fixed - that's the main goal. This got put on hold for now. 

13) Finances - Work on putting my small savings goals into action.  Plan out our weekly "money" plan and stick to it. We are saving money because we are going NO WHERE!!! 

14) Music - Learn my song for church this month; practice one piano song this month Since we aren't having church, there is nothing to practice for but in cleaning out my music I found some great pieces of music to practice! 

15) Take my dog for his yearly vet visit!  It's hard to believe that we adopted him a year ago this month! This is done!!! 

I feel like my month got put on hold (which it did) but yet I was able to focus on some key things (like cleaning) and get those marked off my list!