Weekly Song - Weary Traveler (Lyric Video) - Jordan St. Cyr

This song spoke to me this past week.  We all have weary times - sometimes its an hour after a busy day or a week . .. or  a month . . or a season.  Even in the weary days, we have a hope in heaven and home that is waiting for us when we love and trust Jesus.  

2021 Weekly Photos #33

 I finally had a chance to upload photos from my phone and camera to not only do my weekly post but also to share photos from the trip Darry and I took a month ago!  But first . . .here's a quick look back at our week 

Saturday - We celebrated Josh's birthday, which was on Friday,  He had a friend stay the night on Friday - they had pizza and stayed up all night!).  Josh wanted the family celebration separate so we did!! 

Josh wanted Darryl's grilled hamburgers and fruit salad so that is what we got ! (and the burgers were amazing!!) 

Then it was time for the traditional balloon popping!  They get their age in money but they have to work for it by popping balloons.  It is always fun to see what creative ways they come up with to pop them all! 

And then time for gifts!! 

"If I fits, I sits" 

My mom made Josh a new quilt to use on his bed.  It is all cats :-) 

His gift from Darryl's Mom and Step-Dad (money!)

He cake of choice was carrot cake.  I usually make one but I saw this one at Meijer and it looked too good to pass up.  (It was very tasty!)  And that's  A LOT of candles HA! 

Sunday was our normal day - church, football, and then youthgroup. 

Monday and Tuesday were normal school days - school, music lessons and the such.  

Wednesday - Darryl was home from work unexpectedly so after a morning of school we carved pumpkins!  This is the first time in years we haven't done it the day before Halloween and when we were really tired after a long day HA!  It was actually fun to carve them in the afternoon :-)  

Thursday - Another "normal" school day but I did get a photo of our pumpkins all lit up! 

(Notice Dash in the background? HA!) 

Friday - We attended our Homeschool Co-op and Nate had Tak Kwon Do.  Then we enjoyed a quiet evening at home.  

One of Nate's classes (his favorite) is Grateful Hearts.  They learn about a lot of community service and community servants.  Today the local police spoke to the class and then showed them their vehicle. 

Nate also has gym class - another favorite. 

Josh and Nate both take an outer space class.  They do a lot of different projects in this class making it a lot of fun. 

So, that was our week!  

Weekly Menu

 I actually followed my menu this past week!  The more detailed I plan, the better I am at following it PLUS by planning for the month I've found it easier to stick to the plan because I see what is coming up later in the month.  I've also worked at actually reading what I have planned instead of guessing and then forgetting something!  Anyway, that was an anything but thrilling conversation so I will just jump right to the plan. 

Also, things are slowing down around here a little so I'm hoping to maybe get back into some more creative blogging in the coming months. 

Friday - Today is actually Josh's birthday.  He has invited a friend over for an all nighter so it's Pizza for dinner and Ice Cream with the toppings for dessert.  

Saturday - Tonight we will actually celebrate as a family - Josh's request is Burgers on the grill, Fruit Salad and Carrot Cake for Dessert.  We will open gifts and do all of our fun traditions too. 

Sunday - Chicken Wings, Chili Cheese Dip and leftover fruit salad from Saturday :-) 

Monday - Mississippi Crack Roast, Noodles, and Green Beans

Tuesday - Fajitas in the Crock pot with salad and chips and salsa    

Wednesday - Leftovers :-)  Josh has youth group so he eats there.  I keep it simple for the rest of us. 

Thursday - We are eating at my mom's tonight.  She's making Darryl her famous ham and bean soup (which I do NOT like) HA!  She throws canned chicken noodle soup in the microwave for Josh and I (I'm giving her a hard time - she gets my favorite soup too!) 

Sorry this is late - I had it written but didn't set it up to post :-)  Which was fine because it changed today (Saturday) anyway!  

Weekly Worship -- "I Don't Want To Miss It" | Ellie Holcomb | OFFICIAL MUSIC VIDEO

I love this song.  It's upbeat and fun and I love the fact that it references Zacchaeus!  

It's this part of the chorus -- I mean how often do we think about the fact that Zacchaeus crawled up in that sycamore tree because he didn't want to miss a thing!!:   

And I don’t want to miss it I don’t want to miss a thing So I climbed up in a sycamore tree ‘Cause I don’t want to miss one thing

I

Weekly Photos 2021 #32

 We had a semi-normal week finally!  It's been a little busy/crazy/hectic since mid-August and this is the first week that felt, well, normal.  We were even able to get through almost all of my planned school lessons this week which is a great thing!  

We had a lot of normal things - music lessons, Youth Group, AWANA, and Friday School!  I didn't take many photos but thankfully I do have some to share from our day at Friday School this week. 

A game of Uno after lunch!  We all enjoy lunch at the end of our campus day and, when done eating, the kids play games until it's time to go.  

Our morning opening.  

This is Nate's favorite class - Grateful Hearts.  This particular week, this Veteran came in to talk to the class.  He taught them the importance of the flag.  This 100% fills Nate bucket when it comes to classes! 

If you look at the right hand side of the photo you will see Josh (and his blue sweatshirt!).  This is his knitting class.  Yes, knitting and he actually enjoys it!  

A week ago, Nate tested for his red belt.  Now, as he started to learn the form for this new belt he also gets to learn to use the sticks too!  He is excited about this new form!  

So, that's the basics from our week! 

Weekly Menu

 I feel like we have been running a crazy race since the middle of August and it is just now starting to slow down.  That means super limited time to blog, upload photos, and be creative.  Next week is our last week with "extra" stuff for awhile so hopefully I can get a little more time to get caught up some things (Like sharing our vacation!)  This past week is the first week that we've had some semblance of a routine for school and we still have one more week of running club.  THEN we can really buckle down and accomplish all we need to each day.  

With holidays coming and a trip for a wedding in the plans we are also cutting back on the "splurges" such as the weekly Friday night take out night and/or Sunday Night pizza.  Those nights were great fun but also hitting the pocket book a little more than we like so we are going back to those early "COVID" days of eating at home HA!  

I actually pulled up my menus from last year at this time and used those for some inspiration for the coming week (and future weeks!) 

Friday - So after what I said above, we are still getting dinner out - Taco Bell with a goal to keep under $20.00 :-) 

Saturday - Dinner at my mom's (finally!)  It's been a few weeks due to vacation and just being so busy last week! 

Sunday - We are going to live dangerously (HA!) and attend a pot luck at our church.  I'm planning to take Taco Salad and Veggie Wraps.

Monday - Soup, Ham and Rolls

Tuesday - Dr. Pepper Pork Chops in the Crock, Mashed Potatoes and Green Beans

Wednesday - Stuffed Shells, salad and Garlic Bread

Thursday - Roasted Pork Loin, Baked Potatoes, and a salad

Weekly Menu

 Our vacation was wonderful and I have lots of photos and stories to share but this week we hit the ground running almost the minute we got back and have not stopped yet.  We also didn't eat anything I had planned because well, what I said above - we have not stopped all week.  I'm looking forward to next week that will *hopefully* be much quieter so we can get normal school work done and maybe accomplish a few things around the house.  

Here's the plan for the coming week:

Friday - Our normal take out/eat out night.

Saturday - Normally we go to my mom's but we have family photos scheduled early eavning so we will eat at home.  I'm keeping it simple - Chicken Noodle Soup, 7 Layer Salad,  and Yeast Rolls

Sunday - Tortellini and Sausage Soup, left over salad,  and French Bread

Monday - Amish Roasted Chicken, Green Beans, and Noodles

Tuesday - I have a "Mom's Night Out" with our co-op so Darryl and the boys are kind of on their own.  Not really.  Keeping it simple again, baked chicken (probably bbq), Mac and Cheese and Fruit. 

Wednesday - Baked tacos and chips and salsa

Thursday - Beef Stroganoff, Noodles and Broccoli

There's the plan - now we will see if it all works as PLANNED!  

Weekly Menu

 Can you believe it is already November?  How crazy is that?  The last few months have just plain flown by and I am ready for things to slow down for the last few months of the year so we can settle in and enjoy the holidays.  As we start November, I start to pull out some different recipes and plan more "comfort" food meals - those cold weather days are perfect soup days or days to have the oven on for hours to slow cook something and make the house smell so good!  I'm slowly shifting into that gear :-)  

Here's the plan for our coming week which includes a very busy weekend! 

Friday - Yorkshire Pizza, Chips and Dip.  We are starting to cut back some on eating out so tonight we are eating in!  I've made this pizza before and we really liked it - this time, though, I have to make two because Josh wanted his own HA!

Saturday - Today is "Josh's Day" - for birthdays the kids pick two restaurants and two activities to do as a family - So we are heading to 5 Guys for Burgers for lunch before going to Dave and Busters and Sky Zone.  Josh then picked Mexican for dinner.  We are also planning a stop at Baker Bookhouse for Josh to look for a new Bible -- something a little more grown up and less kid style. So a fun, busy day! 

Sunday - It's Halloween!  And Church . . .and Choir . .. and a youth activity.  Yes, a busy, busy day!  We had several meals that did not get made last week so I'm starting with those!  Meatballs in the crock pot for an easy dinner when we get home.  To keep it simple I'll have a salad, chips to go along with the meatballs (we have a joke in this house that there is "always chips" to go with a meal --- and it is true LOL)  

Monday - Carry over from last week - Crock Pot Fajitas, salad, and chips and salsa.  

Tuesday - Tuesday is our busiest day of the week with lots of running for piano lessons.  I usually do crock pot meals but tonight I'm going to make Meatball Soup and French Bread.  The soup is "soup"er simple (see what I did there?) but is one of our favorites. 

Wednesday - Spaghetti and garlic bread.  We actually had this not long ago but it's a family favorite of three out of the four of us (not mine HA!) and it makes for an easy dinner on Wednesday nights before Nate heads off to AWANA.

Thursday - Finally, it's another soup night. Not long ago I picked up some soup packages by Bear Creek and so far the two we have tried have been really good.  I'm going to use the third one tonight (A veggie soup).  I tend to add a few more things to them to build them a little.  I'll add some veggies and maybe some cooked ground beef.  I'll also make yeast rolls and use up any salad fixings in the fridge.  

I'm hungry just typing this up for the coming week!  

Weekly Menu

 We are actually still enjoying a few more days of vacation but it is time to plan for the rest of the week!  In September I created a menu for the month.  While I didn't stick to it exactly it sure made meal planning easier - especially when I actually looked at it before planning the week! I've done the same thing for October.  I also tried to adjust it and make changes based on what I actually cooked so that I can "hopefully" save it and use it in future years to make it easier to plan.  (That was a goal I had this year and I'm finally getting to it!)  Tuesdays have become my "Crock Pot" day.  We have music lessons throughout the day including in the evening so I knew I needed to plan for people to eat in shifts and for easy prep - I can place everything in the crock pot during the day and it will be ready for an easy dinner whenever folks need to eat! 

Anyway, here's the plan for the week

Friday-Monday - My mom is still in charge of planning

Tuesday - Sausage and Tortellini Soup and French Bread

Wednesday - Baked Tacos and Chips and Salsa

Thursday - Chicken Fried Chicken, Mashed Potatoes and Gravy and Corn

Next week things will return to a little more normal :-)