Summer Week 12

 We are still enjoying summer.  Our friends have returned to school and we have two full weeks that we call "we don't have to go to school" weeks. HA!  I try to throw in a few things to do but really, we all enjoy two weeks of sleeping in, no school, and no activities!  After Labor Day everything starts again and we get busier! 

Monday - Friday -  we enjoyed a quiet week.  

Saturday - We all headed to my FIL's for his birthday. 

Sunday - Sunday evening I headed to a celebration for a long time Pastor Friend of mine.  It was great seeing him honoroed and seeing so many friends. 

Weekly Menu

 I've tried a few new recipes from Tastes Better From Scratch and have been pleasantly surprised. I've find them to be tasty, easy to make and budget friendly.  I'm looking ahead at this coming week and am following the inspiration of this weeks menu plan.

Friday - French toast, sausage and bacon, and crash potatoes 

Saturday - Originally today we were going to a wedding reception for a friend from church but then my Father-in-law asked us to come over to celebrate his birthday before he heads out of town for a few weeks.  My FIL turns 83 in another week and has had a few health struggles this year so we decided that celebrating him was pretty important.  I'm not sure what we are doing with him for a meal yet. In the past we have picked up KFC (chicken only) and then brought along sides so maybe we will do that. 

Sunday - The past few weeks we have had sandwiches and have enjoyed this easy after church meal.  I usually pick Hawaiian rolls or wraps for bread and then have extra topping.  Plus a summer salad and chips and salsa round it all out. 

Monday - Beef and Acini soup and French bread

Tuesday - stuffed Shells and garlic bread

Wednesday- Chuck-fil-a nuggets and fries

Thursday - Mini Meatloaves, crash potatoes, and Salad.  I have several great meat loaf recipes (we really like meatloaf in the winter - it is such a great comfort food on a cold evening) but this one cooks in a muffin tin and has a shorter baking time making it easier to cook up in the summer!

Summer Fun Week 11

 Officially, we have two weeks left of "summer".  Our friends go back to school today so we will enjoy our extra two weeks off - the perks of homeschooling!  Last week was oddly full of things to do! 

Monday - We all headed to my in-laws for the afternoon.  The kids enjoyed putting together the "nearly impossible puzzle" and playing yard chess.  Then, I left Nate for the week and the rest of us headed home. 

 

Tuesday - Josh had physical therepy but otherwise this was the quiet day. 

Wednesday - Joshua got to attend a baseball game with some friends. 

Thursday - Joshua headed to a friends house for the afternoon and then worked at a Community Dinner. Nate had some fun with kayaks. 

Friday - The kdis and I enjoyed brunch at my mom's house with my brother and sister-in-law.  Then, Joshua, Darryl and I met up in Grand Rapids for dinner.  This is something Joshua had been looking forward to for awhile.  

Saturday - Today we had a family birthday party to attend.  

Sunday - I attended my in-laws church to see some college friends.  Then, in the evening, Nate, Darryl and I headed to a concert while Josh attended a Praise service at our church with my mom.  

Weekly Menu

This is the second week I'm using Tastes Better From Scratch as my menu planning inspiration.  Last week I actually ended up only using one recipe only because our week changed after I menu planned!.  I am using it again this week - Ironically this week there were several recipes I did not like HA!)  Even though I don't use all of the recipes it is great to use as inspiration as well.  Our "school schedule" is starting too which means I'm gone some evenings and have to plan meals that are quick and/or we can eat in shifts.   My choir practices started this last week again so Mondays we eat in shifts.  

Friday - We are going to treat Josh to dinner at one of his top places, which happens to be a buffet . . .and Nate doesn't love it so it's the perfect time to go (Since Nate is still at the grandparents house)  

Saturday - We are attending a birthday party for Darryl's brother-in-law. 

Sunday - We have a little bit of a busy day with church and some of us then attending a concert so I'm going to just have sandwich fixings, chips and salad for lunch. 

Monday -  Crock Pot Pork Chops and Gravy with Rice and Green Beans.

Tuesday - Chicken Fajita Pasta and Garlic Bread

Wednesday - Thai Basil Beef and Rice

Thursday - Chicken Tortilla Soup and French Bread

Summer fun week 9 and 10

I missed posting on Monday about summer fun week 9 so decided to just post it together with this week.  We've had some quieter weeks but our weekends are ful!

Week 9

Monday and Tuesday were both quieter days.  Outside of Josh attending PT on Tuesday, we just hung out at home

Wednesday - Joshua had an appointment at the children's hospital for an ultrasound on his hip. So he and I headed downtown for that and then enjoyed lunch on the way home

Thursday - Another quiet day outside of PT for Josh. 

Friday - We headed to a friends house for the afternoon to hang out and swim.  I took zero photos though! 

Saturday - My mom, Nate, and I headed to southern Ohio for a baby shower for my niece.  We had a great time seeing family and just hanging out.  

Sunday - Just church and then a quiet afternoon! 

Week 10

Monday - a super quiet day which was great! 

Tuesday - Josh had PT and then the guys mowed my mom's grass. 

Wednesday - I had a leadership meeting that my guys tagged along too so they could hang with friends. 

Thursday - Today we had a great field trip to SMAT (School of Missionary Aviation and Technology).  It was a great time with our co-op group!

Friday - A great day to stay home! 

Saturday - Joshua and Nate attended a Lake Day event with their youth group.  

Sunday - My brother Kel, and sister-in-law, Deb, are in town for just a day or so.  We enjoyed dinner and some games at my mom's house. 

Weekly Menu

 Welcome to another week of summer :-)  I've been feeling less than inspired lately with cooking/recipes which is pretty normal when you cook every.single.day. HA! At least it feels that way!  So I went searching for "meal plans" and stumbled across an amazing site called Tastes Better From Scratch that has great meal plans and recipes.  It also includes a grocery list if you want to use that as well.  I love that it only includes 5 dinners so there is still room for our favorites.  Plus there are breakfast, lunch, and snack ideas.  I scanned a few of the recent meal plans and found that most of the recipes are things I would actually make.  I haven't done this yet but apparently if you set up a free account, you can save recipes and then swap them out on meal plans if there is one you don't want to use.  Such a great idea!  So, I'm trying it to see if it can help me get of the rut I'm in as we crawl toward fall! 

Friday - Buttermilk Waffles, Sausage and Bacon, and Fruit and Dip (this is a family favorite)

Saturday - Joshua and Nate are attending a Lake Party with their Youth Group so Darryl and I always take advantage of that to have a date night/dinner out

Sunday - We will be at my mom's!  My brother Kel and sister-in-law Deb will be in town for just one night so we are hanging out and playing games for a few hours

Monday - BBQ Chicken Bowl and Salad

Tuesday - Cheese Enchiladas, Rice, and Salad

Wednesday - Nate is at my in-laws and Joshua got invited to a Whitecaps Base Ball game with friends so Darryl and I are on our own! 

Thursday - Tonight is the Community Dinner that our church helps with so Joshua is helping with that; I'll eat dinner there when I go to pick him up.  Darryl doesn't usually make it home in time to go so I'll have something here for him to eat. 

One thing I noticed on the meal planner is there is often a main dish type of salad one night of the week.  That will not fly with my guys HA!  So I'm going to use the salad dish as my lunch most weeks which will be great for me!  

Weekly Menu

 We have enjoyed some quieter weeks - our weekends are super busy but the week days are not.  I'm really trying to savor this month of August before all of the lessons, youth groups, and Co-op start again with the start of school.  

Friday - Buttermilk Waffles and Sausage

Saturday - Darryl and Josh are on their own; Nate, my mom, and I are heading to my niece's baby shower with family. 

Sunday - I'm hoping for burgers on the grill this week.  Darryl's back went out last weekend so there was no grilling!  I'm also hoping to grab some corn from my friends farm stand again this week.

Monday - Ham and Cheese Quiche, Asparagus, Fried Potatoes

Tuesday - BBQ Cups and Fries

Wednesday - Tacos

Thursday - Spaghetti and garlic bread

2023 Reading

 I set a goal this year to read 52 books with a sub-goal of 12 of those being non-fiction.  I'm not too off track on the total as it is week 30/31 and I've completed 27 books so far.  BUT I've only completed 1 non-fiction  - oops HA!  Obviously I enjoy reading fiction much more than Non-Fiction.  I took some time the other day to put together my current stack of "to read" books in order to get myself motivated to read again.  

I read a quite a few books on my Kindle but I also have lots of paperback books to read too.  The stack on the left is my current stack of Fiction books I'm hoping to get read in the next few months.  For the record, I do a lot of my reading in the car while I'm waiting for my guys to finish whatever they are doing - Youth Group, Lessons, etc.  So I get much more reading done during the school year.  

"The Lady of Galway Manor" and "A Dance in Donegal" are both by the same author - a new one to me - but who is compared to some of my favorite authors so I'm hopeful they will be ask good. 

"Feather's of Hope" is by a favorite author of mine, Sharon Brown.  She has a different style of writing than a lot of authors I read; she is more thoughtful and purposeful in her writing making it deeper to read. 

"Under the Tulip Tree" and "Come Down Somewhere" are books that just looked good and were on the bargain table at my favorite Christian Book store :-) 

The stack on the right is my current stack of Non-Fiction books.  Now, I'm a little lose with the "Non-Fiction" idea because I include Bible Study Books.  Spending time in a Bible Study is, well, time consuming if I'm being honest.  It's a good thing to let consumer you but that also takes up some of my reading time. 

"Through the Desert" is my current Bible Study I'm doing within an online group.  I chose this one because it is written my one of my long time friends, Lina, and she has an amazing way of presenting the Bible and Biblical truths. 

"Prairie Fires" is about Laura Ingalls Wilder who I just love.  This will be one of those books that I read a chapter at a time and then ponder it.  This might take me the rest of the year to read. 

There is another small Bible Study book called "Pease Be Still" which is not as in-depth as many so I'm looking forward to doing that one after I finish my current one. 

The rest in the stack are just good non-fiction books that I've been wanting to read and just haven't made the time. I often read multiple books at once so I imagine I will be reading a few of these at once and taking some notes. 

And then I found two more Non-Fiction books to add to my list HA!  

If I read all of these by December I will be one short on my total of 12!  I guess I need to find one more to add to my stack of books!