Weekly menu

It is hard to believe that summer is done.  It really is.  Yet life seems to get busier, doesn't it?  Here's our plan for the week!

Saturday- BBQ chicken pizza and chips

Sunday- We are going to enjoy the day with my parents and a couple of my brothers so I don't have to plan food!

Monday - Darryl has to get X-rays done again so this is a great outing for the boys and I and we go with him!  We will find somewhere cheap to eat! 

Tuesday - beef stroganoff, carrots and rolls

Wednesday - tonight is our first real night of AWANA so we will stick with simple breakfast for dinner.  Eggs, waffles and ham. 

Thursday  - soccer night and my parents are coming so we will have dinner with then after the game.  

Friday - tacos yum yum!  

Labor Day "Labor" and September Goals

It's been a good summer.  The weather, in my opinion, has been near perfect.  My husband has been home most of the summer which has been a real treat.  I've managed to cross a few things off of my to do list too.  Now, though, it's time to get back into my monthly goals and see what I can get done!

First up, how I spend Labor Day Weekend. (I know, thrilling, right?) Darryl was gone all day on Friday to attend his Dad's Wife's memorial.  I used the day to clean the living room and wash all of the quilts.  Plus I just wanted the house in a good state to start the weekend because I had no plans to clean this time around.  I even had time to catch up on a few of my favorite cooking shows that I had DVRed :-)  I had some simple goals to accomplish on the three day weekend:
1) Complete my two scrapbook goals for August - Scrapbook all of July 2013 and put all of the lose pages in albums, resort albums as needed and come up with a "need" list to finish all of those albums.  I can't order anything currently but I want to make a plan :-)  I also am working on a digital book for 2011 so I can order that sometime soon.
2) A little outside work depending on the weather - vacuuming and filling the pool, probably for the last time before we take it down in a few weeks; cleaning out the sand box which becomes a catch all when the yard gets cleaned up.  Do some minor weeding (I hate weeding).
3) Make sure our class stuff is ready for next week.


Second, my September goals!

The Home
Each month I am focusing on one area for some deep cleaning.  Last month I focused on the dining room and it was nice to have an entire month to get all of the little jobs done including washing curtains and spray painting an out of date frame.  I did not get the touch up paint done because my can of paint finally dried up and I need to replace it :-) 
1.  Deep clean the bedrooms/play room - these three rooms are small enough that cleaning them all in one month from top to bottom isn't a big deal.  Our bedroom is easiest to clean on a Saturday; the princess naps in our room during the week which makes it unavailable throughout the day.  That just leaves the playroom and the boys room which I can do in the course of one week each.  This is a great time to clean out toys, vacuum into the corners, clean baseboards and go through bins and boxes to make sure everything has a home and is being used or is useful.
2. September is key yard work month.  We normally get some much nicer days in September and it is time to weed, weed, and weed some more.  Plant some bulbs that will bloom in the spring and just make sure stuff is packed up.  We don't pack everything away yet (except maybe the pool) since we will have great weather through October but it is a good time to clean up and clean out.  
3. The garage is also on my radar this month - we have some things that need to go, some rearranging, and just over all cleaning.  I did quite a bit of that cleaning in August on some cooler days but have a little more to do. 
4. The "Wish list" - We have a couch and digital piano that are going to the trash so we need to schedule pick up for those items.  We are also replacing our entertainment center so we can really clean up the living room especially since my parents are giving me a chair/ottoman that doesn't fit in their basement now that my dad has moved his basement home.  I'm so excited to create a little corner in the living room :-)  So also on that wish list is to paint my living room.  I figure if we are getting rid of so many big things, this really is the time to paint before we move the new stuff in - these items are on the wish list due to finances but we'll see what I can find :-)
5. The basement - just need to take time to put away stuff that has gotten dropped down there and also put together my small pile for a (dare I say it?) garage sale in the spring.  I highly dislike doing garage sales but my boys are outgrowing things from toys to clothes and I see that I could probably make a little money off those items. 

School
1. Planning - I spent some time a few weeks ago to prep each weeks lessons for the first few weeks.  My goal this month is to get all lessons planned, copied and prepped through the end of October.  That allows me the freedom to only need to spend about 30 minutes on each weekend to double check that I have everything and review the lessons so I'm ready for the week.

Scrapbooking
A few weeks ago I made a scrapbook project goal list so that is where these goals are coming from.
1. Scrapbook to completion August and September 2013
2. Clean out the bin I have of misc memorabilia and finally clean it out.  It either needs to go in an album or in the garbage :-)
3. Finish the 2011 digital album and budget so I can order it by the date I have in mind.
4. Because this involves photos - Go through this summers photos and find a photo of Nate and one of Josh that I can blow up for my dining room wall.  We haven't been able to do professional photos yet this year and i need some new photos for the wall!
5. Because this involves photos - Our living room will be decorated as a lake Cottage feel once we are done with it so I want to find some of our favorite Beach photos and print them so I can frame them for the walls.

Misc
I love a Misc. category because I can put anything in this category and it's ok!
1. Birthday Plans - I am working on a plan for "Birthday Week Fun" and it MUST be done this month since Josh's birthday is in October
2. Christmas Plans - I want to go through my board on Pinterest for Christmas ideas and pick out what I really want to use this year.    Plus it is time to work on some Christmas ideas for the boys.
3. Halloween - Need to nail down the boys costumes and a few plans for October for some fun things to do and learn in school


At this writing that is all I can think of . . .my list tends to grow a little through the month but this is a good starting point!!

 

The No Spend Challenge

A few times a year a try to do a "no spend challenge" for an entire month.  My husband has been off work since the end of June so we've already been living pretty tightly but I still wanted to try to tighten our belt a little more and also to get back into a budget mind.  We are praying that Darryl can go back to work this month so until he's been back to work for awhile, we really have to stick to a super strict budget plan in order to get back on our feet so this will just be the start of that plan.

So what exactly is a "No Spend Challenge"?  There are many different ideas and versions out there.  Some say that you cannot spend any money the entire month so your cupboards and freezer had better be stocked.  I'm not into that :-)  Instead, I fall along the lines of planning and then not spending any money outside of that plan.  I also only plan the "musts" - bills, groceries, gas, and yes, a little money to eat out (very little) because, if I don't, I know we'll fail!  I also look at other things such as the boys soccer photos, knowing I need to buy some clothes for the boys and even dog food :-) 

I spent some time over the holiday weekend and really looked at our month and made our tight budget and we are starting it as of September 1st (so it has already started!) 

I probably won't say a whole lot about our plan until we get to the end of the month.  Truth be told, we have zero extra money right now anyway so we shouldn't be spending anyway :-)  I may have to redo this in October again but again, this is always a good exercise!

Homeschool Happenings - Week 1

We started school last Monday.  The boys were beyond excited and I was just ready to get the first day under my belt so then, we could move forward.

 Nate has been dying to learn to read so to actually begin Kindergarten was a huge deal to this cutie pie!

 Josh was very excited to start school but he had an idea that he might be in charge HA! 

The first day did not go off perfectly.  I had two very silly boys on my hands.  We got through all of our lessons for the day but I needed a nap by the time we were done!

The rest of the week went better - we all learned some things this first week.  I figured out that I need to do our "Fred" Math first since it is based on a story and problem solving together.  We then work through our Math worksheet which is based on discussion.  We follow that with our Phonics lessons so the boys can finish their worksheets individually. 

Darryl and I are also working on finding ways to teach the boys things throughout the day and on Thursday the boys got a lesson in road painting.

We've watched the construction on our road throughout the summer and it was finally time for painting.  They loved being able to stand right by the road for a few minutes while Darryl explained the process and they got to watch the work truck for a bit too.

All in all, our first week went well.  Next week I'll add a more things to our lessons  - I planned this first week very simply so we could get used to the process :-)

Things my Kids Say

* We had fresh (from the neighbors garden) green beans for dinner one night last week.  Both Josh and Nate and to "dissect them" and took out all of the little beans.  Then, they took the beans outside to plant them.  Why?  So they could grow a beanstaff.  Yes, you read that write.  HA  We finally got Nate to understand it is a beanstaLK but Josh did not believe us !!!

* I love how kids interpret things.  The latest "Joshism" is when he talks to the cat and calls her "Porshesh Kitty" aka Precious Kitty.  :-)

Camping and Food

Camping is all about food; well at least a large part of it seems to be about food!  Over they years, we have kind of perfected our camp food especially since we generally only camp for two nights.  Well, we THOUGHT we had it all perfected until our most recent trip when we did everything completely differently.

This time around I tried to plan food for less eating out but that totally backfired HA!  Listed below were our plans and what we really did!

Friday: 
The plan: I precooked Brats to take with us and planned to roast Hot Dogs and Brats over the fire.  I had also made Potato Salad and a new recipe for Macaroni Salad (not our favorite so I won't be sharing).  Plus there were chips and stuff for S'mores too.
The Reality: 

Yep, McDonald's.  I mentioned this already but, well laid plans of mice and men do not always work out well.  We arrived about an hour later than we planned and then, it took us almost 3 hours to set up camp so by the time we were done we were STARVING and STILL had to get wood, start a fire and let it get hot enough to cook.  Thankfully those Golden Arches are all of 10 minutes away so we enjoyed a relaxing dinner there instead. 

After stopping to get wood on our way back to camp, the boys asked for Ice Cream so we stopped at our traditional ice cream place and all got a cone. 

For the record, once we got the stubborn fire going (we had some pretty wet wood which we don't usually get from "our" great wood guy) we did roast a few marshmallows for S'mores before the night was done.

Saturday: 
Breakfast - The Plan - We love cooking breakfast at the campground.  Thanks to an electric skillet and a simple toaster, breakfast is wonderful.  We had bacon, eggs, bagels, and fruit.  Other than the cream cheese being frozen thanks to me putting it under the little freezer in the little fridge we have (it came with the camper!) the "Plan" is exactly what we ate!

Lunch - The Plan - 

We love Bernie O's pizza in North Muskegon and we always plan to eat one meal there. Often we eat dinner there on Friday evening but opted for Lunch this time.  It was as good as always and, like always, we ordered too much food.  I think we finally have it figured out though - One small order of breadsticks (mostly for Nate since he isn't a fan of pizza), 1 small pizza for Josh with just cheese (it's like $3.99 - that's not bad and he eats the whole thing) and a pizza for Darryl and I.  :-)  So, yes, the plan is exactly what we ate for lunch

Dinner - The Plan -  Our normal Saturday evening dinner has almost always been steak kabobs that have been marinated all day, Fried Zucchini and the salads that I always make to bring with us.  That did not happen this year.  We had gone to the beach during the afternoon (which was a BLAST).  By the time we got home and I got the boys and I through the shower (which was like a sauna room made worse by a 90 degree day with humidity) I was well beyond over heated and needed to lay in front of the fan for awhile.  Darryl got a very stubborn fire going again but by that time the last thing I wanted to do is really cook. 

The Reality - 

Josh asked to roast hot dogs over the fire so that is exactly what we did - the boys and Darryl had a hot dog and I had left over pizza :-)  Throw in the salads and chips and we were good.  I will admit that this time frame of our camping day we got a little discouraged.  Darryl and I realized that one of the things we love about camping is taking off for part of the day Saturday and exploring the area.  So yes, we got a little bit bored but then we decided to go for drive and get ice cream again, see the sun setting over the lake and just get away for a bit and that was all we needed.  We came back to camp and had so much for fun over the next few hours with the boys until they literally crashed!

Sunday
The Plan - Breakfast - I like to keep breakfast simple on the last day and that is exactly what we did.  It was just cereal, bagels, fruit, and donuts.  On our outing to the store on Saturday after pizza, the boys picked out donuts.

The Plan - Lunch - Our plan was to stop at fast food after loading up and heading home and that is exactly what we did.  Taco Bell never tasted so good after being so hot from tearing everything down!

We did take snacks - chips, crackers, fruit, popcorn and more - way too much HA!  I'll pack a little differently next time and take less food but, hey, at least we never went hungry!
 


 

 

Food Friday - Crazy Brownies

Crazy Brownies
adapted from Pioneer Woman

I debated what new recipe to share this week but decided on these awesome brownies because they would be great to take to a Labor Day Party!  Often, when I make a dessert, we eat about 1/2 of it and then it kinda sits for the week.  We might nibble on it but I end up throwing a good portion of it away.  Well, these brownies were gone in about 24 hours HA!  Yes, they are that good!  The brownie mix (made from a cake mix) is so moist and tasty - then add all of the candy in the middle well, oh my!  I KNOW I will make this for the next pot-luck or picnic I attend! 

Ingredients

1 stick (8 tablespoons) butter, melted, plus more for greasing pan
1 box chocolate cake mix (18 ounces)
1/3 cup evaporated milk
9 peanut butter cups
12 chocolate-covered caramels, such as Rolos
1/2 cup finely chopped pecans
1/3 cup candy-coated chocolates, such as M and Ms
1/4 teaspoon salt
Powdered sugar, for sprinkling

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease an 8-by-8-inch baking pan.

Put the dry cake mix in a large bowl and stir in the evaporated milk. (The mixture will still be dry.) Next, pour in the melted butter, stirring gently until the mix just comes together (don't over-mix).

Divide the mixture in half and press half of it in the bottom of the prepared pan. Lay the peanut butter cups over the top. Peel the caramels and place them in the spaces between. Sprinkle the nuts into the cracks, followed by the chocolate candies. Finally, sprinkle the salt all over. Put the other half of the batter on a cutting board and press it into a square a little smaller than the pan (it will be very sticky). Transfer it to the pan and lightly press it to cover all the ingredients.

Bake until the batter is fully baked, 22 to 25 minutes. Allow to cool completely, then place the pan in the fridge, covered in foil, for a couple of hours.

Remove the brownies from the pan in one piece, then sprinkle on plenty of powdered sugar. With a sharp serrated knife, cut into small squares.

Gobble 'em up!