Our Week in Photos #18

This week seemed busy.  It was one of those weeks were I feel like I let other things get in the way of our daily routine of school leaving us a little behind where I wanted to be.  It wasn't even all my "fault" - on Wednesday the kids I watch had a half day, Nate had his bi-weekly call, Josh had school testing, and Darryl was home.  There was nothing extra going on that day!  In the end though, it wasn't a very exciting week and therefore very few photos!

 Josh and Nate each got a set of these blowup boxing gloves in their Easter Baskets.  Nate and Cooper played for a bit 

Our sweet pooch Dash.  It's funny, it's a totally different dog than when we met him at the shelter.  He's so content and happy . .. and a little bit crazy HA!  But he loves his people; he doesn't like being alone! 

 Of course, we finished up the dining room this week with the hanging of photos and artwork. And I AM Lucky to have such a great guy!  (See his shirt!) 

I caught this little visitor this week.  We don't usually have cats in the yard during the day so I know this guy was hungry.  I watched him climb up the fence like a ladder, walk across the top of the fence, and this is where he was when I grabbed my camera.  Yes, I scared him away nicely after the photo.  As much as I love cats, I don't love cats in my yard or garbage!!  

Weekly Menu

I had coffee with my brother, Kel, last week which is a rarity since he lives in Brazil!  He told me that he reads my menu and then gets disappointed when I don't follow it ;-) LOL  Well, I made it my goal this week to at least eat what I planned even if we eat them on different nights than planned!!!  Things have slowed down a little bit around here other than we are waiting for the "go" for my mom to move over here by us.  So that does help when it comes to planning meals.  We still have two nights a week that we need easy, flexible meals but otherwise, we tend to be home.  I think it is time to start planning some simple grilling meals too.  We are charcoal fans though, so it does take a little more work to grill than just turning on a gas flame outside on a stove (that's my take on a gas grill HA!)

Have you ever heard of the show "Restaurant Impossible"?  Well, it's a crazy show on Food Network where Robert Irvine comes to rescue a failing restaurant.  He's coming to a small place in Grand Rapids in another week or so - not any place we would ever visit, quite honestly, but they gave the opportunity to sign up to be customers on the day of the show.  Needless to say, I sent a quick e-mail hoping we'd get in just for the fun of it. . .we didn't it.  That's all. HA!  It would have been fun but in the end it's ok because, like I said, we wouldn't normally eat there - not our normal food choice!

After all of those random thoughts, here is the plan for this next week.

Friday - I'm so tired of cooking HA!  We've been trying super hard to not spend money but I feel like I have pulled everything out of the freezer and cupboards that I can but I don't have time to go to the store until Saturday so Taco Bell it is (because we can eat the cheapest at Taco Bell!!)

Saturday - It's time for a little appetizer fun.  Meatballs, Shrimp Cocktail, BLT Dip, Beefy Enchilada Dip (for something new) and Chicken Nuggets.  Just something fun on a Saturday night

Sunday - It's Mother's Day!  We are actually headed to my in-laws for the afternoon.  My niece likes to get us all together on this day now especially now that she is a mom too.  I think the plan is to grill - I just bring whatever they tell me to bring!

Monday - Lasagna and Garlic Bread.  I've been craving my homemade Lasagna - not only is it good for dinner it is also great for lunch (and maybe breakfast HA!)

Tuesday - Chicken Alfredo Pizza and Chips.  This is an old favorite.  I don't make it often because it is pretty rich but it is so very good!

Wednesday - Chick-Fah-Lay Nuggets and French Fries

Thursday - We heading to my mom's to help her move so we will grab food on the road.

And this is how last week actually went:

Friday - We have a busy day with state testing and meeting up with my oldest brother for a few minutes while he passes through town.  So, I'm keeping it simple - Pot Pies and Yeast Rolls  This is exactly what we had! 

Saturday - Taco Baked Potatoes.  I have left over Taco Meat (and Chicken actually) so I'm going to throw baked potatoes into the crock for the day.  Then we can have a little baked potato bar with Taco Meat, Shredded Chicken, Butter, Sour Cream, Cheese and whatever is in the house.  I switched meals around and we actually had scalloped potatoes and ham with mixed veggies for dinner.  It tasted so yummy! 

Sunday - We will be gone all day.  Darryl is working; I have a Choir Concert and the boys and I have to leave at 1:00 pm since we have to be early.  The concert isn't until 4:00 so we will be hungry afterwords.  I'm kinda leaning towards using some Olive Garden gifts cards for dinner but it will depend on the time.  I decided to skip going out so we did the Taco Baked Potatoes instead :-)  We used taco meat, diced ham, Stadium Cheese, Broccoli, and sour cream.  They were super good! 

Monday - Monday nights are TKD nights so we are running in a couple of directions usually.  I try to keep dinner something that the boys and I can eat early and Darryl can eat when he gets home. French Toast Sticks and Sausage sounds good! This is a change up - I had leftover chicken in the fridge so I opted for Quesadillas with rice and beans instead. 

Tuesday - Darryl has requested Beef Tips and Noodles so that is what we are eating! That's exactly what we ate :-) 

Wednesday - we don't have AWANA anymore but Darryl often still has practice.  We might do Taco Bell or I will cook something easy like Pizza at home. I decided to work on using up some food in the freezer so I boil a ham bone to get all of the meat off it.  I then made scrambled eggs with ham and cheese, scones, and french fries for dinner. 

Thursday - Ham and Scalloped Potatoes.  I have yet to make this - it's something I really love - great comfort food - but it seems like I always feel like it takes forever to make . . .when really, it doesn't!  I can throw it in the oven as we walk all the door for piano and it will be done when we get home! We wrapped up the week with Ham and Potato Soup.  Again, using up the ham and also some carrots, celery and onions that were on their last leg!  

Dining Room Redo!

The dining room has been on my "make-over" list for about a year and a half.  We finally got around to it mostly because I order two shelving units that I didn't want to put together until we did the "redo"! 

I almost always forget before pictures!  We had started painting but I did remember to snap a few! 

 We painted it this plum color when we moved into the house like 17 years ago.  I love the color - always have - and really didn't want to paint over it BUT it needed to be repainted no matter what so we decided to use a leftover gallon of paint we had from the living room instead of buying more.  Plus, in a way, it was going to be nice to lighten it all up! 

We finally wrapped up the last few things last night!  I told Darryl that all I wanted from him for my birthday and Mother's Day was to have the last few things hung up :-)  Well, he accomplished that goal!

 Measuring to hang some pictures.  

 Look what the stud finder found - a stud HA!  (yes, every man must use the stud finder on themselves!) 

 No, this isn't the dining room but it was part of the redo in sense. I moved the small bookcase from the dining room to this corner in the living room.  It finally gave me a place for my books and my dad's globe.  I also hung my piano shadow box which was a gift from my parents years ago. 

Our clock is finally back up!  We purchased this as a wedding gift with gift cards received from my co-workers.  We both love clocks and this one is a favorite. 

 Moving on to the actual dining room.  Those are my new shelves (my real birthday present.)  I've been wanting to order them for two years and it just never work out.  I was thrilled to be able to get them and organize my scrapbooks with lots of room to spare!  We also added a gray rug under the table thanks to my mom moving :-) 

 My piano wall.  I love the photos of the boys - both their 1 year old collage and their yearly photos.  

 My mom gave me the lace valences awhile ago and I love how airy they are on the windows.  The art on this wall has special meanings.  The gold frame is a piece of artwork Darryl bought for me when we were dating and visited the Detroit Institute of Art on a date; then there is a poem "Touch of the Masters Hand" which was my dad's favorite; the cat plaque is something my brother Ken bought me as a Christmas gift when I was a kid - it was so neat because I saw it at a store and loved but didn't have enough money - so he secretly bought it for me; the other small plaque was a Christmas gift from one of my boys.  (And the clock - just a clock because I want a clock in every room!) 

 In case you wondered, I love photos.  This is a little history wall with photos of grandparents and parents plus both a young photo of both Darryl and my siblings. 

The last view - the round plate is one of my favorite gifts ever.  I saw it in a store in Frankenmuth but couldn't justify buying it at the time.  After we got home, he called the store and had them ship it so he could give it to me as a gift.  The two cats represent our two cats we had when we got married - Misty and Franny. 

I'm really happy with how it all turned out and am even happy with the new paint :-) 

Guess what I did!

So, last week I went into the kitchen and noticed that the light was on in the Microwave.  I proceeded to try and shut the door and discovered that the latch was broken.  I was not thrilled because my Microwave is only about 5 years old.  I did what we all do - I went to Google for help and came across this super how-to video!  It made me happy to see that I could fix it!

Then, on Thursday, I decided to try it.  It took a few tries to get the inside of the door off but I did it!  Then it took even more tries to get the latch put back together but guess what?

I DID IT!!! 

I fixed our Microwave! 

My kids thought I was crazy.  I went up to both of them and said, "Hey, say Mom, I think you are cool" (which they did) and I said, "Say why are you cool mom", which they did again and I yelled - BECAUSE I FIXED THE MICROWAVE!  HA!  Then Darryl called and I answered with, "Hello, this is your awesome, amazing wife who just fixed the microwave.  How are you?" HA!  I am so not a "fixer" - really I'm not - so to actually fix something was amazing! 

Vacation Favorites

There has been talk recently in our house of vacations.  Not that we have one planned but just that we would all like to take them!  That has me thinking about what we would do.  Usually, we just take a camping trip or two throughout the summer but, beyond that, we haven't done much.  Naturally finances are always the biggest concern but until the boys where old enough (which they are now) spending money on a trip just wasn't what we wanted to do!  They are much more fun now though so it would be fun to go.

So, what are we thinking?  Darryl and I would both love to go to the ocean.  Specifically to Gulf Shores Alabama.  Darryl picked this area out several years ago has the "perfect place" and it's on his wish list for us to go and get away.  I was just looking at rentals there last week and, going in the off season (January) is not too expensive but we run the risk of things being closed.  I might do some checking though, and see if I can figure out what activities are still open!  The kids toss out ideas like Canada (remember the days when we could just drive across the bridge in Detroit without any concerns?  Now we have to get our drivers licenses updated to even consider it!) but Darryl and I would like to take them to Gatlinburg!  We've been twice and just loved it.  I think the boys would love the cabin and the Smokies!  Not to mention the cool drives, hikes, and more!  I just saw too that they opened a Pedestrian Suspension Bridge which would be awesome to walk across!

I also thought I'd share some photos from some of our favorite trips :-)


We've been to Las Vegas twice and would go back again!  We love all of the sites and also to just go exploring.  We love to rent a convertible and just . . .well .. drive!

We've also been to Tennessee twice - Gatlinburg!  We rent a cabin in the mountains and just enjoy the Smokies and also all of the Touristy stuff!

Sunday Worship Still

Just such a pretty song.

Our Week in Photos #17

This week started with a birthday and ended with a special visit!  In the middle we had 4 days of state testing which meant early mornings and daily drives to Grand Rapids.  By Friday the boys and I were done. . .tired . .. ready for the weekend!

Saturday was my birthday!  We went to my moms and dropped the boys off.  Then Darryl and I headed to the Detroit area where we had a fabulous lunch at Red Lobster before heading Metropolitan Beach (where we got engaged).  It was a beautiful day to walk around and enjoy being outside.  We also stopped at Morley's Chocolate to pick up a few treats.  From there, we went to see a movie.  There really wasn't much out so we decided to see Shazam.  It was kinda fun but it was also creepy with science fiction twists in it.  Not something I would normally see but sometimes going outside the box is good too.  Finally, we stopped at Mega Coney Island for a late dinner.  During all of this I never took one photo HA!  Oops!

On Sunday, the boys gave me their gifts (they were in bed by the time we got home) before we headed to church.  After church, my mom took us out to dinner at Culvers before we went back to the house.  I took some photos after we got home at some favorite spots around my mom's yard since she is moving soon. 

 My dad built this little log cabin 25 years ago (Give or take) for the grand kids.  It was pretty important to take a few photos of the boys with it! 

 Monday was a normal school day before four days of testing.  On Tuesday-Friday the boys had state testing.  We had to leave home by 8:00 every day (we don't usually function until 9:00 HA!).  While one boy was taking a test the other boy and I had to sit out in the hotel lobby killing time.  I remember last year I said, "I should save money and we can stay at the hotel to make it easier. .. well, that's when I thought one had tests in the morning and one in the after but three nights at a hotel with meals out would have been too much!  HA! 

Friday brought a little more fun.  After Josh finished testing, we had about 40 minutes to kill before lunch so we just stayed at the hotel and played on Ipads before heading to Olive Garden for lunch.  We choose Olive Garden because I had a gift card which meant "free lunch" and free is always good.  After that, we had some more time to kill before a very special visit!  The boys opted for time at CatchAir.  So that's where we headed!

 This little boy attached himself to the boys as soon as we walked in.  He wouldn't leave them alone (which drove the boys nuts after about 20 minutes!) The photo above really shows how big Josh is getting.  Yikes!  He's growing up! 

 That's Nate coming down that slide! 

 And Josh at the top of the slide

 The little boy trying to convince the boys to play his games - which they wanted to play without him by this point! 

After we were done at Catch Air we drove to Panara where we met up with . . .. . my oldest brother Kel!  This was an extra special visit because they are only in the states from Brazil for a couple of weeks.  They happened to be "driving through" on the way to my nephews house so we all made some time to meet!  

 My brother and the boys.  

My sister-in-law was getting her hair cut so we went over to see her too.  (Do you notice that Josh is almost as tall as her!) 

My sister-in-law, Deb and the boys.  Wow, my kids are tall HA! 

It really was a week with fun things!