Summer Goals

I've decided to combine June, July and August all into one goal post.  Instead of having monthly goals, I have some goals for the summer.  Now, I might add to the goals throughout the summer or I might not!  But without some goals - I'll end up with none of my projects done.

1. Scrapbooking
    --- Figure out how many page protectors I need to completely finish albums.
    --- Spend about 4 hours a month specifically scrapbooking.  I want to carve out schedule time to scrapbook.  I'm hoping for at least one 4 hour block each month.
2. Desks - Work with the boys to completely clean out their school desks so they are ready for the fall; also do a complete clean out of my desk so it's nice an organized once again.
3. Clean the garage and organize it completely.
4. Clean out the playroom and organize everything
5. Clean out the boys rooms and help them organize all of their stuff.
6. Continue work in the basement - a lot of progress has been made but still more to do!
7. Clean out my flower bed and plant the sunflower seeds
8. Read 6 books throughout the summer.  Setting the bar low!
9. Take year end photos of the boys
10. Take School photos of the boys (End of August)
11. Learn a piano song for July (have to play the piano for church)
12. Learn my special for July (Have to sing at church)
13. Make the elusive dentist appointment HA!
14. Order Halloween Costumes (yes, I do this in the summer before prices start to climb!)
15. Plan two birthdays and Christmas (I like to plan by the end of August to make it easier to accomplish everything)
16. Bake and Cook something new.  Specifically I'd like to try making Macarons. Those delicious little French pastries.  I also have a few great cookbooks I'd like to try a few things from as well.

So for now, this is where it stands.  I'll try to update each month and add any more I come up with along the way!

May Goal Recap

May sure did fly by quickly!  It was busy with the end of the school year and my mom moving!  Here's a recap of my goals!

1.  Finish School.  And I mean everything.  Since my actual goal is May 15th I think getting it done by May 31st should be ok. We did not finish by May 15th but we did finish by May 31st (Ok, we have one 20 minute lesson to finish today but we are counting it done!) 
2. Clean the playroom. Sell the chair and ottoman that are in the playroom. Trash the broken recliner that is in the playroom.  Move our current couch into the playroom to make room for a new couch we are getting from my mom that won't fit in her new home.  (this has to be done by May 9th!) The recliner went to the trash; the chair and ottoman are listed for selling and have been for a few weeks so we will see if they sell; the couch is moved so this was done! 
3.  Clean the laundry room area.  We are being gifted a washer and dryer but, since I haven't had either in over a year, the laundry room has become a storage room.  I have to clean stuff up and out to make room for the delivery people to actually, well, deliver. (this has to be done by May 9th also!) This is in progress!  We removed an old loveseat that had seen better days.  We are still working on organizing some things but it will be done within the next week or so :-) 
4.  Wash all of the upstairs rugs - I usually do this a few times a year and has summer approaches, it is time to get the winter dirt and salt out of the rugs.  I figure I should do this while I'm still making trips to the laundromat! This is done! 
5. Finish the decor in the dining room - just have to have Darryl hang the last few things since he needs to add anchors to a few things (and, well, hang things straight!) This is done! 
6. I have four simple scrapbook goals for this month - a) count how many page protectors I need to finish up some books that don't have them b) Sort the last batch of photos I order last month c) put the digital pages in the protectors I bought last month and add them to the album. d) Order April 2019 photos as well as the next month I'm on in 2014 (I think it's 2014 - I'll double check before I order! )  I'm trying to stay current on my photo order and also work on catching up on some other years - it makes scrapbooking easier when I actually have the photos! I did nothing scrapbook related :-( 
7. Plan our summer - I did this last year and it really helped me focus on some specific things and make sure we didn't miss anything we really wanted to do ! This is done! 
8. Finally set up my dental cleaning - I was going to do this earlier but decided to wait until my mom was here so I have somewhere to drop the kids while I go to the dentist :-) Still need to make that phone call. 
9. Get Josh into the orthodontist.  We've had a couple of delays due to needing a baby tooth pulled; state testing coming up (I wanted him to focus on that and not on his teeth) to name a few things but he should be in braces by the end of the month. Both boys actually started the process in May.
10.  Plant some flowers.  Darryl and I were just talking about this - how we'd like to have some nice flowers/plants but neither one of us enjoy yard work HA!  I do have the goal of planting some sunflowers this year - they are easy and we all enjoy them - and maybe some wild flowers too.  Also, I have a deck planter I want to get some plants in as well.  I also saw a friend did some veggies in some pots . .. I might do that with some zucchini (yes she does hers in a pot) and some beans maybe?  Just some things I like to eat fresh. There are flower seeds planted in my deck planter but that's as far as I've gotten. 

I also had to do a bunch of moving around in the garage because we were going to get our garage door fixed but, that didn't happen before my mom moved so now we have her garage stuff too!  Once her garage is built, we will get ours fixed and be able to really clean it out. 

Sunday Worship - Is He Worthy?

This is just a really good worship song. 

Our Week in Photos #21

Here's our Week!

 On Saturday we celebrated my mom's birthday!  We helped her do some things at her new home, had steaks on the grill for dinner and cupcakes for dessert.

 The best part was the candle.  I bought the candles that re lite and it was beyond funny.  Just about the time she thought they were blown out, they would start burning again HA! 

 We wrapped up the last of our school projects which were science project for both boys.  

 We had a Field Trip with our Co-op to our local road commission as they were celebrating 100 years of service!  We had an amazing tour, great food, and lots of fun. 

We also enjoyed the pool.  This was actually our second time in the pool but on Friday evening we had it to ourselves and it was amazing.  We just plain love the pool. 

Weekly Menu

Can you believe it's June (well tomorrow).  I can't.  Summer is here, that's for sure!  This next week is pretty quiet to be honest.  We've wrapped up school and our friends are still in school so we have lots of free time this week which is actually kind of nice.

(Ironically, I posted about menu planning earlier this week and as I'm writing this I have zero inspiration!)

Here's the plan:

Friday: Chili Dogs, Potato Salad and Chips

Saturday: Hamburgers on the grill and daddy fries. (This was planned for last week but never happened!)

Sunday -  Depends on what is on sale when I go shopping - I really don't know . . chicken? Pork?

Monday: Tacos

The rest of the week . .. it's going to be based on what I find on sale at the store just because I'm lacking inspiration!  :

Tuesday:
Wednesday:
Thursday:

Summer Planning

Last summer I took time to lay out some basic summer plans.  You can read all about last summers fun HERE.

I like to print off calendars and fill them in for June-September.  I look to add events like the free Library activities, free movies, park days, free bowling days and more.  By laying it all out on the calendar it allows me to get an overall picture of what we want to do and what we can do. 

This year I did something a little different.  I put all of the little events on the monthly calendars as well as things already planned liked a Family Reunion and a camping trip.  I then made a "bucket" list of ideas that the boys have requested so that we fit those in too.

What's on our bucket list?
--Playing at a trampoline park (we have loved a place called "Catch Air" for years but the boys are very close to aging out of being able to go so we are transitioning to the trampoline park.)
-- Craigs Cruisers.  This is an amusement park like place with an arcade, go-carts, bumper cars and more.  It's another thing that that the boys are finally getting older enough to enjoy
--Windmill Island - this is a fun tourist thing to do in Holland, MI and has been on the list for a couple of summers.  The boys have both learned about it in Michigan History so I think it's time to go.
--A River Boat Cruise.  There are a couple of options between Grand Rapids and Lansing.
-- Visit Splash Pads.  There is one in our town now plus several in surrounding towns. 
-- Visit Boulder Ridge "Zoo" - it's a local Animal Refuge that we enjoy (and I love the giraffes)
-- The Grand Rapids Children Museum - our library offers free passes that you can check out once a year.  It's time to check it out again!

Of course, our biggest activity in the summer is swimming at the pool.  This is the last year my mom will be at the campground since she has moved close to us now so we want to enjoy the pool as much as possible.  (Or maybe I should say I want to swim as much as possible - I might love it more than anyone else!)

As I did last year, I'll share our weekly recap of our summer fun. 

Menu Planning

We had a busy weekend - it always shows when that happens because I don't get a chance to sit down and write up posts.  Plus, the well has been a little dry lately :-)  I think of great ideas when I'm laying in bed but then forget about them when it's time to post!

I love meal planning.  I've tried all kinds of ideas through the years to keep things exciting.  I've had some really dry times in menu planning too.  I find that we go through different stages in life where I can menu plan and stick to it like glue and then other times when life just gets in the way and we are eating the cupboards bare until I have a chance (or desire) to get to the store!  Recently I came across a couple different blogs that shared some good ideas on menu planning and I thought I would share.

The first one comes from Creative Home Keeper.

The basic idea is that you write down 20 or so of your favorite recipes to rotate throughout the month.  Yes, 20.  That leaves room for eating out, leftovers, and new recipes.  I also like that she actually has two lists - one for spring/summer and one for fall/winter.   When I read this post a few weeks ago, I liked the simplicity of it.  It's been stewing in the back of my mind since then and I'm slowing creating my spring/summer list.  One of the reasons this appeals to me is that it is flexible but I don't feel like I have to search recipes every Thursday to plan my menu.  I can use my master list to keep things simple. 

The other blog is Lime Life Planners.

I like this concept because she uses her planner to plan out meals and her grocery list.  Now, you know I am a total planner girl so this appeals to me on so many levels (and no, I don't use a Lime Life Planner - I just a cheap old planner I get on Amazon!).  My disclaimer to the grocer list, though, is I have a master list on my computer that matches the aisles in my store to make shopping easy.

If you don't meal plan or are looking for inspiration - maybe one of these ideas can help make planning just a little easier!