Our Week in Photos #36

We had a great week!  Here's a look at in photos!

On Saturday, we were able to spend time with my brother, Kel and sister-in-law, Deb at my mom's.  We celebrated their Birthdays with some amazing Blueberry Pie! 

 We then went to the campground for their trick-or-treating!  I don't like to give away the boys costumes until we get closer to Halloween.  It was fun because Kel and Deb got to walk around with Josh and Nate. 

After that, the boys and I stuck around and went through the Haunted House and rode the Haunted Wagon Ride.  

On Sunday, we went to church and then watched Football at my mom's together with Kel and Deb.  It was great to just be with family for the day. 

Monday - Darryl had to have a procedure on his ear drum so he and I got to spend some time in Grand Rapids together all day.  It was actually  a nice date day.

Tuesday - We were supposed to go camping but due to issues with Darryl's ear that he is dealing with we decided that would should cancel and instead took off for the day as a family. 

 Our day started by playing the "Left/Right" game.  Basically you turn left at the first road, right on the next one and so on.  We set a timer for an hour and did just that!  We drove down roads we have never been on and saw some beautiful scenery!  Amazingly, we ended up at Fallsburg Park and got to see the covered bridge!  

 A very nice couple stopped and offered to take our photo.  She said her husband saw us and wanted to offer!  

After the timer went off, Josh then wanted to pick a restaurant for lunch that we had never eaten at so he asked google maps. "Restaurants near me" and found BC Pizza.  It was perfect!  It has a great lunch buffet and we plan to go back! 

From there we headed to our favorite place - Muskegon State Park.  Yes, the boys really went into the very cold water and had a blast in the waves (don't worry, they weren't allowed to go out past their knees!) Darryl and I enjoyed sitting on the beach, listening to the waves.  I think we sat there for two hours. 

Finally, we headed to Bernie O's.  Our favorite Pizza Place.  Now, truth be told, Darryl and I weren't feeling "pizza" but the kids were planning on stopping so we did!  We tried the wings, fries and onion rings - all of which were super good! 

The rest of the week was quiet.  Wednesday and Thursday we did lots of schooling.  Friday, our Co-op was cancelled so we stayed home and just had a quiet day at home.  

Looking ahead, I think we have another fairly quiet week coming too!  

Weekly Menu

We had a great weekend with my brother and sister-in-law!  We did not end up going camping but we did do some fun things on Tuesday and kept the rest of our week simple.  I've been avoiding the grocery store because our local Meijer just did a complete overhaul of their grocery area and everything has moved.  I know when I do a big shopping trip it will take a lot of searching and back tracking to find what I need!  I can only put it off for so long though!

Here's the plan for the coming week:

Friday - My mom is coming for dinner.  I'm going to make Chicken and Dumplings and Apple Crisp.

Saturday - The Beset Authentic Beef Enchiladas.  I have a fabulous Chicken Enchilada recipe but not a Beef Enchilada recipe - I'm hoping that this one is super tasty!  Salad and Beans.

Sunday - Zuppa Tuscana (one of our favorites!) and French Bread

Monday - Tacos.  We are always "two ships passing in the night" so Tacos are an easy meal to eat at different times.

Tuesday - We have various things going on today which means I won't be home much.  I'm going to just plan leftovers - Enchiladas, Soup, and Tacos.

Wednesday - My mom takes the boys to AWANA now so, honestly, I usually grab something.  Sometimes with Darryl if he is home otherwise I just treat myself to something simple - Subway, Taco Bell, or whatever I have a coupon for!

Thursday - We are trying a new soup recipe tonight - Crack Chicken and Rice Soup.  It sounds really good and is different than other soup recipes that I currently have as favorites.  My kids are not big soup eaters (especially when they have "weird" things in them so I try to keep good old Chicken Noodle on hand.  At least one of my kids will eat that :-)

Weekly Worship -- Jesus is Mine - Jordan Kauflin & Matt Merker

A friend of mine shared this on their facebook page - it's such a pretty song and so simple.  I've never heard it before - I love new music :-)

Our Week in Photos #35

We had a super busy, super fun week!

 On Sunday my brother and sister-in-law, Kel and Deb, made a quick stop at Biggby's to meet us for coffee . .. well, actually to pick up a double stroller to take to my nephew and family :-)  We always love meeting up for coffee though! 

 On Monday, it was warm enough to swim so, we did!  We had to squeeze it in in between my mom's haircut and some school testing but we wanted to swim!  (Josh did actually get in a after I put my camera away!)  We love the pool (or at least I love the pool!! ) 

 On Tuesday we went on a field trip to a fairly local Cider Mill/Orchard.  It also has the most amazing petting ZOO with some awesome animals.  Oh, and I asked the boys for nice smiles and that face is what Josh gave me HA! 

 My mom, Nate and I ended our evening by going swimming - we only lasted about 45 minutes though - once the sun goes down, it gets chilly (even for me!)

Wednesday - Nate had some testing, our friends had a 1/2 day so we went to the pool for about an hour and a half!  It was a great day for swimming!  The boys then had piano lessons AND AWANA started on Wednesday night!  It was a super busy, fun day!

 On Thursday we had our annual field trip to Uncle John's Cider Mill with Connections Academy.  The boys got to meet their teachers and see some friends.  The weather was perfect.  (One year we went, met the teachers and left because it was raining; Another year we went, met teachers, suffered through the corn maze and left because it was 95 degrees and humid!) 

 The boys were interviewed for a TV segment.  When it airs I'll have to try and share a link!

 There just happened to be a sunflower field there so I finally got our annual sun flower photos -  I was sure I had miss our photo op since our local field was plowed under in August. 

 We ended Thursday at ANOTHER field trip to see a Ninja Warrior!  It was so cool and the boys got to run a small Ninja course three different times. 

(In case you were wondering, the boys were SUPER sore on Friday HA!) 

Speaking of Friday - we had Friday school! 

This was one of our busiest weeks of the fall.  As we start moving towards October and the colder months, things slow down and most of what we do will be . . .School!!!! 

Weekly Menu - One last camping trip

When we camped last time, we decided to squeeze one last camping trip in this summer and it really was "squeezing" it in around lots of things.  Not to mention my brother Kel and sister-in-law Deb will be in town AND it is Halloween Weekend at the campground!  So, busy, busy, busy!

Friday - Stuffed Shells - a carry over from last week.

Saturday - My mom is cooking because my brother and sister-in-law are in town.  I hear we are having Ribs.

Sunday - Again, my mom is cooking - this time I hear it is steaks on the grill!

Monday - Tacos!  :-)

Tuesday - We are camping!!!  After unloading and setting up, we are going to get our favorite pizza from Bernie O's Pizza!

Wednesday - Camping!  Steak Kabobs, baked potatoes, and salad

Thursday - We are coming home from camping!  Corn Dogs in the freezer for a quick dinner!

Our Week in photo #34

I totally missed last week!  As I mentioned previously, we got sick in this house with a crazy cold so I was out of it all weekend!  I'll catch up today though!

We started school on Tuesday, September 3rd.  Hard to believe we have a 4th and 5th grader!  Normally we go swimming the first day of school but the weather did not cooperate!  The boys also returned to piano lessons and we managed to squeeze in about 15 minutes at the park for something fun on the first day!

 Nathan

 Joshua

 On Wednesday, September 4th the boys both got braces.

 Joshua's smile "before" 

 Nate's smile "before" 

 Josh's smile "after" 

 Nate's smile "after" 

On Friday, September 6th we started Friday School!  It was a busy day so I didn't get many photos but I did get this one! 

 The boys are excited to be back with their friends! 

Apparently I didn't take photos this week HA!  Oh well.  This was our second week of Friday School! 

 Josh's "school" photo - 5th grade

 Nate's "school photo" - 4th grade

Weekly Menu

The start of the school year is still kickin' my behind.  Well also the fact that we have been busier than normal and we all got hit with a pretty bad head cold so we have been just trying to get the bare minimum done.  Crazy, I know!  The good news is that we eat at home more :-)  I'm actually enjoying cooking a little more (well, except for the days my head was so stuffed I couldn't breath!) so that makes eating at home a little easier!  This next week is a little busier than normal though so I have to do some planning to keep us on track!

Friday - I am not sure :-)  Maybe stuffed shells or maybe Darryl will "cook" :-) (For real, Darryl will probably pick something up on the way home :-) )

Saturday - Crock Pot Fajitas.  This was on the menu last week but it's the one meal I didn't get to so I'm sticking it into this week!

Sunday - Stuffed Shells and garlic Gread

Monday - Slow Cooker Pork Loin Roast, mashed potatoes and green beans.

Tuesday - We have a field trip that will take up most of our day so dinner has to be simple - Turning leftover Pork Loin into BBQ pork is perfect.  Add Mac and Cheese and applesauce and life is good.

Wednesday - Tonight is the kids first night back to AWANA.  I try to keep it simple - corn dogs, frozen pizza ect.

Thursday - The boys and I will be gone all day on two different field trips.  So, again, dinner has to be super easy and ready to eat when we get home.  Tacos it is.  I'm actually to prepare everyone on Wednesday so all we have to do is eat it up when we get home on Thursday.  After a long day, if I don't do this - we will 100% eat out.  :-)