Our Week in Photos #37

I know I missed last weeks post but it is because I didn't have any photos!  We had such a quiet week at home just doing school and such that I didn't take photos.

This week I did get some photos!

Our week actually started out quiet.  We hung around at home for the most part over the weekend and just enjoyed not having much to do.  Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday were school focused. 

On Thursday we attended a field trip with our Co-Op to our local 911 dispatch office for their community days. 

 Michigan State Police had a driving simulator set up.  Josh and Nate both got to try out driving a car.  

 Can you see those people in that big truck?  That's Josh and Nate.  You don't realize how big the snow plow is until you stand next to it! 

Our community just took possession of this ladder truck a few months ago.  The ladder go 101 feet into the air.  It was pretty cool. 

On Friday, we had our Co-op and then had a great family visit! 

 The boys are really enjoying their classes this semester.  

My niece, Alicia and her husband, Alex along with their two boys came for a visit on Friday afternoon!  We all gathered at my mom's house and had a great visit. 

 It's fun seeing the boys hang out all together!  My great nephew is an adorable ham for sure! 

My mom with two of her great grand-kids and two of her grand-kids!  

Weekly Menu

I'm discovering that Monday Night Leftovers are a very important staple in this household.  Nate and I eat at about 4:45, before Tae Kwon Do.  Darryl and Josh eat at about 6:00, since Darryl gets home just as I'm leaving.  It's so much easier to say "there are leftovers in the fridge" then to try and have a meal ready!  This "season", Tuesdays and Thursdays are great nights for cooking a nice dinner.  We don't usually have things going on those evenings.  It's nice to actually be able to plan meals.  (Even when they don't always happen!)

Friday - Fridays are fun days with Friday School but they are also tiring.  If I don't plan dinner carefully (meaning not a lot of work!) I don't want to cook and we spend money eating out!  Tonight will actually be leftovers from this past Tuesday - Pulled Pork BBQ and Baked Potatoes (that cook in the crock pot all day!)

Saturday - Since I've been doing my grocery shopping on Saturday's recently, I also have to plan Saturday night dinner or, again, it's easy to not want to cook after shopping!  Shrimp Alfredo and garlic bread!

Sunday - I love having dinner in the oven and ready to eat after church.  The house smells yummy and having that "comfort food" meal is just such a nice thing.  So, this week, a small ham, Cheesy Potatoes (in the crock, cooking while we are at church), and green beans.

Monday - Leftovers :-)

Tuesday - I love Breakfast for dinner sometimes.  Amish Breakfast Casserole is a family favorite.  Overnight Coffee Cake, Asparagus, and Strawberries.

Wednesday - Frozen Pizza - It's AWANA Night.

Thursday - We are out on a Field Trip all day today.  I'm going to throw a pork loin in the crock pot today to cook all day while we are gone.  Mashed Potatoes, Corn and Crescent rolls will round this meal out!

Dan Bremnes - "Up Again" (Official Music Video)

One of the reasons I love this song is because it is upbeat and easy to sing along to.  The other reason I like it is because of the story behind.  Dan Bremnes states that he was at a very low point in his life; feeling like he was just messing up so he sat down and wrote a letter to his mom in heaven.  But, when he finished his writing, he said he felt God telling him, now it's my turn to speak . . and he listened.  So, the verses reflect the letter and the chorus, what God spoke. 

Weekly Menu

Last week's menu just kept changing and I'm not sure why.  We had a super full fridge with lots of random things so we had leftovers/fridge finds a few different times.  I just couldn't justify cooking more food when there was so much stuff to eat!

Here's the plan for the coming week!

Friday - I'm going to throw a pork loin in the crock pot to cook all day. Then I have some carrots and baked beans to cook too.

Saturday - Crack Chicken Rice Soup and Biscuits.  This is a carry over from last week.

Sunday - I cooked up a bunch of hamburger meat last Thursday.  We are going to use some of it today for Spaghetti.  I'll add salad and garlic bread.

Monday - Today we are running in all directions.  Probably just some frozen pizza.  Easy peasy.

Tuesday - Roasted pork loin (It makes the house smell amazing) mashed potatoes, green beans and crescent rolls. 

Wednesday - The boys go to AWANA so I keep it easy with pizza (Josh's favorite).

Thursday - Fajitas!  I made these a few weeks ago and we just loved them.  They are easy to mix, cook in the crock pot all day and taste fabulous plus, the leftovers are amazing.  I'll had chips and salsa and some beans. 

October Goals

It's time for October Goals!  After a pretty great month last month, I'm hoping to do even better this month :-)  Or at least accomplish just as much!

I have, again, this month just a list of things to accomplish!  

1. Set up Nate's trophy's and TKD belts.  We "moved" Nate into his "own" room this summer - really just his stuff moved, he still sleeps in his old room.  He's been waiting to have display shelves set up for his stuff for over a year so my goal is for it to happen this month. 

2. Go through my "mystery bag" in the bathroom HA!  I have a Meijer bag that I shoved a ton of stuff into a while ago (I think from my truck last spring!) that I need to clean out! 

3.  I need to do a basement clean-up.  Yes, it is still organized but just some things that need to be put away again. 

4. I have to sing at church this month so I need to learn my song and I also want to find a song to Sing at Christmas time. 

5. Move the campers - We have to move my mom's camper out of the campground to our house and then move our pop-up out of our driveway.  

6. Order 2 months worth of photos

7. Complete October 2014 in scrapbooking

8.  Decorate for fall - indoors and outdoors (if it ever stop raining!)

9. Mow the grass "one last time" (I say that tongue in cheek because one year we had to mow again the day after Thanksgiving!).  

10. Finish out October in school current.  We are current right now but I want to stay that way and maybe even be ahead! 

11. Have all of Nate's birthday gifts ordered by the end of October (his birthday isnot until the end of December).

12. Find boots for the boys.  I think that is the only outdoor "supplies" I have to get the boys. 

13. Finances - just like last month, the goal is to stick to our budget and not spend extra - or spend as little extra as possible.  I also have a very small "savings" plan in place to put some funds aside for the Holidays.

14. Deep clean the kitchen.

15.  Deep clean the Josh's room.

16.  Deep clean Nate's room

17. Clean out my truck (still hasn't happened due to all of the rain!) 

18. Take the AC units of the windows

19. Have the boys clean out their old candy by Halloween (that's our rule!) 

20.  Plan a couple family fun activities (Such as get the pumpkins, carve pumpkins, go to a improve show, go to the observatory, ect) 

21. Plan the classes I plan to teach next semester

22. 

September Goal Recap

It's hard to believe that September is done as of today!  We've had a super busy month with swimming while we still could, field trips, a family fun day, and, well, school.  The weather cooled off which always makes me want to do things :-) 

Here's the recap of what was accomplished in September - I feel good about what was done! 

1. Finances - I'm working on sticking to a budget this month that includes getting the bills paid (of course) and then saving for other things that are coming up in the next 3-4 months (Like birthdays and Christmas) It was perfect, but I really worked hard on not spending unplanned money, not eating out (as much), and tracking everything.  I'm ready for October (on paper at least) and hope to do even better. 
2. Menu planning - my goal this month is to be intentional about menu planning.  Planning meals that we enjoy, keeping the grocery budget in line,  not running to the store multiple times in a week and not eating out on nights where it is easier than cooking. We've done really well at eating at home.  I've also done really well and planning and not needing to make extra trips to the store! 
3. Deep clean the bathroom and also update the art on the walls. This is done!!  I also "deep cleaned" the living room, dining room, and master bedroom. HA!  Cooler weather gives me energy! 
4. Create and tweak our school schedule this month.  I always start out the month with ideas I want to implement but those ideas have to be tweaked throughout this first month of school. We seem to already have a good routine that makes it easy for all of us to get school done. 
5. Another school goal is to help the boys be more independent in their online classes.  The "easiest" class to do that in is math so my September goal is to have them doing their math lessons by themselves by the end of the month.  Why? Because the more independent they are, the more they can direct their time.  For example, if one boy wants to start his lessons at 8;00 AM and get everything done by 11:00 - they have to do it independently.  If I have to do all subjects with both of them, they have to rely on my schedule to get work done. This is a true work in progress.  Fifth grade is introducing lots of new concepts so Josh still needs help; Nate has been able to do more on his own.  What we have tried to do is figure out what they CAN do on their own; then I schedule my time to sit with them.  That seems to be working! 
6. Camp - we have a camping trip scheduled.  I need to plan the details, pack, load and go! We had to cancel our camping trip for various reasons but we did spend a day out as family; ending up at the beach. 
7. Look for other fun, inexpensive, things we can do as a family.  I use facebook to help me by clicking "interested" on lots of activities that pop up so I can remember them later! We've done a few things - my family members are home bodies so sometimes, just staying home makes them happy !! 
8. Read.  It's time to get back to reading.  I need to go back to my challenge of years ago and pick out 4-6 books I want to read each month and post about it! I did get through two books this month, I believe.  It helped once I got my contacts fixed since now I can see :-)  
9. Update my holiday journal and also read through the items for Thanksgiving and Christmas from last year so I'm prepared! I finally did this yesterday! 
10. Get Halloween costumes for the boys Done!
11. Purchase Josh's Birthday Presents this month.  This is always a stretch but I'm hoping I can accomplish this.I have all but one purchased and I should be able to pick that up by the end of the week. 
12. Follow the flylady schedule I have weekly.This I did not do. 
13. Scrapbook - I'd like to finish 2015 - I just have December to finish so it is doable if I take time to scrapbook this month! I did it!  2015 is done!!! 
14. Scrapbook - I'd like to spend 2-3 hours a week scrapbooking.  With football season coming, I'm thinking I can scrapbook on Sunday afternoons while watching football . . . but sometimes, Sunday afternoons are my do nothing times - so we will see! There's a scrapbook weekend in October I'm hoping to attend so I need to register for that soon! I did scrapbook for more than 3 hours!  I decided not to sign up for the weekend; I can set up at home and get just as much done in my PJ's! 
15. Bake.  Breads, fun desserts, cookies.  Just one little thing a week. I baked a blueberry and apple crisp - both new recipes. 
16. Clean out my truck - once swimming has wrapped up, I will need to clean out the summer stuff and make sure it is ready for winter. This is on the plan for this coming week.  
17. Sort the photos I ordered several months ago and see what I need to order next.  Order at the end of the month.Done!  
18. Have the boys try on all of their fall/winter clothes and see what we need.  I automatically know that they both need boots HA! We are still wearing shorts so I have not done this yet 
19. Plan out the topic/class I want to teach next semester at our co-op.I've picked out my ideas (actually about 3 of them) and now I just need to do some more research and make a decision. 

So, over all, it was a great month for goals!!! 

Weekly Worship - Matthew West - The God Who Stays

This is another Facebook find.  I enjoy Matthew West's music but this is a song I had not heard before and I'm so glad that someone shared it!  Enjoy!