2020 Weekly Photos #16

This week was actually pretty quiet.  Plus, my regular camera lens is not working so I only have my telephoto lens which makes snapping quick photos in the house hard.  I have to say, "Wait, everyone back up!" HA!  I'm going to have to check and see if the camera stores are opening back up yet!

Here's a look back at our week:

Saturday - We hung at home, I scrapbooked and my mom brought us dinner!

Sunday - We hung at home, I scrapbooked, and we treated the kids to their favorite take out places - the first time we ate out in a month.

Monday - Our main focus today was school.

Tuesday - More school today :-)

The dog LOVES having us all home, all the time. 

Wednesday and Thursday - more of the same! 

Friday - We actually did some stuff! 

 We finally got a new swing and chains to replace the one that broke last summer.  Nate was especially happy as he loves to swing.  They also love to play "kick the ball" while swinging! 

 The boys finished their AWANA books this week so I printed certificates for them!  

We ended the night with a bon fire to burn some brush.  

We get a lot of Apples in the kids breakfasts/lunches that I get from the school so our new favorite thing is to have apple crisp on Friday night.  We surprised my mom tonight by stopping by her house with some crisp and cool whip!  

That's our week!  

Weekly Menu

Who would have thought back in mid-March that we would still be in a lock down/stay at home state at the end of April.  I'm so thankful that my family has stayed healthy so far through all of this and we continue to pray that it stays that way in the coming weeks and months.

While there are lots of things we miss, this time at home as been good too.  Meal planning and grocery shopping were things I had gotten "lazy" in but now, it's a well oiled machine.  Eating out used to be an easy to just do but we've broken that habit and it is now a rare treat.  Hopefully we can keep up some of these new "normal's" once we return to the old normal!

So, here's the plan for eating this next week.

Friday - A friend posted a recipe this week for Crockpot Creamy Chicken Nachos so I'm going to try it!  I'll serve a salad alongside.

Saturday - My mom is bringing us dinner!

Sunday - I'm hoping for nice weather so we can grill out - Chicken on the grill, baked beans, veggies, and biscuits. (If not, we will just cook the chicken inside!)

Monday - It's my birthday!  Steaks on the grill, "daddy fries", Fried Zucchini and Garlic Bread.

Tuesday - Pork Loin, Mashed Potatoes and a veggie

Wednesday - Ham and cheese quiche,

Thursday - BBQ Pulled Pork and French Fries

2020 Weekly Photos #16

Here's a look back at our week (just a few days late!)

Saturday - we hung at home all day.  It was a nice relaxing day!

Sunday - Easter!  It was a different Easter this year as we are stuck at home.  Our day included an Easter Egg Hunt, a great Easter Dinner, taking dinner to my mom, and we colored Easter Eggs.

 Haircuts needed and no new clothes this year for Easter photos :-) 

Monday- Friday . .. We did school every day and stayed inside since it was cold, rainy and yes, even a little snow! 

Weekly Menu - a little bit late

I realized that I forgot to post my menu on Friday!  I know my brother, Kel, enjoys seeing what we are eating!  Last week, honestly, when I planned the menu I wasn't sold on it.  Then there were things I couldn't get at the store and that threw me off a little bit too.  In the end, we ended up with some great leftovers one night and then I made spaghetti one night because it was easy.  As I planned for this week I tried to be a little more intentional and make sure that I planned meals that would be easy to find ingredients for and easy to make :-)

Friday - Pizza.  Just frozen pizza along with a corn and black bean dip to have with chips.

Saturday - My mom brought us dinner.

Sunday - The original plan was actually sloppy joes but the kids have been so great about not asking for things that Darryl and I decided to relax our "no eating out" policy during this stay at home time and surprise the boys with their favorites.  Little Ceaser's Pizza for Josh and McDonald's for Nate.  They were so surprised! 

Monday - Sloppy Joe's and French Fries

Tuesday - It's  Taco Tuesday :-)

Wednesday - French Toast Sticks (Meijer had them in stock so I bought three boxes to have in the freezer!!!), sausage, bacon and fruit.

Thursday - Zuppa Toscana Soup and Muffins.  I decided we needed to have a favorite soup one more time before it starts to warm up!

2020 Weekly Photos #15

It's been another stay at home week!

Saturday - We totally just hung out at home.  I'm not sure if any of us even got out of PJ's.  My mom brought us dinner and I had a Zoom call with my brothers. 

 Josh and the cat!  The cat sat with him one day - the cat loves that we are home all day, every day. 

Sunday - We enjoyed church at home and then went for a drive. 

 Josh and Nate had Sunday School via Zoom.  I love that their teacher put this together for them. 

 We surprised my mom and stopped by to chat.  Thankful for some really nice weather! 

 We then drove around town and took some photos to remember this time by. 

Monday - The weather was amazing!  I think I sat outside for a total of 2 hours and read my book! 

 This dog is just loving the sun! 

Tuesday - We continued with some really warm weather.  

 The kids played outside for awhile doing some bottle flippin' and taking lots of walks. 

 And the dog does this often - checking out to see if the neighbors dogs are out so he can attack the fence! 

Wednesday - Darryl was actually home because his cab was broken down!  

Thursday - We got snow!!!  

 It turned cold on Thursday - cold enough to snow!  

 This two actually sit near each other at times.  

Nate got to FaceTime with his friend Morley and they practiced Tae Kwon Do.  He loves being able to connect with friends.  

Friday - You might find it hard to believe but we hung out at home HA! 

It was spring break so there was no school or schedule.  The kids just had to take 60 minutes off from electronics and go outside during that time for about 30 minutes.  

Weekly Menu

I will fully admit that I'm starting to get tired of planning 3 meals a day, 7 days a week.  Ok, technically 2 because breakfast is cereal . . ok, technically 1 meal a week since we get breakfast and lunch from the school but still HA!  Actually, it's not too bad.  Since we have no other plans, I have plenty of time to prep and cook throughout the day so it is better then when we are running in different directions!

Here's the plan for the coming week:

Friday - Stuffed Shells and Garlic Bread.  Normally we have pizza but this is a favorite and it's easy to cook so I don't mind making it!

Saturday - My mom blesses us with dinner on Saturdays :-)

Sunday - It is Easter Sunday!  Now, if you know me from years past, I really don't enjoy cooking Easter dinner but that is more because Easter Sunday is just busy.  Well, since we aren't going anywhere, it's not such a big deal! I debated what to cook, actually.  I decided to get a ham out of the freezer and make cheesy potatoes and Green Bean Cassarole.  Pretty traditional :-)  I have a recipe for Garlic Bread Pinwheels I want to make as along as I can get the ingredients.  Maybe I'll add a salad of some kind -- I'll decide before I go to the store :-)

Monday - Easy Stromboli and Salad (I also have a pizza in the freezer in case I can't get what I need for this meal)

Tuesday - Beef Enchiladas, Beans and Salad.

Wednesday - French Toast Sticks, Bacon/Sausage, and Fruit (Pancakes if I can't get French Toast Sticks)

Thursday - Chicken Noodle Soup and Muffins

April Goals

I feel like it's almost a little silly to write goals for April but there is still a lot that can be accomplished at home.  So, to keep motivated and not just sit around all the time and do nothing, I have goals!

1) Scrapbooking.  I'd like to make this a focus in April.  1) Make sure that all photos from January-April are uploaded to snapfish  2) Order one months work of photo pages 3) Order 1-2 months worth of photos 3) Scrapbook, dare I say, all of the current photos I have on hand

2) Reading - My goal this month is just to read.  I'd like to finish a book or two :-)

3) Cleaning - Complete my 20 days of cleaning list for the month.  This month my main focus is the bathroom and then also beginning to help the boys clean too.  They need to go through all of their bins and piles in their room(s) and clean stuff out and organize it better so they know what they have!

4) Family Time - We have Easter to celebrate this month!  It might look different then past years but we will still celebrate!  This is my birthday month too so we will do something to celebrate :-)  (Even if it is at home!) Plus, board games, video games and movies!

5) Another main goal this month is my niece's graduation book - I want to get photos picked out and send out the letter to my family to get them working on letters!

6) Darryl's list - 1) Run the 2nd ethernet cable 2) Help Josh with his telescope and VR headset 3) Work on a way to display Nate's boards

7) Homeschool - To end April current.  This will be hard, honestly, because of our scheduling right now but I'm hoping to get there.  Also, I want Nate done with his Michigan History Project and his Opinion Paper.  I want Josh done with his Social Studies project and his Opinion Paper.   

8) My MISC list - 1) Go through everyone's clothes, clean them out and figure out what is needed 2) Clean out my truck.

9) The basement - I'm hoping to pick up about 4 bins this month and then work on sorting stuff - I've been working on getting rid of all the bins that aren't see through and transferring stuff into clean bins making it easier to see what is in each one.  This also allows me to declutter stuff!

10) Music - Work on a piano and a vocal song for the future!

11) Co-Op - Our Co-op ended kind of abruptly this year so I'm looking forward to the fall.  I want to start working on my classes so my goal this month is simple - two finish 2-3 weeks worth of lesson plans for each class (2) I'm teaching.

My list is a little shorter this month because there are some things I just can't realistically do at this point but hopefully I can focus on what can be done and get ahead of the game!