2020 Week in Photos #44 and #45

i did not get last weeks post up on Saturday (I may or may not have fallen asleep on Friday night on the couch at 8:30 . . .. ) so I'm going to combine it with this weeks!  

Week #44 - 

Saturday and Sunday - We didn't do much :-)  I ran errands, we started working on sorting and cleaning Josh's room, and we watched FooTball.  

Monday - It was a beautiful day.  Add to that, our friends did not have school after 11:00 so we took advantage of this unexpected development

and had a picnic at the park.  Funny story.  We love this park because of the shade due to the HUGE trees.  When we got there my first thought was, "We must not normally come at noon, there is no shade!"  We started eating and I was kind of annoyed by the lack of shade . . .then I looked up and realized that there was no shade because there were no leaves HA!  Oops!  

Tuesday and Wednesday were school as normal. 

Thursday - I had a leadership team meeting and went grocery shopping.  

Friday - Nate had TKD and that was it.  Our lives are pretty "stay at home" right now - Covid-19 numbers are skyrocketing here and we are doing everything we can to not get it! 

Week #45

Saturday and Sunday - We didn't do much once again :-)  Actually I did some cleaning and general pick up and we worked on Josh's room more.  We had dinner with my mom, I had zoom with my family, and Darryl and Nate worked on his science project.  I guess we did do "something".  

Monday - This was not a normal school day - this was totally 100% science day because both kids had a science project to work on.  Nate had to test out two catapults he built and Josh is still working on making a plant and animal cell.  

Tuesday- School!

Wednesday - We had a virtual field trip with our on-line school to a pig farm!  It was actually pretty cool!

They had to put a piece of paper on their head and try to draw a pig face. 

Thursday - More school

Friday - A free day!  My extra kids took the day off and my kids were done with school for the week so we got a totally free day to just do what each person wanted.  I did a whole bunch of scrapbooking!  Yeah! 

Weekly Menu- Thanksgiving Weekend

 This year has been so unique (and maybe crazy) but it is nice to have some normalcy which, in this case, is a holiday that we all enjoy.  Thankfully, we have almost always had a pretty small Thanksgiving gathering so we didn't have to make a decision, or even a choice, about what to do this year.  Instead we will share the day with my mom and Darryl's dad, as we have done for the past few years.  We enjoy snacks, the traditional dinner, Football, and, of course, dessert.  I try to keep the cooking easy the rest of the week! 

Friday - Our normal "night out".  

Saturday - Dinner at my mom's! 

Sunday - Sloppy Joes and Fries 

Monday - Chicken Alfredo, green beans and garlic bread

Tuesday - Tacos, of course! 

Wednesday - Zuppa Tuscana and Garlic Knots (I like to do something totally 100% not Thanksgiving!) 

Thursday - It's Thanksgiving!  I'll share my menu later.  :-) 

Weekly Song - Matthew West - Gobble Gobble (Official Music Video)

Here's a fun song for you this week!  There are so few Thanksgiving songs but one of my favorite Artists, Matthew West created one!  (and guess what, I have another one for next week too!) 

Weekly Menu

 There will be some repeats on this weeks list because plans changed this past week.  Sunday everyone kind of scrounged for themselves so I didn't cook what I planned and then my mom dropped off an Aldi's pizza and breadsticks as a treat so I cooked that up on Monday night.  Darryl was meeting with a friend on Tuesday night for dinner so the boys and I treated ourselves too :-).  (I mean, it's only fair that if he eats out, we get to eat out too, right? HA!)  

Here's the plan for the coming week! 

Friday - Our normal "eat out night"

Saturday - Our normal "eat at mom's" night.  I really do appreciate my mom cooking dinner once a week plus we enjoy going to her home and hanging out for a bit.  

Sunday - I don't love cooking on Sundays right now - maybe because I end up in the kitchen for hours while everyone else watches football and relaxes!  So, instead I'm trying to plan things that are either super easy or that I can make on Saturday and we just warm up on Sunday!  So, for lunch (our fooball food) I have stuff for a Taco/Nacho bar.  Then for dinner later, little crescent wrapped sausages and  I have french fries to throw in the oven.  

Monday - Chicken and Dumplings with pickles, olives and cheese and crackers

Tuesday - Chicken Noodle Soup and garlic knots

Wednesday - Stuffing Meatloaf, Mashed Potatoes, and broccoil

Thursday - I go to the store on Thursday and I try to leave by about 4:30 (as soon as our friends leave) so I have to leave dinner for the males in the family.  There "should" be leftovers between the soup and the Meatloaf so that's the plan.  If not, there will be corn dogs and chicken nuggets!  

Guess what, it's almost Thanksgiving :-) Next weeks weekly menu post will include my Thanksgiving menu -that's just crazy! (PS - do you know that our stores don't have any turkeys yet???  I hope they actually carry them this year!) 

Caramel Apple Cobbler Dump Cake

 

I saw an easy dessert recipe on Facebook for Caramel Apple Cobbler Dump Cake.  I'll be honest, they had me at "Caramel".  Yum!  

Like any good dump cake, the top is crisp and buttery while the filling is sweet and sticky.  

So, I decided to move back a little . . .and the reality of the situation starts to appear. 

And this is realy life HA!  Oh boy is this stuff good!  I'm not a huge fan of canned apple pie filling but, the added layer of the caramel bits really added a great level of flavor.  

This would be a great recipe to take to a holiday party or potluck.  

You can find the full recipe at Instrupix. 

Micah Tyler - New Today (Official Music Video)

Here's a new song by Micah Tyler.  It's a great song for the our current days. 

2020 Weekly Photos #43

 Another great week! 

Saturday - Halloween! 

We carved our pumpkins.  I love that both Josh and Nate can now carve their own pumpkins!!  In order picture are:  Nate's, Mine, Josh's and Darryl's. These were true Jack-O-Lantern Pumpkins.  Do you know what the difference is?  Well, let me tell you.  They pumpkin flesh is softer and easier to cut and they are drier without so much junk on the inside!  They were amazing! 

We met up with friends for trick-or-treating. 

Josh and Nate Halloween 2020!  Josh informed me weeks ago that he was about done with Trick-or-Treating.  Well, I told him he had to do it this year HA!  I said, "You have to go this year one last time so that we can enjoy your "last time"".  He's already said he is not going again.  

Our pumpkins all lit up!  

Sunday - Was our normal quiet day at home with food, football, and family. 

Monday-Friday - School.  Since we now have our friends here everyday doing virtual school, we stick pretty tight to our school schedule.  On one hand, it's great because we are moving through lessons and will get a nice long Christmas break since subjects will be done.  On the other hand, it means nothing extra - no spur of the moment trips to the park because the weather is amazing or unexpected days off just because.  Our friends have times throughout the day that they have to log into "school" and be present to count as attending so we are tied to home!  Pros and Cons  - and it is just for a season so it is ok.  I'm thankful I can minister in this way to my friends and be a help and encouragement to them.  So, there is a whole lot of school and quite a bit of modified football being played every afternoon. 

Nate had TKD on Friday afternoon.  Due to new Covid restrictions, they couldn't hold class inside the church.  Thankfully the weather was amazing so they still had class - just outside instead!  Not sure if this will happen again though!