Summer Fun Week 1

 

June 1-11

Our "week one" of summer fun is a little longer than one week just so I could include the first weekend in June in the recap!  

Thursday June 1st - Nothing exciting - just school as we are trying to wrap up our year!

Friday - June 2nd - We actually did some school on a Friday for the sole purpose of trying to finish up our year!  Then, we went to a friends house for the evening for a bonfire, smore's, games, and to hang out for a few hours. 

Saturday - June 3rd - It was a quiet day.  Darryl and I went to his dads before heading to my mom's for dinner 

Sunday - June 4th - Church.  My guys did a youth group service project with our youth group.  Then, in the evening it was parent night at the other youth group they attend. 

Monday - June 5th - Field Trip!  My guys had the opportunity to attend a field trip with our co-op at car shop owned by a family in our co-op.  Nate also had TKD. 

Our field trip was to Christian Brothers Automotive. Tom taught the group how to change oil, change a tire, check fluids and more.  It was a really great trip! 

On the way home, my guys and I picked up some Jet's Pizza/McDonald's and had a picnic at a great little park.  I love hanging out with these guys. 

Nate enjoys TaeKwonDo on Monday evenings.  They are wrapping up classes for the summer.  He is ready to test for his black belt but is holding off as he waits for a friend to be ready too.  

Tuesday - June 6th - The morning started with taking my mom and her pooch to the vet for surgery (the dog, not my mom HA).  Then school and finally, Joshua and Nate had a their piano recital. 

Wednesday - June 7th - We wrapped up school and went out for lunch. 

We usually end our school year with going out to lunch before our friends are done for the year.  So, we did just that with the help of gift cards :-)  

Sweet Molly came home today from the vet to recover at my mom's house from her ACL surgery.  

Thursday - June 8th - Our friends had a half day and Nate had a hair cut but otherwise, it's just a "chill out" day. 

Friday - June 9th - Today is our friends last day of school.  So again, just a quiet day as everyone kind of decompresses from the school year. 

Saturday and Sunday - Nothing!  We have alot of "busy" the next few weeks so enjoying a quiet weekend is always a good thing. 

Weekly Menu

Summer is here - at least summer break is!  My guys are done with school and so are our friends that hang out with us all summer.  I decided to go through my recipe file and pull out all of our tried and true favorites and plan a month at a time.  I took time last week to fill in the June calendar and we will see how this goes! Sure, I enjoy trying new recipes but I find that what we really love are the recipes I've been making for a long time. It's also helpful with grocery shopping as I know what I need for a future recipe if I happen to see something on a great sale :-)  

Here is the dinner plan for the coming week:

Friday - Meatball Soup and French Bread

Saturday - Dinner at my mom's 

Sunday - Brats, Macaroni Salad and Chips and Dip 

Monday - Beef and Acini Soup with yeast rolls

Tuesday - Slow Cooker Chicken Tacos, Salad, and Chips and cheese

Wednesday - Chili 5 Ways 

Thursday - Shrimp and Grits and Fried Zucchini.  

Now that summer is here I also have to plan lunches.  Don't get me wrong, I plan lunches all year but when school is out and there are 4 kids/teens eating I actually have to plan more specifically.  I do plan a schedule and we stay pretty consistent with the favorites.  \

What is the plan?  Simple - Monday is pizza (pizza rolls, French bread pizza, homemade pizza etc), Tuesday is Chicken Nuggets/Chicken Fries and French Fries, Wednesday is Breakfast foods, Thursday is my variety day - Dr. Pepper Meatballs, Spaghetti, Tacos, Sausage balls and muffins, and Ham with homemade mac and cheese, and Friday is Sandwiches OR something special (like a treat of pizza hut pizza, taco bell or some other fun outing).  The idea is to keep it simple for me, keep the grocery list manageable but yet make good food! Sometimes the rotation changes based on our activities for the week. 

Here is the lunch plan for the coming week:

Friday -It's the last half day of school for our friends - so I'm actually doing Chicken Nuggets/Fries and chips. 

Saturday - When we are home, we do YOYO . .. .You're On Your Own!  Basically everyone just finds what they want for lunch and makes it (or asks for help!) . 

Sunday - Our "lunch" is dinner and our "dinner" in the evening is technically lunch I guess.  Most often we just have cereal.  We might try doing some bonfires (when it isn't so dry) and roast some hotdogs, s''mores and such too. This week it will just be cereal :-) 

Monday - Pizza Rolls, Chips and Fruit

Tuesday - We have a field trip today so I'll be packing lunches.  I'm leaning towards lunchables as those are super easy.  

Wednesday - Pancakes and Sausage with fruit cups

Thursday - Spaghetti and Garlic Bread

Summer Time Planning

 

The past few summers I've taken a few weeks to plan out our summer - no matter how simple or . . . well, not simple.  This year I haven't thought much about it before now!  I feel like as my guys get older, I plan a little less and let them do the things they enjoy more.  While I miss some of the planning like lap books and crafts, I also enjoy the fact that they have things they love, friends they like to do things with and that they can entertain themselves!  With that said, I am still doing some planning for the sake of experiencing a few things in the midst of our laid back summer time.  

In reality our June kind of planned itself for the most part.  We will finish up school next week.  The following week has a couple of field trips planned.  Then comes two weeks of camp - 1 week with both guys involved and then Joshua is off to summer camp for a week.  Added in to that is my brother and sister-in-law are coming for a couple of weeks means we have a lot going on!  The rest of the summer is kind of quiet so I hope to maybe put a few things in to keep the summer days from getting to long! 

When I plan for the summer I try to keep days "themed" - mostly because I like consistency.  For example, Monday might be "sport" day - we will go up to the local baseball field and throw footballs, play a game of kick ball or throw a baseball around (by "we" I mean the kids HA!).  Tuesday will be "travel Tuesday" - we will head out to a local park, walking trail, or the airport viewing park.  Wednesday is "Wet Wednesday" - our friends have a pool we can use sometimes so hopefully we can do that on Wednesday or we will head to a local lake, splash pad or set out sprinklers and water guns.  Thursday is for the library program.  Friday is always "Free Friday" - maybe we will swim in our friends pool or we will just hang out at home.  Now, truth be told, some weeks we do nothing HA!  

Also I try to have everyone "unplug" for a bit each day.  I kick everyone outside for at least 30 minutes in the morning before it gets too hot.  Then in the afternoon we are either off doing the things listed above or we read and play a game or some other fun things for about an hour.  Again, truth be told . .. some days we don't unplug and just stay inside and stay cool - especially by the end of July!  

A few years ago I made an amazing summer calendar with activities and plans and all kinds of fun stuff.  We did about 20 % of it LOL  So now I plan less and look for opportunities to do things spur of the moment.  

The other thing I love about our laid back summer is I plan to get some things done too.  From cleaning and organizing to scrapbooking - things I don't always have a lot of time for during the school year.  My blog usually gets a little more active during the summer too as I have more time to plan :-)  .  

So, starting next week on Mondays I will start sharing our "Week of Summer Fun" with a recap of what we did the week before and hopefully some photos!  

Weekly Menu

 We are wrapping up all the things.  A few weeks ago was the final Wednesday Night Yough Group.  The following week guitar and Friday TKD wrapped up.  This coming week both drums and piano lessons will wrap up.  That leaves just Monday night TKD and Choir, also on Monday - both of which will wrap up by the end of June giving a month or two of a free calendar!  I love the "dog days" of summer - I guess it is the teacher in me - where we can just read (and yes, my kids read novels now), hang out together, and not do much of anything!  We are still wrapping up school - we lost momentum mid-April and are limping along to the finish line this year - so I haven't event set into motion my summer plans yet.  The one thing that remains constant is . .. we always have to eat!  Here's the plan for the coming week. 

Friday - I'm cooking up a batch of my spaghetti sauce and plan to make Stuffed Shells this week and will use the sauce later in the week for straight up Spaghetti.

Saturday - Dinner at my mom's

Sunday - Joshua and Nate have another youth service project so they will eat lunch with the youth group.  Darryl and I will grab lunch - not sure what or where. 

Monday - Sloppy Joes and Chips.  I ended up making sloppy joes last week and froze half it to use this week to keep my Monday easy with both TKD and Choir.  

Tuesday - Tonight is the piano recital.  To keep it simple, I put a pork loin in the crock pot to have with "Souper" Rice and green beans.  (I'll have to share both of those recipes soon - both tasty and simple!) 

Wednesday - Spaghetti and Garlic Bread (Using some of that sauce I made last week!) 

Thursday - Tonight I have a dinner out with ladies from church.  To keep it simple at home, I'll cook up leftover pork into pulled pork BBQ with biscuits and a salad. 

As we go into summer I'm hoping to double up meals both to save in cost and time.  Three examples this week - the sloppy joes, Spaghetti sauce, and pulled pork.  

Weekly Menu - The one when Summer begins!

 It's the unofficial start of summer!  Can you believe it?  I cannot!  

Here's the plan for the coming week:

Friday - 

Saturday - Nate has a guitar recital so we are going out to dinner afterwards

Sunday - If the weather is nice we will grill out

Monday - Memorial Day Picnic with my mom

Tuesday -  Tacos! 

Wednesday - Spaghetti Carbanara 

Thursday - Chick-Fil-A Nuggets and Fries

Weekly Menu

 We are slowly started to wind things down for the school year as activities also start to slow down too.  I really enjoy the slow pace of the summer without a lot of expectations.  

Here's the plan for the coming week: 

Friday - Pancakes, Eggs, Bacon and Sausage

Saturday - Dinner at my mom's 

Sunday - Joshua and Nate have a youth activity/service project that includes lunch so Darryl and I will get whatever we feel like HA! 

Monday - Dr. Pepper Meatballs, Baked Beans, and Homemade Salsa with chips

Tuesday - Turkey and Bean Nachos with a salad

Wednesday - Ham and Cheese Quiche and Banana Bread

Thursday - My Mom's Birthday!  Burgers on the grill, salad, and French Fries and dessert!  

Weekly Menu

 I'm a little late getting this posted!  So it's the shortened version :-) 

Friday - Grilled Cheese and Tomato Soup

Saturday - Chicken, Rice, and Green Beans

Sunday - Dinner at my moms

Monday - Ravioli and Garlic Bread

Tuesday - Tacos

Wednesday - Youth Group

Thursday - Crescent Chicken Pot Pie Braid and Crash Potatoes