Our weekly snapshot

 Here is look back at our week.  And it really is "back" because my photos start with Friday! 

We enjoyed our 2nd Friday of Co-Op.  We played Minute to Win It games in my Joyful Class. 

Nate is working towards getting his 2nd black belt.  He has to earn "stripes" (made with tape) on his belt by passing varies tests/memorization.  Thursday he earned his second of 8 stripes.  Once he has 8 he can test for his next belt. 

Wednesday night was the 2nd week of youth group and they had a great time playing games and studying God's Word. 

Nate is still enjoying Center Shot where he is shooting better every week.  He only has 2 weeks left. 

A friend shared this - this is were I've been spending my Monday Nights - Choir Practice.  This is was taken right behind me (so that's my hair LOL). 

Joshua had to do a science experiment on Monday - he had to talk about the process of Distillation.  He had to boil water with salt in it until the water was gone.  

Last Saturday we had a Family Fun Day.  We started at a place called Anderson and Girls that is an Orchard but also has a free "petting" zoo.  My favorite was the cow HA!  We enjoyed Apples and Cider before hitting the road and heading to Deer Park Junction for a Safari drive through.  We laughed so much.  The animals were very used to being fed out of car windows and got a little pushy LOL Then we headed to a little town that has a huge slide (this is on my 101-1001 list).  The boys loved the slide and we enjoyed a nature walk.  We ended our day at Lake Michigan with a picnic and a sunset.  It was a great day! 

Weekly Menu

 Some weeks I have great things to say and some weeks I have nothing HA!  This week I have nothing.  :-)  It was a pretty straight forward week.  

Here's the plan for the coming week:

Friday - This isn't a new thought; when we have Co-Op on Fridays I am tired by the time the day is done so I have to have something simple or something in the crock pot.  If not, I tend to order pizza.  So, I plan to cook to have Meatball Soup and Bread tonight.  I can make the meatballs on Thursday so then, putting the soup together will be easy.

Saturday - Tonight is my choir party so Darryl and I are going to attend that together and the boys will be at home.  Or maybe Nana will want to have dinner with them HA! 

Sunday - Chili with Fritos.  Great football food! 

Monday - Last weeks meal plan changed because we had tons of leftovers from the weekend which became Monday night dinner and then I forgot that Nate and I would be gone Tuesday afternoon/evening so I picked up Pot Pies for Darryl and Josh.  So, there will be a few repeats this week!  Anyway, my Chili recipe makes a lot so I'm planning left over chili but with spaghetti tonight (Darryl and Josh love theirs over spaghetti!) 

Tuesday - Steak Bites (crockpot) and Mac and Cheese (a new crock pot recipe to try) 

Wednesday - Youth Group.

Thursday - Cranberry Crock Pot Turkey, Baked Potatoes, and Corn - also a carry over from last week

Joyful Fall 2025 - Week 1

 Our first week of our fall co-op started this past Friday.  As I did previously I plan to share my basic lesson plans for my teen class which is called Joyful.  I have taught this now about maybe 6-8 semesters and every semester is different - or at least as a majority of different things.  I do repeat items if teens ask for them but I also try to do new things as well.  I always tell them that I will teach the class as long as there is interest and, considering the fact that the class fills up (or almost fills up) every semester I guess there is still interest (a max of 15 kids - I have 14 this semester) The reason I share my plans is that I have found it super difficult to find teen co-op classes when I search.  Most of them or "for credit" ideas and, honestly, I just want to have fun with the teens.  

Week One is our intro week.  

We start our week with the "Joyful Bucket".  This is our candy/toy bucket.  We go around the room and everyone shares one things that brought them joy from their week and then take a treat.  It is always fun to hear about their lives! 

Then, we headed outside to play an "Get to know you game".  It is called "Speed Meeting" (think .. "Speed Dating" ha!)  They each received a packet of questions and then got into two circles facing each other.  I set the time for 1 minute and they started asking each other questions.  Once the time went off, the inside circle moved one space and started again.  It was a neat way to learn new things about people who they really already knew! 

Next up was a game called "Llama Llama".  I saw this game a few weeks ago at Center Shot with Nate and thought it was too funny not to do in Joyful.  At the end of each round there was an "old fashioned moo-off" to find the winner HA!  It was a fun game.  

We took a group photo before our morning ended.  

Some years the first week of joyful is chaos.  Some years it is super quiet.  This year - it was just perfect.  Everyone was kind and respectful and everyone participated.  It was a good day. 

Sidewalk Prophets - Father, Let It Be (Official Music Video)

Our weekly snapshot

 Here’s a look back at our week: 

These first photos are from last week when Darryl and Joshua went to the tigers game. 😊

On Tuesday, just one week late, we went out for our annual “first day back to school” lunch.  What? Last week was busy!!! 

Youth group started on Wednesday! 

Nate attended TKD on Thursday.  He also attends on Monday but I don’t usually stay so I don’t get any photos. 

Finally, our co-op started on Friday and it was a great day!  After we were done, we went to a friends house to meet their kittens. 😊

Weekly Menu

 The last couple of weeks have been a little more busy than normal as Nate and I both have had physical Therapy multiple times a week but we both "graduated" yesterday.  We are finally getting into our normal school routine.  This just means trying to keep our days - especially the mornings - free from too many extra activities so that both guys can get their work done.  Nate has a few more weeks of Center Shot and then we will actually have a week night with nothing (actually our Tuesdays will be 100% free!).  That will feel good for sure!  

Here is our weekly menu.  I have slowly gotten my routine down better so that I have dinner ready by between 4:45-5:00 so Nate and I can eat before going to TKD and then Josh and Darryl eat it around 6:00 once Darryl is home.  This has helped with quick trips to McDonald's while Nate is busy or grabbing a slice of pizza at the gas station HA!  

Friday - Our Co-Op starts back up and I've done this enough years to know that I will be so tired when the day is all done so I have already planned to order some Little Caesar's Pizza.  

Saturday - We are taking off on a Family Fun Day.  I have a great picnic planned to enjoy for dinner. 

Sunday - Crock Pot Fajitas and Chips and Salsa.  

Monday - Meatball Soup and French Bread.  We just love this soup and it keeps well for lunch the next day too!

Tuesday - I saw a recipe post recently with some great looking crock pot recipes so I am incorporating a few this week and maybe next week.  First up is Swedish Meatballs, Noodles, and Green Bans.  I love Swedish Meatballs but have never made them. 

Wednesday - The guys are back at youth group so Darryl and I get dinner - normally just Taco Bell because it is the least expensive!  

Thursday - This is the 2nd new crock pot recipe.  Cranberry Turkey Roast, Potatoes, and Corn.  I love the Turkey Roasts that are available in the freezer section and have made them in the crock pot many times using the gravy packet that comes with it - this is just a different take on a recipe fo the turkey. 

That's it for this week :-) 

September Goals

 I spent quite a  bit of time in August planning and refocusing on my goals to accomplish the rest of the year (which was actually one of my August goals!).  I'm hoping to be a little more intentional with my time as well as more disciplined. I mean, I love curling up with a good book but also think I probably need to knock a few things off the to do list BEFORE I curl up with that book LOL  So, with that in mind, here are my September goals - which are a bit more specific then in months past.  (Or at least I feel like they are!)  Actually, I wrote a specific list for August-December.  As is normally the case, I did not finish all of the goals for August so I'm going to include those and note those accordingly. 

1. Scrapbook Goals
1. From August: 
1. Finish scrapbooking February and March 2025
2. Finish scrapbooking April, May and June 2011
3. Put at least one month of memorabilia in an album (or have it ready) 
2. From September
1. Scrapbook April, May and June 2025
2. Scrapbook July, August and Sept 2011
3. Put at least one month of memorabilia in an album (or have it ready)
2. Continue the big basement clean out 
3. Flylady - Work on weekly room cleaning routines
1. Do monthly habit of swish and swipe (August)
2. Do monthly habit of making my bed every day (September) 
4. Home Decluttering Goal
1. August - Finish up the master - it is almost done
2. September - the Kitchen
3. I finished about 1/2 of my August 31 list so I am carrying it over into September so it is not a "August and September 31 list" HA! 
5. Teen Projects (From August)
1. Nate and Darryl - Finish fixing the second lawn mower 
2. Darryl - Fix the board in Nate's bed
3. Darryl, Josh and Me - Hang up all of the decor in Josh's room. 
6. Call Specturm and try to get the bill reduced (From August)
7. Research a Will.  A friend gave me some info to use so I'm going to check it out. 
8. Go on a Date with Darryl
9. Work on establishing my habit of devotions and prayer time
10. Co-Op Work
1. Make sure that my Joyful classes are planned for September
2. Work on clearing out documents that I know longer need for our group that our on my computer.  
3. Since Google Office is not my friend - I want to get a thumb drive and move documents to that so that they are off my computer for the future.
11. Piano Solos
1. Work on It is Well with My Soul.  (The goal is to play this one in October)
2. Work on an easier solo for September (need to choose)
12. Visit the huge slide in Ravenna. 
1. Plan a Family Activity (Q3) - I'm going to tie this slide into our plans; Maybe go to the slide and head to the lakeshore 
13. Clean the outside of the windows - Joshua has already said he will help with this project (since he can climb the ladder with out fear . .. or fear of dying HA!) (From August)
14. Organize the TV Stand Cords - Nate has said he would help with this project.  :-) (From August)
15. Plan the Christmas Budget and get Christmas lists from the teenagers. (From August)
1. Need to start ordering a few items as the budget allows
2. Purchase tickets for the concert at Maranatha. 
16. Figure out what it means to "eat Mediterranean" HA!  I put this in my 101-1001 goals so I figured I'd do some research and maybe plan some meals so that I can try to incorporate this idea.  (I said I would do it for one month so once I get it planned I can move forward with that!!) 
17. Move my FIL's piano to Josh's room.  Technically I'm just the organizer of this plan.  Josh, Nate, Darryl, and a couple of Josh's friends actually have to move it! 
18. Plan Josh's birthday - what will we do and the budget. 
19. Repaint all of the white inside the house.  (Hopefully I can convince Josh and Nate to help paint LOL) 
20. Memorize my September verse.  I am a few verse behind so my first goal is to get September's memorized.  Once that is down, I will work on a second one. 
21. Read 2 non-fiction books.  Again, I'm behind on my 101-1001 overall goal but I'm hoping to start catching up on that goal. 
22. Find at least one new soup, crock-pot, or appetizer recipe. 
23. Finish at least 1/2 of this list! (My Favorite Goal every month LOL) 
24. Ideas/Plans for September I hope to see happen: 
1. Plan our first Sunday of Football Food Party (Food to eat throughout the day of Football!)
2. Maybe go to Anderson and Girls
3. I have a choir Concert
4. Our Family Adventure Day mentioned earlier in the list