May Goals - Is it really May?

You can check out how I did on my April goals by clicking HERE

This is what is on my Radar for May:

Home
1. Buy the first three gallons of outside paint and start painting!
2. Replace the front porch
3. Landscaping - My goal this month is clearing out the flower beds in the back yard and make that a living space.  We need to do some things to the kids play scape; plant some flowers, and do some other decor items.  This will probably carry over through the summer but I'd like to at least start this month
4. Make the playroom downstairs a . . .playroom!  The cubby hole I would like won't happen right now but I'd like to have the rest of it done before the heat of the summer starts.
5. Work on the new office/craft space/classroom - Making spaces work for us is one of the key goals right now and our tiny third bedroom was . . . a bedroom, an office, a bedroom again, a classroom, an everything room and now, it is going to be my space.  Ok, that sounds selfish but in a way it will be - it's going to be my craft space, the office/planning area for class, sometimes the classroom depending on what we are doing and I'd like it to be a second TV room to use when guests are here to give the kids a place to watch a movie.  My goal this month is to plan and budget for things like new window treatments, art for the wall, a desk/storage area, chairs or futon, new carpeting ect.  It's already painted the perfect color so now I just get to transition it to what I really want :-)
6. The Kitchen - this is my on going project.  I'm re-working some of my cabinet storage and have a few other cosmetic ideas I'd like to do.  Plus, I'm saving for the counters and floor . . .


The Kids
1. The Diaper Challenge - unbelievably, we are so close to success.  My goals now are to get them both into regular underwear AND to get their own stupid pants on LOL  One of the boys is 100% trained and the other is about 50% trained.
2. Preschool lessons - We are kinda wrapping up our semester so things are moving slower.  With more nice days, the boys just want to go outside and play which is fine by me.  I do plan on doing some theme units and having some crafts on hand to do on rainy days or when the boys ask.  But doing lessons every day right now is not a "must".  I also have picked out the curriculum for the boys for the fall and want to pick that up this month so I can use the summer to print, punch holes, prep crafts and be ready for our year.
3. The birthday board - I just want to get this started - once it is started, I think momentum will make me get it done before the October birthday!
4. Chore Chart - REALLY want to start this idea this month.
5. Go to the Kite Festival in Grand Haven - this is on the calender already; as long as the weather is nice we will go!!!

Me 
1. Scrapbooking -  My goals this month are to:   A) Put memorabilia in 2008 album - the albums have been done for well over a year but I have a whole envelope full of stuff that I need to add or throw out. B)Stick all pages in the 2009 Album- thanks to a sale I was able to order the last pages digitally for 2009.   C) Even though I technically finished the boys baby books I have some "wrap up" work to do like order imprinting for Nate's album, put page protectors on ect. so I want to get that done.  D) Stick 2013 pages down for Jan-Feb and order March and April photos.  E) I also have new software updates to put in my creative memory software and stuff to move to my new hard drive -I'd like to get that done this month too.
2.  That's all for "me" this month - I'm slipping behind on those scrapbook projects so I really want to focus on those

Marriage
1. Get dental insurance - it is really a simple thing to do
2. Order the word a day calender and do it
3. Subscribe to the sentinel
4. Pay ahead on our truck

Travel
1. Go through our camping stuff and get the supplies that we need
2. Plan our first camping trip - fun things to do with the boys
3. Prep for our June Vacation - want to prepare a theme unit to do in June, create travel books for the boys, and make any needed reservations.
4. Make initial plans for vacation for Darryl and I in November
5. Plan and budget for our Anniversary weekend trip

Crafts/decor Photography
1. read "How to Photograph your baby and do it
2. Make a list of 100 things about me
3. Make Nate's John Deere Blanket
4. Do Pinterest and Too Cute Projects
5. Find racks to hold current Scrapbooks in the living room (a pinterest idea, actually)

Organization
1. Finish the basement
2. Organize manuals into three ring binders
3.Organize our tax documents into a file box
4. Organize DVD's - need to order system from Amazon
5. Get racks to hang under the cabinets in the kitchen to store recipe binders

Food Friday - Crunchy Cheddar Chicken

Crunchy Cheddar Chicken
adapted from . . . a Facebook Post

Of the main meat proteins, Chicken is probably my least favorite.  Therefore, I'm always trying to find recipes that make it taste good and, guess what?  This one did not disappoint!!.  The coating is flavorful, the chicken was moist and the gravy was the perfect compliment.  I served the chicken with (Bob Evans) Mashed potatoes and some veggie that I don't remember. :-)  I did cut this recipe in half - the chicken breasts I used were HUGE so I started with just two and we had left overs. 

Ingredients:
2 pounds chicken tenders or 4 large chicken breasts cut into strips
2 sleeves Ritz Crackers
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper
1/2 cup milk
3 cups cheddar Cheese, grated
1 teaspoon dried parsley

Sauce:
1 10 ounce can cream of chicken soup
2 tablespoons sour cream
2 tablespoons butter

Directions:
Crush crackers.  If using chicken breasts and not tenders, cut each breast into 3-4 large pieces.  Pour the milk, cheese, and cracker crumbs into 3 separate small pans.  Toss the salt and pepper into the cracker crumbs and stir the mixture around to combine. Dip each piece of chicken into the milk, and then the cheese.  Press the cheese into the chicken with your fingers.  Then press the cheesy coated chicken into the cracker crumbs and press it in. 

Spray a 9x13 pan with cooking spray and lay the chicken inside the pan.  Sprinkle the dried parsley over the chicken. Cover the pan with tin foil and back at 400 degrees for 35 minutes.  Remove the tin foil, bake for an additional 10-15 minutes or until the edges of the chicken are golden brown and crispy.

In a medium sized sauce pan, combine the cream of chicken soup, sour cream and butter with a whisk.  Stir over medium high heat until the sauce is nice and hot.  Serve over chicken.

 

Weekly Menu - The one where I have to cook for a Ladies Tea

On Saturday, our church is hosting a Ladies Tea and, I'm not sure how it happened, but I volunteered to help do the food with another friend of mine   I really don't mind but it does mean a lot of cooking!  With that in mind, our meals this week will be super simple both because I have too much cooking to do for Saturday and to try and keep the grocery budget in tact even with feeding a bunch of ladies!!

Thursday - Tonight I have a hair appointment and the boys and Darryl are spending the day with his dad so I'm really not sure what will be for dinner.  How's that for easy?  I'm guessing McDonald's or Taco Bell.

Friday - Spaghetti and Garlic Bread - super easy after cooking food all day for Saturday. 

Saturday - Pork Chops on the Grill, Baked Sweet Potatoes (I can throw them in the crock pot before leaving in the morning), Left overs from the luncheon (Fruit Salad, Cheese, Pickles, Olives)  and rolls.

Sunday - We may stay for the Pot-Luck at church this week and I'll just take Leftovers from Saturday.  (And if there aren't left overs I think the boys and I will pick up a Pizza and come home HA!)

Monday - Stuffed Shells and Garlic Bread with Green Beans

Tuesday - It is Taco Night!!!

Wednesday - Pancakes and Sausage

Thursday - Spaghetti and garlic bread - it is grocery shopping day again :-)

That's it!  This weekend is Mother's Day . . .I wonder what my husband is cooking LOL

My Birthday !

Here is what we did for my birthday . . . with just a couple of photos thrown in :-)

 Darryl took the boys shopping on Thursday for my "Birthday Party".  On Friday evening, they cooked a great dinner - Steaks, Baked Potatoes, and Strawberry pretzel salad.  After dinner, I was put in the bathroom and told to "Stay there mom, we have to hide".  Darryl and the boys hid behind the couch and shouted "surprise" when I walked into the living room.  Super cute!  The boys picked out special gifts for me - Nate got me a beautiful plant and Josh picked out the garden light.  It looks so cute by our porch.

On Saturday, Darryl took me away for the day.  We started with lunch at Smashburger, some place we have never been and really loved :-)  Then we headed downtown Grand Rapids where, thanks to the fantastic weather, we walked around downtown for about an hour (My husband loves Grand Rapids history; I love being with my husband so it all works out LOL) before going to the Civic Theatre to see "Anne of Green Gables.".  It was an awesome play and we really enjoyed it.  It was dinner time so Darryl took me to Bonefish Grill - a place I really love but Darryl, not so much.  My meal was great; Darryl's wasn't so it ended up being a cheap dinner since they comped us for his meal.  :-)  Finally it was time to shop!  My gifts are pictured above:
1) An electric can opener - I've wanted one for awhile plus mine was in pieces so it was a must.  I LOVE it - makes opening all of those cans for lasagna so much easier :-)
2) An Ice Cream Maker - This has been on my list for about 3 years and I figured if no one else is going to buy me one, I will buy it myself!.  So far we've made vanilla ice cream and I just made a batch of Strawberry ice cream today to use up the milk/cream so it would be wasted.  I love having home made ice cream in the freezer instead of cartons of store bought stuff!
3) A couple of soundtracks.  Darryl took me to Baker Christian Books so we could have coffee at their coffee shop and then I wondered around the store for a good hour. 
4) An external Hard Drive - I've been waiting for my birthday to buy this - I needed it for picture back-up

I really had a great birthday and am already looking forward to next year!

Too Cute Not To Toot

Lets start with food:-)  Strawberry season is coming and I thought that this recipe from I'm a Lazy Mom looks super good.  We like Brie but don't use it often so these seems like a treat :-)

Sticking with the food concept, check out these Peach Smoothies from Mia's Domain .

Every once in awhile a neat sign catches my eye and this one from A Pop of Pretty did just that.  Laundry room art is on my list of "things" to do :-)  (Plus I LOVE the red Washer and Dryer!)

Any time I leave home to do anything the boys coming running for "Hugs and Kwisses" so when I saw this idea from Moms By Heart, well, it caught my attention and got me thinking - wouldn't this be super cute on the table?

One last idea- this one is from Home Talk and would be a fun craft for the kids to make to add to the garden. 

Happy Crafting!

April Preschool

We are getting back into the swing of things this week!  I'm not doing quite as much as two weeks ago only because I'm also trying to get some deep cleaning and rearranging done this week before I start babysitting again next week :-)

First, I wanted to show you all this picture of a successful "science" experiment! Remember this photo?

Well - here is true success!

Isn't that awesome?  The best part was that they were in full "bloom" when the boys returned from my parents so it was so much fun to show them their plants!

Here is a "snapshot" of what we did this week!

 Working on our preschool lessons.  Darryl was home from work on Monday due to being ill and it was amazing to see how the boys responded to him being part of "class".  Josh especially was "showing off" what he know and was on perfect behavior. 

 Our Bible lesson that day was on the Tower of Babel so after class, we got out the blocks and tried building towers which quickly turned into  . .. .

 Building train circles.  Isn't that awesome.  I won't like, on Tuesday, this is what they did again in the afternoon but this time Josh built pretty much the whole thing and then the boys played with the track for hours.

 Monday was a beautiful day so we spent a good amount of time outside.  The boys found their first caterpillar.  Ever.  They were both freaked out by it so me, being the tough one, made my husband show them how to pick it up HA!  If I was a great mom I would have gotten a jar and made a home for it so we could watch it turn into a butterfly but am just not that good ;-)

 Remember we are studying plants and flowers right now?  Well, Darryl pulled out my ugly rosebush that had seen better days.  Then we all worked on planting some bulbs so hopefully they will grow!

We have a future plumber in our house . . .. hahahahaha.  It was just too cute not to post :-)

The rest of the week we did lessons, played outside, went to gymnastics, made a trip to the grocery store, visited the Library and even surprised Darryl by attending a concert he had on Wednesday night.  Looking back, it was a busy week!

Happy Birthday

Whose birthday is it, you ask?  It is MINE!   Yes, my birthday is today and I love it!  To me, birthday's are a day to celebrate you and I personally think they should be a holiday.  (And a paid holiday at that HA!)  It is especially nice when the birthday falls on a weekend, wouldn't you say???  How old am I, you ask?  Why, I'm 41!!  Yep, I admit it too! I've earned this year and I want to celebrate it - no reason to hide it, right :-)

My husband has planned some fun for us today and I plan on using the whole weekend to celebrate this great day so with that in mind . ..  .I'm taking a blogging break.  I'll be back Monday with my normal Homeschooling post.

Have a great weekend and feel free to celebrate my birthday where ever you are at!