Weekly Menu!

I keep thinking that fall is here. .. . and then we have 75-80 degree days and it makes me a little sad.  Don't get me wrong, the weather has been beautiful but the bees, wow.  I've become the great bee killer - usually killing upwards of 10-15 bees a day if the patio door is open.  The kids don't even like to play outside for very long because of the bees!  I'm ready for a really good solid freeze so the bees will go away.

Here's our plan for this week.  We are laying pretty low since my husband is still dealing with a bank injury.  Ironically, October is usually one of our busy months with fall stuff, Halloween, a birthday and just all around fun stuff.  So far, we aren't doing much of anything!!!

Friday - Taco's!  It has a been a few weeks since we've had our normal Friday night tacos.  Tonight will be traditional :-)  I'll just add some chips and Salsa to go along with it.

Saturday - Italian Burgers and Salad - Saw this in an episode of Pioneer Woman and it looked good!

Sunday - We'll have Sloppy Joes after church since I can have it all made before hand and then I'm going to do a pot of Chicken and Dumplings for dinner.

Monday - Monday is Soup day!  I'll turn left over chicken and dumplings (minus the dumplings) into Chicken Noodle Soup.  This is THEE best way to make chicken noodle soup!

Tuesday - Thanks to a friend of mine who had about 5 crock pots and heard that mine had died and I had yet to replace it, I now have a crock pot :-)  So we will have Balsamic Pork Loin in the Crock pot, Mac and Cheese, roasted veggies and some rolls.

Wednesday -It's breakfast for dinner!  Biscuits and Sausage Gravy, fried potatoes and Fruit!  Yum :-)

Thursday - We'll end the week with an old favorite, Beef Strogenoff over noodles with Italian bread.

What am I baking this week?  Well, it is fall so I'm thinking maybe an apple crisp and/or a pumpkin pie.  Cookies will be the "break and bake" since they are on sale this week :-)

Making Your Home a Haven

Women Living Well

Last week I introduced the "Making your Home a Haven" Challenge from Women Living Well.  Last week we were challenged to clean out some clutter - what ever area we needed to - to prepare.  

This weeks challenge is to light a candle for your family in your home and each time you see it, pray for peace within your home; pray for your family.  Personally, I love candles.  I love the warmth and the smell and just how it seems to bring a level of comfort to the home.  I used to light them all over the house but with young children, I am careful where I leave a lit candle.  Currently, we have a nice high entertainment center so I keep one burning there.  The fragrance makes our main living area so inviting!  This year, though, I've also started lighting one in my kitchen.  I spend a good portion of my day in that room between making meals, cleaning up, baking and more.  

I purchased this candle back in August, along with the holder, and have been waiting for it to be cool enough to light it!  It's still a bit warm around here but I can light it for a bit in the morning before it is time to open the doors and windows for the day :-)

My kids have asked me why I have candles lit - they want to know whose birthday it is HA! 

So, get out your candle and light it.  If you don't love "hot candles" then get one of those cup warmers and place your candle on there - it will warm the wax and release the smell.  Or get a "fake" candle - the kind you put batteries in so it flickers or pick up a Scensty Warmer :-)  What ever you need to "light your home" for your family!

Halloween Ideas

This is the first year that my kids actually understand Halloween and all of the fun that goes with it.  I've asked them what they want to be and they said Ghosts . . .I think I would like to just get some king size pillow cases (Walmart - $5.00) and maybe some white sweatpants or something??  Not 100% sure yet :-) 

This is a link to a whole Pinterest Folder that is full of fun, festive food ideas for Halloween and Fall.  This one caught my eye :-)

Preschool and Pre-K report

Last week was a little different due to my husband being home due to a back injury and then I was heading out of town on Thursday. 

Monday -

 The boys have been asking to play with play dough lately, which I don't mind at all, but it seems like they ask just before dinner or just before bathtime so there really isn't time to get it out.  After spending most of the day in the ER with my husband on Sunday, I really didn't feel like "teaching" on Monday so we got out the play dough and practiced making the letters the two little boys have learned so far.  Once they had made letters then we got the rest of the play dough stuff out and they played the rest of the morning.

 Nate's letters - I think he did pretty good :-)

My letters - Josh actually made both the upper and lower case letters but I didn't get any photos of his finished product.

Tuesday -

 Nate doing some color matching :-)

 Josh working on his calendar.

The boys working on some graphing.

The boys were really not into school on Tuesday and asked to quit early.  I didn't fight it - that is one of the joys of homeschooling :-) 

We took Wednesday off because I had so much to do to get ready to leave on Thursday.  I made three different trips out during the day in order to tie the trips into naps since my husband is confined to a chair most of the time.   Thursday was already a planned day off - Darryl had a doctor's appointment in the morning and then I left after lunch. 

So, where did I go?  I went on a long-planned scrapbook weekend with friends.  It was fully paid for and, to back out, would have cost me what I paid so we decided that it actually cost less to go - since the amount of "spending" money was much less then what I had already paid.  It was so much fun to go away with some friends AND to get a ton of scrapbooking done. Now I'm back to getting creative with a way to keep my stuff a little more handy so I can do some pages each week.  I have a few ideas. . .. my dining room is the size of the Grand Canyon afterall, isn't it? LOL

So, here we are at Monday of a new week.  I think we are taking this week off - it is supposed to be next week - but I'm kinda buried and behind right now.  To start with the boys have a dentist appointment this morning so we wouldn't even do school.  I still need to unload and unpack plus I have some organizing to do.  Added to that the boys and I all have colds (as do the kids I babysit for - they aren't even here today they are so sick).  I do have a few fun ideas to do so we will do those, review the letters, numbers and sighwords we've learned so far and even do some review worksheets.  I also have birthday and halloween things I need to get a grasp on so that I'm not scrambling at the last minute.  Taking this week to do all of that will be a big blessing :-) 

So, three cheers for a "week off"!

Taking a Break :-)

I'm taking a few days off :-)  So enjoy your weekend and I will be back on Monday with a post about our (lack) of Preschool this past week!!  And also plan to have posts up and ready to go - October is a Fun Month for us with lots of things going on! 

Weekly Menu

So this weeks menu is pretty simple.  I'm going out of town for a few days and my husband is recovering from a back injury so he is stuck in a chair most of the time.

Friday - Darryl will have left over Chili or Chili Dogs for dinner - his choice

Saturday - Same as above - basically he can heat up whatever he wants :-)

Sunday - I picked up some corn dogs to have for dinner since I'm not sure what time I will be home with the kids.  Fancy, I know ;-)

Monday - Spaghetti and garlic bread w/ Fried Zucchini.  We actually had this meal last week too - it tasted so good we will have it again!

Tuesday - Stuffed Cabbage and Crash Potatoes with french bread

Wednesday - Chick-Fi-Lay Nuggets and tator tots

Thursday - Beef Tips and Noodles with a veggie and Biscuits

Making Your Home a Haven Challenge

It is hard to believe that it is the 4th of for the Women Living Well Fall Challenge for Making your Home a Haven.  I participated the first two years but missed last year.  I feel like this is coming at the perfect time for me - I need to refocus my energy into my home and this challenge will do just that.

An added bonus this year is that there will be a weekly give away making it more fun to post for that odd chance I might win! 

So, what is this weeks challenge?  To clean up some clutter!  I've lost my motivation to do deep cleaning so I'm hoping to get some things checked off of my list this week.  Courtney also talks about cleaning up the clutter in our spiritual lives - as always, I've fallen of the "quiet time" wagon so I'm going to use this week to get back into it.