Saturday, March 14, 2015
Family Fun - Balloons
Like most kids, my kids love balloons. One day last week, Nate brought out a balloon he had and got Josh and Darryl to start playing with him. Somehow, the balloon got a hole it in and lost the air (It was one of those small balloons that never loses air . .. ) He was devastated. I went digging and low and behold, found a bag with some balloons in it and it made his day. Well, it made us all laugh and have fun until Darryl and I ran out of air and almost passed out from lack of oxygen :-)
Nate attempting to blow up the balloon.
Josh started to get the hang of it but then he thought it was funny to blow and blow . . .and then let the air back out in his mouth HA!
Nate getting a little better . . .
Hahahaha - what do I even need to say?
All I can say is that we really did laugh a lot. This was an unexpected family day - Darryl was home from work due to some bad weather and the kids I babysit were home sick. We all stayed in our PJ's and hung out together.
Friday, March 13, 2015
Weekly Menu
Have I mentioned how much I love my new monthly meal plan? Well I do. It makes shopping easier; using and/or freezing leftovers to use when we need them easier; it makes writing a grocery list easier. I think you get the idea. This weeks menu strayed a little. Monday the boys and I ran errands after our friends left for the day while Darryl had a doctors appointment so we grabbed McDonald's. They messed up our order - which I didn't discover until I got home - so when I went back, they gave me some coupons for free meals in the future - in the end, that means our meal was "free".
So, I had to share this since it seems that I forget something every single week. Well, this past week I was positive I remembered everything. Yet, when I went to make dinner on Wednesday, specifically the Biscuits for Biscuits and Gravy, I couldn't find the biscuits which I KNEW I bought! Then I traced back through the week trying to figure out when I used them and came up blank. I was totally stumped. Then, while pulling out some canned goods for dinner on Thursday this is what I found:
Yep, there they are, right in the cupboard where they DON'T belong ;-) My little helper last week, Nate, put away the canned goods and you must admit, this looks like a can! Oh well. At least now I know I wasn't totally insane!
Here's the plan for the coming week
Saturday: We are taking the boys to the circus for the first time ever (I am so excited - they don't know yet - we don't tell them about special events until the day of!) So afterwards we will grab something to eat.
Sunday: Today we'll have lunch at church with some missionaries. I'm going to take "Chinese" Coleslaw (the one with ramon noodles) and a dessert - I think Blueberry Pie. Later for our evening meal, we'll have Sloppy Joes. (This is one of those meals I can make the day before - freeze half of it for next month and then just have to eat it up for dinner.)
Monday - Enchiladas! I make a salad to go with it (Lettuce, tomatoes and onions to eat with the Enchiladas) and then chips and salsa.
Tuesday - It's St Patrick's Day! Our tradition is to have Crockpot Stuffed cabbage rolls, Crash Potatoes, green beans and Rainbow Jello! I usually make some green pudding with "coins" buried in the bottom of each cup.
Wednesday - Chili Dogs and Fries. I actually put aside some Chili when I made it a few weeks ago to use for this meal. Another way the planning is coming in handy!
Thursday - Teryiaki Chicken Thighs, Carrots, Buttered Noodles (We love them so much!) and Rolls.
This week for our sweets/bread I'm going to make Lemon Blueberry Poppyseed bread and M and M Cookies. I also found a recipe for homemade Almond Joy bars that I want to try too.
So, I had to share this since it seems that I forget something every single week. Well, this past week I was positive I remembered everything. Yet, when I went to make dinner on Wednesday, specifically the Biscuits for Biscuits and Gravy, I couldn't find the biscuits which I KNEW I bought! Then I traced back through the week trying to figure out when I used them and came up blank. I was totally stumped. Then, while pulling out some canned goods for dinner on Thursday this is what I found:
Here's the plan for the coming week
Saturday: We are taking the boys to the circus for the first time ever (I am so excited - they don't know yet - we don't tell them about special events until the day of!) So afterwards we will grab something to eat.
Sunday: Today we'll have lunch at church with some missionaries. I'm going to take "Chinese" Coleslaw (the one with ramon noodles) and a dessert - I think Blueberry Pie. Later for our evening meal, we'll have Sloppy Joes. (This is one of those meals I can make the day before - freeze half of it for next month and then just have to eat it up for dinner.)
Monday - Enchiladas! I make a salad to go with it (Lettuce, tomatoes and onions to eat with the Enchiladas) and then chips and salsa.
Tuesday - It's St Patrick's Day! Our tradition is to have Crockpot Stuffed cabbage rolls, Crash Potatoes, green beans and Rainbow Jello! I usually make some green pudding with "coins" buried in the bottom of each cup.
Wednesday - Chili Dogs and Fries. I actually put aside some Chili when I made it a few weeks ago to use for this meal. Another way the planning is coming in handy!
Thursday - Teryiaki Chicken Thighs, Carrots, Buttered Noodles (We love them so much!) and Rolls.
This week for our sweets/bread I'm going to make Lemon Blueberry Poppyseed bread and M and M Cookies. I also found a recipe for homemade Almond Joy bars that I want to try too.
Thursday, March 12, 2015
March Goals
So, I meant to post this last Thursday but, low and behold it wasn't written . . .even though I'm sure I wrote it like two weeks ago! So, as I sit down to write this, I realize that my list my be a little more abbreviated since the month is almost half over!
Home:
1) Get the boys room set up. New bunk beds will be here soon and then we will organize and set up their room in a better way with much more space to use.
2) This month my cleaning is focusing on the living room. Really, just doing some wiping down, cleaning the corners, and making sure it is just nice and clean. It is the most used room in the house so it tends to stay a little more picked up than the rest :-)
3) The basement - the weather is warming up so I'm planning to get the play room done finally.
School:
1) Order a few of our books for the fall. A blessing - a year ago I ordered some lights from Amazon for a project. Yesterday I got an e-mail that they have been recalled due to a fire hazard and my account was credited the amount of the lights. I can order one of the boys books for "free" with that money!
2) I haven't done great at planning Friday things but with that said, it seems are Fridays have also been busy with other things. Instead, I want to focus more now on some summer ideas . Yes, school will be done but the boys will have 1-2 educational worksheets for review each day and then I would like to plan some other activities to do a few days a week. I might also check out a few 2-3 day learning camps (I found one that focuses on Legos!) and see if we can do 1-2 of those.
3) For PE - it's time to register the boys for soccer (Nate) and T-Ball (Josh). We are still trying to get them into swim lessons soon too.
Family:
1. Our Camping trips are all reserved - now I need to focus on planning. What we need, food ideas, and activities.
2. Record serial #'s - such an easy task that never gets done!
3. Take the dog for her shots
4. Hang the boys new photos
5. Work on our family summer wardrobes. We all need a few things so now I need to find the deals :-)
6. I've been working on budgeting out some little trips beyond our camping trips - one for Nate's birthday that we have yet to do plus some others for later this year.
Holidays:
1. I still need to recap Christmas for myself. I also need to plan a budget for 2015 so we can not be stressed this year when we hit December INCLUDING budgeting for Darryl to take extra days off.
2. Set up a Christmas Present storage plan. Here's the deal. I already have a Christmas present for Nate. A friend of mine was selling it so I picked it up for next to nothing. So, what I want to do is take a photo of it, put it in a folder on my computer with a #, then wrap the gift and the same # on it. Then have a bin in the basement to put those gifts in. That way, I CAN pick stuff up along the way throughout the year.
3. This month - we always go back to where we got engaged so that one day trip is the main focus.
4. Make some St. Patrick Day fun plans. Just the normal green themed ideas.
5. Birthday Board plans. I would like to accomplish one task for our birthday week plan. Last year I pretty much just did the Birthday shirt and pillowcase but now I want to add more.
6. Pick up 4 objects for the Christmas Countdown - this can be a big expense because even buying $1.00 items means $50.00.
7. Need to plan for Easter - pick up their small Easter gifts, get eggs and fill them, egg decorating supplies and some cute little outfits for the boys (Okay, really just some nice summer dress clothes :-) )
Misc.
1. Quiet time - continuing on with my daily devos and prayer journal.
2. Finances - Plan the March budget, set up savings funds, put my planned amount in the boys savings account.
3. Music - practice piano. I'm working on two songs specifically and trying to practice every day for about 30 minutes. The truth is, the more you play, the better you get ;-) Darryl and I also need to work on a song that we want to do for special music.
4. Scrapbooking - Ok, totally unfocused right now. This month - Laying out each project I have in the works and figuring out how to best get it done.
5. A special Album - I have a nephew graduating this year so it is time to start on his album. My goal for this month is to find and print all of the photos for the album AND purchase his album/pages/protectors.
5. "Just One Thing" - I'm implementing a new thought this month and it is called "Just one Thing". I've made a list of random things I would like to get done this month - everything from changing out some art work in the Kitchen and Hallway to plan a simple month menu that rotates every single month to make shopping easier. I won't share the whole list here but will share it in April when I accomplish it all (hopefully!)
6. Misc - I continue to have my 4 goals that I'm not sharing :-) So, I just want to continue work on those too.
That's all for this month!
Home:
1) Get the boys room set up. New bunk beds will be here soon and then we will organize and set up their room in a better way with much more space to use.
2) This month my cleaning is focusing on the living room. Really, just doing some wiping down, cleaning the corners, and making sure it is just nice and clean. It is the most used room in the house so it tends to stay a little more picked up than the rest :-)
3) The basement - the weather is warming up so I'm planning to get the play room done finally.
School:
1) Order a few of our books for the fall. A blessing - a year ago I ordered some lights from Amazon for a project. Yesterday I got an e-mail that they have been recalled due to a fire hazard and my account was credited the amount of the lights. I can order one of the boys books for "free" with that money!
2) I haven't done great at planning Friday things but with that said, it seems are Fridays have also been busy with other things. Instead, I want to focus more now on some summer ideas . Yes, school will be done but the boys will have 1-2 educational worksheets for review each day and then I would like to plan some other activities to do a few days a week. I might also check out a few 2-3 day learning camps (I found one that focuses on Legos!) and see if we can do 1-2 of those.
3) For PE - it's time to register the boys for soccer (Nate) and T-Ball (Josh). We are still trying to get them into swim lessons soon too.
Family:
1. Our Camping trips are all reserved - now I need to focus on planning. What we need, food ideas, and activities.
2. Record serial #'s - such an easy task that never gets done!
3. Take the dog for her shots
4. Hang the boys new photos
5. Work on our family summer wardrobes. We all need a few things so now I need to find the deals :-)
6. I've been working on budgeting out some little trips beyond our camping trips - one for Nate's birthday that we have yet to do plus some others for later this year.
Holidays:
1. I still need to recap Christmas for myself. I also need to plan a budget for 2015 so we can not be stressed this year when we hit December INCLUDING budgeting for Darryl to take extra days off.
2. Set up a Christmas Present storage plan. Here's the deal. I already have a Christmas present for Nate. A friend of mine was selling it so I picked it up for next to nothing. So, what I want to do is take a photo of it, put it in a folder on my computer with a #, then wrap the gift and the same # on it. Then have a bin in the basement to put those gifts in. That way, I CAN pick stuff up along the way throughout the year.
3. This month - we always go back to where we got engaged so that one day trip is the main focus.
4. Make some St. Patrick Day fun plans. Just the normal green themed ideas.
5. Birthday Board plans. I would like to accomplish one task for our birthday week plan. Last year I pretty much just did the Birthday shirt and pillowcase but now I want to add more.
6. Pick up 4 objects for the Christmas Countdown - this can be a big expense because even buying $1.00 items means $50.00.
7. Need to plan for Easter - pick up their small Easter gifts, get eggs and fill them, egg decorating supplies and some cute little outfits for the boys (Okay, really just some nice summer dress clothes :-) )
Misc.
1. Quiet time - continuing on with my daily devos and prayer journal.
2. Finances - Plan the March budget, set up savings funds, put my planned amount in the boys savings account.
3. Music - practice piano. I'm working on two songs specifically and trying to practice every day for about 30 minutes. The truth is, the more you play, the better you get ;-) Darryl and I also need to work on a song that we want to do for special music.
4. Scrapbooking - Ok, totally unfocused right now. This month - Laying out each project I have in the works and figuring out how to best get it done.
5. A special Album - I have a nephew graduating this year so it is time to start on his album. My goal for this month is to find and print all of the photos for the album AND purchase his album/pages/protectors.
5. "Just One Thing" - I'm implementing a new thought this month and it is called "Just one Thing". I've made a list of random things I would like to get done this month - everything from changing out some art work in the Kitchen and Hallway to plan a simple month menu that rotates every single month to make shopping easier. I won't share the whole list here but will share it in April when I accomplish it all (hopefully!)
6. Misc - I continue to have my 4 goals that I'm not sharing :-) So, I just want to continue work on those too.
That's all for this month!
Wednesday, March 11, 2015
What We are Eating - Pancakes
Pancakes
adapted from Pioneer Woman
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Often, on Wednesdays, I serve breakfast for dinner. There are two main reasons. One, I love breakfast foods but am not awake enough or motivated enough to cook them every morning and two, it is a quick, easy meal on a night that we are busy and have to get out the door quickly. I usually use box pancake mix and have no complaints about it but have been wanting to try a pancake recipe just to see if there is a difference. These pancakes are good - light, fluffy, and tasty but they aren't any better than the box :-) I figured I would share the recipe anyway just in case you really want to make them from scratch! I did not put together the toppings for our dinner but you could use them if you want. (I do always add chocolate chips to my pancakes though . . .it comes from a cooking class I took in high school HA!)
Ingredients
3 cups plus 2 tablespoons cake flour
3 tablespoons baking powder
2 tablespoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 cups milk, plus more if needed for thinning
3 teaspoons vanilla
2 large eggs
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, plus more for buttering the griddle
Directions
Pancake bar toppings: mini chocolate chips, fresh blueberries, flavored yogurt, sliced bananas and extra pats of butter
Mix together the cake flour, baking powder, sugar and salt in a large bowl. Mix together the milk, vanilla and eggs in a separate bowl. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients, stirring very gently until just combined. Melt the butter and add it to the batter, stirring gently to combine. Stir in more milk if needed for thinning; the batter should not be overly thick.
Set a griddle over medium-low heat and butter the surface when it's hot. Use a 1/4-cup measure to drop the batter onto the griddle in batches. Fry the pancakes on both sides until golden, about 2 minutes per side.
Serve with an assortment of your favorite pancake toppings, such as mini chocolate chips, fresh blueberries, flavored yogurt, sliced bananas and extra pats of butter.
Recipe courtesy of Ree Drummond
Read more at: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ree-drummond/perfect-pancakes-and-toppings.html?oc=linkback
adapted from Pioneer Woman
Ingredients
3 cups plus 2 tablespoons cake flour
3 tablespoons baking powder
2 tablespoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 cups milk, plus more if needed for thinning
3 teaspoons vanilla
2 large eggs
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, plus more for buttering the griddle
Directions
Pancake bar toppings: mini chocolate chips, fresh blueberries, flavored yogurt, sliced bananas and extra pats of butter
Mix together the cake flour, baking powder, sugar and salt in a large bowl. Mix together the milk, vanilla and eggs in a separate bowl. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients, stirring very gently until just combined. Melt the butter and add it to the batter, stirring gently to combine. Stir in more milk if needed for thinning; the batter should not be overly thick.
Set a griddle over medium-low heat and butter the surface when it's hot. Use a 1/4-cup measure to drop the batter onto the griddle in batches. Fry the pancakes on both sides until golden, about 2 minutes per side.
Serve with an assortment of your favorite pancake toppings, such as mini chocolate chips, fresh blueberries, flavored yogurt, sliced bananas and extra pats of butter.
Recipe courtesy of Ree Drummond
Read more at: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ree-drummond/perfect-pancakes-and-toppings.html?oc=linkback
Tuesday, March 10, 2015
Teaching Tuesdays
We had another great week. The boys are starting to ask when we will get done school; Nate is asking why he can't start Kindergarden; Josh says he's bored ;-) (Really, he just wants to play Pac Man more HA!)
Here's what we did this week!
Josh has been asking me to give him mazes to do for . . .well, months. Nate has a maze book as part of his daily work so I finally took the time to find Josh a few too. Here, Nate is attempting to explain to Josh how to do a maze since he is, afterall, the expert on mazes. :-)
I also found some practice Math worksheets for Josh. Mamas Learning Corner was one of the resources that I used for some great addition worksheets.
Nate working on his addition practice. The best part was when he would say, "Mom, I know this one without the pieces!"
This past week we finished up our short "e" book and started on our short "i" words. The "i" sound is a little harder but the more we practice the easier it gets for Josh.
I can honestly say that I'm getting as excited as they are about the end of the year. Sure, we still have lots to get done before then but the end is near!
Here's what we did this week!
Monday, March 9, 2015
Make it Monday - Wooden Blocks
One of the privileges I have is to be on the missions committee at our church. Naturally, I have a heart for missions. I grew up with missionaries in our home frequently and I have several family members who are currently on the mission field or have been on the mission field at some point. The culmination of the year for the missions committee is the Missions Month ending with the Missions banquet all of which is happening right now. My main job has been the centerpieces so I thought I would share what was done.
To begin with, one of the other members had the blocks cut. Simply, she picked up some basic boards and cut them down into three different sizes. From there, another member took them and spray painted all of them a nice brown color.
From there, another one of the members gathered the pictures and photos of the country flags and another member actually cut out maps from each of the countries as well. I created the verses to go on the blocks and also used the mission booklet to add information. I then used modge podge to adhere all of that info to the blocks.
One side of each block held a photo, the info, and the map.
While the other side held the flag and the verse (we did the verse on two different blocks).
This is a very simple craft idea that is so versatile. They would be great for holiday decor with either photos or letters on them or as decorations for a shower or wedding again, with photos - either decorative or of the couple/family/baby ect - or letters.
This is a very simple craft idea that is so versatile. They would be great for holiday decor with either photos or letters on them or as decorations for a shower or wedding again, with photos - either decorative or of the couple/family/baby ect - or letters.
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