Family Fun - Tee Ball

This spring, we signed the boys up for Tee Ball and it has been a huge success.  Josh, especially, loves it.  Nate is learning to love it but he still says he loves soccer more.  Josh enjoys watching the Detroit Tigers play and has informed us that some day, he will play for the Tigers and we will be watching him on TV.  Guess what, I'm ok with that dream :-)

 Their first practice was great.  Not only did the boys learn things, Darryl and I learned how to help them at home and a little more of how Tee Ball works. 

 Josh and Nate at their first game.  We were all very excited!

 When it was time to go on the field, Josh volunteered to be the catcher - which was funny since they had never talked about that position during practice. 

 He's so cute :-)  The job of the catcher in Tee ball is just to get the ball with the player on first throws it home and place it on the Tee. 

 Nate playing in the field. 

 Josh's first time up to bat.  He did great - hit the ball and remembered to run!

 Nate hit the ball too and yes, remembered to run!

The sun was very bright :-)

The boys have three fabulous coaches.  I have been so impressed by what they have been able to learn and how the coaches encourage them and correct them in order for them to learn to be better players.  I'm actually sad that they only have one more game and we have to wait a whole year before they play again.  Next year, Josh will move up to "Machine Pitch" where he will have to learn to hit a ball thrown by a machine.  Nate has one more year of Tee Ball  For now, they are looking forward to Soccer in the fall and Swimming lessons as soon as I can fit them in.  The boys have also asked to go back to gymnastics so the plan is to do that once soccer is done.  I try to find activities to do as our "PE class" for homeschool and these extracurricular activities fit the bill perfectly!

Weekly Menu - with a little camping thrown in

I can tell it's summer.  The days are lazier, the weather is warm, and I don't blog as much ;-)  I'm putting off installing the window A/C units as long as possible since we haven't had unbearable weather yet but, that also means sitting with a warm computer on my lap in the evenings is not on the top of my list.  If I don't get a chance to write blogs during the day, it usually doesn't happen. 

This past week was filled with VBS which was an unexpected break.  I didn't work in it this year because I had originally thought my kids were going to stay with my parents (but they decided they really wanted to be at VBS instead so they both missed Sunday night and Josh missed Monday as he did stay with my parents an extra night).  So, I was able to drop them off and then actually have a few hours each night of down time.  On Monday, Darryl and I dropped Nate off and then went to Applebees for dinner - it's 1/2 burger night so, with tip, our meal was not anymore than McDonald's would have cost (but so much better!)  On Tuesday we ate at home but after dropping the boys off, we treated ourselves to Frappes. (Are you seeing a trend? HA)  It ended up being a great week!

This coming week we will be camping again and we can't wait.  Our last trip was so fantastic that we can't wait for this one.

Saturday - this will be our prep day before camping so I will be busy prepping food, packing and loading the truck.  We usually end up with at least one trip to the store too.  In order to save money, we'll eat at home - I'm thinking we'll just end up with Corn Dogs/Hot Dogs and Chips to make it super easy.  

Sunday - Camping day one!  We'll eat lunch before we hit the road and, as is our tradition, after we get everything set up, we'll head a few miles down the road to our favorite pizza place, Bernie O's, for dinner . Naturally, we'll have s'mores and, since I have marshmallow fluff in the cupboard, I might take some strawberries and try out the latest "roasting" craze (per pinterest) and see if they are any good.

Monday - Breakfast at the campground - Sausage McMuffins (homemade), cereal and fruit;  Lunch - Soppy Joes in the crock pot along with chips and salads.  (I did this last time and it was awesome!);  Dinner will be steak kabobs (ok, we've modified these and now I cook them in the electric skillet - it's easier with kids); Baked potatoes (I can do them in the crock pot - you have to love crock pot bags HA) and salads.  This is also the night we like to go to Ruthanne's and get ice cream  - it's fun to get ice cream and watch the sun set at the beach.

Tuesday - Breakfast will be waffles and bacon (nothing smells better in a campground than bacon!).  Lunch - we always stop at fast food on our way out of town.  By the time we have packed up, loaded up and headed out we are hot, tired and thirsty PLUS starving!  By doing this, we know we can get home, unload and put stuff away without dying of hunger!  Dinner will be Chili mac.  I did this last time and it was perfect - it's actually already cooked and in the freezer - the Chili will just need to be heated up and I'll cook up some spaghetti to have with the chili.   A perfect end to a perfect trip.

Wednesday - Dinner is leftovers.  Between camping and Chili, we always have leftovers.  Sloppy joes, salads, and potatoes plus if needed I can always make mac and cheese. Oh, and I will be gone all day at a conference - my mom will be here so this way, between the time I get home and the boys need to be at their last T-ball game, we don't have to think too hard about dinner!

Thursday - How's this. . .. I have no idea ;-)  I plan to take the boys into town since I'm not babysitting this week and do something fun.  We will probably meet Darryl in town for dinner after his doctor's appointment.  Whether it be Pizza Ranch or Smashburger - it will be something quick and easy.

Friday - As of the writing of this - I'm not sure if we will be home or at my parents.  My brother is moving to South Carolina and this is their last weekend home.  Depending on how the goodbye's will go - We'll either drive over on Friday evening or Saturday morning.  So maybe we'll have tacos tonight or maybe not :-)

Teaching Tuesdays - Unplanned Science

We had some unplanned science activities for school this week. 

 This was the week, apparently, that all of the caterpillars were busy eating because the boys found many of them. 

 They pulled out their bug box and filled it with leaves, a stick and about 5 caterpillars.

 And then, they had caterpillar races. Yep.  Up and down the slide.  On the second day of this activity, one of the caterpillar's pooped on someones hand and they all went flying HA!  Those boys screamed like school girls!

 Nate wanted photos of HIM on the slide too!

We did end up with two caterpillars by the end of the day and they both form chrysalis' before the day was done.  The boys found another one a few days later and that also spun his chrysalis pretty quickly too.  Now, we are just waiting to see what they become!

This week we also cleaned.  I know, it seems funny, but I was busy cleaning the dining room and the boys got involved with spray bottles and rags.  They cleaned a lot of stuff.  Added to that, they made pictures for Braedon's graduation album and make flags for their treehouse.

What's coming up next week?  A Field Trip to a Farm; Finally planting our garden (what?  It was 32 degrees last week!!!); and actually doing some review work. 

One last thing, Josh was sitting by me one night while I was typing some things up.  He started sounding out words I was typing - I'm not too worried about him (or Nate) losing what they learned.  Not to mention the boys are always saying things like, "Mom, 100 + 150 equals 250."  For real. 

Oh, and I ordered our first book for the fall - Handwriting books for both boys are on their way :-)  One thing a week . .. we should be ready to go by Fall!

Make It Monday - A Graduation Album

This past week I spent several days working on a graduation album for my nephew. 

I've done these for each of my nephews and nieces when they graduated.  They include photos of the graduate with different family members.

Also, each member of the family, writes a letter to the graduate.  I get the privilege of reading all of the letters and they are fabulous. 

This year, just about everyone e-mailed me their letters so I used my scrapbooking software to turn them into some great pages with lots of visual interest. 

I also"made" this:

This is my new scrapbook area.  I had to do something so I could get back into getting our family photos into albums.  I put this to good use working on Breadon's book - it was so easy to work on the project with my supplies so handy!

Family Fun - My Birthday!

Sorry for missing pretty much all of last week - we had busy evenings so I never got a chance to sit down and type anything up! 

I'm a little behind on our Family Fun Posts :-)  This goes back to April 25th, when we celebrated my birthday.  This year, I decided I wanted to celebrate it and do some fun things as a family.  The boys are getting older and really enjoy the whole birthday fun. 

We started our day but heading out for breakfast.  We opted for a simple breakfast choice instead of one of the little breakfast cafes because, well, we were starving HA!  We ate a great breakfast at Bob Evans.  From there, we drove to Kalamazoo to the Air Zoo.  This is a place we've heard a lot about and boys seemed to be the perfect age for the rides. 

 We started out on the rides.  This Hot Balloon Ferris Wheel was super cute.  Darryl rode it the first time with the boys and it was hilarious to see him fold himself into the little car.  The other times, the boys rode it by themselves.  That was one of the great things about the Air Zoo - the boys were able to ride everything by themselves and have a blast doing it.

 A great airplane that they could make go up and down with the wheel.  The first time they rode together but the second time, Nate picked his own plane.

 This was a small version of the Demon Drop (Cedar Point) and the boys screamed and laughed and screamed again.  They rode this several times . . but the last time, Nate turned a little green around the gills and I was a little afraid he was going to hurl :-/ 

 My Boys.  After riding the rides, we wondered through the rest of the museum which, really, wasn't that exciting.  It would be if you LOVED planes and space but other than being very impressed with the size of some of the planes and getting to see an Air Force plane and talking to the boys about their cousin joining the Air Force, it was just a bunch of . . planes :-)

Once we left the museum, we went to see a movie. We had seen the movie advertized about the Monkeys (it was out for earth day) and it looked funny and cute.  It was, but it wasn't overly exciting.  At least the pocorn was awesome! From there, we headed to dinner.  Now, since this was my birthday dinner, I had researched, read reviews and searched some more for the perfect restaurant.  I found it . . or so I thought.  We got there and they had no tables - they were all reserved due to prom.  Then, the girl said, "Well, you can have a table by the bar but you have to leave in 45 minutes because it is reserved.  Well, we left.  We drove down the highway and got off at a busy road but still struggled to find anything until we stopped at a big BBQ place.  It was really busy and seemed to be well liked - it was awful. Darryl sent his food back because it was ice cold.  My steak was like leather and the kids food was cold.  So much for a great birthday dinner HA!

Really, we had a lot of fun, laughed a lot and just enjoyed being together.  On Monday, my actual birthday, my boys took me out to Cancun, my favorite Mexican place to make up for dinner on Saturday.  :-)  Plus the boys got me some awesome gifts so it was really a great day!

Weekly Menu - A Busy Weekend

Last week calmed down a little after camping and hot humid days that just about put me over the edge and it was only the end of May. And now, it's June!  Whew!

I'm less than inspired lately with cooking so the menu will look a little . . .bleak :-)  My kids have VBS this coming week so that will add to the cooking bleakness since meals need to be fast to the table and quick to clean up to get out the door in time! 

Saturday - We are heading to my parents with the promise of Chinese Food from their fabulous Chinese take out :-)

Sunday - Today is my nephew's graduation so all day will be spent with Family

Monday:  Sloppy Joes and Fries.  This makes everyone happy - is easy for Darryl to heat up since usually, during VBS week, the kids and I are eating before he gets home!

Tuesday - Spaghetti and salad.  (I'll probably just have salad . . .spaghetti is not my favorite but my family loves it!)

Wednesday - The boys have T-Ball so we have a little more time to eat (since T-ball starts later than VBS would)   BBQ Chicken in the crock pot (This stuff is so good!) Mashed potatoes (I'll probably cheat and buy the Bob Evans kind so I don't have to boil them in my "summer" kitchen (aka the hottest room in the house) cauliflower and Biscuits

Thursday - Tacos!!  We will most likely be heading in for the last night of VBS tonight . . .

Friday - Pork Chops on the grill, Fried Zucchini, Mac and Cheese and Biscuits

Weekly Menu . . the one I forgot to post on Friday.

So, funny story.  I wrote the Weekly Menu post that went up last Friday, two weeks ahead of time.  Great planning, right?  Then, I took the boys to the park on a Friday and wrote up a quick grocery list so we could run to the store and planned a completely different menu HA!  Oh well, we had a great few days camping and had some wonderful food and that is all that matters!

Here's the plan for the coming week.

Saturday - This is my night "off. "  Darryl either brings home dinner or we eat out.

Sunday - Burgers.  I had planned burgers for, well, tonight (the day of this post) but we ended up with a graduation open house to attend instead.

Monday - Slow cooker Mozzarella Stuffed Meaetballs, Spahgetti and garlic bread.

Tuesday - Chicken on the grill,

Wednesday - Cheesy Crockpot Tortillini

Thursday - Tacos

Friday - Something on the grill