Weekly Menu - The one with "soft" foods

My husband has had to have a lot of unexpected dental work done over the last few weeks and he has more coming on Monday.  Because of that, he has to eat "softer"foods due to mouth pain from extractions and root canals.  I said I'm going to make him and the boys mac and cheese and I'm going to cook myself a steak!! HA!  For Real!  Ok, maybe not but I did pull out some easier to chew recipes so he doesn't starve to death ;-)

Friday - He's still on the really soft food diet from the dentist so he's getting some cream of wheat.  I decided to make each person their food of choice - Mashed Potatoes and Beans for Josh, Mac and Cheese for Nate, and, for me?  Steak and a baked potato.  Keeping it real ;-)

Saturday - It's our plan to take the boys to the Ninja Warrior competition that is in Grand Rapids so dinner will probably be on the run.

Sunday - Meatball and Orzo Soup and Crescent Rolls.  Much to my chagrin, my kids don't like soup.  So I'll make them Spaghetti which they both love.

Monday - Grammy's Swiss Steak, Mashed Potatoes, and Green Beans.

Tuesday - Ham and Cheese Quiche, Overnight Coffee Cake, and Asparagus.  Oh, and some waffles and sausage for my picky kids.

Wednesday - We are going to eat at Wendy's for a fundraiser for the Ionia VBS.

Thursday - Lemon Barbecued Meatloaf, Mashed Potatoes, and Salad (or veggie depending on what is in the fridge!)

I think there is at least one thing in each dinner for sure that Darryl can eat depending on how his mouth feels; if not I will always make him fried eggs or cream of wheat :-) He "should" be back to regular eating by the end of the week!

Something Yummy - Slow Cooker Cheesy Corn and Broccoli

Slow Cooker Cheesy Corn and Broccoli
adapted from Plain Chicken

This was piping hot when I took the photo so the steam makes the photo look blurry (sorry!).  This was one of those simple, easy, good dishes.  It's nothing fancy but was tasty.  If you have non-picky kids, they will love it (I, on the otherhand, have picky kids and they fake threw-up when they say it HA!).  It reminded me of a rich cream corn with broccoli thrown in to make it seem more healthy! I couldn't find 16 oz packages of veggies so I just grabbed the "regular" size which averaged 12-14 oz. 

1 (16 oz) package frozen corn
1 (16-20 oz) package frozen broccoli florets
4-oz Velveeta, cubed
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1 can condensed cream of chicken soup
1/4 cup milk

Combine the ingredients in a slow cooker, stir.  Cover and cook on LOW for 3-4 hours.  Stir before serving.

What I'm Reading

Whoops!  I forgot that I hadn't actually written about what I've been reading and this posted blank today!

I finished this book up and I will say it ended alot better then it started.  For the first half the book I couldn't keep straight who was who and who belonged to which family.  As the story narrowed into more a telling of just two main families it started to make sense.  It wasn't the best written storey but it was still good enough to finish.

This is a book that showed up as Free on one of the sites I follow so, of course, I picked it up for my Kindle.  I wasn't really sure if I'd like it but it had me in its grips from about the second chapter and I could hardly put it down.  This is the first gook in the Gwen Marcey series and when I finished it, I immediatly went looking for the next one because I enjoyed the mystery and suspense so very much.

Currently, I don't have a book I'm reading (I know - it's awful).  I was reminded in reading my last reading post that I need to read the last book in a series that I loved and then I think I will pick up the next book in the Gwen Marcey series too.

A Few of my favorite things . . .again

I have some more favoite things!  I thought I would share.

This.  The best sun screen in the world.  It smells like cocunt; goes on like butter; and lasts for hours even on the hottest, sunniest days.  Yes, we use SPF 50 and they do have an SPF 70.  We tend to love the lotion but they also have a spray which I'm not against either.

Flip Flops!  I know, they aren't really shoes but I love them!  I tend to wear them almost year round.  My philosphy is that even the snow is shoveled, I can wear flip flops :-) HA!

Ok, this is a food item but it's something new I've found.  This Icelandic yogurt is good.  I'm not a fan of greek yogurt at all but I tried this and it is really good.  I've tried a few different types of Icelandic and this "type" is the only one I like.

It's Football Season.  It might only be pre-season but I sure do love having a game on as often as I can!

Do you see those temps?  I'm loving this weather!

A Look Back at Halloween

I already know what you are thinking.  Halloween?? Really?  It's only August so don't rush it.  Well, here's the story.  I ask the boys in August to start thinking about Halloween costumes because, lets keep it real, I don't make anything; we buy their costumes.  The thought of "Creating" a costume gives me anxiety HA!  The reason we start thinking about it in August is because 1) They have time to think about what they want to be before my "order" deadline of the end of August and 2)Costumes are much cheaper in August then they are in October!  There is actually a third reason this year - Halloween at the campground is the last weekend in September; then we are camping in October on "Halloween Weekend" where they get to go Trick-Or-Treating again!  So yes, we plan early.

As we were discussing costumes, Nate brought up the fact that I "forced" him to be a Pirate two years in a row.  I told him he was wrong that he was only a pirate for one year and I could prove it so I went digging through photos and thought I would share.

 Josh -2009.  A Sock Monkey 

 Nate - 2010.  A Giraffe

 Josh 2010.  An Elephant (Seriously, this is my favorite "Josh" costume ever even though he wouldn't keep the head on because the truck covered his face!) 

 Josh- 2011.  A Train Engineer

 Nate- 2011.  A Scarecrow.  (This is my favorite "Nate" costume.  If I could dress him like this every year, I would HA!) 

 Josh - 2012.  A Fireman

 Nate 2012 - A Race car Driver

 Nate 2013 - A Pirate

 Josh 2013 - A Pirate

 Nate and Josh 2014 . . .Pirates (Do you notice something . .. Nate has a very good memory.  He was a pirate two years in a row!) 

 Nate - 2015.  A Dinosaur

 Josh 2015.  A Vampire

 Josh - 2016.  A Power Ranger

Nate - 2016.  A Power Ranger

Yep.  I was wrong and Nate was right.  As we looked at the photos I remembered the story (except I remember it slightly different than Nate does!).  Nate wanted to be a dinosaur so I ordered him a dinosaur costume but he did not like it.  I returned it so I could get a full refund prior to Halloween.  He couldn't decide what he wanted to be so he just ended up being a pirate again.  Josh, on the other hand, wanted to be a pirate two years in a row. 

Have the boys decided what they want to be for 2017? Josh is pretty much set and Nate is still thinking.  Either way, I won't reveal it until the first Halloween Activity at the end of September! 

Scripture Sunday

Our week in photos #7

We started out our week with more "Christmas in July" activities.

 Santa came to visit the Campground.  He brought personalized stockings full of candy.  Josh has no problem visiting Santa; Nate can't stand him HA!  So, thus, no photo of Nate. 

 The boys participated in the Santa parade .  

My mom ended up winning the decorating contest which was awesome!

We finally have perfect pool weather so we are enjoying it as much as we can!

 We had the pool to ourselves on and off for most of the afternoon so it was a perfect day to get photos.  I could lay in the pool all day - we actually lasted almost 2 1/2 hours and really didn't want to leave but it was time to get ready for dinner!

Dinner was at the camper tonight where my mom provided the food. After dinner, we got a great campfire going.

 Molly doesn't like the fire - she growls and barks at it :-)

We ended our evening roasting marshmallows.

The boys made a cat cave for Harley on Tuesday morning.

Josh and Nate love playing with the cat especially when the cat plays back, which he did.

I had set a "goal" this summer that I wanted to find a field of Sunflowers at some point and get some photos of the boys.  Sunflowers are a favorite of mine which is why I wanted to do this.  I happened to see a local photographer post some photos by a field so I found out where it was and we snapped some photos on Wednesday!

The boys went on a Scooter Ride with Darryl Thursday evening.

 Josh soared on that scooter.

 Nate's little legs got tired a little faster.

The second time around, Nate left the scooter behind :-)

Our week ended with our Anniversary!  My mom offered to take the boys (which is such a hardship HA!) so Darryl and I could go out to dinner.  We went to an Italian restaurant we haven't visited in forever and the food was fabulous.  It was nice going out on a Friday night too!  On the way home we stopped and picked up our favorite dessert.

There's a store called "Nothing Bundt Cakes" and it has the most amazing Bundt Cakes ever.  They are moist and flavorable with the best cream cheese frosting ever.  We always pick out a few of these little "Bundtlet" size cakes so we can have several flavors.  A perfect ending to our date night.