Our Week in Photos #31

So this is how our week started.  Actually on Saturday, the boys and I went to a baby shower at church and other than their colds both boys seemed fine.  By Saturday evening Josh said his ear was hurting.  He ended up being up most of the night due to the pain.  Thankfully one of our two local walk in clinics is open on Sundays so I was able to get him in and this photo was taken after a dose of antibiotics (for the ear ache) and Benadryl Congestion (for his cold).  He was wiped out!

This was taken almost 24 hours later on the dot!  It's amazing how quickly those medications work!  We had Monday off due to Presidents Day (yep, even homeschoolers get a holiday) which was actually good so that both boys could have a low key day and get some rest.  The colds seem to finally be going away and everyone is getting back to normal.

 This has been happening several nights this week - Derby Cars.  The Grand Prix is today so Darryl and the boys worked on painting and decorating the boys cars this week. 

 The big event this week was Darryl's birthday!!

 The birthday Boy!

 Josh and Nate planned a surprise - Josh played Happy Birthday on the piano and Nate brought out a tray of birthday hats/plates/blowers that he had hid in the bedroom.  They had a lot of fun planning all of this fun stuff!

Opening gifts :-)

 Thursday night was the 2nd night of bowling (and Darryl's birthday!).  Yes, Nate is wearing his coat - the bowling alley was so cold this week!  (Last week they were sweating HA!)

Just one shot of Friday school - Nate is on the left hand side.  Fridays are fun but long days. 

So, that's our week!

Weekly Menu - The one with a birthday celebration!

Last weeks menu went much better.  The food was good and that's all that matters!! This coming week is a little to plan because the kids are going to the grandparents house for a few days! 

Friday - I'm not sure HA!  Either lots of leftovers or we might grab something at McDonald's and go see Peter Rabbit.  That decision won't be made until today though.

Saturday - My birthday gift to Darryl is to go to a Steven Curtis Chapman concert so we are dropping the kids at his mom's so we can go away.  Dinner will be before the show!

Sunday - We are still enjoying Darryl's birthday so we will eat while we are out and about.

Monday - Now, you know my rule - no cooking while the kids are away :-)  I'm not sure what we will do yet.  Applebee's, Big Boy, Wendy's?  Whatever we feel like

Tuesday - Pretty much the same thing :-)

Wednesday - The kids come home today so I usually plan just Mac and Cheese and Corn Dogs.  Something quick and easy between when they get home and when we need to leave for AWANA.

Thursday - We are going on a field trip so I decided I wanted something I could make ahead and just heat up.  So Tacos it is !  I can do all of the prep work Wednesday and then just heat it up when we get home before we go to Bowling!

Happy Birthday to the Big D!

Happy Birthday to this guy!!

He turns . .. . a year old today and the boys and I have fun celebrating his day even if it isn't his favorite!

A birthday pillowcase, birthday balloons, decorations, presents, his choice of a meal and his favorite cake! 

He brings fun to our family; laughter to our days; and works soooo many hours so I can stay home with the boys. 

He plays a mean guitar, drives better than anyone else I know (Did I tell you the story about how we were at the top of a hill and started sliding . . .we slid through a stop sign and were picking up speed heading straight down when he carefully put the front tire into a snow drift to stop us?  I would have crashed HA!), and loves to play games with the boys. 

Our family wouldn't be complete without his laughter and wisdom so 

Happy Birthday Darryl! 

Our Valentine's

This year I decided to use Pinterest to my advantage and have the boys pick out some ideas for Valentines that we could create at home.  I was really tired of buying those boxes of nothing to use as valentines every year.  I'm glad I did, this was so much more fun!

 This idea came from Chelseas Messy Apron. 

On her blog she actually provides printables for several of the snack bag ideas.  This one with the cat/kit kats was our favorite.

I printed the free printable on card stock and purchased snack size ziplock bags and mini kit-kat bars at Meijer.  

This was by far the easiest idea.  Just add the candy bars to the bag, fold the topper and staple it in place! 

 This idea came from Kids Clutter and Chaos.

The printable is free and I printed it on white cardstock and then cut out red cardstock a little larger to attach the card to.  That made it much more stable. 

I purchased the Tic Tacs through Amazon and got a box of 12 for about $10.00.  I used glue dots (also purchased through Amazon) to attch the Tic Tacs to the card and that worked perfectly. 

 This idea came from Thrifty Northwest Mom.  

I printed the free printable on cardstock (looking back it would have looked nicer with a red backer on it like the one above). 

The highlighters I purchased at the dollar store (a 4 pack for $1.00) I used my glue dots to attach the highlighter to the card.  

This idea comes from Popsugar.

Now, truth be told, this one I had to add my own creativity to because I didn't realize that it was actually a craft using a Cricut.  While I have a Cricut, I don't use it and am not signed up for any of the on-line cutouts.  I printed the base card from the free printable.  Then, I went out to Google and found that lightbulb and printed it on yellow paper.  (I should have made it bigger but depth perception is not my thing HA!).  Then, I purchased the glow sticks at the dollar store (8 for $1.00) .  Again, I used the glue dots to attach it to the paper. 

All of these ideas were super easy to put together.  The boys had to make 30 Valentines each so they did approx 15 of each (Josh did 12 of the Tic Tacs because I wasn't spending $20.00 on Tic Tacs HA!) Other than that expense, the other three ideas were just about $5.00 or less each to do 15. 

The only thing I would do differently next year is I would make them in January.  It was a bit chaotic working with both boys to get them all done in one afternoon the day before the party! 

Zuppa Toscana

Zuppa Toscana
adapted from The Chunky Chef

I've wanted to post this recipe since the first time I made it months ago.  It is by far one of the easiest but best soups I've ever made and it is all done in the crock pot!  My husband says it tastes better than what he gets at Olive Garden so that is a true compliment.  A couple of things I do slightly differently.  1) I do not use spicy sausage.  I just used original Bob Evans Sausage.  It's what we love and we aren't big into spicy stuff.  2) I cut up my own potatoes.  The recipes says you can do either the refrigerated kind or cut up your own potato/onion.  3) Sometimes I use Kale and sometimes I use baby spinach :-)  Depends on what other recipes are planned for the week.  Kale stays firmer in the soup than spinach does.  If you don't like the greens, you could leave them out or even add carrots to it instead. 

Ingredients

• 1 lb ground Hot Italian sausage
• 1 bag Simply Potatoes diced potatoes and onions (can substitute with 1 diced yellow onion and 4 russet potatoes, peeled and cubed)
• 2 cloves large garlic minced
• 32 oz chicken stock
• 1/2 bunch kale (a couple of handfuls) de-stemmed and torn into bite sized
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 2 Tbsp flour
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Pinch of red pepper flakes optional

Instructions

1. Heat large saute pan over medium high heat and brown sausage.
2. Add minced garlic and stir to combine.
3. Drain off the grease and then add sausage and garlic to the bottom of slow cooker.
4. Add bag of diced potatoes and onion, cover with chicken stock and water (if necessary) to completely cover potatoes and sausage.
5. Cover and cook on LOW for 5-6 hours or HIGH for 3-4 (potatoes should be soft)
6. BEFORE SERVING:
7. Whisk together heavy cream and flour until well mixed. Pour into slow cooker, add kale and stir to combine.
8. Cover and cook on HIGH for 30 minutes until soup has thickened slightly.
9. Taste, season according to your tastes, and serve.

Just Breath

I'm pretty sure I've shared this video before for the song by Jonny Diaz called "Breathe".  It speaks the truth, that's for sure.   I'm pretty organized and easy going but every once in awhile, I hit a place where I just have to stop and regroup.  I hit that spot on Wednesday, Valentine's Day.  Nothing bad happened, nothing really went wrong but I began to feel like the plates were spinning out of control and I needed to just stop, regroup, figure out what was really important and move on.

So I sat down on that Wednesday evening and made a simple list for Thursday - what really, truly needed to be done.
1) Make our family Valentine Box for Co-Op
2) Prep our food for the Pot-luck for Co-Op
3) Make cookies for the Co-op
4) Complete prep for my two classes for Co-op

Do you see a pattern?  I do - the Co-Op this week was the cause and the effect of why I aws feeling slightly out of control.  I over committed a little this week and need to make sure I fix that for the future (Such as having the boys make their Valentine's and our box a few weeks before Valentine's day!)

I then planned my day.
1) In the morning - the boys still have some lessons they needed to get done in order to not hold us up in future lessons.  So, we will focus on school items in the morning.
2) The afternoon - I will totally focus on food and lessons while the boys decorate our box.

I knew my evening was already full as the boys begin a bowling league and I must run to the store to grab the last food items for Friday (Lettuce and Tomatoes for Taco Salad!) so I had to get everything done by 5:00.  No pressure :-)

That's when this song came to mind - Breathe.

Breathe, just breathe
Come and rest at my feet
And be, just be
Chaos calls but all you really need
Is to just breathe

I don't say all of this for sympathy because, really, by the time "you" read this - life will be moving back at normal pace and I'll have regrouped.  But rather, maybe there is one person who reads this that feels like the plates are going to fall.  Well, you are not alone.  Facebook paints perfect pictures but in reality we all have days when things just fall and that's ok.  Listen to this song, take it to hear and remember to  just . . . .Breathe! 

Our Week in Photos #30

Here's a look back at our week!

 The Olympics.  That has been a focus of our week.  This was the boys camped out as they did several nights the first few nights of the games.  They aren't quite as into them as I am but they did love watching Shaun White win the Gold!  They've also enjoyed watching some amazing crashes in some of the sports too.

On Tuesday night Nate got a game of "Spin the bottle/Truth or Dare" going.  Josh accepted a dare to put his face in the snow.   Yep, the kid takes after his mom - the cold doesn't bother him!  He also ran barefoot from the house to the garage and back in the snow HA!

Of course, we celebrated Valentine's Day.

 Thursday night was the first night of a new Youth Bowling League.  I think bowling is one of those life skills all kids should learn because every youth group or college group goes bowling.  Everyone wants to know how to bowl!  Anyway, this is something new at our local Bowling Alley and I'm so glad we got involved.

 Josh is in the "older" group so that means no bumpers!  This was his first shot and it didn't go in the gutter :-)  He did great!  (53, 53, 52)

Nate's in the younger group so he still gets bumpers.  He used them to his full advanatage (think - Pin Ball Machine HA!).  He got a 63 and then an 84.  Pretty Good :-)

We ended our week with Friday School which included our Co-Op Valentines Potluck and Party.  The boys created a Valentine's box for our family and we passed out all of their Valentines.  Then they had Tae Kwon Do after that party.  I took my camera fully planning to take photos but it was so busy all day that I just never had a chance. 

I feel like after a good month "off" of not doing much, this week we were busy!  Sometimes busy is good :-)