Summer Fun Week 12 AND 13

Wow, 12 weeks flew by.  This coming week is pretty much preplanned :-)

Sunday-Wednesday - Camping!!

Thursday - Recovery HA!  For sure laundry and grocery shopping.  There is also a school supply "give away" event we might go to and a color run event in the evening.

Friday -  I'm hoping to swim.  I'm ready to swim HA!

Saturday - Swim

So, I didn't get week 12 posted so I figured I would tie weeks 12 and 13 together.  It's hard to fathom that summer is actually wrapping up and I'm not thrilled!  Week 13 was pretty quiet.

Sunday - Nothing but swimming.

Monday - My mom took the boys to a circus that came to town

Tuesday - I had a leadership meeting for our homeschool co-op so my kids went with me and hung out with friends.

Wednesday - Today our friends that hang with us every day went back to school.  Hard to believe it's that time already!

Thursday - Another quiet day with swimming and a picnic at the pool

Friday - Today is orientation for our homeschool Co-op so that will take up a good portion of our day.  They also spent the afternoon at a friends house from our co-op - they went swimming, caught bull frogs, and Josh got to go out on the pond in the paddle boat. 

Saturday - I have no idea HA! 

So, here are some pictures from the last two weeks!

 The concert at the campground!  It's a favorite of ours - hearing all of the music played under the pines is just awesome. 

 Look at the serious "Ladder Ball" face HA! 

 We spent a good portion of our time at the beach. 

 More ladder ball

 Blueberry pickin' 

 More time at a different beach and the boys walked to pier (while I enjoyed the quiet of the beach!) 

 My mom took the boys to the circus. 

 And to do some shopping (with their own money for once!) 

And we ended the week with some fun outside - big ball base ball and "Swing ball" ! 

Weekly Menu - The one that maybe I'll stick to!!

I wrote an amazing menu last week.  It looked fabulous on paper . .. if only I had ever done true grocery shopping HA!  I am really not enjoying long runs to the grocery store right now so I've been running every day or two and picking up a thing or two HA!  Even last night I said to Darryl, "I need to run to the store . . .. unless you want another crazy lunch like today's."  He said, "Today's lunch was ok."  So I replied with, "Ok, Dad said not to go to the store kids so I'm not going!" HA!!  It's amazing what you can find to cook when you don't want to go to the store - Shoot, yesterday, on a warm summer day, we had hot, steamy chicken and dumplings :-)  WHEW!  We were both sweating when we got done eating that middle of winter dinner!! 

So what about this coming week?  I don't know.  I'm going to plan and go from there.

Friday - Frozen Lasagna, Garlic Bread, and Green Beans. 

Saturday - Sloppy Joes and French Fries

Sunday - We are heading out for a beach day.  So we will eat out.

Monday - Amish Roasted Chicken, Egg Noodles, and Broccoli

Tuesday - TACOS (My kids actually asked when we would have tacos again!)

Wednesday - Darryl has practice so I'm sure we will grab something to eat out.

Thursday - Stromboli and Salad.

Weekly Menu

I haven't really cooked a lot lately.  It's true.  I've become an expert at finding stuff in my kitchen to serve for dinner just so I don't have to go to the store.  Nate recently told me that we can survive a week without a food so I told him I wasn't cooking anything for a whole week - they could just drink water!!  He didn't agree :-)  Instead, I'm actually thinking it might be time to actually plan and cook meals again.  The cupboards and freezer are pretty bare.  So, here's the plan for the coming week!

Friday - Roast, Potatoes, Carrots and Beefy Noodles.  I have Blueberry Hand pies planned for dessert too.

Saturday - Easy Stromboli and Spinach Salad. 

Sunday - BBQ Cups, Daddy Fries, and Cheesy Broccoli

Monday - My mom is taking the boys to a circus in town so I'll feed them Mac and Cheese early enough for them to go with her.  Darryl and I are heading opposite directions so we will each eat on our own tonight.

Tuesday - Quick and Easy Chicken Enchiladas, Rice, Beans and "Salad" (Lettuce, Tomatoes, Onions, Sour Cream and Guacamole)

Wednesday - Meatball Soup and Crusty Rolls

Thursday - Baked Ziti, Green Beans and Garlic Bread. 

Summer Fun Week 11

This week we are back to our "norm" as our friends are back from vacation.  That tightens my schedule a little because I have to watch the clock!  (Last week I did not!)  This is also kind of a boring week HA!  For real.

Here are some goals/plans for the week.
1) Sunday Darryl and I are heading out for dinner for our anniversary (which was Saturday the 4th) The kids are going to hang out with my mom while we are out.  Plus our last VBS starts tonight!
2) I want to finish up the cleaning of the playroom in the morning before heading to the pool . . on Monday.  Don't forget VBS in the evening!
3) It's time to clean the master bedroom - it tends to be the catch-all while I'm cleaning other rooms.  So, that will fill the morning before swimming in the afternoon and VBS in the evening . . .on Tuesday
4) We are camping this weekend so I want to focus on camping - gathering the things we need that aren't in use like extension cords, sheets/blankets/sleeping bags.  Making lists and planning our trip.  Can you guess what we will be doing in the afternoon? Swimming!  And VBS in the evening . . .on Wednesday.
5) Thursdays are laundry and shopping most weeks.  If we can squeeze it in, we will swim and then it's the last night of VBS.
6) Swimming on Friday :-)  I'm tired.
7) There is a kite festival at our Fairgrounds that I want to take the boys to in the midst of packing for camping on Saturday :-)  There is also a customer appreciation day at our favorite farm market and friends are selling cupcakes at a local farmers market too.  Not ot mention we have to get ready for camping!  WHEW!

Our week was pretty simple - we swam a lot which was great.  The pool is probably one of my favorite places to be in the summer!  Darryl and I did go out for our anniversary at one of our long time favorites - Chinese (First Wok) followed by some shopping.  The kids did attend our local community VBS throughout the week.  The master bedroom did get cleaned and the playroom was finished.  On Friday I took time to take "formal" photos of the kids to hopefully pick out a new photo for our wall.  Saturday we didn't do anything except go to the laundrymat and get ready for camping.  Nothing else really worked out timing wise to do but that's ok.   I also didn't take many photos this week! 

Weekly Menu - it's time to camp!

This weeks menu includes days of camping which is great.  Camping is either a ton of work or a little work and this time Darryl and I are striving for the second.  As much as I enjoy camping with the kids - the planning, packing, and set-up is just about enough to make me run and hide.  Since we haven't camped yet this summer, it has given me lots of time to try and come up with ways to make everything quicker.  I've already cleaned out the camper and rearranged our supplies so they are where we use them or where they are easy to get to the one time each trip we use them so now I don't have unload everything from the camper when we set up.  Also, because of the distance of this trip, we decided to take one vehicle instead of two.  This means we have to pack light (and strap the bikes on top!)  One way that I'm helping with the packing light is we are not grocery shopping for the camping days until we arrive at our location.  AND we are shopping light - keeping it simple for sure!  So, with that said, here's the basic plan for the week.

Friday - Pulled pork, baked beans, mac and cheese and broccoli.

Saturday - I'm on the fence for dinner tonight - on one hand, I should plan something in the crock pot but, on the other hand, I have to get laundry done, pack and load, and make sure we are ready to pull out early Sunday since Darryl has a concert before we can get on our way.  So, we might cheat and get pizza or KFC.

Sunday - It's time to camp!  My plan is to make meatballs and take those so I can throw them in the crock pot as soon as I can get to it.  That way they will be ready to eat by the time we are done setting up.  Our sides for most meals will stay the same - Macaroni Salad, Potato Salad, a Green Salad, and chips. Once we get a camp fire going, there will be hot dogs and stuff for smores.

Monday - Breakfast is simple (I've learned through the years that we are not breakfast eaters) - muffins and donuts.  Lunch  - We are eating out on a little road trip.  Dinner - Tacos and sides.

Tuesday - Breakfast is the same; Lunch - we have a favorite Italian place that we like to visit so we will have lunch there.  Dinner - our annual Steak and Chicken Kabob,  baked potatoes (Crock pot), and any other sides left.

Wednesday - Breakfast is the same; Lunch - Sandwiches or leftovers; Dinner - we will grab something somewhere.

Thursday - I wait until we get back from camping - sometimes we have leftovers (I hope not - that's the point of shopping when we get there!).  If we do, we'll eat those, if not, I"ll have to pick something up !!

Summer Plans Week 10

So I decided to do this weeks post slightly differently.  I thought I'd list our goal/plans for the week and then give a recap with some photos.

With that said, here are the plans/goals for this past week.

1. Have a picnic with family on Sunday!
2. Haircuts and Move the Camper to the driveway on Monday!
3. Meet Family at the splashpad on Tuesday!
4. Weed the flower bed and sandbox, trim the willow tree and mow the grass (if it isn't done yet) on Wednesday.
5. Open up and clean the camper; clean off two shelves in the garage - one is full of camping stuff someone gave us two years ago. Once that is cleaned off, I can move stuff from another shelf to that shelf so that I can then move the second shelf into the playroom . . ..on Thursday!
6. There is an event in the next town over so we "might" go to that . . .but I'd also like to work on cleaning the playroom - on Friday!
7. Finish the playroom on Saturday!
Add to this swimming and anything else fun we might happen to come across to do! I'd also love to get some scrapbooking done - it was one of my July goals and now that my desk is cleaned off and my scrapbook shelf/art shelf is organized maybe, just maybe I can get to that too!

Before I post photos - I just want to recap a little (since I didn't take photos of everything!)  The camper did get moved, opened up, cleaned out, and reorganized.  We did weed the flower bed, sandbox, twim the willow and mow the grass.  I also did the cleaning in the garage, moved the shelf into the playroom and we started to playroom cleaning - we didn't get as far as I wanted but it should be done soon!   I did not scrapbook - I worked like crazy and we swam and hung out with family.  It rained some on Thursday so I got some reading in as well as the laundry :-)  All in all, it was a great week - I think it helped that I was on "vacation" from babysitting this week since the kids I watch were, well, on vacation!!  

Weekly Manu

Another week, another menu.  I threw last weeks menu out on Sunday HA!  There were leftovers from the picnic my mom put together on Sunday that changed menu since I love to use up leftovers whenever I can!  Also, by using leftovers it carries over meals to the next week and helps the budget!

This week the boys are attending our local city VBS so dinner's will be quick and easy.  Thankfully, the VBS is 5 minutes away so that does help!

Friday - Ham and Scallopped Potatoes and green beans

Saturday - Tacos!!

Sunday - Mac and Cheese for all of us!  I'll add something to mine and Darryl's like cooked ground sausage to beef (or is it pork) it up!  I think some good rolls would be tasty too.

Monday - Spahgetti and garlic Bread

Tuesday - Tacos (Of Course!)

Wednesday - maybe out?

Thursday - Pulled Pork, baked beans and broccoli.