Weekly Song - Matthew West - Gobble Gobble (Official Music Video)

Here's a fun song for you this week!  There are so few Thanksgiving songs but one of my favorite Artists, Matthew West created one!  (and guess what, I have another one for next week too!) 

Weekly Menu

 There will be some repeats on this weeks list because plans changed this past week.  Sunday everyone kind of scrounged for themselves so I didn't cook what I planned and then my mom dropped off an Aldi's pizza and breadsticks as a treat so I cooked that up on Monday night.  Darryl was meeting with a friend on Tuesday night for dinner so the boys and I treated ourselves too :-).  (I mean, it's only fair that if he eats out, we get to eat out too, right? HA!)  

Here's the plan for the coming week! 

Friday - Our normal "eat out night"

Saturday - Our normal "eat at mom's" night.  I really do appreciate my mom cooking dinner once a week plus we enjoy going to her home and hanging out for a bit.  

Sunday - I don't love cooking on Sundays right now - maybe because I end up in the kitchen for hours while everyone else watches football and relaxes!  So, instead I'm trying to plan things that are either super easy or that I can make on Saturday and we just warm up on Sunday!  So, for lunch (our fooball food) I have stuff for a Taco/Nacho bar.  Then for dinner later, little crescent wrapped sausages and  I have french fries to throw in the oven.  

Monday - Chicken and Dumplings with pickles, olives and cheese and crackers

Tuesday - Chicken Noodle Soup and garlic knots

Wednesday - Stuffing Meatloaf, Mashed Potatoes, and broccoil

Thursday - I go to the store on Thursday and I try to leave by about 4:30 (as soon as our friends leave) so I have to leave dinner for the males in the family.  There "should" be leftovers between the soup and the Meatloaf so that's the plan.  If not, there will be corn dogs and chicken nuggets!  

Guess what, it's almost Thanksgiving :-) Next weeks weekly menu post will include my Thanksgiving menu -that's just crazy! (PS - do you know that our stores don't have any turkeys yet???  I hope they actually carry them this year!) 

Caramel Apple Cobbler Dump Cake

 

I saw an easy dessert recipe on Facebook for Caramel Apple Cobbler Dump Cake.  I'll be honest, they had me at "Caramel".  Yum!  

Like any good dump cake, the top is crisp and buttery while the filling is sweet and sticky.  

So, I decided to move back a little . . .and the reality of the situation starts to appear. 

And this is realy life HA!  Oh boy is this stuff good!  I'm not a huge fan of canned apple pie filling but, the added layer of the caramel bits really added a great level of flavor.  

This would be a great recipe to take to a holiday party or potluck.  

You can find the full recipe at Instrupix. 

Micah Tyler - New Today (Official Music Video)

Here's a new song by Micah Tyler.  It's a great song for the our current days. 

2020 Weekly Photos #43

 Another great week! 

Saturday - Halloween! 

We carved our pumpkins.  I love that both Josh and Nate can now carve their own pumpkins!!  In order picture are:  Nate's, Mine, Josh's and Darryl's. These were true Jack-O-Lantern Pumpkins.  Do you know what the difference is?  Well, let me tell you.  They pumpkin flesh is softer and easier to cut and they are drier without so much junk on the inside!  They were amazing! 

We met up with friends for trick-or-treating. 

Josh and Nate Halloween 2020!  Josh informed me weeks ago that he was about done with Trick-or-Treating.  Well, I told him he had to do it this year HA!  I said, "You have to go this year one last time so that we can enjoy your "last time"".  He's already said he is not going again.  

Our pumpkins all lit up!  

Sunday - Was our normal quiet day at home with food, football, and family. 

Monday-Friday - School.  Since we now have our friends here everyday doing virtual school, we stick pretty tight to our school schedule.  On one hand, it's great because we are moving through lessons and will get a nice long Christmas break since subjects will be done.  On the other hand, it means nothing extra - no spur of the moment trips to the park because the weather is amazing or unexpected days off just because.  Our friends have times throughout the day that they have to log into "school" and be present to count as attending so we are tied to home!  Pros and Cons  - and it is just for a season so it is ok.  I'm thankful I can minister in this way to my friends and be a help and encouragement to them.  So, there is a whole lot of school and quite a bit of modified football being played every afternoon. 

Nate had TKD on Friday afternoon.  Due to new Covid restrictions, they couldn't hold class inside the church.  Thankfully the weather was amazing so they still had class - just outside instead!  Not sure if this will happen again though! 

Weekly Menu

 I feel like I get a few "down weeks" before we hit the holidays full swing.  I'm not sure what that really means since I still cook every day but I guess maybe it's that I just cook our regular favorites and not all the fun food!!  

Here's the simple plan for the coming week

Friday - Our weekly eating out fun. 

Saturday - Our weekly dinner out at my mom's 

Sunday - Crescent wrapped little sausages, chicken wings, Cheese Ball and Crackers, -- we have to have football food!  :-)  Dinner will be super simple - Mac and Cheese and a Microwave Meal for Josh. 

Monday - Broccoli Cheese Soup, Rolls, and Ham 

Tuesday - Tacos, I mean it IS Tuesday! 

Wednesday - Chicken and Dumplings, cheese and crackers, pickles and olives

Thursday - Chicken Noodle Soup and Garlic Bread (Apparently it is soup week HA!) 

November Goals

 

As we come into November, I like to slow down a little and focus on the things most important.  I love the Holidays and have learned from my past mistakes that if I over plan, it's not fun.  In both November and December I try to wrap up my year long goals while taking time to enjoy the sights, sounds, smells, and tastes of the holidays.  

Here are my goals for November.  

1. Scrapbooking - 1) Finish my nieces book (a broken record) but this time it will be done.  As I mentioned in a previous post, if I need to I'm going to change the "story" of the book so I can finish it.  2) Complete 2 pages a day scrapbooking (so 60 pages total)  3) File all of the photos I have on hand right now and, once those are filed, order the April photos 4) The Spines - my goal this month is to focus on the top shelf of my scrapbooking shelf and make sure the albums all have page protectors and decide if I'm flipping any of the album covers for others.  

2. Reading - 1) Just read.  There is nothing better then curling up with a book.  I have a lot on my kindle :-)  2) Write my reading goal for 2021

3. Cleaning - 1) The kids bedrooms.  First up is Josh's stuff.  I plan to take a weekend (or 2 if needed) and just spend hours sorting and cleaning out (with Josh's help - he says he wants to get rid of TONS of stuff so we will see!).  Once that room is done, we will work on Nate's stuff.  2) With holidays coming I just want to take time and just simply clean.  I'm hosting Thanksgiving and Christmas this year so making sure everything is nice and neat is keay.  

4. Family - Very simply, Thanksgiving.  That is our focus this month.

5. Homeschool - Our goal is just to continue on track.  Both kids are going to finish some, if not all, lessons by Christmas as long as we keep going.  I also want to find some supplemental things for them to do when they are done until the semester begins in January (fun but educational)

6. Holiday PLanning - 1) Decorate outside for Christmas.  I usually watch the weather and pick a "warm" weekend day to do it all even if it is the beginning of November!! 2) Plan Thanksgiving - the food, the decorations, and all that fun stuff!  3) Get our Grinch calendar gifts-- keeping it super simple! 4) Make my gift plan for the kids so I know what to order and when 5) Plan our December so we do what is important to us first. 

7. The Basement - This is the bonus space.  If I can find time to do 20 minute sessions in the space, I will and if not, I won't. 

8. Piano - Just finding a way to get the kids through some lessons

9) Photography - Time to read my new book once section at a time and practice :-) 

10) Spiritual - Complete my Thanksgiving Bible Studies 

11) Misc - 1) Clean up the yard and fill in the holes 2) Have Josh finish his artwork from last semester  3) Pick out camping dates for next year so I'm ready to reserve them on time  4) I have an idea brewing for a vacation next summer but in order for it to happen I have to plan now and begin saving so my goal is to get it all planned so I can start saving for it :-)  5) Clean out the vehicles and set up my new organizing bins in each one (for lysol, wipes, extra bags, etc) 6) Make sure my November flag is hung up :-)  7 I cleaned the garage last month but there are 4 bins of "donations" that I put out there like 5 years ago HA!  While pulling them down to decide what to do with them, I found a basket and two bins I had been looking for for quite awhile so I've decided I need to go through those bins before I donate them!