Menu Plan Monday (July 27th)

Well once again another week has slipped past and I only finished half of what I wanted to. This week is another chance. Right? Meals last week went well. We ended up eating leftovers Thursday rather than Quiche. And Friday we went downtown and had chicken fajitas at our local whole foods shop. It was well worth it. the fajitas were great. And it was nice to spend time out of the house, even if it was a very hot evening. The other fun thing that happened this weekend is that Mark and I went on a double date with some friends to see the new Harry Potter movie. It was great; the movie and the date :). After as we talked over the movie, we all agreed that we wished more of the memories of Voldemort were showed. Mark even said he thought it should be split into two movies to get all the information across. But all in all, I really thought it was excellent. Ok so now on to this weeks menu plan. Check it out. And don't forget to visit Organizing Junkie for more menus and idea!

Monday: Lasagna rolls and green beans, maybe garlic bread?
Tuesday: Asian Veggie Stir-Fry with chicken
Wednesday: potluck in the park- Taco Casserole
Thursday: Couscous- Stuffed Peppers
Friday: Summer Ratatouille
Saturday: Leftovers
Sunday: Leftovers or Breakfast dinner

Menu Plan Monday (July 20th) and short update

So I've been feeling bad for being so absent with blogging. To be perfectly honest, I have been reading on another site and blogging just hasn't seemed important enough to drag my attention away. But I'm feeling the need to step back and dive back into blogging as much as I'm capable. Life is still crazy around here. I've not been feeling my normal self: tired and such. Nothing serious, but the constant low blood sugar I've been battling is even more exhausting than the exhaustion from the low blood sugar itself. :( This makes things interesting when trying to chase two boys around the house. Bible school last week was a welcome break. As Ian was gone Monday - Thursday morning from 9 am to noon. He seemed to really like. He won't always tell me much when he got home, but the next morning he was always excited and ready to go long before it was time. My friend S had volunteered to take him and I picked him up. It worked out great. S's son E is Ian's age and she said it was a nice transition for E to have Ian with him when they walked in. Being their first year at Bible school it was also nice that it was at our church this year. We cohost bible school with another church in town and it trades every year who's church building is used. So being at our church meant the boys got to be in their Sunday School room. Which I think helped too. Mostly I just hope the excitement Ian expressed will transfer to preschool when he starts in Sept. Ok so I've rambled enough for this post. Here is the plan for meals this week. After a week of not planning I truly realize how much I rely on planning out my week in terms of meals. It makes dinner time go so much smoother. Be sure to check out Organizing Junkie too. She always has great meals and the other links are wonderful for recipes and ideas. :)

Monday: Spaghetti with Sausage, side green beans
Tuesday: Asparagus "Pesto" with grilled chicken breasts (I have some "pesto" in my freezer making this a very simple meal!)
Wednesday: Church Potluck in the park- potato salad
Thursday: Zucchini Quiche
Friday: Pizza Braid
Saturday: Leftovers
Sunday: Breakfast Dinner

Wishing you all a Great Monday!!

Menu Plan Monday- July 6th

Well I'm back. We actually got back from Goshen on Sunday, June 28th. This last week was crazy catch up. Mark was home both Monday and Friday which was really nice, since the boys have been having some trouble adjusting to being home. Going from an adult-kid ratio of about 3:1 to 1:2 has been a big adjustment. Especially for Ian. He has had to relearn that sometimes Mommy just can't watch everything he wants to show me at the exact moment he asks. I'm hoping this week will be better and we can settle back into our routine. Well more on our vaction later. I promise to post some things from our trip, hopefully even in the next day or two. Here is this weeks menu. And don't forget to check out the Organizing Junkie for more idea.

Monday: Black Bean, Zucchini and Tomato Quesadillas
Tuesday: Leftovers
Wednesday: Church Potluck in the Park- bring potato salad
Thrusday: Salad Potluck in the park with Small Group-bring Sesame Chicken Couscous Salad
Friday:Zucchini Garden Chowder
Saturday: Leftovers or Simple Supper
Sunday: Chruch potluck- bring a salad

Menu Plan Monday- June 15th

To warn everyone, we are getting read for a 10 day trip to Mark's parents house. We leave Friday. I'm already panicked about getting everything ready and trying to entertain the boys in the car. We'll drive the distance to Indiana in two days, getting half the trip in the evening hours. Hopefully, like our trip at Christmas, the boys will sleep most of this. I'm crossing my fingers. With my mind on packing and trying to "plan" our stay there, I'm not exactly focused on blogging right now. I know I'm not good at posting even when life is somewhat on a normal schedule. I'm working on that one :) So forgive me if things get left untouched for awhile. I've also been absorbed in a book series. I'll write more about that later. I'm sure you will get a good laugh at my silly obsession in these "brain junk food" books. But it is so nice to have a light, fun read. I just finished the second book of the series and am telling myself I can't start the next one till we are on the road. Otherwise I'll have nothing to read on the trip. And I know I'll want the excuse for a break every once and awhile. :) Despite my outward behavior, I really am more of an introvert than people think.

Ok enough about the coming week(s). Here is the plan for food this week. I'm trying really hard to use up things in the fridge so we don't have to throw food out.

Monday: BBQ with M & C. We brough watermelon. YUM!
Tuesday: Confetti Meatloaf with roasted poatoes.
Wednesday: Potluck in the park- Bring Quiche
Thursday: Leftovers
Friday: Dinner at A & C's in KC
Saturday: out to eat (or if we get to Goshen by dinner eat at Mark's folks)
Sunday: Dinner with Mark's family :)

There is so much to do this week. But I am looking forward to the trip. We should have a fun time :)

For more menu ideas visit I'm an Organizing Junkie.

Menu Plan Monday- June 8th

Well Monday has once again crept up on me. While this last week was certainly busy, I do feel that I got to enjoy more of it than some weeks. I especially enjoyed this weekend. Friday we sat outside. Saturday we got Ian a new car seat. Cai is going to out grow his soon and will need to sit in Ian's. So we got a car seat/booster combo for Ian. He is very excited about it. More to come on this later I'm sure. We also set up the pool once we got home. The boys really enjoyed splashing in the water. Cai especially enjoyed crawling and splashing. :) It was fun to watch them. I don't feel like I was very productive over the weekend, but I sure did enjoy moments of family fun.

Last week's menu worked out very nicely. As I wrote earlier, the Salmon patties and Confetti Kale turned out wonderful and was thoroughly enjoyed by all. The Asparagus and Sausage Skillet was also enjoyable. Again this recipe came from Simply in Season. Have I mentioned how much I love this book? Well I do. I use it all the time. :) Thursday we had a grand time at the park grilling with our small group. I ended up bringing a fresh salad made with lettuce from my mother's garden. I'm still enjoying the last of it. :) Well this week I'm hoping to use up anything left in my fridge. Here is the menu.

Monday: Cheesy Broccoli and Rice with chicken (carry over from yesterday, we grilled hamburgers instead)
Tuesday: Leftovers
Wednesday: Potluck in the park- bring Curry with Coconut milk
Thursday: Tacos
Friday: Quiche
Saturday: Leftovers
Sunday: Egg breakfast dinner (Ian's request)

For more menu ideas be sure to visit I'm an Organizing Junkie.

A peaceful Summer night

I realize it is not quite summer, but with the school systems out and the warm weather it sure feels like it around here. Tonight after dinner we enjoyed an evening in our backyard. It was very nice. And peaceful (despite the mosquitoes).
Testing balance and the feel of grass under foot.
Enjoying the view from on top.
Baby feet!!!!
Bubbles. A summer night would not be complete without them.

Trying to avoid the poky grass on knees.
Working on setting up the kiddie pool.
Playing kick ball
Enjoying being together.
And being outside.
Have you slowed down enough to enjoy Summer yet? I sometimes have a hard time letting myself sit and relax. But now is now. Enjoy the moment.

Collage fun!

With so many inspiring pictures, quotations and people out there, I wanted a way to bring some of my favorites together for me to admire, refer to and just have on hand. Mostly I wanted to look at all the wonderful projects that other women do on the many blogs I try to read. So I decided to create a scrapbook of things I liked. I don't have much in it yet. But it's exciting to have started it. Yesterday Ian and I sat down during Cai's morning nap to work on collages. I have been saving my Mothering and Parentings magazines for him. I just recently got a pair of child scissors and now feel I can let him cut paper (since now he has his own scissors). He pick out his magazine and happily went away cuttng bits and pieces. Of course most of the time its ripping. Every once in awhile he gets the scissors to work for him and has a nice cut. I've trying showing him how to hold the scissors, but I think its just something he will have to figure out himself with time. For me, I took pages from Mothering's March-April 09 issue that I saved. There was a wonderful article on "Crafty Mamas." Not only was the article itself good, the pictures were lovely. So while Ian worked on his collage, I worked on mine. By the way, Ian is now in love with cutting with scissors. My lounge chair is currently covered with magazine scraps he has cut up. :) I've been trying to get him to add them to his collage. We'll see what happens.
Here is Ian's beautiful work. And the first page for my inspiration scrapbook.

For the perfectionist in me, I was mostly pleased with the way mine came out. It was so nice to do something creative though. What fun art have you worked on recently?