menu planning monday!

So, it's Tuesday not Monday....is that okay? I got sidetracked yesterday (and obviously most of today..ha!) but I DID make my meal plan yesterday and I DID shop for it today, so I am in go position! We almost stuck to the meal plan last week. Much better than we had in the past. This week I'm doing things a little different....rather than the regular Sunday through Monday, or Monday through Sunday thing we are going to go with a Tuesday through Monday schedule as I think this will work much better for how I shop and our busy schedule.

This week we are having:

• Tuesday- Homemade potato soup with salad
• Wednesday- Pioneer Woman's Roasted Vegetable Minestrone with grilled cheese (never made this so I'll let you know how it turns out!)
• Thursday-Spaghetti Pie with garlic bread, broccoli and salad
• Friday-Pizza night! (otherwise known as 'Mom is going out and the boys are bachelors' night!)
• Saturday-Leftovers/sandwiches
• Sunday-Smoked Sausage, sauer kraut, mashed potatoes, green beans, cornbread
• Monday-Brinner-Make ahead muffin melts or homemade pancakes or both!

Wish me luck, we have a busy week so I hope I can stick to it, at least as well as I did last week. How is your meal planning going? Any tips, tricks or recipes to share??

{this moment}

Inspired by Soule Mama:

"A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments for all to find and see."


Another one from the vaults, but I can't help myself lately. May I add that they were completely surrounded by toys, I was standing in the midst of a pile as a took the picture. They had emptied the entire toy box plus the two cloth storage boxes that sat on top. This is what happens when you try to bake Christmas goodies alone with 2 crazy children ;)

Happy Weekend...

SO stinkin' adorable!

I just came across this giveaway and had to share....this book is something I think I may really, really need. Really. Need.



How adorable is that?? If you head over to To be charmed you can enter to win this book and make your own super, extra cute softies. Check out the lion..I want to eat it up.

Really, I'm not sure why I'm sharing, I want that book for myself. Promise you'll share if you win? ;)

menu planning monday!

Ok, I'm in too. My dear friends Katie at the little things and Shannan at Mommy Bits decided to hold themselves accountable to their dinner plans by posting about them today and because I am in the same pressed for time situation they are in I decided to jump on the band wagon and go for it too! I had my plan ready (see, I was working on it!!) and was just working on the finishing touches when I read their posts, so I'll share mine as well:

• Monday-Spaghetti with marinara sauce, garlic bread and salad. Nothing fancy, we have karate tonight and I wanted something quick to throw together when we get home.
• Tuesday-Crockpot red beans and rice and salad. Now that school is back in session and the weather is changing (hear that weather...change!!!!) I'm ready to pull out the slow cooker and make good use of it again!
• Wednesday- Crockpot Enchiladas-this is a new recipe for us, if it turns out tasty I'll certainly share the link!! We'll have this with chips and salsa and salad.
• Thursday-leftovers and/or sandwich night.
• Friday-Pizza!! This is a night that the boys generally settle in to the couch and watch their favorite tv shows with Daddy, or sometimes we watch a movie together, and traditionally pizza is the food of choice.
  
• Saturday-Brinner-yes, that's breakfast for dinner. Scrambled eggs, bacon and made from scratch pancakes. Yum!
• Sunday-Thanksgiving ;) Turkey breast, mashed potatoes, green beans and homemade biscuits.
  

I had been leaving the weekends open to interpretation because we have so much going on as a rule, but finally decided that if I plan those days as well the worst that will happen is that I'll have a meal option leftover for the next week if we should make an impromptu stop for McD's to treat the boys or if plans take us all in different directions for the night.

Like Katie's family we are getting tired of the same set of meals every week and have been branching out and trying new recipes on a weekly basis. I'd love to hear about the meals that your family loves, or the easy ones you can toss in the slow cooker and forget about, so please share them in the comments below!

So there it is, now I am left with the actual grocery shopping aspect of this list. I had better get my tush in gear, tonight is House M. D. season premiere, I can't be late for that!!

{this moment}

Inspired by Soule Mama:

"A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments for all to find and see."






Again, another 'moment' from years past...I've been doing a lot of scrapbooking lately, and organizing of photos for printing, and keep coming across these little moments that I had nearly forgotten. This blog being a recent addition to my life, I thought I would share a few blasts from the past ;)

Happy Weekend...

I remember....

I remember where I was when I heard the news. I remember who was with me, even though I haven't seen any of them in 9 years. I remember going home that afternoon and sitting on the couch with my housemates silently watching as the images were replayed over and over and over again.....and I remember even after the 100th viewing still having the feeling that it could not be real, it couldn't be happening. I remember it all. And I won't forget.


Thank you to the men and women from every walk of life that reached out to their fellow man that day. You are all true heroes, and should not be forgotten. To all of those who lost their lives that day....we will not forget. You will be remembered, each and every day.

To every man and woman currently serving their fellow man as a first responder, fireman, police officer, soldier...the list goes on and on...I thank you for what you do each and every day. Without all of you I could not now be writing this post. You are our Heroes and we do not forget.


To my brother...currently serving in Iraq....you are my hero, and always will be.

Please come home to us safe and sound...we miss you.

{this moment}

Inspired by Soule Mama:

"A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments for all to find and see."

This isn't a photo from this week, obviously....but while sorting through photos to send some off for printing I found this and just had to share. My little mohawk wearing, pudding faced hobo baby.....I can't believe he's so big now..

Another First day of School!

I just dropped Littlest off for his first day of school today. He was excited....then nervous....and then teary and sad and scared. Which caused me to be excited (3 hours to myself!)...then nervous (oh poor sweetheart, he's feeling a little nervous about the new school)...and then teary and sad and scared (yes, I fought tears, was sad I had to leave him, and scared he would have an awful day). Ok, truth be told I cried the whole way home. There, I said it.

He didn't do this last year, his first year of school. Last year I worried he wouldn't want to stay by himself the first day of school but he got out of the car and walked right in without a backward glance. He was crying when I picked him up....crying because he didn't want to leave! This year? He tried the entire way to school to talk me into staying with him, told me his teachers would need to leave so I needed to be there to take care of him.

I promised him the whole way to school that he was going to have a great time, meet lots of new friends, play on the playground, and just have a great day!

I promised him lunch anywhere he wanted to go when I picked him up, to celebrate!

I promised him new Star Wars shoes like his brother's!

He was brave, he stayed and didn't cling to me, but he had a red face and tears streaming down his little face and it was next to impossible for me to tell myself I HAD to leave and NO I shouldn't just take him back home with me and snuggle all day. I think he would have gone for it if I had offered. It almost would have been worth it (he's a really good snuggler).

But he LOVES school. He loves learning new stuff and playing with his friends. He loves doing crafts, and writing his letters, and oh just everything about school. So I know that given time he'll settle in and be just fine.

In the meantime though I'm going to sit here sipping my Coke Zero, pretending to read Gone with the Wind (only 300 pages left!) but really anxiously awaiting pick up time so that I can KNOW he had a good day after all.....and then take him to lunch, and to get his Star Wars shoes. And then maybe I'll even get a snuggle in...maybe...

{This Moment}

Inspired by Soule Mama:

"A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments for all to find and see."

Happy Looooooong weekend!

Another year older..

And another year closer to kindergarten and being more grown up than his mama wants him to be....




This time next week my baby will be walking into the first day of his last year of preschool. I hope this is the slowest year ever....