"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."
"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."
So here we are...ground zero for the 2011 school year. I am not prepared.
I am still taking part in Orgjunkie.com's Menu Plan Monday. I didn't get my menu posted last week but I DID stick with the menu planning and grocery shopping and am proud to say we stuck with it and got through the week without any major problems or switches.
It's been a tough couple of weeks with ridiculous and repetitive car repairs (have I mentioned that my car is possessed?) and alot of staying at home time, but we've made the best of it and I'm nearly resolved to the fact that summer is over and it's time for the boys to get back to school. I know we'll get into the swing of things quickly but somehow that just makes it worse.
I will be asking your help in the next week or two on great lunch packing ideas, I'll have 3 lunches to pack this year with Littlest heading off to kindergarten, so I need some new ideas to mix it up! For now I have this week's menu plan for your perusal......
Monday-Homemade vegetable soup and grilled panini sandwiches (thinking of trying out pizza paninis!)
Tuesday-Grilled hamburgers, twice baked potatoes, fresh corn on the cob and green beans
Wednesday-First Day Of School!!! We're taking the boys to their favorite pizza place to celebrate :)
Thursday-Homemade Cincy style chili coneys with fries and salad
Saturday-clean out the fridge, leftovers, sandwiches
Sunday-crock pot pork roast, mashed potatoes, green beans, salad, dinner rolls
I'll also be making this lovely for first day of school breakfast. Yum!
So there you have it folks...another week of food to get us through the first week of the new school year. Today and tomorrow I will be frantically making sure I have purchased enough underwear and socks and glue sticks and composition books to get us started and then frantically cleaning house so that on Wednesday I can have breakfast with my BFF and revel in the first day without children. Then try to convince myself it's a good thing to have child free time instead of pool time or park time or lazy lay-on-the-couch-in-our-pajamas time.
I do not hold out much hope that I will be able to convince myself school is better than summer, but hopefully I'll find something to entertain myself....you know, soap operas and bon-bons....
"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."
Photo credit goes to a dear friend who actually remembered her camera. I am a bad mommy because I did not. I am thankful for dear friend. (not sure why littlest looks so concerned/distracted...he was extremely happy to head off to Jump Start this morning!)
We are lucky enough to live in pretty close proximity to a fantastic place called The Carnegie Visual and Performing Arts Center. Not only do they have fabulous galleries full of beautiful pieces of art and present shows of all kinds (rock concerts, plays, musicals...next up is Pippin!) but they also provide art classes on site (the Artstop series...fabulous!) and they travel to bring art to many children that would not have access to it if they didn't. With school funding being what it is today many schools simply do not have the money for art programs at all, and that's where the Carnegie steps in to help.
Their instructors travel to schools in the area to expose children to art who might otherwise never get the chance. Incredible, right? They teach more than 400 classes a year to children on both sides of the river. That's a lot of traveling.
This is where you come in.
Toyota is generously giving away "100 cars for Good" to non-profits all over who do good works and The Carnegie is a front runner to win one of these wonderful cars!!!
All it takes it a couple of mouse clicks, and less than a minute, to help the Carnegie win a vehicle that can make a huge difference in the lives of kids and the teachers who give so much to help them.
Here's what the Carnegie has to say:
The Carnegie Visual and Performing Arts Center has been selected as a finalist in Toyota ’s 100 Cars for Good program and they need your support! Help them win a brand new Toyota vehicle by taking a moment to vote for them at www.facebook.com/toyota TODAY!
Instructors with The Carnegie'seducation department teach more than 400 arts classes throughout the year at area schools. If the Carnegie wins this new car, they would use it to not only travel back and forth to the schools, but to also transport all of the supplies needed to execute its arts programs.
I hope you will please consider supporting The Carnegie. Voting will take place atwww.facebook.com/toyotaand the poll will be open until midnight.
I hope you will take that one minute and help The Carnegie reach its goal and win of the '100 Cars for Good'. Such an easy way to make a huge impact on the lives of our children.
"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."
In honor of the upcoming kindergarten jump start that my "baby" is about to attend here is last year's first day of school....back when he was still just a preschooler and talked about visiting his brother's school. Now his brother's school is his school too. Where in the world has the time gone???
I have been a little AWOL from this space lately, I know. I have posts in my head, but I can't seem to get enough time to get them into print. I'm not complaining though...I am too busy enjoying the last bit of summer we have left. In exactly 2 weeks from tomorrow we'll be in the process of doing our first after school routine. I'm not afraid to say, I'm not looking forward to it. We've been enjoying the pool, and lazy days, and outings with friends and family too much. I'm not ready to let it go. So although I really enjoy being here, in this space, right now I'd much rather be out 'there' with my boys, having one last water fight before homework and extra curriculars take over our every day.
So enjoy your last bit of summer, and I'll be back WAY too soon to start the back to school coverage. Until then...happy swimming!
Another week, and this one is pulling us oh so much closer to the beginning of school. I am sad about it this year. Ever since my oldest started school I've always looked forward to that first day...another adventure to go on! This year I just want another day, week, month of summertime instead. School adventures can wait...there are so many summer adventures we never got to!!!
Oh well, I can wish and complain and moan about it but The First Day will arrive whether I want it to or not. Might as well make the most of what we have left!
This week we are super busy so dinners are super easy and quick or something I can make ahead and throw in the crockpot. It's rather uninspired, I know, but again I'm on to those fall back recipes that I know everyone will eat and we can get on the table in a hurry. For lots of inspiration check out Orgjunkie.com's Menu Plan Monday...I've been participating for a few weeks now. I have a ton of stuff bookmarked to try out once school starts.
Monday~Spaghetti with marinara, garlic cheddar biscuits, corn on the cob and salad
Tuesday~Cincinnati style chili 3 ways, salad
Wednesday~Grilled panini sandwiches, garlic fries, broccoli and salad
Thursday~mom is out for the evening so the boys are doing frozen pizzas...original, right?
Friday~chicken curry with basmati rice, naan and salad
Saturday~dinner out-we have a busy day...yard sale, birthday party, role playing night for daddy...dinner on the run it is.
Sunday~sandwiches, leftovers, basically clean out the fridge day
There we have it, very unoriginal but it gets the job done. I keep telling myself that at least during the school season I will have more time for cooking but that's not really an incentive to want to see the end of all day pool days and lazy mornings. Hopefully I'm not rubbing my "school stinks!" attitude off on the boys!
Are you looking forward to the new school year? Do you tend to cook more during the school year or summer season?
