Menu Plan Monday: August 9-15

We pretty much stuck to the menu plan for last week. It was easy since Will was out of town for the most of the week. I have a couple of carry-overs from the end of the week that we never got to.

I have enjoyed our CSA so far, but it does kind of throw a kink in my menu planning since I plan and grocery shop at the beginning of the week and I don't pick up my weekly produce box until Thursday afternoon. We did enjoy an impromptu to fresh veggie dinner on Saturday night ... complete with fresh fried okra, squash casserole and field peas.

I also made this yummy lemon bundt cake and I am the only one in my house who will eat it. I guess I will take it to work if I get tired of it before it's all gone (which is highly unlikely!).

I also got a ton of fresh basil from my CSA last week and made basil pesto for the first time. I froze most of it, but saved some to use in our meal tonight.

Monday: Squash, caramelized onion and tomato pasta, salad, garlic bread

Tuesday: BBQ chicken, fried okra, field peas, squash casserole and cornbread

Wednesday: baked pizza roll & sauce, salad

Thursday: grilled pork chops, roasted fresh veggies (squash, zucchini, red/green peppers, red onions), rolls

Friday: Chicken puffs, green beans, fruit

Saturday: dinner out/date night

Sunday (lunch): Mozzarella, tomato, basil panini, chips, cantaloupe/watermelon

Sunday (dinner): leftovers

Check out other menu plans here.

Summer's End

Well, I know that summer is far from over, but it feels like things are coming to a close once August rolls around. My kids both loved their summer preschool program at our church and last Thursday was their last day. I snapped a quick picture with their teachers who they both were just crazy about.

After I picked the kids up, we celebrated with ice cream from Baskin Robbins. (I am not a huge BR fan, but I had a BOGOF coupon.) I did have some praline pecan cheesecake ice cream, which may be the most heavenly flavor combo ever in my book. The kids enjoyed their vanilla soft serve cones, which is what the coupon was for.

There is nothing better than ice cream on a hot summer day! This has been a fun but QUICK summer for sure!

Getting Ready for Baby

This past weekend was the first one we have been home in a while. We worked around the house all day on Saturday trying to get some things finished up before Baby Luke arrives next month.

We hung curtains and pictures in Claire and David's room. It is finished for the most part ...


... except for this disaster area. I need to clean off and redecorate the top of the chest of drawers, and clean, paint and decorate the book shelf next to the chest. I really not sure I want to leave that big toy bag of stuffed animals out either, but for now, it will probably stay.


I also still need to address the empty walls on the side of each kids' beds. I would like to hang these on Claire's wall, but I have yet to make any for David. I would also like to make some kind of bulletin board or magnetic board for each kid. Something like this perhaps? [Will thinks we should not go to the trouble since we will probably be selling our house next spring to move into a better school zone. I disagree.]

On to the nursery ... I think I've said before that we are not making any major changes to the nursery. It did need a few touch-ups though.

(1) Curtains. Will is re-hanging the curtains on a different rod so I could put the valance up that we never used before (it matches the bedding). Claire is supervising (in her underwear).

The finished product (before it was just the gingham panels).

(2) The crib. I have used this crib for all of my children. Claire did no damage to it.

David went all "woodchuck" on it. So now it has been taken apart so we can take it outside for sanding and a little touch-up paint. I guess we all know what Will is going to be doing this weekend!

David found Will's screwdriver and decided to do a little more work on the crib.

I still have a few pictures to hang and a closet to finish cleaning out, but otherwise, the nursery will be finished. Yeah!

Cousin Time

We got to see our Georgia cousins on our way home from Orlando last month. (I promise I am going to blog about our vacation soon ... all the pictures are just overwhelming me.)

The kids are all second cousins since my first cousin David is their dad. Next to our two on the end, we have Rachel (9), Will (almost 7), Gracie and Michael (twins, age 5). At one time, my cousin and his wife had 4 kids ages 4 and under. Isn't that crazy!! That makes the arrival of our third (making it 3 kids 4 and under) sound like a piece of cake!

As always, we had a great time visiting and our kids had fun. And this was the only picture I took. We usually see my cousin's family twice a year, but for some reason (our growing families perhaps?) we haven't been able to get together lately. We decided it had been about a year and a half since we last saw each other.

These kids love "Big Will" and kept him busy playing with Nerf guns and plasma cars in the basement. And, we got to have some of cousin Dave's pancakes, which are always a treat. I made pancakes last Saturday and Claire told me that they were good, but not as good as Mr. Dave's pancakes. Oh well, I try.

Friday Night Flashback

My sister and brother-in-law came over to hang out with us last Friday. We always have such a fun time with them. Here are all the kids hot and sweaty from playing outside ... eating watermelon of course. Ian (my nephew) ate about 10 pieces of watermelon I think. I'm not really sure where he puts it all because he weighs less than David and is 6 months older.

My sister and me.

And here I am poking her with my big ole' belly. Ha! It makes her look all the more skinnier.

We had a big night of Band Hero planned and the girls decided they needed to look "fabulous" for our band reunion. Last time we did this, the kids were all content to play with the busy bee toy band instruments while the grown-ups played with the real Wii instruments. That was not so much the case this time. Let's just say that there were a fears tears shed over the whole ordeal.

Uncle Jon & Aunt Ashley getting ready to "rock"!

Another reason for our little impromptu get together ... Will wanted to use his new kitchen toy and he needed a non-pregnant drinking buddy. Remember this? Well, I broke down and bought it thinking I would give it to Will for his birthday/Christmas gift (both in December). However, it was on backorder when I ordered it and it shipped while we were on vacation, so Will saw it when he went to get our mail from our neighbors. And naturally, he thought we should test it out to make sure it works ... for the next 5 months. I have told him that he is getting nothing else for his birthday or Christmas come December so he better enjoy! Will and Jon had fun making margaritas, daiquiris and mudslides on Friday night. So far, the new kitchen gadget is getting great reviews! I'll let you know what I think come mid-September!

Thanks to Jon, Ashley, Evie & Ian for a fun night!!

Menu Plan Monday: August 2-8

This week's menu is a lot of repeats from the previous week. With my mother-in-law cooking us a meal while she was here and bringing us a rotisserie chicken (and I pulled some leftover homemade pizza from the freezer), we didn't get to a lot of the things I had planned. I did do a lot of cooking though. I took two meals to couples in our Sunday school class that just had babies and I made 4 coffeecakes to take to Claire and David's summer preschool program teachers on their last day of school. (In total, I made 4 quiches and 4 coffeecakes this week.)

I also tried these two recipes over the weekend and they were both yummy!

(1) Banana pancakes (I added chocolate chips and left off the strawberry topping). Will and the kids really liked these. But they were not my favorite. I have not been a huge fan of banana stuff during this pregnancy for some reason.

(2) Feta Black Bean Dip. [Warning: this recipe makes a ton of dip. I halved it and we still had plenty for four adults with leftovers. I could also eat my weight in this stuff so I was pleased with all the leftovers!]

Plus, we joined a CSA (community supported agriculture) this week so I got this yummy box of fresh produce to use. You will notice a lot of squash in this week's menu plan! I have also been loving the fresh cucumbers and tomatoes and fresh basil.

Monday: leftover Mango tilapia, rice pilaf, steamed broccoli (see photo below ... this meal was too pretty not to take a picture!) .

Tuesday: leftover Ham & cheese quiche, coffeecake or muffins, fruit

Wednesday: Mozzarella & basil panini, chips

Thursday: pork tenderloin, roasted veggies, rolls

Friday: Chicken puffs, green veggie, jello salad

Saturday: grilled pork chops, baked acorn squash, green beans, rolls

Sunday (lunch): eat out

Sunday (dinner): leftovers

Check out other menu plans here.

We Love Watermelon!

Claire loves watermelon almost as much as I do. She calls it "red cantaloupe". She can put away some watermelon.

David likes "wawamewon" too, although he doesn't eat it as much as he sucks on it. Nothing like being handed a limp piece of fruit that has been sucked dry!

We will be very sad around here when watermelon season is over!