Meal Plan Monday 5-24-21

 Things have been busy around here!  

Easter
First Communion
Baseball
Picking up oldest from college
End of the school year activities

This is the last week of school.  Of course, the 8 year old is home sick the last Monday of the school year.  How very Monday-ish. 

So we or may not have baseball this week depending on how he's feeling.  He was supposed to play tonight, but that is not going to happen.  Poor kid has had the worst time of it lately.  At the end of April he got hit in the face with a bat (trip to ER, broken tooth, no stitches), last Wednesday he fell off the swings at school and had a slight concussion, and now today he's sick.  He needs a break!

Since this is the last week of school, you would think that I would have some things planned for this summer.  You would be wrong on that front.  The older I get, the more of a slacker I become in this area.  We do have vacation planned.  But that's about it.   We belong to a swim club so I'm guessing that is where we will be spending most of our time since I'm already paying for it.  I'd also like to get to the zoo.  And on rainy days I want to take him to the history museum, the art museum, and possibly the science museum.  And he's requested bowling.  The older two will be working so they can join us on days off.

I should probably put a "summer meal plan" together, but I'm not there yet.  I did get a membership at Costco, so I plan to stock up on snacks and meat.  My downstairs fridge is already loaded with chicken sausage and smoked sausages for nights we set up the fire pit.

Last week of school meal plan:

Friday:  Fish Tacos

Saturday:  Chicken kabobs and mushroom and potato kabobs on the grill

Sunday:  Roasted chicken (I roasted two for left overs for lunch), watermelon, and mixed veg

Monday:  Tater Tot casserole

Tuesday:  Pressure Cooker Salsa Chicken with Cream Cheese

Wednesday:  Slow Cooker Cheeseburger Soup

Thursday:  Last Day of School Pizza Celebration


So this is it for the 2020-2021 school year.  It has been better than 2019-2020 that's for sure!  But I'm hoping that 2021-2022 is even more back to normal.  The 21-22 school year will bring us a college sophomore, a 3rd grader, and a high school senior.  When I started my first blog, the senior child was 2 years old.  How is this even possible?  I remember my mother telling me that the older you get, the faster time goes by.  At the time, I didn't understand (I was a teen).  But now I get it.  I really do.

But bring on Summer 2021!  We are ready for you.  And I, for one, am looking forward to lazy days and family time.  

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Broken Computers Are The Worst

My computer broke.  It's actually been broken, but I could cobble up some ways to make it work, but even those stopped working.  My son thought he fixed it, but I think it's an inherent problem with the type of HP computer that I bought (several years ago) because when I Googled how to fix it, it seemed like a common problem with this particular model.  So I've been MIA all summer long.  But my son did fix an old computer that we found in our home office, so I'm back.  The next time I invest in a computer, I think it's going to be an Apple (sorry HP, but I've been burned enough).

So what has been going on?:

1.  The 7 year old played baseball this summer (social distancing baseball).  He loved it and had a blast.  He tries out next week for next years team, so we'll see if he makes it.

2.  We went on vacation!  We went on our usual summer vacation (I booked it in January before the pandemic).  We rented a condo, went to the beach, didn't eat out, didn't go to the pools, and social distanced while wearing masks anywhere inside.  It was just so nice to get away.  

3.  School starts soon.  The little goes back August 17, the middle goes back August 27, and the oldest was supposed to go to college August 10 but it got pushed to September 14 but classes begin August 17.  I am not sure how this is all going to go or even if anyone will actually return to a classroom setting.  I hope so because these kids really need it.  But on the other hand, I'd like to keep them home in a bubble.  I'm so torn.  I don't think there are too many good decisions here.  No matter what happens, it will be less than ideal.

4.  Other than that we are staying in, social distancing and doing the best that we can. 

I'm keeping my fingers crossed that this broken computer doesn't break again.  I had to buy the college student a new laptop for school, and I just can't afford another one right now.  But I can't update here from my phone and I miss updating.  No one but me reads this (according to the analytics) but this is kind of like my diary.  And I especially wanted to keep it updated during these unprecedented times.

Spring Has Sprung!

We had a super mild winter this year, but it still seemed to last forever! Even though we had very little snow, the cold and gray really got to me. The older I get, the more the dreary weather takes a toll. We are now into spring and even though it's been raining cats and dogs, the green leaves, warmer temperatures, and peaks of sunshine seem to calm my spirit.

We Catholics are celebrating the Easter season.  I had big plans for Lent.  Some of the things I wanted to do, I managed to accomplish.  Others, well, not so much. But I'm taking some good stuff from Lent and keeping it going throughout the year.  No one is perfect, right?

School will be done in a few weeks.  Next year we will have a high school senior, a high school sophomore, and a first grader.  I do believe the saying is true.  The days are long, but the years are short.  When I first started blogging (on my old blog) I had a preschooler and a two year old.  Where do the years go?

I hope to have a semi relaxing summer.  We will only have one boy in baseball this year as the oldest boy had shoulder surgery 7 weeks ago and will sit this season out.  I'm hoping that gives us more time to so some fun family stuff.  Not that living at the ball field isn't fun.  I love watching my boys play ball (because both of them truly love it), but that doesn't leave much time for anything else.

I haven't started yard work or gardening yet, but I have started spring cleaning. I have a check list and am hoping to knock most of it out in the next few weeks before school ends.  I've also done some freezer cooking so I have a number of meals ready to go on game nights.  And I will use my slow cooker as usual too.  I do love my slow cooker!!  I also have a pressure cooker (from Aldi).  I like using it too.  I use it mostly for shredded chicken or stews, but I'm sure I'll be able to put it to good use this summer too.

Feeling Autumn

Leave it to Ohio to have a 40 degree temperature differential in one week.  Last week it was 95 degrees and we were at the Cleveland Indians game with family.  I took a seat in the sun so that the smaller children and those more advanced in age could be in the shade.  At one point I thought I might be getting heat stroke and had to spend the majority of the game in the clubhouse sitting in the air conditioning.  Forward to this weekend and it's 57 degrees and rainy.  Late summer is a roller coaster ride here in Ohio.  It's supposed to get back up into the 80's at the end of this week.  I don't mind this at all.  It gives me the best of both worlds.  I love summer but I love Autumn even a little more.  There's nothing like a cool, sunny day or sitting by the fire in the evening wearing a cozy sweater and sipping a hot cup of tea.

The cooler temperatures of the last few days have propelled me into the mood for a little autumn.  It's cooler, yet rainy, so doing anything outside does not sound appealing to me.  While I'm not completely ready to say good bye to summer, I am ready to start welcoming autumn. 

I've started transitioning the house from the red, white, and blue that I love in summer time to the beautiful yellow, orange, and red of fall. 

I've been lighting candles again!  I love candles and I'm really not home enough during the week to light them so on the weekends, I try to light them first thing in the morning and let them go until evening.  I had a big stash of my favorite candles, but I went through most of them last year.  I need to get some replacements, but I've been checking some new (to me) brands and trying so see what scents will take us through fall and winter.

I still have my red, white, and blue garland around my front door, but I did change out my wreath.

I also took down my patriotic door decorations and put up ones that are more for fall.

My foyer table vignette is starting to transition also.

Some of my mums came back this year, but not all.  When it's sunny and warmer later in the week, I'm hoping to have time to get to the local farm so I can start planting more.

I think the tree in the back feels a little like I do.  It's still very green but there are signs of red starting to show up.

Many of the trees in the woods behind our house have started to yellow.  They tend to lose their leaves early.

Thanks to the rain, I'm not sure that the steaks I had been planning on putting on the grill today will happen.  I'm now wishing I would have planned some chili.  But if not today, then tomorrow.  It's a good thing that I menu plan every week so that I have back up meals available.  But for now, I'm just going to enjoy my tea, the cozy day in doors, a little football, and catch up on my reading.

Happy Sunday!!

And Just Like That, Summer is over

I can't believe it's the end of August and the kids are back in school.  The summer flew right by.  It was crammed full of baseball, baseball, more baseball, a Disney trip, and the husbands shoulder surgery (He's fine.  But still mending).

Baseball really takes up the majority of our summer.  Both older boys play travel ball and the oldest one played on a "tournament team".  That means he played Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.  Yes, that means every weekend.  And one weekend we traveled to Indiana (it was kind of a mini vacation which was nice, but it also cost as much as a mini vacation).  I know the boys love baseball, but I'd really love to get my summer back.

And lest we forget football.  Football starts the day after school lets out on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday mornings.  Then there are a few weeks of OTA's, and mandatory camp (2 A days) starts at the end of the July.

And with that, summer is done.

It's hard to manage family time with all these sport activities.  But we did manage to go to Disney.  It was fun (and HOT).  I just hate that we basically live for one week a year. 

School is back in session.  We have a junior, a freshman, and a Kindergartner.  So far so good.  But it's only been a couple of weeks of high school and this is the second week of grade school.  Football games started too.  We have games Thursday, Friday, and Saturday.  I forgot how exhausting football season is. 

I'm looking forward to Labor Day weekend with it's extra day off.  I'm hoping for good weather and some relaxation.  Maybe a pool day in there too.

I haven't gotten into the back to school routine yet.  I have a thousand things that I want to accomplish this fall, but I haven't gotten into a groove yet.  Maybe next week.  Right now, my plan is to enjoy the last few weeks of this gorgeous weather.  I plan on walking outside every day.  I hate working out, but I love to walk.  Even though the summer is truly done for the kids, mom is going to try to extend hers for as long as she can.