Oh The Things That Are Going On

 Prom.

End of the school year activities.

Graduation.

Travel Baseball.

Car Crash (everyone was OK).

Broken Washer (TWICE!!)

Picking up oldest from college (8 hours round trip)

College Orientation with the Middle (stayed in the dorm.  Ate in the dining hall.  12 hours of meetings.  I was EXHAUSTED)

Y'all.  It's been a wild ride.  Good, but busy.  I have photos.  But I need to download them.  

Up next.  Grad Party.  I feel very detached from this.  I should be panicked.  I don't even care right now.  It's going to hit me.  And it won't be good.  

Pray for me.  It's just so busy.  

Weekly Meal Plan 4/22/22 to 4/28/22: Feeding the Family

 Last week was a lot of leftovers.  I'm cooking again, but I'm reluctant.  I miss leftovers.  But these people need to eat.

Friday:  Left over Mississippi Chicken and potatoes from Thursdays dinner.

Saturday:  Turkey Egg Roll in A Bowl (hot dogs for the kids that don't like cabbage)

Sunday:  Buffalo Chicken Caesar Wraps and melon: (chicken thighs sprinkled with Emeril's Essence and grilled, dredged in Primal Kitchen Buffalo Sauce [and yes, I get mine at Costco]. And I also picked up an Earthbound Organic Caesar salad kit at Costco.  Layer your wrap with salad, chop up a cooked and sauced chicken thigh and add it to the top of the lettuce.  I added some dressing and cheese that came with the salad kit to ours and left it off J's since the dressing contains egg.  Roll you wrap and eat).  Very Yummy!

Monday:  One Skillet Chicken and Broccoli Dinner

Tuesday:  Turkey Tacos

Wednesday:  Grilled Chicken Salad

Thursday:  Clean up or Poor Man's Meal

I also made a veggie soup for lunch this week:

2 leeks

1 tbs olive oil
2 stalks of celery
1 carrot
1/2 yellow onion
1 carton (4 cups) of vegetable broth
spices (I used garlic, parsley, herb de Provence, salt and pepper)

Clean your leeks (How to clean leeks)

chop up your celery, carrot, onion and sauté in 1 tbs of olive oil until slightly softened

add in cleaned and sliced leeks and garlic

sauté 3 minutes more

add in broth and spices

cook on medium heat for 20 minutes

It's a completely plain soup.  But that is what I want.  Not a lot of fat.  No cheese or cream.  I just wanted a light soup to pair with a salad to get me through the week.

Baseball games should have started this week.  But due to an inordinate amount of rain, the games were cancelled.  I am going to have to adjust my menus once baseball starts.  It's hard to cook prior to the games but it's no fun eating dinner between 9-10 at night.  On week nights, I might make sub sandwiches and take them with us, but many games are on meatless Fridays and my people will not eat veggie subs.  Baseball season always adds an extra step to the weeks menu.  But I've been doing this for years, so I will figure it out.

What are you cooking this week?  Do you have anything that makes it hard to keep up with your menu?  

Have a Blessed Week Ahead!!

A Whirlwind of a Summer

 Summer is not over!  But as of today, the high schooler returned for his senior year.  The 3rd grader goes back Wednesday.  And we return the college sophomore to his university on Saturday.  Even though summer is still with us, it seems to be behind us.  

It was a really good summer.  Baseball dominated the first part of summer.  From May (actually April) until early July, our days were full of baseball.  The season went ok.  The team he was on was full of really great kids.  But they all go to another school, and some of his school friends play on another team and he really wanted to play with them.  He tried out for the new team and made it.  So next year he'll be on a totally new team and he'll miss his teammates from his old team, but he's really happy to be with his school friends.

The older boys both worked at a grocery store this summer.  At first it was really busy and they worked a lot of hours, but as summer went on, customers weren't coming in as much and the available stock became less due to supply chain issues, so things became slow and hours were cut.  They weren't happy about losing money, but it did give them more free time.

We went on vacation.  To our usual South Carolina spot.  It was a really great week.  We all love it there so much.  We fished, swam, sunned, and just spent quality time together.  I wish we could do that more than just once a year.

It's been a rainy summer here in Ohio.  My flowers and garden are water logged.  My lettuce did well, as did the hot peppers, jalapenos, and green beans.  I got NO garlic (I don't know what I did wrong), and my peas, carrots, radish, green peppers, and cabbage did "meh".  Tomatoes and zucchini are coming in now so we'll see how those go.

We spent some time at the swim club this summer (I call it the lake).  It's really nice there and I'm glad we joined.  I'd like to keep going on the weekends until they close, but weekends are filling up fast.  

I went on a few college tours with the senior.  He's narrowing things down and we'll see how things go.  He seems a little disengaged in the whole process, but we'll see.  Maybe that's just how he's appearing on the outside.  I know he'll end up in the correct place for him.  God always put us where we should be.

So that's my update.  I'm sure I forgot some things.  But these are the big ones.

It's Fall Ya'All.

It's fall!  It's my favorite season.  I love the warm days and the cool nights.  I love the changing color of the leaves.  I LOVE the smell in the air.  That smell is earthy and spicy and just magical to me.

I love fall!

I'm not going to think about what happens next (I'm not a fan of old man winter).  But I love fall.

The older I get though, the more melancholy I get at the end of summer.  Summer is warm and full of fun, sun, and precious memories.  It's the most time we get to spend with the kids.  Whether it's vacation or just carting them back and forth to sports, it's OUR time with these wonderful boys.  During the school year, they are not ours.  They belong to school, sports, friends, etc.  But during summer, they are all ours.

In the fall, they go back to all those things that take then away from us. It's their time.  It's them growing and moving forward.  And that's the way it's supposed to be, even if it makes me sad.

But even though I feel a bit melancholy, it's still my favorite time of year.

I have my candles ready.  I have some new ones this year.  I've only stuck with fall scents so far.

Dried Lavendar & Oak is my favorite so far.

I bought Farmstand Festival but I haven't lit it yet.

Spireside Ghostly Castle is my Halloween scent.  I really like it.

South candle Campfire reminds of fireplace or an outdoor campfire.  It's a really nice scent.

I did not buy this one (YET!) but today I came across Root Candle Tabacco Vanilla  It's such a nice, relaxing scent (I'm sure I will buy this one before he season is done).


I have also bought some Lori Mitchell figurines for Halloween.  I have a few for each holiday.  They are too cute.  But we thought we had the candy corn kids and it turns out we did not.  So of course we HAD to stop into our favorite store Chagrin Valley Antiques to pick them up.  And we ended up picking up those AND a few more.  And finding some that I just have to have for Christmas.

Chagrin Valley Antiques is one of my favorite stores.  I have been going there for almost 20 years.  The owners are amazing people.  I had not had the opportunity to go there for a few months.  And I really missed it.  Sadly, I found out that Tom, one of the owners passed away unexpectedly.  Please keep his wife in your prayers.  She is an amazing lady and they have been a part of our lives for so long.  I'm heartbroken for her and for our community.  We lost an amazing person.

The boys also went to homecoming.  At least the big two did.  The seven year old is still my baby.  They both had a great time.  I'd post pictures, but they asked that I NOT do that so you'll just have to take my word on how handsome they looked.

The oldest is playing football this fall and the middle is playing fall baseball.  Sports have kept us busy.

Last week we hosted Senior Football Dinner.  22 senior boys descended upon my house.  THOSE KIDS CAN EAT.  Luckily, the weather was good enough for me to set them up on the patio.  And luckily we did not run out of food.  They are 22 special young men and it was a pleasure to have them. I used That Hawiian Guy's BBQ for the food and it was delicious.  If you are local, please check them out.  Not only is the food amazing, but so is the owner.

And that's my update for now.  I know more has gone on but this is the major high lights.  We do not have Halloween costumes yet.  But we planted mums. College applications are in the works and FAFSA is completed. Hopefully I can get on here more often and update with minor coming and goings.  But for now, this is the crux of it.

So happy fall ya'all.  Enjoy every moment, every scent, every color, and every second.

Baseball, Vacation, and Summer Fun

This summer is going by in a blur.  The entire beginning was taken up by travel baseball. It feels like it goes on forever.  But it's over now.  But guess what??  Fall Ball starts on August 17.  And of course football starts a week or so after that.  This is the life of a mom with three sports loving boys.  I know that one day I will miss it.  But today is not that day (lol).

Vacation was wonderful.  We went back to our favorite place, Litchfield Beach, SC.  We love it there.  We all love the ocean, the boys love to fish and catch crabs, and everyone loves the pools.  My favorites are the morning beach walks and the shopping at The Hammock Shops just down the road at Pawley's Island.  We've been going there since the boys were little.  I asked them if they wanted to try a new place next year and it was a resounding NO. So, God willing, we'll go back next year.  I'm already looking forward to it.

Along with a new sport season, we have back to school to think about.  We will have a senior, a sophomore, and a first grader.  The little one is the only one who needs school supplies right now.  The older boys don't find out what they need until after school starts.  I kind of copped out today and ordered all the little one's school supplies via Amazon Prime.  I'm sure I probably could have saved some money just going to Walmart, but it was worth it to me. Now I just have to worry about school uniforms and shoes.  Sometimes it's just better to do the easy thing instead of the money saving thing.  Ordering directly from Amazon is my sanity saving thing.

We also have the little ones birthday in August.  The Middle turned 15 in July and we celebrated as a family, but we combine the Middle and the Little's birthdays in August for the extended family party.  It's less running around for everyone.  I'm also going to do a "friend" party for the Little this year.  It will be his first.  I've been a slacker on this.  The older boys had friend parties starting in pre-school.  I feel badly, so I said this year he will get a friend party.  I'm having it at a local sports venue, and it's only 1.5 hours so fingers crossed that it all goes well.  Seven year old boys aren't easy to entertain.

Let's see, what else has been happening....

Hubby and I celebrated our 19th anniversary last week.  19 years have flown by.  It sure doesn't seem like 19 years.  They've been 19 wonderful years.  I've been blessed with an amazing husband.

I'm still plugging along with my walking routine.  I try to do 2 miles 3-4 days a week, but I've been overachieving and walking 4-5.  Still trying to eat healthier too.  Eating healthy is hit or miss, but I really am trying.  I'm also doing intermittent fasting.  I like it, but I'm not losing any weight.  I'm trying to not get discouraged and keep plugging along.  At least I've stemmed the tide of gaining weight.  Got to look on the positive, right?

Right now, I'm obsessed with the Hallmark Christmas in July movies.  They make me happy.  Don't judge me lol.  I LOVE all things Christmas.

Other things that have made me happy this summer:

This Pawley's Island candle from The Isle Co. that I got on vacation.  It smells so good!

The Christmas Mouse store.  Another thing that I love from vacation (told you I love all things Christmas)
 
Delay, Don't Deny: Living An Intermittent Fasting Lifestyle  This book by Gin Stephens really explains the whys and the science behind intermittent fasting in an easy to read guide.

Dreams of Falling by Karen White  It's such a great beach read.  I've read almost all of her books and usually on vacation.  I really enjoy them.

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.

Moving On Up

This weekend has been crazy busy.  And by crazy busy I mean that I’ve pretty much just showered and slept at home, and that's it.  It’s certainly not the peaceful weekend I was hoping for.  We had wrestling meets, 3 baseball practices, a baseball fundraiser, and an open house at school for Catholic schools week.  Normally I would have just skipped the open house (we already go there, so we already know the drill).  BUT the kindergarten rooms were open and one very excited preschooler wanted to go and check them out.  He’s very excited and possibly a little nervous about the whole kindergarten thing.  Technically he could have gone this year, but he just wasn’t ready, so we waited.  The preschool is his safe place.  He's been going there for four years now (mom and toddler class, 3 year old class, and two years of pre-k, one half day and one full day).  He’s looking forward to going to the big school.  But he’s a little nervous about the big school too.  Unfortunately both older brothers will be in high school next year (freshman and junior years), so he’ll be there alone.  The good news is that he’s been there numerous times and he knows some of the teachers and is familiar with some of the rooms.  He's ready.  I think I'm ready.  But it's my baby.  Even though we are both ready, it's still hard to let him go.