Menu Plan Monday

Hi everyone, I'm back, late as usual.  I had a great time at my sister's wedding this weekend.  Everything went well and the weather co-operated.  It was a beautiful ceremony.  My son co-operated pretty well and many thanks go out to my great hubby who took care of him most of the time.  I just had to sneak out to our van a couple of times to feed him.  The girls had a great time and danced up a storm.  I will post some pictures tomorrow.

In other news today is the girls last day of school.  Summer holidays are here which means I'll be busier than normal and we will have to come up with lot's of fun activities and keep the TV watching to a minimum.  We do have a number of activities planned such as a family camping trip,  swimming lessons, VBS (vacation bible school), and the girls are going on their own to a 3 day camp. There will still be plenty of time to just hang around home as well and we will plan on having some picnics outside, doing some crafting and baking, and working in the garden.

Well on to our menu plan for the week.

Monday: smokies, perogies, corn

Tuesday: chicken, mashed potatoes, gravy, peas

I have some old chickens in my freezer that I need to use up, so I will put a couple in the slow cooker.  We will some tonight then use the leftovers all week in sandwiches and what not.  Also I will use the bones to make some chicken stock.

Wednesday: chicken salad sandwiches, raw veggies

Thursday: Canada Day.  We will BBQ some hamburgers or have a hot dog roast.

Friday:  Chicken fettuccine Alfredo, salad.

Saturday:  Sausage, rice, corn  

For more great menu ideas head over to org junkie and check out menu plan Monday.

Summer Fun: Blowing Bubbles

Blowing bubbles is a fun summer pastime.  It is inexpensive, (you can find many bubble recipes online like this one), kids love it, and it can be very relaxing.  So go blow some bubbles today!

Boogie Woogie Bakery Man

Alright, this post is mainly for my family members who will remember this song.

When we were kids my grandparents had a old record player in the basement with a bunch of old records.  There was only one us kids were interested in and that was The Candy Man.  And on that record there was only one song that we listened to and that was the Boogie Woogie Bakery Man.  One of my older cousins invented a game where we ran around the basement to the music and then had to jump on one of the beds before the music stopped.  It was a lot of fun and occupied us for hours.  I am sure I have heard this song hundreds of times.  So you don't have to always entertain your kids, just give them some old tapes to listen to, some space to run around in, and see what they do.

(In the interests of full disclosure when we were doing this as teenagers I fell on my cousin and he ended up with a really bloody nose.)

This song isn't exactly politically correct and the video is pretty corny but the song definately brings back memories of good times.

Weigh-In Wednesday and Weekly Goal

Well, I just weighed myself and I believe I am down another pound.  Today's weight 161.  That means I am just one pound short of my goal of 160 pounds, which is awesome.  I haven't been working out really though and I was hoping to tone up some more.  So I need to work on that.  Next week I will set a new weight loss goal to work toward over the summer.  The main thing I did this past little while was to focus on drinking lot's of water and I tried to not drink as much coke.  I still drink a lot of pop but it definately is less than I used to.  I do notice that I feel better on days when I drink plenty of water.

I don't really have a goal this week as I am busy getting ready for the wedding.  I guess my goal is just to stay calm and be organized and enjoy the time.

Teachers Gift: Pressed Flower Bookmark

Today we worked on making some gifts for the girls teacher.  Over the weekend we picked some flowers and greenery, put it between sheets of newspaper and pressed it in the phone book.  Today we got them out and they looked like this:

We used some card stock to make bookmarks and the girls wrote messages to their teachers on the back.  On the front they glued some of the flowers and leaves.

I put clear packing tape over the bookmarks to protect them.  We punched a hole in the bookmark and used some yarn and beads to make a dangle. And there you go beautiful bookmarks for the kids teachers.

Menu Plan Monday

Sorry this is a little late in going up.  I hope everyone had a good Father's day.  We had a good time as the weather was finally nice and we had our annual Father's day BBQ and family slow-pitch game.  Oh and the kit kat treats were definitely a hit.  He had to pull them all out of the jar so he could read all the notes that the girls wrote.

I have just a short menu this week as we will be heading to the city on Thursday to get ready to celebrate my sister's wedding on Saturday.

Monday:  Sausage & hot dogs, macaroni and cheese, raw vegetables.

Tuesday:  Grilled pork chops with potato salad, leftover mac and cheese, raw vegetables and watermelon.

Wednesday:  Stir-fry vegetables with leftover pork chop, rice.

That's all for this week.  The rest of the meals will be at Grandma's house or eaten out.

A Father's Day Gift

For Father's day this year the girls made a sweet treat for their dad a little more personal. 

 I bought some snack size chocolate bars. 

We wrapped paper around them.

Then the girls wrote messages on each one.

Then they decorated a jar, placed the bars inside, and wrapped it all up with a red ribbon.

The girls are very excited to give this to their dad and can't wait until Father's Day.

A Cleaner Entry

Well, I did it. I got the closet area cleaned up here.  Here is a picture of it now.  It looks much better.  If only I can keep it this way.

Now one thing I have to worry about is all the papers and books the girls are bringing home now that school is almost done.  They are so proud of their work and want to save everything but it is not possible.  I do have a box for each of them that I save some of the stuff I think they may want to look back at in the future but the rest of the stuff needs to go.  Admittly I have a hard time getting rid of stuff as well so it is not just them.  So that is what I have to work on is getting rid of stuff, particulary as more stuff comes home from school.

On another note it has been very rainy here in Saskatchewan.  It is the wettest spring in decades.  A lot of the fields are flooded and many farmers are not done seeding and it is now getting too late to seed.  We were lucky as we got most of our seeding done.  There was just one field we were unable to get seeding.  But my garden is just a big mud puddle and there hasn't been many nice days to enjoy being outside.  Now when the weather does get nice it won't be very enjoyable outside because with all this wet weather the mosquitos are just thriving.  They are bad.  Especially having a young son on whom you are not supposed to put insect repellant it is going to be difficult to spend a lot of time outside particularly in the evenings.  So I welcome any ideas on keeping mosquitos away.

Weigh-in Wednesday and Weekly Goal

Here is my weight loss tip for the week: Breastfeed.  Seriously, I have been eating like a pig and not exercising this past week and I am still down one pound.  This weeks weight is 162 lbs. Apparently breastfeeding burns up to 500 calories a day.  So that is just one benefit to add to the many of breastfeeding.  I enjoy breastfeeding my son.  It is my time to sit and cuddle with him and I often sneak in a few minutes of reading as well.  Also I can feed him anywhere, at any time with no worry about bottles, measuring formula, or any of that.

In any case I still want to work on eating healthier.  Again this week I did not do so well with the food diary and increasing my intake of fruits and vegetables.  So again this is something I want to work on.  Along with drinking my water which I quickly slack off on if I don't keep track of it.

My other goal last week was to clean my closet area.  That did not get done.  So my goal is to do that tomorrow.  I am having company this weekend and I want them to be able to get into the closet and have a clean table to set stuff on.   Here is a "before" picture and I hope to be posting some beautiful "after" pictures tomorrow.

Yikes, what a mess!  I am amazed how quickly it gets messy.  This is just sort of a dumping ground as you come in the door.  I also store extra groceries in here and need to tidy them up. 

Menu Plan Monday

This past weekend was good and busy.  We went to the city and stayed at Grandma's house.  On Friday night I got a pedicure with my sisters and cousins.  On Saturday was my sister's BBQ stagette.  It was pretty relaxed.  We did a digital photo scavenger hunt which was fun.  I ate lot's of good food and we played a few games. Oh and we got henna tattoos.  On Sunday I went shopping with my sister for a bunch of wedding stuff.  While I was doing that my hubby took the girls on a long bike ride.  I think they went over 20 km.  They did stop for Slurpee's at one point to refuel.  They were very tired when they got home but very proud of themselves as well. 

So now I am back at home and its time to come up with a menu for the week.

Monday: Leftovers, mixed veggies, and rhubarb cobbler.

Tuesday: Fried chicken, mashed potatoes, corn.

Wednesday: Homemade bread, chicken salad sandwiches.

Thursday: Grilled pork chops, baked potatoes, veggies.

Friday: Tuna casserole, salad.

Saturday:  Hubby's work is having a staff BBQ.

Sunday: We have another BBQ to attend for Father's day.

Well that's it for this week.  For many menu ideas check out org junkie.

Bible Verse For the Week

I am able to do all things through the one who strengthens me.

Philippians 4:13

Car Seat Clinic

Yesterday I went to a car seat clinic and got my kids seats checked.  Even though my oldest is 8 this is the first time I have actually done this.  It was worth going to for a number of reasons. 

First my 8 year old has been asking to get out of her booster seat as none of her friends still use them.  I knew she wasn't ready to get out yet but having someone else tell her helps me not look so much like the mean mommy.  She actually will be in a booster for a while yet as she has to grow 4-5" to be the right height to fit our van seats without a booster.

Secondly my 6 year old's seat was expired (which I did know but had continued to use it for a while anyway).  But while we were there we entered a draw for a new booster seat which we won.  So now she has a new, not expired seat.

My sons car seat was pretty good as it is a new one (Thanks to everyone who gave us this seat.  It is really nice).  The technician did lower the straps one notch.  When rear facing the straps are to be at or below the shoulders.  Apparently ours were a little above.  One other thing to remember when using an infant seat is to always put the carrying handle down. 

So if your community is having a car seat clinic head on over there and get your car seats checked.  While we there they also checked to see if any of our seats had been recalled.  And who knows you may win a prize.

On a side note my son went for his 4 month immunization shots today.  He now weighs 15 lbs 9 oz and is 25.8 inches long.  That puts him at about the 70th percentile for weight and the 75th for height.  So he is a big boy.  Much larger than my girls who were routinely at around the 10th percentile.

Weigh-In Wednesday and Weekly Goal

Its Wednesday again, time for me to post my current weight, which today is 163 lbs.  So that is down one more pound.  If you remember my goal was to be 160 lbs by my sisters wedding which is in two and a half weeks.  It is still possible for me to reach that goal but I will have to eat very well (as in healthy) between now and then.  I have been doing so-so in keeping a food diary.  I want to continue to work on that and maybe add in some of what I am feeling when I eat.  Also I said I wanted to eat more fruits and veggies.  So I think I will track in this post how many servings I am getting.  Ideally I would like to eat 7 a day but for this week I will happy if I get 5.

On the homemaking front I have been doing better on getting my morning routine done but there is still room for improvement.  This week my goal is to get the closet area by my door cleaned up and the table that is there cleaned off as well as keeping up with my daily chores.

Menu Plan Monday

Here's what we are eating this week.  On Tuesday I will bake a large ham and the leftovers will sustain us for a while.

Monday: Grilled steak, potatoes, peas

Tuesday: Baked ham, scalloped potatoes, corn, salad

Wednesday: Cheddar Ham Oven Omelet, fruit salad, biscuits

Thursday: Pasta with ham and cheese, broccoli & cauliflower salad

On Friday I will be heading to the city for the weekend to attend my sisters wedding stagette BBQ and do other wedding related stuff.  I can't believe her wedding is almost here.

For other menu ideas check out org junkie's menu plan Monday.

Branding Time

This past weekend we branded our calves at my father-in-law's ranch.  It went very well (with only a few incidents but that is to be expected) and had all 50 calves vaccinated and branded before noon.  Thanks to everyone who came and helped.  A few extra hands made it go very quickly.  I didn't help much at all as I was holding my son but the girls were happy to have me take them for a walk in the hills.  They also enjoyed playing by the creek with their cousin.  In the afternoon I was able to go for a ride to help move the bulls.  I'm not sure I was much help as the horse I was riding did not like to move but it was good to get the chance to ride.  Here are a few pictures from the weekend.

Watch out for my mom when she has a needle in her hand.

Hubby and my Dad getting a calf ready to brand.

My daughter likes looking at the calves.

The girls love playing by the creek.

All done and the cows are headed to the summer pasture.

Bible Verse For The Week

"For I have learned, in whatever situation I find myself, to be content"

Phillipians 4:11

Dandelion Fritters

We have a yard full of dandelions.  So after coming across this post at Steady Mom.  We decided to try making these dandelion fritters.

First you have to pick some dandelion blossoms.

Then we brought them inside and gave them a wash.

Next mix together 1 cup of milk, 1 cup of flour, and 1 egg.

Then dip the dandelion blossoms in the batter and fry in a little oil.

We served them with a little syrup for dipping.

The verdict:  one girl loved them, the other one wasn't so keen.  But overall it was a fun little experiment.

Weigh-In Wednesday and Weekly Goal

I have decided to post my weekly goals on Wednesday now to coincide with my weigh-in.     The last weekly goals I posted a while back in this post were to keep a food diary and go through the girls summer clothes. 

It took me a while to get there but I did get the summer clothes put out and I went through their clothes a little bit.  As far as keeping a food diary it was kind of hit and miss.  I did it for a little while but then fell off track.

So for this week I want to refocus on keeping that food diary and eating more fruits and veggies.

Also I have been having a hard time staying motivated the last week.  So for my homemaking goal I am going to work on finishing my morning routine by 10:00 AM.  My morning routine consist of a number of tasks that have to be completed daily and looks something like this:

• make beds
• swish and swipe the bathroom
• start laundry
• dishes done and tidy kitchen
• sweep kitchen
• bible reading/meditation
• exercise
• feed chickens and gather eggs

When I get this done in the morning it leaves the rest of the day free for any other stuff I want to do and I feel good about getting this accomplished.  So I am really going to work on starting my day right by doing my morning routine.

Now for my weight this week : 164 lbs. That is down one more pound.  Yes!  Hopefully I can keep it off.

Well, that's it for this week.  What goals are you working on?