Week of November 1st

Woooweee!  I can't believe it's already November.

Last week we celebrated Halloween with some pumpkin carving and trick-or-treating.

Mine is the happy pumpkin.  Always.

Firetruck and purple princess (A.K.A. Sophia the First)

Molly chose her own costume.  At this age, Jack still didn't care what he dressed up as (he was a lion).  It wasn't until his 4th Halloween that he wanted to choose his costume.  Big surprise, Molly had an opinion :D

Jack, of course, wanted to be a firetruck.  A fire fighter?  No, a fire truck.

His costume turned out pretty cute.  Lucky for me, I have experience with crafting truck costumes.  I also bought him a little fire fighter coat and hat to wear with it, but that idea was nixed because according to Jack he's a firetruck and firetrucks don't wear clothes.  Obviously...

The coat and jacket came in handy for his school party because kids were allowed to bring costumes to wear, but they had to fit in their backpacks.  Firetruck =/= backpack friendly.  Lucky for everyone, Jack was okay with wearing the firefighter costume to his party.

This was our first year trick-or-treating in our new neighborhood so I wasn't sure what to expect as far as how much candy to have on hand to pass out.  There's a lot of kids around so the day of trick-or-treat I panicked and picked up a few extra bags of candy giving us probably 1 1/2 big bowls or so to hand out.  We left a bowl out for trick-or-treaters while we went around trick-or-treating ourselves and came home to... at least 2/3 of the bowl still filled.  And with a half hour of trick-or-treat left to go we didn't even get anymore trick-or-treaters.  Womp, womp.

I have no idea where all the kids were because there were plenty of trick-or-treaters out and about.  I guess many just didn't make it back to our little cul-de-sac despite the fact that nearly everyone back here had candy to pass out.  ::shrug::  Guess I'll know for next year.

And now Halloween is over and everyone's all like...

And I'm just sitting over here like...

It's only November, people, slow your roll.  #waronThanksgiving


Menu for the week:


Sunday:  Smothered Sweet Pork Burritos with Guacamole

Monday:  Wisconsin Cauliflower Soup with Panini

Tuesday:  Paleo Sausage Veggie Bake

Wednesday:  Freezer Meal or Homemade Pizza

Thursday:  Leftovers

Friday & Saturday: Out


I'm linked at Menu Plan Monday hosted by OrgJunkie.com

Week of August 9th

We had a super busy week last week!  I tried to fit in lots of fun since it was our last full week of summer vacation before school starts.  Mid-week we made it to the park to play with friends.

Jack and his little friend Will have been meeting at that park for playdates since they were about 4 months old!

Friday and Saturday I attended a virtual conference with friends.

Lots of doulas in one room!  It was educational and fun, but I felt like I was gone all weekend!

While I was away Mark (along with some family and friends, who made it possible) finally got our swingset moved over to the new house!  Woot!

The first part of summer was SO rainy that we didn't really miss the swingset or have a good opportunity to move it.  It has been nice the last 2 weeks or so, so it has been greatly missed.  So happy to have it over here!

Sunday we did a lot of running around, which made Monday come up super quickly!

This week we're gearing up for back to school (acckk!).  Today we went school supply shopping, tomorrow there's a meet the teacher open house, now that we actually know Jack's room/teacher assignment.  Thursday there's a parent meeting for "curriculum night", whatever that is, and then Jack's first day of school will actually be Friday!

Jack is *SO* excited about his police car lunch box!  I tried to talk him out of it because it's a funny shape and therefore hard to pack, but he was set on it so we'll make it work!

Our district does a staggered start for Kindergartners for the first 5 days of school so he will attend on Friday and then not again until next Wednesday when he will begin his regular schedule.  He is also insistent upon riding the bus, which I'm not feeling super happy about.  I was planning to take him to and from school, but he is really sticking with wanting to ride the bus so we'll see what happens :(

I am so not ready for him to be in Kindergarten, but he sure is!  Ultimately, that's what matters!

It's been a really busy few weeks for me, but luckily the next 2ish weeks should be a little slower.  Of course I say this while I have 500+ square feet of wood flooring waiting to be installed.  It's all relative at this point!

Here's what we'll be eating this week:


Sunday:  Grabbed a late dinner

Monday:  BLATs with Fruit

Tuesday:  Grilled Lemon Garlic Chicken with Orzo Salad with Tomatoes, Basil, and Feta

Wednesday:  Grilled Buffalo Chicken Sandwiches with Baked Ranch Potato Wedges

Thursday:  Leftovers

Friday & Saturday: Out


I'm linked at Menu Plan Monday hosted by OrgJunkie.com

Week of July 12th

In the 3ish months since my last post we tackled our to-do list, started tackling a new to-do list for our new house, moved, and listed our old house for sale.

I really feel like ^that^ descriptive sentence should be much, much longer considering the amount of work, stress, and time that has occurred, but I guess that about sums it up.

This was our moving day.  It rained all. day. long. until we unpacked the last box and then the rain stopped.

We're *finally* getting to the point where I feel like I can pause a moment to catch my breath just a little. Every day the utter chaos we've been living in is just a little bit more organized and I'm beginning to see just a hint of light at the end of the tunnel, which is nice because up until now I feel like I've been just stumbling around blind.

Amidst the all consuming chaos that has been this relocation event I've also had 2 small kids to care for, a household to manage, at least enough so that everyone's basic needs are tended to, and doula work, which is always a welcome respite from the household drudgery, but it is work, I don't get to do it when I feel like it or when it's convenient.  I have to forget about everything else so that I can attend to my clients' needs and then come home, sometimes running on zero sleep, and pick up where I left off.  Needless to say the last several weeks/months have passed by in a blur.

But we're here.  We're moved in, the essentials have all been unpacked, and yesterday I tackled my last large painting project for a while (YAY!  I can't convey just how sick if painting I am at this point.  Since late-April I have painted every room in our old house, plus 5 rooms in the new house. All. the. painting.)  I still have the upstairs hall on my list and probably the playroom as well, and eventually (down the road just a bit) all the bathrooms will need attention as well, but after the rooms I've already tackled it will be relatively easy to get those checked off the list!  I've been well reminded of why people just buy turn-key homes.

With every room that I paint and every box that I unpack I remind myself over (and over, and over...) that I won't have to unpack that box, or do that project, again, at least not in the foreseeable future. Also that I'm privileged to be in this whole moving situation and that we've been working towards this goal for years now.  It will all be worth it.

We also celebrated 4th of July/Mark's and my birthday!

In the midst of the chaos, just a week after moving in, Molly decided she wanted to learn how to use the potty!  That's been a good/bad thing as she's caught on really quickly (day two she had the reward system figured out and was pottying with the sole intention of getting chocolate.  Needless to say, we discontinued that program quickly) but it's still a learning process and she needs help going potty eleventy-hundred times per day when I'm not exactly sitting around, twiddling my thumbs and hoping that another labor-intensive project would fall in my lap.  Alas, I'm thankful this task has effectively been accomplished.

For about 3 weeks surrounding our move we were living off of more take-out than I care to admit to, sandwiches, and whatever salads I could scrape together from the items in my fridge.  Last week I had things unpacked enough and the time necessary to actually cook again.  COOK!  Real food!  I'm so happy to be eating fresh, colorful food again!

My versions of Paleo Sausage and Veggie Bake (left) and Thai Carrot and Cucumber Noodle Salad (right)

My body was craving veggies and I feel so much better physically now that I'm back to normal eating habits. It was definitely an excellent reminder of how much food impacts how I feel.  Plus, as of last week I'm back to my usual schedule at the gym after several weeks of sporadic attendance, and oh my did I feel the impact of that.

And I'm back to meal planning!  Here's what we're eating this week:


Sunday:  Smoked Ribs with Corn Pudding and Green Beans (Yes!  First Rib Sunday of the summer!)

Monday:  Strawberry Spinach Salad with Poppyseed Dressing

Tuesday: Chicken Enchilada Zucchini Boats with Corn and Black Bean Salad

Wednesday:  BLATs with Fruit

Thursday:  Leftovers

Friday & Saturday: Out


I'm linked at Menu Plan Monday hosted by OrgJunkie.com

Week of April 19th

We had a very busy weekend around here that, of course, went by in the blink of an eye.

First we made a list of all the projects that need to be completed to get our house ready to sell.

So many thiiiiings, not enough time or energy

Admitting you have a problem is the first step to getting better, right?

That list encompasses all of the things that arise while living in a 45 year old house for 8 1/2 years, with small kids, and little time, and a propensity to procrastinate on things (+ a bathroom reno that probably should have either been done years ago or not at all :/ ).  *sigh* I wish we had worked harder at getting things completed this winter, but we do procrastinate and I've always done my best work while under pressure (I like to torture myself that way) so I guess we couldn't have done things any other way!

We worked allllll Saturday and unfortunately, didn't get a whole lot checked off the list.  Whomp, whomp. More progress in the bathroom (sooooo close to being ready to move beyond working on the walls. I think things will start chugging here soon!) and I powerwashed all the things, scraped old paint, and repainted all the trim as well as our shed (which still needs another coat).  It was pretty tough work!  Lots of up and down the ladder and the wood wasn't in greeeat shape so I really had to work the paint in.  But!  It's done! (Or, mostly anyway.  Darn shed.)

8 hours later and covered in paint.  At least it was gorgeous outside so I got to soak up plenty of sun!  And hey, look, you can see the bathroom wall progress behind me.

And we also got grass seed down (included in that was digging out more of the giant hole in our front yard, laying down topsoil, as well as hitting a couple of the regular patches in our backyard that need re-seeded every year thanks to poor drainage + dog running around.  Grow, grass, grow (please)! We're crossing our fingers that what we've done out front will take care of the giant hole once and for all.

You know what physical labor isn't good for?  Manicures.

I took the picture on the left on Saturday morning because I'm adoring Essie's Ballet Slipper right now.  And then by Saturday evening my nails looked like the picture on the right.  Except I actually just took that picture because it's now Monday and my nails STILL look like that.  I can't get the paint to come off!  :(

I digress.

Even though it feels like we will never get everything done and that progress is as slow moving as molasses, I will say that I feel a little bit better about actually checking things off the list and making some progress. Gotta keep it movin'!

Sunday I had a prenatal visit, then ran to the grocery store while Mark was at home with the kids, working on the bathroom walls, and hanging a new overhead light fixture (woohoo!), then we went to my parents' house for dinner, came home, put the kids to bed, and I folded laundry.  So basically, busy the whole day and feeling like not much got accomplished. Story. of. my. life.

We're technically approved for closing on the new house, but have to fix a bit of siding that has come loose on the house before we can actually officially close (so random, but these are the things we deal with when buying a house.  ::facepalm::).  We really need to close by 5/1 so we're going make it happen cap'n.

In news other than The Housing Situation That's Dominating My Life, Molly is up for letting me do fun things with her hair and I'm loving it!

She's a trip.  She calls braids her "Elsa braid"  Love!

Off to hopefully get some more work done!

Here's what we're eating this week:



Sunday:  Dinner with family

Monday:  Strawberry Spinach Salad with Poppyseed Dressing

Tuesday:  Sloppy Joes with Baked Sweet Potato Fries

Wednesday:  Chicken Fajitas

Thursday:  Leftovers

Friday & Saturday:  Out


I'm linked at Menu Plan Monday hosted by OrgJunkie.com

Week of April 12th

Let's see here...

Last weekend the boys went to a monster truck show while Molly and I attended a baby shower.

Mark and I decided to have a late dinner per usual on Saturday, but it was pushed back due to festivities. So, after Molly was in bed, and while waiting for the boys to get home, I had some quite time with my book and a Cadbury egg to tide me over til dinner.

Nothin' wrong with that.

Sunday was gorgeous!  I had an interview at 10am and then hit the grocery store afterwards.  I found some limes on the produce clearance rack and decided that called for Margarita Sunday.

Freshly mixed marg + beautiful day + {different} book = Sunday perfection

We have been trying to spend as much time outside as possible. 

I can't even tell you how thankful I am that we can get outside to play.  It feels amazing to not be stuck in the house all the time while at home and we love soaking up some vitamin D!

I'm glad that we're already moving on buying another house because this time of year, once we can get out to enjoy our backyard, I start feeling like, pscht!  We don't need a bigger house, too much effort to buy/move/sell, we're fine here!

It's like I experience springtime amnesia.  I'm too appreciative of our outside space and when winter rolls around I'm harshly reminded of the realities of 2 young kids trapped in a small space :/

Things are still moving on the new house.  We had our second appraisal, yes second, because after the first one the appraiser ended up in the hospital before finishing the report (these are the things that happen when we try to buy a house) so we had to get a second appraiser in there to re-do things.  Of course the second appraiser neglected to consider in his report that we're buying the house as-is so he has to modify a few things before everything can be finalized (these are the things that happen when we try to buy a house).  ANYWAY, hopefully things will be squared away very soon and we'll have a final closing date set before too long.  I'm just ready to have things squared away.

Things are moving along at a snail's pace as far as getting our house ready to sell.  I'm convinced there's no way everything will get done in a reasonable amount of time (because: facts) and Mark has assured me that things will get done (because: they have to).  One of us is being a little more optimistic about things than the other.  We'll see who is correct (FYI, I'm rooting for Mark).  I'm just trying to focus on how worth it everything will be a few months from now when we're all settled (theoretically).

To end on a happier note, Molly is a gal all about accessories:

She is too funny!


Menu for the week:


Sunday:  Grilled Burgers with Baked Sweet Potato Fries

Monday:  Fish Tacos with Mango Slaw

Tuesday:  Asparagus Carbonara (I opted for a half-carb version by adding zoodles to my portion)

Wednesday:  General Tso's Chicken (Crock Pot) with Brown Rice and Broccoli

Thursday: Leftovers

Friday & Saturday: Out


I'm linked at Menu Plan Monday hosted by OrgJunkie.com.

Week of April 5th

We had a busy, busy weekend, but I'm glad we were able to spend our Easter visiting with both sides of our family.

Jack is on spring break this week and even though it's supposed to be fairly warm out it's going to be pretty rainy so we'll be sticking to indoor activities.  We've already made a trip to Grater's to play with friends and eat ice cream and I'm trying my best to stick to my gym schedule without the assistance of Jack's school start time requiring me to get up and out of the house at an early hour.

Progress happened in the bathroom last weekend, but things are slow going as usual.  We had an appraisal on our hopeful house-to-be and we're awaiting word on how that went and a final projection for our closing date.  Eeek!

All this rain is turning the grass green and the daffodils are in bloom.  So thankful for spring!


Menu for the week:


Sunday:  Family gatherings for Easter

Monday:  Sweet Chili Garlic Glazed Salmon with Roasted Asparagus and Potatoes

Tuesday:  French Dip Sandwiches (Crock Pot) with Roasted Broccoli

Wednesday:  Sweet Potato and Black Bean Enchilada Skillet

Thursday:  Leftovers

Friday & Saturday: Out


I'm linked at Menu Plan Monday hosted by OrgJunkie.com

Week of March 29th

What a week!

First, I can't believe it's Friday already or that it's APRIL!  Clearly I have completely lost concept of time.

Last weekend was pretty packed with doula work and because I was gone most of the weekend very little progress got done on the bathroom.  Whomp, whomp.  I'm hopeful for this weekend, but we'll see.

We have to get things finished because we're under contract on a house (!!!) {those aren't really 'excited' exclamation points, they're more 'what are we thinking' exclamation points.}  I haven't even mentioned it up to this point because I was very cautiously optimistic about things working out.  I'm still very cautiously optimistic, but it's becoming a little more real so... yeah.  Probably time to accept that its happening!  I'm not exactly excited yet.  There's a mountain of crap that needs to be completed before I can get from where I am now to excited.  It's going to be a crazy few months, but, theoretically, it will be worth it.

There's just SO much to do and worry about and so little time or energy to complete anything.  People do this all the time right?  I remember buying our first/current house as such a grand adventure.  The stress of selling a house, moving, and taking care of kids really cramps the fun the second time around.

One project that DID get accomplished this week was removing the tape from around our sliding glass door.  2 1/2 redonkulous hours of scraping and scrubbing and picking off tiny bits of tape at a time all while inhaling Goo Gone fumes and generally hating my life THE TAPE IS GONE!

I'm well aware you can see nothing in this picture, it's not very impressive in real life, but with the amount of work and frustration that went into this project it seemed like it was only fair to commemorate its completion with a picture.

The most insulting part is it's not like it was a rewarding project with a satisfying outcome, there's just an absence of tape now that's no longer there to annoy me.  Anyway, I'm glad that's done.  On to the next fun project.



Other recent highlights:


Herself at an impromptu dinner out.

We don't take the kids to restaurants all that often, but when we do we are always so happy with how well they behave and how enjoyable it actually is.  They behave so well because they love to eat so they're happy with food placed in front of them.  We were there eating for close to an hour and a half as both kids finished every scrap of food on their plates.



Jack's school pictures.

Adorbs!



I've been zoodling.

Love it!  Of course I'm the only one in the house who does... more zoodles for me!



And in other pretty food for the week:

Roasted Cauliflower and Chickpea Tacos

Love the colors.


Annnd this just made my day: DJ And Kimmy Are All Grown Up In The New ‘Full House’ Spinoff


Menu for the week:


Sunday:  Out

Monday:  Breakfast for dinner

Tuesday:  Roasted Cauliflower and Chickpea Tacos with Fiesta Lime Rice

Wednesday:  Grilled Brats with Cheesy Potatoes

Thursday:  Leftovers

Friday & Saturday: Out

Spring is here!

Or, almost here anyway.  Spring officially arrives on Friday, but temperatures have *finally* started rising and we have been enjoying some sunshine and warmer weather for the last week.  It is so very much appreciated by me - and the kids too!  They're happy we can finally be outside!

Last week we visited the zoo for the first time this year!

There was still snow piled up in the parking lot and temperatures were in the 40s while we were there, but when it's 40 degrees and sunny after months of temperatures that make your face hurt it feels glorious!

Last year we didn't get to the zoo until the very end of March!

We've been playing outside (in the front yard because the backyard is currently a swamp.  Can't wait for it to dry out!) and riding bikes, grilling burgers, and we've even had the windows open to welcome some fresh air!  Love it!

They're standing on the wood chip pit courtesy of the tree we removed. Yep, that mess is still there.  Was kind of hoping this year it would self-heal under the snow... it did not.

All this fresh air and sunshine *almost* makes me want to do some spring cleaning.  Almost.

Big brother Jack teaching Molly how to play Mouse Trap <3

Here's what we're eating this week:


Sunday:  Grilled Burgers with Fries (first grilling of the year!)

Monday:  Salmon with Strawberry-Avocado Salsa and Garlic Green Beans

Tuesday:  Happy St. Patrick's Day!  Corned Beef with Carrots, Potatoes, and Cabbage

Wednesday:  Corned Beef Hash with Eggs

Thursday:  Leftovers

Friday & Saturday: Out


I'm linked at Menu Plan Monday hosted by OrgJunkie.com

Miami Trip

In honor of never-ending winter (we're supposed to get another 2-4 inches of snow in a couple of days, this on top of the 5-ish that was dumped on us Sunday, that fell on the several inches still lingering from the previous weekend, ugghh... come on, spring!) let's talk about our Miami trip so I can simultaneously reminisce and torture myself.

In July, Mark and I went to South Beach in Miami and it was Everything.  Amazing and incredible and wonderful and all sorts of perfection.

We were there July 2-6 and it was the second trip I've had to take on an airplane.  (My first brush with air travel was in 2008 for our honeymoon in the Dominican Republic.  Spoiler alert: I don't love flying.)

It wasn't so bad though.  Trap me on a vessel hurtling through the air with no kids, a book, and a little complimentary packet of pretzels to go with my bottled water and I'm not going to complain too much.

We arrived in Miami in the early evening and cabbed it from the airport (I don't like cabs either.  Hey, I'm from Ohio.  I'm pretty much only comfortable with riding in a car as far as transportation goes.) and made it to our amazing hotel.

We were located right on the beach and had a cute little suite, which wasn't all that much smaller than our house, and it seemed a generous size since it was just us.  It had a kitchen, living room, dining area, bathroom, bedroom, and a balcony overlooking the courtyard/pool area, with views of the ocean as well.

The beach was incredible.  Our hotel had it's own private beach with lounge chairs and umbrellas and drink/food service.  Pretty much my idea of Heaven.  The sand was white and the water was clear and it literally felt like swimming in bathwater.  I've never spent more time actually swimming in the ocean.  It was amazing!  

We spent the entire vacation just relaxing, eating great food, relaxing, hanging out at the beach, and relaxing.  Perfection.  

Our hotel had these strawberry mojito cocktails that were served with a splash of pink champagne (see bottom left).  Uhm, amazing. 

Everything was walkable, which was awesome.  It's such a melting pot down there so there are tons of great restaurants of every type of cuisine from hole in the wall restaurants with the best cubanos to upscale dining.  There's nightlife like I've never seen, shopping, drinks as big as your head and the beach.  Did I mention how amazing the beach is?  Because it's amazing.  

See that top left picture?  That's my Heaven.  That picture was taken on my birthday and it was was the best gift ever!

Notice in the top left picture, we both got some sun.  The sun down there is NO JOKE. I'm the kind of person who pretty much doesn't have to wear sunscreen ever and even I got a little pink while wearing sunscreen. Mark got straight up burnt while wearing sunscreen, sitting under an umbrella, with a t-shirt on.  Crazy!  Yes, we did a puzzle on vacation.  I love puzzles!  And yes, I watched fireworks on my birthday, on the beach, with my feet in the ocean.  Doesn't get better than that!

*Sigh*  Such a great trip.  It was so perfect, some days it just seems like it was a super nice dream.  But it happened and I'm so grateful we got to have such a wonderful experience.  Definitely the best vacation I've ever been on and I would love to go back!  Since that's not happening I will just keep looking at my pictures and hoping that spring arrives in Ohio soon.  I neeeeeed sun!

Menu Plan and Updates - Week of November 2nd

Trick or treat!

Last week brought Halloween and trick-or-treating.  Jack was super psyched this year for trick or treat and all but ran from house to house.  He was very polite and in the days leading up to the event he was teaching everyone from Molly to his cars and trucks the proper way to trick-or-treat: "first you knock on the door, and then you say, 'trick-or-treat!' and then they give you some candy for your bucket, and then you say, 'thank you!'"

Molly was an insta-pro trick-or-treater.  She walked right up to houses to collect her candy and walked for over an hour around the neighborhood refusing to ride in the stroller.  Obviously it's not cool for not-yet-2-year-olds to trick-or-treat whilst riding in a stroller like a baby.  Obviously.

The day following Trick-or-Treat was actually Halloween.  Molly rocked her strawberry costume all over town and refused to take it off all day.  

Speaking of not-yet-two... Molly has hit the TEST ALL THE BOUNDARIES stage of toddlerhood and the last 2 weeks have been extremely challenging.  I remember hitting this stage with Jack and was all... where did my sweet baby go?!?!  And yeah, it's even more challenging with Molly because, of course.  So basically, picture anything that involves Molly cooperating.  Okay, now picture her making that task as difficult as humanly possible.  And now repeat that over and over again all. day. long.  By about Noon I'm so exhausted from it all I could cry.  Or run away.  Or hide in the closet.  Or eat all the Halloween candy.  Typically it's that last one that happens ;)  And then she does something super cute because, look at that face!  And I decide I'll keep her after all.  It'sjustaphase.It'sjustaphase.It'sjustaphase...

In better news... shutters are up!

Love it!  The green was just kind of meh.  Green is green, at least it was tolerable, but not something I would choose.  I love the new color scheme.  I actually think it gives our house quite a facelift.

Here's from the other side so the garage is actually included.  My car was in the way of my picture taking.

Much fresher.

And a close up of the door:

It's actually not a great picture because the sun was blazing right onto the door and causing weird reflections, but RED!  The color actually turned out beautifully, I think!  The door looks really great in person.  We ended up doing 2 coats of gray-tinted primer and then 3 coats of Valspar Posh Red exterior paint.  If you're going red USE THE TINTED PRIMER!  Red is notoriously hard to get good coverage with and I feel like our system worked beautifully.  I've seen other people having to use upwards of 7 coats of paint when trying to paint with red.  That's just crazy. This tutorial was really helpful.

We also updated the hardware to an oil rubbed bronze.  No more brass!  The oil rubbed bronze looks awesome with the red, and bonus, it better matches our other accents (house number, mailbox, porch light, etc.), which we replaced a while back.  (Wow, that was 5 1/2 years ago!)

In other, random, news:

We've been nomming on some seriously delicious jalapeno jelly that I made and canned using some of our over abundance of jalapeno peppers.  Jalapenos seem to be the only thing I can grow, but that's not such a bad thing.


Here's what we're eating this week:


Sunday:  Leftovers

Monday:  Chicken and Dumplings

Tuesday:  Turkey Apple Panini with Baked Sweet Potato Fries

Wednesday:  Skillet Ground Beef Stroganoff

Thursday:  Leftovers

Friday & Saturday:  Out

Menu Plan & Updates - Week of October 26th

We've been busy bees as usual.  In addition to the every day crazy, here are some highlights from the last couple of weeks:

We went apple picking with friends.

Molly's version of apple picking is walking around the orchard eating an apple.

Jack decided we should use some of our apples to make a pie.  Done!

We've also made apple crisp and Apple Cake with Brown Sugar Glaze (+ nuts and some extra spices, super yum!)  Mark was appled-out before we even made it through the apple crisp.  Lame.  More for me!

And for more fall picking goodness we also made a trip to the pumpkin patch.

The patch we visit charges by the armload, carried in from the field and across the street.  Hence the showcase of Mark's carrying skillz.

And pumpkins were carved. Mine is the happy one on the left; Molly's choice, Elmo, is next to mine; and Jack's choice, scary pumpkin, is next to that.  Mark's angry pumpkin is on the end.

Jack is super excited for trick-or-treat tonight!

We've been doing lots of home improving around here.  Well, maybe not "lots", but the focus of what little time we have available is on projects.  The bathroom is... a long way from finished.  2 walls have been dry walled and a new tub surround has been ordered.  *Sigh* It takes a lot longer than you would think to measure, cut, and put up dry wall.  See also: little time.

Last weekend I took advantage of some gorgeous weather and painted our front door.  Red!

Action shot of Jack helping.

I've always wanted a red door.  We replaced our garage door a few weeks back and we then had the ability to switch up the accent colors on our house.  Whee!

We also got new shutters, which was supposed to be an easy little swap project.  Buuuut it's a project around our house so of course it got very complicated.  Now we have no shutters.  ::thumbs down::  Hopefully the new ones will be up by the end of this weekend and I can share an "after" pic :)

Now, if you'll excuse me, I have 40lbs of chicken in my kitchen waiting for my attention.  (Hooray for chicken!)



Sunday:  Family Gathering

Monday:  Grilled Burgers with Baked Sweet Potato Fries

Tuesday:  Chicken Lettuce Wraps with Fried Rice

Wednesday:  Pumpkin Chili (Crock Pot) with Pumpkin Corn Muffins

Thursday:  Leftovers

Friday & Saturday:  Out