Menu Plan for the Week 11-13-11

This is a crazy busy week for us!  I have parent conferences for my students and my boys, so keeping the menu plan flexible is going to help me make it through! 

We will also be getting ready for my bestie and her family to be her for Thanksgiving week too!  I can't wait to have them here with us!  It is always fun to have guests!

I hope everyone has a wonderful week!


Here is what we have planned to eat for this week:

Breakfasts: Cereal, Oatmeal, Biscuits, Muffins, Pancakes, French Toast, Waffles, Fruit

Lunches: Ham or PB & J Sandwiches, Meat and Crackers, Leftovers, Fruit or Veggies, String Cheese, Hard Boiled Eggs, Granola Bars, Fruit Leather, Homemade Chewy Bars

Dinners:

Sunday- Soup

Monday- Spaghetti, Buttered Bread, Italian Sausage

Tuesday- Soup and Grilled Cheese Sandwiches, Veggie Tray

Wednesday- Fried Chicken, Mashed Potatoes, French Cut Green Beans

Thursday- Leftovers

Friday- Ham and Cheese Sandwiches, Chips

Saturday- Pizza

Find more menu planning inspiration at Organizing Junkie.

Until next time,

Shop Update!

I have been a crazy sewing machine (I know I'm funny...hehehe) this weekend.

I added some new goodies to the shop today, with more to come!  

Here's a sneak peek!

 Thanksgiving Turkey

 Thanksgiving Harvest

 Thanksgiving Turkey Too

 Lavender Floral Baby Burp Cloths

 All Girl Baby Burp Cloths

 Orchid Floral Baby Hooded Towel

Pink Bears Baby Hooded Towel

I also have some more market bags on their way!  

I hope you all have a great week!

 

Joining up with Sumo's Sweet Stuff

The Teenager

I know a lot of people that said, "Just wait until you have a teenager."  With the look of pain and regret firmly planted in their eyes.  Kenny and I scoffed at them because we knew.  We knew our boy and we knew our family.

Having a teenager for almost a year now has been a blessing.  This kid still talks to us, still wants to eat with us, still wants to go places with us.

You see I don't think it's the teenagers that change so much, I think it's the parents projecting their fears and insecurities about the job they've done so far.

 The mama and the teenager

We are not perfect parents, but we are parents.  We set boundaries and encourage exploration and creative growth.  So what did we wind up with, well I'd say we wound up with a kid who loves us as much as we love him.  To me that is the greatest success a parent can hope for when rearing these little humans!

Until next time,

This Teaching Gig

I am super thankful for where I am in my life right now.

Everyday I get to spend time with my boys and their amazing vocabularies.  I just love talking and listening to them tell their stories and tales of their busy school days.  It makes me smile to think that Kenny and I have guided them to be the men they are becoming, maybe a little too quickly for this mama's heart.  What amazes me most is the vocabulary we have helped them gather. 

People around us say talking to our kids is like talking to an adult.  I love it!  No baby talk around here, they were born as little humans and that's how we talked to them from the beginning.  It gives my heart such joy to continue to see them blossom.

Then I get the pleasure have the duty to go into my classroom each day.  It's no joke that this year has been a challenge. 

I am exhausted at the end of most days, but by the grace of God I am seeing progress in these little people in my care.  I about cried yesterday when one of my kiddos read a book on grade level and was able to retell the story beautifully.  Now mind you she was only reading kindergarten level when we began this journey in August.  The pride that was shining through her smile was amazing. 

Those moments are what push me to keep going to a job in a place that causes such a range of emotions in my soul.  Getting ready for report cards is always a little stressful, but getting to spend a few moments with each of these kids one on one proves that I am making a difference and pushing these kids down the right track.

My teaching gig is a pretty sweet deal.  I love teaching my own kids and to know my job right now is to help teach another batch of kids makes all the adult junk worth it!  Challenges will keep coming up, but I know that my children and my students will be prepared for whatever crosses their paths because I helped build their foundations!

Until next time,

Homemade Halloween

My boys are usually pretty ambitious with their Halloween costume ideas.  I guess they know their mama and daddy love a challenge and are just as detail oriented as they are!  So this year was no different!

My Lukas decided he wanted to be Doctor Who (the David Tennet version), so we went through closets and made a list of what we needed to make and or find for him.  It was so much fun seeing him get excited when we found the perfect suit at the thrift store.  With just a few alterations he was ready to assume the character in full force!

Nikolas's costume was more of a challenge.  My sweet spiky haired boy wanted to be Ezio from the Assassin's Creed Brotherhood video game.  Holy smokes!  This costume is medieval times and very detailed.  There was no pattern and no running out to purchase unless I had an extra couple of hundred bucks to blow.  Since that wasn't going to happen we headed to Joann's and got some great fabric on super sale!  I got busy trying to recreate each piece of the costume.  I am so pleased with how it turned out!

Kenny and Zackery were easy.  Zombies.  Another trip to the thrift store and a couple of questionable suits later we have great costume materials!  I let them do their thing and I think they were pretty successful with the creepy factor as long as they didn't break out into smiles! 

I loved the challenges they brought us this year!  It was fun and we got all four of them decked out for less than $50!  Way better than we could have done if we bought everyone a store made costume!

Until next time,