Menu Plan Monday

I must say that my brain was a little more cooperative this past weekend than it the last time I tried to make the menu. I was actually able to think a little bit more out of the box. Good for me, good for my family, good for all of our bellies.

Breakfasts-
Blueberry Coffee Cake (yummy) and Fruit
Yogurt and Homemade Granola
Breakfast Burritos
Pancakes
Cereal x2
Homemade Apple Cinnamon Muffins

Lunches-
Tuna Sandwiches/Pretzles/Carrots & Celery
Egg Salad/Mandarin Oranges/Carrots & Celery
Cheese Quesidillas/ Carrots & Celery
Lunch Meat/ Carrots & Celery x2
Homemade Lunchables

Dinners-
BLT's/ Tomato Soup
Chicken Fettucini Alfredo/ Green Beans
Cheesey Broccoli and Rice w/ Chicken/ Corn
Beef Stew/ Homemade Biscuits
Lasagna/ Garlic Bread/ Greenbeans
Crockpot Herbed Chicken/ Rice/ Steamed Veggies
Pizza

For more menu inspiration visit Laura over at orgjunkie!

Chloe's Birthday Tea

For probably 6 months, Chloe has been asking to have a tea party for her 5th birthday, "no boys allowed, except Daddy and Judah." Since I was due to have Judah on Chloe's birthday, I wasn't sure when to schedule this party since I had no guarantees of when labor would be. :) We were finally able to schedule the party a month after her birthday, and the waiting was half the fun for her! She was so excited to plan and prepare for her party. For the first time I saw her as the list maker (wonder where she got that), organizer, planner type. She planned the color scheme, picked the cake and organized the activities, she was quite the little party girl.

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My aunt loaned us all of her collectible teapots for the little 5 year old girls to all have their own. Quite the brave soul isn't she? :) There were no mishaps and I shall be returning the teapots in fine shape thankfully. I will say though that having all the teapots made the party what it was! The girls loved having their choice of "teas" and pouring their own drink. They all had the sweetest lady manners and one little girl said, "I feel like a woman". Too funny!

The Teapot Cake. (This cake came on one of those recipe cards that come in the mail when they're trying to sell their cookbooks... Well I didn't buy, but the idea for this cake came in handy). That would be my frugal tip for today- make your own birthday cakes!

All of the girls seemed to have fun, and I know Chloe loved her party! So thanks everyone! A special thanks goes out to my Mom who did so much to help me that day, I couldn't have done it without you. And to Aunt Tressa, who loves parties so much and would do anything to make a party a good one, even let little girls use your pretty teapots. Ya'll are awesome!

This post is linked to Frugal Friday over at Life as Mom. Stop in there for more frugal tips!

Menu Plan Monday

It's that time again. Amazing how fast a week goes by and before I know it, everyone ate all the food and it's time to start again. I made my menu and grocery list last night and I seriously felt like I had brain freeze (must be the lack of sleep), but I muscled through it and came up with the menu. So, without further ado:

THE MENU

(FYI: If I don't mention sides with breakfasts and lunches, just assume I'm serving fresh fruit and veggies, because, well, that's what I do.)

Breakfasts-

French Toast

Cereal x2

Waffles

Scrambled Eggs

Muffins, Yogurt x2

Lunches-

Mac and Cheese

Chloe's Tea Party Lunch

Lunch Meat Sandwiches

Grilled Cheese

Homemade Lunchables

Honey Mustard Chicken Wraps/ Chips

Dinners-

Barbecue Chicken Pizza/ Salad

3 Cheese Baked Spaghetti (already ready in freezer)/garlic bread/ salad

Nacho Grande

Sloppy Joes, French Fries, Veggies

Pizza Night

Enchiladas/ Mexi Rice

There ya' have it folks. For more inspiring ideas, head over to orgjunkie.com and join in Menu Plan Monday!

More Water Fun

What better thing to do on a cool, breezy summer day then go to a spray park and let freezing water pour all over the children? That's what we thought. :) It is water week ya' know! Jeremy was off today so we thought we would do something fun in honor of water week, and although it was fairly chilly, the girls had fun and that's what counts.

Lauren, making the most of it.

Chloe, freezing but wanting a picture. .

Tatum and Jeremy, chilling where it's warm.

And here is the picture of cuteness that sits on my lap as I blog. :)

3rd Annual Summer Camp

The days of summer are quickly slipping away, along with all the things that make summer, summer. Two years ago when we first started homeschooling I wanted to think of something to get back into "school day schedule" that would be fun for the girls and not very stressful for me. So we started "Summer Camp".

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It's that time again!
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This year I decided that we would do a different theme every week and we would incorporate everything into that theme. This week is "Water Week" and we're focusing on obedience and serving others. (Cuz believe me, we could use an extra dose of obedience and servanthood around here. Yikes.)

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Yesterday, we read about Jonah and the Whale and we made these whales. (Do you think I could use this story to threaten my children that if they don't obey I'm calling the whale? Probably not a good plan.)

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We made these bubble snake things that I found in Family Fun magazine and the girls had a blast with them. They played with them for an hour!

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Instructions:

1. Cut the bottom of an empty water bottle.

2. Secure a piece of old towel that's a few inches larger than the bottle to the bottom with a rubber band.

3. Dampen the wash cloth in water, then dip it into a shallow pan of dish soap.

4. Blow gently into the top to make the snakes.

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For snack we had "Beached Whales". I honestly did not know what we were going to have for snack until the girls were outside playing and it came to me. It worked well with the theme though! Basically it was smores with the marshmallows dyed blue, and whale crackers.

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But, most importantly the girls got up early, did their chores and morning routines on schedule for school, and had many blessed opportunities to obey with a joyful heart, and serve one another too. :) So far this summer camp thing works for me!

Menu Plan Monday

Ya' know how I planned a menu and stuff last week? Well it ended up we had 5 more meals brought to us, and we had enough leftovers to cover everybody for one night, so that left me with only one meal to prepare! (besides breakfasts and lunches of course) I should write a post for Works for Me Wednesday that having meals brought all the time "works for me"! :) But I know that isn't real life so I'll get on with reality...

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Breakfasts-

Cereal x2

Pancakes

Zucchini Bread x2

Eggs and toast

Fruit

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Lunches-

Coldcuts sandwiches x2

Mac and Cheese

Spaghettios (this is a very rare treat that the girls begged for at the grocery store)

Tuna Melts

Picnic Lunch

Fruits

Veggies

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Dinners-

Meatball Subs, Roasted Zucchini, Corn on the cob

Chicken Quesidillas, Salad, Cornbread

Chef Salad, Fruit, Bread

Grilled Turkey Burgers, Oven Fries, Coleslaw

Homemade Pizza (of course)

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The Happy Housewife is hosting Menu Plan Monday this week, so for lots of menu inspiration click over there and check it out!