Monday, February 26, 2018

Keeping up with...Family (Weekly Wrap 2/16 - 2/22)

Friday (2/16) The boys are off from school today for the long President's Day weekend and it could not come at a better time!  We all slept in this morning, even Adrian went to work a little later.  The boys and I had a lazy start to our morning, they played some video games while I got a few things done.  Then we decided to just run a few errands today since Daniel and Zak had some money and gift cards to spend.  We went to Game Stop and Target and I also made them go with me to the Lynd's apple sale.  They spent all of their money and got two new video games and 5 new Beyblades.
When we got home, they opened all of their new Beyblades while I got ready to go sub a Zumba Toning class at the Y.  Adrian was able to leave work early so he stayed with the boys while I taught and then biked for a few with one of my friends.  I came home and we all had dinner together and then the boys decided they wanted to finish watching the video game they were watching and postpone family movie night until tomorrow.  So Adrian and I played "Pandemic" while they watched.  Since we lost, again, I wanted a rematch right away.  But we decided to put the boys to bed first and then we played again and we finally won!  After the game, we finished cleaning up, watched a little Olympics and headed to bed.

Saturday (2/17) Started early for me because I got sucked into figure skating last night and stayed up way later than I should have watching the Olympics.  But I got up and moving and headed to the Y to take TurboKick and Zumba with my friends.  I felt great after both classes, if a little tired.  Then I came home and got ready to head up to Carl's house for Isabelle's birthday party.  Unfortunately AJ threw up again so he and Adrian stayed home while the rest of us went to the party.  We had a great time celebrating, the boys especially enjoyed the bounce house in the basement.  They played and I chatted with adults and we stayed way longer than we thought we would.  It was a great afternoon!
When we got home, Adrian thankfully had pasta ready for us for dinner because we were all hungry.  We ate quickly, did a quick clean up and then settled in for family movie night.  We watched Daniel's pick of Transformers 3: Dark of the Moon.  It was pretty good, much better than the second movie in the series.  AJ and Daniel of course loved it and can't wait to watch the 4th movie.  The movie was over super late so we got the boys to bed and quickly got our snacks ready.  We watched two comedies and then headed to bed after a long day.

Sunday (2/18) We all slept in this morning thankfully, some of us later than others.  We all slept too late for church so we missed again this week.  We are bummed because we miss going but also know we need the rest.  We will do better next weekend for sure!  I got to work on my to do list as soon as I got up while the boys played video games.  After lunch, Adrian took them to their swim lessons at the Y while I stayed home and got a few things done before heading to the church to work for a few hours.  Unfortunately, the group did not show up so I headed back home after about 45 minutes.

Adrian then took the boys to their martial arts class where they had a great time.  They love that class and I'm so glad we are able to make it work in our schedule.  When they got home, we all had dinner and then AJ worked on his board game project for school while Adrian and Zak worked on his Pinewood Derby car.  I worked around the house and Daniel played while everyone worked.  Soon it was time for the boys to have snack, show and bed so Adrian and I could also finish up our night.  The weekend went too quick but we are thankful to have tomorrow off from most of our regular schedule to catch up and relax a little.

Monday (2/19) Since it's President's Day, there was no school and no work for Adrian today so we all got to sleep in today.  I got a great night of sleep and feel rested for the first time in February!  Daniel and I needed to get up and moving because we both had things to do today.  He had a play date at COSI with one of his friends from class today.  The two of them had a blast seeing the different exhibits including the dinosaurs, gadgets, imaginarium and ocean.  Daniel said it was the best day!  I'm glad he was able to go and what a fun way to celebrate his birthday with a friend who couldn't make his party.
 
 
While Daniel was at COSI, the rest of us were home.  I had to teach my two classes at the Y, one in the morning and one in the afternoon.  In between those two classes I finished up my to do list around the house.  Adrian helped AJ finish up his board game project for school and Zak make his Pinewood Derby car.  It was a productive and relaxing day for all of us.  Even though it rained most of the day, Adrian was able to get outside to grill steaks for us for dinner and they were delicious!  I felt bad because the boys wanted to go outside to play but our yard is a swampy mess so we told them they couldn't today.  We got the boys to bed close to their normal bedtime and Adrian and I watched a comedy from our DVR and then watched the ice dancing finals in the Olympics.  Great day off for all of us!!

Tuesday (2/20) Today started a little later than we normally do because Adrian drove AJ to school today with his game board for his ELA project.  I helped them get out on time and then got the other boys ready for school.  After I dropped them off at school, I went and taught my two Silver Sneakers classes and then headed to the store to do my grocery shopping for the week.  I did all four stores in just under two hours and then came home and had to put it all away.  I picked up the boys when school was over and we had a relaxing evening together.  We had tacos for dinner and made sure all of their homework was done with Adrian was at basketball practice with his team.  When he came home, I ran out to a Cub Scout meeting to pick up a few things and then came home to do bedtime with everyone.  Adrian and I watched a little TV and then headed to bed for the night.  Not our most exciting day but happy to be back to our routine.
Wednesday (2/21) Everyone got up and out to school on time again today and after I got everyone where they needed to be, I took Adrian's car to get an oil change.  He was very overdue and we kept forgetting about it so it was a priority today.  I was in and out pretty quickly and then I ran a few quick errands that I didn't get to yesterday & headed into Zak's class to volunteer.  I quickly assessed how high each student can count and then headed out to my afternoon sub assignment.  The teacher had a meeting so she finished early and I was sent to help out in music classes for the rest of the day.  I ended up being Zak's music teacher that afternoon!
After school, we headed out quickly to get to the Y for my afternoon Zumba class.  I had a ton of fun with the class as always!  Then we headed home to have dinner and finish up homework while Adrian was at his Bible study group.  He came home just in time to help get the kids to bed and help me finish cleaning up the kitchen.  Then we sat down and watched a few shows and headed to bed.  These short weeks always feel so long!!
Thursday (2/22) We got AJ up and out to the bus on time and Adrian left for work.  I got the other boys ready for school and as I was in line to drop them off, I got a phone call that there was a shooting threat at Central Middle School & a student was in custody because of the threat.  It was super hard for me to drop the boys off at school, but I did it.  I had a good cry on my way to work because I was scared and upset about what was happening.  AJ goes to school right next door to Central.  He rides the bus with kids from Central.  He could have been on the bus with a kid with a gun (thank God he wasn't!)

I pulled it together and taught my two Silver Sneakers classes and then headed into the school to sub music classes for the afternoon.  I had to deal with questions about the threat at Central as a teacher & try to hold it together as both a parent and a teacher.  It was rough!  When the day ended, I hugged my two boys at that school and we headed home where I hugged my third boy.  I had conversations with both AJ and Daniel about what was going on and then left to teach a Zumba class and cried again on the drive to class.

I again pulled it together to teach the class and then headed back to school for a meeting about the gifted program.  I learned a little more about how the program works and how AJ and Daniel (and Zak if he's identified as well) will progress through the district all the way until graduation.  Then I ran home so Adrian could go have a parent teacher conference with Zak's teacher.  He is struggling with some things and I wanted Adrian to hear it from the teacher, not only second hand from me.  It was a rough day all around and I was happy to be able to tuck my three boys into bed that night and then follow them soon after.

Sunday, February 25, 2018

Keeping Up With...Food (Meal Plan for Feb 25 - Mar 3)

Last week was another great week of eating for us!  Everything on our meal plan was delicious, healthy and filling.  We did have one meal carry over to this week because our plans for Friday night changed after I planned our meals.  Adrian and Zak went to a lock in for his Cub Scout pack and they had pizza there for dinner.  AJ had plans with a friend so Daniel and I decided to go out to Red Robin for dinner together while everyone else was out.  It was nice to have a night off from cooking and SO nice to have some one on one time with Daniel.
This weekend has been jam packed so I honestly haven't had a lot of time to think about food and plan things out for next week.  But I don't want to not have a plan because then the week will be a mess!  So I'm throwing together a quick plan and a grocery list for us for the week.  Next weekend is much lighter so I will spend some more time on planning around what I already have in the house.  I may even try to not shop at all next week, we'll see how it looks when it all shakes out.

Here's what we're eating this week:
Sunday - Parmesan Pork Roast with Sweet Potatoes & Brussels Sprouts
Monday - Meatball Subs for the kids, Meatballs over Zoodles for the adults
Tuesday - Creamy White Chili
Wednesday - Salmon and Green Beans
Thursday - Instant Pot Mac & Cheese for all with Salads on the side for the adults
Friday - Italian Veggie Ricotta Frittata for the adults & green eggs & ham for the kids for Dr Suess' birthday
Saturday - Kung Pao Chicken Zoodles

Water Flavor - Orange again.  I'm seeing the end of these finally!  I have four more oranges to use so hopefully next week will be my last week.

Overnight Oats - I'm being lazy with these as well since it's Sunday night and I haven't set them up yet.  I'll be following my normal recipe to make two batches of plain oats that I will add either strawberries or blueberries to each morning.  I'm also using black cherry yogurt to make two other batches for the week.

Use it Up - As I said, I didn't really do much planning this week so I didn't really see what I have to use up.  We did great using up veggies last week and I will continue to do that this week.  Next week I'm planning on this paragraph being huge because I'm hoping to do a full week with stuff we already have.  Stay tuned!!

Lunches - I'm making this Thai Chicken Salad tomorrow to have for lunches this week.  I'm subbing Weds, Thurs & Fri so quick, easy and filling lunches are key for those three days!

Sunday, February 18, 2018

Keeping Up With...Food (Meal Plan for Feb 18 - Feb 24)

Last week went pretty well.  We did great adjusting back to eating healthy and sticking to our meal plan.  We pretty much ate what we planned except for yesterday because we were at my brother's house for my niece's birthday party way longer than I was expecting.  We were all really hungry on the drive home and since Adrian wasn't with us, I called him and had him make pasta for all of us so it was ready when we got home.  It did not disappoint!

My instant pot was again the star of this week!  I cooked risotto in it for Adrian and I for Valentine's Day.  That is twice in two months that I have cooked risotto!  Before I got the instant pot I had made it once in my life, decided it was too hard & hadn't made it again.  I also cooked my first spaghetti squash in it and it was perfect!  And super quick!  I knew I would use it a lot but I continue to be amazed at how quick and easy it is to cook in it.  If you are on the fence about getting one, I say do it!  You will not be disappointed.
 
This week is off to a weird start for us with Adrian not feeling well today and everyone (except me) off tomorrow.  The good news is this makes it a little easier on me because we are just having leftovers or sandwiches for dinner today and then Adrian is going to grill steaks for us for dinner tomorrow.  I'll be back to cooking full time after that, but it will be nice to have two days off.  I do need to make a batch of my pumpkin chocolate chip bars for the boys' breakfasts this week.  They still have no idea there is pumpkin in them!  Even though they aren't the most healthy thing in the world, I'm happy to at least get some of the vitamins from the pumpkin in their systems each morning.

Here's what we're eating this week:
Sunday - Leftovers/Sandwiches
Monday - Steak on the grill with roasted potatoes & green beans
Tuesday - Taco Tuesday!
Wednesday - Sausage & Spinach Soup
Thursday - Harvest Vegetable Rice Bowls
Friday - Parmesan Pork Roast with Sweet Potatoes & Brussels Sprouts - we need a quick, easy dinner because we'll be eating in stages and all have different places to go on Friday night.  I will set this up in the morning & cook it when we're all home from school.
Saturday - Tilapia with whatever veggies we still have left over after the week

Water Flavor - Orange again.  I actually didn't use orange last week as I had planned.  I had some lemons that looked worse so I used those and the rest of my mint for last week.  It was delicious!

Overnight Oats - I continue to use my normal recipe and just add different flavors.  This week I set up one batch of plain which I will add blueberries to each morning, two batches of peanut butter chocolate chip and two batches of chocolate with white chips.  These should last us the whole week but if not I'll throw together a batch or two with the flavored yogurts I have.

Use it Up - This week is all about using up the vegetables I have.  I'm using up the spinach in the soup & my smoothies, the kale in the rice bowls on Thurs, and all of the other vegetables you see listed are already in the house and in need of being used up.  If I end up with anything left by Saturday, we will have them with the tilapia.  If not, I have corn in the freezer, potatoes in the garage & a butternut squash on my counter so I will use those up for the sides.  I also finished up the open bag of chocolate chips I had in my oats this week.  Finally I'll be using up all of the lettuce that I have for my lunches this week.

Lunches - I decided to wait on making my next lunch option until next weekend because I have a ton of lettuce to use up this week.  I have romaine, arugula, red lettuce & a salad blend so those will be lunches for the week with hard boiled eggs, avocado, lunch meat & other veggies I have that I use in salads (tomatoes, cucumber & peppers).

Friday, February 16, 2018

Keeping up with...Family (Weekly Wrap 2/9 - 2/15)

Friday (2/9) We were all up and out of the house on time again today and even though we had a day off this week, we were all dragging.  Adrian and I got AJ on the bus and then he left for work while I got the other boys ready.  I dropped them off and headed to the Y to sub a Zumba Toning and Zumba class this morning for a friend.  I had a great time with the seniors, they make my heart smile!  Then I ran out of class and headed back to the school to have lunch with Daniel for his birthday.  Two days in the cafeteria is enough for me for this school year!!
After lunch, I ran to Dollar Tree to get the 2 things that we needed for our parties this weekend then ran back to school to sub for a few hours in the afternoon.  While I was subbing, Daniel had his birthday celebration with his class and was able to walk around to give his extra cupcakes to other teachers he has had over the years.  He came to his first grade teacher's class & that's where I was subbing so I got a cupcake too!!  He was super excited to see me.
After school, we came home and I did a few things to get ready for the parties this weekend and ordered Jets pizza for dinner since both boys wanted it for their birthdays.  After dinner, our babysitter came over to stay with the boys while Adrian and I snuck out for a date night.  We had tickets to Chicago tonight.  The male lead was played by Eddie George so Adrian was super excited to see him act.  The play was just OK, not one of my favorites.  The dancing was cool and the personalities were funny, but the story and singing were lacking.  Eddie George did pretty well, he was very funny.  And the crowd was super excited every time he came out.  After the play, we came home and pretty much headed right to bed, it's been an exhausting week!
Saturday (2/10) Happy 9th Birthday Daniel!!  We started the day sleeping in a little, then I had to run and teach a Zumba class and Adrian had to coach a basketball game.  The boys went with Adrian so I could teach and then come home and finish getting ready for Daniel's party, including decorating his Minecraft cake.  We kicked butt as a family getting everything done close to an hour before the party started, yay!
At around 3pm, our 15 guests started to arrive.  The video game truck (the main attraction of the party) was late so they weren't quite set up yet so the kids played in the house for a while until it was ready.  As soon as it was up and running, most of the kids went out to play in it.  They had 12 screens and three different systems for the kids to play on.  Everyone had a blast playing Minecraft and Mario games for most of the party.  They also enjoyed lots of cake and snacks!  Daniel had a great time and got lots of very cool gifts.  He was very thankful and happy for everything.
When all the kids were picked up, we still had a little partying left to do.  My brother and his family stayed for dinner and we made Daniel's favorite, baked ziti.  Adrian actually made it and it was so good.  We were going to have ice cream cake but everyone was pretty full from everything else we ate all day so we decided to save it for another day.  Daniel asked to stay up "super late" after everyone left so we did let them stay up and play until almost 10pm.  I'm happy he had such a great birthday!!
Sunday (2/11) We slept in a little again today and were really dragging when we got up, and we still had lots to do to get ready for Zak's birthday party.  So we had to miss church again to try to be ready for the afternoon.  We got everything done and got a little time to relax as well before heading to Glow Putt for Zak's party.  We had a great time at the party playing mini golf and snacking with his friends from school and Scouts.  He was also spoiled with lots of amazing gifts from his friends.  On the way home Zak said it was his best birthday party ever. 
After the party we came home and all wanted to crash.  But we had a few things to finish up before starting our week, including some homework and our Valentine's day prep.  So we pulled it together and managed to get thru what we absolutely needed to get done.  We also went thru all of the boys' new toys and got them organized in our toy room, with only two things we need to return/exchange.  We all headed to bed early tonight to be ready for a short but busy week.

Monday (2/12) After all of the birthday celebrations, it felt good to get back to our routine today!  We all got up and out of the house on time for school and work this morning.  After I dropped everyone off at school, I headed to the Y to take a Body Pump class and then teach my Silver Sneakers class.  After those classes, I came home and did a few things around the house including making lunches for the next few days and dinner for tonight.  Soon it was time for AJ to get home and then for us to leave to pick up the other boys and head to the Y for Zumba.

After class, we came home and had a quick dinner before AJ and Adrian headed to out to Boy Scouts tonight.  Zak was also supposed to have Scouts but since his leader is sick, they decided to cancel for tonight.  I stayed home with the other boys and cleaned up the house while they played with Beyblades and magna-tiles.  When AJ got home, we got the boys to bed and then we settled in to watch some TV.  Unfortunately AJ wasn't feeling well and he got sick soon after he went to sleep.  So he spent the night in our bed with Adrian while I slept in the spare room.  Rough start to our week!

Tuesday (2/13) It was a rough night of sleeping between AJ not feeling well and Zak getting up for the day at 3:30am because he was afraid he would be attacked by a lion if he went back to sleep.  Yawn.  I got a few more hours of sleep while Adrian dealt with him for a while.  Then we all got up to start our day.  AJ missed school so it started a little later than usual.  I got Daniel and Zak to school and then headed to teach my two Silver Sneakers classes.  I'm thankful Adrian was able to work from home for the day so I could still do my scheduled day.

After my classes, I quickly changed and headed in to the school to sub for the afternoon.  It was my first repeat class and it went really well again, that's a class of great kids.  When the school day was over, I brought Daniel and Zak home to see how everything was going here.  AJ was feeling better and was able to get some of his homework done during the day.  Adrian got a lot of work done during the day and then headed to basketball practice tonight.  We had a relaxing night of watching TV and resting since we were all tired after a rough night.  We got the boys put down to bed and Adrian had a few more things to do for work.  Then we watched a comedy and headed to bed, hopeful to get a good night of sleep.

Wednesday (2/14) Happy Valentine's Day!!  Another rough night of sleep for me.  This time is was Daniel who was up around 4am for the day.  His nose is stuffed and throat is sore so he was having trouble sleeping.  We went and "rested" in the spare room together until about 5am, but they he was bored so we came downstairs.  Adrian and I got AJ up and out to school since he is thankfully feeling better today.  Daniel needed to stay home since he wasn't feeling well.  This upset Zak since it also meant that I couldn't come in for his class party.  I got him ready and dropped him off to school crying.  I was happy to hear from his teacher that he was fine when he arrived to class & did great all day today!

Daniel and I spent the day resting and relaxing.  I encouraged him to take a nap, but he never did.  We watched TV, played video games and I got a bunch of stuff done.  Soon AJ came home and then it was time to pick up Zak and head to the Y for my Zumba class.  Since Daniel was feeling better I decided to go to class instead of finding a sub.  We had a fun class and then we headed to Marco's Pizza to pick up the boys' dinner.  They had pizza in the boxes they decorated as a fundraiser for their school.  Adrian and I opted out of pizza and had chicken and risotto.  It was a late dinner because of traffic and when we finished there was a little time for homework, TV and playing before bed time.
Thursday (2/15) Finally a great night of sleep for all!  But my body wanted more and I could not get moving this morning.  Thankfully everyone got out to school and work on time.  After I got everyone else out, I headed to teach my two Silver Sneakers classes.  Then I ran to the grocery store to do my shopping for the week.  This keeps getting later each week, I like to do it on Mondays but we've had so much going on that it hasn't always been possible.  After finishing up the shopping, I headed into the school to do a short afternoon subbing assignment.  Then I picked up my boys and headed home.  After a short rest, I headed out to teach my Zumba class while Adrian hung out with the boys.  When I got home, we had delicious fish tacos for dinner and then just relaxed for the rest of the night.  We got everyone to bed on time since we knew they were tired from a long week.  I headed up early too, Adrian stayed up a little longer to watch the OSU basketball game.  It's been a long and exhausting week and I'm looking forward to a quiet 4 day weekend!!

Monday, February 12, 2018

Keeping up with...Family (Weekly Wrap 2/2 - 2/8)

Friday (2/2) After another rough night of sleeping with Zak, Adrian and I both overslept this morning.  We somehow got AJ up and out the door on time to the bus (just barely!) and then I got the other two up and ready as well.  After I dropped everyone off, I headed out to do a massive shopping trip for the upcoming birthdays and parties.  I didn't get everything done, although I did get a lot done.  I would be much more productive if I didn't stop to chat with some many people that I know in the stores, ha!  I also had to stop early because I was subbing in the schools for a few hours in the afternoon so I made sure to get there on time too.

I had a great afternoon subbing, very good group of kids.  After school, we headed home and I tried to make sense of what I had bought so far.  Adrian got home a little earlier than we thought he would so I ran to Meijer to finish up my shopping and then headed to church to work as facility rep for a few hours.  It was a quiet night so I got to catch up on a few things and chat with a few friends.  When I got home, we had family movie night and watched AJ's pick of Transformers 2.  It wasn't very good, not nearly as good as the first one.  But the boys liked it so it worked for family movie night.  After the movie, we got them to bed, made ourselves a snack and watched a few comedies from the past week.  As soon as we got into bed, Zak showed up.  His stomach is upset so he slept with Adrian in our room to be close to the bathroom and I headed to the spare bedroom.
Saturday (2/3) Daniel joined me at some point overnight and all 5 of us slept in the morning!  We have nothing really scheduled today and we're going to enjoy our day off.  We had a slow start of coffee and TV and then the boys played video games while Adrian and I worked around the house.  AJ and Daniel went over to a friends' house in the afternoon for a few hours and had a great time.  Zak stayed home because his stomach was still bothering him.  It was a pretty boring day around here, just getting stuff done while trying to keep the boys busy too.  But it was a long overdue day as our house was in need of some TLC!!

Sunday (2/4) Happy Superbowl Sunday!!  We woke up to everything covered in snow and it looked beautiful.  We were also all feeling very lazy so we decided to blow off our whole day and work around the house.  We skipped church, swim lessons and martial arts.  We stayed home and finished everything on our gigantic to do lists slightly before the game started.  I made a fun dinner of junk food and then we settled in to watch the game.  The boys lost interest after about 5 minutes so they went upstairs to play and watch video games while we watched.  They came back down to watch halftime with us and then we put them to bed.  We really enjoyed the game, it was great football!!  And it was made a little better by the fact that the Eagles won, or more important that the Patriots lost.  We really wanted to watch "This is Us" but we were just too tired and it got really late watching the game (we had to pause it after halftime to put the boys to bed).

Monday (2/5) Ugh, the alarm came very quickly this morning and I was not ready to get up.  Thankfully I realized I had a voicemail from the school telling us that because the roads were icy we have a two hour delay.  Back to bed for Adrian and I!  When we finally got up two hours late, we rearranged schedules so that he could get the boys to school and I could go to the Y to teach my two classes (subbing barre & my normal Silver Sneakers class).  We had a great time in both classes and I got a great workout!  Adrian got everyone to school on time and then headed to work himself.

After the Y, I headed into the school to sub for the afternoon.  I had a great class and was looking forward to spending some time with them.  Unfortunately my day took another turn after I was in the school for about 90 minutes.  While I was on lunch duty and he was at lunch, Zak got sick.  He threw up all over the cafeteria table (and himself!)  It was a huge mess!  With the help of some of the other teachers, I got Zak to the nurse, my class split up for the afternoon and gathered all of my stuff.  It was a little stressful but it all worked out in the end.

When I got Zak settled at home, I set to work figuring out a sub for my afternoon Zumba class.  Thankfully my friend Nikki was able to cover for me.  I got AJ and Daniel from school and AJ also wasn't feeling well so we decided to skip Boy Scouts for the night.  So we settled in for a relaxing night together.  Adrian was working late so it was just the boys and I.  We watched TV, played Beyblades, did homework and got the house back in order from the day.  Then as I was getting them ready for bed, Adrian texted to say he was on his way home.  I figured he's make it to say goodnight to the boys.  I came down from bedtime and he still wasn't here so I checked my phone and it turns out he got a flat tire on the way home & was waiting on the side of 670 for AAA to come change his tire.  He finally got home just after 10pm.  It was a long and crazy day with lots of twists and turns but we survived with minimal damage.  Ready for a good night's sleep and to wake up to a better tomorrow!!

Tuesday (2/6) Today once again started earlier than I would have liked when Daniel came in and woke me up at 4am because he had a bad dream.  I thankfully got him back to sleep in the spare room with me but I couldn't fall back asleep.  I finally got up at our normal time and helped get AJ out to the bus.  Then I got Daniel ready for school since Zak had to miss today because of the rule that he has to wait 24 hours to come back to school.  So after we dropped Daniel off at school, Zak and I headed to my Silver Sneakers classes.  He did great hanging out in the class with us and playing on his tablet.  He provided some comic relief and the seniors enjoyed loving on him for sure!!
After I finished teaching both classes, we went to Meijer to pick up the few things that I forgot for their parties this weekend.  Zak of course wanted to ride on the horsey while we were there so I let him ride twice for his great behavior so far today.  After that we came home to have lunch and then he relaxed and played some Mario Odyssey while I got a few things done.  Then AJ and Daniel came home from school and we quickly got ready to head to AJ's parent teacher conference.  He continues to do fantastic in 5th grade and has been recommended for Pre-Algebra and Advanced ELA and Science for next year.  His teachers are all really impressed with him.  We made a quick stop at the book fair after our conferences where AJ got to pick two new books to add to our collection.

After our conferences, we headed over to Menchies to celebrate National Frozen Yogurt day with a BOGO free yogurt.  We all enjoyed our yogurt for dinner and then fought rush hour traffic to get home.  The boys played for a bit and did their homework and then we had taco Tuesday for dessert since it was so late.  Adrian was stuck at work late again so I was on my own for dinner and the bedtime routine.  We got it all done although the boys did not want to go to bed because they are convinced they will have a snow day tomorrow with the winter storm that is hitting us overnight.  
Wednesday (2/7) Well, the boys were right, we have a snow day today!  Unfortunately Zak woke up at 4am for the day.  Thankfully Adrian took this shift since I was up with Daniel yesterday.  He actually brought Zak downstairs, set him up with a video and fell back asleep for a little while on the couch.  He was also given permission to work from home today so he spent the day with us, bouncing between work and playing with the boys.  We had a very relaxing day of watching TV, playing video games and playing Beyblades.  We also went out as a family to shovel the driveway and sidewalk.  And I got a jump on the birthday prep by getting everything ready for their class parties and having Daniel and Zak fill out their Valentine's Day cards.
Then since all of of our night activities cancelled and we were all home, we decided to start celebrating Zak's birthday a little early.  We gave him his presents from us, my in-laws and my brother.  He loved everything he got including a new duffle bag, Snipperclips video game, new pajamas, new Beyblades, a new Beyblade stadium and an Amazon gift card!  We also had his requested Oreo ice cream cake tonight.  It was a nice relaxing celebration before a few busy days ahead.  After celebrating, we got the boys to bed and then finished up a few things around the house.

Thursday (2/8) Happy 6th Birthday Zak!!!  He was so excited to celebrate this year that he was up at 4am to start the day.  Yawn.  Adrian spent some time with him before work, then he got AJ and himself out the door.  I dropped off Daniel and Zak and went to teach my two Silver Sneakers classes.  I came back to the school after class to volunteer in Zak's class for a bit and then go to lunch with him and his class.  He was having a rough day at school but I'm assuming it was because he was tired and excited.
After lunch, I went and subbed for a few hours in the afternoon and that class was rough.  We barely got thru anything that the teacher left for us to do and I was happy to put them on the bus.  When I finished up, I grabbed Daniel and Zak and we ran home to pick up AJ.  We went to Krispy Kreme to get their free donuts for their report cards.  Then I dropped the boys off at home and headed to Easton to teach a Zumba class then to my Cub Scout Committee meeting.  While I was out, Adrian celebrated Zak's birthday with him.  When I came home we had a quick piece of ice cream cake and then got the boys down for the night.  Adrian and I watched the Olympics while I got everything ready for tomorrow, including Daniel's treats for his class for his birthday.

Sunday, February 11, 2018

Keeping Up With...Food (Meal Plan for Feb 11 - Feb 17)

Last week didn't go at all as I had planned between snow days, sickness, schedule changes, Adrian working overtime and me just being overwhelmed and stressed, however I still mostly stuck to my meal plan.  This week is all about getting back to healthy eating and using up some fruits and veggies that we have in the fridge.  While I did stick to our main dinner plans, my snacking was not very healthy so we have a ton of fruit and veggies left over.

This week things start to slow down for us for a few weeks.  We are done with the birthday marathon of February and we don't have a lot on our plate until soccer starts up at the end of March.  I will be making the best of this downtime with lots of healthy cooking.  I am considering starting to get some freezer meals together again, although I have a lot of meat in the deep freeze that I would need to use up before we could stock it up.  I'm still weighing my options.

Here's what we're eating this week:
Sunday - Leftovers - we are all exhausted after the past few days of birthday parties!
Monday - Chicken & Asparagus Stir Fry over Rice (carry over from last week)
Tuesday - Lasagna Stuffed Portabella Mushrooms with a side salad
Wednesday - Balsamic Chicken Drumsticks with Acorn Squash Risotto in the instant pot
Thursday - Fish Tacos
Friday - Spaghetti Squash in the instant pot with leftover sauce, meatballs & sausage
Saturday - Sausage & Spinach Soup

Water Flavor - Orange Mint.  Back to using up my oranges.  I think they are multiplying in there!

Overnight Oats - I honestly haven't even thought about this until now and I need to get them set up tonight for the week.  So I'll come up with flavors right now.  I will use my normal recipe as a base and will do two batches of chocolate with white chips, two with mangos & blackberries in the blender because I need to use them up and one with apple pie flavoring (applesauce & cinnamon).

Use it Up - This is all about fruits and veggies this week!  I'm not buying any new fruits and veggies this week except for bananas because we are out and we go thru a lot every week.  My goal is to empty the drawers and shelf in the two fridges this week and then restock next week.  I will also be using up two of the three squash that are on my counter, will use up the butternut squash next week.

Lunches - I'll be making this Quinoa Arugula Salad tomorrow to use up a thing of arugula that I have in the fridge.  This will also help me use up some of my grapefruits that I bought to eat for breakfast and have not got in the habit of eating.

Saturday, February 10, 2018

Keeping up with...Family (Weekly Wrap 12/8 - 12/14 - Part 2)

Monday (12/11) Today was harsh reality hitting us in the face after our awesome week long vacation.  The alarm was so early when it went off but we managed to get everyone up and out to school and work on time.  After I got everyone dropped off to school, I headed to the grocery stores to restock our fridges for the week.  I took a break from running errands to go volunteer in Zak's class and the kids were so excited to see me again after a two week break!

After volunteering in the class, I came home to try to get some things done around the house and get ready for our busy night.  I got AJ off of his bus and then we got ready and headed to pick up Daniel and Zak and head to the Y for my Zumba class.  It was rough to jump back into teaching but I survived.  After class, we rushed home to grab a quick dinner (of leftover Jets pizza) and get ready to head out to Scouts.  AJ and his pack were visiting a Boy Scout troop to see if that is where they want to join after crossover.  And Zak had his normal Lion meeting.  I took Zak and Daniel while Adrian took AJ.  Everyone had a great time but were all happy to get back home.  We quickly got the boys to bed, finished cleaning up, watched a show and headed to be ourselves.  Routine is exhausting!

Tuesday (12/12) Today may have been worse trying to get up and get moving but we again made it.  AJ got on the bus on time, Adrian left for work and I got the other two boys dropped off to school on time.  After I dropped them off, I headed to teach my two Silver Sneakers classes and then did a quick change of clothes and headed into the school for my first half day of subbing.  I was subbing for one of AJ's old teachers so I had chatted with her on Facebook and knew it would be a great day.  And it was!  Her students were great, the afternoon passed quickly and I got everyone on the bus safely and on time.  Daniel and Zak met me in the classroom and loved the fact that I was working in their school.  AJ came home by himself and did a great job waiting for us to get home.
After we were all done at school, we came home and got to work on our homework/make up work.  We had a quick dinner of pasta and then got ready for another busy night.  I headed to the church to work as a facility rep and Adrian took the boys to AJ's Cub Scout meeting.  He has only a few more requirements before he is ready to cross over to Boy Scouts so it was important that he went to this meeting.  Thankfully our friend offered to drive AJ home so Adrian just dropped him off and took the other two exhausted boys home.  When we all finally got home, we got the boys in bed and sat down to watch a show.  Our DVR is close to full so we are trying to make some progress on it quickly before our shows start deleting.  But we were so tired we only watched one comedy!

Wednesday (12/13) After rough morning to get up and out, but we did it.  Adrian and I got everyone to school and he headed to work.  I went and ran some errands and did a few things around the house and then I headed in to sub again in the afternoon.  I was the art teacher and I had so much fun with the kids reading a book and do a project about it.  When school was over, I grabbed Daniel and Zak and we ran home to get AJ and head to the Y for my Zumba class.  It was a fun class, slightly easier than Monday's class.  We are doing student requests this month so the songs are really fun!  When class was over, I came home with the boys and finished up make up work while Adrian headed to his Bible study.  I got the boys down to bed, they are real easy to get to bed this week because they are so tired!  When Adrian got home, we watched a few comedies and headed to bed.  I can't wait for the weekend!!

Thursday (12/14) Wow, this week is LONG!!  We struggled to get up again today but we did it and got out the door to work and school on time.  I dropped the boys off at school and then headed to teach my two Silver Sneakers classes.  I did a quick change after class and headed into the school to sub for the third afternoon in a row.  I'm really enjoying subbing and I love doing the half days, lots of variety.  When I was done subbing I headed home with Daniel and Zak to meet up with AJ.  AJ has been doing great coming home alone from school and doing what he needs to do until we get home.  I'm proud of him for taking on more responsibilities.  When we all got home we were so tired that we finished up the few things that needed to be done and laid around watching TV for the rest of the night.  It was a very long week and we still have one more day to go!

Friday, February 9, 2018

Keeping up with...Family (Weekly Wrap 12/8 - 12/14 - Part 1)

Friday (12/8) Our last official day of vacation and in the parks.  We got up bright and early and headed about 45 minutes southwest to Legoland.  The boys were super excited to go back to this park and the adults were super excited that we wouldn't have to wait in line all day.  We got there shortly after the park opened for the day and headed to Miniland to see all of the cities built out of legos since most of the rides weren't opened yet.  The boys enjoyed the exhibit, especially the Star Wars part where you could push buttons and make the different parts of the exhibit move.
 
After playing for a while, we finally headed to the rides.  We rode just about everything, some rides multiple times.  There were no lines and we were able to get on and off everything super quick.  Zak had a blast at this park, it was clearly his favorite of the trip.  I think the Disney parks were just really overwhelming for him.  His favorite ride was Project X, which was the fastest coaster in the park.  We also really liked the Ninjago 4D ride and The Dragon.  Our only disappointment for the day was that Coastersaurus was closed for refurbishments the whole week we were in Florida so we weren't able to ride it.
 
We stayed at Legoland pretty much from open to close.  When the park closed, we made one more pass thru Miniland and then made the short walk to our car.  We drove back to the time share and met up with my dad for a nice family dinner before we started to pack up for our departure.  We were all really tired so it was another early night for us, after we finished all of the open wine of course.

Saturday (12/9) We were up bright and early to finish packing up and start the long drive home.  There was a storm that hit the East coast so we decided to go the other route home, through GA, TN & KY.  We were on the road by 10am after a quick stop to fuel up both the car and ourselves at Wawa (love their coffee & pretzels!)  We were all pretty tired and honestly happy to be sitting for the day but also anxious to get home.  We got this crazy idea that we would try to drive all night and get home so we wouldn't have to drive at all tomorrow.  We made great time all day, making quick bathroom stops, eating in the car and not hitting any traffic.  But then around 8pm, we started getting texts and messages from people here in OH telling us the roads were bad.  And we checked the weather and saw that there was snow and ice forecast for our route all night.  So we made it just north of Knoxville and found a place to stay for the night.  We were all kind of bummed but it was for the best.  And we only had 5 hours of driving left so we would still be home at a decent hour tomorrow. 
Sunday (12/10) We were all up bright and early and ready to hit the road back home.  We grabbed a quick breakfast at the hotel and headed out.  We made great time on the remaining drive and the boys did great.  It is really so much easier traveling with them now that they are older!  We are really proud of them and how well they did all four days of traveling!  And we of course had our elf for the drive back home.  His "hiding" place on the last day shows how we all feel about still being on the road!
We got home about 3pm and we were all super excited to be there...until we got in and realized our heat was off and it was like 40 degrees in our house.  We bundled up, turned on the heat and unloaded the car.  We ordered Jets pizza for dinner and just had a relaxing night hanging out at home and getting ready to head back to reality tomorrow.  I did get started on my giant pile of laundry, but didn't do too much.  Just enough to get us started on our week.  It was a great vacation, one we will all remember forever.  And we were all sad to see it end.

Thursday, February 8, 2018

Keeping up with...Family (Weekly Wrap 12/1 - 12/7 - Part 3)

Wednesday (12/6) After our day off yesterday, we were all up bright and early today to head to the Magic Kingdom.  It was going to be a very long day but we were looking forward to a lot of fun.  Magic Kingdom is my least favorite park, but I know the kids love it.  And it was for sure Zak's favorite park of the whole trip.  We started the day using our first fast pass for Space Mountain, which we all loved!  When we came out of there, everything had very long lines so we just decided to suck it up and do whatever we could.  We rode the cars on the speedway, the Goofy Barnstormer the teacups and a few other rides in Fantasyland before hopping on the train to head to the other side of the park.  But not before Zak got drenched in the splash pads, he loved it!!

 
 
We had a fast pass for Splash Mountain so we were able to ride that quickly which was great.  We waited in a pretty long line for Pirates of the Caribbean and then my mom and I saved spots for the boys in the front row for the parade.  Adrian took the boys to play "Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom" for a while in the area near the start of the parade.  As the parade was wrapping up, we ran to the Runaway Mine Train ride and caught a fairly short line for that.  Then my mom and I waited in line with Zak for the flying carpets while Adrian took the big boys to play the sorcerers game more.  We met up at the ride exit and headed over to the Haunted Mansion ride which the boys loved!
 
 
After that my mom headed out to meet up with my dad and we headed back to Fantasyland to do what we could.  We enjoyed the PhilharMagic movie, the Peter Pan ride (thank you fast pass!), It's a Small World and the carousel.  We also grabbed pizza for dinner in that area and tried to find the gray stuff for me for dessert (we couldn't find it).  We found a great place to watch the beautiful Christmas themed fireworks show and then used our last fast pass to ride the Buzz Lightyear ride.  Now it was about 10pm and we were all cranky and tired after waiting in lines in the hot sun all day.  So we decided to call in a day and head out.  Unfortunately, there was a 30 minute wait to catch the monorail back to our car.  It resulted in a funny moment when Zak threw himself on the ground screaming "I love this park but I hate all of these lines!"  I think he spoke for most of us in the late.  We finally arrived home after 11pm and everyone went straight to bed, magic is exhausting for sure!
Thursday (12/7) After the busy day yesterday, we took it easy getting ready and out the door this morning.  It was our last day in the Disney parks and we were headed to Epcot.  When we got there, we found our picture on the living legacy wall in the front.  I am so glad that we decided to put our picture on the wall when we were there for our honeymoon.  It's a fun tradition to find it every time we go.  After that, we headed to Mission Space for our first fast pass.  Adrian and Zak decided to sit that one out and went to play in the space themed play area instead.  It was probably a good decision as I was a little woozy after our trip to space.
 
After that we walked around a little and rode the rides that had very short lines - Nemo, Figment, Spaceship Earth and watched the short film festival which was great.  Then we decided to head to the countries to get lunch and start playing the Phineas and Ferb Adventure.  We had a stressful lunch in Mexico and then rode the boat ride there.  While there, Zak decided he wanted to start meeting characters so he and I waited in line to meet Donald Duck while the boys did the adventure in Mexico.  Then we saw a Christmas show in Norway and then headed to China where Adrian, AJ & Daniel did the adventure while Zak, Nana & I waited to meet Mulan.
After those countries, we headed back out to ride Test Track with our fast pass.  We had a great time designing our car and then riding in it.  We had no idea what the ride was going to do and had a funny moment when we headed outside on the track at 65mph and my hair was flying all over the place!  I looked like Medusa when we were done.  After that ride, we ran across to Soarin' because the wait dipped to 30 minutes for the first time that day so we got to ride that.  I loved it, it's better than it was in the past.  After that ride, we finished up by just walking around the countries waiting for the night show.  We did the adventure in France, Germany and Japan and also grabbed beer and pretzels in Germany for dinner.  And we found more Mickey Mouse ice cream bars because they are awesome.  We finished up our Disney time by watching IllumiNations on the water, which continues to be my favorite night show in Disney.  It was a great ending to our time in Disney!