Monday, January 28, 2019

Keeping Up With...Food (Meal Plan for Jan 27 - Feb 2)

We had another pretty good week of sticking to our meal plan from last week.  Once again on Thursday I ran out of steam and time so we decided to have leftovers that day and push our meals ahead one day.  This system is working well for us so far!  As a matter of fact, we've already used up our leftovers meal for this week when things were crazy yesterday (Sunday) and we just had sandwiches for lunch and leftovers for dinner.  Now I have to hope I can stick to the rest of our plan this week or we will be in rough shape at the end of the month.

This week starts our birthday celebrations.  Zak and Daniel both have birthdays next week so we have Zak's party this Saturday.  Next week will be a much more relaxed week for meal planning and cooking because we pretty much just celebrate for a week between the parties, actual birthdays and the Superbowl.  But more about that next week.  This week we are still focused on eating well and getting a good variety of food, especially veggies.  I'm also hoping to keep things easy this week as it's a full week of prep for all of the celebrations.

Here's what we're eating this week:
Sunday - Leftovers
Monday - Chicken Stroganoff and Green Beans
Tuesday - Veggie Fajita Bowls 
Wednesday - Island Pork Salad - I make this every time it pops up in my Facebook memories, it's so good!!
Thursday - Pesto Tortellini with Chicken, Spinach & Tomatoes - I accidentally bought too much spinach and I need to use it up before it goes bad
Friday - Instant Pot Chili - Something quick and filling before we go see Hamilton!!
Saturday - Pizza at Zak's birthday party!

Water Flavor - Lemon.  I'm still using up a bag of lemons I bought for this.  The water tastes so good!

Overnight Oats - I'll be making 2 batches with powdered peanut butter and 2 with flavored yogurt.  I'm also mixing my breakfasts up with an occasional protein shake.

Use It Up - I'm making sure I use up the green beans & spinach I bought last week before they go bad.  I'm also using up the PB2 I have in the pantry and the flavored yogurt I have in the fridge.  I'll be shopping for 2 weeks on Wednesday and then only using what I have in the house.

Lunches - I'll have some salads, sandwiches and leftovers this week.  Nothing super exciting, just quick and easy.  Avocados seem to be in season and they are my favorite so I'm enjoying them in salads most days for lunch!

Friday, January 25, 2019

Keeping up with...Family (Weekly Wrap 1/18 - 1/24)

Friday (1/18) We woke up to no ice and no delays so it was our regular schedule for the day.  Adrian dropped AJ off at school and headed to work.  I got the other boys ready and the three of us headed into West for the day since I was subbing.  I spent my day with a great group of third graders and before I knew it the day was over and I was heading home with my boys.  We relaxed for a little bit and then quickly got thru dinner before heading out a family night.  We had one more Christmas present to use, we went to see "Pete the Cat" live at the Children's Theater downtown.  We all enjoyed the show!!  Adrian and I were pleasantly surprised at how good it was, and all three boys gave it two thumbs up.
On the way home we stopped at Menchie's for a surprise dessert treat!  There were a lot of new flavors and we enjoyed sampling a few of them.  When we got home, we got the tired boys down to bed and then Adrian and I decided to give Pandemic Legacy another try.  We had a rough game but we managed to pull off the win for the month of January!  We had a few changes happen to the game going forward so I'm interested to play again in February.  After the game, we had some snacks, watched a few comedies and headed to bed for the night.  Once again, we are waiting to see what the weather does tomorrow.  Will we get snow?  Or just rain??

Saturday (1/19) Well we woke up to no snow this morning!  Thankfully I didn't cancel my Zumba class at church because of the forecast.  I headed out to the church and had a great Zumba Toning class with the few students who braved the weather.  Adrian brought the boys up to the church and played basketball while I was there teaching.  We all had a great active morning and were thankful to get out of the house for a while!  After class, I headed to small group with my ladies & had a great morning fellowshipping with them.  I got home safely because we still only had rain.

When I got home, I helped Adrian and Zak get ready to head out to a birthday party for one of Zak's classmates.  He had a great time bowling with friends from class!!  He got a strike, spare & the second highest score out of everyone at the party.  He also enjoyed pizza and cupcakes and time with his friends.  While they were there, I hung out with the other boys and got stuff done around the house.  I spent most of the afternoon trying to catch up on stuff from the week around the house.  After everyone had dinner, we got set up for a family movie night watching "The Greatest Showman."  It was a great movie!!  Four of us all loved the movie, Zak hated it.  I think it was too much story for him, not enough action.  But I really enjoyed it, quite possibly one of my favorites.  After the movie, we got the boys down to bed, made snacks and watched a few shows.  Then we headed to bed, still not seeing any snow, but now it has changed over to ice which will make driving tomorrow very interesting.
Sunday (1/20) We finally woke up to snow...and ice and freezing temperatures!!  The roads were really rough so our church cancelled services for the morning and did an online sermon instead.  We had a lazy start to our day as we waited to see what would cancel and what would still happen for the rest of the day.  Most of our activities cancelled so we ended up with most of the day at home working around the house.  Adrian and I watched the first half of the NFC championship game before we all had to get ready to head out.  He took the boys to Martial Arts where they all did great practicing for their upcoming belt tests.

While they were there, I went out with friends for drinks and dinner.  We celebrated three of my friends who all have the same Jan birthday.  We headed to Cooper's Hawk at Easton for a wine tasting and then a delicious dinner.  It was a great time!!  When I got home, Adrian and I watched the AFC championship game and while it was a great game, we were disappointed that the Patriots won, again.  We'll be cheering for the Rams in the Super Bowl for sure!!  When the game was over, it was super late so we headed to bed.  Thankful everyone has tomorrow off!!
 
 
Monday (1/21) We  all slept in today since it's a holiday Monday!  We had a lazy start to our morning with coffee, video games and Adrian and AJ finishing up a board game they started last night.  After a slower start, we got ready and headed out for Zak's pick from last week, a visit to a trampoline park.  Adrian and I didn't feel like going, but the boys were so excited so we couldn't say no.  I found a Groupon for a place in Grove City called Big Bounce and it was awesome!  We had a great time bouncing together for the hour.  The boys tried some new tricks and Adrian and I tried not to get hurt.  We all laughed a lot and were glad we went!!
 
 
 
After we got home, we finished up a few things around the house to get ready for the week and then got ready for our night activities.  Adrian took Zak to basketball practice where they both had a great time.  I headed to the church to teach my Zumba Toning class and had a sweaty fun time with the students.  When we all got home, we cleaned up from dinner and got the boys down to bed.  Then we finished up the long weekend with a few comedies before heading to bed.  We're rested and ready to resume our normal schedule tomorrow!

Tuesday (1/22) But unfortunately our normal schedule was not meant to be today.  We heard late last night that the boys would be on a two hour delay today for school.  Adrian decided to work from home this morning & take the boys to school so I could still teach my classes at Harcum today.  We were up and moving and getting ready when another call from the school came in saying that AJ's school would be closed all day because of an issue with the pipes.  Adrian decided to work from home for the whole day so he could hang out with AJ.
I headed out to my three classes at Harcum.  They were good classes but we were all kind of dragging, probably from the cold weather.  Adrian dropped Daniel and Zak at school then spent the day with AJ.  I ran a few errands after work and then picked the boys up from school.  I ran around like crazy and got everyone thru homework and got dinner ready just in time to leave to head to the church to work for a few hours tonight.  Thankfully it was a pretty calm night and I was able to rest and get a few things done while also catching up with a few friends.  I got home just in time to help with bedtime and then come down to finish up a few things around the house.  Unfortunately we discovered our disposal is leaking so we need to have someone come look at that soon.  We watched a few comedies and then headed to bed, hoping tomorrow will truly be back to a normal schedule.

Wednesday (1/23) We were thankfully back on our schedule this morning, I think this is going to be a long winter!  Adrian dropped AJ off at school and headed to work while I got the other boys ready for school.  I dropped them off and then ran a few errands before heading into the school for an afternoon of subbing.  I was the music teacher so I floated around for the afternoon before picking up the boys after school and heading home.  They have been begging to go swimming at the Y so since we didn't have anything going on tonight, we headed there after school for a bit.  We had the pool mostly to ourselves, except for swim team practice.  The boys were super excited to swim but a little bummed that the deep end wasn't opened for open swim.
We stayed for about an hour and a half before I dragged them out of the pool so we could head home for dinner.  We got home and got thru dinner and homework before the boys headed upstairs to work on their "movie" that they are developing while I cleaned up from the day.  Adrian was at his small group so I got the boys down to bed and then sat down to relax for a bit.  When Adrian got home, we had snacks & checked out the first episode of "Celebrity Big Brother."  People have been suggesting the show to us so we figured we'd check it out.  It was OK, a little slow to start but we'll give it a few more episodes.

Thursday (1/24) Once again we woke up to a two hour delay for school.  Thankfully Adrian saw it and didn't wake any of the boys up early.  He also let his boss know that he would be in late so he could take the boys to school while I went and taught my classes at Harcum.  We all got up and ready and then I dropped AJ off at school and headed in to teach my three classes.  I ran a few errands between two classes and also practiced for my Aqua Zumba class after the classes.  I was exhausted after all of that and happy to sit in the car to go pick up the boys.  Zak was super excited to tell me all about celebrating the 100th day of school today!!  And Daniel was excited to hear that and figure out that means it's only 80 days until summer break!
When we all got home after a little bit of relaxing, I got the boys thru homework and then they went to work on their movie while I had dinner.  I got ready and headed to the church to teach my Zumba class.  Adrian got home a little after I left and got the boys thru dinner and their nighttime routine.  I had a great class, got a few things done at the church and then came home just in time to help with bedtime.  After the boys were in bed, we finished up a few things, got our snacks and settled in to watch a few comedies before heading to bed.  It's been a long and strange week and once again we are ready for Friday!

Monday, January 21, 2019

Keeping Up With...Food (Meal Plan for Jan 20 - Jan 26)

We had another great week of sticking to our meal plan!  Once again, our Friday night plan didn't work out right.  I subbed all day and we had to leave for Pete the Cat pretty early so we just had leftovers that night.  We bumped that meal to Saturday and then the planned meal from Saturday to this week.  I think this is working out better to have leftovers one night but not have a planned night for them.  We just have leftovers when our schedule gets a little crazy.  I'm also super excited about my new spiralizer that I got for Christmas and can't wait to use it more often!!  It's super easy and the "noodles" come out amazing.

This is a weird week for us.  We all have Monday off for MLK day but still have our night activities.  The rest of the week I have something every night and Saturday afternoon so that will make cooking a little tricky.  I have planned some easy meals and crockpot meals but I'm still not convinced I'll be able to stick to this plan.  We have plenty of options for salad, sandwiches, pasta and leftovers if I don't cook a few days.  I also have zucchini so we can have zoodles & meatballs one night too for a quick meal.  We're motivated to eat healthy and not eat out so I'm confident it will work out!

Here's what we're eating this week:
Sunday - Chicken Enchilada Casserole
Monday - Buffalo Ranch Pork Chops with String Beans
Tuesday - Taco Tuesday!
Wednesday - Happy Shrimp over Spaghetti Squash
Thursday - BBQ Chicken Quinoa Casserole
Friday - Veggie Fajita Bowls
Saturday - Turkey Salsa Chili

Water Flavor - Citrus.  I have an orange to use and then I bought lemons so I'm setting that up for this week.

Overnight Oats - I've been loving the peanut butter ones with chocolate chips added to them.  I'll make another batch of those for this week and then a berry flavored one with the flavored yogurt that I have.  Adrian still isn't eating these so I'm making less each week.  I'm also subbing a breakfast here and there with a protein shake to use those up as well.

Use it Up - I'm really only using up a spaghetti squash this week, which I've been trying to use for the past two weeks!  I'm also using up some things in the oats like the PB2 and the shakes in place of the oats.  I didn't really look around at what I have this week, I'll have to try to do better next week.

Lunches - I'll mostly be having salads this week, especially taco salads after Tuesday.  And I'll also probably have leftovers because we have a lot in the fridge right now.  It's not the most excited week but again we're super busy and I'm going for easy this week!

Saturday, January 19, 2019

Keeping up with...Family (Weekly Wrap 1/11 - 1/17)

Friday (1/11) We made it to another Friday, woo!  This week felt long getting back in the swing of things but we made it.  Adrian dropped AJ off at school and headed to work.  The rest of us got ready and then headed into school together since I was back to subbing today.  I had a great day with a fun 1st grade class and it passed pretty quickly.  After school, we came home and relaxed for a bit before I got ready to head back out to work at the church for the evening.  It was a pretty low key night at the church and I got a few things done for work and a few personal things done as well.  I came home and helped finish cleaning up around the house and then got the boys down for the night.  Adrian and I started on our year long goal of playing "Pandemic Legacy: Season 1."  We won the game but unfortunately realized we played most of it wrong!  So we are going to play the first month again next weekend and hopefully win again.  After we were done, we got some snacks, watched a few comedies and headed to bed.  It's been a long week!! 

Saturday (1/12) We thought we could sleep in today but the boys were all up earlier than expected.  Zak got up around 5am and woke Adrian up to hang out with him.  Daniel accidentally forgot to turn off his alarm so he woke up a little after 7am as well.  I had to get up around then too to get ready for my Zumba class at the church this morning.  We all got ready and headed to the church.  I taught a small but mighty Zumba class while Adrian and the boys played basketball in the gym.  When we all got home, the boys played while Adrian and I did a few things before he headed out for the day.  He went to his first CABS (board game group) meeting for the day.  I hung out at home with the boys for the day.  We were supposed to go to a trampoline park this afternoon but since we were getting some snow we decided it was better to stay home and chill for the day.

I spent a good chunk of the day working around the house while the boys played video games and made YouTube videos.  Daniel finally got to make a video with some of his friends from school so he was super excited about that!  I played two games of Machi Koro with the boys as well, Zak won one and I won one.  I really like expansion pack, it's way more strategy so I'm able to win more often.  After we played, they got ready for bed and I got them down.  I did a few more things around the house while I waited for Adrian to get home so we could watch the Cowboys game together.  Unfortunately I was so tired that I only made it to halftime before heading to bed.  It's a bummer they didn't pull out the win, but the Rams looked amazing!

Sunday (1/13) We all did get to sleep in today!  Then we had a relaxing start to our morning before we headed out to church for the second service.  We are really enjoying this sermon series and loved the service this morning!  When we got home, the boys helped Adrian shovel the driveway and sidewalk while I got lunch together for everyone.  Then we spent the rest of the day cleaning, prepping for the week and watching the football games.  We are bummed the Patriots won but are excited for the Saints!  It was a full day for us with a nice mix of relaxing and working.  After finishing everything up and getting the boys to bed, Adrian and I watched a few comedies and headed to bed for the night.  While nothing exciting happened, it was a pretty great weekend!!
Monday (1/14) Back to our normal routine today.  We were all pretty rested after the weekend so we got up and moving on time.  Adrian dropped AJ off at school and headed in to work.  Zak was excited to wake up and see that the tooth fairy came and brought him a dollar for the tooth he lost yesterday.  I got the other boys ready and dropped off at school before heading out to do some grocery shopping.  I forgot to eat breakfast first so I skipped my planned trip to Costco and only did the local stores.  Hoping to get there later this week.  After I got home and had breakfast, I worked the rest of the day around the house and got a ton of stuff done before the boys get home from school.  When they got home, we got thru homework and then they went to play while I got dinner ready.  Adrian came home and took Zak to basketball practice at the church while I headed to my Zumba class.  We had a sweaty fun time during our Zumba Toning class tonight!  When I got home, we finished cleaning up around the house then got the boys down to bed.  Adrian and I got our snacks then sat down and watched a few comedies before heading to bed.
Tuesday (1/15) Another day of our regular routine and everyone got up and moving pretty well.  Adrian took AJ to school before heading to work and I dropped the other boys off before heading to Harcum to teach my three classes.  I had a great time with my students and when I left to run a few quick errands at lunchtime, I took some good natured ribbing from my co-workers about not forgetting my keys.  After the three classes, I headed into school to do sight words with some of the students in Zak's class.  I'm so thankful I am able to volunteer each week in his class!  When we got home, we relaxed for a bit and then finished homework and dinner.  Zak had Scouts and Adrian took him to give me a little bit of a break for the day.  They had a fun time talking about family genealogy and making a family crest.  When they got home, we got the boys ready for bed, then watched two comedies before heading to bed.  Pretty standard day and I loved every minute of it!

Wednesday (1/16) Adrian and AJ woke up and started getting ready and then I checked my phone to see that we had a two hour delay due to icy roads today.  I went back to sleep for about an hour and thankfully Daniel and Zak also got to sleep in a little.  Soon after we were up and moving we got the call that the roads did not improve so school was closed for the day!!  The boys were super excited and started playing video games right away.  We had a great day hanging out, having fun & being productive!!

We did a lot during the day, Zak commented that it felt like a long day because we had so much fun.  We played both board games and video games.  We ran a few errands, including a trip to the library, Krispy Kreme for our free donuts from our report cards & Target to get a birthday gift for a party this weekend.  We were also productive by doing a few chores, finishing our weekly homework and doing a bunch of laundry.  The finished the day by deciding to go play out in the yard together, AJ was out there for about 30 minutes and I had to force the other two boys to come in after just over an hour because it was getting dark and it was time for dinner!
 
 
After we finished dinner, the boys did a little more video game time while I cleaned up and got my daily workout in.  Adrian was at small group so it was just the four of us tonight.  They did their normal night routine and I got them down to bed.  Soon after I got them down, Adrian came home for the night.  We watched a few comedies and headed to bed for the night.  It was a fun snow day with the boys but hopefully tomorrow we're back to our normal schedule!

Thursday (1/17) While there was snow in the forecast, we woke up to nothing so we were back to our normal schedule today.  Adrian took AJ to school and then headed in to work.  I got the other boys ready and dropped off at school before heading to Harcum to teach my three classes.  We had a fun time in class, although they were all smaller because it did start snowing around 11am.  In between two of the classes, I jumped in the pool for about 30 minutes to practice my Aqua dance routines to get ready for my upcoming subbing opportunities.
After all three classes, I headed across the street to buy new snow boots for Daniel and Zak and also found a fun pair for myself.  I came home and got a few things done before heading out to pick up everyone from school.  I picked up Daniel and Zak and then headed over to Central to pick up AJ after Model UN.  He had another great meeting and is super excited for the upcoming competition in March.  When we all got home, the boys went out to play in the snow again while I got dinner ready and got ready to head to church to teach my Zumba class.  Adrian got the boys thru dinner and homework while I was gone.  When I got home we got the boys down to bed and then watched a few comedies before heading to bed ourselves.  Once again we're waiting on the weather to see how tomorrow will go.

Sunday, January 13, 2019

Keeping Up With...Food (Meal Plan for Jan 13 - Jan 19)

We did a great job last week of sticking to our meal plan and getting back to healthy eating.  My schedule changed on Friday and I ended up subbing all day at school and then having very little time before I had to be at the church to work at night.  So instead of stressing out about cooking that night, I bumped the meals up a day and we had leftovers that night.  It worked out perfectly and I used my limited time to get in a workout and get a few things done around the house.  I planned to have a designated leftover day every week but after Friday Adrian and I decided it might be better to plan to cook each day and then have the leftovers ready for schedule changes so that's what we're going to do for now and see how that works.

One of the highlights last week for sure were the Buffalo Chicken Stuffed Peppers.  They were pretty easy to make and super good.  I'm sure we'll be making them again!  This week is a relatively light week for us, at least as it stands right now.  We'll see how things change over the week if they stay light or not.  I'm still sticking to a wide variety of food choices and trying to stay as healthy as possible.  I am also making sure we have enough pasta, sandwich stuff and salad stuff on hand if we need to change plans and throw something together.
Here's what we're eating this week:
Sunday - Instant Pot Smothered Pork Chops with Garlic Parmesan Cauliflower
Monday - Beef Stew in the Instant Pot
Tuesday - Burrito Zoodles
Wednesday - Chicken & Kale Stir Fry
Thursday - Garlic Shrimp Linguine
Friday - Butternut Squash Chili
Saturday - Chicken Enchilada Casserole

Water Flavor - Plum again because I still have a few more to use up and last week it was delicious!!

Overnight Oats - I am excited to be back to eating these.  I set up the oats for last week before checking in with Adrian.  He isn't eating them anymore so I have a lot leftover from last week.  I won't need to set them up until Wednesday or Thursday this week.  I'll be setting up peanut butter oats to use up the powdered peanut butter that we have.  And if I need another flavor I have a blueberry yogurt I can use too.

Use It Up - I'm using up some stew meat that we got from my brother when he bought a cow recently.  I'm also using up the second half of a butternut squash and some of the powdered peanut butter that I have.  I am also going to make black beans in my instant pot for Tuesday's meal and use them up in Friday and Saturday's recipes.  If that doesn't use them all up, I'll figure out something for next week to finish them up.

Lunches - I am loving taco salads for lunch!!  I will probably make one or two more this week.  The other days I will either have leftovers or salad using the lunchmeat that we have opened.  I may also hard boil some eggs this week if I think I need them for lunches or snacks.

Saturday, January 12, 2019

Keeping up with...Family (Weekly Wrap 1/4 - 1/10)

Friday (1/4) Last day of winter break!  We all slept in a little this morning, not as late as we have been but that is probably for the best since we have to start getting to bed a little earlier so we're ready for school on Monday.  We spent the morning hanging out watching TV and I started getting some stuff done around the house.  After a quick lunch we got ready to have David and Zachary over to play for the afternoon.  The boys were asking to do this all break and our schedules finally synced up today.  The five boys played together amazingly well & had a great time together!!  They played for just over two hours before it was time for David & Zachary to go home so we could get ready for our evening plans.  Adrian got home from work and took Zak to his wrestling practice.  Then I fed the other boys and left for my Scout committee meeting.  My meeting went long so by the time I got home, the boys were in bed.  Adrian and I got snacks and watched a few comedies before heading to bed for the night.

Saturday (1/5) We had to get up and moving this morning as we start to ease back into our routine.  I got up and ready and headed to the church for my Zumba class.  We had a fun class although we are struggling a little with getting back into the groove after Christmas.  After class, I headed to my friends house for the first meeting of our women's Bible study.  We are going to meet every other Sat and I'm so excited to get to know these ladies better!!  While I was there, Adrian got the boys ready and took them to the church to play basketball with AJ for a little bit.  He really wants to join another league but we can't find one for him right now so they are going to play every Sat for now until something else starts.

When we all got home, we watched OSU lose in their basketball game and then started working around the house, including taking down the Christmas decorations.  It's such a sad day when they have to come down, but it is definitely time.  The day passed quickly between working around the house and taking down the decorations.  We watched the Colts/Texans game in the background since it was a pretty boring blow out.  After dinner we settled in to watch the Cowboys/Seahawks game.  It was a defensive struggle and super stressful, especially for us Cowboys fans.  I'm super thankful that they won & we have more meaningful football next weekend!

Sunday (1/6) We slept in a little today before getting up and getting ready to head to church.  We all heard great lessons in second service & I got to see a lot of friends which is always wonderful.  When we got home from school, we jumped right in to finishing up everything on the to do lists and getting ready for the week.  We got a lot done and feel ready to hit the ground running tomorrow with school and our full schedule.  We also watched as much of the football games as we were able to squeeze in and still can't believe the Eagles won on a "double doink" missed field goal!

In the evening, our activities were back after Christmas break.  Adrian took all three boys to martial arts where they all had a great time.  They will be testing for their next belts in a few weeks and are so excited!  After martial arts, Adrian dropped AJ off at church for the One8ty spring kick off.  He had a blast playing Romans vs Christians with the other teens and then enjoyed ice cream sundaes for snacks.  When we all got back home, we got the boys to bed as early as we were able and then finished up a few things before settling down to watch the start of the Golden Globes before heading to bed as well.

Monday (1/7) Back to our routine today!!  We all got up on time, even though most of us didn't want to.  Adrian drove AJ to school while I got the other two boys ready.  I dropped them off and then headed out to run a bunch of errands, including a huge stock up grocery shopping trip.  I spent the whole morning shopping and returning a few things from Christmas.  When I got home, I was tired but I managed to get everything put away and get a few things done around the house before the boys got home from school.  It was such a warm day that I walked up to pick up Daniel & Zak!
After a short break, we got thru homework and dinner so we were ready for our busy night.  Adrian got stuck at work so I was on my own with three different places that we needed to be.  I drove all of us to the church to get Zak to his first basketball practice.  He has a great time and learned a lot, even though he was bummed that Dad wasn't there to be his coach.  AJ's friend picked him up from the church so he could head to his Scout meeting tonight.  He said he learned a lot about cold weather camping and also was excited to get his prize and badge from selling popcorn.  While they were there, I was teaching a Zumba class at class.  It was my first Zumba Toning class in a while and we had a blast!!  I'm hoping this format takes off at the church because I love teaching it!  When we all got home, I got everyone down to bed and then finished cleaning up around the house.  Adrian got home just as I sat down to relax so we watched some of the college football championship game before I headed to bed.  I loved the Imagine Dragons show at halftime, they have some great music!
Tuesday (1/8) We struggled a little bit getting up today but we did it.  Adrian and AJ were running a little late but still managed to get out on time to school and work.  I got the other boys ready and we barely made it out the door on time to drop them off.  Then I had to come home to finish packing up my stuff for the day and headed off to Harcum to teach my three classes.  We had a blast in all three classes, everyone is back after their fun holidays!  I'm a little sore after last night's new class and then all three today but I feel great!

After my classes were over, I headed into school to volunteer in Zak's class.  I did sight words with about half the class, including finishing Zak's second book with him.  He is super excited to move on to book 3 tomorrow!  When school was over for the day, we picked up Dan and headed home for the day.  We had a rare night with nothing to do and we took advantage of it!  We relaxed for a while, finished homework, had tacos for dinner together and played a lot.  I also got a lot done around the house.  I'm really trying to stay caught up on things around the house this year.  The night passed quickly and soon it was time to get the kids to bed.  After they were down for the night, Adrian and I watched a few comedies and then headed to bed too.
Wednesday (1/9) Wow, today was even harder to get up and moving than yesterday was.  I forget that even though we only had two weeks off, it takes a while to get back in the groove again.  We did manage to get up and moving on time.  Adrian dropped AJ off at school and headed to work.  I got Zak and Daniel ready and dropped off at school.  I was going to go take a few classes with friends but I was super sore and tired and decided to take a semi-rest day today.  I ran a few errands and then came home and worked around the house all day.  I got a ton of stuff done while the boys were at school and was feeling much better by the time they got home.  I got them quickly thru homework and then they were free for the night.  I got ready to head into work at the church front desk for the night.  Adrian hung out at home with the boys while I had a nice evening with some friends at church.  When I got home, I helped put the boys to bed and then Adrian and I got snacks and watched a few comedies before heading to bed too.  I'm hoping tomorrow morning is easier!

Thursday (1/10) After a good night of sleep, it was a little easier to get up and moving this morning.  Adrian got AJ ready and dropped off at school before heading to work.  I got the other two boys ready and dropped off at school before heading to Harcum to teach my Silver Sneakers classes.  I had two great classes in the morning then headed out to run some errands on my lunch break.  I stupidly locked my keys in my car and was stuck in the Target parking lot waiting for AAA for over an hour.  Thankfully my co-workers covered my afternoon class so we didn't have to cancel and my car was able to be unlocked quickly and I was on my way.

I came home and did a few things around the house before I had to pick up everyone from school.  I picked up Daniel and Zak when their day was over then headed over to Central to pick up AJ after Model UN.  He had a great meeting and is really enjoying this group.  We all came home and finished homework before the boys headed upstairs for some video game time.  I got dinner ready and then got ready to teach my Zumba class at the church.  We had a super fun class with a large group and a few new people.  After class, I came home to find everyone relaxing on the couch and getting ready for bed.  Adrian and I got the boys to bed and then had snacks while watching a few comedies before we headed to bed too.

Saturday, January 5, 2019

Keeping Up With...Food (Meal Plan for Jan 6 - Jan 12)

After a nice long break, I am back to meal planning.  We had a great holiday season with lots of good food.  I cooked a bunch around Christmas, then have pretty much taken off the last week and a half.  We've been eating leftovers, frozen food or eating out.  Adrian has cooked a few meals in there as well.  He made homemade pizza so he could use his new pizza rocker and he also cooked our traditional New Years Day dinner of pork and sauerkraut with a side of pierogies this year.  Everything was really good!!
But now it is time to reign our eating in and focus on eating healthy again.  We also need some variety in our food because I am sick of eating turkey and turkey leftovers!!  I have cooked 3 turkeys since mid-November so we've pretty much consistently been eating turkey leftovers.  I'm getting back to planning a week in advance and also trying to get some really good variety in our meals.  I'll aim for one pork, one beef, one chicken, one fish/seafood, one pasta and one soup each week.  I'll also probably still have one leftover day each week to keep the leftovers in check...and give me a day off if I need it.  And finally I'm going to try to use my instant pot at least once each week if not more.

Here's what we're eating this week:
Sunday - Leftovers
Monday - Chipotle Turkey Chili
Tuesday - Taco Tuesday (I'm making beef, chicken & shrimp so we have protein leftover for lunches)
Wednesday - Garlic Shrimp Alfredo over Spaghetti Squash in my instant pot
Thursday - Squash and Kale Pasta
Friday - Buffalo Chicken Stuffed Peppers
Saturday - Instant Pot Smothered Pork Chops with Roasted Brussels Sprouts

Water Flavor - I will be trying plum this week because I have some that are on the verge of turning and I want to use them up.  I've never tried them before so I'm interested to see how it goes.

Overnight Oats - I took a break from these for a while too and I'm noticing the difference.  I'm hungry earlier in the day and I'm eating more.  I'll be using some of the flavored yogurts I have to get us started and then will be restocking all of my ingredients this week.  If I need more as the week goes on I'll probably do chocolate because it's so good and it feels like it's a dessert but it's actually a healthy breakfast!

Use it Up - We've been living this challenge for the past two weeks so we are looking forward to eating new food, ha!  I do have a butternut squash, spaghetti squash & brussels sprouts to use up so I made sure to include them in my planning this week.  I also planned the chipotle chili for before Christmas but since everything is in cans (or the freezer) I decided not to make it and will be using what I have to make it on Monday so I don't "have to" get to the grocery store on Monday.  I am planning on it though since I'm not currently subbing that day.

Lunches - I'll be eating salads all week to try to get back on track.  I have some lunch meat to add to them and I'll be over cooking on Tuesday so I have a lot of protein to add to the salads.

Friday, January 4, 2019

Keeping up with...Family (Weekly Wrap 12/28 - 1/3)

Friday (12/28) Adrian got up early and headed to work again today while the rest of us all slept in.  I finally crawled out of bed around 8:30 and the boys were hanging out playing in their room.  They stayed there and played for a while so I got to enjoy my coffee and some reality TV alone downstairs.  We passed the morning quickly by being pretty lazy and playing with some of our new toys.  Then we finally decided to get motivated to get ready and head to my brother's house for a little more time with my parents before they headed back to FL.

We got to my brother's house mid-afternoon and had a nice relaxing day hanging out.  The kids spent a lot of time on Isabelle's new ninja gym in the basement while the adults relaxed and chatted upstairs.  Adrian and Sarah joined us when they were finished work for the day.  We had an early pasta dinner and then my family said so long to my parents and headed out.  We drove thru the Alum Creek light show and had a great time looking at all of the displays there.  Then we headed home and had a family movie night watching "Nightmare Before Christmas."  It wasn't our favorite movie, no one really liked it.  But thankfully it was short and now we know that it's not for us.  After the movie, we got the boys to bed and Adrian and I played another game of Azul, and I beat him again.  Then we watched a few comedies and headed to bed.  I'm loving our lazy break!!
 
Saturday (12/29) We were all up earlier than I thought this morning, probably because we have gotten so much sleep the past few days.  We had a lazy morning of watching TV, playing video games and sipping on coffee.  The rest of the day was spent playing and getting stuff done around the house.  We are having fun being lazy but unfortunately we need to start pulling the house back together.  I also played two games of Machi Koro with the boys and I won them both!  This is note worthy because I never win this game!  I am loving the new expansion pack, it makes the game a lot more fun.

In the evening, I headed out to a girls night with some friends from church.  We had a blast drinking wine, eating junk food and hanging out in our sweats.  We had a lot of great conversations and laughs as well and I left with a happy heart for sure!  Adrian and the boys hung out at home while I was out, playing video games and Mansions of Madness, a board game I wasn't really interested in.  When I got home the wine got the best of me and I headed straight to bed!
 
Sunday (12/30) Today started later than I expected since I forgot to set my alarm last night to get up to serve at the first service of church.  Everyone slept in and we didn't start waking up until between 9:30-10:00.  Since I was feeling a little rough after last night, we decided that Adrian would head to second service but the boys and I would stay home.  We spent the afternoon getting a few things done, relaxing and recovering and watching the last week of the NFL season.  We were super happy that the Cowboys won & will keep playing.  And I was kind of happy the Jets lost so that they have a pretty good draft pick.

After the early NFL games, we packed up the car and headed about an hour west to check out Clifton Mill.  The boys saw it on Christmas Light Fight and were so excited to go see over 4 million lights!  We were surprised to get there and see a huge crowd.  We had to circle around for a while before we finally found parking and got inside.  But it was all worth it - we all had a blast.  The area was so pretty decorated in the lights and their light show was great.  We spent almost 3 hours there walking around and looking at everything before we were all cold and hungry and ready to head out.
 
 
 
 
We walked back to our car and started looking for a place to eat.  Unfortunately there isn't much right there and what was there was either super crowded or fast food. So we found a Steak & Shake about 10 minutes away so we went there.  The boys were super excited to get shakes and burgers for dinner.  Unfortunately the service was horrible and it took us over an hour to eat!  The boys did great staying calm and just playing at the table but we were all pretty frustrated.  Thankfully they gave us a huge discount so at least they made it right.  We finally got home at almost midnight and got the boys to bed.  Adrian and I were going to have some wine but we were too tired so we just headed to bed shortly after the boys.

Monday (12/31) Happy New Year's Eve!  We all slept in pretty late after being up so late last night which will probably help us to stay up tonight.  I had to sub a class at Harcum so I headed out there and then stopped at Aldi for a few quick things on the way home.  Then we got ready to host one of my oldest friends from NJ for lunch.  Kenny and Christian came by to eat pizza and buffalo dip, chat and laugh with us for the afternoon and we all had a great time!  I'm glad he contacted me when he realized he would have some time in Columbus this trip, it's always good to see Kenny!
When they left we decided to just have fun for the last day of 2018.  We played a bunch of games including Azul, Thanos Rising, Teen Titans Go deck building and Sagrada.  The evening passed super quickly an pretty soon it was time for the ball drop.  We looked back on our year with the boys and we agreed we did some pretty "epic" things and had a really great year!  We're hoping to keep it going in 2019!  The boys easily made it to midnight, even staying up after that for a snack and a show.  We finally got them to bed and came down to finish off our wine, watch a show and head to bed as well.  It was a great end to a great year & I'm looking forward to next year already!
Tuesday (1/1) Happy New Year!!  We all slept in again - most of us slept until close to 10am!  I wish everyday this year would be that late, but I know we're back to school soon so we're enjoying the lazy mornings when we can.  We started the day with some TV, coffee and omelettes for breakfast.  Then the day passed quickly with lots of relaxing, football and great food.  The boys played some foosball on their new table, some video games and did some of the homework we have been putting off the past week.  I got some work done around the house, today starts my extreme focus to finish everything on my to do list before next Sunday so I'm ready to get back to our regular schedule next week.

Adrian cooked us a delicious dinner of pork, sauerkraut and pierogies.  We ate early so we could watch OSU play in the Rose Bowl.  We enjoyed watching OSU win, even if it did get a little boring at the beginning and a little too stressful at the end.  When the game was over, we did a few more things around the house and then it was time to get the boys ready for bed.  We're trying to reign bedtime in now before it gets too out of control for next week.  When they were finally down, we watched a few comedies, finished our bottle of wine from last night and headed to bed.  It's back to work for Adrian tomorrow!  I'm so thankful for all the time he had off over these two weeks even though he is in the middle of busy season.  It has been just what our family needed!
Wednesday (1/2) It was back to work for Adrian and he left well before any of us got up this morning.  Unfortunately Zak had an early dentist appointment so he and I had to get up and moving.  I got a little peak into what's ahead in the boys' teen years when AJ & Daniel both slept until well after 10am!  Zak did OK at the dentist getting a cavity filled and sealants put on his back teeth.  He was a little squirmy and then bit his lip up when we got home but other than that he did really well.

After we got home from the dentist, the day passed quickly with the boys playing and me working around the house.  We stopped around 4 to get ready to head up to the zoo to see this year's Wild Lights display.  Unfortunately Adrian got stuck at work so it was just me and the boys.  It was a little cold but we bundled up and made it work.  We walked around for nearly 2 hours seeing so many beautiful lights, the light show, riding the train (twice) and getting a private showing of Rudolph in the 4D theater.  It was a fun night together although we were a little bummed that this is the official end of our Christmas season.  As AJ said "Christmas comes and goes so quickly each year." 
 
 
After we finished at the zoo, we headed home to meet up with Adrian.  We had a late dinner of leftovers and then the boys had a little bit of time playing video games.  Adrian and I finished up a few things around the house and then watched a few comedies before heading to bed for the night.  We both have work in the morning!

Thursday (1/3) Once again Adrian got up and out to work well before any of us woke up.  We are going to be hurting on Monday!!  I got up and moving so I could go and teach two of my classes at the Harcum Center.  Thankfully AJ and Zak were up before I left, but Daniel was still sleeping.  I had two great classes although we all had a bit of the holiday hangover and were hurting by the end of class.  When I finished up, I headed home to check in on the boys and see how they survived while I was gone.

We all had lunch together and got some of our work done around the house.  Then they headed upstairs to play Beyblade Burst and record some videos.  I used up the last of the turkey leftovers (which I had frozen) to make some soup for dinner.  The day passed quickly and soon Adrian was home for the night and I was getting ready to head out to my Zumba class at church.  We had a great class there, I enjoyed catching up with the ladies, some of whom I haven't seen for over a month.  When class was over, I was exhausted!  I headed home, got the rest of the things done around the house and then got the boys down to bed for the night.  Adrian and I watched a few comedies and then headed to bed too.  I have one more day of vacation tomorrow that I don't have to get up and I plan to enjoy it!