Sunday, February 24, 2019

Keeping Up With...Food (Meal Plan for Feb 24 - March 2)

Wow, we did great sticking to our meal plan last week, even if things didn't go quite as planned everyday.  I made everything I was supposed to make and it was all delicious!  One of the favorites for sure was the homemade beef and broccoli that I made Friday night.  Unfortunately mine turned into a "to go" order because it finished as I needed to leave for work.  But it was still delicious and we enjoyed it for lunch yesterday too.
This week is super busy, with something going on every night and I'll probably be working every day too. I did some shopping on Friday so I'm trying to use up what I bought, especially the veggies.  We are also starting to accumulate some leftovers so one of these meals may be bumped to next week in favor of an easy leftover night.  And Saturday we are supposed to go to my brother's house for dinner, but I'm planning a meal just in case because with this being cold and flu season you just never know.  If we do go to his house, I'll bump that meal to Sunday instead. 

Here's what we're eating this week:
Sunday -Buffalo Chicken Salads
Monday - Meatloaf and Scalloped Potatoes
Tuesday - Taco Tuesday!
Wednesday - Ham & Bean Soup in the instant pot
Thursday - Sausage, Potatoes & Green Beans
Friday - Almond Parmesan Tilapia and Roasted Asparagus
Saturday - Italian Vegetable Soup

Water Flavor - Orange Mint.  I had a bit of fresh mint to use up so I decided to go back to the citrus flavors, even though I bought another mango to use for the water this week.  I will cut it up and eat it for snack instead.

Overnight Oats - I will set up a double batch with peanut butter and add chocolate chips to it as I eat it.  I prefer to add them each morning instead of putting them in when I make them.  They tend to get soggy as the week goes on.

Use It Up - I'm using up veggies this week for sure.  I also need to use up the rest of the leftover ham from last week.  And I'm using the tilapia that I froze at Christmas to make dinner on Friday night.  I'm also almost done the powdered peanut butter that I have, a few more batches of overnight oats will finish it up.

Lunches - I'll be using up a few more heads of lettuce this week in salads.  I also made protein ranch to put on those salads, as well as avocados and hard boiled eggs.  That will be the beginning of the week for sure.  If I run out of lettuce, I'll probably just eat leftovers for the end of the week.

Saturday, February 23, 2019

Keeping up with...Family (Weekly Wrap 2/15 - 2/21)

Friday (2/15) Most of us got to sleep in today since it's our fist day of our four day weekend.  Unfortunately Adrian still had to get up early and head to work for the day.  And I still had to set an alarm so I could get up and head to Harcum to teach another Aqua Dance class and a resident class this morning.  The boys decided to stay home and hang while I was gone.  They had fun together and were all playing nicely when I got back.  After lunch together, the day passed quickly with them playing and me working.  I finally got the kitchen back in order after a few days of chaos.  We had a very chill day where I didn't really make the boys do anything other than get dressed and eat their three meals.  Adrian worked all day and then went to his board game club at night.  It wasn't a super exciting day around here but it was exactly what we needed after over a week of craziness!

Saturday (2/16) I got a great night of sleep but unfortunately I still had to get up and moving earlier than I wanted to.  But it was for a good cause so it's fine.  Everyone else was able to sleep in a little today.  I got dressed and headed to the church to teach my Zumba Toning class this morning.  We had a fun time and we worked hard!  After class, I ran out and headed to my old gym for a Zumba party.  The gym is closing so we had a small going away party this morning.  It was so fun to dance with some old friends and say goodbye to the place that started my health & fitness journey.
 
After two classes, I came home super sweaty and tired!  I grabbed a quick shower and then lunch.  While I was gone, the guys got started on some stuff around the house.  This weekend is my pick for what we're doing and I've declared it "finish all of our stuff" weekend.  We started today by working on our to do lists and we got a bunch of stuff done.  We worked pretty much all day while the boys played upstairs.  Adrian cooked us delicious steaks for dinner and the boys had more leftover pizza.  After dinner, we cleaned up and "finished" up the game of "Mansions of Maddness" that we started a few weeks ago for AJ's pick.  Daniel, Zak and I quickly tired of the game, it's just not our thing.  So we watched "Captain Underpants" (again) while Adrian and AJ finished the game.  "We" did win the game and AJ thinks it's awesome.  After the game was over, we got the boys to bed, had a quick snack and headed to bed too.

Sunday (2/17) Most of us got to sleep in today.  Unfortunately Zak was up at like 6:30 and woke Adrian up then too.  When we all got up, we got ready for church and headed out to second service together.  Adrian and I heard a great sermon on parenting while the kids learned about the plagues on Egypt.  After church, we headed home and had leftover pizza for lunch then got back to work on our to do lists.  Adrian and I headed out to Lowe's to get some ideas for renovating our living room this year.  We think we picked our paint colors and have some ideas about the new floor as well.

The day passed quickly and soon it was time to get ready for Martial Arts.  Tonight was the boys' test for their next belt levels, orange belts.  We got dressed and ready and headed to the church for testing.  All three boys did great and broke their boards on their first try!  After they finished, I took Daniel to his friend Patrick's house and dropped him off for a birthday party sleepover.  Then I picked up dinner for Adrian and I and headed home.  We got a bunch of stuff done tonight while the other boys played together, including planning our trip to Florida for March.  We let AJ and Zak stay up a little bit later tonight since they don't have school tomorrow.  After they went to bed, Adrian and I decided to play a quick game of "Azul" instead of watching TV.  I beat him again, this may be my new favorite game!
 
 
Monday (2/18) We slept in a little today since we were all off for President's Day.  But we also wanted to get up at a decent hour so we're ready to go to bed tonight to get back on our schedule.  We got up and started working right away to finish things up.  I started working around the house and Adrian and Zak finished up his pinewood derby car.  Then after lunch, Adrian and I ran out and had two appointments for new flooring in our living room.  We have some good options and are getting exact estimates on Wednesday.  We picked up Daniel on our way home and heard all about the awesome time he had at Patrick's last night.

We got home and picked up the other boys and we all went to Target to get new bikes for the spring!  We also finished up Daniel's birthday returns and picked up a new Nerf gun and a few new Beyblades.  Then we came home and enjoyed a delicious ham that slow cooked all day for dinner.  After dinner, Adrian and Zak headed out to his basketball game at the church.  They finally won a game!!  While they were there, I taught an awesome Zumba class at the church with a full house.  When we all got home, we got the boys thru their night routine and got them down for the night.  Adrian and I finished up a few things around the house, watched a little TV and headed to bed too.  Back to our regular schedule tomorrow.

Tuesday (2/19) We all got up and moving on time but we were all struggling.  I guess we didn't get enough rest over the long weekend.  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 for my 3 classes.  I had a fun time teaching and also had time to run to Aldi for some groceries between classes.  After all three classes, I headed in to school to review sight words with some of the kids in Zak's class.  They are all doing really well, some of the passed a bunch of words today!

After school, we came home and hung out for a bit together.  Then we got thru homework and dinner fairly quickly since Zak had Scouts tonight.  I took him to his meeting while Adrian stayed home with the other boys.  Zak and I had fun learning about tall tales, including writing our own mad-lib style story that he thought was hilarious.  When we got home, we finished up our nighttime routine and got the boys down to bed.  Then Adrian and I finished up a few things, got our snacks and sat down to watch a few comedies.  We went to bed early hoping for a snow day tomorrow.
Wednesday (2/20) We got our wish and got a snow day today!!  Unfortunately Zak and AJ were up at like 5:30am so our day still started early.  Adrian got up with them and let me sleep since I wasn't feeling well and didn't sleep well.  Daniel and I took full advantage of the snow day and slept until after 8:30am.  Then we had a very relaxing day at home.  Adrian worked at home until lunch time to make sure the roads were cleared & traffic was less.  I ran to Giant Eagle for a few things and then worked around the house for most of the day.  The boys played Nerf gun battles, video games and recorded a few videos for YouTube.  I also had two different companies come to give us estimates for replacing our living room carpet.  It was a busy day and I got a lot done, but I also got to relax a little.  The day passed quickly and before long it was time for our nighttime routine.  Adrian was at Bible study so I got the boys down to bed and got the house cleaned up.  When he got home, we had snacks and watched the "Survivor" season premier together.  It was an unexpected yet very welcome day off!! 

Thursday (2/21) After another rough night of sleep, I had a hard time getting up and getting moving but everyone else was thankfully well rested.  Adrian and AJ headed out to school and work while I got the other boys ready and dropped off to school.  Then I headed in to Harcum to teach my three classes.  Thankfully my adrenaline kicked in and all three classes went great.  I ran a few errands on my way home, then came home and relaxed a little before walking up to pick up the boys from school.  Then I had to drive over to Central to pick up AJ from Model UN.  I dropped everyone off at home and then headed back to West for a parent teacher conference with Daniel's teacher.  He is doing great, right where he should be.

After all of that running around, I was super thankful to come home to my dinner cooked in the slow cooker!  I boiled some spaghetti for the boys & for Adrian and I to have with our Thai Chicken and we all ate a quick dinner before I headed back out to the church to teach my Zumba class there.  Adrian stopped at Lowe's on his way home from work to pick up painting supplies for our weekend project of giving our living room a much needed facelift.  When we all finally got home, we were exhausted after the long day!  We got the boys to bed and Adrian and I did a few things to straighten up, watched a few comedies and headed to bed too!

Monday, February 18, 2019

Keeping Up With...Food (Meal Plan for Feb 17 - Feb 23)

I accidentally took last week off from meal planning.  Part of it was because I was so busy with birthdays, parties, Valentine's Day, etc that I didn't have time to do the blog post, make a grocery list or go to the store.  The other part of it was because I honestly had so much food leftover and in the freezer that I just decided to use what I have and make easy meals this past week.  We mostly had leftovers but also took out chicken to make a lightened up chicken parmesan, grilled steak over the weekend and decided to make ham this week.
Last week was all about leftovers and eating the vegetables that we have before they go bad.  It was challenging but an easy way to get back to eating healthy since there were so many veggies to use up.  This week we are continuing to eat healthy and add some variety to our meals.  We are committed to eating well for the next six weeks, then will take a week off for spring break.  This system seems to be working for us so we'll stick with it for now.  I will have to work hard and do some planning to keep up with our menu this week since there are no leftovers to fall back on.  However, we do have stuff for salads, sandwiches and pasta so worse case scenario we'll throw those together instead of the planned meal.

Here's what we're eating this week:
Sunday - Take out (Bibibop for me, Chipotle for Adrian, pizza for the boys)
Monday - Spiral Ham with Roasted Potatoes and Brussels Sprouts
Tuesday - Cauliflower Soup and Salads
Wednesday - Thai Peanut Chicken over Pasta
Thursday - Ham Casserole (to use up some of the leftover ham from Monday)
Friday - Instant Pot Beef & Broccoli over Rice
Saturday - Shrimp Fried Rice with Wonton Soup

Water Flavor - Mango.  I got one on sale this week so I decided to put my citrus water on hold and have a week with some sweet water.

Overnight Oats - I took a week off from these too because I didn't have time to set any up.  I noticed I was hungry earlier each day and often more hungry than usual.  I'm back this week with some flavored yogurt that I had in the fridge.

Use It Up - I don't really have much to use up this week since that was pretty much the whole week last week.  I am using up some frozen veggies in the meals this week including corn, peas and string beans.

Lunches - Again, we have no leftovers and any that we create Adrian will probably have to take this week.  So I'm planning on salads everyday this week.  I have hard boiled eggs and turkey ready to go to add to the salads.  I may make some protein ranch later in the week as well.

Sunday, February 17, 2019

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

Friday (2/8) Happy 7th Birthday Zak!!  Unfortunately, we were all exhausted from the week and had a full day so it wasn't a super huge celebration, but I think he still had fun.  Adrian got AJ up and ready and they left for work and school.  Zak slept in, I had to wake him up which almost never happens.  I got them ready and dropped off to school on time for Daniel's last day of safety patrol for now.  Then I headed to Harcum to teach my first ever Aqua Dance class.  It went really well but I underestimated how hard it is!  I was drenched in sweat and exhausted after the class!!  I'm excited to do it again next week, without all of the nerves.

After class, I came home and cleaned up then headed into school to meet Zak in the cafeteria for lunch.  Every year I meet the boys for lunch for their birthday.  We had a fun time chatting and eating lunch together.  Well, he ate lunch, I had a snack since his lunch is 11am!  My favorite part was when I walked in and one of the kids in his class said "Mrs Jones!  Did you know today is Zak's birthday??" Ha!  It was so cute!  I dropped off rice krispy treats for his class snack while I was there and then headed home when lunch was over.  Zak was so excited for his day of celebrating in school!
I got home and got started on the stuff around the house that needed to get done.  While I was working, I was also waiting on the repair man to replace the springs in our garage door.  He was quickly in and out and I'm glad we decided to call a professional for that job.  Soon after he left, it was time to pick everyone up from school.  We all got home and had some free time before it was time for Jets pizza for dinner to celebrate Zak!  We all enjoyed pizza and cheesy bread then Adrian, Zak & I headed to the church for Zak's first basketball game.  It was so cute watching them play but unfortunately they lost on a buzzer beater (that didn't technically beat the buzzer) so Zak was pretty upset.  But he rallied quickly when he was award the teamwork award for his team!
After the game, we came home and the celebration continued.  Zak opened his presents and then we enjoyed Oreo ice cream cake.  He was most excited about his Roblox gift card, Minecraft towel and new Beyblades.  He opened some of them and played with them tonight.  We let them stay up a little late, but it was also obvious that everyone was exhausted and we still had a busy weekend ahead.  So we finally got them settled down to watch a show of Zak's choice and then got them to bed.  Adrian and I watched a comedy and then we also headed to bed since it's been a long and exhausting day, and week before that.  We need to rest up for the rest of the parties!!

Saturday (2/9) Today is Daniel's birthday party & he woke up super excited for the party!!  We were all up earlier than we wanted to be on a Saturday but it was for a good cause.  Adrian and the boys started cleaning up and setting up for Daniel's party while I got ready to head to the church to teach my Zumba class.  I had a fun time teaching Zumba Toning to a great group!!  Then I ran to Meijer to pick up Daniel's cake and headed home to get ready for the party.

We had two friends that needed to be dropped off early so Daniel was super excited that his party would be even longer.  They got here around 11:30 and all 5 boys immediately stopped helping and started playing.  That was fine because Adrian and I only had a few small things to do to finish up.  Then all of the other guests arrived around 12:30.  We had 20 kids here and they all had a blast!  They played in the video game trucks, played video games in the loft, had a Nerf gun war all over the house, enjoyed tons of snacks and cake and then played in the yard for the last 30 minutes or so of the party.  Daniel got a ton of awesome gifts and pretty much had everything he wanted for his birthday party!  I'm glad they were able to go outside to play, he really wanted to do that but you typically can't in February.
 
 
 
 
Most of the kids got picked up by 3:30, but 3 of our good friends stayed about an hour longer and Daniel had one friend, Ethan sleep over.  After the 3 boys got picked up, our 3 and Ethan headed upstairs to make YouTube videos and play together.  They did an awesome job of playing together pretty much all night.  Adrian and I cleaned up some of the chaos from the party and then got baked ziti ready for dinner.  After dinner and getting the house under control, we played our second month of Pandemic Legacy.  We were excited for some new rule changes, some good and some not so great.  However even with one disease that we can't cure, we were still able to beat the month and do it fairly quickly.  We are really enjoying this year long game together!

After we finished our game, we started the process to get the four boys to bed.  They all wanted to stay up until 11pm so since they were all getting along great, we agreed, even though we were exhausted and would have liked to go to bed earlier.  We sat down to enjoy some wine and watch a few comedies until 11 when we finally got everyone into bed.  We watched one more comedy to give them time to fall asleep and then headed to bed too.  Daniel and Ethan were still up, but Daniel was beyond exhausted.  I told them it was time to close their eyes and go to sleep and they finally did.  I was so thankful to crawl into bed after an exhausting day!! 

Sunday (2/10) Happy 10th Birthday Daniel!!  Our day started earlier than it should have since we were all up late last night, but the boys were excited to get back to playing.  They all got up and started playing while Adrian and I pulled breakfast together for everyone.  Ethan's dad came and picked him up after they had been up for about 2 hours because we had to start getting ready for the rest of our day.  Daniel enjoyed his first sleep over but he was visibly exhausted after not getting enough sleep.
We all quickly got ready and then headed to the movie theater to see "The Lego Movie 2."  It was "awesome!"  We all really enjoyed it.  It was funny and continued the story from where the first one left off.  It didn't have a huge reveal like the first one did, but that would be hard to do again anyway.  We all enjoyed it although some of us struggled to stay asleep in the super comfy recliner chairs.  When it was over, we headed home to get ready for our celebration with Carl and his family for both Daniel & Isabelle's birthdays.  Before they got here, we were able to video chat with my parents & Jon and his family for the boys' birthdays which was really fun for all of us.
When Carl, Sarah, Isabelle and Vinnie got here, the kids headed upstairs to play and the adults chatted and caught up.  We made homemade pizza for dinner and then enjoyed delicious cake for dessert.  Daniel and Isabelle opened their gifts and were super excited about all of them.  There was  a little more fighting than normal because our boys were tired and irritable but we survived the night.  It had snowed all day so Carl left a little earlier to make sure they got home safely and in time for bedtime.
After they left, we all collapsed in exhausted heaps in our destroyed house.  We took a few minutes to relax and then pulled a few things together.  I made cupcakes for Daniel to take to school tomorrow while Adrian did some of the dishes and got the boys ready for bed.  They settled down to watch a show and Daniel was asleep on the couch within 5 minutes of starting the show.  We put the other boys to bed & let him sleep on the couch until he woke up.  Adrian and I finished up a few more things, watched a comedy and then headed to bed hoping for a snow day, or at least a 2 hour delay, in the morning.
Monday (2/11) Well we did not get our wish for the two hour delay this morning and had to get up and moving way earlier than we wanted to.  Adrian got AJ up and ready and out to school before heading to work for the day.  I got the other two boys up and ready before we all headed into school for the day since I was subbing.  We brought cupcakes for Daniel to celebrate his birthday with his class today.  I started my day with a great group of 4th graders and ended it with a great group of 1st graders.  In between I was able to have lunch with Daniel for our annual birthday celebration lunch in the cafeteria.
After school, we all headed home together to get ready for the evening activities.  We quickly got thru homework and dinner and even started working on our Valentine's cards.  After dinner we all headed to the church for various activities.  Zak had another basketball game, which unfortunately they lost by like 20 points.  I had Zumba class and had a great time dancing with a bunch of fun ladies while Daniel had fun hanging with their kids in childcare.  AJ was picked up from church by his friend to go to his Scout meeting where he learned about camping and fire making.  Unfortunately Adrian got called in to work in the middle of all of this so he was home while I was dealing with making sure everyone was where they needed to be.  But it all worked out and we all did what we were supposed to and got home.  When we all got home, we got the boys thru their night routine and then down to bed.  Then we cleaned up the rest of the dinner mess, watched a few comedies and headed to bed too.

Tuesday (2/12) After a good night of sleep, we all felt a little better getting up this morning.  Adrian got AJ up and ready and dropped him off at school on his way to work.  I hung out with Zak who was also up super early for a bit before we started getting ready for the day.  Unfortunately when Daniel got up, he wasn't feeling well and was not able to go to school today.  I called Harcum and cancelled my classes for the day to stay home with him.  I got Zak ready and dropped off at school, then came home to hang with Daniel all day.  He pretty much rested on the couch all day watching TV and eating a lot.  He was finally feeling better soon after lunch.  I think he just needed a day to catch his breath after all of the birthday excitement.

While he was resting, I was super productive around the house.  I got caught up on a bunch of things that I didn't do this weekend, including 4 loads of laundry done and put away.  I never realized how much clothes we have!  I also did some cleaning, some organizing and some planning for our upcoming weekend of catching up on everything.  The day passed quickly and before we knew it, it was time for the other boys to come home.  We again quickly got thru homework since I had to go out tonight.  And Zak finished writing his Valentine's cards so we don't have to worry about that tomorrow.  I cooked dinner and then left to head to the church to work the front desk for a few hours.  It was a busy night at the church and I got to see a lot of friends.  While I was there, Adrian got the boys thru dinner and then headed to Central for a Model UN meeting for AJ's upcoming trip.  When we all got home, we finished up a little clean up, got the boys to bed, watched a few comedies and headed to bed.  This week feels long and it's only Tuesday!

Wednesday (2/13) We were back to our regular schedule today, thankfully.  Adrian got up with AJ and they got ready and headed out to work and school.  AJ was super excited to go to school today because he finally had his field trip to the skating rink that he earned from last quarter.  Then I got the other boys ready and we headed in to school since I was subbing for the whole day.  I was the gym teacher all day, which was way harder than I thought it would be.  I was lucky though that Daniel was in my last class so we got to hang together for a little bit.  After school, we went and picked up pizza and cheesy bread from Marco's in boxes designed by Daniel and Zak.  We really don't need any more pizza in this house, but we could not pass up the fundraiser and love their boxes that they created!
 
After we all finally got home, we took a short break and then tackled our activities for the night.  AJ told me all about how much fun he had skating all day and eating nachos & a pretzel for lunch at the rink.  Daniel had some make up work to do since he missed yesterday and AJ had to finish up his weekly homework.  Daniel and Zak also had to finish their Valentine's Day cards and make their boxes.  It took us a while to get thru everything but we managed to do it.  Thankfully dinner was taken care of with pizza and everyone was excited to do their Valentine's Day stuff.  After we finished all of that, the boys headed upstairs to play while I got the snacks ready for the boys' parties tomorrow and cleaned up a little bit.  Adrian headed to his Bible study after work so we were on our own for the night.  He got home just as we were starting our bedtime routine.  When we got the boys settled, we cleaned up a little more, got our snacks together and watched "The Goldburgs" before heading to bed because we were both exhausted from the day.

Thursday (2/14) Happy Valentine's Day!!  We don't really have anything special planned, it's a normal busy Thursday for us.  Adrian got AJ up and ready and out to school and work for the day.  I got Daniel and Zak ready and dropped off at school as early as I could so I could get to Harcum to teach my classes for the day.  I taught the first two and then headed into school to volunteer at Daniel's class party.  We had fun playing games, exchanging cards, enjoying snacks and hanging with friends.  The sugar kicked in just in time for them to head to lunch and me to head back to Harcum to teach my third class of the day.
After class, I came back home and relaxed for a few minutes before everyone got home for the night.  The boys were still hopped up on sugar when they got home and were also super excited about a long weekend and no homework for any of them.  They immediately started playing video games and having fun.  I got them thru dinner and then Adrian and I got ready to head to my special Valentine's Day Zumba class.  I offered a buy one, get one free so there were lots of extra people there tonight.  We had so much fun dancing together, laughing all thru class.  We were all a sweaty mess after but had huge smiles on our faces!

When we got home, we hung out with the boys for a little bit and Adrian heard about their parties at school.  Then we got them to bed, all in the same room since they are having a sleepover all weekend, and came down to do a little bit of clean up before deciding we were too tired to deal with it.  We made our snacks, including leftover cupcakes from Zak's class, watched two comedies and headed to bed for the night.  This week has felt incredibly long and I am so happy we have a four day weekend to recover!

Friday, February 8, 2019

Keeping up with...Family (Weekly Wrap 2/1 - 2/7)

Friday (2/1) We woke up early to find out that 4-6 inches of snow had fallen overnight and with the extreme cold temperatures the roads were a mess!  So we got another snow day and the boys were thrilled.  Adrian attempted to go into work but after sliding around our development for a bit, he turned around and came home to work from home.  I decided to make everyone chocolate chip pancakes for breakfast.  Then the boys settled in to playing video games and making videos for the day while I did a bunch of work around  the house.  The day passed quickly and I was very productive.
After a quick dinner, Adrian and I got ready to head out for a date night.  We are finally seeing "Hamilton!"  We have been looking forward to this for months and it did not disappoint!  The show was amazing, honestly one of the best shows I've ever seen.  I left feeling completely drained, like I had just experienced all of the emotions myself.  I laughed, I cried, I even learned a little about the history of the United States.  It was a great night out and I can't wait to see the play again the next time it tours here!!
Saturday (2/2) After a very late night last night, it was very hard to get up and moving this morning.  But I managed to do it and get to the church on time for my Zumba class.  I had a great morning with the class and then headed to my women's Bible study for a fun breakfast and discussion.  I was very thankful I motivated myself off the couch because it was worth it!  Adrian decided to hang at home while I was gone, getting a few things done around the house and getting the boys ready for the day.

When I got home, we had a quick lunch and then got ready to head to Magic Mountain for Zak's 7th birthday party!  He had about 15 friends come to the party and they all had a great time.  We enjoyed popcorn, pizza, cake, laser tag, the play area and video games.  Most of the parents had to drag the children out of the place when they had to leave.  It was a great day and Zak said it was an epic birthday party.  He got a lot of great gifts and can't wait to play with them.  However when we finally got home, we were exhausted so we just left everything in the kitchen and got the boys down to bed before heading to bed soon after ourselves.
 
Sunday (2/3) Happy Superbowl Sunday!!  Unfortunately both Adrian and I woke up and didn't feel well.  We are both struggling with sinus issues, and I also hurt my knee last week and it is really bothering me today.  We decided to skip church this morning so we didn't spread our germs, plus we could get some extra rest to kick this sooner.  We spent the day resting and trying to get stuff done around the house.  We had to get all of the stuff from yesterday put away and under control as well as the normal weekly stuff that we have to do.  The day passed quickly while we were working and the boys were playing and helping us a little.  Soon it was time for the game.  Adrian and I watched while the boys played upstairs since they had no interest in watching.  I can't say I blame them, the game was pretty boring and the commercials were underwhelming.  We stayed up too late watching it and were disappointed when the Patriots won, as they always seem to do.

Monday (2/4) After a late night and a rough night of sleep the alarm felt very early this morning.  Plus we had off for so long I'm not used to going to school.  But I got up and moving on time.  Adrian still wasn't feeling well so he stayed home from work to recover and I took AJ to school in the morning.  Then I came home and got Daniel and Zak ready and dropped off too.  After everyone was at school and Adrian was back asleep, I headed out to run a bunch of errands since I wasn't subbing today.  I got everything done, including a much needed trip to Costco.  When I got home, Adrian was feeling a little better thankfully, but he continued to rest all afternoon to make sure he is ready for the rest of the week.

I unloaded my car and put everything away and then got to work around the house.  I got a bunch of stuff done before everyone got home from school.  They all had good days back to school but I could tell they were all tired.  Adrian helped get thru dinner and homework and then we split up for our night activities.  I headed to the church with Daniel and Zak for my Zumba class.  I had a great time dancing with everyone!  Adrian took AJ to his weekly Scout meeting where he continued to work on his advancement.  When we all got home, the boys had snacks, watched a show and then headed to bed.  Adrian and I were tired but we also had snacks and watched a few comedies before heading to bed.  This is going to be our first full week in a long time and I know we're going to need to rest up!

Tuesday (2/5) Finally we were back to our normal routine!!  It was still rough getting up this morning, but we managed to do it.  Adrian got AJ ready and dropped him off at school on his way to work.  Then I got the other two boys up and ready to head to school for the day.  I dropped them off and then headed to Harcum to teach my three classes.  We had so much fun today, lots of laughter!!  I am so blessed to teach these students each week!!

After I taught my classes, I jumped in the pool to practice a few choreos for my first Aqua Dance class on Friday.  I was exhausted after all of that and ran a quick errand before heading home to get the boys.  We all relaxed for a bit and then everyone had a bunch of homework so we got started on that.  Zak asked me to play the Teen Titans deck building game with him so we played that while the other boys finished up their homework.  He was having some stomach issues during the game so we decided to skip Scouts just to make sure he was OK.  It was nice to have a rare night off during the week.  After tacos for dinner, we got a few things done, got the boys to bed, watched a few comedies and headed to bed early for the night.

Wednesday (2/6) It was a little easier to get up today after a great night of sleep last night.  Adrian got AJ ready and dropped him at school on his way to work for the day.  Zak was up super early again so he and I hung out for a bit before he and Daniel got ready for school and I dropped them off.  Since there weren't any sub opportunities today, I headed home to work around the house.  I got a bunch done and also rested a bit since I'm fighting off a head cold and also hurt my knee.  A big part of my day was organizing everything for the upcoming birthdays and parties.

The day passed too quickly and before I knew it, it was time to pick everyone up.  Thankfully the rain stopped for a bit so I was able to walk to pick up the boys from school.  Then we came home, got settled and jumped in the car to pick up AJ who had his Model UN meeting today since conferences are tomorrow.  After we picked him up, we all headed to Menchie's to celebrate National Frozen Yogurt Day with BOGO free yogurts.  The boys were super excited to get a treat in the middle of the week!  And we got coupons to go back and get another round of BOGO free yogurts before the end of the month so we will be going back again soon.
 
When we got home, AJ and Zak went upstairs to play and Daniel and I played Flipships.  It was my first time and it was super fun - and we won!!  After the game, we all had pasta for dinner and then finished up homework for the night.  The boys played for a little while longer while I cleaned up from dinner.  Then we went thru their normal night routine of snack, show and bed.  Since Adrian was at Bible study, I was on my own for the night.  Soon after I got everyone down for the night, he got home.  We finished wrapping gifts for the upcoming birthdays, watched two comedies and then headed to bed as well.  The next few days are super busy!!

Thursday (2/7) We all got up and moving this morning, but we are dragging!  We are feeling the effects of this being our first full week of school and activities in weeks.  Adrian got AJ ready for school and dropped him off and then headed into work.  I got the other boys ready for school and dropped off before heading to the Harcum Center for my three classes.  I am struggling with a knee injury and some sinus congestion so I struggled thru classes but thankfully everyone brought their energy and we still had three really great classes!  I ran some errands in between two of the classes and then came home to rest after the third class to hopefully feel better for the night.

I got about an hour to relax before the boys all got home from school.  I got them settled and then headed to AJ's school for parent teacher conferences.  I got to meet with all 6 of his teachers and they all had nothing but great things to say about him.  I heard from everyone how he is a hard worker, very smart, helpful to other students and a dream to have in class.  I could not be more proud of him and how hard he is working this year!!  I feel like he is finally finding his footing in middle school and can't wait to see how the rest of this year goes!  I rewarded him for his hard work with the two books he asked for from the school book fair.
I was at the school for longer than I hoped and got home with just enough time to eat, change and rush out to Zumba at the church.  I am glad I planned leftovers for dinner and was easily able to hand everything over to Adrian to handle while I was gone.  He got the boys thru dinner and homework while I taught to my biggest class to date - 21 Zumba students!  We had a hot, sweaty, fun time together but I overdid it and my knee was killing me after class.  My adrenaline kicked in and got me thru the class but after I was not in good shape.  I got home, helped get the boys to bed, made rice krispy treats for Zak's class party tomorrow and sat down to rest.  Adrian and I watched "The Big Bang Theory" and then we headed to bed for the night.  This is the longest week!!