Keeping up with...Family (Weekly Wrap 8/23 - 8/29)

Friday (8/23) We made it thru the first full week of school!!  Whew!  We got up and moving pretty quickly this morning and Adrian headed out to work early after helping get the boys ready for the day.  I got AJ and Daniel on the bus and then headed in and got Zak ready for his day.  I got Zak on the bus and then took Nick on a quick walk.  Then I spent the whole day working around the house getting stuff done.  My goal is to get as much done around the house as possible whenever I'm not subbing.  The day passed quickly as I worked and before long the boys were all home.  Their buses were all early and I actually missed getting them all off the bus, thankfully they all know what to do!!

When everyone was home, we went thru their book bags and made a plan for the weekend.  Then they played video games for a while and I continued to work around the house.  Daniel got ready to head to a sleepover at his friend's house for the night while the rest of us got ready for family movie night.  After I dropped Daniel off, the rest of us had dinner together and then a little video game time for the boys while Adrian and I cleaned up.  Then we watched AJ's movie pick "Pokemon: I Choose You."  The boys loved it but Adrian and I thought it was a little boring.  When the movie was over, we got the boys to bed and then got our snacks for the night.  We watched an episode of "The Good Doctor" and then headed to bed, it's been a long week!

Saturday (8/24) Today started earlier than I wanted it to since I had to teach this morning.  I got up and got ready and headed out to the church to teach my Zumba Toning class.  We had a great time, but were all exhausted after class.  After class, I headed to Kroger to grab a few things then picked up Daniel from his sleepover.  He had a great time and the boys are hoping to get together once a month to see each other.  When we got home, I got a few things done around the house and then got ready to head back to the church to volunteer at the back to school bash.  I had a table for my Zumba classes and AJ also volunteered to recruit Scouts for his troop & Zak's pack.

Adrian brought the other boys up to the church to play at the bash and everyone had a great time.  Daniel & Zak enjoyed the bounce houses, games and Italian ice.  Adrian and I got tacos from one of the food trucks and had dinner together at my table.  I didn't get a lot of traffic at my Zumba table, but I talked to a few people who may check out the class.  The weather was beautiful and we had a really nice family night!  When we got home, we were all worn out so we got the boys thru their night routine and down to bed.  Then Adrian and I watched two episodes of "The Good Doctor" before heading to bed.  We only have two episodes left in the season, it's such a great show!

Sunday (8/25) We slept in a little this morning and then got up and moving quickly to go to our church's grand opening for our new expansion.  The building looks amazing and I'm so excited to see how the space is used in the future!  Adrian and I heard a great sermon in the first service and then I headed back to volunteer in childcare for second service.  After church, we came home and had lunch and then got to work on a few things we needed to do around the house.  The day passed quickly with work and relaxing.  The boys went to Martial Arts in the evening and had a great training session.  Then we had pasta for dinner before finishing up a few things and heading into our night routine.  We got the boys down for the night and Adrian and I played a quick, fun game of Gizmos and then watched the last two episodes of "The Good Doctor."  Such a great ending, such an amazing season!

Monday (8/26) Today was a crazy, emotional day that started with very little sleep last night.  Late last night, Nick bit my arm pretty bad.  While I'm OK, we no longer trust him here with us and the kids.  We told the boys before school that we would be surrendering him and they begged us to see if there was anything else we could do.  Adrian took the day off and we called a few people and realized the best decision was to part ways with Nick.  We waited until the boys got home from school and let them say goodbye before Adrian took him to surrender him.  We are all super sad and wish there was something else we could have done.  The boys want to find a new dog right away but Adrian and I are going to take our time and make sure we're not in this situation again.

While all of that was going on, life was still happening too.  Zak had a horrible stomach ache and diarrhea so he stayed home from school for the day.  AJ and Daniel went to school and said they had good days but were very distracted.  I had some stuff to get done around the house during the day and then I had to get ready for my free Zumba class tonight.  I had a great turnout and had over 40 people come to dance with me tonight!!  It was so much fun and a much needed distraction.  While I was there, Adrian took AJ to Scouts where he finished up a few things to earn a few merit badges at their upcoming Court of Honor.  The house seemed quiet all night without a dog here, so Adrian and I decided to start looking for a puppy soon.

Tuesday (8/27) We got a good night of sleep and are all trying to put yesterday behind us and move on with our week.  We got up and moving on time this morning.  Adrian helped me get AJ and Daniel ready and then he headed into work for the day.  I got them on the bus, then got Zak and myself ready for the day.  I got him on the bus and then I got ready to head into Harcum for two Silver Sneakers classes there.  It is my last week there so I had to say some goodbyes today, it's getting hard to leave but I know it's the right choice.  After class there, I headed over to the YMCA to teach my Silver Sneakers class there.  I was worn out after all three classes, but I ran to Aldi to grab a few things for the week before heading home.

I got everyone off the bus and thru their homework pretty quickly.  Then I gave them some free time while I did a few things around the house.  We had tacos for dinner before I headed out to register Zak for Scouts for the year.  He will be a Wolf this year and I will be his leader, along with two other parents.  When I got home, Adrian and I got the boys thru their night routine and down to bed for the night.  Then we watched an episode of "This is Us," the last show we need to catch up on this summer before the new shows start next month, before heading to bed for the night.

Wednesday (8/28) We're doing a little better getting back to normal life but we are all missing having a dog in the house.  We all got up and moving on time today and Adrian left for work after helping me get AJ and Daniel ready.  I put them on the bus and then got Zak ready for his day and put him on the bus.  Since I still haven't gotten any subbing assignments, I spent the whole day working around the house.  I got a ton of stuff done and the day passed super quickly!  Before long it was time to get everyone off the bus and start our afternoon routine.  We finished homework and I got dinner ready for everyone.  After a quick dinner, Zak and I headed to his soccer practice.  He did a great job of listening to his coach and hustling all practice!  When we got home, the boys had a little bit of free time to play video games before starting their night routine.  Adrian got home from Bible study in time to help get everyone down in bed for the night.  Then he and I finished cleaning up the kitchen, watched another episode of "This is Us" and headed to bed.

Thursday (8/28) We are slowly adjusting to not having a dog in the house, although we are all still wishing we had one.  We got another great night of sleep and all got up and moving on time this morning.  Adrian helped me get AJ and Daniel ready and then headed off to work.  After I got them on the bus, I got Zak and myself ready for our day.  I put Zak on the bus and then headed into Harcum to teach my last class there.  It was a very emotional morning but we had two great classes and some cake in between.  My students made me feel very loved with gifts, hugs, cards and treats.  I'm going to miss teaching there but I know this is the right choice at this time.

After my classes, I headed home and got a bunch of stuff done around the house before the boys got home from school.  After I got everyone off the bus, we figured out what we needed to do for homework and then AJ's friend Landon came over to hang out for a while.  They had a great time playing board games and video games together and also enjoyed some pizza for dinner.  I'm so proud of AJ for making this new friend & arranging this "hang" on his own!  While they were hanging out, I headed to the church to teach my Zumba class.  I was a little off tonight, as were most of my students, but we still had a great time in class!  After class, I came home and was really worn out.  We got the boys thru their night routine and then down to bed for the night.  Then Adrian and I spent about 20 minutes cleaning up as much as we could before settling down to watch another episode of "This is Us" before heading to bed.  This week has been exhausting!!

Keeping Up With...Food (Meal Plan for Aug 25 - Aug 31)

Last week flew by, it's exhausting to get back on a schedule!  It was the boys' first full week of school and Zak also started soccer.  I did a pretty good job of sticking to my meal plan until Saturday when Adrian and I decided we'd rather buy dinner from the food trucks at the event we went to instead of cooking.  We enjoyed delicious street tacos for dinner that night!  Other than that, I made everything that I planned on making and it was all delicious.  I'm doing a pretty good job of keeping up with the veggies coming in from the CSA and this week I should use up pretty everything I have since most of my delivery was fruit.  We got yellow watermelon this week & it is so sweet & yummy!!  I'm hoping to get another one next week too.

This week is another busy one with events every night this week again.  I'm not really subbing in the schools yet so I do have some time during the day to do some food prep which is nice.  But I'm hoping that will pick up very soon because I want to be working and subbing.  Most of my meals this week were planned around the veggies I already have, specifically a head of cabbage and a bunch of peppers.  I also bumped our breakfast plan to this Saturday.  We'll be at a birthday party during the day so I'm not sure what time we'll get home.  This will be a very easy meal to have between the party and family movie night that day.

Here's what we're eating this week:
Sunday - Pasta
Monday - Thai Chicken Salad and Corn on the Cob
Tuesday - Tacos for the boys and Shrimp Fajitas for the adults
Wednesday - Unstuffed Cabbage (much easier than stuffed cabbage!)
Thursday - Stuffed Pepper Casserole (much easier than stuffed peppers!)
Friday - Kielbasa & Brussels Sprouts and Green Beans
Saturday - Breakfast for dinner, including scrambled eggs, sausage & skillet potatoes

Water Flavor - Apple.  I'm still working my way thru the bad bag of apples that we got.

Overnight Oats - I got two berry & chai flavored yogurts very cheap last week so I'll be using them to make oats for this week.  I also cleaned out the pantry last week and found protein powder so I'm going to make protein shakes a few days this week to use that up.  I may not eat all of the oats this week.

Use It Up - As I already mentioned, cabbage & peppers for sure.  I'm also going to use up the protein powder I found in the pantry for breakfasts.  And I'm using meat that I have in the deep freeze for all of our meals this week so I don't have to buy any.

Lunches - I'm making roasted eggplant salad with eggplant and tomatoes from the CSA.  I'll also throw in chick peas, fresh mozzarella, avocado and balsamic vinaigrette.  It's delicious and healthy and super easy to eat on the go!

Keeping up with...Family (Weekly Wrap 8/16 - 8/22)

Friday (8/16) We got up and moving again on time early this morning, but we are feeling the effects of the early mornings for sure.  Adrian helped get AJ and Daniel up and ready for school and then headed to work.  I waited for the bus with them and then came in to get Zak and myself ready for the day.  I put Zak on the bus and then headed out to pick up my friend for our girls day.  We headed to Easton to shop and eat together for the day!!  We went to Trader Joe's, Costco & Kroger to restock on some essentials that we haven't been able to get since our boys have been home all summer.  Then we headed to Cooper's Hawk for a wine tasting and lunch.  We had a great day of shopping, eating, chatting and laughing!!

We got home soon after all of the kids were home and then I started my least favorite part, unloading everything and putting it away.  Thankfully the boys helped me unload the car and bring everything into the house.  When everything was in and the perishables were put away, I was exhausted!  I did only what I had to do for the rest of the night.  The boys had some video game time while I rested on the couch and did a few things on the computer.  Then we all had dinner, did some clean up and got ready for family movie night.  We are starting this over this year with each Friday being family movie night.  This week was Zak's pick and he picked "Hotel for Dogs."  It was super cute, way better than I thought it would be.  When it was over, I put the boys to bed, watched this week's "Jersey Shore" and then headed to bed too.  Adrian was out all night at a CABS meeting where he had a great time playing board games with friends.  He got home well after the rest of us were sound asleep!

Saturday (8/17) I was the first one up today, only because my alarm went off and I had to get up.  I got ready and headed out to teach my Zumba Toning class at the church.  Unfortunately, the air conditioning was off and it was super HOT in class.  We made it thru, but just barely.  While I was at class, Adrian got the boys up and started on our day.  The spent most of the morning cleaning up the loft and their bedrooms upstairs because we have largely ignored these areas this summer.  The boys did a great job and worked really hard getting everything cleaned up!

After showers and lunch, the boys had a play date with friends.  I dropped AJ off at his friend Braven's house and picked up Braven's brother Gabriel to come over here to play with Daniel and Zak.  All of the boys had a great time playing video games together for the afternoon!  Nick loved sitting upstairs with the boys, he would not leave their side since there was a new person in the house.  After a few hours, the other boys' mom dropped AJ off and picked Gabriel up.  We're thankful to have friends that we're able to do this kind of thing with!

After the fun filled afternoon, the boys took some time to play video games while Adrian and I got a few things done around the house.  Then we all had dinner and got packed up and ready to head to the drive in for the last time this season.  We went to see "Angry Birds 2" tonight.  It was just OK, although there were a lot of funny parts.  The boys liked it, but said the first one was better.  We had a fun family night though and everyone enjoyed eating the yummy food, including the popcorn we bought there for the first time and it was delicious!  When we got home, it was super late so we put the boys to bed, caught our breath and then headed up to bed too.  Unfortunately our bedtime was delayed because Zak had thrown up in his bed so we needed to get him and the bed all cleaned up.  I'm sure he just ate too much junk today, but we'll see how he feels in the morning.

Sunday (8/18) After a bit of a rough night, we all got to sleep in a little this morning.  We had a slow morning at home and then got ready and headed out to second service for church.  We all heard a great message this morning and then came home to have lunch together.  Then Daniel's friend came over to hang out for the afternoon while AJ finished his homework for the weekend and I worked on all of the laundry.  The day passed quickly as the boys played and Adrian and I worked around the house.  After Yusuf left, the boys got ready for Martial Arts and Adrian took them there while I stayed home and prepped dinner.

When they got home from Martial Arts, we all had dinner together and got a few last things done around the house to be ready for the week.  We also started working on cleaning out the play room because the boys are finally ready to start getting rid of stuff - yay!!  Then we got the boys thru their night routine and down for the night.  Adrian and I decided to play another round of Pandemic Legacy tonight since we haven't beat August yet.  Tonight we won easily and really believe we only lost last week because of the wine we were drinking.  We are now down thru Sept and are set up pretty good for next month.  After the game, we watched another episode of "The Good Doctor" and headed to bed to rest up for the week.

Monday (8/19) Back to the routine for our first full week of school this week.  We got up and moving early and Adrian helped me get AJ and Daniel ready and out to the bus stop before he headed out to work.  After they all left, I came back in and got Zak ready for school.  After he got on the bus, I started working around the house.  My plan for the next few weeks is whenever I'm not subbing in the schools, I will be working my butt off around the house to catch up on a bunch of stuff that needs to be done.  I got a ton done and the day passed quickly.  Before I knew it, it was time to get everyone off the bus and start getting ready for our night activities.

We had to split up and do a few different things tonight, our Mondays are now the busiest day of the week for us!  I cooked a quick dinner and we all ate together before Adrian headed out with Zak to take him to his first soccer practice.  He had a great time and is super excited to be back on the field.  I got AJ ready for Scouts and then headed out to teach my Zumba class at church.  We had a great class and I nailed a new song which is always a great feeling!  AJ was picked up by another parent in Scouts and he went to his meeting where they cooked foil packs for dinner to complete their cooking merit badge.  Adrian dropped Zak off at home after soccer & went to pick AJ up from Scouts.  It was a lot of juggling, but we got it all done!  When we got home, we got the boys thru their night routine and then down to bed.  Then we stayed up too late watching the two part "Good Doctor" when the hospital was under quarantine.  Such a great show!!

Tuesday (8/20) We struggled to get up this morning after staying up late last night but we made it up on time and got everyone out OK.  Adrian helped me get AJ & Daniel ready for school and then headed into work for the day while I got them on the bus.  Then I got Zak and myself ready for our day.  I got Zak on the bus, took Nick for a quick walk and headed to the Harcum Center to teach my two Silver Sneakers classes.  We had a fun workout and then I headed over to the YMCA to teach my third class of the day.  I'm picking up two classes there for this fall session since I'm dropping my classes at the Harcum Center and those started this week.  I had a small class, but everyone had fun so hopefully it will pick up over the next few weeks.

After class, I ran a few errands and then headed home to get everyone off the bus.  AJ and Daniel both had homework so they worked on that and then we had a rare night with nothing to do so we just hung out at the house.  We enjoyed tacos for dinner and then the boys played while Adrian and I got a few things done.  We got the boys thru their night routine a little early and got them down to bed.  Then we watched one more episode of "The Good Doctor" before we headed to bed a little early since we were so tired from last night.

Wednesday (8/21) We got up and moving a little better today than we did yesterday but we are still getting used to getting up this early every day.  Adrian helped me get AJ and Daniel ready and they he headed into work for the day.  I got them on the bus and then got Zak and myself ready for the day.  After Zak got on the bus, I headed to the Y to take a barre class which was super hard but super fun.  Then I ran a bunch of errands that I needed to get done for the week, including an oil change and some grocery shopping.  I got home around lunch time and spent the rest of the afternoon working around the house until the boys got home.

When they got home, we quickly finished homework and had dinner.  Then I headed out with Zak to go to his soccer practice.  We were super late getting there due to a huge accident on the way.  But he had fun and played hard for the time that we were there.  When we got home, I gave the boys a little free time and then we got thru their night routine.  Adrian was at Bible study so I was on my own to get them ready for bed.  He came home just in time to help put them to sleep.  Then we came down and chatted for a bit while cleaning up and getting our snacks together.  We finished up the night watching the two most recent episodes of "Younger" and then heading to bed.

Thursday (8/22) We got up and moving pretty well this morning and everyone got out on time.  Adrian helped me get AJ and Daniel ready and then headed to work while I waited for the bus with them.  After they got on the bus, I got Zak and I ready for the day.  I put Zak on the bus, walked Nick and headed out to the Harcum Center to teach my two Silver Sneakers classes.  We got a great workout and I am feeling my workout from yesterday!  After class, I came back home and worked around the house until the boys got home.  After I got everyone off the bus, I got them thru homework and then got dinner together for us.  Adrian had a going away dinner for a co-worker so he was late getting home.  After dinner, I headed out to the church to teach an awesome Zumba class while Adrian hung out here with the boys.  After class, I had to run to Meijer to finish Daniel's homework because he needed headphones for school tomorrow.  When I finally got home, the boys were heading up to bed so I helped get them down for the night.  Then Adrian and I finished cleaning up after dinner, made snacks and watched the newest "BH 90210" before heading to bed.

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

Last week was a wild one with trying to get the boys back on their school schedule.  By Friday we were all dragging and not wanting to do anything.  I also went out all day shopping & to lunch with a friend so I had delicious leftovers to eat that night.  I decided to skip making dinner that night and just eat my leftovers and bump that meal to this week.  Other than that, I pretty much stuck to my meal plan last week.  We did swap out the grilled steak that we planned to have Saturday to Sunday since we were to the drive in Saturday night and wanted something a little easier.  And since I'm writing this after dinner on Sunday, here is a picture of the delicious dinner that we ate.  I used my new spices from Trader Joe's, so good!!

This week gets a little harder yet again.  Zak starts soccer so he has that three times this week.  We have something just about every night this week so there will be a lot of early dinners and eating on the run.  I've been hit or miss with eating well the past few weeks so I'm really trying to refocus this week and try to get back to the weight I started at in August.  We have some veggies piled up from our CSA so I'm focusing my meals around those this week.  And next week I'm changing up my order to mostly have fruits for snacks instead of veggies.

Here's what we're eating this week:

Sunday - Steak with Chili Lime rub, Roasted Potatoes with Everything but the Bagel & Parmesan Roasted Kale (see picture above - SO good!)

Monday - Eggplant Soup with Corn (carryover from last month)

Tuesday - Tacos for the kids & Shrimp Lettuce Rolls for the adults with Corn

Wednesday - Asian Pork Chops & String Beans with Tomato Salad
Thursday - Chicken Zucchini Stir Fry and Tempura Cauliflower (Trader Joe's find!)
Friday - Baked Pork Chops with whatever veggies I need to use up for the week

Saturday - Breakfast for dinner, including scrambled eggs, sausage & skillet potatoes

Water Flavor - Strawberry Apple.  We got a bad bag of apples last week so I'll be using them up in my water over the next few weeks.  We also had a few strawberries left so I threw them in before they go bad.

Overnight Oats - I didn't actually wind up eating them much last week so I didn't make any over the weekend.  I still have watermelon flavored ones from last week, they are delicious, especially with the chocolate mint chips that I sprinkle in each morning.

Use it Up - Once again, I'm focusing on my oldest veggies this week.  We also have a ton of potatoes from the CSA so we're going to be using them more frequently over the next few weeks.  We also have a ton of breakfast sausage in the freezer so that's what inspired our dinner on Saturday.  That may be a frequent meal over the next few weeks to use all of that stuff up! 

Lunches - I'll be having salad everyday this week.  I got restocked on romaine at Costco last week and have a few avocados to use up as well.  Plus I'm going out to lunch downtown with Adrian one day this week.  Since I'm not really subbing yet we figured we'd take advantage of my free time and grab lunch together.

Keeping up with...Family (Weekly Wrap 8/9 - 8/15)

Friday (8/9) Once again, today started earlier than I wanted it to start because our toilet overflowed and Adrian woke me up while he was cleaning it.  I got up and had coffee while he got ready and headed out to work.  I was actually very productive this morning since I got up so early and got a bunch done before we headed out to go bowling for a bit.  AJ and Zak wanted to bowl so they did their 2 free games today while Daniel and I watched and cheered them on.  It was a fun little outing for us this morning, although traffic was horrible coming home!

When we got home, the boys played and helped me get a few things done around the house.  Then we finished up a few things we needed to get done before school starts next week.  Zak and I went to Meijer to get new sneakers and a few other things we needed.  Daniel and I went thru his closet and cleaned out a bunch of stuff that he doesn't want anymore.  It was a super productive afternoon!  Then the boys played and took care of Nick while I cooked dinner for everyone.  After dinner, I headed out to our Scout committee meeting and Adrian got called into work so he worked from home for a few house.  When I got home from my meeting, I got the boys down to bed, watched the Jets preseason game and then headed to bed too.

Saturday (8/10) I got up and moving pretty early this morning since I had to teach Zumba at the church this morning.  After a fun, sweaty class, I came home and grabbed a quick shower before we all got ready to head to the zoo for a family fun day.  Unfortunately, all of Columbus had the same idea as us and the zoo was ridiculously crowded.  We made the best of it by spending most of our time riding the rides in Jungle Jack's Landing.  Then we did head into the zoo to see the new 4D movie, Small Foot, and play in the splash pads near the aquarium.  After spending about 4 hours there, we decided to call it quits since it was too crowded to do the other things we wanted to do there.  We'll come back another day to finish the few things we still want to do.

We picked up Jets pizza on the way home and after eating dinner we played a few games as a family.  We played "Star Trek" and won as a family and then played "Good Cop, Bad Cop" and AJ and I won that too.  Then the boys had some video game time while Adrian and I cleaned up a bit.  After we got the boys thru their night routine and down to bed, we played another game of Viticulture and I won!!  Then we decided to play our August game of Pandemic Legacy and we finally lost a month, probably due to the bottle and a half of wine that we drank before playing.  Thankfully we have another chance to beat August!  After all of the games, we watched an episode of "Younger" and then headed to bed for the night.  It was an amazing family day!!

Sunday (8/11) We all slept in this morning and it was fantastic!  We had a slow morning of breakfast and coffee and then got ready for the second service at church.  After church, we came home and had leftover Jets for a quick lunch and then Adrian and I got to work on a few things around the house while the boys helped with their chores and then played video games.  We worked for a few hours, then stopped to get ready to head out to a double date with Carl & Sarah.  We went to Easton and started with a wine tasting and dinner at Cooper's Hawk.  Adrian and I used our thank you bottles so we got two free bottles of wine for our table at dinner.  After a delicious dinner, we walked over to Jeni's and had ice cream for dessert.  It was a beautiful night and we had a great time eating, chatting and laughing.  So glad we decided to do this tonight!!

After we got home from the very relaxing dinner, we took care of the boys for the night.  They did great staying home alone while we were gone.  We fed everyone dinner and then got them thru their night routine and down to bed.  They thought it was great that they got to stay up a little late since we were home so late.  After they were in bed, Adrian and I finished up a few things around the house and then watched last week's episode of "Card Sharks" before heading to bed for the night.

Monday (8/12) Adrian got up and left for work early while the rest of us slept in, probably for the last time for a while since school starts later this week.  We were going to go out and do a few things today but the boys asked to stay home and relax and play video games so that's what we did instead.  I got a ton of work done around the house while they played video games and watched YouTube.  We also sorted thru all of our school supplies and made sure everyone is ready to go to start the school year.  The day passed quickly and before long it was time for us to have dinner and get ready for our night activities.

I headed to the church to teach my Zumba class and had an amazing time with the students!  Adrian took everyone to AJ's Scout meeting where Daniel was supposed to be checking it out to see if he wanted to join, but decided he didn't want to before even learning about it.  AJ had a great time working on his cooking merit badge and eating all kinds of different trail mixes and desserts.  When we all got home, we got the boys thru their night routine and tried to get them down a little early so we're ready for early bedtimes later this week.  Then Adrian and I cleaned up a little, watched an episode of "The Good Doctor" and headed to bed.

Tuesday (8/13) Last day of summer break!!  Unfortunately we were all up earlier than we wanted to get up, although that may help us get to bed early tonight.  Adrian headed out to work for the day and I got the boys ready for the day then headed out to the Harcum Center to teach my two Silver Sneakers classes.  I announced today that I will not be teaching after the end of August and while my students are upset, they also all understand and support me.  We did our best to have fun classes, but there was definitely some sadness in the group.

After class, I came home and had a quick lunch with everyone before heading out with Daniel and Zak to meet their teachers for this year.  We started at North and met Daniel's two teachers and heard some general info from the principal.  When Daniel was comfortable, we headed over to West to meet Zak's teacher and bus driver for the year.  They both have great teachers and I'm excited for them to have a great year!!  When we were done, we grabbed some Kona Ice on the way out and headed home to pick up AJ.

We picked AJ up and headed out to run a few errands to get ready for tomorrow.  We picked up some books from the library and some donuts from Krispy Kreme for breakfast for the week.  Then we came home for the night.  The boys got some last minute video games in before they go on school limits while I got a few things done around the house.  Adrian got home and we all had tacos for dinner together.  The night passed quickly and before long it was time for our earlier bedtimes.  We got the boys thru their night routine and then put them to bed.  Adrian and I finished up a few things downstairs, watched another episode of "The Good Doctor" and headed to bed.  That 5:00am alarm is going to be a killer!!

Wednesday (8/14) Happy First Day of School!!  The alarm at 5am is not fun, but boy does it make the day feel long and give me time to get a lot accomplished.  Everyone but Zak got up and moving by 5:30am since Daniel is on the early schedule now too.  Adrian and I got AJ and Daniel on their bus and then he left for work for the day.  I came back in and Zak was awake so I got him ready for his first day.  He is taking the bus this year too so we waited at the corner for him to be picked up too.  Everyone got off safely, if a little later than we thought.  I'm praying everyone has a great year!!

After I got everyone on the bus, I came back in and worked on a bunch of stuff around the house that I needed to do, starting with getting all set up to sub in the schools this year.  I crossed a ton of things off my to do list and felt super accomplished after only a few hours.  Nick missed the boys a ton, but he did great hanging with me for the day.  Before long, it was time to get everyone off of their buses.  They all reported having excellent first days & are super excited for the year ahead!  AJ is most excited about STEM and Social Studies classes, Daniel is most excited about Math, Science & 5th Grade camp & Zak is excited about riding the bus, seeing friends at recess and still having gym.  I had a ton of paperwork to do and supplies to gather for everyone - I had more homework than any of the boys tonight!

Adrian came home a little earlier than usual to have dinner with us and hear about the boys' days.  We had a delicious crab leg dinner and enjoyed hearing even more about the kids' days at school during dinner.  Then they watched some TV while we got everything cleaned up and ready to go for tomorrow.  We got the boys thru their night routine together, way earlier than we have the past few months!  They were all exhausted after their day for sure!  Then we got our snacks together and watched another episode of "The Good Doctor" before we headed to bed as well.

Thursday (8/15) We did a good job of getting everyone up and out early again today.  Adrian helped me get AJ and Daniel up and started and then he headed to work.  I got AJ and Daniel on the bus and came back in to wake up Zak.  Zak and I got ready and I took him out to wait for the bus.  When he got on, I took Nick on a quick walk then headed into the Harcum Center to teach my 2 Silver Sneakers classes.  We had two great classes and I met the woman who will take over the class when I leave.  She observed the classes today so hopefully she'll be ready to go in a few weeks.  After both classes, one of my students invited me out to lunch so we had a great time chatting and eating at First Watch.

After lunch, I started restocking our pantry and freezers after the summer.  I went to a few grocery stores and got most of what we needed.  Then I came home and got everyone off the bus in the afternoon.  Thankfully no one had any homework tonight, neither me nor the boys!  I got dinner ready for myself and then got ready to head to the church to teach my Zumba class.  We had a great class, even though it was a little warm in our room tonight.  While I was at Zumba, Adrian got dinner for the boys and hung out with them at home.  When I got home, we got the boys thru their night routine and down for the night.  We are loving the earlier bedtimes!!  Then Adrian and I finished up a few things in the kitchen, watched this week's "90210" reboot and headed to bed too.

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

I did pretty good sticking to last week's meal plan except for Wednesday.  I was out with the boys all day and was exhausted when I got home.  Since Adrian wasn't here, I decided to just eat leftovers for dinner.  I think it was a good choice!  So I switched some meals around and have one meal on this week's plan that should have been on last week's plan.  We ended up picking up Jets pizza on the way home from the zoo last Saturday so the boys will enjoy eating that as leftovers for most of their dinners this week.

This is back to school week for my boys!  They go back on Wednesday and we're excited and also nervous about a new school year.  I will not be subbing at all this week so I will have a lot of free time to prep and cook our meals.  I'm also hoping to get a ton of stuff on my to do list done on Wednesday and Thursday so I feel even more caught up on life this week.  Then on Friday I have plans with a friend to go to Costco and do a stock up trip, as well as going to have lunch together after we shop.  It should be a very fun day!!

Here's what we're eating this week:
Sunday - Leftovers for the boys, Adrian and I are going to Cooper's Hawk for dinner!
Monday - Turkey Chili and Roasted Kale
Tuesday - Taco Tuesday!!
Wednesday - Crab Legs and Corn on the Cob, all cooked in the instant pot
Thursday - Pasta with Scallops, carry over from last week
Friday - Eggplant Soup
Saturday - Steak on the grill with Roasted Potatoes and Zucchini

Water Flavor - Lemon.  I have two lemons left from the summer so I'm using them up this week in my water.

Overnight Oats - I'm finally using my watermelon flavored yogurt that I found in Aldi over the summer.  I'll be adding chocolate & mint chips into the oats for the week too.  It all sounds so yummy!

Use It Up - I'm continuing to work on keeping up with the veggies we have in the fridge and using up the meat I have in the freezer in the basement.  I've done very little grocery shopping the past few weeks and I'm hoping to continue that for at least two more weeks. 

Lunches - I'll be having salad for lunch everyday this week because I have a bunch of lettuce to use up.  I'll use leftover taco meat for some and lunch meat and hard boiled eggs for the others.

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

Friday (8/2) Today started earlier than I wanted it to with Zak and Nick waking me up early.  I am still exhausted from the fair yesterday plus being a single mom while Adrian is still out of town for the next few days.  We spent most of the day hanging around the house being lazy.  I got a bunch of stuff done around the house while the boys helped a little, played video games and watched TV.  Late in the afternoon, we got ready to head out and went to Carl's house for one more family dinner before my Mom heads out tomorrow.  We enjoyed delicious ribs, good conversation and fun times watching the kids play together.  We didn't stay too late because I was so tired and I have a busy day ahead of me tomorrow.  When we got home, I let the boys watch the 3 new episodes of Teen Titans that recorded then got them down to bed for the night.  I finished up a few more things and then headed to bed too.  I'm hoping for a good night of sleep because I have a busy week ahead starting with tomorrow!

Saturday (8/3) Today started too early again since AJ had a rough time sleeping last night and kept me up too.  I had to get up early to head to the church to teach my Zumba class this morning.  Unfortunately it was a rough start to the day, between all of the boys being up, Nick being annoying on our first walk of the day and the church key going missing so we had to improvise for Zumba class.  Thankfully I felt better after dancing for an hour, as I always do.  When I got home from class, I took a quick shower and got ready for our last weekend of basketball.

After a quick lunch with the boys, I headed out with Zak to his last basketball game.  He played great, got a bunch of rebounds and a few baskets in his game.  He was super excited about being named the most improved player for the season!  After his game, we headed home and I relaxed for a while before heading out with AJ for his last basketball game.  His team practiced well but unfortunately got destroyed in their last game.  AJ was super excited to hear from his coach that he played really well all season and coach even stayed after with us to give me some suggestions of where AJ could play again this winter.

After all of that basketball, we got home and I was exhausted.  I got everyone thru dinner and took care of a few things that had to be done around the house.  Then I spent the rest of the night relaxing and watching Beverly Hills 90210 reruns to get ready for the return of the show this week.  I got the boys to bed later than I wanted, but they did take Nick in their room for the night.  They have been wanted to sleep with him for weeks, I hope it goes OK.  I headed to bed pretty early too hoping to get some good rest tonight!  One more full day of being on my own with the kids!

Sunday (8/4) Today once again started earlier than I wanted it to because Zak and Nick were up at 5:30am.  I sent them downstairs and got another hour or so of sleep but I have been dragging all day because I didn't get near enough sleep.  We got a very slow start to our morning and decided to blow off our whole day and just hang at home.  The boys were very helpful to get a few things done around the house.  Then they spent the rest of their day playing, watching YouTube and watching TV.  I got a bunch of things done around the house and feel accomplished and ready to face this week.  It wasn't the most exciting day but it was exactly what we needed today.  Adrian got on the bus in Indy around 8:30pm and got home super late.  I tried to wait up for him but I just couldn't do it, so Nick & I went to bed.  Good thing I didn't wait because he didn't get in until after 1am.

Monday (8/5) We all slept in a little thankfully, probably because we were down sleep from last night.  Adrian decided to call out of work today and spend the day at home with us.  We had a lazy morning chatting with him and hearing all about the fun he had in Indy.  He had a great time, played some fun games and brought a few of them home with him.  He also met some fun people and enjoyed helping to demo a game for a local game designer.  The boys told him all about the fair, basketball and their time with Nana, plus all of the video games they got to play while he was gone.

We were supposed to go see Willie Wonka & the Chocolate Factory today but since Dad was home, no one wanted to go out.  So we had a chill day at home instead.  I got a few things done around the house, including going thru AJ's closet and making sure he's ready for the school year.  We had an early dinner together and then split up for our evening activities.  I headed to the church to teach my Zumba class & had so much fun dancing with everyone!!  It felt great to move and sweat after having most of last week off.  Adrian took AJ to Scouts and they reported that AJ finished his geocache merit badge and worked on further advancement for him.  When we all got home, Adrian and I got the boys down to bed for the night, finished up a few things in the kitchen and watched last week's Press Your Luck together before heading to bed too.

Tuesday (8/6) Adrian and I were back to our normal routine today and back to work.  He got up early and headed out to work for the day.  I got up soon after him and headed into Harcum to teach my two Silver Sneakers classes.  We had a lot of laughs today, especially my second class.  After class, I ran to Aldi to get a few groceries we needed then headed home.  We had a quick lunch and then the boys and I headed out to the eye doctor for our annual check ups.  Everyone is doing great, none of the boys need glasses and my prescription hasn't changed since last year.  Yay!!

After our appointments, we ran to Dollar Tree to grab some snacks for tomorrow and then headed home.  I made tacos for us for dinner and we all ate together.  Then the boys played while Adrian and I got a few things done around the house.  The night passed quickly and soon it was time for the boys to head to bed.  We got them thru their night routine and then we got our snacks and watched last week's Card Sharks before we headed to bed as well.

Wednesday (8/7) Adrian got up and out early to work today while the rest of us slept in.  When we finally got up and moving, we got ready and headed out to Zoombeezi Bay for our last trip of the summer.  There was a good chance of storms so we were hoping it wouldn't be too crowded today, but we were wrong.  It was still super crowded so we found some seats and made the best of it.  We waited in line for the big slides that we wanted to ride and spent the rest of our time in the wave pool, lazy river and baboon lagoon.  The day didn't go exactly as we planned but we made the best of it and still had a great time!  Now the boys want to go back on a weekend if we think it won't be too crowded, so we'll watch the weather for the next few weeks and see if we can get back or not.

After we got home, we were all super worn out.  The boys helped me get unloaded and settled and then they played together while I got a few things done around the house.  I decided to just have leftovers for dinner since Adrian was at Bible study and we were all dragging.  The night passed quickly and Adrian got home in time to help with bedtime.  We got the boys down to bed and then got our snacks and settled in to watch the new 90210 reboot.  It was cute, not exactly what I was expecting but still cute.  I'll keep watching because of the nostalgia if nothing else. 

Thursday (8/8) Adrian got up and headed out to work early again today.  I got up soon after him and got ready to head to Harcum Center to teach my two Silver Sneakers classes.  We had fun classes and got a great workout.  After class, I ran to Kroger to pick up a few things and then headed home to get lunch for everyone.  After lunch, AJ and I headed to his school to pick up his schedule for next year.  He got the electives he asked for and is very excited about his schedule.  We walked his schedule so he knows where everything is, got into his locker and saw a few of his friends.  At least one of his buddies is in his lunch so he's super excited about that!

When we got home from the school, I got started on dinner while the boys played some video games.  After dinner, I headed out to the church to teach my Zumba class.  We had an awesome class tonight and laughed a lot while we were working out.  After class I came home and helped get the boys thru their night routine and into bed.  Then Adrian and I got snacks and watched last week's episode of "Younger" together.  Then he had to get online to work so I headed upstairs to bed and watched the premier of "Real Housewives of Orange County" before heading to bed for the night.

Keeping Up With...2019 Goals (July Recap)

I honestly don't have a lot to stay since I just published one of these updates a few weeks ago.  But I'm finally back in control of things around here and I'm proud of myself that I'm ready to publish this at the end of the month so I'm doing it on time.  I did pretty good this month keeping up with my goals, even catching up on some that I fell behind on over the last three months.  I feel like I've finally got my groove back and am focusing on these again.  And school will be back in session soon so I'll have even more structure over the next month or so.  I'm hoping to finish this year strong!!

• Lose 50 pounds - Lost 4 pounds this month, 25 pounds so far this year!!  
• Exercise for 20 minutes every day - 205 days (out of 212).  I missed another day this month, one Sunday when I just really didn't feel like exercising at all.  I did a lot of cleaning, but that was about it.
• Read the Bible in a Year - 212 days so far
• Read 100 Days to Brave - DONE!!
• Read "Be Still and Know" - 212 days so far
• Read 20 books - 8 books so far.  In July I finished "A Room of One's Own" and almost finished my next book.  I'm hoping to bump this up in August and catch up to achieve this goal.
• Read the 12 How to Train Your Dragon Books - 3 books done so far
• Read "The Beauty Myth" - 66% so far
• Write 45 meal plan blogs - 20 blog posts so far
• Write 52 weekly summary blogs - 30 blog posts so far.  I caught up the past few days on the missing weekly summaries and I am completely up to date on these.
• Write 12 goal recap blogs - 4 blog posts so far
• Pay off $3,000 of credit card debt - $3,200 paid off so far
• Renovate the living room - DONE!!
• Watch 40 movies - 29 movies so far.  In July we watched: Toy Story 4, Aladdin, Hotel Transylvania 3, Fantastic Mr Fox, Spiderman: Far From Home, Neverending Story, Into the Spiderverse, An American Tale, The Lion King & Christopher Robin
• Go on 12 dates with Adrian - 8 dates so far
• Sub 70 days in the schools - 25 days so far
• Do one group fitness training - DONE!!  I'm officially licensed to teach Aqua Zumba now.  I'm super excited to add this license to my resume and hopefully will start teaching a class regularly in the fall.
• Go to 6 Zumba jam sessions - 5 jams attended so far this year
• Clean out master bedroom - spent 20 minutes working in there
• Clean out play room - spent 20 minutes working in there
• Have 12 family board game nights - had 4 family game nights
• Play Pandemic Legacy with Adrian once per month - We played 7 months so far, we played 3 months in July and caught up to where we should be for the year.  We're having so much fun playing this game!
• Have 6 nights out with friends - 5 nights out so far
• Go on an awesome spring break vacation to Florida - DONE!!
• Do 100 fun family things (one thing each week during school & one thing per person each week over the summer) - 57 done so far
• Go on 2 family camping trips - none planned so far and not sure we can do this now that we have a dog to deal with too

Keeping Up With...Food (Meal Plan for Aug 4 - Aug 10)

I skipped another week because last week was another weird week around here.  We had my mom in for a few days and then Adrian left from Wednesday until Sunday for his trip to Indy for his 50th birthday.  I did cook the first few days of the week, went out two of the nights and then ate leftovers and things in the freezer to try to use some of those things up.  I was also off my diet for the week so there wasn't a lot of planning going into my meals, just eating whatever I felt like eating.

This week I'm getting back to healthy eating and somewhat back to our schedule.  We still have one more week before school starts, but I want to try to regain some control over our schedule this week so we're better prepared for next week.  I'm hoping to start getting the boys to bed a little earlier this week and also get back to reading every night before bed, we really slacked on that this summer!  For food there will be a lot of fruits and vegetables this week, as well as whatever meat we have in the freezer.  I'm still trying to do minimal food shopping, hopefully for the rest of this month.

We have a ton of veggies to use up since Adrian wasn't here last week and I didn't really use up that many veggies.  I'll be using a ton of zucchini this week in recipes as well as lots of corn and kale for sides.  It's not as bad as it's been, but I still want to stay on top of it because there is more coming this weekend.  In addition to the veggies that I'm using for dinner, we have peaches, plums and watermelon from our CSA that I will be snacking on all week.

Here's what we're eating this week:
Sunday - Leftovers for me, Adrian eating out on his way home from Indy
Monday - Turkey Soup and Cabbage Salad
Tuesday - Taco Tuesday!
Wednesday - Shrimp and Veggie Stuffed Zucchini and Corn on the Cob
Thursday - Pasta with Scallops, Zucchini & Tomatoes
Friday - Fiesta Stuffed Peppers with Roasted Kale
Saturday - Leftovers or frozen apps after being out all day

Water Flavor - Cucumber, with a cucumber from our CSA.  Since Adrian won't eat them, I have a bunch of them so I cut one up for my water.  I'll add spearmint essential oil to it for a very refreshing summer drink.

Overnight Oats - I made some of these last week with berry flavored yogurt and didn't finish them.  I'll eat what is leftover and then probably have protein bars the rest of the week to keep it simple.  I'll get back to eating these everyday next week when we're back to school.

Use it Up - Once again, I'm focusing on using up all of my veggies before they go bad.  I'm also finishing up some leftover turkey from last week in the soup tomorrow.  All of the meat, except the seafood, is already in our freezer so I have very little shopping to do this week.  My lunches will also focus on using things up that I already have.

Lunches - My lunches this week will be leftover cabbage salad, eggplant salad and eggplant parm from last week.  If I eat all of that and still need more, I have a few heads of Romaine lettuce that I need to use up too.  It will pretty much be salads all week long for me!

Keeping up with...Family (Weekly Wrap 7/26 - 8/1)

Friday (7/26) We all slept in today after the late night last night.  Adrian got up and headed to work for a few hours, he's mostly in overtime today which is awesome.  The boys and I had a slow start and decided to change our plans and skip seeing Shrek in the movie theater this morning.  I got a bunch of stuff done around the house while the boys played and relaxed.  The day passed quickly and soon Adrian was home from work.  We had a quick dinner together and then got packed up and headed out to Zoombeezi Bay for the night as a family.

We got the the Bay and it was super crowded, probably because it was an awesome day.  We got the boys in the wave pool and Adrian and I stalked people leaving and finally got great seats near the wave pool.  The boys and Adrian played in the wave pool, lazy river and Baboon Lagoon while I relaxed on our chairs reading and resting.  The movie tonight was the new Grinch movie which we've already seen.  The boys started watching it but Daniel got bored.  He went and rode rides with Adrian and them came back and asked me to ride with him.  He and I finally braved the cone ride & it was awesome!!  We got back right as the movie ended and since the slides were opened for another 40 minutes, we did Sound Surfer and Dolphin Dash as a family.  We finished up with a float around the lazy river before heading home and heading to bed exhausted.  It was a great family night!!

Saturday (7/27) Today started way earlier than I wanted it to after the late night last night.  I got up and got moving to head to the church to teach Zumba.  We had an awesome class celebrating the fact that 6 years ago today I got my Zumba license!!  After a sweaty class, I headed home and got a quick shower before heading out to get a quick eyebrow wax.  Then I came home and we all had a quick lunch together before splitting up for the afternoon.  Adrian headed to a CABS meeting to play some games while I took Zak to his basketball game.  His whole team played great so his coach rewarded them with medals for everyone and candy for snack.  Zak was SO excited!!

After the game, we came home and got ready for the rest of the day.  AJ got ready for basketball and he and Daniel packed up for their slumber party tonight.  I prepped dinner and took care of Nick and a few things around the house.  Then I headed out with AJ to his basketball game.  AJ had a slow start but then played a nice game & his team won by a lot.  He had fun playing & knew he did really well the second half so I was really proud of him.  After the game we came home and picked up Daniel and I dropped them both off at their slumber party for the night.  I took Zak for McDonald's for dinner and Adrian grilled steak for us for dinner.

While we cleaned up from dinner, Zak watched a few video games.  Then as we were getting ready to play a board game, he heard the ice cream truck and went running down the street with one shoe on to catch him.  It was pretty funny!!  After he enjoyed his ice cream cone, the three of us played a new to us game, Star Trek.  It is a team dice rolling game and is very fun and super easy to learn.  After the game, we got Zak down to bed and Adrian and I played our next month of Pandemic Legacy.  It was probably our hardest month yet but we pulled out another win!  I'm so thankful we're caught up now and am looking forward to finishing up this year.  After we finished the game, we had a quick snack, watched another episode of "The Good Doctor" and headed to bed.

Sunday (7/28) We all slept in a little since we stayed up later last night.  We were all feeling lazy so we had a lazy morning of coffee, video games and relaxing.  AJ and Daniel were having a great time at their friends' house and they decided to watch "Avengers: Endgame" so we had the morning with just Zak.  Once we finally got motivated, we got a bunch of stuff done around the house while Zak played and watched TV.  Adrian went and picked the other boys up around 1pm and they were pretty tired after an awesome night with friends.  We decided that the best bet for all of us was to have a relaxing day at home together as a family.

Adrian and I got a ton of stuff done and feel great going into this week.  The boys played video games, watched YouTube and helped us clean a little.  Adrian, Daniel and I took a break from work and played a game of "The Mind" which unfortunately we didn't win this time.  Adrian also took AJ and Zak to find a local geocache so AJ could earn his geocaching merit badge from Scouts.  The day passed quickly and before long it was time for the boys' night routine, which we did early since everyone was down sleep.  After we got them down to bed, Adrian and I got some wine and played a new game "Viticulture."  It was a slow start and really confusing for me, but I got the hang of it and we had a good time.  When the game was over, we watched another episode of "The Good Doctor" and then headed to bed, probably later than we should have.

Monday (7/29) Today started way too early since we stayed up so late last night.  Adrian got up and left to drop his car off at the dealership for some work.  I followed soon after to pick him up and then pick my mom up from the airport as well.  We came home and got settled in and the boys visited with Nana for a bit, then we had a quick lunch and headed out to COSI for the afternoon.  We saw the two new exhibits first, Mythical Creatures and Jim Henson Experience.  Both were very interesting and I especially liked learning about Henson and all of the Muppets he created.  We hit the dinosaur exhibit in between these two since it is the boys' favorite exhibit.

After that full afternoon, we headed out to pick up Adrian's car and then head home to cook dinner for a family dinner with Carl and his family too.  We had a summer Thanksgiving with a delicious turkey and a bunch of fresh veggies for sides.  The kids had fun playing together while the adults chatted a bit and tried to keep Nick calm.  He didn't do great with all of the new people in the house at once, but we're making progress.  After dinner, Carl and his family headed home and my mom headed to bed since she had been up for so long.  We got the boys down to bed, finished cleaning up the house and headed to bed as well.  It was a fun filled family day!!

Tuesday (7/30) Today we woke up to a rainy, overcast morning.  We didn't really have plans for the day because I had to work most of the day.  I got ready and headed out to the Harcum Center to teach my two Silver Sneakers classes this morning.  We had a good workout and everyone was very appreciative that I came in so they could still have class.  After class, I ran home and grabbed a quick lunch before heading back out to the Y to teach another Silver Sneakers class that I was subbing for another instructor.  When that was over, I finally headed home for the day.

While I was gone, the boys helped my mom bake a crumb cake for all of us to enjoy.  They also played a few board games with her and played some video games on their own.  Adrian got ready to leave for his weekend away at GenCon which starts early tomorrow morning.  He also got a few things done around the house that we needed done and he also took AJ to his pediatrician appointment in the afternoon so I could have some time off.  When we all got home for the day, we grilled chicken for dinner and had some fresh veggies for sides before heading out for the night.  We headed back to the drive in to see "The Lion King."  We had a fun time at the drive in as always, but the movie was just OK.  I didn't really like it that much, I thought the singing was lacking and the voices in the original were better.  But we enjoyed the experience of it and I'm glad I saw it.  When we got home, it was super late so we all pretty much headed straight to bed for the night.

Wednesday (7/31) Adrian got up super early and headed out to catch the bus to Indianapolis.  He will be at GenCon until late Sunday night for his 50th birthday get away.  He's working for part of the time as a representative for a new game that he will be demoing for other gamers.  When he's not working he'll be able to walk around and explore and play some games for himself.  I'll be on my own for the next few days so I'm praying it goes well around here!!

The rest of us all slept in since we were out so late last night.  We got up and got moving and headed up to meet Carl and the kids at the dinosaur splash pads and park.  The kids had a great time running around in the water, playing at the park and enjoying a picnic for lunch.  They also all got snow cones from the little stand there.  We spent about 3 hours there and then we headed back home, but not without first stopping at Menchie's for a sweet treat courtesy of Nana.  It was a fun and relaxing afternoon with family!

When we finally got home, I took care of Nick while my mom started on eggplant parmesan for our dinner.  She played a few board games with the boys while I got a few things done around the house.  After dinner, we settled in for a movie night watching "Christopher Robin."  It was a cute movie, but a little slow, especially for Zak.  When the movie was over, I got the boys down to bed for the night and finished cleaning up around the house.  Then my Mom and I also headed to bed since we have a busy day planned at the fair tomorrow!

Thursday (8/1) After a good night of sleep, we were all up bright and early to head to the fair for the day!  We all got ready, had a good breakfast and headed downtown.  We got to the fair around 11am and hit the ground running.  We met Carl, Sarah and the kids there and all of the kids had a blast riding all of the rides.  My mom enjoyed taking turns riding with the kids and resting, as did the rest of us adults.  The favorite rides of the day were the Crazy Mouse and Iron Dragon, both small roller coasters.  The kids also did a bunch of spinning rides which the adults mostly sat out.  In between rides we ate the delicious food including chili cheese fries, fried oreos, fried cookie dough, fried pickles and my annual serving of fried buckeyes.

We stayed at the fair until around 7pm and finally headed home for the day.  It was a fun but exhausting day for all of us!  We got home and the boys helped me unload the car and then I took Nick on a nice long walk and got him dinner.  We spent the rest of the night playing with Nick and relaxing.  The boys had some video game time and then I got them thru their night routine.  When they were in bed, I took Nick for one more walk and then did a few things around the house before collapsing for the night.  This single mom thing is hard and I was exhausted after the full day!!