Keeping Up With...Food (Meal Plan for April 15 - April 21)

Last week was super busy with lots of subbing for me and lots of soccer for the boys.  We were all over the place all week.  We did pretty good keeping up with our meal plan until Thursday night when I hit the wall.  Thankfully we had a bunch of leftovers so we just had those for dinner that night.  I'm also behind on all things today so I will not be cooking dinner tonight and we'll either have something simple from around the house (leftovers, pasta, sandwiches, etc) or we'll run out and pick something up.  We'll see how the day plays out.

I have a few carryovers from last week to this week because I didn't make them.  However I did decide to make this Chicken Parm Casserole last week to use up some already cooked chicken.  We had it over spaghetti squash cooked in the instant pot and it was delicious!  This week I am trying to not have to go to the grocery store at all.  I did big stock up trips last week so we have a lot of food in the house.  I'm hoping we have enough fruits and veggies to make it through the week.  If not, I'll run to the store late in the week to restock.

Here's what we're eating this week:
Sunday - Meatball Subs for the boys, Meatballs and Zoodles for the adults
Monday - Bacon Cheeseburger Skillet with Roasted Brussels Sprouts
Tuesday - Caprese Quiche
Wednesday - Leftovers because we have soccer after school and work
Thursday - Taco Thursday!
Friday - Sausage & Pepper Frittata (with mushrooms instead of onions)
Saturday - We're having dinner with my brother and family.  Not sure if we'll be here or there so I'll figure out dinner later in the week if I have to.  If dinner doesn't happen, we'll just have pasta or grill something.

Water Flavor - Pear.  I have a few that I need to use up so I'll be setting that up tomorrow.

Overnight Oats - I just recently discovered International Delights new yogurts.  I got one for free and used it last week to make Carmel Macchiato oats and they are amazing!  So this week I found them onsale and I'm using my normal recipe with these in place of the Greek yogurt.  We'll have Butter Pecan and Cinnabon this week.  I'm so excited!!

Use It Up - This week is all use it up.  I'm hoping not to shop at all this week.  I'll be using up all of my fruits and veggies for sure.  And I'm hoping to use up a few things in the freezers as well.

Lunches - I'll continue to use up the protein Ranch dressing I made to have salads.  I may also eat some leftovers this week as we really do have a lot.  

Keeping Up With...Food (Meal Plan for April 8 - April 14)

Last week we got back to our routine around here.  Everyone went back to school and back to eating a little better.  We did pretty well sticking to our meal plan last week, except that I bumped up these delicious pork chop sandwiches from today to last Wednesday.  We needed something quick and easy that night and these fit the bill.  We were going to have the fish tacos tonight, but today went very left of where we expected to be so we had leftovers instead.

We have a touch of the stomach bug around here, both Zak and Adrian are dealing with it today.  I'm hoping everyone is well by tomorrow morning and we'll be back to our regular schedule for the week.  But if not, the tacos may get pushed again since I don't want to make them if Adrian can't eat them.  Fish is the one thing neither of us like to eat leftover.  I try very hard not to have leftovers when we have it.

This is a very busy week because soccer has started up but with the bad weather out here we've had a rough start.  Zak will have an extra practice this week as well as a game during the week if our current schedule holds.  And Adrian and AJ are heading out to their first Boy Scout camp out this weekend.  Again that is the plan for now, although it could change.  I'm planning to cook both Friday and Saturday night as if Adrian will be here.  And if he's not, I may bump what I have planned for pasta with the boys.  If I do cook what I have planned, we'll have a lot of leftovers to start next week and that is OK too.

Here's what we're eating this week:
Sunday - leftovers
Monday - Fish Tacos (carry over from last week)
Tuesday - Caprese Quiche
Wednesday - Beef Mushroom Barley Soup
Thursday - Cauliflower Ham Au Gratin with Roasted Asparagus
Friday - Bacon Cheeseburger Skillet with Roasted Brussels Sprouts
Saturday - Sausage & Pepper Frittata (with mushrooms instead of onions)

Water Flavor - Cucumber.  I had one that needed to be used up.  I wish I had mint, that's such a great combination!

Overnight Oats - I am actually out of Greek yogurt so I'm using my normal recipe but using flavored Greek yogurt instead of plain.  I got a caramel macchiato one that I can't wait to try!  I also have black cherry and blueberry lavender.

Use it Up - I'm continuing to use up all of the veggies that I have in the fridges.  I've been pretty successful so far.  I'm down to tomatoes, mushrooms, asparagus and Brussels sprouts.  I'm also using up some cooked chicken and the rest of the Easter ham.  I also have some cabbage to use up, so I'll use some this week and then that will be a focal point next week.

Lunches - I made a large batch of protein Ranch dressing that I will be using in salads all week.  I'm still trying to use up the hard boiled eggs from Easter as well.  And avocados have been on sale so I'm excited to be using them in each salad too!

Keeping Up With...2018 Goals (March Recap & April Goals)

March was a pretty great month around here, although I did slack on some of my goals for the year.  My parents were here for a long weekend which was awesome.  We had three long days of family time, which also included a lot of eating, drinking and not a lot of exercising.  We also celebrated my birthday and Easter (although that was technically April 1st).  It was a great month of family time and even though I missed a few goals, I wouldn't change it at all.  Same as I did in February, I will talk a little about how I did with each of the 10 goals this month and then talk about my plans for April to stay on track.

1. Lose 50 pounds (Lost 10 pounds this year, Grade for March: D)

• Meal plan each Sunday - I did do this all 4 weeks, but I didn't do a great job of sticking to my plan, especially the healthy options that I had on there.
• Count calories for at least 21 days (taking off 10 days for birthday celebrations) - I only counted for about 12 days.  I took off way more than 10 days.  It wasn't pretty
• Go to at least one class per week that I am not teaching - I taught a Zumba Toning class and went to Body Pump once.  Not great, but at least that's half of what my goal was.
• Lose 4 pounds - I didn't lose any weight this month.  In fact, I may have actually gained weight.  I haven't weighed in the past two Wednesdays, I just don't want to know how bad it is.  I will weigh in this Weds to get a baseline for April.

2. Read 20 books again (Read 4 books this year, Grade for March: A-)

• Finish 2 books - I finished one book "Heart of the Matter" and am almost done "Fudge-a-Mania"
• Make progress on "Americanah" (read at least 10%) - Done.  I actually read 16% this month and I am 70% done this book.

3. Watch 25 movies (Watched 9 movies this year, Grade for March: A+)

• Watch 4 movies - Done!  We watched "Aladdin," "Raiders of the Lost Ark," "Captain America: Civil War," and "Hop"

4. Go on 12 dates with Adrian (3 dates this year, Grade for March: A+)

• Go see "An American in Paris" - Done!  This was a different play than we are used to, lots of dancing, not a lot of singing.  We didn't love it, but it was fun.  We are super excited we were able to renew our tickets for next year this month as well!

5. Pay off 1 credit card and my student loans (Grade for March: C)

• Sub at least twice each week - I subbed 9.5 days this month which is pretty good considering one week was spring break and I took one week off between my parents being here and just needing to catch up on a bunch of stuff around the house.
• Help Adrian work at least 3 hours of OT each week - Adrian got about 8 hours this month which is just short of what we wanted.  He didn't work any over time the last week of the month because they gave him Good Friday off and we always love a 3 day weekend together!
• Spend as little as possible - We did decide against a second date in favor of saving money, however we spent a little more for my birthday than expected.  We went out to eat a few times and got a lot of little snacks too.  Although we did use a lot of freebies so that's good.
• File our taxes and use some of our refund towards a credit card - I finally got Turbo Tax installed and transferred our personal data from last year.  I'm under the gun to finish in the next two weeks!

6. Finish my CEUs for my YMCA certification (Grade for March: A+)

• Attend one Zumba jam session - Done!  It was another great session!
• Upload all of the CEUs for the jams I have attended - Done!!  I have officially uploaded everything that I needed and am recertified for the next two years.  WOOT!!  Now on to the Silver Sneaker requirements...

7. Clean out the house (Grade for March: A)

• Spend 20 minutes each weekend going thru our loft - We did this four of the five weekends, taking one off while my parents were here.  We got rid of a lot of stuff and are making progress on turning this area into a game room.  Hopefully next month we'll be done.

8. Keep up an active blog (Grade for March: A+)

• Meal plan posts every Sunday - 4 posts done!
• Week in review posts every Friday - 5 posts done!
• Monthly goal posts the last day of the month - Doing it now.  And this is the earliest I've done this recap all year.

9. Play more board game (Grade for March: A)

• Have one family board game night - Again, we didn't have an official game night this month, but we played some games.  Adrian played some with the boys and I played a few as well.

10. Improve my classes (Grade for March: A+)

• Attend one Zumba jam session - Done!!
• Figure out alternating Tues/Thurs workouts - Done!!

Here's what I'll be doing in April to continue to work towards these goals:
1. Lose 50 pounds

• Meal plan each Sunday
• Count calories for 28 days starting 4/3
• Go to at least one class per week that I am not teaching
• Lose 6 pounds

2. Read 20 books again

• Finish 2 books - "Fudge-a-Mania" & "Charlie & the Chocolate Factory"
• Make progress on "Americanah" (read at least 5%)

3. Watch 25 movies

• Watch 4 movies

4. Go on 12 dates with Adrian

• Go see "The King and I"

5. Pay off 1 credit card and my student loans

• Sub at least twice each week
• Help Adrian work at least 3 hours of OT each week
• Spend as little as possible
• File our taxes and use some of our refund towards a credit card

6. Finish my CEUs for my YMCA certification new requirements for Silver Sneakers

• Do the new foundations training for free this month
• Complete the new fraud, waste, alert training

7. Clean out the house

• Spend 20 minutes each weekend going thru our loft

8. Keep up an active blog

• Meal plan posts every Sunday
• Week in review posts every Friday
• Monthly goal posts the last day of the month

9. Play more board game

• Have one family board game night

10. Improve my classes

• Attend one Zumba jam session
• Finish my foundations training for Silver Sneakers

Keeping Up With...Food (Meal Plan for April 1 - April 7)

We are at the tail end of spring break here and we've had both a relaxing and productive week off from school.  We have one more day off (Monday) although we still have some commitments that day and then our regular schedule picks up.  All three boys will have soccer practices and games this week and every week for the next 6-8 weeks.  It will be busy and feel like a marathon to get to the end of May, but it will also be fun.  I'm hoping the weather will start to cooperate and warm up and stop raining so much!  We need some outside time soon!

Last week I mostly kept to the meal plan until the end of the week.  Then Adrian and I realized we had a lot of leftovers and a lot to do and wanted to have some fun watching movies and playing games with the boys.  So we decided to just eat what we had on Friday and Saturday and move our planned meals to this coming week.  Our eating wasn't super healthy last week, but boy was it tasty!  This week we are getting our butts in gear and will be eating healthy for the next 5 weeks.  That will take us to Adrian's birthday and Mother's Day which will mean we take a weekend off.  Then I'm hoping to get right back to it for another big push before all of our summer activities.

This week is kind of thrown together from things I know I already have the ingredients for and things that sound good and healthy.  We have a bunch of veggies to use up so I may swap out one of these meals for salads, but I also want to have those for lunches and a girl can only eat so much salad.  I'm hoping to do very little grocery shopping this week and next and use up everything that we have.  This week the focus is on the two carryover recipes from last week and using up all of the ham that I'm making tomorrow for Easter.

Here's what we're eating this week:
Sunday - Happy Easter!  It's only the 5 of us so it's a small meal for us.  I'm doing a ham in the instant pot (probably slow cooking it), roasted potatoes, asparagus and green beans.
Monday - Chicken Taco Casserole - I'm making this tomorrow so we only have to heat it up
Tuesday- Taco Tuesday!
Wednesday - Fish Tacos (carry over from last week)
Thursday - Ham & Broccoli Rice Skillet - using up the ham from Sunday
Friday - Ham & Kale Soup - using up the ham from Sunday
Saturday - Steaks on the grill with whatever veggies need to be used up

Water Flavor - Pear.  I made this last week and it's delicious!  I think I really need some sweet flavors after all of that citrus the past few months.

Overnight Oats - We took the week from these last week and it was nice but I was also hungry earlier and more often all week.  Then again, I was really far off my normal eating so that could have been why I was so hungry.  We'll be back to these this week and I'm planning on chocolate with butterscotch chips, peanut butter with chocolate chips and apple cinnamon.  If we need more, I'll use some of the flavored yogurts that I have.

Lunches - Salads all week as part of the refocus and part of the use up the veggies before they turn plan.

Use it Up - Eat all of the veggies before they go bad!  I overbought and then we started eating poorly so we have a full fridge and need to use them up ASAP.

Keeping up with...Family (Weekly Wrap 3/23 - 3/29)

Friday (3/23) Last day of school before spring break!!  We were all dragging to get up, but we made it to school and work on time.  I was subbing a full day today, for a 4th grade teacher in the morning and the same class I was in all week in the afternoon.  I enjoyed being in the 4th grade class much more than I expected to, they were all really good kids.  Then I headed down to the class I've been in all week where we teachers had a taco bar for lunch.  Everything was so good, I ate so much and it was wonderful!  We watched a movie and had a pretty calm afternoon, other than another fire drill, my second of the week.  We finished up the day and I headed home with Daniel and Zak for our week off.  We came home and found out that AJ got all A's this quarter and received a gold card!  We are very proud of how hard he has been working this school year!

I relaxed a little at home and got everything set up for a busy night, then I headed out to work at the church for a few hours.  It was a pretty quiet night at the church and I got a lot done while I was working.  I also sat, a lot, which was awesome after a super busy week!  When my group left for the night, I headed to Chuy's at Easton to meet up with some Zumba instructor friends outside of a gym.  We had a great dinner together and we laughed a lot!!  I'm hoping we get to do it again very soon!  When I got home I was so tired that I pretty much went right to bed while Adrian stayed up watching college basketball.

Saturday (3/24) I slept like a rock last night and was shocked when my alarm went off to wake me up to get ready for Zumba this morning.  Everyone else was already up when I got up.  I got ready for class & took Daniel and Zak with me to the Y.  I had a great class, lots of energy from a huge crowd!  Then on the way home, the three of us stopped at an egg hunt at a local church.  We enjoyed hunting for eggs, playing games, eating lunch and meeting the Easter Bunny.  It was a great afternoon together.

 

 

While we were out doing that, AJ and Adrian were also very busy.  AJ had soccer practice in the morning.  He did a great job with all of his drills!  While he was there, Adrian ran to Kohl's to pick up some new clothes for work.  Then they came home, warmed up, had lunch and headed back out to do a service project with AJ's Scout troop.  They helped to build a raised flower bed at the local elementary school for one of the other Scout's Eagle Scout project.  AJ said it was fun but hard work!

When we all finally got home from all of that, we got a few things done around the house and then settled in for a family movie night.  It was AJ's pick and he has been asking to watch the Indiana Jones movies since we saw the stunt show in Disney in Dec.  So we watched "Raiders of the Lost Ark" and everyone loved it!  Even Zak watched the full movie and gave it two thumbs up.  We are all excited to watch the rest of the series together.  After we calmed down from the excitement of the movie, the boys headed to bed and went right to sleep after the busy day.  Adrian and I finished up a few things and then he watched basketball while I headed to bed as well.  Super full and fun family Saturday!

Sunday (3/25) We all slept in a little and then got up and got ready to head to church as a family.  We went to first service together and then Adrian took the boys home and I stayed to volunteer for the second service.  They had lunch and got ready to head to swimming for the afternoon.  While they were at the Y for swimming, I got as much done around the house as I could.  Just before they got home, Carl, Sarah, Isabelle and Vinnie arrived to celebrate my birthday a few days early!  We enjoyed a nice visit together including lots of cousins playing time, basketball, delicious pizza and three birthday cakes!  They left and we were all pretty wiped out from another busy day.  The boys cleaned up then headed up to bed.  Adrian and I did a few more things, watched a few comedies and headed to bed ourselves.  I'm very glad I don't have an alarm for tomorrow morning!!

Monday (3/26) It's the boys' first official day of spring break!!  They honestly don't want to do a whole lot this break, lots of resting and video game watching.  Since the weather forecast isn't great and I'm working a lot this week I'm mostly OK with their decision.  I'm mostly looking forward to sleeping in a little, which I did today.  We had a lazy morning, then we got ready and headed to the Y for my Silver Sneakers class.  The boys were thrilled that Kids Time was opened and they didn't have to "go in with the babies."  After class, we came home and hung out all afternoon before heading back to the Y for my Zumba class in the afternoon.  We played outside for a while since we probably won't be able to the rest of the week.

After we got home from Zumba the boys decided they wanted to ride their bikes for a while, so they did that while I was cooking dinner.  The last lap Zak was taking forever and we weren't sure what happened.  Then we saw him round the corner pushing his bike instead of riding it.  Turns out one of his training wheels broke!  We told him that means it's time to learn how to ride a two wheeler.  He doesn't agree.  After dinner, Adrian and AJ headed out to his Boy Scout meeting while I hung out at home with the other boys.  When everyone got home, we got the boys to bed and then enjoyed a few comedies before heading to bed ourselves.

Tuesday (3/27) Happy Birthday to me!!  I got to sleep in a little this morning before waking up to the boys all singing and screaming happy birthday!  Unfortunately we had a full day so we had to get up and moving right away.  We headed to Harcum where I taught two Silver Sneakers classes and had a small birthday party with all of my students.  The boys loved hanging out and eating cupcakes with everyone.  Then we ran to pick up lunch and head to the Y where I taught a third Silver Sneakers class for the day.  After class we headed to the pediatrician for well checks for Daniel and Zak.  They are both doing great, growing a ton and looking great.

When we finally got home after a long day, Adrian surprised us by already being home from work.  We relaxed a little at home and I started reading thru the tons of Facebook posts and messages from friends.  I really enjoy birthdays and hearing from a lot of the people in my life.  I certainly felt the love today!  After a little relaxing, we headed out to Red Robin for dinner.  The food was great as always but the service was just OK.  But we made the best of it and had a fun night.  After dinner we came home and the boys gave me my birthday presents - a bunch of new shirts.  I got 3 for subbing and 3 for teaching exercise classes.  After we digested a little, we had more ice cream cake and then got the boys to bed.  Adrian and I watched the Roseanne reboot.  It was OK, I laughed a lot but a lot of it seemed forced.  And there are a lot of questions that they didn't answer.  We'll keep watching.  After that we headed to bed since we have an early play date tomorrow for the boys.

Wednesday (3/28) Today started super early when Daniel woke me up at 2:00am and we never really went back to sleep.  I took a few short naps before finally getting up at around 6:45.  He did the same but only stayed in bed until 5:30 when he went to find Adrian "because this is what time Dad normally gets up."  The only good thing about getting up so early is that we were ready when AJ's friend David came over to hang with us all day while his parents were at work.  The boys all had a great day playing together and all got along really well!  I barely knew any of them were here and I was able to get a bunch of stuff done around the house while they played.

After David left, we took some time to get some homework done and then we headed to the Y for my Zumba class.  It was a rough class for me since I was so tired, but we had a great time anyway.  And I was sweating like crazy so that means it was a great workout!  After class we headed back home and had a delicious dinner together.  Then Adrian took over with the boys while I went out to run a few errands.  I went to Giant Eagle, Kroger, Krispy Kreme and Dollar Tree before I was too exhausted to do any more.  So I headed home, helped put the boys to bed and unloaded all of the groceries.  When we finished cleaning up, we settled in to watch Survivor and then headed to bed. 

Thursday (3/29) Thankfully we all got a great night of sleep last night!!  Unfortunately, I had to wake AJ and Daniel up so we could get ready to go since I was working all day today.  We quickly got up and moving and headed to the Harcum Center so I could teach my two Silver Sneakers classes.  When we were done, we picked up my free omelette from First Watch and ran home for a quick lunch.  Then we headed to the Y so I could teach my third Silver Sneakers class of the day.  After that class, it was finally time for some fun!  We headed to Glow Putt (Zak has been asking to go for weeks!) for a round of mini golf.  The boys had fun playing & since they didn't want me to play, I had a great time observing and cheering for them.

After a fun round of golf, we headed to the library so the boys could get some new books and movies.  We surprisingly found Cars 3 on the shelves so we'll be watching that soon as a family movie night.  After we loaded up on library items, we headed next door to Dairy Queen to redeem coupons the boys had for free ice cream cones.  We all enjoyed our ice cream treat!  Adrian met us there and took the boys home while I ran to Meijer to pick up a few things and then to teach class number 4 of the day, a Zumba class at Alliance Data.  When I finally got home after class, I was sore and exhausted.  I enjoyed a delicious dinner that Adrian had made and then we just hung out and relaxed the rest of the night.  After we got the boys to bed, Adrian and I enjoyed a few of our favorite comedies (Bill Gates on Big Bang was hilarious!) and then headed to bed.  He is off tomorrow so we are excited for a three day weekend together!

Keeping up with...Family (Weekly Wrap 3/16 - 3/22)

Friday (3/16) We survived the week and made it to Friday!  This past week was a long and busy week and we did it all on very little sleep.  We got everyone up and out to school and work on time this morning, despite Daniel and I being up for a while overnight.  After I got everyone dropped off, I headed to run a bunch of errands to hopefully set us up for the next two weeks.  I went to the apple sale at Lynd's, Aldi, Meijer, Costco & Cooper's Hawk.  It took all morning and I was exhausted when I got home.  And then I had to unload and put away everything that I bought.  When I finally finished all of that, I got to work on catching up on stuff around the house that I wasn't able to do this past week.

Before I knew it, it was time for everyone to come home from school.  AJ's friends David came home with him today to "hang."  They informed me they are too old for play dates.  All four boys had fun playing together for about two hours before his mom came to pick him up.  Then my boys continued to play Minecraft together while I worked around the house for a bit.  Adrian got stuck at work super late so our dinner was really late and our evening plans for a family movie night were scraped.  We let the boys stay up playing a little later, then got everyone to bed.  I was so exhausted that I also went to bed early while Adrian stayed up watching the basketball tournament.  Hoping for a good night of sleep for everyone!

Saturday (3/17) Happy St Patrick's Day!  We don't really do anything to celebrate, other than wearing green if we remember.  We had plans this morning for Scouts and soccer for AJ and an egg hunt for the other boys.  But it all got cancelled when we got an ice storm overnight.  So we had a relaxing morning around the house together.  Adrian and I got some stuff done while the boys played.  We also had them finish up all of their homework since we have a super busy week starting tomorrow.

After lunch, I headed out to the Y for a Zumba jam session, my third one this year!  I'm having so much fun going and learning choreo every month and being with my ZIN friends.  This jam was no exception, a ton of fun and I learned a lot.  I even got some practice with a new to me rhythm, kizomba.  I probably won't be using it in class anytime soon, but it was fun to learn something new and my legs and hips were feeling the workout.  While I was at the jam, Adrian took the boys to get haircuts and to buy some green donuts from Krispy Kreme.  All four of them got their hair cut and they all look great!

 

I got home to dinner on the table which was awesome.  Adrian used the instant pot to cook messy lasagna again and it was so good!  I ate quickly and got changed to head out on a date with AJ to see the high school production of "The Sound of Music."  We both enjoyed the show, especially watching our friend (and babysitter) Ashley as one of the nuns.  While we were there, Adrian watched the OSU basketball game with the other boys.  Unfortunately they lost, but it was a great season for them!  And now we get to watch the rest of the games just for fun.  We all stayed up way later than we should have and fell asleep as soon as our heads hit the pillows.

Sunday (3/18) After the late night last night, we all slept in a little today.  Of course that meant we missed first service of church and with the boys swim schedule we can't do second service.  So we had a relaxing morning eating our Krispy Kreme donuts and then I headed into second service to volunteer in childcare.  I had a great time hanging out with the kids!  Then I came home for a quick lunch and to get a few things done before heading to the Y to meet everyone else there for swim lessons.

When I got there, AJ and Zak were done already.  Adrian took AJ and headed to soccer practice while Daniel got in the pool with Zak for about half an hour until it was time for his class.  Then we went to his lesson while Zak swam and I watched.  When Daniel was done, we all headed home, grabbed a quick snack and picked up AJ then headed to Martial Arts.  The boys did great practicing their hand strikes and participating in relay races.  When we finally got home, Adrian grilled steaks for dinner for us and we finished up a few things around the house.  Then we got the boys to bed and watched a little basketball before heading to bed before a very busy week.

 

 

Monday (3/19) One more week of school before spring break!  Everyone got up and out to school on time this morning.  I dropped everyone off, then came home to get a few things done around the house before heading to the Y to teach my Silver Sneakers class.  After class, I headed back to school to sub for the afternoon.  I have the same class every afternoon this week and I'm excited to work with them all week.  After school, I picked up the boys and we headed to the Y for my Zumba class.  After a fun class, we headed home to have a quick dinner before AJ headed out to Boy Scouts with Adrian.  He was super excited to share that he made rank tonight at Scouts!!  We're on to the next rank now.  We got everyone in bed, watched a few comedies and then headed to bed ourselves.  Pretty good start to our week!

Tuesday (3/20) We all got up and out to work and school on time again.  After I dropped everyone off, I headed to the Harcum Center to teach my two Silver Sneakers classes.  We have so much fun in these classes and I love how much I laugh with everyone.  After class, I headed to school to sub again in the afternoon.  When school was over, we headed out to bring a meal to our friends and then came home to eat a quick dinner - it was taco Tuesday, everyone's favorite!  When we were done with dinner, we headed to school to see Daniel and his classmates perform in the 3rd grade musical "Swamped."  He was the sound engineer and did a great job of starting and stopping the music before and after each song.  We are super proud of him for doing the musical as it is not his favorite thing.  But he did great, as did all of his class mates.  When it was over, we came home to have a quick snack and show and got the boys to bed before enjoying our own quick snack and show.

Wednesday (3/21) We were dragging but we managed to get up and out on time this morning.  After I dropped everyone at school I ran a few errands and then headed out to Harcum to observe a class for training to sub it in the near future.  I enjoyed seeing a different format and meeting some new members.  When class was over, I ran my last errands and then headed into school to sub again.  It's nice to be in the same class for a week, I'm getting to know the kids pretty well.  When school was over, I picked up the boys and we headed to the Y for my Zumba class.  I was tired, but I still had a great time dancing with my friends and celebrating Down Syndrome Awareness Day.

After class, we headed to drop another meal off to a different friend and then got home to deal with homework and dinner for my boys.  Adrian got stuck at work pretty late so I was on my own for most of the night.  The boys did a great job and were rewarded with some rare mid-week video game time.  Adrian got home just in time to help put them to bed, finish cleaning up the kitchen and then watch Survivor with me before we headed to bed too.

Thursday (3/22) Started a little rough for us.  We were all dragging in the morning and AJ's bus came early so he missed it.  He got to relax at home for about 40 minutes while Adrian got ready for work and then dropped him off at school on his way.  Then while I was getting the other boys ready for school Zak informed me that there "are way better mothers than you out there."  Because I was forcing him to wear shoes and socks to school.  He's right, I am a terrible mother.  Ha!  After I got them dropped off at school, things got better.  I went and taught my two Silver Sneakers classes and we laughed a lot.  Then I went in to the school to sub in the afternoon and we laughed a lot there too. 

When school was over, I picked up the boys and we went home to get ready for our busy night.  Unfortunately Adrian got stuck at work late so I had to cancel my Zumba class tonight.  But it actually made the night easier because we all ate together and then Adrian came home and picked up AJ and Daniel to take them to the Columbus Blue Jackets hockey game.  While they were there, Zak and I went to Sonic for milkshakes and played a few games at home.  Everyone had a great night, although it was very late when they got home from watching the Jackets win.  We got them to sleep, finished up a few things around the house and headed to bed ourselves, hoping for a calmer morning tomorrow.

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

We were super busy last week and I ran out of steam on Thursday.  We also had a few nights where people didn't eat at home so we switched up a few things and postponed a few things to this week.  Adrian took the boys to the Blue Jackets game on Thursday night so we had pasta that night so everyone was full before the game.  Then Friday night I went out to eat with friends and Adrian got pizza for the boys, one half price one from Papa John's from the hockey game and one from Pizza Hut for Daniel's Book It program.

This week is spring break for us.  It's also my birthday and then Easter is next Sunday.  There are lots of special things going on and probably lots of bad eating.  Our menu plan is very easy, lots of casseroles and things I can throw together quickly.  Also lots of things that produce leftovers so that if we run late one day, we can just have leftovers.  I'm not sure what we're having for dinner for Easter, but it is only the five of us so we'll keep it pretty low key.

For spring break each boy got to pick one thing they want to do so we're trying to get all of that in during the week.  They want to go to COSI, the zoo, Glow Putt, roller skating, hang with friends, play video games and have two family movie nights.  I'm also working all of my normal classes, plus subbing two extra classes.  And we have pediatrician appointments.  Plus we have coupons for free ice cream at Dairy Queen, donuts to pick up at Krispy Kreme for great report cards and a few birthday freebies I want to use.  It's going to be a busy and fun week!!

Here's what we're eating this week:
Sunday - Pizza and Ice Cream Cake with my brother to kick off my birthday week
Monday - Instant Pot Mac and Cheese
Tuesday - Red Robin for my birthday
Wednesday - Sour Cream Noodle Bake (carry over from last week)
Thursday - Fish Tacos (carry over from last week)
Friday - Pasta with Vodka Sauce (I'll probably add sausage or chicken to this for us)
Saturday - Chicken Taco Casserole - I made this for two friends last week and both said it was great.  I have enough for us to have a tray of it and planned to do it last week but ran out of time.  So I'll do it sometime this week and heat it after a very busy Saturday.

Water Flavor - I did not enjoy the lime water from last week at all.  And I actually still have a bunch of it left in the pitcher.  I will probably do pear water this week, or I may take a week off since it's late on Sunday and I have a bunch of lime water to finish up.  We'll see how the next day or so goes.

Overnight Oats - I'm taking a week off from these.  We got bagels yesterday so that will be breakfast for a few days.  I also have a few servings of oats left from last week that we will eat this week.  And I may make pancakes one day since everyone loves them.  We'll just be fending for ourselves this week for breakfast.

Use It Up - I'm taking a break from this too.  I am hoping not to go to the grocery store at all this week so we'll be using up whatever we have in the house all week.

Lunches - I'll be having salad all week using up lots of lettuce that we have as well as the hard boiled eggs I have from last week.  I want to finish them all this week because we'll be coloring two dozen next week so I'll have a lot to eat after that.