And Christmas is here!

When my 13 year old son said, "Mom, I can't believe how fast this year has gone," I knew that it wasn't just me.  As an adult, I expect for life to move quickly, but when a child feels it too, it gives me pause.

What can I do to slow it down?
How can I make it simpler?
What am I doing to treasure the moments as they come?

Christmas seems to have jumped on us this year with no advance notice.  I was sick on Thanksgiving weekend, which is usually when we purchase and decorate our tree and house.  The tree finally happened exactly 10 days before Christmas.  It came into the house 3 days ago.  It has two ornaments on it.

But we are happy.
Airman Son has arrived, and we have been enjoying time with him.
We will visit with family, and enjoy some quiet moments at home.
Even with the lack of decorations, I'm hoping it will be meaningful.

And what are we eating, you may ask?  :)

Sunday~ I went to the doc (AGAIN) and got big meds.  So no cooking... chicken from Publix, along with potato salad and baked beans.  I did buy a box of Annie's mac'n'cheese and made that, but that was all the cooking I did.
Monday~ the shot from the doc took effect. I feel MUCH better.  Airman Son arrives.  Beef tenderloin, twice baked potatoes, tossed green salad, rolls.
Tuesday~ going over to my parents' house to celebrate with them.  Mom's Lasagna!

Wednesday~  CHRISTMAS DAY!! Organic ham, pasta salad (hubby's request), Ellie Krieger's Maple Citrus Salad, swiss beans, crescent rolls, and chocolate cake for dessert (again, at hub's request).

Thursday~ Spaghetti.  Simple and comforting.
Friday~ Various leftovers from the week.
Saturday~ Airman Son returns to duty; I'll decide then what to cook.  Maybe some soup.

May your holiday be blessed with love and peace.

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Two weeks in the life

Busy.
Busy, busy, busy.
I'm trying to remind myself every day to stop and savor the moments.

Last week, we did eat, and actually stuck to our plan pretty well.
I just forgot to post it.
Sunday~ red beans and rice
Monday~ tacos
Tuesday~ pizza at school before the Straight No Chaser concert.  My chorus kiddos LOVED it, and it was so much fun!

A small group of my chorus kids ready for the concert.  Woo hoo!

Wednesday~ nachos w/leftover taco meat
Thursday~ beef tips w/gravy and egg noodles
Friday~ spaghetti
Saturday~ hubs decided he wanted to grill burgers, so I made some oven-roasted potato wedges to go alongside.

This week is, of course, Thanksgiving.  My family is traveling to see my brother in Orlando, but I am desperate need of some down time to rest, so we will be staying home.  It will be the first time in our married life that we have not been with extended family for the holiday.  I'm a little sad, but I know that my body needs the time.

For this week:
Sunday~ open-faced roast beef sandwiches (homemade bread and leftover beef from Thursday)
Monday~ lasagna (made with leftover spaghetti sauce from Friday)
Tuesday~ chicken noodle soup and sandwiches (rain is in the forecast)
Wednesday~ leftovers!  Gotta get the fridge cleaned out for all the Thanksgiving goodies.
Thursday~ HAPPY THANKSGIVING!  Hubs will smoke a turkey.  I will make stuffing, swiss beans, and maybe mashed potatoes (only because I know we'll eat them with leftover turkey).  We'll have pumpkin and pecan pie with homemade whipped cream, and then fall into a food coma. :)
Friday~ Thanksgiving leftovers
Saturday~ more leftovers!

And then it's December....life is whizzing by.  Count your blessings.  Be thankful.  Be blessed.

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Happy Veterans Day and a Menu for a Crazy Week

Happy Veterans Day!

My husband is a former Marine, and I have two sons who are currently active duty.  My brother is also a former Marine.  I am blessed to have many vets in my family and I'm so proud of their service.  Take time today to thank one.

We have a C-R-A-Z-Y week ahead.
Doctors appointments and out-of-town performances are going to make it hectic.  But we will survive, and we've gotta eat.

Sunday~ Sub sandwiches and homemade french fries (my guys were delighted with this).  Brownies for dessert.
Monday~ Happy Veterans Day!  So thankful for my hubby...being a Marine helped shape him into the man he is today.  Ds#3 has an ortho appt today, and they warned us ahead of time that it would be heavy-duty, so soft and easy food is on the menu.  We'll have chili.
Tuesday~ Back to work. Breakfast for dinner (we didn't have it last week).  Biscuits, eggs, grits, bacon, grapefruit.
Wednesday~ Dr. appt after work means a later-than-usual dinner.  Red beans & rice with cornbread.
Thursday~ Out of town all day. Roast in the crock pot with mashed potatoes made ahead of time.
Friday~ Another day out of town.  Boys will fend for themselves in the kitchen.
Saturday~ WHEW!  We made it! I will decide then. :)

On the budget homefront, I didn't do so well with not grocery shopping.  And my husband decided on Monday night that instead of coming home to have breakfast after a long day of rehearsals, he would take us out to eat so I didn't have to cook.  That was not great, but it wasn't terrible.  Hopefully this week will be a little better.  Even though I have some late evenings, hubby is mentally prepared and dinners should be easy for him to handle without feeling the tug to go out until I get home.

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Where did the month go??? November's First Menu...

October flew by.
And I'd ask where it went.... but I was there.
It was busy.  And crazy.
My baby boy turned 13.  Seriously.
And here we are....
November.

Hubs and I have had a heart-to-heart about finances and the toll that eating out takes on ours... so we have TWO meals planned out this month.  We had one already. 
The rest of this month, I will be cooking at home, as frugally as possible, as we attempt to pay down debt.

On Saturday, hubby grilled hamburgers and Italian sausages.  I used the remnants of the ground beef to make a few meatballs to throw in Sunday's spaghetti sauce to make it a little more than just plain red sauce.  I also made chicken stock from the carcass of a chicken I roasted last week, and there was enough chicken to make BBQ chicken sandwiches for lunch on Sunday too (plus leftovers for another night!) - LOVE a "free" meal!


So here's the menu for this week:
Sunday~ Spaghetti and pasta sauce with meatballs and sausage, served with Rosemary Olive Oil bread (I made two loaves of bread - one for later in the week to go with leftovers of this meal)
Monday~ Breakfast for dinner: biscuits, eggs, grits, sausage, grapefruit from our backyard tree
Tuesday~ Leftovers from Sunday's dinner before our All County Honors Choir Concert
Wednesday~ Roast w/gravy (leftovers from a huge roast that I froze), mashed potatoes, green beans from the summer garden (from the freezer)
Thursday~ Rain in the forecast calls for Soup!  Homemade tomato soup (and I even have homemade chicken stock to use in this soup.  LOVE it when the plan comes together!), grilled cheese sandwiches on Rosemary Olive Oil Bread.  YUM!
Friday~ Leftover smorgasboard, also known as "Must-Goes" around here
Saturday~  picking up an order of beef from a local farm, along with some fresh milk... so I'll probably make something with some of that. :)  This is the only shopping I plan to do this week.  We'll see how well I can stick to it.

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Plan? WHAT Plan???

Our crazy busy lovely life.
It has been absolutely insane.
And I keep making a menu plan.... and we keep NOT following it!
Oh well....so we try again. :)

Sunday~ delicious lunch with dear friends, and none of us felt too hungry for dinner, so we munched a little and were happy.
Monday~ Spaghetti.  YUM!
Tuesday~ Hubs has a late meeting.  We will have beef tenderloin with mashed potatoes and broccoli when he gets home.
Wednesday~ Hubs is bowling, so we'll have leftovers.
Thursday~ Either pancake supper, or finish up our leftovers.
Friday~ date with my dad to see Chris Tomlin in concert.  The boys are on their own. :)
Saturday~  GREEK FESTIVAL! OPA!!!

What's cookin' in your casa?  Share it at Menu Plan Monday.

Crazy busy-ness and September's end

Wow.
We had the first concert of the year last week, and it went off just fine... the favorite piece of the evening was our version of "Clouds" by Zach Sobiech.  If you've never heard it, go here.  You won't be sorry.

And we did eat.  I just forgot to post about it.

So, this week, it's no less busy.
Sunday~ Ham slices or chicken (diner's preference), collard greens, scalloped potatoes
Monday~ Mom has an out-of-town meeting.  Fend For Yourself.
Tuesday~ Mom is out-of-town, followed by Open House for everyone.  We'll probably go out.
Wednesday~ Hubby bowls, but we'll eat at home.  Chicken with mushroom gravy over egg noodles, broccoli.
Thursday~ either sandwiches or breakfast.  We'll see what we feel like. :)
Friday~ WHEW! I'm thinking nachos... tons of cheese, refried beans, salsa, YUM.  And easy.  Yes.
Saturday~ I will be out of town for most of the day, so it may be a rotisserie chicken that I pick up at the store on the way in!

What's your plan?  Share at Menu Plan Monday.

The week-after-sickness menu

Last week, ds#3 was diagnosed with strep and an ear infection, and on Wednesday, hubs FINALLY consented to go to the doc and was told he has bronchitis.  YUCK!  This mama did everything possible to keep from getting sick...and so far, I've succeeded.

That said, I did not cook much of what I had planned last week, simply because my guys didn't feel like eating much.  Hubs did not bowl or go to class as scheduled, and I didn't buy a ham, because we weren't even eating the food I had already made.  There will be lots of repeats in our menu this week. :)

Sunday~ Chicken, green beans, twice-baked potatoes
Monday~ Sandwiches (bowling night)
Tuesday~ Spaghetti, tossed green salad
Wednesday~ Leftovers (hubs bowls)
Thursday~ Breakfast for dinner
Friday~ Beef tenderloin, roasted potatoes, broccoli
Saturday~ TBA

Share your menus at Menu Plan Monday!