Our vacation bible school theme this year is sports related, Game Day Central is the official name I think. People were decorating like crazy all last week and I spent all day Friday doing our room with friends, then again for about 3+ hours on Sunday. VBS started yesterday and we’ll end on Friday; it’s only Tuesday morning and I’m tired already! On my way out the door but thought I’d post some pics of our decorating efforts.
Click through on the extended page for them:
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This is going to be another one of those weeks where our meals might not happen as planned………Vacation Bible School starts for me today and I’ll be busy with a very long week! Also hubby has some work to do that might take him away at meal time and I usually don’t want to cook for just me so. Here’s what I’m kinda, sorta, maybe planning, and hope it comes together! Be sure to visit our hostess Laura for more menu ideas this week.
Salmon and veggies on the grill
Crockpot deer steak, sweet potatoes, sesame green beans
Crockpot meat loaf, corn……I saved this recipe when Annie posted it a few weeks ago, you can the meatloaf recipe in this post.
Slow Cooker Thai Chicken, orzo and some kind of veggie to go with it
Leftovers!
Salmon melts, green salad, fruit
I planned a lot of crockpot things since I’ll be so busy at church……if hubby is gone I can eat leftovers just fine!
Not trying to put these with a certain day right now because it’s just too much effort at the moment with not knowing his work schedule for sure.
Happy Monday!
And plenty to drink! Our town has a festival in June, blues music mostly but it’s not something we ever really attend. The temperature in the South is about 105 in June and not pleasant for being outdoors, well for me anyway! Last year our church decided to do a project when the concerts are beginning and people are parking and walking to the gate. We give away free cold water bottles……cold water is good when it’s very hot outside! Hubby & I worked at this last year with some friends and did this year again. I’m not sure how many bottles we had, close to a thousand I think. Last year we had some left over but we did give away all of it this weekend. You’d be surprised how many people won’t take something that’s free! A few tried to pay but we told them it was free, actually I think we were supposed to say that we were demonstrating God’s love in a practical way but occasionally someone would forget to say that! So we tried to remind each other. Some were very glad to get cold water. We were glad that we got to be under the shade of a big tree for most of the time!
I’ll just post a couple of pictures on the extended page if you’re interested.
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Floats, frosty and frappuccinos, OH MY!
I’ve seen so many commercials lately for a frosty float from Wendy’s that I’ve been wanting to try it. Thought I’d get one Wednesday to take on the plane but alas, there was no Wendy’s in the airport! When Stacy picked me up in Jackson we went shopping for a while and of course landed in one of our favorite spots, Target. Lots of times we go first to the Starbucks counter in the front of the store for a specialty coffee but it’s been too hot lately. However Stacy said she’d been wanting to try their new summer drink, Orange Creme Frappuccino.
I’m not a huge fan of something “orangey” to drink but these were very good and refreshing. I liked mine better when I mixed up the whipped cream into the drink! I did NOT need to know the calories when Stacy looked it up later. 😆 I live almost 90 miles away from the closest Starbucks so this isn’t something I’d have very often. I do have Wendy’s so I might have to try their frosty float soon! And, GASP, I forgot to go to Sonic last night for the FREE root beer floats! I’m not a root beer drinker but thought maybe it might be good in a float. Did any of you get the free float last night? I’m feeling very deprived right now. 😥
silly girl
updated: Ok, forgot to say……..these were the ones with NO coffee in them!
I just got home this morning from being in Texas for 6 days. My plane landed yesterday afternoon and sis Stacy picked me up because the boys were playing golf, as usual! We shopped a bit, ate supper out, then crashed. Don & I got up at 4:30 this morning to drive home so he could be at work early….I’m exhausted!
On Monday night I rode with Trent to take the kids to Barnes & Noble so they could look around and play with the train/toys for a while. I don’t get to a bookstore very often so I decided I’d buy something for myself; but that didn’t last long! Trent & Shanna’s 3 year old Ava Clair likes to have stories told to her at bedtime or nap time and she always asked for “the piggy story.” So I told it about 73 times while there and let me tell you, my story telling/fairy tale skills are way rusty! I guess I thought I’d never forget those things but the details eluded me around 11 the first night we were there. After about the 60th telling of the story I knew I had to buy a Three Little Pigs book for Ava Clair!
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Summertime does mean playing in the water doesn’t it? This time it was the sprinkler……kids are so happy with simple things sometimes aren’t they! Mine always loved doing this too.
I’ve had a good time visiting in Texas…….I’ll be home later today and maybe I can get around to visiting all your blogs. If it’s very late then I might have to pop by on Thursday! I miss reading what’s going on with you all and hope you’re having a good week.
I got to go with Shanna yesterday when she took the kids to get haircuts! Grayson has been quite a few times before but it was a first for Ava Clair. We went to a cute place that does just cuts for kids. They have chairs or trucks for them to sit in and they could pick a movie or dvd to watch while they were getting their hair done. Ava Clair is a little like my Elizabeth was……didn’t have much hair when born and what comes in is wispy and thin. So it’s so hard to get it cut because it has taken so long to get any at all. My mother in law always told me that if we’d keep Elizabeth’s cut it would look thicker. Ava Clair didn’t get a whole lot cut off but got it shaped up with a few bangs in it and it looks a bit thicker now. She looked really cute! And Grayson wanted his cut like a “reptile”! That little guy loves dinosaurs, reptiles and such! So he got a summer cut that they can use some gel or product on if he wants to get it to “stick up” a bit, and he wanted it like that yesterday! It was fun to go with them. Click below for some pics.
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I’ll have a short week again cooking, a good thing I guess! But will try to have a plan for the part of the week that I am cooking. Hubby had to work out of town a few days last week so some of my meals didn’t happen and I’ll try again to have them this week! Not sure how the week will progress.
Happy Monday! Be sure to visit Laura for everyone else’s menus and recipe ideas.
Mon/Tuesday……..eating with family
Wednesday……….salmon & veggies
Thursday………….Easy Vegetable Rice Stew
Friday………………Quesadillas
I still reserve the right to change my mind later after shopping, something else might strike my fancy!
I had a birthday party to attend this weekend for a sweet little three year old girl! I had been thinking for a while that I would drive but wasn’t thrilled to make an almost 9 hour drive by myself. It’s hard for Don to get away this time of the year because they’re so busy at work……if he flies he can make a quick trip, not miss too much work and still get home to teach his class. So we flew to Texas for the party! When we landed he said, “that hour flight beats driving any day!” He might be right. He’s already gone back home and is trying to get reorganized for the upcoming work week.
I’m going to church today with my kids, possibly some errands later, and a bit more visiting to do. I think Ava Clair has a follow up dentist appointment to check up on the tooth that got knocked loose and bonded back in. I will get to keep Grayson during that time. My flight home is in a couple of days and then hopefully I can visit all my blog friends. Bible school starts in about a week and I was supposed to bring my teacher’s book with me to read through and prepare and I can’t find it, so it might be a bit hectic when I do get back.
Hope everyone has had a good weekend and I’ll try to check in later if I can!
I’ve gotten in the habit of carrying my digital camera with me everywhere…never know when you might want to take a picture! I grabbed it the other night to take when I rode in the golf cart with Don and afterwards we were going to a farm to check a job. The main thing I took was books because I knew I’d read most of the time we were gone. 🙂 When it got close to dark we noticed that the sun was pretty, very red and getting low fast so I whipped out my camera to take some pictures. BUT, the camera sorta died on me! I figured it needed a battery so didn’t think too much of it right then. I was a little bummed when we came upon the fires out in the wheat fields, thought I couldn’t take pics but we used Don’s cell phone and then I emailed them home while he finished checking the job. For cell phone pics they weren’t too bad. I had a bit of a melt-down moment later in the night though….I remembered that usually the camera gives me a few “warnings” about low battery and then it closes when it is just about out of juice. It didn’t do any of that, it opened and then nothing! It was late and I didn’t feel like running to Walmart to get another battery to see if that would fix it; I actually tossed and turned some during the night over it, silly! (I’ m going to a birthday party this weekend and I didn’t want to miss taking pictures! And I did NOT want to have to buy a camera spur of the moment!) I depend on that thing too much and use it way more than I should I suppose. To my great relief the new battery took care of it! I’ve had the camera 4 years now, it’s the first digital I’ve had and I have no idea how long they last. Cameras have changed a lot since I first got mine so it might be time to look for another one anyway. I would much rather get one before something happened to mine! Stacy got a newer one a while back but I’m not sure she’s 100% happy with it because it has a delay before it flashes, is that right Stacy? So I’m wondering if anyone else has a camera that they love, it has features that they love and it works really well…. could you leave me a comment and tell me what yours is! I might want to think about a new one sometime soon so any ideas would be helpful. Thanks internet friends!
I believe I’ll buy a back up battery today and keep with me at all times!
I was tagged by Debi for this fun little book meme; being a homeschooling mom she reads quite often!
This is all about the books you’re reading or going to read.
Not sure who to tag, Debi tagged Stacy already but I think this is one Lynne could do; she’s also been reading circles around me!
Next 5 books on your to be read shelf:
1. In This Mountain by Jan Karon
2. On a Wing and a Prayer by Katherine Valentine
3. To The Nines by Janet Evanovich
4. The County Fair by Katherine Valentine
5. It Had To Be You by Susan Elizabeth Phillips
Last 4 books you’ve read:
1. The Year of Pleasures by Elizabeth Berg
2. Grace Will Lead Me Home by Katherine Valentine
3. Miss Julia’s School of Beauty by Ann B. Ross
4. A Gathering of Angels by Katherine Valentine
Last 3 books you’ve borrowed (library or friend):
1. 204 Rosewood Lane by Debbie Macomber
2. The Year of Pleasures by Elizabeth Berg
3. The Covenant by Beverly Lewis (another one still to be read!)
Last 2 non-fiction books you’ve read: (this one is harder for me because I almost always read fiction!)
1. 90 Minutes in Heaven by Don Piper
2. Things Pondered by Beth Moore
The 1 book you wish everyone would read:
Maybe I will say Les Miserables by Victor Hugo or any of Karen Kingsbury’s books….nope I can’t do it, it’s too hard to pick just one!
So tell me what you’ve been reading lately…….
Monday evening hubby wanted me to ride with him to a field to check something so he could finish his work day out. However, we first had to go to the golf course while it was still light so he could hit golf balls for a few minutes! Gotta have those priorities in order you know! Then we rode about 45 minutes away for him to look at a pivot that had crashed in a farmer’s field. We began to notice that there seemed to be big plumes of smoke in the sky at frequent intervals along the way and he told me it was probably farmers burning off their wheat fields after harvest. The wheat was planted last fall sometime and he says it goes dormant in the winter, then in the spring grows until time for harvest. I think a lot of them have been cutting wheat recently and when they’re done, they burn the field with all the stalks and what’s left. I asked why they do that and Don said that it made it easier for them to come behind it and plant soybeans, which I guess some of them will do soon now that they’ve burned everything. On the way to where we were going it was still light enough to take pictures but I was sorry I didn’t have my camera with me! He used his cell phone and we took a few pictures because we thought it was kinda neat looking!
Click below for the shots:
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We watched a moving video at church yesterday about Memorial Day….I hope we all remember our troops and what they are doing to protect our country and all the ones who’ve given their lives for our freedom. I’m grateful for them, and for our country. This phrase was in the video several times and I really liked it:
“Let your grateful tribute be prayer.”
“O our God, will you not judge them? For we have no power to face this vast army that is attacking us. We do not know what to do, but our eyes are upon you.” II Chronicles 20:12
Happy Memorial Day! Hope some of you are enjoying a long weekend…….hubby has to work today so not much going on here.
This will be a short week for me but I’m making an abbreviated plan anyway. As always, thanks to Laura for hosting us each week!
Monday……Pasta salad, grilled chicken, corn on cob
Tuesday……night off
Wednesday..Salmon, sauteed veggies
Thursday…..Easy Vegetable Rice Stew
Friday………dinner with family
I’ve been thinking about this subject for a while and trying to decide whether to share it or not…because if I tell you, you might think I’m crazy or just a little bit weird! Or you may already think that and are just being nice. 😆 But here goes:
At times I seem to be rather quirky obsessed cheap frugal about trying to get every.single.last. drop of a product out of the container it’s in! If it’s in a bottle it can be rather easy, just open it up and pour out the rest. When the hairspray bottle won’t spray I just pour out the old into the new bottle and keep going. When the liquid dishwasher or laundry detergent bottle starts getting hard to squeeze I keep it turned upside down so I can get more out. Once I think I kept using the dishwasher liquid for almost a month by keeping it upside down! I’d shake on it each time and there’d always be enough to pour in the dispenser, and that can be a real moneysaver if you can go several weeks longer using different products. One of the harder containers for me to totally empty is some kind of tube, whether it’s the one my tinted moisturizer in is or a tube of lotion from Bath & Body or some kind of hair product. When it gets low I start squeezing from the bottom, trying to push it all toward the lid. Then I bend it all around and squeeze the nozzle from side to side….it works but it gets rather tiresome doing it every day. (I know, I know: I should probably just throw it out and not be so obsessive about using it all but there’s just something in me that won’t let me do it.) Today I ran across the BEST TIP EVER for getting all the product out of a tube! And I tell you I’m giddy, just GIDDY with the excitement of it! I think it was Coach J that left me a comment yesterday with a link to someone’s Lost post. I went to her blog to read about Lost and found this wonderful tip!
Here’s what to do…..CUT the tube in half or almost at the halfway point and then with your fingers you can reach in and get everything out; brilliant! Amanda has written about it so well already and will tell you exactly how to do this. She’s gotten 2 extra weeks out of her hair product this way! Her pictures and explanations are great and she even shows you how to put it back together to keep it from drying out. You can check out her fun post here. I think you’re gonna love this; you gotta go over to see for yourself! It is just such an ingenious idea and I wonder why I never thought of doing it before! It’s such a simple thing but it doesn’t take much to make me happy sometimes!
I’ll be trying it out soon on my tube of tinted moisturizer:
I just love this fun little bloggy world!
