Rainy Day Fun

We were supposed to go to the fair yesterday.  It was 12 degrees and pouring rain.  Not fun!  So we had a day with Aunty indoors instead!  We went for lunch, then came back to our house and made all this!

The top picture is all the projects we made from Perler Beads (called Melt Beads in our house).  The bottom project is made from a sock puppet kit, but really you could make it yourself with pompoms, felt, and glue easily! 

We really made the best out of a rainy day and look forward to the next one now!

Our summer so far...

Here is a summary of our summer so far!

• We started summer off by going to the library and joining the summer reading club.  Everytime the kids go in to exchange books they get to roll the dice and move their little token around the board they get a free "something" (pencil, eraser, whistle).  It's great fun and encourages them to read over the summer!  Score! 
• We have gone to Grandma's a few times and visited but she is spending a lot of her summer at my Aunt's house in BC so not as much as I had planned.
• We have met my sister for brunch a bunch of times and gone shopping.
• We attended 2 beautiful weddings.
• We did a tour of the oldest standing building in Alberta and also saw a real tomb.  http://culture.alberta.ca/museums/historicsiteslisting/fatherlacombechapel/default.aspx
• We went to a Canada Day parade and my son was in the parade with his Karate group.
• We went to a rope climbing gym.  I watched, but it is amazing how fearless my kids can be!

The baby is growing like a weed!  She is 13 lbs already (at 12 weeks) and we are just completely in love with her!  She is giving me 7 hours of solid sleep a night so it might be time to transition her to her crib in her own room.  She is quickly outgrowing her bassinet!  I am sure she is in the bassinet more for me than for her now.

We still have lots planned for the rest of summer though! 

• Swimming lessons
• a Fair
• Farmer's Markets
• Fishing
• a possible trip to Vancouver Island
• And much much more!

I am still looking for healthy lunch and snack ideas!  :)  We can only eat KD so many times in a row before we get bored with it!

My Next Vehicle....

My next vehicle is going to have pleather seats for easy cleaning.

My next vehicle is going to have a huge trunk.

My next vehicle is going to have a plastic shield in between the driver and the passenger seats

My next vehicle is going to have a cup holder big enough for a large slurpee/pop/milk shake.

My next vehicle is going to have an auto clean button (like my stove).

My next vehicle is going to seat at least 7 people comfortably.

My next vehicle is going to be a silly putty free zone.

Seriously.

I spent Saturday cleaning out my car because we might be selling it.  In six years I have managed to spill more than one drink out of my cupholder because the cups were too big for the holder and wouldn't go in properly, including a strawberry milkshake that almost caused a divorce because of course it was my husband's fault the milkshake I bought him tipped over onto the floor.  I also had a full large iced tea spill in the same spot.  I don't know what was in the back seat but all the steam cleaning in the world couldn't get my cleaner to stop sucking up brown stuff.  And there is a lovely spot of silly putty that will not come out of the seat.  Some lucky to be alive child left it there on a hot day about 3 years ago and it melted in.  And don't even ask me what is sprayed across the ceiling! 

PS.  The big trunk is to put naughty kids in.  ;0)  Hahahaha I wish.

Summer Planning

The kids have exactly 4.5 days left of school.  At this point I don't even know why I bother sending them.  Their supplies have already started making their way home and they basically are using up art supplies and watching movies all day while their teachers work on report cards.  I am incredibly proud of my son though, he is getting an achievement award tomorrow for being a genius!  No, really! 

Anyhow, to get ready for our first ever summer at home, I have been planning like mad.  The last thing I want is for September to be looming and realize we spent our summer sitting at home watching movies.  So, I made up a calendar and put clipart on the days we know we have stuff happening (weddings, swimming lessons, etc) then I made a sheet of just clip art that I am going to print on a sticker page so we can cut them out and stick them to the calendar as we plan things (usually a few days ahead).  We also made a big list of places we can go, things we can do at home on rainy days, and things we can do at home on hot days.  My plan is to do one "field trip" per week that gets us out somewhere super fun (like the zoo) and one day a week that is free but out (like a picnic in a park across the city) and then the other 3 days a week we will either be at home hanging out or at my mom's visiting.  I didn't plan anything for weekends because we already have filled a lot of them up with weddings and other events, plus my husband will be home on weekends so he will want to be working on projects (like skirting the deck, replacing our poor dead tree in the front yard, etc.)

I am so excited about this summer!  My kids have always been in daycare all summer before because I have always worked, so this is going to be so much fun!!!

What are your favorite summer activities? 

I am also starting to think of fun lunches for the summer so we aren't eating Kraft Dinner all summer long, so any kid-friendly recipes you have would be great!  I know we will make soft pretzels at least a couple of times, grilled cheese, hot dogs, chicken wraps and lots of sandwiches!  They need to be quick and easy with minimal cooking so that I still feel like making dinner after the hubby gets home ;-)

Well, the baby is fussing.  I guess that is the end of this post.  Duty calls!

1st Weekly Menu Planning Sunday Extravaganza!

Ever notice if you add "Extravaganza!" to the end of an activity it makes it sound more fun?  :)

I must get back into menu planning.  A:  It will make my life easier with a baby if I know what I have to do for dinner that night.  B:  It will save us money because I will know what I need for groceries that week and not be throwing out rotten vegetables by the end of the week.  C:  it will save us money because when someone asks me at 5pm "What's for supper?" my answer won't be "Oh shit, I forgot to take something out.  Do you want McDonald's or Pizza?" and D:  It will help me lose weight.  See C for why.  LOL.

So, when planning a menu for the week I think about a few things. 

• What do I have in my freezer for protein?
• Ground Beef
• Steak (already marinated)
• Pork Chops
• Beef Roast
• Shrimp
• Hot dogs
• What is the forecast for the week?
• Monday:  Hot with possible thundershowers
• Tuesday:  Nice and Sunny
• Wednesday:  Mild with showers off and on
• Thursday:  Same as Wednesday
• Friday:  Showers
• What nights do we have stuff going on?
• Tuesday I have a late afternoon doctor's appt and my son has Karate.  Rush Night!!!  Friday is my Birthday.  I am NOT cooking.

So, tonight is the night before I go for groceries.  It's supposed to be mainly sunny and 21 degrees today.  Sounds like BBQ! 

Sunday:  BBQ pork chops, perogies, corn
Monday:  Hot dog bites, beans, fries
Tuesday:  Spaghetti, salad
Wednesday:  steak, roasted potatoes, asparagus
Thursday:  BLT's and home fries
Friday:  Either dinner out or pizza in
Saturday:  I am going out.  Jay and the kids will eat leftovers or I will make them grilled cheese before I leave
Sunday:  BBQ ribs for Father's day! (At my parents)

The best part about this menu is I only need the following groceries!

• Bread
• Tomato
• Lettuce
• asparagus
• cheese

Happy Menu Planning!