Happy Monday my Friends!
I hope you all had a wonderful weekend and are starting this new week out with sunbeams and a smile. Lol ☀️ I know some kiddos are starting school already this week. Aaron is still doing his university online and Annie starts school next week. Her school is still monitoring covid numbers in our area, but the plan as of now is that she will go to school 4 days a week and have one asynchronous day at home. They will have a lot of protocols in place for safety including mask wearing, temp checking, distancing (her school is private and small so they can do that better thankfully), lunch in the classrooms (no hot lunch), outdoor class time, staggering times of classes and different grades etc. So I feel better about it all. And if the numbers change they will go to full online learning, which they did an excellent job of this past Spring. So I feel pretty good about things either way.
This past weekend was really nice. Last Thursday my Bro and SIL came over and hadn't seen them in months! We played games outside and board games inside, had good food, laughed a lot. It was wonderful! Then Friday - Sunday Annie was gone to a hockey tourney. I accomplished some things around home. My mom came over and we had some meals and played games ( with Aaron too). My dryer is broken and they're ordering parts. So I did some laundry over at my Mom's. Soaked up some sun and played outside with Ruby. Enjoying these fleeting days of summer as much as possible!
THE WEATHER OUTSIDE IS:
ON THE BREAKFAST PLATE THIS MORNING
raspberry coconut overnight oats, coffee
HOW I AM FEELING THIS MORNING:
Feeling ready for my day. Sun is shining and it's a beautiful day. House is pretty tidy and after I accomplish some projects will go sit in the sun a while and read. Maybe the kiddos will want to jump in the pool later. The pontoon battery is dead - won't charge anymore...so I'll have Aaron pull it out of there and bring it in and get a new one.
ON MY MIND:
My sweet baby boy is going to turn 20 tomorrow! How did this happen?? Trying to figure out plans for celebrating him. I think my Mom will come over tomorrow. Later in the week Ad and his Dad will come celebrate here and we'll do my FIL's bday too as his isn't too long after Aaron's. Same for my Dad & step Mom - my Dad's bday is this month too, so we'll do something with them one day (& maybe my bro & SIL come over again too). So lots of planning for food and fun! 🎉
AS I LOOK AROUND THE HOUSE
Bright and sunny. Annie unloaded the dishwasher so I guess it's my turn to load it now. 😉
CHORE I'M NOT LOOKING FORWARD TO THIS WEEK:
I have yet to finish my craft room - I tidied quite a while ago, but I want to give the room an overhaul and re-organize (tabled this for now but will get back to it once we get through Aaron's bday stuff and back to school time)
CURRENTLY READING
summer magazines
ON THE TV TODAY:
I've been catching up on some movies I had taped. I watched Lady Bird this weekend and the movie Dan in Real Life. I've also started bingeing Parks & Rec. I have some HGTV shows taped as well. And the kiddos and I watch Big Brother together
ON THE MENU THIS WEEK:
MONDAY - french toast bake I didn't make last week, bacon, fruit
TUESDAY - Aaron's pick for his birthday - not sure yet
WEDNESDAY - whole wheat pasta with marinara, salad
THURSDAY - might be night celebrating FIL & Aaron bday - not sure which day works yet. If we do we'll have BBQ pulled pork sandwiches (Aaron's fave), baked beans, coleslaw, corn on the cob, chips, fruit salad and black forest poke cake & ice cream
FRIDAY - I did Blue Apron before and I liked it. But I had a discount to try a different at home food service so I'm starting Hello Fresh this weekend and try for a while. Doing 3 meals a week. They have more options than BA did per week, and more things I think the kiddos will like. One of the meals this time and might have Friday is crispy cheddar chicken, loaded bacon mashed potatoes, & asparagus (Aaron will love this one)
I made some really yummy overnight oats for breakfast today. Last night, in a bowl I mixed about 1/2 c. milk (well it had some 1/2 & 1/2 mixed in too), some vanilla greek yogurt (couple big spoonfuls) and a splash of almond extract. Then I stirred in about 1/2 c. of oats. Mixed well, covered and put in the fridge overnight.
This morning I mashed up some fresh raspberries and mixed them with some raspberry jam. I toasted some coconut and added all of that along with some finally chopped pecans to the oats mixture. It was delish!
TO RELAX THIS WEEK I WILL:
celebrate my sweet boy, play games with kids and other family, zoom with my GF's, take Ruby for a walk, spend time with Scott when he's back from AK this week or next
FROM THE CAMERA:
When my Bro and SIL came over we played driveway pickle ball. I made yummy snacks including a big cookie. Why not save time and make one big one with the dough? I made mine in a pie plate. 😋
We've had lots of lovely weather and it still feels like summer days. Ruby and I are soaking it up as much as possible!
We did have a storm over the weekend and the sky turned a weird gold - the pic doesn't really show how weird it looked. So i just upped the twinkle lights and cozy time around the house. ✨
This weekend I received the sweetest gift from a bestie of mine, just because she knew I'd love it! I'm leaving it out and letting it be my pre Fall moment as I know Autumn is truly right around the corner. And it just makes me happy to look at it. ♥️
PRAYER LIST:
For our world and all of it's continued turmoil and pain. For a covid vaccine. And all of those fighting on the front lines of this pandemic. For those sick, suffering, isolated and alone. For peace and healing and unity. For the safety and health of my family and friends, especially those doing sporting events right now. For Scott continuing his work in law enforcement and as a first responder and his safe trip home soon 🙏 For a friend that I graduated school with not doing well in her battle with cancer and for all of her family during this time.