Menu Plan Ideas & Fun Fall Weekends

Soccer schedules (and baseball in the spring) always do this to me...

mercilessly point out the necessity of having -and following- a meal plan.

This is what mine looks like these days:

Monday = Make-ahead casserole

Tuesday = Italian night

Wednesday = CrockPot night

Thursday = Favorite chicken dish

Friday = Hamburg-inspired night

For whatever reason, I am much more likely to stick with this plan when I keep things categorized and not terribly specific. 

Go figure!

I always have plenty of veggies to use as sides, so I don't bother to write those in.

I'll occasionally swap in something like salmon or BLTs & Chowder so it doesn't get monotonous.

And on the weekends, we do pretty much whatever we want. That also helps break up the routine.

I love reading how busy Moms maintain some level of sanity in the kitchen, so I thought I'd share my own strategy. I'll post some favorite recipes throughout the fall, too.

Speaking of fall, we had the perfect weather this whole weekend! I wore a long sleeved shirt for the first time in months, ha!

Jonah spent the whole weekend in Maine with my family- boy was it good to see him again last night!!!!!

Isabelle had a birthday party to go on Saturday, so Bill and E & C took Ryder mountain climbing. Then yesterday afternoon we visited Meadow Ledge Farm, along with every other person in New England it seems! It was so, so crowded, but it's also a lot of fun!

 pictures when someone's missing just feel like...someone's missing  :(

don't worry- he was having a BLAST!

 they always have music- we love it!

the tractor jerked just as I snapped this picture, ha!

We were on our way to the upper fields to pick some apples- they are SO GOOD this year!

 Ethan and I braved the line for freshly-made apple cider donuts

these things were lovely to look at- the lines were so long we started outside near the parking lot!

 We finally made it to the inside!

And this, on the other hand, definitely not as lovely as the pumpkins!

Just that teensy plate of glass separating me from, well, them...no thank you!

 Totally worth the wait!

You get to watch them being made right before your eyes- awesome!

Caleb-approved!  =)

Now we're all geared up for a super busy week! Good thing it's casserole night, tee hee hee!

This and That

Right now one of those horrid commercials detailing animal abuse is blaring in the background and I'm begging Bill to turn it because I just can't stand it. Soooo sad.

Anyhoo.

We have had such a busy week {yet again} between soccer practices, soccer games, school stuff, church stuff, and life in general. I blinked and then it was Friday! Which was awesome, not only because Fridays are awesome, but because I got to meet some of my best friends from my old 'hood for lunch downtown. It felt so good to catch up!

House hunting is not for the faint of heart. That's all I've got to say about that right now.

But God is good, and from the mouth of Coach Taylor (no, not that Coach Taylor...the one from Facing the Giants...), "We'll praise God if we win, and we'll praise Him if we lose."

That's really how it feels, like winning and losing. And it's hard to be thankful when my circumstances seem uncertain. I want to have that peace and joy that transcend circumstance. I want to trust God fully.

Here are a few fun pics from our week ~

On our way to wish Auntie Kristen a Happy Birthday on Tuesday

This was a bit of a surprise to come home to, ha ha!

Yes, that is Ethan up on the roof cutting branches

See?

This looked so cute I had to snap a picture

Ethan is a hard worker!

He had several jobs this summer mowing lawns, and even staining a whole deck!

How horribly sad that my kid has more cash than I do, ha!

Caleb on the sidelines at one of several soccer games this week

Isabelle has been quite a little mother lately

I was hanging clothes on the line while she was teaching her babies manners  =)

This is one chore I never complain about!

Look at that view!

In another week or two, everything will have transformed into vibrant reds, yellows and oranges-

Autumn in New England is amazing!

It almost makes up for the months we endure when it's dark at 4:30 pm...

Helping Adoptive Families

In case you didn't already know this, I'll let you in on a little secret.

Raising families in today's world is really, really expensive.

For those of us who feel called to adopt, the costs just keep on rising. And it feels downright overwhelming at times.

The adoption tax credit helped us tremendously after Isabelle's adoption. We had about $88 in the bank when all was said and done, and we've worked diligently since then to recover financially. The tax credit really eased a great burden, and it is one of the only US relief programs available to adoptive families. There has been talk of discontinuing the credit altogether, leaving many families unable to consider adopting. 

You can help!

http://adoptiontaxcredit.org/

Please consider contacting your state officials to tell them that this tax credit has helped save lives and build families. Thank you!

Baby Showers, Soccer Games & Anniversary Dinners

I got to see some of my former high school students this weekend! I was SO excited to see them! It has been a long time!

I met these beautiful ladies 16 years ago when I got my first {paying} job as a teacher.

16 years ago!

This is Amy on the left, and Loralee, who is going to have her first baby in October, so this was her baby shower.

They look so lovely, but of course I think I was instructing my Mom on which button to push to take the picture...oh well. I tried to have her get Loralee's belly in the picture, but this was the best I got. 
It was a fun day! Loralee's mother is my parent's interim pastor at church...what a small world!

One of the shower games was to write down family "pet" names for male and female body parts. I wasn't sure whether to laugh or cry- it was horrible but oh so funny! I just about clamped my hands over Isabelle's ears at one point, ha ha!

I had to miss Jonah's first soccer game Saturday because of the shower, but several friends facebooked me to let me know what a great job he did. I thought that was really neat! Of course Bill gave me the low-down, too.

Ethan had his first game Friday afternoon. Soccer is Ethan's true love. It's really the only sport he cares much about, so he plays outside in the summer and fall, and indoors during winter. He's so much fun to watch!

 GO #3!!!!!!! So proud of him for working so hard and making the A team!

Thursday night the kids made pizzas with their grandparents so Bill could whisk me far, far away to...well, downtown to a very nice restaurant for dinner. It was deliriously good! We ran into friends there and ended up sitting together for over an hour. What fun!

Ethan was the photographer this time, and I hadn't changed out the big lens so he couldn't fit us in very well. He was ready to hop up on the edge of the deck, but, since I didn't want my camera killed, I told him we were good to go. 

Well, I didn't want Ethan to get maimed either.

It was such a warm, summery night, not at all what I'd originally planned for, so I wore this cute dress and sweater for the last time this year. Today it truly feels like fall- I got goosebumps hanging out the laundry earlier! It feels wonderful! 

I do have a problem, though. I cannot for the life of me find my jeans! I have no idea where they are, or why I would have packed them away somewhere! I probably put them someplace "safe" and they're most likely in some box in the very back of the storage unit. So I'll take that as a good reason to look for some new jeans.  =)