Monday, July 25, 2016

Busy Monday, July 25

Today's 'To-Do' List
  • Plan Menu
  • Grocery Shopping
  • Lunch with Peter
  • Cleaning house (so much to do not even sure where to start)
Menu
  • Pork, Beans, ? (held over from last week)
  • Balsamic Chicken, Rice, Salad
  • Spaghetti w/Italian Sausage (we picked that up the other week from a local butcher)
  • Tacos
  • Pizza
  • Mediterranean Chicken w/Egg Noodles & peas
  • ? Unsure one menu item off
This Week's 'To-Do' List
  • Work
  • County Fair
  • Baby Shower - Of sorts. My best friend and one of our project club members is due in 8 weeks but chances are they will deliver her sooner because she has this condition where during pregnancy it starts doing very bad things do her liver. This is her second child so instead of having a full baby shower the ladies are all getting together and we are going to paint the nursery to help get it ready for the new baby. 
  • One of my friends is celebrating her Birthday this next weekend so going to do whatever fun things we get planned. 
  • Pick up Fair items is Sunday. 
  • Brie has an appt this week 
Last Week




So last week I went to the dentist thankfully no fillings. I have a lot of problems with my teeth and always have from childhood due to lacking enamel. We are watching a few things but so far so good. 

Monday, I tried out a new recipe. Parmesan Chicken. It got lots of thumbs up though the recipe breakdown of the Carbs, Sodium and calories was completely wrong when I did my write up of it. 

The kids went to the library and did tie dye shirts. Again I am thankful they are getting the hang of the bus system because they would miss out on so much if they didn't. From there that day I picked them up and we rushed over to Brielle's Orthodontist appt we finally have a date for taking the braces off which will be in October. 

One day I was stir crazy and it's been crazy hot so when I got off work I gathered up the kids and went and picked up my friend and her daughter and we went to the spray park since all the pools were closed or were closing and extremely expensive. 

Got Brielle to her appt. If you're wondering about all these appts we had some family emergencies last summer some might remember. I've never really gone into it and I'm not going to go into it now but these are counseling sessions so they are a pretty regular part of our schedule any more. There is hopes that she will be done with them here by the end of the month but things take time. 

We dropped off the kids fair entries so we are pretty excited about that. Judging will be this coming Wednesday. 

I took my friend out we are doing the baby shower for this weekend and we picked up all the stuff so she could get the walls patched up before we painted and picked up the paint and most of the painting supplies. 

I then took the kids out school shopping. I don't know exactly what they need but I took some educated guesses. The reason I did that is we went into Meijers for some of the stuff we need for the construction. I forget exactly why I wanted to go into there and they had the TI-84 Plus CE for $129.99 and there was a coupon on their app for $30 off and when you purchase it you got a coupon for $40 off your next shopping trip and then on top of that they hadn't taken off last weeks deal when you only got $30 to print off so I got two print offs and essentially saved  $100 on the calculator. I then went back and had my friend load the coupon and did it again because there was NO way to pass that up. It gave me a $140 for school shopping. Mind you we spent nearly $200. So I had to make up the difference but I paid $250 for $450 worth of stuff which I don't think is shabby at all. 

Oh also that day I took my friend over to Bargain Hunt because she has never been in one and she found a bassinet she really liked for $30 but didn't have the cash so I picked that up for her because how that place is set up they don't have back stock what you see is what there is and it's all new stuff. -- I think part of my problem is, is I really want another baby but I know with my kids so old that would be a silly thing to do plus I really don't have the time and money to bring up another kiddo I have enough issues with the two I've got so instead I'm just going to have to steal everyone else babies for awhile. 

Our cat being silly. 


I stayed home sick Friday. It was bad my ear hurt, I had a fever and my throat was all ate up. Though I was asked if Saturday & Sunday if I could go check on a friends dog. Thankfully by Saturday morning I was starting to feel better so it wasn't too big of an issue. Peter went with me the first day thankfully because we got locked inside the yard and he had to lift me over the fence so I could unlock the door! After wards Peter and I went out for breakfast. 

Oh Saturday we also went to a swim party. I was real careful not to get my ear wet.  

Monday, July 18, 2016

Busy Monday, July 18

Today's 'To-Do' List
  • Blog
  • Menu
  • Grocery Shopping
  • Lunch with Peter
  • Dentist (myself)
Menu
  • Chicken Parmesan (new recipe)
  • Chicken Nuggets & French Fries (hold over from last week)
  • Grilled Cheese & Tomato Soup
  • Hamburgers, Potato Salad & Corn
  • Pizza
  • Grilled Pork, Baked Beans, Salad
  • ??? Haven't come up for one for potentially Saturday since we have a birthday party in the evening and it's going to be near 100 before humidity that day. 
This Week's 'To-Do' List
  • Kids Library 1-3pm; 3pm Brie has a Dr. appt so we'll have to leave the project a little early
  • Fair Entries turned in
  • Kids' Friend's Birthday Party
Last Week

Oddly I don't have any picture from last week. I worked some weird longer hours on days which worked out because I needed to go to lunch with the ladies from work. That was mostly it just working and nightly walks with my husband.
This weekend was a new set in Magic: The Gathering so we spent Saturday and Sunday at the game shop playing prerelease. I opened some good cards but I bombed both days in the tournaments it was pretty pathetic.
I also spent 12 plus hours doing a 3D print design for Pokemon. Pretty exhausting really.

Monday, July 11, 2016

Busy Monday, July 11

Today's 'To-Do' List
  • Blacky to Groomer
  • Write Blog
  • Make menu
  • Grocery Shopping
  • 2:30 Dr. Appt (me)
  • Pick up medications
  • Attempt to get anything else done ... Even short list days everything seems to take forever. 
Menu
  • Pork Carnitas & Rice
  • Chicken/Salmon, Pasta & Salad
  • Spaghetti
  • Hot Dogs, Corn & Beans
  • Chicken Nuggets & French Fries
  • Pizza
  • Out? 
This Week's 'To-Do' List
  • Work throughout the week for Myself and Peter. Kids of course are still on Summer Vacation.
  • Tue - Dr. Appt (Peter) - Bit of a stressful one we find out if they put him on blood pressure medication or not. 
  • Tue - Tie-Dye at the Library (both kids) - Kiddos will have to take public transportation as Peter and I will be at work. Thank goodness they're learning the bus system because they would miss out on so much this summer since it's all set up like folks don't have jobs. 
  • Wed - Dentist (Both kids)
  • Thurs - Library 6-8pm (Family) - We may or may not do this. It is called Beyond the Lines and they offer it every month but this is the first Month in the past year we've had a Thursday open for it. It's just sitting around coloring. You bring your colors and they provide pages. I've always wanted to do it with the family so we'll see if it works out.
  • Fri - Oddly free. Peter most likely won't be out playing cards so we might go down to the park.
Last Week

So in the last 2 weeks we've actually made about 10 pints of salsa. Katherine made a more traditional Salsa which I don't have pictured here. We are getting ready for the county fair. 






 
Of course we had the 4th of July. The 3rd we went down to a park that was a little ways away from the main event on Saturday and we watched. It was a very pleasant evening with just a little sprinkle on us. Sunday's Fireworks got canceled and are re-Scheduled for September so when the rain finally calmed down we set off fireworks at home with a friend and his family over. Monday all the city fireworks were done so we went to a friend's house for a potluck and a firework show he put on.  













Picture I took Friday as I was walking into work. 








Saturday, we went to the Renaissance Fair.  On our way out we stopped at a local restaurant and had breakfast. 



 Friday, I gathered up the girls and we went to the park and got coffee at a local shop. Well I had an iced coffee they had iced hot chocolate. They played on the playground and I walked around collecting Pokemon.

Yes, Pokemon.

If you haven't heard of it yet the latest rave for mobile devices is Pokemon-Go. 

After we went to the Ren Fair we went back down to the park and walked more! Collecting pokemon has my husband has gotten me hooked and it just launched Thursday. Sunday we also decided to go down to the park so we could collect more pokemon and get a walk in. 

I have never seen downtown so vibrant on a Sunday since everything but one restaurant is closed on Sundays down there. I have also never seen this town so friendly! Everyone is playing it, it seems. People are talking to complete strangers down at the park and just really getting into it. It is seriously forming a whole new community! I am blown away as I can't remember anything in my lifetime quite like this. 

Hope everyone has enjoyed the last few weeks and had a safe 4th. 

Question: Are you playing Pokemon-Go yet? What's the pokemon you were most excited to capture? I think I was most excited when I captured my Abra since I haven't ran into them often though Eevee is my favorite since Eevees are just so darn cute! 

Friday, July 1, 2016

Pork Loin with Onions


So I don't have a finished picture of this. I was really busy when I made it but it turned out pretty good I think.

Servings 8

1 TB butter (unsalted is best)
3 large red onions, thinly sliced
1 cup pearl onions (check your freezer section at the store!)
2 1/2 lbs Pork Loin (if you tie it it'll hold shape better)
1/2 tsp Salt
1/2 tsp Black Pepper
1/2 cup sherry
2 TB fresh Parsley
2 TB Water
1 1/2 TB Cornstarch

Melt butter in pan and add red and pearl onions cook until tender, about 3-5 minutes.

Season the pork with the salt and pepper and put into crock pot. Place onions, sherry and parsley into crock pot and cook on low 8 to 10 hours.

Remove pork and cover. Let stand while doing this next part. Mix water and cornstarch in a small bowl until smooth and then add to the liquid in the crock pot; mixing well. Cover and cook for 15 minutes on high or until sauce has thickened.

Slice the pork and serve with onion sauce over it.