Menu Plan for the Week of 4/29/13 - 4/5/13

    It has been kind of hectic around here lately.  So I have been trying to keep our menu plans as simple as possible.  Here is our menu plan for this week. 


BREAKFASTS

Cereal x2
Waffles
Pancakes
Smoothies with Cinnamon Toast x2
Scrambled Eggs with Toast



DINNERS

Meatballs Sandwiches
Ground Turkey Tacos
Pasta with Sauce
Skillet Tuna Casserole from Lynn's Kitchen Adventures
Upside Down Pizza Casserole from Food.com
Out
Chicken Enchiladas

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Mother Nature

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So I was exhausted today because little man has not been sleeping well the last few nights. I started thinking about what I could share today. That is when I decided to share some pictures of these birds that were flying around my parents’ house the other day. My kids loved seeing the birds and love looking at the pictures too.

 
I hope you enjoy them as well!

 
Christina

Swagbucks

 I have written before about different sites that you can earn a little something extra from. Well today I have another one for you.  Swagbucks is a site that you can earn points for doing things like answering surveys, answering poll questions, watching videos, surfing the internet, and even shopping.  The points you earn can be redeemed for merchandise and gift cards.  So far I have earned 4 or 5 gift cards from them.  So if you want to earn a little something extra, go ahead and check them out.  You can check them out by clicking the link here.

 

Happy Earning!

 

Christina


Disclaimer: This post contains an affiliate link. By clicking on the link and purchasing from the site, I will receive a small commission.

6 Things to Do with Kids to Celebrate Earth Day

In honor of Earth Day here is a list I came up with of 6 things you can do with kids to celebrate Earth Day.

1.        Take a walk with your kids, take a trash bag with you and pick up trash while you walk.  For older kids you could turn this into a game and see who can pick up the most.

2.       Have a nature scavenger hunt.

3.       Plant a garden, or flowers.

4.       Read a kids book about Earth Day.  There is a bunch of books at Amazon.com

5.       Make an Earth Day craft with your kids.   One idea is take a paper plate and give your kids blue and green markers or crayons, and let your kids color and draw their version of Earth.

6.       Print out an Earth Day Activity Packet at Spoonful.com

These are just some ideas of things you can do with kids to celebrate Earth Day.  I am sure there are lots of other things you could do as well. I hope you enjoy this list. 

Happy Earth Day!

Christina

Menu Plan for the week of 4/21-4/27

   I am working on spring cleaning this week, so I decided to keep this weeks menu very simple. 

BREAKFASTS

French Toast
Smoothies and Cinnamon Toast
Cereal x2
Oatmeal
Scrambled Eggs, Turkey Bacon, and Toast
Homemade Waffles


DINNERS

Salmon Burgers, and Salad
Crockpot Sesame Chicken
Beef Barbecue Sandwiches
Breakfast for Dinner
Turkey Loin Roast With Mashed Potatoes and Gravy
Homemade Pizza Night
Crab Cakes with Salad

10 Things to do with kids on rainy days.

Have you ever heard the words from your kids, "I'm board"?  I am sure like many parents you probably have at least once.  I find on rainy days I especially here this. With summer time coming and the kids being out of school, we all will probably here those dreaded words at least once.  Below I have compiled a list of 10 things to do with kids when it rains. 

No I am not going to tell you to get your kids to sleep.  I just thought he looked so cute and peaceful.  If you're a Mother of little ones like me, you probably wish you could do this on a rainy day.
Now back to my list.

1. If it is a warm day and it is not a thunderstorm.  You could let your kids go play in the rain.  Even better you could go play in the rain with them.  Let them jump in the puddles.  You could even put them in there swim suits for this. 

2. Do a science experiment with them.

3. Make some DIY play dough with your kids and let them have fun with it afterwards.  I usually throw a rolling pin and some cookie cutters out for my kids to use with the play dough.  The Internet is full of recipes for DIY play dough.  Here are a few links for some, Modern Parents Messy Kids, Betty Crocker, and the imagination tree.

4. Play a board game. 

5. Read a book.

6. Watch a movie together.

7. Build a fort.  After you build it hang out in it with your kids.  Even better is if you combine building a fort with either reading or watching a movie.

8. If it is a thunderstorm, count the seconds between thunders.

9. Put on some music and have a dance party.

10. Do a craft project, or try cooking a new recipe with your kids.

There are endless possibilities but I hope this will help with some ideas.

Recyclebank

 

If you are someone who is about living green and want to earn a little for doing it. Then I would recommend Recyclebank. It is a site where they teach you about different areas of going green. You can earn points for pledging to do different green actions. Once you earn enough points you can redeem them for magazine subscriptions, gift cards, and coupons. I have been doing it a little over a year and have already earned numerous magazine subscriptions, coupons, and a gift card. You can check them out here.

Menu Plan for 4/14 - 4/20

Here is my menu plan for this week.  I do not assign the food items days of the week because I have found that not having a set day really works for myself.  You can do your menu with what works best for you.  I know that for some people that would be assigning days of the week to each food item.

 

BREAKFASTS

Cereal

Waffles

Cinnamon Toast and Smoothies

Oatmeal             

Eggs and Toast

French Toasts   

Buttermilk Pancakes recipe from the What Megan's Making blog

 

DINNERS

Grilled Steak, Mushrooms, and Asparagus with Brown Rice

Crockpot Salsa Chicken from the Taste & See blog

Meatloaf and Mac and Cheese with Broccoli

Ravioli’s and Salad

Goulash and Green Beans

Homemade Pizza Night

Grilled Tuna, Rice, and Brussel Sprouts

DIY Bubble Wands

      So today I was cleaning out our porch.  Princess came out and asked if she could blow bubbles.  I went inside and found her bubbles and wand.  She started asking for her fancy shapes bubble wands.  I knew I had thrown these out awhile back, since they where all broken.  So I started thinking about what she could use in place of them.  That is when I thought of cookie cutters.  I ran in and brought them out to her and they work great.   So next time you are looking for a fun different way for your kids to blow bubbles, try your cookie cutters.

Menu Plan for the week of 4/7/13 - 4/13/13

  On top of the very emotional time that my family is going through right now, we seem to be passing around some kind of stomach bug.  I am not sure that this week will work out like I have planned, but here is what is on our menu.


BREAKFASTS

Out
Cereal
Waffles
Cereal
Eggs
Fruit and Yogurt Parfaits
Pancakes and Sausage


DINNERS

Chicken Noodle Soup and Grilled Cheese Sandwiches
Pasta and Sauce
Chicken Tenders and Homemade Oven Baked French Fries
Breakfast for Dinner
Crockpot Enchiladas from Life As Mom
Homemade Pizzas
Turkey Burgers from allrecipes.com

Life and Death

   My vacation last week did not turn out how my kids or I thought it would.  My kids and I picked up my Grandmother on Wednesday and took her to her beach house.  Thursday morning we came downstairs for breakfast to find that she had fallen on her bedroom floor.  By Thursday afternoon she was gone.  She died suddenly and unexpectedly.  This whole thing has seemed to be hardest on my daughter Princess.  She has been sad, emotionally and physically drained.   There is no way for me to know totally what is going through her head.  But I do know that she misses her great- grandmother terribly, and she wishes she had gotten to tell her she loved her.  I am not writing this to make anyone feel bad for us.  I just want to put it out there, too make sure you kiss the ones you love every chance you get.  Tell them you love them.  Or even better show them that you love them.  Don’t waste away the precious time that you have with them, because in a blink of an eye they could be gone.