Monday Needs a Menu

Alright. This is it. If YOU planned a menu for this week, we'd love to have you link up below!! Just post it at your site and put your link on the list below.

Monday

Breakfast: Scrambled eggs, fruit

Lunch: Peanut butter sandwiches, fruit

Dinner: Pancakes

  To do: Soak lentils, make broth

Tuesday

Breakfast: French toast, bananas

  
  To do: Bake sweet potatoes

Lunch: Bean burritos, baked sweet potatoes, fruit

Dinner: Lentil soup with carrots, made with bone broth

Wednesday

Breakfast: Bagels in the car (appointments early)

Lunch: Fruit salad, cheese and crackers, maybe tuna

Dinner: Spaghetti with kale, optional salad for grown-ups

Thursday

Breakfast: English muffins, kefir smoothies

Lunch: No plan (I'm on my own)

Dinner: Women's Fellowship for dinner at MY house (no cooking...just cleaning!)

Friday: All day to myself!

Saturday: With family.

Sunday: Not sure yet.  I plan to have no plan. :)

Project 365: Week 13

Sunday, March 20, 2011

Atticus was plumb tuckered after church today. This is what he looked like when I went to wake him up for Community Group. (He's in his sister's bed.)

Monday, March 21, 2011

Paul stayed home today (yay!) and we rested, did some things around the house, and then went for a ride out to "the land" that we may or may not ever actually get to purchase. The sale of our home has not happened yet. But we are about to step up our game.

Tuesday, March 22, 2011

We met friends at Jump!Zone and then had a picnic with them at a nearby park.

And THEN Daddy took Gabriel out for a special baseball game experience because the Razorbacks were in town!

Paul's comment on Facebook when he posted this picture was "What Mommy doesn't know..."  :)

Wednesday, March 23, 2011

Ran to Kroger today. (That's a big deal for me. Because grocery shopping + 4 small children = Not a lot of fun for Mommy) Atticus was crying about having to sit in the buggy from the moment we entered the store. Hooray for the kind Kroger worker who, probably mostly for his own sanity, brought Atticus and then the other three each a balloon. With nifty magnetic weights attached them, too! All that AND free cookie samples. I cringe letting them eat those hydrogenated fat-laden cookies they bake there, but man...I must admit how deeply thankful I am for the five minutes of pure silence I get out of them (while they're munching).

I say all that to say...they literally played with their Kroger balloons all day today. Even up until bedtime!

Thursday, March 24, 2011

Today we had homemade strawberry ice cream for breakfast!! (It's healthy ice cream. But it's also YUMM-OH!)

And then just to keep things lively and fun, we had lunch UNDER the table! The kids loved it. And I didn't have to clean the table afterwards!

Friday, March 25, 2011

A sweet friend from church came over tonight around dinner time and stayed with the kiddos while Paul and I did some necessary fix-up-your-home shopping and had dinner. I was most thankful for the quiet while I figured out what I was going to put on my front door. I'm not much of a wreath person--as in I've never had anything but Christmas ones. Nor am I good at envisioning what I like/want/should put on a wreath. It still took me forEVer to settle on something, but it was just nice to be ABLE to take forever. And I'm pretty pleased with how they turned out.

Saturday, March 26, 2011

We had breakfast out this morning. Because WE had to be out and about all morning. And because Paul had promised the kids. Which was just fine with me. I had smoked Gouda grits. And, y'all. Oh, my word. My description to Paul: "This is just a bowl full of amazingly delicious refined goodness." So bad, but so gooooood. (No pic. You can imagine why.)

And then it was to the Home Depot we went. To ride the lawn mowers, it seems. At one point, all four kids were on mowers right in a row! Missed that photo op.

 

We did quite a bit of looking around. And tried not to lose any children. Even though they sometimes make that difficult for us...

Well, like I said, we are getting the house really ready to sell this time, so this week is probably going to be pretty crazy as we run all over town getting this-and-that and then try to complete the projects. Somehow. Wonder when I'll ever get around to these taxes. Oh, dear...  

The rest of Sara's peeps probably already have theirs done, just like they already have their weeks posted. I'm such a slacker.

Things Look a Little Different

Here's what started it all:

The Rackleys gave us their desktop computer. (So, so grateful...) We'd had a laptop for such a long time that I nearly forgot we'd need an actual DESK to put the desktop ON! Ha! This desk had been upstairs in the school/play room because that's where we kept our printer and paper, etc. See?

So the desk had to come downstairs to where the internet was--our bedroom. (No phone line upstairs.) And the recliner in the bedroom would have to be moved. Somewhere.

The living room was the obvious choice, but it was pretty crowded already. If the recliner was going to fit in here, it would have to take the spot of "Nana's Couch": the chaise lounge you see in the left-hand corner.

Noah and I moved the chaise out of the way and stuck the recliner in its spot. And while I was at it, I moved the ottoman to the center of the room to act as a sort of coffee table.

So now I had to figure out how to squeeze the chaise lounge--the only piece of furniture we will absolutely not part with--into the kitchen, of all places!!


First of all, I turned the kitchen table horizontally and moved my little drop-leaf table out altogether. It serves as just a lamp table and a place to put our Bibles, so I moved it to the living room to be a "sofa table" for the over-sized chair. (no pic) With the kitchen table turned this way, the chaise fit quite nicely in the bay window. A much better use of the space, I think. 

Of course, you'll remember we had school desks in the kitchen before.

They obviously had to go. Which brings me to point out, it was actually not ALL the new computer's fault--this crazy rearranging I felt the need to do. Honestly, I had HAD it with schooling in the kitchen. Stuff was everywhere, and it was hard for any of us to stay focused on school. I really needed a classroom again! And those overstuffed bookshelves in the background...(see them??)...an eyesore I couldn't wait to hide upstairs!


So the desks AND the bookshelves, now nicely reorganized, were banished to the bonus room. And with the exception of those VERY heavy bookshelves, Noah and I did all the rearranging ourselves during nap time! He loved every minute of it. And he didn't even panic when we got the recliner stuck in my bedroom door! (Unlike his mommy.)

Now I have a classroom again. Schooling multiple ages is still a challenge to say the least, but this way we can contain our chaos in the one room and close the door behind us when we're done.

The crummy part of all this rearranging and how very. much. I like things this way...is that our house will quite possibly be sold soon. And we will be moving on to who knows where. *sigh* Nothing like the last minute. The story of my life.

This post is part of Tackle It Tuesday. 

Monday Needs a Menu

Monday

Already happened. Note: Daddy stayed home today. So Daddy cooked. And it was nice.  :)

Tuesday

Breakfast: Kefir smoothies, bagels

Lunch: Picnic at park with friends--Peanut butter sandwiches and oranges

Dinner: Black bean burgers, sweet potato fries, something green

Wednesday

Breakfast: Scrambled eggs, toast, and fruit

Lunch: Banana boats (peanut butter on bananas, topped with raisins), cheese, olives

Dinner: Crock pot jambalaya

  To do: Soak oats for granola, make ice cream

Thursday  (EVERYTHING'S BACKWARDS TODAY)

Breakfast: Strawberry ice cream for breakfast!

Lunch: Picnic UNDER the table--Tuna sandwiches, fruit, chips already in dip

Dinner: Breakfast for supper

  To do:  Bake granola

Friday

Breakfast: Applesauce with granola

  To do: Boil eggs

Lunch: Hard-boiled eggs, cheese and crackers, fruit

Dinner: Leftovers or box of organic mac n' cheese

Saturday 

Breakfast: Grab-n-go granola and fruit  (lots going on this morning)

Lunch: Friends are moving. Some will have pizza there. Others of us will dig around and find something at our house.

Dinner: TBD

Sunday

Breakfast: French toast

Lunch: TBD

Dinner: Popcorn night

Okay. Starting next Monday (I'm really going to try to post on time next week!!), I'm going to offer a linky so you guys can share your menu plans with the rest of us. There may be only two of us participating, but I'm going to give it a shot. So. You have one week to get your plans ready. If you've never done meal-planning, I would suggest just starting with a plan for your dinners Monday through Friday. I hope you'll join us!!

Project 365: Week 12

Sunday, March 13, 2011

Paul, the resident meat-cooker here at The Davidson Den, slow-cooked some grass-fed goodness for two solid days and made us delicious barbecue sandwiches with homemade coleslaw for supper tonight.

Monday, March 14, 2011

School shots:

Tuesday, March 15, 2011

Speaking of school, this is one of the things about our house I've really loved: our attic.

It's got walk-in access right off our schoolroom. Translation: lots more storage space for manipulatives, games, and puzzles. (Not to mention the ease of getting out the Christmas decorations!)

It's certainly handy.

Besides, I have organized all our toys into bins and only allow the kids one thing at a time. Because that's all we can handle right now.

When we want to play cars, we get out the cars. When we're done, we clean them up and put them back in the attic so they aren't in plain sight to tempt us to drag out everything in tarnation and leave the mess for someone else (namely, me).

Wednesday, March 16, 2011

The excitement today was all about finding tracks running alongside our back porch. Seems somebody's been prowling about!

Thursday, March 17, 2011

Today was pretty crazy. Still without a car (thanks to my little mishap), my friend Liz came over this morning to stay at our house while I dropped Gabriel off for speech therapy. Then right when I got back home, my friend Ann dropped two of her kids off for me to watch while she went to a hair appointment. Then I left Liz in charge again to pick Gabe up from therapy. It took some major planning on my part to line all that up. (Maybe I'm just too easily overwhelmed with out-of-the-ordinary situations, I don't know.) But I am so thankful for Liz helping me out.

The boys, who are very much alike, bonded (more) over LEGOS. (I always have trouble with that word. Is it proper to say "Legos" or is it "Lego"?)

Amazingly, I still managed to get our dinner in the crock pot, and it turned out quite yummy. (Trying a new recipe. See my menu plan for the link.)

Friday, March 18, 2011

Our neighbors across the street invited the older kids over to play in their jumphouse today.

And.........

she's all better now.

Saturday, March 19, 2011

After showing our house (crazy, crazy times), eating out for lunch, and taking naps, we made our somewhat-annual trip to the Wye Mountain Daffodil Festival. Always a treat. Click here for last year's video montage. (It's also on my sidebar for this mommy to have easy access, because I watch it on a regular basis--it makes me so happy. Really. It's worth it. Go ahead. You're almost done here anyway.)

:) Shocking, isn't it?! Actually, there's a special section where visitors are allowed to pick flowers for $1/dozen. We just had to get this funny picture. Let me assure you--Davidsons, for the most part, are law-abidin' citizens. Ha!

Be sure to check out all the Project 365 participants at Sara's.

Flashback Friday: The Tree

Our tree hunt each year is always an adventure. Some years more so than others, to be sure. This year we were completely prepared for whatever may come.

We were ready for some serious choppin'.

The weather was perfect. The trees were beautiful, as usual. They were practically beckoning to us to bring one home.

Uh...no, Gabriel. That's not quite enough tree for us.

Admittedly, we did get sidetracked for a moment. I'm sure you can understand.

Racing pigs naturally draw the crowds.

I mean, just take one look at this face and tell me you don't want to watch pink cuteness scurry around a mini-dirt track.

The livestock, as usual, were drawn to Atticus, aka the Animal-Whisperer.

See what I mean?

While animals are always lots of fun, what's there to DO around here???!!

Yup. A giant mound of hay, complete with slide, oughta do it.

In fact, this spot is a boy's dream!

Noah always meets a friend wherever he goes. These two rough-housed to their heart's content. I loved this shot but wish I could have been on the other side of the stack and captured my OWN boy's face.

Turns out girls like this spot, too.

Of course, there's always swangin'.

And let's not forget about the trailer ride.

What an awesome view (if you're a little boy).

We ate peanuts...

...and had hot chocolate. (For some of us it was our first time.)

He seemed to like it.

So then we finally got our tree.

What do you think?! Big enough??

Nah. We didn't really get this one. I was afraid we'd have to trim some off the top. Ha!

Admittedly, part of the fun is watching the guys shake all the spiders out of your tree (grin) and wrap it up nice and secure.

If you're like me, once atop your vehicle, you will marvel at how the dark green contrasts so beautifully against the painfully-gorgeous blue sky, and you will try to capture a photo of that color, but you won't succeed. You'll come pretty close, but it will have to live on in your memory of this day. Just as the way you are feeling right. at that. very. moment.

But whatever the case, you're free to go. (Though, as you know, the work has only just begun.)

Just ask this eight-year-old, who was determined to help saw off a portion of the trunk before bringing it inside.

P.S. Daddy got a chainsaw for Christmas.  :)