No eating out? Update

We are almost halfway through the month with our no eating out challenge.  As you may recall, we are trying to not eat out this month with a couple of exceptions, mainly due to having to restock a lot of supplies, both food and otherwise, due to our move.  So far it's going really well.  Jon's parents were in town over the weekend, and we took the kids to Silverwood on Friday.  This was one of our planned exceptions to the no eating out rule.  We bought lunch in the park, and then Jon's parents blessed us by buying our dinner that night, and then our lunch again the next day! 

Saturday evening was low key, we had eaten so much the previous two days that we didn't need much, so we mostly just snacked on whatever was around.
Sunday was our first meeting of Grace Church Spokane, so we provided sub sandwiches for lunch (think deli meat, cheese, hoagie rolls, not Subway), and chilled again for dinner...lots of leftovers to clean up.

Here's how it's going this week so far.
Monday:  Fried Rice with Taste of Thai Red Curry Sauce, green beans, and zucchini
(I broke down and bought myself Panda Express for lunch, since I was returning girls from a sleepover and taking Gabe for a sports physical during the time when I would have had lunch).
Tuesday:  Pan-fried tilapia, roasted red potatoes, funnel cakes for dessert

The plan for the rest of the week:
Wednesday:  Leftover day (again) We have Chicken Tikka Masala, chili, and fried rice.
Thursday:  Chicken with Pasta and Pesto sauce
Friday:  Discipleship group potluck:  lasagna, green salad, garlic bread
Saturday:  Some sort of chicken (artfully done, I'm sure) with red potatoes of some kind (probably roasted again, they are so yummy that way!)
Sunday:  ???  Probably potluck or sandwiches again after church, and then snacks/popcorn/leftovers for dinner (if we still have any leftovers by then)

I love having a plan.  It makes it that much easier to stick to it.  What's your menu plan for the week?

Bethany's baptism

This year, our home church in Missoula turned 35 years old.  As a celebration, we had church that morning in a beautiful outdoor venue, downtown at Caras Park.  We planned to have a concert afterward, but had to cancel that due to a downpour right at the end of the service.  Bethany decided a while ago that she would like to get baptized in the river, and she though that getting baptized at Caras after the 35th anniversary celebration would be fun, so we planned it and the rain stopped after a while, so it all worked out.  Here are some photos from her baptism.

All ready to get wet!

It's cold!

Daddy is proud of her!

All done!

We are so proud of our Beth for taking such an important step in her faith.  We are blessed!

Fun with...

Funnel Cakes!

I mean, it's fair time, right?  Ok, for all my Zoo Town friends, the fair just got over, and I know that you think Fair Food is a dirty word right now.  BUT, my family loves funnel cakes.  We were at Silverwood last weekend, and enjoyed splitting one.  Downside to funnel cakes at fairs or amusement parks is the cost, am I right?  Well, Micci got determined to make homemade funnel cakes, so that's what we did this evening after dinner.  We made a mess in the kitchen, but it was fun!

Looks scrum-diddly-upmtious, right?  We found the recipe here...  So feel free to dive in and make your own...  (I used a pastry bag to "funnel" my batter instead of the recommended funnel.)

And, by the way, we made two, and we still have approximately a whole one left.  I know what we're having for breakfast!

Whirlwind summer

Well, things have been pretty quiet around here the last few days.  We've been getting all the details of our move taken care of, switching accounts, getting insurance, all that jazz.  Slowly and steadily, it's all falling into place.  Prior to the move, though, our summer was a whirlwind of business.  Our lovely Lucy (from England) returned to visit for a month this summer, so we tried to plan some fun adventures with her.  In the two weeks before we moved, we went to Glacier National Park, Yellowstone National Park, had a quick trip to Spokane for a job interview, had Bethany's birthday party, had Jon and my anniversary, had a weekend full of send-off activities, and had to pack the apartment and move, as well!  Our final two weeks were filled with excitement, and were, not surprisingly, exhausting.  So now that we've had a chance to settle into a bit of a routine, I'm finally getting around to posting some pictures!  I'll try to post just the best in a somewhat chronological order.  This post will be Glacier National Park.

Headed down to Lake McDonald

The girls with the big bear in the lodge

 

My handsome boy

 

My handsome husband

 

Micci and I

 

Jon and Gabe

 

The girls and I

 

Beautiful

 

The girls

 

Even though it was an overcast day, we still had a great time and got to see some amazing views. 

High school registration and the no eating out challenge

Well, registration didn't go exactly as planned.  Apparently, the counselors won't be back in the office until August 27th, which is when we will be able to get Gabe registered for all his classes.  Fortunately, there was a counselor who happened to be in the office while we were there so he was able to answer some of my "first time high school mom" questions.  AND I've got the boy convinced to try cross-country, so we met the coach (who is super nice, by the way) and got all that squared away.  Came home with a stack of paperwork and lots to think about for the boy.  He also got a new pair of kicks in honor of joining the team.  There is a great running store here that just opened this last weekend, and we've been there twice already.  Too much fun stuff there for my pocketbook, but if the boy is going to run, then he needs the right shoes.

Ok, on to the no eating out challenge.
We had to break down yesterday and get a family bucket of KFC. Jon preached at PACC in Coeur d'Alene, ID, and we were headed to the river with friends afterward.  Unfortunately, I wasn't prepared enough to pack a picnic lunch, so we opted for KFC.  No eating out again until Friday, though, when we are having a family day with Jon's parents at Silverwood.

So, here's the general dinner menu plan for the week:
Monday:  Spaghetti
Tuesday: Indian Tacos
Wednesday:  Baked Parmesan Chicken with Green Salad and bread
Thursday:   Chicken Tikka Masala with Naan Bread
Friday:  Silverwood!!
Saturday:  Leftover day (if there are any)
Sunday:  Tilapia with Roasted Summer Squash

Breakfasts will consist mostly of cereal and fruit, and lunches will be lunchmeat sandwiches, quesadillas, or wraps.

Til next time!

{Tomorrow}

Tomorrow, I will take my amazing, funny, talented 14-year old son and register him for high school.

Just being honest here, but this scares me to death.  We will have to make some significant decisions for the boy, because they do things in high school differently here in the 509 than what I knew in the 406, like only having room in the fresh schedule for 6 credits with 1 elective.  Now if you know my creative, artistic and musical boy, then you know that 1 elective just isn't going to cut it. We do have some options through online classes, but I don't want to overload the boy either.

This also makes me feel OLD.  Seriously, when did I get old enough to have a child in HIGH SCHOOL?!?  Time is going by so quickly! Just four short years and he'll be heading to college... Oh dear, I can't think about that right now.

Tonight, I'm so thankful for a sensitive, thoughtful son who doesn't shrug me off when I throw an arm around his shoulders (although soon it will be him throwing an arm around me, he's the taller one now), who loves to show affection in the form of hugs, and is (usually) sensitive to the thoughts and feelings of others, even his sisters.  I'm so excited to see where God will take the boy in the coming years, yet I am a little sad, too, but I guess that's the life of a mom.
I'll let you know how it all turns out!

Life in the 5-oh-9

Well, here we are.

We are settling into our new place in Spokane, getting to know the city and our neighborhood a bit better, and meeting new people.  It has been a journey to get here and we know it's not over yet. 

In the last week, we've opened bank accounts, purchased furniture, done a lot of grocery shopping, switched insurances...all those things that you have to do when you make a big move like this.  I won't lie...  Some of it has been bittersweet...switching my auto insurance from the agency I've been with since I started driving 20 years ago...but I know it's worth it.

I'm planning to get back to blogging a bit more regularly now that my coursework is all finished, and I have some craft projects that have been patiently waiting for me to give them my undivided attention... I just have to find them in the stack of as yet to be unpacked boxes.  Mostly we are unpacked and settled in, but there are still just a "few" boxes of craft stuff in the basement.

Knowing that we need to restock our pantry and freezer after our move, we've also gone on a month long no eating out challenge, except for the day we plan to go to Silverwood, and so far, we are doing great! 
Dinner menus for the last week:
Monday:  Homemade Mac & Cheese 
Tuesday:  Fried Rice with green beans and cabbage
Wednesday:  Tilapia with roasted red potatoes and green salad
Thursday:  Fish tacos with tomato/avocado/cabbage salsa
Friday:  Beef enchiladas with Mexican rice and green salad

I'm not sure how the weekend is shaping up yet, but I'm sure we'll throw together something!
I've got lots of pictures to share from our trips to Glacier and Yellowstone before the move, so watch for those soon.

I will be changing the title of the blog again, but will leave the address the same for now, so you can still find me here.  I'll always be a Montana girl at heart!