Last week started out by celebrating Easter with lots of extra stuff going on at church and a big family dinner at my parents house. By Sunday evening, I felt worn out and the work week hadn’t even begun.
Thankfully, the rest of the week went by very quickly as Dave only had a 3-day work week due to a water main break at his school on Wednesday and Spring Break starting on Friday (yay for 10 days home with Dave!)
We were outside A LOT, despite colder temperatures, a few sprinkles, and even a full-blown snowstorm on Saturday (yes, snow in April!)
Speaking of being outside, I did quite a bit of yardwork at night after the kids were in bed (before the snow hit). It felt so good to get outside and start making things pretty again!
I just love working on my yard — even if it’s weeding.
I also did TONS of decluttering inside over the past 2 weeks!
I keep finding more and more things we don’t really need. Our laundry room has been a revolving donation station as that’s where I’ve been putting the bags until I’m ready to take them away.
Once I have 4 or 5 bags, I bring them to the second hand store that’s just down the road — so far, I’m up to 20 bags of donated goods, several bags of trash, and some bulkier donation items that didn’t fit in bags. Not too bad!
I always wonder where everything comes from — but then I remind myself how much STUFF we accumulate from the end of November to the end of March — Nora’s birthday, Christmas, New Years, Valentines, Simon’s birthday, Easter, plus all of Nora’s school papers and projects and crafts, and all the stuff I get from companies to review (most of which never make it to my blog!)
I guess it’s not a huge surprise that we have plenty of things to purge!
Even though I still have more to do, it sure feels good to know that I’m lightening our load and emptying our home little by little.
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Nora and Simon constantly waffle back and forth between being the best of friends and fighting like they hate each other — so totally normal compared to all siblings I know 🙂
They are starting to play so nicely together (even amidst the fighting). I can’t wait until next year when James will be big enough to join in on the fun!
Speaking of James, he cut 3 new teeth over the past 2 weeks — now he has 2 HUGE teeth on top and 3 on the bottom (and I think I can see 2 more coming in on the top!)
James also came down with a flu bug of sorts. He woke up in the middle of the night on Friday covered in puke… and after he continued to throw up all night long, we had to cancel our plans to visit my sister and her husband.
Despite the fact that our van was fully packed and Nora was beyond excited to “go on vacation” we stayed home and I spent much of the weekend on the couch with James.
Thanks to a little extra “down time” with James, I had a chance to catch up on my Netflix shows over the weekend.
Netflix shows I am currently watching:
- Fuller House (only 2 more episodes)
- Fixer Upper season 2 (the 2nd season just showed up on Netflix, and we started watching it immediately!)
I have recently finished watching:
- Land Girls (totally worth it — but I’m wondering if there are more seasons coming. It was kind of an odd ending)
- Becoming Jane (It’s Jane Austen’s biography, starring Anne Hathaway — it was pretty good!)
A few things on my “to watch” list:
(this is the same as my last post)
- The Boy In Striped Pajamas
- Secrets of War
- Cooked
- Plant Pure Nation
- The Railway Man
We have been eating lots and lots and LOTS of food from the freezer for the past couple of weeks as we were gearing up to defrost the freezer this past weekend (I did it Friday morning and it went SO quickly).
We had to make room for the 40 pounds of chicken we got from Zaycon Fresh 2 weeks ago and the 120 pounds of beef that we’re picking up TODAY! (Dave’s parents gave us a quarter of a cow for Christmas)
I LOVE how empty the freezer is now!
Our Menu Plan:
SUNDAY:
- Ham, potatoes, veggies, rolls, etc. at my parent’s house
MONDAY:
- Chicken Pot Pie (the filling was in the freezer)
- Applesauce
- Monster Cookies (the dough was in the freezer)
TUESDAY:
- Pulled Pork (from the freezer)
- Cheesy Potatoes (from the freezer)
- Broccoli bacon salad
- Hot fruit salad
- Brownies
WEDNESDAY:
- Tatertot Casserole (the mixture was in the freezer, and the tater tots were frozen too)
- Broccoli, cauliflower, and green beans
- Applesauce
- Chocolate chip cookies
THURSDAY:
- Culvers to celebrate the start of Spring Break!
FRIDAY:
- Bubble-up Pizza
- Salad
- Fruit
- Brownies
SATURDAY:
- Leftovers for lunch
- Chicken quesadillas (quesadilla mixture from our freezer)
- Mango salsa and chips
- Scotcharoos
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Dave and I are both looking forward to a full week at home.
We have plenty of to-do’s on our list, but first, we’re hoping that James gets over this bug… and that no one else catches it from him!
Ellen says
Don’t watch The Boy in Striped Pajamas unless you’re prepared to cry. A lot. And another movie I can recommend (I expect everyone to have seen it, but if not… watch it!) is Schindler’s List. 🙂 It’s a bit happier than The Boy… but still a film that makes you cry.
Jenny Z says
I am wondering what you think of the chicken from Zaycon. how is the quality, would you order again?
I am thinking of ordering but am not sold yet!
Andrea says
Hi Jenny, So far, I have nothing bad to say with the Zaycon chicken — we haven’t noticed any difference in the taste (better or worse).
It IS a little bit of work up front to cut everything up, trim the fat, boil and shred a bunch of it and package it up for the freezer. I think I probably spent 2-3 hours preparing it all for the freezer, but now my freezer is stocked for a while.
There is nothing in terms of taste or quality that would prevent me from ordering the chicken again — it’s mainly just if I want to take the time to prepare it all (and if I have the freezer space).
Jennifer says
Love reading your posts and love the “peek into your week” posts!! I saw you had bubble up pizza as a meal, is that recipe in your site here. I would like to try it!! 🙂
Andrea says
no Jennifer, that recipes isn’t on my blog (I link to all the recipes that are) Just search for it on Pinterest — you’ll find hundred of recipes 🙂 It’s SUPER easy!
JoDi says
Poor little guy! Hope he’s feeling better and it doesn’t “make the rounds” through the rest of the family!
Enjoy spring break! We just had ours the week before last, amd I got a ton of stuff done. Sometimes my monthly migraine coincides with my school break and I don’t get much done so it felt good to have a list and actually complete it!
Shelly says
I’ve never heard of Bubble-Up Pizza… is that a specific brand?!
Andrea says
haha — no! It’s just a “pizza” recipe I make using refrigerated biscuit dough that I cut up and use as the “crust”. I’m sure you’ll find lots of recipes if you Google it, or search on Pinterest 🙂
JJ says
Oh, no! I hope he is feeling well soon! One of my friends who was a pediatric nurse and has 3 littles of her own would use current pumped breast milk(which has antibodies to fight what James has, since when he nurses, the germs enter your body when he nurses and antibodies are made) and would make smoothies for everyone. They may still get it, but it might be to a lesser degree. Praying! That’s hard on baby and you!
Kristen @ Joyfully Thriving says
Ohhh, your empty freezer looks so nice! 🙂 I never thought about putting my cheese on the door like that. I always stored it in the basket. Unfortunately, our extra freezer broke a couple months ago (boo). Friends are getting rid of theirs in another month or two, so we’re just waiting and making do with our above fridge freezer. Oh, how I miss our freezer, but I’m frugal enough to wait! I hope you’re having a marvelous Spring Break together!
Andrea says
yes, the cheese in the door works very well — I separate it by type too, so that’s nice. And yes, we go through LOTS and LOTS and LOTS of cheese! I think I have 8 pounds of block cheese in my fridge right now (and we’ll eat it all before it needs to be frozen!)
Kristen @ Joyfully Thriving says
Ha! We go through cheese just like that too. I always have blocks of cheese in my fridge and shredded in my freezer! I’m thankful we both live up North where we can get great prices on dairy! 🙂
Courtney B says
We had Spring Break last week and my one kid in school who had Spring Break had the stomach bug 🙁 It wasn’t as bad as your poor little guy had it though. I hope alongside you it is gone and you can all enjoy a healthy Spring Break!
Andrea says
boo for stomach bugs! James was too young to get the flu shot this year, so I’m hoping that if it IS the flu, he won’t pass it to the rest of us who DID get the shot. At least he’s happy when he’s not puking…
Barb says
“Unders” on their heads! Love it!
Jane says
Aww, poor baby! Sorry your plans hit a curve and you had a sick baby. Stomach viri are the worst!
I’m glad you saw Becoming Jane and thought it was “pretty good.” 😉 I fell in love with James MacAvoy in this movie!!!
Andrea says
haha — yes, I liked the movie! the acting (and costumes) were very good!
Kimberly says
20 bags ready for donations!!!! That’s awesome. I’ve got several bags out in the garage waiting to be donated as well. And now that warm weather has hit, I’m also itching to get outside and start working on the yard. I’ll have to watch fixer upper, it sounds like something my husband and I will enjoy. And Becoming Jane is one of my favorites – I’m glad you enjoyed it as well. Thanks for giving us a peak into your week, I hope all the sickness is gone from your house! Spring, come quickly!!
Andrea says
you will LOVE Fixer Upper — it’s SO good!
Christine @ The (mostly) Simple Life says
That’s great you still played outside even though it’s been pretty cold. We take our dog for a walk every day all year, but it sure would be nice if it was warmer!!!
Abby says
I love these posts allowing us a peek into your life. I have learned so much from you and your experiences with your sweet family. Thank you for continuing to share your routines, recipes, tips, and favorite things. Your blog has truly been a blessing and change agent to simply my life over the past five years.
Off topic, but do you still enjoy your double stroller as the children grow? Would you make the same choice again? We are gearing up for baby number four and are trying to decide. We too, have gone through multiple strollers (yes, even a couple of double ones) but have never tried the variety that reconfigures as the Contours does. I trust your opinion and have never been disappointed in a product I have tried at your recommendation. 🙂
Thanks again! 🙂
Andrea says
Thanks Abby, Yes, we do still love our double stroller — however, it will be EVEN nicer once Nora starts to be willing to ride her bike along with me. Last fall, she was still a little too young (or maybe just too hesitant) to want to ride the bike while I walk — and then of course, we didn’t use the stroller much over the winter. Now that she’s older, I’m hoping she will want to ride while I walk with the boys this spring — otherwise we might not do much walking since I am currently refusing to look at Triple strollers 🙂
Paulette says
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again…your children are ADORABLE and your posts motivate me! Can’t imagine starting my day without your blog. Thanks, Andrea!
Andrea says
Thanks so much Paulette!