Menu Plan Monday

Alright I am going to join a few hundred people who post their menu plan on Mondays- it is so inspiring to be a part of a community even just for one idea. This is hosted by Organizing Junkie [please click on the link at left to see other Menu ideas]:



Monday: Quiche that will be made of eggs, bacon, spinach, mushroom, onions, various cheese including parmesan, in a pie crust...

Tuesday: Baked Chicken Breasts, mashed potatoes, and salad

Wednesday: Chili on top Baked Potatoes with carrots or salad

Thursday: Zuppa Toscana with recipe coutesy of The Food Slut! Also

Friday: Chicken Fajitas with Grandma's recipe for rice and pot of black beans...

Notice I have three nights with potatoes?! I got a 5lb bag of potatoes from the Farmer Market for $2!!!

Updates

My weekend [a week ago] was nice... I forgot to take the camera each time I walked the beach though but it was beautiful. The girls and I had some time to bond and to plan out next year's MOPS which is exactly what the retreat was for.

My Dad brought Californian weather with him as we got over 100 degrees Friday and cooled down to 90 degrees Saturday and little bit cooler Sunday- even cooler but still very warm on the coast. The boys and Grandpa had a great time together.

Dan got promoted with his Reserve job Friday night and spent the rest of the weekend getting to know his new guys and new station. He is excited about it.

Then we went back to our regular Rainy weather forecast...

I joined a second book club and took the boys with me to our first meeting on Tuesday- they had dessert and watch movies on our portable dvd player and the waiters kept getting sidetracked by their movies.
Wednesday I had a miracle- Solomon slept in until almost 9am [he typically gets up by 7am] and Cyrus slept in until 10:47am [and yes like a good mom I tried getting him up but not too hard] so I read a book and enjoyed the quiet morning.

Yesterday Dan took the boys to see Ironman- they all liked it. And yesterday was sunny- I enjoyed the weather at the Farmer's Market.

Then we went back to our regular Rainy weather forecast...

Today

Grandpa gets here today to bond and have fun with the munkins while I go off into the Sunset for my retreat this weekend at the beach.

I should come back with sand in my shoes and a happy smile on my face...

MOPS

I belong to my local MOPS chapter- there are several in my area- I had just picked the one closest to me. I have just finished my second year with this particular group and I truly enjoy the fellowship with other women/moms. I have just finished my first year on Steering [leadership board] and I was Publicity which is the "paper girl" position handling the newsletters, printed registration forms, handbook, and directory of members. It was a big task that I got overwhelmed with the website part of it so this coming year, I am doing it again but with more of me into it since I have already done the learning curve part and with a wonderful woman/fellow mom who has taken over the website for us.
The following is a basic statement about MOPS:

MOPS stands for Mothers Of PreschoolerS. MOPS International exists to meet the needs of every mom - urban, suburban, and rural moms, stay-at-home and working moms, teen, single, and married moms - moms with different lifestyles who all share a similar desire to be the very best moms they can be!
MOPS recognizes that the years from infancy to kindergarten are foundational in a mother-child relationship and are filled with unique needs.

So this weekend is our Steering Retreat- where all the woman who are volunteering for next year's steering team rent a beach house and we use Saturday to plan next year and the rest of the weekend [Friday evening, Saturday dinner out on the town, walks on the beach, meal-times, and Sunday morning] to bond. It is truly a wonderful time. I leave in 3 days! I am just so excited!

Being a Mom and getting a day for ourselves...

We all celebrated Mother's Day on Sunday and we are back to celebrating Kids' Day...

I had a lovely Mother's Day.
A card and a movie plus Jimmy Carter's new book:
and we ate at McCormick's which had a great Mother's Day Brunch and we'll be going back to eat there again!

Friendship is born at that moment when one person says to another: What! You too? I thought I was the only one.

-C. S. Lewis

So true...

If Columbus had an advisory committee he would probably still be at the dock.


-- Justice Arthur Goldberg

Birthday Presents

With Dan out of town so much that I haven't had the opportunity to get Cyrus anything and wrap it up beforehand so we went shopping at one of our local toy stores, Green Frog. He had gotten some birthday money from Mimi that he could spend as well as a gift from Mom. He settled very quickly on a cape, shield, and these foam like swords. However, just being a knight is not as much fun as being a knight and fighting another knight and asked so nicely if he would have Solomon get knight stuff to wear too. It was so sweet that he wanted to share his birthday with Solomon. The pictures show that I said yes...



Sir Cyrus and Sir Solomon

Ice Cream Cake

Cyrus really wanted ice cream rather than cake for his birthday. We convinced him that ice cream cake really rocks. He is blowing out all 4 candles...

Happy Birthday Cyrus!

Born 4 years ago, 4 minutes after midnight to make May 2nd his birthday. He weighed 7lbs and 7 oz and now weighs 40 lbs. My boy is growing up...