Menu Plan Monday--August 1-7

Check out more menu plans at Organizing Junkie

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A look at our week:

It will be a busy week at our house. We will be doing a "trial run" of our homeschooling schedule, as well as finishing up any planning and buying any needed supplies (this week is tax break week where we live). We like get back to school in August since the heat takes the fun out of outdoors activities, and then we take most of December off, when there is so much to do and enjoy. 

Our project of the week (for the Three Amigos) will be to start a Bug Alphabet Book, since insects are a topic all of the kids seem to enjoy. We are starting with "A is for Ant" and "B is for Butterfly." They are making a few pages for each bug, and we have all of our insect books out of storage for them to enjoy and to use as read-alouds.

It is still very hot here, so we won't be outside any more than necessary, except for any time the kids decide to spend in their "water park" (a tarp spread on the grass with the sprinkler and two baby pools on top, plenty of water bomb balls, water squirters, and some dish soap to make it slippery). 

My nephew's first birthday is on Wednesday, so Happy Birthday, Little Bear! He is one of the sweetest, smiliest (is that a word? The auto-corrector thinks not) babies I have ever met, other than my own. My brother says he loves anything to do with balls, so we will be finding him something round for his birthday gift!

Tex has promised to watch King Solomon's Mines (starring Patrick Swayze) with me one night. I have heard it is pretty good and I am looking forward to it.  

Our annual church picnic is on Saturday, so the kids are gearing up for LOTS of good church-lady food, swimming in the river, all-you-can-eat crabs, boat rides, football and ultimate-frisbee games, a church band sing-along, and good times with their friends.

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Our Menu:

Monday: We will have "Pizza and a Movie Night" early, because I missed it last week...the kids watched the Amazing Panda Adventure since their VBS theme included pandas this year.

Tuesday: Steak for mom, dad, and Tex, hot dogs for the kids, seasoned fries, mac and cheese, and corn.

Wednesday: Baked chicken, au gratin potatoes, green peas, and french bread...Happy Birthday, Little Bear!!

Thursday: Chicken Enchiladas, Pico de Gallo, tortilla chips, refried beans, and Spanish rice...served with lots of tomatoes and lettuce from the garden. 

Friday: Nachos to use up last night's leftovers and more tomatoes from the garden, with the new Queso Blanco from Velveeta on the side...yum!

Saturday: The Annual Church Summer Picnic...ie. HUGE yummy potluck and all the crabs you can eat!

Sunday: Baked Spaghetti, salad, and french bread.

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Read aloud of the week:

After the fun of reading aloud the Flat Stanley book in which he goes to Mexico week before last, the kids were eager to hear the first book again. It seems some of them had only hazy memories of hearing it a year or two ago, which is hardly surprising since Firefly would have been barely two, and Cowboy just four. It is interesting hearing their changed perspectives and more detailed questions as they grow older. Last time they all expressed dismay at Stanley's getting flattened by a bulletin board falling on him. This time they hypothesized how it might have felt and where they would like to go if they were so unfortunate (or fortunate, depending on your perspective) to have the same thing happen to them.

A nifty surprise came for us in the mail last Saturday. A friend's son's Flat Stanley, for which we'd been waiting a long time, finally arrived in the mail from Pennsylvania! So, Stanley was here last week when Hubby took time off to do some needed work around the property, and he helped build a stall for Merry, our Shetland pony (who might be expecting??!!). He was also here for some water park fun earlier in the week, but he is a bit shy of the water...go figure...so he just watched from a safe distance with me. The kids have been eagerly making a list of local things we can do with Stanley next week, so stay tuned for his adventures!

I pray you have a blessed week.