Looking ahead...

We did it. 

Today we trekked the three hours for Donald to unhook from his chemo pump.

We did a major two + week grocery haul

(our little town has one grocery store and gigantic prices, we do better to shop in the big city)

We drove the three hours home. 

The boys unloaded the van.

I put stuff away for an hour.

Then.

I went to Dollar General and stocked up on Puffs Plus

and cough drops.

Because 

I have two sick people 

in my house. 

But I have a stocked pantry and fridge.

I have IronMan 3 on dvd.

I have Sugar Free Pumpkin Spice, & Peppermint Mocha creamers.

And I have a menu for two weeks

which I'm sure you'd love to see:

 (as a note, since school started, we've been walking 3 miles a day for P.E. This brought on the kid initiated idea of Meatless Mondays )

Monday: Veggie Lo Mein (from HERE)

Tuesday: Honey Chicken & fried rice (from HERE & HERE)

Wednesday: Alfredo bake and a squash and zucchini torte (from HERE , the veggies will just be thinly sliced, drizzled in Olive Oil and sprinkled with italian seasonings and then roasted)

Thursday: Mini Meatloaves , mashed potatoes & roasted broccoli

Friday: Homemade cheese stuffed crust pizza

Saturday: Zuppa Toscana & homemade bread

Sunday: Chicken Pot Pie (repeat from last week, but it was requested)

Monday: Veggie Enchiladas (from HERE , these are crazy good!)

Tuesday: grilled chicken, roasted veggies with quinoa

Wednesday: baked potatoes & roasted tomato w/ basil soup (from HERE)

Thursday: Pork tacos (dr. pepper pork in crockpot/shredded) with rice & beans

Friday:  Pizza (yes, every Friday)

There will also be an Apple Crumble Pie this week. Anna Elizabeth has managed to get all the way to third grade without knowledge of Johnny Appleseed. This huge gap of homeschooling educational standards ;) was brought to my attention, after she got off the phone with my Aunt (a teacher) who was preparing to dress up and teach her kids about him, last week. 

While I Was Away...(and various other ramblings and thoughts on a Saturday morning...this one is picture heavy, folks)

I discovered blogs in 1997...only way back then, they were called online journals. I loved reading the day to day, seeing the photos, hearing their stories & I fell into a pattern of reading about the lives of those I'd met ...  along the way, those journals and eventually blogs, brought some amazing people into my life.  Life changes and somewhere I've stopped reading blogs and I've stopped writing in mine.

But here is the thing. While I would never coin myself a writer & I don't have a desire to write for attention...I do love the idea of what blogging represents. I love taking photos of my day to day life ... the food, the places, the spaces . I'm not a photographer or a professional blogger or a chef-but does that mean I can't then take a photo of a cake I bake or a sunset or write about what happens? I like those parts of my day-and I'm going to embrace them more. 

Last week or , well, this week , I took a little break from being online *so* much. NOW , this is not now going to turn into some mini sermon on redeeming the time, or any such...at all. This was all about me. Because I KNOW me and how I operate.  I love and adore Facebook. Because I love the people I have as friends there. I love hearing their stuff and seeing their photos. 

But I am learning that this school year is going to require more of me...and I've had to adjust my online time and commitments to accommodate that. It's not a bad thing-but it's a necessary thing. 

All that to say , I still plan to be there & I also want to work on getting back here. Taking a bit of time , a few times a week...to document the typical, ordinary days that are making up my life. :)

I crocheted a lot this week... I made a little birthday heart banner for a dear friend...

a little quote that currently resides on our fridge...

The younger kids are studying Egypt and made papyrus  for school ...

for all of the nothing that West Texas has...it sure has a lot of pretty

Donald taught AE some Korean

While in Midland for Donald's treatment, I took the kids to see the childhood home of George W. Bush...

I finished one of the projects I'm doing for Middle Places. We are hosting another auction to benefit Rapha House (rescuing women and girls from the sex trade ) in October! 

I cook, a lot. 

I take photos of what I cook...

These were a BIG hit (recipe via pinterest)

another hit (recipe via epicurious)

I read a lot , crocheted a lot, took a lot of photos, cooked a lot, realigned my focus, had some new ideas, let go of some old ones, looked at some things a different way...I took a few days to see where my time was going and to see how I could still do those things and other things and get ALL THE THINGS done. :)

I'm thankful if you share the journey.