Menu Planning Monday!!

Well, for those who read with baited breath each week, you'll notice some repeats in this weeks posting. Repeats isn't entirely accurate, since it's more of a recycle because I didn't take into account some variable last week--HA! If you want to check out some menus of NON-LAME bloggers, head over to: http://orgjunkie.com/ and see some yummy options!! For us:

Monday: Kabobs--that didnt get done last week!

Tuesday: Turkey breast, cowboy potatoes, veggie

Wednesday: Swiss steak, mashed taters, veggie

Thursday: I'm gone to class for supper

Friday: Kurt's off, I'm thinking dinner out!!

Saturday: Salmon, rice, veggie

Sunday: Pasty!!

Trick or Treat!!

So last year, I went all out--made the boys their Halloween costumes from scratch (Pirates) and they wore them for about 45 minutes total. No way was I going to do that this year (waaaaayyyyy too swamped with school right now!) Knowing that they have never even been "into" trick or treating in the past, I hesitated to even buy costumes. But I did. Police Officers like Daddy. Well, they loved them and Kurt purchased accessory kits to really deck them out.

We went down to the Fire Department, and then Grandma and Papa's. I had to convince them to go across the street from there and then they were hooked. After leaving my parents, rather than head to Kurt's parents, they wanted to do "the loop" of the neighborhood. I think next year will be very different and Kurt had better do what he can to get the night off--HA!

I did finally get them to Grandma and Grandpa's and they moved into handing out candy mode, which is always what they've been happy doing in the past.

PUMPKINS!

We don't always carve pumpkins for Halloween. There is a large college student population near our home and jack o'lanterns do not always survive long term on our porch! This year though, the neighborhood is a pretty "tame" group of kids, so Arielle took a chance and purchased 2 big pumpkins for the boys to carve. Kind of.

She cut the tops off and I think they each took one handful of the "guts" out before they declared themselves DONE--HA! Arielle and I finished scooping, the boys picked out the patterns they wanted to use, she transferred them onto the pumpkins, Beckett broke one of the "knives" meant to cut out the pieces, she and I took turns carving, I separated out the seeds to roast for Arielle and the boys came back in time for pictures! Pretty much how we figured it would go =)

Xmas card outtakes

So a couple of weekends ago I took the kids out to try and get some usable shots to use for this years Christmas card. I had HOPED for a few usuable ones out of all the ones I took--and now you know why...

Menu Planning Monday

Here we go! Monday again =) Once again it's blog-linky party time and as always, I'm linking up to Laura and her ever-growing list of bloggers who post their family's weekly menus too. There is something for everyone there! For us this week:

Monday: French toast and bacon

Tuesday: Chicken breasts, pasta, veggie

Wednesday: Kurt is off, he's in charge!

Thursday: I have class--with a test no less!

Friday: I have FRESH Amish chickens coming--I will try something with one of these

Saturday: Kabobs, rice

Sunday: Turkey breast, cowboy potatoes, beans

Show us your Life--Home Tour Kids Rooms

And for my final link up with Kelly and her blog-hopping party of nursery/kids rooms. This would be Beckett's room--all to himself now that Paxton has moved next door. And, yes, I know--it needs a little TLC! The sage-y green walls are from way back when Paxton had this room as his nursery. Once he was moving to a big boy bed and the crib was going to be repurposed for Beckett, I went shopping for bedding and got a major score when I found the Eddie Bauer Bedtime Bears line for the twin bed AND all of the crib pieces as well as lamps, nightlight, stuffed bears, rugs, clock, curtains AND wall decorations. And Lady Luck was in a good mood later on when it was time to transition Beckett into a big boy bed as well because I found duplicates of everything I needed from the same line again on Ebay. Two quilts, 2 comforters, 2 regular sheet sets, 2 flannel sheet sets (VERY important in WI!!) and 2 shams. WHEW!

I am still loving the bedding, but the walls could use freshening and I will probably pull a color out of the fabric to do this with--lots of possibilities in there. He also needs a nightstand, which I am on the lookout for and he needs some wall decoration as well. After nursing school is behind me I plan to tackle these little projects =)

Show us your Life--Home Tour Kids Rooms

This is part 2 of my Home Tour of Nurseries/Kids' Rooms as hosted by Kelly in her weekly blog-hopping linky party! I can't fit a million pictures into a post (even though I've been directed HOW to do that, just need to DO it!) We're just moving on down the hall to Paxton's room. The 2 little boys shared a room until recently when Arielle moved to an apartment and Paxton moved in. I still have work to do in there, some of it I know exactly how it will be, the rest--not so much!

I did the board and batten project all by myself =) If you look closely, you can see how I need to get that final trim piece up at the top!! He also needs more on the walls than just his name above his bed--HA! The train table is a pivotal piece since he is our little train junkie! (although, truth be told, most of the time he hauls the bulk of it down to the living room and sets up elaborate pathways for us to walk over!) I KNEW I wanted chocolate and white for the walls and then went bedding shopping--you know, the exact opposite of how you're supposed to do it! But it worked out, I found the bedding at Kohl's and NOW see that there are matching curtains too--still thinking about switching those out. He loves his new room =)