Well it has been a while since I have planned a menu. I am hoping to get back into it because I really did enjoy knowing what I would be making for the week. Now that the weather is getting cooler I think I will be in the mood to make more hearty meals. So here is what will be cooking for supper at our house this week.

Monday: Cheesy Broccoli & Rice with Chicken

Tuesday: Split Pea & Ham Soup & Homemade Bread

Wednesday: Sloppy Joes, French Fries, String Beans

Thursday: Leftovers

Friday: Zucchini Pizza Casserole

Saturday: Tacos - kids favorite

Sunday: Belgium Waffles & Sausage

Here is a picture of the new hair cut. I really like it a lot!

A week went by????
Oh how time flies by so quickly. The kids are all better, which has been good. I also canned my first 8 quarts of tomatoes. I think I will be canning a record number of tomatoes this year. I am going to have to keep count. Let see what else have we been up to???? I've been trying to catch up on going through pictures and ordering them. I decided to start ordering print from Walgreen's because they have lots of great sales, which helps cut the cost. I was able to make up a digital scrapbook page and collage for free and just this week they have buy 25 and get 25 free. Also today Brandon had his first day of clinical. He is so happy for school to be starting. This is is last year of school and I know it's going to go by quickly. Oh and lastly I went in and chopped my hair off. I really needed a change and the hubby said I would love to see your hair shorter, so I did it and absolutely love it. I was tired of wearing my hair in a pony tail, which I did most days. Well I need to get off to bed, so that I can be well rested to keep up with my kids tomorrow.

Water Fun.....
The kids have been swimming as much as possible before all the warm weather is gone. The slide sure makes it fun for them and then add in the spinkler and they have a blast.

I found this cool tent and tunnel at a garage sale last weekend for $5. What a deal and the kids have been having lots of fun with it.

Last week Noah was so tired from being sick that he just fell a sleep on the chair. What a cutie:)

Zucchini Fritters....

I posted a new recipe that we tried out the other night on my recipe blog. They were yummy and we will definitely be making them again very soon. To see more about these go here. There are also a couple other zucchini recipes to take a look at.

Change in the Temp......

Today the weather was finally not humid. It was a great day and I enjoyed having the window's open and the air conditioner off. The kids also tried to swim, but decided that it was a bit cold. All last week they spent a lot of time in the swimming pool, since it was really hot & humid. I figured they better get as much swimming in as possible before the hot summer days run out. Wow it's amazing that the summer is about over and fall is just around the corner.

The kids have been working in their school workbooks every morning for the several weeks. Anna has almost finished 2 of the 4 work books that Grandma Kara got her for her B-day. Even Gabriel has been working through books of his own. It's so nice to have the kids ask to do school every morning. I even went to the library with Gabriel and we check out some fun learning books on bugs, sharks and big machine equipment - that ones for Gabe. The kids have been showing special interest in animals lately. Today we caught a really big moth. We thought it was dead for a while and then realized it wasn't. Then this evening it started making a lots of noise and flew away. Anna was sad about that.

The kids have finally recovered from Hand Foot & Mouth Disease. It was a ruff 3 weeks or so, but it is finally over and they are all back to themselves and playing like crazy. I hope to get some pictures up sometime soon. Until then have a great week:)

Ruby......
This is a nice shot of our beagle dog. We use to have two beagles, but it got to be to much with living in town. We actually had some friends that really wanted our Charlie girl, so they have her now. It's works out great because we still get to see you and she also gets to spend more time outside at there house, which I know Charlie loves.

Handmade Bible Cover.....
I have had this small Bible for probably about 12 year or so and the cover was in bad shape. I have been thinking for a while about what I could do and decided yesterday to make just a simple fabric slip cover. So I headed to my fabric stash and came across this pretty colorful fabric, which is heavy duty and will be durable.

I measured from the inside cover around the front, binding, back and inside back cover. I then measured the width and added 1 1/2" to the measurement to the length and width, so the seams would be 3/4". I then cut out two pieces of fabric and sewed up this nice little cover.

It sewed up easily and turned out great. I love it!

Landscaping Plants.....
I was able to get some plants from my mother the last time we went home for a visit. It took me a good week & a half to get them planted, but I finally got it done. Here are a few pictures of the small plants. I am looking forward to seeing how they look at the end of next summer.

I think I have done a pretty good job at keeping the weeds out. Whenever I see one I grab my weed killer and give it a good spray. I'm very happy with the way that it looks.

More Furniture Transformations.....
Here I took a end table and stripped the wood and then gave it a nice stain and a polyurethane finish. It looks a lot nicer and didn't cost me much at all.

Before:

After:

Here's also another stand that I had gotten from my parents, which was my Grandma's at one time. Unfortunately, I didn't take a before picture of it, but let me say it was in ruff shape, but stripping it did the trick. I then also stained it and gave it a polyurethane finish and it looks brand new.

Pictures to make you smile......

Furniture Transformation......

I got this end table from my mom and dad. It was just sitting out in there garage and I thought that I could use it, so I decided to bring it home and make it look nicer then it did. I first gave it a good coat of primer.

I then asked my hubby what color I should paint it and he said to use this green color. I actually got this can of paint for free because I had signed up at some paint website. So far the cost of this piece of furniture was pennies.

I think it turned out pretty good. I just need to find some handles for the doors that are on each end. It's not only a great stand that could be used for many things, but it has some great storage to.

More then a Minute Needed.....

I am going to need even more grace now because my 2nd child Gabriel is getting sick. I took Gabe's temperature earlier today and it was 102.8. This is only the beginning. I'm sure in a few days he will be getting sores in his mouth.

Anna's sore have been getting worse. Her breath smells so bad that it's hard to even talk to her. I have brushed her teeth a few times, but it's hard when her mouth hurts so bad. I sure hope she gets better soon. She did get to enjoy some very small bite size pieces of Monkey Bread today.