Camp and Orientation

 Happy Tuesday everyone! As promised here is the continuation of my crazy busy weekend, which began with Rebecca's graduation party. 

Saturday night, I came home from the party. Froze the leftover meat. Left everything else that I brought home either on the counter or on the floor in the boxes that I brought them home in and then went to bed. I had to get up and continue packing for the boys to get them ready for camp. I also had to pack for myself for a short trip Rebecca and I were taking to Bowling Green for her orientation.  And we had to leave by 12:30 for all this to happen. 

It was a stressful morning. I hated leaving the house in a mess but honestly it is what it is and I know I will clean the house when I get home.

Rebecca and I got the boys dropped off for their week-long Catholic Youth Summer Camp. I hope they have an amazing week. I know Ben was nervous to go, but I have seen a couple pictures of him and he seems to be having fun! Now the fun questions to ask are "will the boys shower and use soap this week?" "Will the boys change their clothes each day?" "How smelly will the boys be when I pick them up on Friday?" 🤣🤣🤣

After dropping the boys off, Rebecca and I headed north to Bowling Green. She was scheduled to have orientation yesterday and it was an all day event and she had to be there at 8 AM so we decided to make it a little road trip. 

We got to the hotel around 3:30 PM and that is when the fun started. We decided to take a dip in the pool. No worries. Pool water was decent temperature. We were the only ones there. Then we decided that we wanted to watch the Tony awards Sunday night. When we got back to the room, we tried to turn on the TV. It wouldn't work. So I went down to the front desk, as she wasn't answering her phone, and she apologized and said she could move us to a new room. Great. We move to another room just down the hall, and TV is on and seems to work. Great. Rebecca started watching TV and about 30 minutes in, the TV shuts down and says no connection and won't work. I call down to the front desk and explain what happened. The front desk lady apologized profusely and said that maintenance was not there and she could move us to another room on the opposite end of the hotel and on a different floor. We didn't mind. So we ended up on the top floor with a working TV. (It did glitch at one point, but immediately came back on). She was so apologetic and said that she was so sorry that this was happening and that they had just come off a sold out weekend and they had to shut down several rooms due to the WIFI not working in those rooms, etc. I wasn't upset as we have stayed at this hotel a number of times when we have come up to BG and this is the first time we have ever had this problem. 

We ended up walking across the parking lot to go to dinner at Buffalo Wild Wings, where Rebecca discovered that the mild wings are still a little too spicy for her.  When we got back we watched the Tony Awards and I enjoyed all the musical numbers, including the Hamilton reunion. 

Yesterday was orientation day. We had to be at Bowling Green State University at 8AM. It was a long day with a lot of information that I already had received at previous events. However it was good for Rebecca as she got to get her class schedule, meet some new people, and saw her dorm layout to get an idea of what her actual room will look like and get some valuable information about dates, and events, etc. It was a lot of sitting and listening to presentations for parents. 

They did feed us lunch though and it was yummy. Dining hall food has sure gotten better since I was in college! Overall it was a productive day. 

Then it was back to the hotel for some rest. We ordered Campus Pollyeyes famous stuffed bread sticks for dinner. They were so yummy! Then spent the rest of the evening relaxing-- Rebecca played games on her tablet and was texting friends. I was working on this here blog and catching up on some reading of blogs. 

For the rest of the week, I need to meal plan. I need to clean house. I need to head over to my sister and SIL's house and take down graduation party stuff and return tables and chairs to rightful owners.  I have lots of things that I need to do. So if I go silent for the rest of the week, I will either be sleeping off the exhaustion from the long weekend, or Ill be too busy doing housework. 

Hope everyone is having a great day! Until next time.....

Rebecca's Graduation Party

Happy Monday everyone! Hope everyone had a lovely weekend. Mine was SUPER busy and stressful, but overall it was all good. Can I ask a favor though? Next time I decided to throw a graduation party, send 2 kids off to camp and attend a college orientation over the course of 3 consecutive days, please will someone stop me?!? It was a lot! But that has been my reality over the last 4 days. 

Friday, I went to my sister and sister-in-law's house to decorate and set up for Rebecca's graduation party. We got some stuff set up and then I had to head back home to pack the boys up for their week long camp that I was taking them to on Sunday, pick up tables that I was borrowing from friends, and to make the cupcakes for Rebecca's party.  On Saturday morning, I got to work cooking up taco meat, icing the cupcakes, and doing some last minute things at home, like finishing up a photo board, finding all her certificates to display, etc. Then I headed off to my sister and SIL's house to finish setting up. I think the decorations and displays turned out really well. Her party was to start at 4 and would go until whenever (it ended up going until around 10:40ish). There was a decent turn out of her friends. They all seemed to enjoy the taco bar and the cupcakes (despite the melting icing due to the heat/humidity). 

I went simple with the menu-- chicken and beef soft tacos with lettuce, shredded cheese, guacamole, sour cream and salsa for toppings. I also had nacho cheese and tortilla chips, beans and Spanish rice. Cupcakes for dessert. I will say that I bought enough food for everyone who she invited because I literally got 3 RSVP texts. Does no one RSVP anymore? I should have bought half of what I did and that would have been enough. Oh well, live and learn. I froze the taco meats and we will definitely use them up for dinners. 

One of the fun things that Rebecca wanted to do for her party was she wanted to burn her college recruitment letters from all the various colleges that sent her mail. So we were able to make that happen. Her friends thought that was a pretty cool idea and seemed to enjoy it. They also enjoyed the yard sized Jenga and they played UNO and enjoyed the photo backdrop. 

Overall it was a nice party, although Rebecca did end up getting a migraine level headache and that dampened some of the party. Good thing her aunt is a nurse and got her medicine (ibuprofen and then Tylenol) and caffeinated her up to help the head.  

We cleaned up the food, but left everything else out because it was late and we were all EXHAUSTED. I had to get up early on Sunday to finish packing for the boys, shower, and pack my stuff up for a short trip for Rebecca's orientation at college. 

I will continue this tomorrow as this post has become really, really long......

So until then, have a wonderful night! 

Random photos on my phone

Happy Wednesday everyone. Today's post is brought to you by randomness. Just some short things that really can't be put into posts on their own. Just some randomness that is happening around my home brought to you by photos on my phone. 

The kids and I tried these and they were nothing special. Jacob, who loves PB and J was disappointed in them. I felt like they tasted just like regular Reese's as they had almost no jelly in them. 

I had a ton of bananas that went very ripe. So I made a new recipe, a chocolate and banana Bundt cake. It was pretty tasty. 

The inside of the cake. 

Gus and Gronk are confused why I am home all day everyday. They also like to sit and stare at me. 

Like last year, I have joined a Facebook group "Streaking With the Cool Kids" and am committed to walking 1 mile every day in June. I need to do this as my weight has crept up. So far so good, I have walked at least 1 mile each day. 

June 1, I walked down to our town square for our walk as they were having an artisan event. Jacob came with me and I treated him and I to Bubble beverages. He had a bubble lemonade and I had a bubble tea. He had never had a bubble beverage before and it was hilarious seeing his reaction the first time he got a bubble up through his straw. My tea was mixed berry tea with strawberry bubbles. It was super yummy. 

So I had to break into my own house today....Long story short, we left and got my mom and sister. Had to run back to the house as Rebecca thought she left her iron plugged in (she did). When she came out she got my keys stuck in the door frame, on the inside and locked us out. After figuring out what to do, we had to break a window in the basement to get in. My sister climbed in and saved the day. Now I need to replace that window. 

And Finally, I haven't been to a Red Lobster in years. We were going shopping for Rebecca's grad party and we stopped in at Red Lobster to eat as my sister wanted their cheddar bay biscuits. I had the Flounder sandwich and oh my word it was so good! 

Does anyone else have any randomness occurring in their lives? 

Menu Plan Monday

Happy Monday and Happy June! June officially started yesterday but who's counting? Hope everyone had a good weekend. Mine was pretty good. Low key. Didn't really do a whole lot. I have a busy week coming up... I have to get ready for Rebecca's graduation party AND get the boys ready to go to their week long camp next weekend. Lots to do. I also have to make sure that the kids are fed and that we don't waste any food and I want to start clearing out older food that has been in my freezer for a while. So I thought at least for the foreseeable future I would go back to doing menu plan Mondays to make sure I am keeping myself accountable not only for time but also for budget. So what are we eating this week: 

SUNDAY: Turkey breast* (cooked in crock pot), mashed potatoes, green beans, crescent rolls, gravy

MONDAY: Breakfast for dinner (scrambled eggs, sausage biscuits*, roasted red potatoes, fruit)

TUESDAY: Turkey pepper wraps (a new recipe), chips, cucumbers and fruit.

WEDNESDAY: Y.O.Y.O/ boys are with their father

THURSDAY: Fried chicken*, macaroni and cheese, green beans

FRIDAY: Pizza??

SATURDAY: Rebecca graduation party--- taco bar and cupcakes

* This symbol shows food from the freezer that needs to be used up as I have had it for a long time. 

                                                        What are you eating this week?  

 

 

 

Books read

Happy last day of May! Hope everyone is having a good weekend. I can't believe May is over. My kids are out of school for the summer and I am just feeling restless. I haven't even been able to get into a routine yet and that is throwing me off. One thing that I have done is finally I have gotten back into reading for pleasure. One of the things that I have gotten away from is not taking time to do the things I enjoy to relax and that I like to do. Reading is one of those things. I have decided to start making a list of all the books that I have read each month so that maybe someone else can see what books are out there, and it just keeps me accountable. This month's list is going to include all the books I have read so far this year. These books are: 

This book was okay. ★★★☆☆

Good read, but very predictable Colleen Hoover. ★★★☆☆

I felt this book was okay. Got really repetitive, but overall was an okay read. ★★★☆☆ 

WOW! Loved this book. Very powerful. ★★★★★

Very enlightening. ★★★★☆

Easy summer read. ★★★★☆

★★★☆☆

★★★★☆

This was really good. ★★★★★

Have you read any good books lately? Care to give a recommendation? 

She Graduated and Memorial Day

Happy Tuesday everyone! How was everyone's weekend? Mine was super busy but full of family time. 

Saturday I went to the library, as I want to start getting back into reading. Then Saturday night we had dinner at a local Mexican restaurant to celebrate my brother getting a new job. There were probably 25-30 of us there. It was a nice time.  

Sunday was the perfect day for a high school graduation! Rebecca and 305 of her classmates all graduated in a ceremony that was only 1.5 hours long. It was a wonderful ceremony and I was so proud of Rebecca as she graduated with honors! 

After her graduation, we went to my sister and sister-in-law's house and my sister-in-law cooked dinner for everyone. It was a very low key but wonderful celebration. We had talked about going out to eat, but we figured everywhere in our town that would be suitable would be packed and this was just so much better. After dinner, my sister-in-law built a small fire in their fire pit. It was truly a good day. 

Yesterday was Memorial Day and one of the things that I love about our small town is their Memorial Day parade. This year it was very nicely done and very respectful. My sister-in-law and my niece walked in the parade with my sister-in-law's work. We also found Waldo in the parade! The rest of the day was pretty low key with naps being taken, and just resting and relaxing. 

This is the last week of school for the boys. Jacob has finals today, tomorrow and Thursday. Ben has classes as well, with early release on Thursday. My plans for the week include cleaning, cleaning, laundry, more cleaning, etc. You get the picture. LOL. 

I hope everyone has a good week. Let me know what you've been up to.