Weekend Report--and Menu Plan Monday

We had a really good weekend. We managed to get a lot done, while also spending lots of quality time together--the ideal combination when you're a WOTH mom!

Saturday morning didn't start off so great. After changing the light bulb in my closet, I was trying to reattach the glass cover with these tiny little screws, but apparently, I didn't screw in it correctly and glass cover fell and hit the shelf coming down and shattered into a million pieces. On top of that, I had to take Seth to the doctor because it looked like he had thrush. Ed cleaned up my closet while I got the boys dressed. Then I took Seth to the doctor (and sure enough, he has thrush! How the heck he got it, I have no idea, but such is life.) Meanwhile, Ed took William to Home Depot. Seth napped when we got back from the doctor, so I had time to clean bathrooms and start laundry. Fortunately, the day was looking up.

After lunch, William was not the least bit tired (even though I enforced a 30-minute "quiet time" on him, thinking he'd fall asleep), so Ed took him fishing. I played with Seth and did more laundry and cleaning. When Ed and William got home, Ed cut the grass while I played with the boys outside. After Seth went down for his afternoon nap, William and I played and went to the playground. We met some neighbors there, and one of the kids had a stomp rocket. William had a blast taking turns with the little girl and riding his tricycle around. When Seth woke up, he and Ed came out, and by then, even more neighbors had joined us. The kids played and the grownups talked. We are definitely loving the new neighborhood! On a whim, we decided to go out to eat for dinner. By the time we got back, it was time for nebulizer, bath, books, and bed.

On Sunday morning, I took both boys to the grocery store. Seth fell asleep on the way home and went down for his morning nap. I let William watch videos while I put away groceries, cleaned out the fridge, and cleaned up the kitchen. At 10:30, my friend and her daughter came over for a play date. Katherine is almost 3 and enjoyed playing with William's toys. She was not a big fan of Seth getting all up in her business (she's an only child so far), but she did pretty well. At one point, my friend and I were laughing at some pretty stereotypical role-playing going on. Katherine was inside the playhouse vacuuming, while William had climbed on top of the playhouse and was "fixing the roof" with his power drill. It was pretty funny. After lunch (during which Seth and Katherine ate while William didn't), Katherine and her mom left, and Ed and I decided to take the boys to Gravelly Point to watch the airplanes take off and land at the airport. (Gravelly point is a park on the river, right next to National Airport.) On our way there, both boys fell asleep, so we drove to a nearby deli so Ed could get something to eat, and then went to the park. The boys finally woke up and we enjoyed watching the planes. Unfortunately, it was freezing by the water, so we didn't stay for very long. But it was still fun!

When we got back, William played on his own for about two hours (with everything centered on airplanes, of course!), while Seth alternated between playing with toys and with Ed and me. Meanwhile, I simultaneously made two dinners--one for last night and one for tonight. Woo-hoo for planning ahead! On Saturday night, I spent a lot of time working out this week's menu plan, so I'm hoping we'll have a good week of eating. I've been really bad over the past month in terms of making real dinners and lunch for myself. Ed and I have been doing a lot of scavenging for dinner (I've eaten a lot of cereal!) while the boys have eaten a lot of macaroni and cheese, chicken nuggets, meatballs, and pasta.

So here is this week's menu, including last night:

Sunday:

• Baked chicken tenders (I dredge the tenders in flour mixed with Ranch dressing seasoning, then dip in egg, and then in seasoned bread crumbs.)
• Green Beans
• Stove Top stuffing
  

Monday:

• Beef, Cheese, and Noodle Bake (made with ground turkey breast, instead of beef)
• Salad
• Dinner rolls

Tuesday:

• Garlic Herbed Tilapia Filets (I'm using McCormick's garlic herb seasoning)
  
• Asparagus
• Rice

Wednesday:

• Sirloin steaks (marinated in something--don't know what yet)
  
• corn on the cob
• salad (broccoli for the kids)
• dinner rolls

Thursday:

• Pizza (homemade, using TJ's pizza dough)
  

Friday:

• Spaghetti with Angel Hair pasta
• garlic bread

I'm hoping we can stick to this plan all week. And I'm hoping these are all things that everyone will eat. (Even though Ed doesn't like pasta all that much. Sorry Ed!) I hope to do the spaghetti sauce in the crock pot for Friday, and if the weather is nice on Wednesday, I'll grill the steaks. I might switch up Wednesday and Friday, but we'll see. I'm trying to cut back on the red meat a bit--limit it to two or three times a week max, which is hard for my meat-loving boys. Neither Ed nor William likes casseroles, which makes it difficult when I'm trying to come up with dinners that I can make ahead of time and that require little prep time. And there aren't a lot of things I've cooked in the crock pot that both Ed and William enjoy. We'll see how it goes! It's so tantalizing to see how close we are to eating real family meals together. There are very few things Seth can't eat--yay for that!

So that's it for the weekend round-up. This weekend coming up is William's birthday party. We're having it on Saturday at a local working farm, so hopefully the weather will be nice. I haven't gotten anything ready, so this week will involve some late-night trips to Target and the party store. I probably should have spent some time this past weekend preparing, but then the weekend might not have been nearly as relaxing! And in the end, it will all get done.