Meals- July 28- August 3

Wow, I can't believe that I had to type in the word August for this week's meal plan. I feel like I just flipped my calendar over to July. Where has this month gone?? Where has the summer gone??

• Monday- Baked chicken breast with sweet potatoes and onions
• Tuesday- French toast and eggs
• Wednesday- Bacon cheddar brats with peppered potato chips and steamed veggies
• Thursday- I work late---so this supper will be up to Brandon
• Friday- Eating out
• Saturday- Brandon and I have to work at Orientation, so I think for supper we will have BLT's (Thanks Brooke, haven't had these forever and they sound so good!)
• Sunday-
• Brunch- Homemade waffles and bacon
• Supper- Spaghetti and garlic bread

Our New Camper

At the end of June, we decided it was time to sell our pop-up camper and upgrade to a bigger one for our growing boys. We found a travel trailer that we really liked over in Cresco, Iowa on Craig's List. Cresco is about 3 hours from us, and we were very hesitate to drive that far to go checkout a camper--If anyone knows our boys, they know they don't travel well, so I was dreading this trip with them. Fortunately, Brandon's parents decided to head over with us which helped out a ton! Cheryl and I were able to take the boys and play with them while Brandon and Bill did the whole camper thing. Since it was so far away, and I didn't want to travel a total of 6 hours with the kids in one day, we decided to test out the camper and camp at Clear Lake on the way home which is the half-way point. We actually didn't get a whole lot of camping in because the weather was so bad. We spent most of time at Wal-Mart waiting for storms to pass. Plus side is that we know our camper doesn't leak since it rained so much!

We are so excited for our new camper and the family memories we will make with our children!

Hanging out with Grandma Cheryl

Hello new camper and new adverntures!



Loved this little ice cream shop at Clear Lake- my kind of store! :)

A little break from the rain to sit by the lake and enjoy the sunset

Daddy and his boys



Backyard Renovation

We absolutely love our deck right outside of our sliding doors; however, it is basically only big enough to fit our grill and a little kids patio set. We were really hoping to have a patio set out there to relax and eat dinners, but the deck is too small. So, like I mentioned earlier in my blog, Brandon has a two year plan of everything he wants to get done to the house--well here is another project crossed off the list--building a lower-level deck. Now, we have a patio where we can relax while the boys play in the yard, and place to eat outside! The new deck is attached to the bottom of our older deck, and I love it! It is is not 100% finished yet, but here are the pictures so far!

Brandon is hoping to finish it by fall. He has to stain both decks so they look the same, and he can't stain the new wood until it dries out. I will update the progress once it is 100% finished, but so far so good!

BEFORE:

 

DURING:

 

AFTER:

Celebrating Brayden's 2nd Birthday

When Brody turned two, we asked him what he wanted to do for his birthday- his response was to meet Herky. So we took him to an Iowa Hawkeye basketball game the day of his birthday, and spent the weekend in Iowa City. When we asked Brayden what he wanted to do for his birthday, he told me he wanted to see a shark. Since sharks are hard to come across in Iowa these days, so we decided to head south to the Henry Doorly Zoo in Omaha. I have also wanted to go to the Children's Museum, so since we were down there, we decided to take the boys to the Children's Museum as well. We had a great weekend of family fun at the zoo, the museum, and the Old Market in Omaha. Here are a few pictures of our great family fun!

Happy 2nd Birthday Brayden, we love you so much!!!

 

Brayden and his shark!

 

 

The boys loved brushing the goats!

 

 

The Children's Museum

 

 

 

 

 

I love that he is a hands on dad!

 

Paging Doctor Brody!

Meals July 14-20

Like last week, this week is pretty simple for me for planning meals--which I love simple!!!

• Monday- Marco's Pizza- we noticed if you order pizza online on Monday evening it is half price. So for a large pizza and cheese sticks we only pay $11--plus the pizza and breadsticks last us for lunch on Tuesday as well. Love it!
• Tuesday- Grilled bbq chicken breast with bell peppers and mushrooms along with some grapes (my mom will be joining us for supper)
• Wednesday- Spaghetti and breadsticks along with green beans (I owe a spaghetti dinner to some friends that we lost a bet in back in February)
• Thursday- I work late, so this meal is up to Brandon
• Friday-Sunday- Brandon and I are taking off for a few days so celebrate our 6 year wedding anniversary, so Grandma Cheryl and Get Go (Brandon's parents) will be in charge of meals :)

Pretty simple this week :)

Meals July 7-13

I actually don't have very many meals to plan this week because we will be camping starting Friday night through Sunday lunch, so this week is pretty simple.

• Monday: Pork chops, corn on the cob, cooked carrots.
• Tuesday- Sloppy Joes with french frieds on the grill topped with cheese and bacon bits.
• Wednesday- Pork loin with baked sweet potatoes and oreo pie
• Thursday- I work late
• Friday- Sunday- camping
• We are going with four other families, so each family is planning a meal. Brandon and I have Saturday breakfast to provide. We will be making pancakes, eggs, sausage, and muffins for everyone :)

Meals June 30-July 6

I have been slacking out getting my weekly meals out to everyone as well- so again- I apologize!

• Monday- Pork chops, aspargus and applesauce
• Tuesday- Fish sticks and grilled potatoes with peppers
• Wednesday- I work late, so it is up to Brandon
• Thursday- Chicken and broccoli alfredo with garlic bread
• Friday- Lunch and supper will be eating out since it is the 4th of July!
• Saturday- Lunch and supper we will be gone celebrating our two nephew's birthdays
• Sunday- Lunch: Grill out with my family and Supper: Sloppy Joes with grilled fries, cheese, and bacon bits!

Guest Room Renovation!

Since we have moved into our new home, Brandon has a list on the refrigerator of what he wants to change/update about our home. We moved in at the end of March, and we have been busy working away at his list. One of the items on the list was to update the carpet in the spare bedroom, so we decided that Memorial Day would be a good day to knock this project out. We ripped up the old ugly purple carpet and laid down a light tan colored piece of carpet. We thought we would try this project on our own and see how it would turn out--luckily it turned out great and we now know how to lay carpet!

Here are the before, during, and after shots!

Before: 

 

During:

 

After:

Brayden's 2nd Birthday Party

So first of all I have to apologize since it has almost been a whole month since I have blogged! This summer has been absolutely crazy for us, and I can't believe that is already half over!!! I swear I just changed my calendar to the month of June, and now I have to change it July already! Time goes by soooo fast!!

Here are our memories from Brayden's second birthday party which we hosted on May 18. We had a Minion party for him and it was so much fun! We started off the day by making cupcakes together. I just love baking with my boys. They make it so much fun and I will hold onto these memories forever! Since we are in our new house and we have a garage that doesn't terrify me, we were able to have an outside party! Brandon and I thought it would be fun to get a pinata for the kids, and we even found a Minion one so how could we resist getting it. I thought Brayden would be too little for this, but he dove right in and knew exactly what to do! They had a great time with the pinata--huge hit for the party! At the end we loaded up and hit the Dariette for some ice cream. You can celebrate a birthday without making a trip to the Dariette!

My assistant for the cupcakes!

 

Make a wish!

 

 

The party people with our Minion eyes on!

 

A little selfie on the way to the Dariette!

My Two Silly Boys

A few weeks ago, when the boys were suppose to be taking a nap, I could hear talking outside their bedroom so I had to peek in. This is what I found.... two boys in their underwear reading a book together. Laugh Out Loud! This made me crack up- but also melted my heart at the sametime! Needless to say, no nap that day :)

Summer is Here!

A few weeks ago it was 90 degrees! The first 90 degree day in a LONG time!!! I absolultey love the heat and the sun, and since it was pretty quiet around work that day, I decided to take a few personal hours. I went and picked up the boys, and we soaked up the afternoon sun!!! It was great!

 

 

 

 

Mother's Day Weekend

The weekend of Mother's Day, we headed to Des Moines to catch and I-Cubs game, do some shopping, and have a sleep over in a hotel! We had a great weekend, and the weather was absolutely gorgeous! We could not have asked for better weather--well I guess except for the way home. It down poured all day on Sunday, but I have a fantastic husband who dropped us off at the doors and would always come and pick us up--so sweet! Thanks for taking one for the team Brandon!

Mom, stop trying to hide from the camera....

Swimming time with my boys!

 

Happy Mother's Day Mom! Love you!

Someone else had to be in the picture too :)

I had a great Mother's Day! So happy to be the mother of these two precious boys!

A Great Day In The Sun

A few weeks ago, my dad was over for the weekend, and while Brody was taking a nap we thought we would go outside and enjoy the nice sunshine! The sun/warmth has been very scarce this spring--so we have to take every opportunity we can when the sun is shinning! I am so ready for summer this year! It has been waaaay to cold in Iowa this past winter!

My fantastic art drawings---Don't worry I wasn't an art major :) However, this one year old thought it looked just like him and Bo Bo :)

Melts my heart!

We just love having a park in our backyard!