The week before the big trip...

D and B leave for the big 5th grade trip on Saturday, so I wanted to make some of their favorites this week. Last week was a disaster! 5 out of 7 nights were not what I planned...however, last night i made flank steak and skillet potato pancake from Melissa D. of the Food Network-awesome!! So here is our menu for the week...

Monday-Tacos
Tuesday-Lemon Chicken (D's fave)
Wednesday-Wanchai Ferry meal-so easy and yummy for a night when I work
Thursday-Pizza
Friday-BBQ pork (b's fave)
Sat-C and I will be going out-a lot!

Have a great week.

Love, Amy

PS-my great Aunt Ida passed away today. I did not know her very well, but always think of her smile and how much my grandmother loved her. (She was my grandfather's sister.) The Lord has taken her from this place to a much better place that we can't even imagine-tell Nana hi for me Tia Ida :)

Valentine's Day and Meal Planning

D and I exchanged goofy cards as always. B and C got some yummy Reese's PB hearts-soo good.

We ended up with a lot of leftovers last week, so some things carried over for this week.

Saturday-we had Pasta Carbonara-bacon, egg, cheese pasta
Sunday-steaks and for dessert baked fudge from the Pioneer Woman-I'll tell ya later how they came out
Monday-Shrimp and Grits
Tuesday-Chicken Fried Rice
Wednesday-Crock pot Spaghetti
Thursday-Jambalaya-didn't get to it last week...
Friday-Pizza
Saturday-leftovers

Have a great week and please say a prayer for my friend Cherie, she is going thru a rough time with chemo and pain and could use as much prayer as possible.

Thanks,
Amy

Meal Planning and Yellow Belt

Hello. It is Saturday night-what are you doing? I am getting ready for bed and thinking about meal planning for the week ahead-BORING-I know. I do have to work tomorrow-how the heck did I not realize it was Super Bowl Sunday when I could make my schedule requests???
No party this year, but I am leaving D and the boys with lots of snacks to eat and a steak to grill.
Today B got promoted to yellow belt in jiu jitsu-he was very excited. I am going to try to get a better picture up soon, but am having issues...

Tonight we did not do leftovers as planned, but instead had Firecracker Shrimp from the Pioneer Woman-spicy and awesome!

The week ahead...
Sunday-grilled steak and snacks
Monday-Pasta Carbonara (we all love bacon and cheese)
Tuesday-Chicken and Rice
Wednesday-Thai Coconut Chicken soup and crab angels
Thursday-Jambalaya
Friday-leftovers (B has a party to go to for best friend G)
Saturday-Mexican Penne Pasta (from the freezer-made about 2 weeks ago from the Packet Queen-made enough for dinner for all of us and enough for lunch for me the next day)

Enjoy the Super Bowl!

Amy

1/31/2010

It has been a REALLY long time since I posted. Connor is finished with Basketball. All three "boys" are busy with jujitsu. C and B continue to do Tae Kwon Do. I am still working 2 12 hr shifts a week. We started going to a new church and the series "Five" concluded today. I can't do it justice, so if you are interested go here: www.churchofthehighlands.com My five are reading the Bible everyday (on month 8 of reading the Bible in a year), exercising, spending quality family time, learning/doing something work related for at least 10 min, cleaning/organizing for at least 10 min. So far it has been going okay. I hurt my foot so I have stuck with pilates or weight training instead of running-which I strangely miss. I am working on a big project at work that will be done in about a week which will get me a 5% raise-yeah! Part of my organizing is meal planning. This will be the second week, so I might as well link up with www.orgjunkie.com on her menu plan, so here it is:

Sunday: Spicy Garlic Shrimp from www.thepioneerwoman

Monday: BBQ Pork loin

Tuesday: Tacos (working, so I try to leave the easy ones for Dan-plus LOST is back-YES!)

Wednesday: Lemon chicken

Thursday: Pizza (working)

Friday: Sliders and homemade fries

Saturday: Leftovers

I am also going to try to post pictures and stuff more often...

Amy

Nov 1

Where has the time gone? Yesterday was Dan's birthday. Connor had his first JH basketball game last week. Blake wants to take up drums in band class. I am nearing one year of employment with UAB. I miss lots of things-my friends, being at every little thing at school, freedom to get things done "whenever". But there are a lot of things I do enjoy-meeting new people, helping others, a paycheck! All three of my boys have adapted to our new normal. Dan helps getting the boys to and from school, feeding everyone, and occasionally even cleaning up around the house!

We had a wonderful visit with my grandfather in PR last month. Also got a much needed family vacation in too! I will try to be better about posting-ha! Who am I kidding? Really we'll just see if I can keep up with a post or pic every now and again. These are a few pics from our trip.

Sept 2009

Okay, so it has been a ridiculously long time since I have updated... No excuses, just life. Work is getting better, just when I might get comfortable-I get reallocated to other units. Sometimes the grass is greener, but not the grass I prefer... Connor has started Junior Hi, and is really liking it. Changing classes, different teachers and friends each time-what's not to love?

Blake is enjoying being the only Armstrong boy at the Elem school. Still think he has a future in movies-the voices get more real and funnier each time. Will try to do better. I have gotten better with facebook-lots of my pics and thoughts end up there-just easier. If you are listening (or reading) that might be the best bet to keep up with this crazy clan!

Birthday Boy

Today is my sweet Blake's 10th birthday. I cannot believe that he is in double digits now... We have plans for Krispy Kreme doughnuts and Zaxby's for lunch. Dan and I will go to school to celebrate with him. Later on, for dinner, we are going to his favorite-The Melting Pot. A lot has gone on around here since my last post. We had Spring Break-low key and fun trip to the lake with our friends the Thames. That is their fabulous boat the boys are on in the above pic. Mike likes to take people "boat ridin'" and we thouroughly enjoyed it. After the lake the boys and I went to Atlanta to visit my mom and Lisa. We ate at places that had closed in Bham-Bahama Breeze and On the Border. The waitress at OTB even gave me chips and salsa to bring home for Dan. We went to the World of Coca Cola. A fun and very syrupy trip to downtown. I think my mom and I tried about 30 different kinds and the boys had almost all 64! We came back to the final 9 weeks of school-YEAH! I am so ready for summer. I have been working 2 nights a week and going to classes. I now have my NIH (Natl Inst. of Health) Stroke Scale Certification and ACLS (Adv. Cardiac Life Support) Certification. I still am not used to working at night. I LOVE my coworkers, but I feel like a zombie! Dan's parents will be here Friday for Blake's birthday and Easter. After that, Dan is off to Vegas. I think this is the first time in 3 years that I am not going with him :( I am holding out for a trip in June when I can take a vacation day from work! I'll try to be better about posting...