Happy Homemaker Monday June 5th, 2017

Welcome to this week's Happy Homemaker Monday.  I am linking up with Sandra at Diary of a SAHM.  

Jennah's testing and EGD were all inconclusive.  There is no visible cause of all of her stomach issues.  The surgeon says that it is possible that it is all due to her anxiety issues.  Emily also has stomach problems from anxiety; however, hers are more of a stomach ache, where Jennah's is pain with radiation, vomiting, nausea, etc.  It's frustrating.  ANYWAY - during anesthesia for the EGD, they found that her tonsils are huge!  They are touching :/  So now we are trying to find an ENT to see if they need to come out, which I'm guessing is going to be a yes since she has begun to snore loudly.  

The weather:::  We're still a mix of raining/stormy days and gorgeous 80-degree late spring days.  Today is the former.  I'm hoping for some loud thunder and bright lightening! 


On my reading pile::: I finished "A Court of Thorns and Roses".  It was really good.  I won't be buying the next in the series at full price, but if I see it super cheap, I'll pick it up.  And I am ALMOST done with "Gone with the Wind".  I still love it. 

Starting "Suspicion" by Dee Henderson.  I LOVE her writing! 


Movies or Shows I watched this weekend:::
LOTS of Nashville - I'm almost caught up! 
Chicago Fire 

On the menu for this week::: I have been carb cycling for a couple of weeks.  I am down 10 pounds, I feel great,

MONDAY:  Chicken fajita bowl with brown rice 
TUESDAY: Turkey meatballs with cauliflower rice and zucchini 
WEDNESDAY: Cajun cod, black beans, and rice 
THURSDAY: Turkey burger and baked homemade curly fries 
FRIDAY: Ground turkey marinara with Zoodles 
SATURDAY: Chicken parmesan with whole grain linguine 
SUNDAY: Moco Loco (turkey with turkey gravy over cauliflower rice) 

On my to do list::: (This is for Sunday) 

*Laundry

*Dishes

*Bathroom 

*Sweep/mop floors

*Meal Prep 

*Workout 

*Read

*Declutter living room!  I can't believe how quickly things get cluttered.  We live in a tiny little house and if things are not put in their place it gets crazy! 

What I am crafting or creating::: Obviously decorating my planners!  Also trying to get back to my writing.  I've been working on a couple of songs.  And finally - I made this fruit holder thingie from thrift store stuff.  Cost me $4! 

On my TV:::

YouTube videos 


Happening this week:::
*Work 
*Gym 
*Getting in a couple of hikes with my girls - weather permitting 
*Family gathering Friday evening 


Looking around the house::: See above - lots of decluttering and cleaning in progress ..... 


From the camera:::  In all my years, I've never seen one!  It's a tulip poplar.  Imagine these blooming overhead and their gorgeous petals blanketing your walk in the woods! 

What I'm wearing today::: Workout clothes - capris and a t-shirt 


One of my simple pleasures::: Planning - whether it's meal planning or just making lists of things I need to do.  Gives me a feeling of peace and calm



Bible verse, Devotional::: 

Happy Homemaker Monday - Happy Memorial Day!

Welcome to this week's Happy Homemaker Monday.  I am linking up with Sandra at Diary of a SAHM.  

The weather:::  We've had a ton of rain lately; however, today is going to be 80 and sunny! 


On my reading pile:::  I am in the middle of A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas. It's not my usual genre, but it's quite good so far.  

Movies or Shows I watched this weekend:::
The Dead Files
Grey's Anatomy
Heartland 
YouTube videos 

On my TV:::
More YouTube videos
Heartland 
Chicago Fire 

On the menu for this week:::
MONDAY:  Bbq at my dad's - burgers and bratwurst 
TUESDAY: Turkey meatballs and cauliflower rice 
WEDNESDAY: BBQ chicken pizza 
THURSDAY: Turkey burger bowl 
FRIDAY: Chicken burrito bowl 
SATURDAY: Spaghetti with meat sauce 
SUNDAY: Ground turkey marinara with zoodles 

On my to do list:::

A few dishes

Couple loads of laundry

Meal prep 

Vacuum

Update planner

Fill bird feeders

Plant a few flowers 

Vacuum out car

BBQ at dad's 

Quick walk 

What I am crafting or creating::: Nothing but my planner 


Happening this week:::
Work T, W, TH
Homeschool 
Library trip
Gym x4 
Grocery shopping
Jennah has an EGD on Friday 

Looking around the house:::
Always too much to do 

From the camera:::

Went for a walk in the woods with Emily.  It was very humid, tons of mosquitoes, and lots of swampy areas.  Emily saw a snake!  


What I'm wearing today:::
Jean capris and a blue t-shirt with a flag print inside a butterfly (Memorial Day) 


One of my simple pleasures::: Walks in nature 



Bible verse, Devotional::: 

My Spring and Summer Reading Plan

Sandra at Diary of a SAHM shared her list a few days ago and encouraged her readers to join in.  Here is my *very hopeful* reading list for this summer!  I will also pop a few quick summer reads in there as well.  

Back in January, I signed up to do the Modern Mrs. Darcy reading challenge.  I am really lagging behind and plan to get a lot of reading done this summer!

I'm really looking forward to reading "Threads of Suspicion" by Dee Henderson.  This is an ARC from Bethany Publishers.  I absolutely LOVED the first in this series and I am so happy to have received this book!

Evie and her new partner, David Marshal, are assigned to a pair of unrelated cases in suburban Chicago, and while both involve persons now missing for several years, the cases couldn't be more different. While Evie opens old wounds in a close-knit neighborhood to find a missing college student, David searches for a private investigator working for a high-powered client.




"Against the Tide" by Elizabeth Camden  

2013 RITA Winner for Inspirational Romance
2013 Christy Award Winner for Historical Romance
2013 Daphne du Maurier Award Winner for Inspirational Romantic Mystery/Suspense

After a childhood rampant with uncertainty, Lydia Pallas has carved out a perfect life for herself. She spends her days within sight of the bustling Boston Harbor, where her skill with languages has landed her an enviable position as a translator for the U.S. Navy. 


"The Readers of Broken Wheel Recommend"  by Katarina Bivald  

Broken Wheel, Iowa, has never seen anyone like Sara, who traveled all the way from Sweden just to meet her book-loving pen pal, Amy. When she arrives, however, she finds Amy's funeral guests just leaving. The residents of Broken Wheel are happy to look after their bewildered visitor—there's not much else to do in a dying small town that's almost beyond repair.



"Girl At War" by Sara Novic

Zagreb, 1991. Ana Jurić is a carefree ten-year-old, living with her family in a small apartment in Croatia’s capital. But that year, civil war breaks out across Yugoslavia, splintering Ana’s idyllic childhood. Daily life is altered by food rations and air raid drills, and soccer matches are replaced by sniper fire. Neighbors grow suspicious of one another, and Ana’s sense of safety starts to fray. When the war arrives at her doorstep, Ana must find her way in a dangerous world.



"Ruby" by Cynthia Bond 

Ephram Jennings has never forgotten the beautiful girl with the long braids running through the piney woods of Liberty, their small East Texas town. Young Ruby Bell, “the kind of pretty it hurt to look at,” has suffered beyond imagining, so as soon as she can, she flees suffocating Liberty for the bright pull of 1950s New York. Ruby quickly winds her way into the ripe center of the city—the darkened piano bars and hidden alleyways of the Village—all the while hoping for a glimpse of the red hair and green eyes of her mother. When a telegram from her cousin forces her to return home, thirty-year-old Ruby finds herself reliving the devastating violence of her girlhood. With the terrifying realization that she might not be strong enough to fight her way back out again, Ruby struggles to survive her memories of the town’s dark past. Meanwhile, Ephram must choose between loyalty to the sister who raised him and the chance for a life with the woman he has loved since he was a boy.



"Ink and Bone" by Lisa Unger 

Ruthless and supremely powerful, the Great Library is now a presence in every major city, governing the flow of knowledge to the masses. Alchemy allows the Library to deliver the content of the greatest works of history instantly—but the personal ownership of books is expressly forbidden.



"The Bell Jar" by Sylvia Plath 

The Bell Jar chronicles the crack-up of Esther Greenwood: brilliant, beautiful, enormously talented, and successful, but slowly going under -- maybe for the last time. Sylvia Plath masterfully draws the reader into Esther's breakdown with such intensity that Esther's insanity becomes completely real and even rational, as probable and accessible an experience as going to the movies. Such deep penetration into the dark and harrowing corners of the psyche is an extraordinary accomplishment and has made The Bell Jar a haunting American classic.


"The Madwoman Upstairs" by Catherine Lowell 

Samantha Whipple is used to stirring up speculation wherever she goes. Since her eccentric father’s untimely death, she is the presumed heir to a long-rumored trove of diaries, paintings, letters, and early novel drafts passed down from the Brontë family—a hidden fortune never revealed to anyone outside of the family, but endlessly speculated about by Brontë scholars and fanatics. Samantha, however, has never seen this alleged estate and for all she knows, it’s just as fictional as Jane Eyre or Wuthering Heights. 

Happy May! Happy Homemaker Monday

Welcome to this week's Happy Homemaker Monday.  I am linking up with Sandra at Diary of a SAHM.  

The weather:::  Cold and dreary today!  It's going to thunderstorm too.  Hoping for a nice stormy evening to read! 


On my reading pile:::  Still with Gone with the Wind.  About 2/3 of the way through.  A few more weeks there.  I read a couple of books and now I am back to Kristen Hannah's "Firefly Lane".  Next up is probably The Readers of Broken Wheel Recommend by Katarina Bivaid. 

Movies or Shows I watched this weekend:::
Bingeing Heartland on Netflix - started season 4
TONS of YouTube videos 


On my TV:::
I'd like to watch a movie with my girls tonight, still not sure which one 
Need to catch up on: 
Empire, Grey's Anatomy, Chicago Fire, Code Black, Walking Dead, Ghost Adventures, Dead Files


On the menu for this week:::
MONDAY: Crunchy fish tacos and cucumber salad 
TUESDAY: Whole wheat rotini with meatballs and marinara, broccoli & carrots  
WEDNESDAY: Having dinner at a friend's house with my girls
THURSDAY: Chicken fajitas on corn tortillas 
FRIDAY: Rotisserie chicken & sides (grocery shopping day) 
SATURDAY: Homemade pizzas on flatbread for me, on French bread for the girls 
SUNDAY: Dinner with family - hoping for a bbq 

BREAKFASTS:  I meal prepped a breakfast casserole (eggs, turkey bacon, spinach, diced potatoes, and topped with Havarti cheese)  and a few servings of oatmeal. 

LUNCHES: I meal prepped chicken "nuggets"  (chicken breast with panko crumbs) pulled pork, bulgur, roasted potatoes, veggies, fish, meatballs, etc. to mix and match 


On my to-do list for today (Sunday):::
Put folded laundry away
Update planners for the week
A few dishes to wash
Sweep living room 
Dollar Tree
Gas in car
Dad's for dinner 


What I am crafting or creating::: I am working on a new book.  I started one, several months ago and ended up filing it; however, I started a new one last week and I am in the research stage right now.  

Also always working on my planners and War Binder! 


Happening this week:::

MONDAY:  Gym, work, *homeschool 
TUESDAY:  Work, Cardio Drumming with Emme 
WEDNESDAY:  Gym, work, dinner at a friend's with my girls 
THURSDAY:  Gym, work, homeschool 
FRIDAY:  Work, grocery shopping with Emme, walk in woods with the girls 
SATURDAY:  Yard work, menu prep, update planners, laundry
SUNDAY:  Yard work, cleaning, lesson plan

*Emme is 17 and mostly an independent learner at this point.  In the evenings and on the weekends I go over all of her work with her, answer any questions she may have, and fill in where things may have been lacking.  During the weekends we do more in-depth learning together.  From kindergarten until 7th grade I was able to be at home with her* 

Happy Homemaker Monday for April 17th

Welcome to this week's Happy Homemaker Monday.  I am linking up with Sandra at Diary of a SAHM.  

The weather::: Plenty of rainy days with a pristine, sunshiney day here and there. 


On my reading pile::: Still reading Gone with the Wind.  It will be a few more weeks since I only read a little bit every day.  Finished "Two Days Gone" by Randall Silvis.  I took a temporary diversion from "Firefly Lane" because I got caught up in this murder mystery.  It happens!  lol It's different from what I normally read, but it was fast-paced, exciting, and I didn't figure it out until close to the end. 4/5

I also received an ARC copy from Bethany Books of "The Chapel Car Bride" by Judith Miller, which I will be starting this week.  

Movies or Shows I watched this weekend::: Started a new binge-watch, "Heartland". Watched the Casey Anthony Documentary.  Both sad and infuriating.  I remember my mom watching the actual case (or following it on the news?) when it occurred. 

On my TV:::
Heartland
When Calls the Heart
Empire
Chicago Fire
YouTube videos
The Outsiders (with Emily) 
Maybe 13 Reasons with Jennah 

On the menu for this week:::
MONDAY: Easter leftovers
TUESDAY: Pork ribs, baked potatoes, roasted vegetables 
WEDNESDAY: Dinner at a friend's house for my bday - Mexican 
THURSDAY: Turkey smoked sausage with cabbage and onions 
FRIDAY: Unstuffed peppers 
SATURDAY: Middle Eastern chicken and rice topped with cucumber salad 
SUNDAY: Dinner with family for my birthday - Italian 

LUNCHES: Turkey taco meat, brown rice, Greek Yogurt, fruit 
BREAKFASTS: Everything bagel thin sandwich with an egg and turkey bacon
SNACKS: Almonds, popcorn, fruit


Happening this week:::
Jennah's doctor appointment 

Work

Homeschool 

Library

Cardio drumming 

My birthday! 

Looking around the house::: Cluttered.  Busy cooking all weekend so got behind on the housework!  Will get the girls on it tomorrow :) 

What I'm wearing today::: Writing this Saturday night, wearing a black sundress.  It got up to 84 today in Detroit! 


One of my simple pleasures::: Sitting in the dark reading my Kindle.  Love it. 



Bible verse, Devotional::: 

Happy Homemaker Monday for 04/10/2017

Welcome to this week's Happy Homemaker Monday.  I am linking up with Sandra at Diary of a SAHM.  

The weather:::  This is my favorite time of the year.  Yes, we did get a LOT of rain least week; however, we also had our first sunny, 75-degree day yesterday, so it was all worth it. 

On my reading pile::: Still plugging through "Gone with the Wind".  I only read a little each day (I should say, re-read).  It's a REAL book - and I do most of my reading at night, in the dark, in bed - so it will probably be another month or two before I am finished.  My favorite book in the world.  The writing is descriptive and strong, the characters colorful and endearing, the history jarring and poignant.  Everyone should read this book!  

Also reading "Firefly Lane" by Kristen Hannah (author of The Nightingale).  The beginning of the book takes place in the mid-late 70s.  I LOVE all of the references to the clothing, foods, t.v. shows, songs, cars, etc. that I can picture from my time growing up.  One of the things in my book challenge this year from Modern Mrs. Darcy is to read three books by the same author.  This is my 2nd by K.H. this year. 

Movies or Shows I watched this weekend::: Finally finished binge-watching "Dance Moms".  Also caught up on "Chicago Fire" and "Bring It" 

On my TV:::


On the menu for this week:::
MONDAY:  Goulash (Emmy will be cooking) 
TUESDAY:  Chicken "fried" rice 

WEDNESDAY: Breaded pork chops, potato wedges, green beans 

THURSDAY: Penne pasta with chicken and peppers 

FRIDAY:  Seasoned tilapia, brown basmati rice, steamed veggies 

SATURDAY: Meatloaf, baked potato, oven roasted vegetables 

EASTER SUNDAY:  Ham & turkey, cheesy potatoes, green beans, rolls, deviled eggs, spaghetti salad, corn, pickle/olive tray, and for dessert banana pudding and a carrot cake.  (This is my first time cooking the family Easter dinner.  It won't be the same without my mom.  But we are trying to keep her traditions going) 

On my to do list:::
1. Work M-F
2. Homeschool evenings/weekend
3. Pick up prescriptions
4. Vacuum out car
5. Cardio drumming 
6. Easter 

What I am creating::: 




Favorite blog post/Insta/vlog::: I've got nothing.  


Looking around the house:::  

From the camera:::


What I'm wearing today::: Black pants, black flats, and a purple/blue top with some shiny sparklies around the neck. 

Bible verse, Devotional::: Song lyrics....