Menu Plan Monday: June 28th

As I sit down to type this, I am in the midst of preparation for a belated Fathers Day celebration for my dad. He has been out of the country for a couple of weeks, so I am looking forward to having my parents and sister over today for lunch~then we're all going to see Toy Story 3 together. My kiddos can hardly stand the wait since they knew the movie came out on the 18th, but they've been waiting for Papi to return to go with them:)

For our lunch I'm making Tres Leches Cake for the first time. It's my dad's favorite cake, but he usually only gets it when he's in Mexico. I thought it would be fun to try making. I'm also whipping up a fresh Blueberry Pie with those berries we recently picked. I'll serve it with some of the Homemade Ice Cream from last week that I've been saving in the freezer~yum! I promise we're not just having desserts though...

Also Vince's brother is coming to visit this week. He lives in the Los Angeles area now, so we don't get to see him that often. He's coming with their sister and our nephew to stay overnight and we're all looking forward to some family time. Besides the dinner I have planned, I am going to make homemade cinnamon rolls with my bread starter (for the first time, of course, I always like to experiment on *company* haha). I'll let you know how they turn out!

Last week's dinners really turned out great. Cheeseburger Meatloaf is a new family fave~you should really try it! I forgot the blog the fried squash last week, but I'll try to remember this week. That stuff is SO good! Here is a great new slow cooker recipe for you though:

Slow Cooker Roasted Potatoes

~Dice red potatoes (about 1 per person, 2-3 if using new potatoes) into 1" pieces and place in slow cooker.
~Toss potatoes with olive oil, salt, pepper, minced garlic and herb of choice (I used parsley).
~Cook on *high* for 4 hours.
~Perfection!!

Here's what's on the plan for this week:

Monday: {Belated Fathers Day Luncheon} The Perfect Burgers, Grilled Tuna Melts, Grilled Creamed Corn and Red, White & Blue Salad
Tuesday: Grilled Salmon, Baked Potatoes and Sauteed Veggies
Wednesday: Tostadas (it's become a Wednesday night tradition:)
Thursday: Lexington-Style Grilled Chicken, Fried Zucchini, Roasted New Potatoes and Salad
Friday: Turkey Burgers* and Onion Strings
Saturday: {Red, White, Blues & Bikes celebration at our church}

*Anyone got a great turkey burger recipe for me? I'd love to hear about it~leave me a comment please!

This post is linked to Menu Plan Monday at I'm an Organizing Junkie.

The Making of an Egyptian Death Mask

We are learning all about the ancient world this year with Story of the World I and loving it! We've been learning a lot about Egypt, of course, which is completely fascinating. Most recently we have studied the New Kingdom of Egypt, which includes the story of King Tut. So we decided making an Egyptian death mask in the style of King Tut's would be a fun project. First since it was too cold at the time to paper mache in the garage (it probably would have frozen instead of dried-ha) and it was too messy to do it in the house, we decided to pick up a couple of cheap craft masks at Hobby Lobby. Next we cut out cardboard shapes to complete the shape of the death mask, attaching them with hot glue. Vince even put a little detail on the *beard* with the hot glue per The Princess' request. Then the kiddos started to paint them with this metallic gold tempera paint. It worked okay for the cardboard, but would not coat the plastic of the mask. We thought maybe a second coat ...

One Way I Refresh During the Summer as a Homeschool Mom

As our homeschool takes some time off this summer, my mind almost never stops thinking of and planning ahead for the upcoming school year. This is probably because I'm Type A and an obsessive planner...lol Whatever the reason, I do enjoy this season of planning. But I also need to be refreshed as a homeschool mom. Homeschooling can be incredibly exhausting and all-consuming. It's not easy and it's a lot of responsibility. And I take that very seriously when I am researching curriculum and planning toward the next school year. So also taking some time to rejuvenate and refocus myself is very important. How do I do this? Each summer I take some time to read something inspiring and motivating that speaks to me as a homeschool mom. Some of my fave reads from past years--that I have nearby on my shelf and refer to often--are Educating the Wholehearted Child, The Well-Trained Mind, The Charlotte Mason Companion, A T...

Door Hanger Chore Charts

My kids have had a chore chart for a while. It's one of those magnetic boards and they share it. However, it's not by their rooms and often they (and I) forget to update it. Plus it's a little bulky. When I saw the concept of a door hanger chore chart on Pinterest, I loved it! It was compact, right there were the kiddos could see it coming out and going into their rooms, and it costs almost nothing to make. I headed over to one of my favorite stores: Hobby Lobby, of course. They have these little wooden door hangers for .79. I also grabbed a couple of packets of decorative buttons for $1.99 each. I already had the clothes pins and the paint so those cost me nothing. I began by painting the door hangers (I used tempera paints because that's what I had). Then I grabbed a fine point Sharpie and the clothes pins and started writing chores on them, making sure to write them correctly so they will ...

my blessed life

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