Meal Planning

I have been saying lately that I am in the "Mom's taxi" phase of life. My boys are 14 and 9 and both are rather self-sufficient except for getting themselves places. (Although I have taken them on bikes to show them how to get the library and a close by shopping center safely. And DS14 has gotten the bike out a few times this summer and trerated himself to McDonald's. )

At the beginning of May I knew it was going to be a hectic month with baseball games and practices. We had just recently purchased a membership at Costco and if there was not a plan in place for meals, Hubby would default to eating out eventhough he is trying to plus that hole in his wallet. Thus I made a monthly menu. I did write down somethign for each day, but at least the days when I knew we woudl be rushed. I also did a first of the month shopping trip to Costco (I get paid once a month, so that was the easiest) and divided up super-huge parcels of meats into meal-sized or individual sized servings (such as hamburger patties).

My family liked having that spreadsheet ont he fridge so much. My 9 YO has a habit of asking first thing in the morning or when he gets pciked up "What's for dinner? If the meal planned was an oven thing, I could have it prepared in the fridge and have the 14 Yo put it int he oven so it was ready when I walked in the door.

So here it is, the end of July. I am ready to start this process for August, I have the 14yo's band schedule (I think) but I only have information on the 9 YO's first Football practice.

I am worried. the 9 YO will be at after school care. Most liely we will not have time to take him home before football practice. He will have to be fed soemthing before practice. He's not much of a sandwich eat, so that will most likely mean fast food (Yuck! and expensive).

So here is what I am thinking:
1.) load some gift cards for Wendy's for once a week. I think football for the 3rd and 4th graders will be 2 nights a week.
2.) Make him eat a sandwich the other night.
3.) I will be picking the 14 yo up at school after practice. So we will need something quick.

I know a lot of busy people use their crock pots. I find that many of the crockpot meals I have tried do not hold up well after 10 hours. I just do not find them appetizing.

Anyways, I'll update on my progress.

Weekend trip -

I borrowed this image from Wikipedia. It is Pilot Mountain in North Carolina. We pass by it on the way from home to my Mom and Dad's. This is the pciture form I-77 in VA - about mile marker 5. I was so tempted to take my own picture. But seeing this means we it is just over 2 hours left. About 30 minutes after you first see this site, we drive right by it on US52.

Approaching Pilot Mtn from the South.

Anyways, I drove from SW Ohio to Central NC on Friday. It's camp G&G Month. (G&G is Grandma and Grandpa.) My Niece and Nephew stayed for a week. Then on the 11th we all drove halfway and I met my Dad at Tamerack in Beckley WV where I traded my Niece and Nephew form my 14 YO. Then this past weekend I went all the way down with the 9 YO and Sunday brought back the 14 YO.

On Saturday, the 14 YO water skiied and both he and the 9 YO tubed. My Dad managed to toss them both off the tube. LOL!

We made good time on the way home. There is only one little part of US 35 in WV that is not 4 lane divided. Those tend to be the longest 10 miles. The 14 YO and I arrived home about 8.5 hours after we left. We got McD's to go for breakfast, a Bio-break, a gas and Bio stop, 2 more Bio-breaks and then the grocery store.

Summertime quickies

• We are still on target making some changed to the family money management. That is good. But I still get down at times.
• My teenager has broken 100 lbs. That is good for a child on stimulant meds. His growth has been steady. I am waiting for a large growth spurt. My Hubby grow 5 inches when he was a freshman in High school. And little brother is only about 4 inches shorter, but as broad in the shoulders.
• We are on sumer hiatus from organized activities. July 27 the teenagers has pre-band camp band practice. Aug 3rd the 9YO begins football practice.