Monday Menu Plan, Musings, etc....

I've got the house clean and tidy (now if I can just keep it that way.) My laundry is actually... gasp... folded and put away! I've printed out math and spelling for the week. I am feeling fantastically organized today!

So I thought I would actually menu plan this week too. I had done well with this for about a month, maybe a month and a half, then fell with a thud off of the organizational wagon.

Hopping back on, and here's this week's menu:

Sunday: We ate at my mom's Pastor's house for Easter. BBQ'd lamb, a yummy rice dish, warm corn tortillas, addictive homemade salsa, watermelon. So delicious, and best of all, I didn't have to lift a finger (though I did help clean up!)

Monday: Ribs (cooked by M); artichokes with a lemon-pepper-garlic mayonnaise.

Tuesday: Soup, of some sort, with good bread for the kids and M. I haven't decided which soup yet though! What are your favorite soups?

Wednesday: London Broil, with a homemade marinade of some sort. Sauteed green beans, red bell pepper, and mushrooms with garlic and ginger.

Thursday: Baked beans, cornbread, and a green salad.

Friday: Homemade pizzas!

Saturday: Spaghetti and meatballs; garlic bread for M and the kids; green salad

Frugal Notes:
We're actually doing okay. Our budget is tight, but we have a roof over our head, the bills are paid, and we have grocery money! Things are better than I thought in all honesty. Our electric bill dropped another $50 - that's a savings of over $100 in just two months. I am learning to not worry so much, and just accept things as they are. I even managed to squirrel away a little money for savings. Of course it helps that I am NOT buying anything for homeschooling right now! And my tax refund will someday be appreciated... whenever it decides to show up!

I have been doing a little side work here and there too, and that is one of the things that is making a small but appreciable difference. I graded papers in March, and did a few hours of website work. Hoping to do more of the same in April--well, the website work is a definite this month, so I am merely hoping for more papers to grade.

Next month is Beetle's birthday, so in part the money I am setting aside will help with that. I need him to prune down his wish list a bit though. It seems everyday he got about ten new ideas for things he must have!

Musings for the week:
Cricket wants to learn all things Little House for the rest of our school year, and perhaps beyond that. I imagine it'll take us more than the 8 or 9 weeks we have left to get through the books. Cricket rarely makes a special request for something to study, so I am all gung-ho to go with it!

Both kids want to get back into some anatomy. Maybe we will finally make the amazing human body paper models from this book!

I think Buge might enjoy some pirate studies. Yesterday, we visited a tall ship. And it was a great little field trip! The one we were on, the Lady Washington, was The Interceptor in Pirates of the Caribbean, which now we're going to have to re-watch. I put Howard Pyle's Book of Pirates on my Kindle, so I'll give that a go with Bug.

Other than that, there will be more gardening, weeding, cooking, playing, documentaries, and so forth. We'll continue too with lots of reading!


Hope you all have a good week, and belated Happy Easter!