Tuesday, May 14, 2013

Menu Plan, Spring Projects, What's New

We are currently working on lots of little projects around the house and yard.

The other week we (and by "we", I really mean my husband...I keep the kidlets occupied!) got a big chunk of our fence stained and stained the deck. There is just a small part of our fence left to stain. A few summers ago, we put one coat of stain on our fence but didn't get around to doing the second coat until now.

Our main bathroom is also getting a small facelift. We took part of the medicine cabinet out, sanded it down as it was rusty inside and gave it a fresh coat of paint. We are also getting ready to paint it Revere Pewter by Benjamin Moore. It is currently a neutral beige-y colour, and it will soon be turning gray :-). I think some black accents will look good in it once it's repainted.

Our other project currently on the go is painting our garage. My husband finished scraping and priming one side already, and we work on it here and there in the evenings while the kids play outside. We hope to get it finished in the next couple of weeks.

This year we are going to focus our attention more on our front yard landscaping. I am one awful gardener...so this will be a steep learning curve for me. Our front flower beds look quite pathetic and need a lot of help. Hopefully I will be flower shopping in the next couple of weeks. I honestly know next-to-nothing when it comes to flowers & gardening.

Yesterday we roto tilled our garden area, and today Elianna and I planted our garden. I forgot to start tomato & pepper plants (again!), so I will have to wait until I can buy a few plants at the garden centre in the next week or so. I planted peas, green beans, corn, carrots, cucumbers, zucchini, and lettuce. I left room to add roma & cherry tomato plants and maybe a pepper plant or two. Hopefully I'll be more diligent about weeding it and freezing the produce this time around.

With all the spring projects going on lately, there is little time for blogging, it seems. I have, however, been into reading books a lot more lately. I finished Through Gates of Splendor by Elisabeth Elliot today. Wow... one of the best I've read. I really enjoy missionary/Christian biography-type books. I'm definitely a non-fiction gal. This book contained several journal entries from the 5 men who went to Ecuador to reach the Auca (they are no longer referred to as "Auca" tribe with the gospel in the 1950s. The 5 young men were killed by the members of the Auca tribe. Some of the killers actually converted a couple years later...amazing, amazing story that only God could work. This is a must-read, in my opinion. It will challenge you, I guarantee it.

I've switched our days over to "theme" days, which is working well. Mondays - laundry, Tuesdays - kitchen, etc. I haven't quite got it all figured out with regard to our daily routines, though. I am kind of hit and miss on the chore chart thing with Elianna. I just need to get more organized and stick to it....and beat the clutter monster....ugh.

Here is what our menu looks like for this week:

Monday: Crockpot Mongolian Beef, Rice, Broccoli/Mushrooms

Tuesday: Pancakes topped with strawberries, turkey bacon, & omelets

Wednesday: Leftover Mongolian beef, rice, veggies

Thursday: Crockpot Steak Fajitas  (we will eat them in pitas since that's what I have on hand)

Friday: Homemade Pizza, Veggies & Dip

Saturday: Leftovers or Easy Homemade Tomato Soup & Grilled Cheese

Sunday: to be determined...

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Make sure to get plants that take less time to deal with! Iris, day lilies, Asiatic Lily, Weigela is nice for a maintenance free bush! But of course you will have to figure out what you like! Best wishes on your garden! Mrs. W

Kara said...

I second the idea of maintenance free plants. I adore my lilies - both my asiatic lilies and my day lily. The day lily is especially nice because it has beautiful green, full foliage all season long, so even if it isn't flowering, it is gorgeous. I also really like my coneflower (echinacea) plants. They attract butterflies by the dozen, which I love!

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