Fun in the sun and an easy meal plan for the beach

I thought I'd stop by to share some favorites from the last couple of days in Orange Beach.  We've been working on a pretty relaxed schedule since we got here.  The girls and I are actually staying for two weeks since my brother and his family and my parents are all coming on Saturday.  Unfortunately, Jason has to work for a living, so he's heading back home for next week.  Since we have so long here, there's no need to bust our tails getting up and to the beach and staying there until we are extra crispy and exhausted.  This isn't stopping our early birds from trying to get their worm... they were all up at 5:40 this morning... Lucy was in her swimsuit at 7.
We have been going to the beach or pool for awhile in the morning and then coming in for sandwiches and naps... and then heading back out in the afternoon.  I've been cooking dinner (again, 2 weeks is more than we originally budgeted for, so eating in is much more affordable) and the girls have been bathed while I cook and ready to hit the sack around 7:30.  Lucy was more than ready for bed by 6:30 one night, but we held her off until 7.  :)
This morning Jason suggested we take the girls to the pier at Gulf State Park and it was so much fun!

I'm pretty sure if this giant bird got between me and my babies I would still run... my heart was beating fast just looking at it.

The girls got to watch the fishermen and we saw tons of sea creatures. This guy actually hooked a stingray, but the line broke before he got him pulled in.  I've never seen so many stingrays before!  There must have been 100 of them just right on the surface of the water... and they were probably 3 feet across... seriously beautiful.   Then we saw a ton of dolphins and the girls all got to see them.

There was a purple flag out today warning that sharks were spotted in the water... so this girl is staying far from the ocean (as always).
Adelaide has really caught on to the whole swimming thing this week, thankfully.  The whole jumping in the pool in my sundress wasn't something I wanted to repeat.  She's now doing backflips underwater and we bought her a set of dive sticks and goggles this morning... she's a happy camper.  Lucy also picked out some goggles, but she now says that she doesn't like them, so we'll see how that goes.  She's afraid to let go of her puddle jumper, but is super happy in the water and is content to play with her sisters or just kick around.

Julianne picked out these silly "gobbles"  we will see if she actually wears them.  She was doing her part to share the good news of Jesus at the pool today when she was walking around singing, "Hear, believe, repent, confess, be baptized in the water, rise up again to walk with Christ and live like you oughta'."  She's so silly. :)

As I mentioned before, since we are doing the beach on a budget (sort of... it's still pretty pricey when you stay this long) and since it's  a pain in the neck to take three kiddos under 6 out to eat when there's a 6 hour wait... we are eating most (if not all) of our dinners in this week.  It has worked out really well so far since the kids are tired and we can just give them a bath (Jason does this) while I cook supper and then everyone is in pajamas and hanging out watching a movie before bedtime.  I made a meal plan for this week (and I'm pretty much repeating the same meals next week too, but for more people) that was easy, didn't require a lot of ingredients and would be good for leftovers.  The last thing you want at the beach is something that requires rosemary and thyme... or anything else you don't want to buy a lot of that has to be transported back home.
Here's our plan for this week.
We got here Saturday afternoon (along with everyone else in the entire state it seemed) so we brought in pizza since I hadn't gone to the grocery store yet.
Sunday: we went to church and the condo was being cleaned "again" since it was filthy when we arrived, so we had to stay out longer than lunch... we ate at Live Bait and then  I made breakfast for dinner (eggs, frozen biscuits, bacon and fruit).
Monday: we had sandwiches/ leftover pizza for lunch and I made tacos and quesadillas for dinner with yellow rice and chips and salsa
Tuesday: we had sandwiches for lunch and I'm working on some prep for "chicken stuff" for dinner... this is basically poppy seed chicken without the poppy seeds... Jason started calling it chicken stuff a long time ago and it stuck.  It's just chicken (cooked and cut up), cream of chicken soup, a dollop of sour cream and half a stick of melted butter... spread in a pan and then top with 2 sleeves of crushed ritz crackers and 1 stick of melted butter.... bake at 350 for about 30 minutes.  I'll serve with either peas or green beans.
Wednesday: We'll have either sandwiches or leftovers for lunch and I'm making spaghetti and meatballs for dinner (a bag of frozen italian meatballs, jar of spaghetti sauce and some spaghetti noodles) and then some cheesy bread that I've never made before found here and a salad.
Thursday: Sandwiches or leftovers for lunch and Bacon Ranch pizza for dinner.  I got this recipe from my friend April and it's definitely a family favorite!  It's just a pizza crust (I've done both Pillsbury in a can and Boboli and I think I like Pillsbury better... but you can make your own if you're being fancy), spread ranch dressing on the top of the crust, top with bacon and cheese... pop in the oven until the cheese is bubbly and you're done.  I've also topped with rotisserie chicken and April likes to put fresh tomato on top... it's seriously yummy!
Friday: We will have chicken fingers and tater tots
Saturday we will start over with what we had Sunday this week and I'll do the same meals... that may be boring, but it made for an easy grocery list and it's super easy to cook.
What do you like to cook at the beach??

 I had to end this post with a super cute photo of my two "little girls" playing sweetly together.

Meal Planning Monday

I'm linking up for Meal Planning Monday.  Here's what's going on at our house this week... it's kinda crazy with a lot of random events that we don't usually have going on.
Monday: "chicken stuff" basically poppy seed chicken without the poppy seeds :) and english peas
Tuesday: cubed steak with mac and cheese and green beans
Wednesday: BBQ chicken (the kind where you mix coke and ketchup and then just cook the chicken pieces in it.... um... yum!)
Thursday: who knows... Jason's on call and I have bunko, so the girls will be with a sitter... but I'll have to feed them first... so maybe sandwiches or pizza??
Friday: hoagies (the kids call these fancy sandwiches... silly girls)
Saturday: cheesy italian chicken found here. with garlic bread and broccoli

Meal plan this week

As you all know, I planned meals for the year, but this week, I'm doing the Advocare cleanse, so some of the plans don't quite fit into my cleanse.  I'm making a few adjustments....
Monday: Tacos were the plan... but Jason and I are going out on a date.  I don't know where we're eating, so I'm sure it will end up being some sort of pork or grilled chicken and salad.  Not sure what I'll do for the kids... probably pizza... we'll go for healthy tomorrow. :)
Tuesday: Pork chops and baked beans (this was the plan) I can still do grilled pork chops (maybe marinaded in a raspberry sauce), but I'll do grilled veggies instead of baked beans (I have some fresh zucchini, summer squash and onion)
Wednesday: Breakfast was the plan... which will work well for me.  I'll make scrambled eggs (mostly egg white and one yolk), turkey sausage.  I'll make biscuits or pancakes for the girls and Jason.  And of course, there will be fresh fruit.  Wednesday is the last day of my cleanse, so after that,  I just need to eat smart, but dairy and carbs are allowed in small doses.  :)
Thursday: The plan was italian grilled chicken (perfect!) with green beans
Friday: White pizza- I'll have to check on an alternative for this.... I think it can still be done wisely... I'll just use whole wheat crust, and part skim mozzarella and fresh spinach.
Saturday is supposed to be chicken pot pie... that won't work at all.  I'll figure out something different for that.  Maybe something like shredded chicken quesadillas.

I'm also linking up with another blogger, I'm going to attempt to include their button... let's see if it works. :)

Cleaning schedule and meal planning

Okay, I've been harassed into blogging today (I'm pointing at you, Liz) and I don't have a lot to talk about. That last part isn't true. I always have a lot to talk about. Where should I start!?

Well, first of all, Jason is home! I'm SO thankful he's back! Last week, Jason went to Cuzco, Peru on a medical mission trip. They saw like a gagillion patients. For real! I am super proud of him, as are his girls, but I am so relieved that the trip is behind us. We all missed him terribly, but Lucy had the hardest time of all. She was crying about any and everything. I kept trying to get her to talk about Daddy. Where is he? "Peru." What's he doing? "He gets to be Jesus' hands." She kept saying she was so proud of him, but she is the most intuitive child. She knows when something just isn't right. She sensed that a piece of our puzzle was missing and nothing else was fitting right with him not being here. I hated seeing her go through that and not feeling like there was much I could do to help her. I tried, but I didn't know what to do. I lost my patience. A lot. I fussed right back at her and acted like a child. I admit it. I prayed for months before this mission trip, that I would handle the stress of him being gone with grace. I failed. Big time. I'm not a very calm person. Nor am I patient. At least not patient enough. Is it possible to be patient enough? If so, I'm not. I'm ashamed at how I behaved in the middle of the week. I wish I could do it over again. Well, not the trip, but I do wish I could change my attitude about it. Anyway, I'm glad it's over. I'm glad my children have a Daddy that wants to do all that he can to repay the debt we all have. He was able to show over a thousand people last week the love of Christ. And that was just in Peru. I know he made an impact on many people here... especially his family. Our girls kept saying, "I'm so proud of him." I'm glad they are... and I hope they always will be. Their daddy is pretty special and I'm thankful for him.

He is also the author of a brand new blog that has quite a following already. You should check it out! www.bevelup.wordpress.com. He explained to me what bevel up means, but I don't really get it. Something about a needle. He's so nerdy.... er, smart. :)

In other news, I've created a new cleaning schedule in hopes of getting rid of my cleaning lady. She currently comes every other week... I love her. She's been cleaning for us for the better part of 7 years... and I think I'm crazy for letting her go... but she's expensive. Really expensive. And I should be able to do this myself. Right? I normally can keep up with things just fine, except for the floors and the bathrooms... let's face it. We have a lot of floors... and bathrooms. But I'm hoping with my new cleaning schedule, I'll be able to stay on top of all the cleaning and save some money every month. I can do it, right!? Right??

Here's the plan for now... I'm sure I will tweak it. I have flylady habits running through my veins, but I have a hard time with some of her daily challenges... sometimes they just don't fit my house... you know? So I'm trying to make a schedule of my own. The last couple of weeks I've stuck with it and I've done the whole house with every step. I think, starting next week, I'll break it down to upstairs one week and downstairs the other. We'll see how that goes....

Monday- daily routines (I'll list them below), clean toilets, wipe down bathtubs (alternating upstairs and downstairs... there are 5 bathrooms altogether... that's a lot of toilet scrubbing...)

Tuesday- daily routines, change bedsheets, dust wood, clean glass (I'll do all sheets every week, because I just can't stand leaving them on more than a week, but I'll alternate the wood/glass for upstairs and downstairs)

Wednesday- daily routines, empty garbage, wipe out microwave and fridge (this won't alternate obviously)

Thursday- daily routines, vacuum, mop floors, vacuum cabinet doors and vents, under furniture, stairs and pick a closet (I'll focus on upstairs/downstairs with the exception of our high traffic areas downstairs)

Friday- daily routines, a monthly task (these will alternate... I'll list them below)

Saturday- daily routines

Sunday-daily routines

Daily routines:

Kitchen-

1. wash dishes, load/unload dishwasher

2. wipe down countertops

3. vacuum after meals

Bathroom-

1. wipe down counters in main bath

2. wipe down to and back of toilet

Make beds/open blinds/turn on lamps (it just makes everything look cleaner)

Laundry

1. wash a load of laundry and put it ALL away (usually I do more than one load, but I try to do at least one a day)

2. collect all dirty laundry at night (I like to pick up all the dirty laundry when I tuck everyone in and sort it at night. I put a load in the washer at night and put detergent in... so all I have to do in the morning is push the button. This cuts down on procrastination in the morning and helps to get everything started as soon as I'm moving in the morning. I also have a recipe for homemade laundry detergent that I love... I'll post that soon. :)

Tidy up seating areas

1. fold blankets

2. fluff pillows

I'm bad about leaving the blankets sprawled over the couches during the day from our lounging on the couch at night... no more! It looks so much better when the pillows are properly fluffed and the blankets are folded!

Pick up!!

1. 15 minute tidy at nap time

2. 15 minute tidy at bed time

Monthly chores:

clean out garbage cans

vacuum wall corners and ceilings

vacuum inside couch

clean stove top trays

cycle clean the dishwasher and washing machine (this is usually done more like bimonthly)

vacuum inside vents

wipe down switch plates and door knobs

dust ceiling fans

sweep/vacuum garage

launder bath rugs

scrub grout

Quarterly

change air purifier filter

clean oven

wash bed linens (for the kids, this is usually more than quarterly)

vacuum mattresses

vacuum window treatments

clean coffee maker (usually more than quarterly)

clean out fridge and freezer (thorough clean), vacuum crumbs, wipe down with soapy water

I've also made a meal plan for the year... here's what's for dinner this week:

Monday- we had the Pioneer Woman's meatloaf... yummm!!!! with mashed potatoes and macaroni... yes, I realize, there wasn't a veggie... it wasn't meant to be healthy. :)

Tuesday- chicken rollups ( a can of chicken, block of cream cheese, package of ranch dressing mix all mixed up... put a dollop onto a crescent roll, roll up and seal the edges and back on 350 for like 30 minutes... delish... found on pinterest) with green beans.

Wednesday- italian grilled chicken with corn

Thursday-leftovers (Jason working late)

Friday- english muffin pizzas

Saturday-??

That's all I've got for today. Lucy and Julianne are performing in Hunter Street's spring program tonight. I'll have pictures shortly. :)

Oh, and if anyone knows how to get that weird white box at the top of my blog to go away, I would greatly appreciate it! ;)