Living for the Weekends

Weekends are so incredibly precious to me.  Monday-Friday are just days I get through in order to have quality weekend time with my fam.  I know that sounds harsh but during the week I leave for work before the kids are up and by the time I get home it’s make dinner, clean up dinner, take baths, get the kids ready for bed, collapse on the couch. There just isn’t much time left for playing. 

January has been a “no spend” month for us, meaning unless its food, gas, bills, or essentials, it isn’t happening this month.  No eating out, no buying new clothes, no spending money on frivolous things. When January started I was kind of bummed but really, it has been great for us.  I’ve spent the past two weekends at home.  No shopping, no going out to dinner, and I feel like we’ve had so much quality time together.  Time to play babies on the floor and snuggle in mommy and daddy’s bed, time to play outside.  It has been wonderful.

Matt went to Arkansas a couple weekends ago with some of his buddies and besides a quick trip to Target for food, we didn’t leave the house once.  And it was great. 

These two provided plenty of entertainment and I finally got my sewing machine out and started working on projects I’ve had planned for months.

Avery loves to paint and color... she usually just makes a huge mess but she loves every minute of it!

 This table toy has been such a big hit with both of them! Asher bangs on it until it plays a song and then Avery dances 

I was trying to clean up in our room so I stuck Asher in the clothes basket, thinking he'd be entertained for a few minutes. 

 I had barely turned around and he was already out... He wasn't impressed with my attempt to contain his curiosity.

 Meet Dr. Avery! She has been practicing giving all her babies medicine

 Of course she couldn't leave Asher out.  Cash looks very concerned.

Such a fun weekend! 

Last weekend the weather was beautiful and Matt decided it was perfect fence reconstruction weather. Our fence blew down the weekend before Christmas and since we love our neighbors so much we haven’t really worried about fixing it. Cash has loved having two families but we decided we better put it back up.  So Matt and Jason got to work and all the girls insisted on “helping”.

Asher crawled around outside for the first time and wasn't so sure about the grass.  He likes to bear crawl, cracks me up! 

Avery loves her “sisters” so much.  She tells me Harper is her best friend and I know she loves following the big girls around.  It makes my heart so happy that she has four “sisters”.  And of course they all love spoiling Asher and he loves the attention. 

Of course Matt had to use his truck during the fence project... such a boy! 

 

 We all grilled together Sunday evening and had a mini bonfire with the old fence posts

And just a random note I want to remember… my main goal for 2013 is to be more organized.  My first attempt at this is menu planning.  I usually plan a weekly menu when I’m writing down my grocery list but we still end up with nights where I forgot to set out the chicken to thaw or I was just lacking inspiration.  SO, I decided to write out a monthly menu. 

I created a menu template and went through my cookbooks, pinterest, etc. and came up with 30 meals.  (okay, we did eat out once this month).  It’s the 23rd and I’m happy to say we’ve stuck to it and it has been so incredibly helpful.  I have it displayed on the refrigerator which helps me remember to pull meat out of the freezer and makes my weekly grocery shopping list a breeze.  It also helps me to plan in advance and buy food when it’s on sale instead of just buying what I need for the week. 

I’m loving this and will definitely keep it up in the coming months!