Menu Plan Monday

Last week went very well with the menu plan. Here is our latest edition of Menu Plan Monday:

Sunday: BBQ Pulled Pork, Baked Beans and Baked Mac n Cheese
Monday: Leftover Pulled Pork and Mac N Cheese
Tuesday: Popcorn Shrimp, French Fries, Green Beans
Wednesday: Broiled Haddock, Mashed Potatoes, Corn
Thursday: Spaghetti with Meat Sauce and Garlic Bread Sticks
Friday: Pizza Night
Saturday: Invitational - Picnic

This was last week's Cheddar Chicken & Potato dinner. It was a big hit. It was even fantastic for leftovers the next day. I will definitely add this to our list of favorite dinners for the future.

As always, you can find more Menu Planning ideas at Organizing Junkie.

Invitationals & Baking

Yesterday, Alex participated in his first Invitational. There were 12 teams from around the area competing in his race. So it was pretty big. They're doing the "team cheer" above... "Go 'Pool!"

And here he stretches during warm-ups...

Then they go to the starting line... it was about 3-deep. There were probably 125+ kids in the race. We're not sure what place Alex ended up in, probably about the middle of the pack. Liverpool ended up 4th overall, out of the 12 teams.

Next weekend is the big Invitational of the year, the McQuaid Invitational in Rochester. I hear it's 8 times as big as the event yesterday...

Today I managed to not leave the house. That rarely happens, but it was a very nice treat. I baked chocolate chip cookies and more apple crisp. There's a pulled pork cooking in the crock pot for dinner. The house smells very yummy today. It's a perfect day for baking and hanging out since it's so rainy and gross outside.

Apple Season

I love fall. And I really love fall baking. I bought a bag of apples yesterday at the grocery store. Ok, I cheated. I didn't pick them myself.

That's ok though, they still make an excellent apple crisp. So excellent in fact, that I had to make 2 batches.

Blame it on the Rain

I took today off. For several reasons. Alex had a doctor's appointment this morning. His annual checkup. He grew 3 1/2 inches since last year. (He's now 5' 4 1/2" tall) And he gained 20 lbs! The 20 lbs is a very good thing. He was seriously under weight last summer. Now he's just one pound shy of the century mark. (He also happened to have a cough/cold, so we got that checked out too... more on that later.)

The other reason I took the day off was to get to watch Alex's first x-country meet of the season. It was a beautiful, warm fall day. Until it was time for the race to begin. Then the skies opened up and it poured. And poured.

But apparently boys love to run in the rain. Here's Alex (in a very out of focus shot) heading toward the finish line. He did well, considering he was just diagnosed with some sort of infection in his lungs. He insisted on running today, even though the doctor told him not to.

Another thing I did today was buy a big ol' bag of apples and make apple crisp. It was delicious! Also, I made the chicken cheddar cheese potato thing tonight (see the Menu Plan), it was a big hit. We'll definitely have that again!

Menu Plan Monday

I'm back with the Menu Plans! It's been awhile, huh? I decided with the school year and the routine back in full swing, that I'd start back up with this too. So here it goes!

Sunday: Pulled Pork, Baked Beans & Steamed Carrots

Monday: Leftover Pulled Pork Sandwiches

Tuesday: Tacos & Rice

Wednesday:  Cheddar Chicken & Potatoes 

Thursday: Cheese Steak Wraps and Fries

Friday: Pizza Night! 

Saturday: ???  

And as always, be sure to check Organizing Junkie for many great Menu Planning ideas!

Where Have You Been??

Oops! The week just slipped right by, didn't it? I think this is the longest I've ever gone without posting something. Here's a quick recap of things that transpired this past week.

1. I went back to work, very refreshed after a pleasant and relaxing week off.

2. By Wednesday, I was no longer refreshed.

3. I got an oil change and an inspection. Found out I need new tires, preferably before it starts snowing. (Which could be any minute now.)

4. We got new phone/internet service at home. (We were with Verizon.) We're now with Time Warner for everything. We also got a year of Showtime for "free".

5. Alex has discovered texting on his cell phone that he has barely used in the last 10 months. I find it amusing that the extent of his texts are "LOL", "Yep", and Whas Up". I hope it remains that innocent! I'll be keeping a very close eye on him though to make sure...

6. Had a great dinner at Applebees with Simone and Rich last night. After dinner, we went to Wegmans (to buy beer to watch the SU football game) and we discovered that they sell Snuggies! We might have to pick up a few... they're only $14.99.



7. SU won the football game. They're playing Maine next weekend. Should we go??

8. I'm hoping to re-join the "Menu Plan Mondays" again tomorrow. It's not that I've stopped creating the menus for us, it's just that I've been lazy about posting them online.

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We've got another busy week ahead. Today we're having lunch at Red Lobster for Erika's birthday. Then I'm taking Alex golfing. I have Wednesday off so I can attend Alex's first Cross Country meet. Then every Saturday (and a few Wednesdays) from here to November will be taken up with meets. Before you know it, we'll be carving a turkey... and watching it snow.

Practices and Festivals

Early yesterday morning Alex had cross-country practice down by the lake. The coach thought it would be good for the boys to know what it's like to run really early on a Saturday since that's when most of their meets will be.

Here's Alex crossing the finish line of their 1 1/2 mile timed run. At 8:30am. On a Saturday.

Then last night, Eric and I went downtown to the annual Irish Fest! It's our favorite festival.

Eric tried on a hat from one of the many vendors. He thought it might look cool to wear that while driving Sir Reginald. (But didn't think it was cool to pay $45 for it, so it stayed there.)

Then we met up with my friend Simone and her husband Rich. Simone is the girl I went to HS with (in Maine) who come to find out, lives down the road from me now.

Here are Simone and Rich, posing... in the VIP tent! Rich scored us some free tickets to the VIP area... And from then on, the drinks flowed freely... with an emphasis on "free"!

Eric and I also posed in the VIP tent. It was a great night, with great friends... and yes, I drank way too much... but I guess that's what us Irish folks do at an Irish Festival!

Back to School

This is the best I could do for a "back to school" photo. Alex was putting his jammed-packed backpack in the car this morning, and had no time to "pose". He had so much stuff to take, including his x-country gear. Practice started after school today. So it was a very full day for him!

I have the week off and kept myself very busy today. First thing I did was to break out all the Fall decorations. I also cleaned the house, did 4 loads of laundry, took back almost $13 in cans/bottles, made pumpkin bread and I did some shopping too!

The rest of the week is going to be pretty full for me. Tomorrow I'm having lunch with a friend, and I'm also really hoping to clean/organize the garage. And start cleaning the deck to get it ready to be stained.

Fore!

The birthday fairy came early for Alex. Today he got his own set of golf clubs! (For those of you who weren't aware, Alex has recently become obsessed with golf... and requested the clubs for his birthday. I had a moment of weakness and decided to get the clubs a few weeks early for him, so he could get some use out of them before the snow started falling... which could be any time now!)

Today we went to "Tiger Links" to play a 'short" game of golf. It was a 6-hole course, and the longest hole was about 85 yards.

It was a lot of fun. I even played. All you really need are two clubs.

Of course we had an assortment of 12 to choose from. (But Alex made sure we only used the correct ones. He's a "pro" now.)

After the game of golf, we went to the Driving Range and got a couple of buckets of balls. It was a great day to be out enjoying the weather, and a nice way to officially end the summer.

The End of Summer

We started and ended the summer the same way. Attending a party at John & Louise's house. This is becoming a summer tradition!

Alex enjoys going to their house, he gets to make fancy (non-alcoholic) drinks for himself...

And he can golf on the expansive front lawn over looking the river...

They also put him to work chopping down the tree stump in the front yard.

Eric helped too.

It was quite the stubborn stump.

John helped push it down.

And down it falls...

Then the sun went down and Louise built her usual amazing fire in the fire pit. Alex takes it all in.

A perfect end to a great summer...

And Now for Something Completely Different

Guess what?! I went to the Fair today! That's different, huh? Well, I think I might be done for the year. I'm completely burnt out. We went for fun today, just me and Eric. The following photos are all through the eyes of Eric... I figured you might be getting tired of looking at my fair pictures! (The above is our "self-portrait"... can you find us?!)

The big Ferris Wheel. (Yes, I finally made it to the midway!)

And I played the water-squirt game. But lost. Eric however won. A basketball. Which he got to carry around for the rest of the day...

It was a crowded, warm day at the Fair...

But it's never too warm for fried dough! Yes, that was mine... all mine! (Eric ate some fried ice cream instead.)

And we found a tractor for Paula... it was during the nightly parade. What do you think Paula?? Should Gary get one for ya?!

The Fair and The Furlough

A friend took a photo of Alex and I yesterday while we were working at the Fair. This is pretty much what I did for 7 days. I held up signs, hooted & hollered to get the crowd going. (The free t-shirts we threw to the crowd also helped!)

I had a great time this year helping out at the Fair and am even a teeny bit sad that's it's over and back to work as usual. Well, back to work after next week. I'm on furlough next week. But I have a very long list of "Things to Do" to keep me busy! (And I'm sure it will give me lots to blog about too!)

But for now, I'm just looking forward to a nice long weekend with the family, the weather continues to be spectacular. Hopefully we can squeeze in a few more BBQ's on the deck before summer officially ends. Tuesday the kids head back to school... I think this was by far the shortest summer break ever! Does anyone else feel that way?!

God Bless the USA

Lee Greenwood visited our show this morning! I've had his song in my head all day. Not a bad song to have stuck in your head... He was a great guest and brought lots of great energy to the show. I really enjoyed his segment, as did the audience. Today was "Veterans Day" at the Fair, so there were a lot of Veterans in the audience. Mr. Greenwood's "God Bless the USA" was a very fitting tribute to the Veterans.

After his segment, he signed some autographs for guests.

And look who else visited the Fairgrounds today... Alex! I put him to work passing out bags to the audience. He was a huge help all morning and was willing to do whatever anybody asked of him. He seemed to enjoy the day, but not enough to want to go back tomorrow and help again... Oh well. At least I got one day out of him. It was good for him to get up early... the first day of school is coming soon and he's going to have to start getting up early again! (Heh heh heh...)

A Chef, a Sundae and Jessie's Girl

Today on our morning show, Bobby Flay joined us live and in person! I'm a huge Food Network fan and was thrilled to get to see him. He gave a great interview!

Our audience today was as full of energy as it was yesterday, I think these live guests are great! Can't wait for tomorrow... I hear we have another celebrity joining us!

And lunch at the Fair today was one of my all-time favorites: The Hot Beef Sundae. I could eat them all day long. They are AMAZING. (And they're in the Dairy Building if anyone goes looking for them!)

This evening, the family went back to the Fairgrounds for the free Rick Springfield concert. This would be the 3rd time I've seen him in concert. One thing I noticed this time that I hadn't noticed in the past were the older (um, my age and above) adults who brought their pre-teens/teens with them to the concert... and just how BORED they all were! (Especially ours!) But that's ok... I didn't let them get me down!

Here he is on the jumbo-tron... singing "Jessie's Girl"... it never gets old!