Another Great Week

I've had a lot to say this week and absolutely no time to write it all down and here we are on the weekend and I've forgotten most of it. It is what it is in our busy family/homeschooling life...and what another great week it was! 

The highlight was going down to the Blue Ridge Parkway with the family, husband included, and my friend Mandy came too with her kids and it was just beautiful. God's green earth is wondrous and if this is how amazing little old Virginia is, I cannot even begin to comprehend what the glories of heaven will hold.

We spent over two hours swimming, nature drawing, frolicking and chatting. Oh, and eating our packed lunches and enjoying the amazing weather. My husband took this picture of me nature journaling as he was sitting up there on that rock. 

There were some bees and no bathrooms but we all survived and had a wonderful time. 

We are mid-week in school. Last last week I didn't get a full week done so...instead of being even, we have three weeks, 2 days left until summer break. I'm beyond excited to attempt to get a tan, spend hours at the pool, and find the best vegan ice cream. Alpha Gal makes things interesting. 

I don't like things being uneven in the weeks. I like a week to be a week but everyone gets off course and I plan to catch up this coming Monday and do a bit of extra readings so that come next monday we will only have 2 weeks left. Ahhh!! Two weeks!! 

Last week we trialed a new ballet gym for Becky and she is over the moon excited to start ballet this fall if we manage to get a spot. Apparently the spots are competitive. Reuben wants to do some martial arts, so this Monday we will trial a martial arts class and see if he likes it. I hope I can make it to all these things. Esther is almost three--can we can do evenings outings now? When she was 1, we could not. When she was 2...no not really. 3? I am hopeful for. And regardless, it is time. I supposed I am about to find out just how much I can do...the kids really need some activity structure again. I really think it will do them, and maybe me, some good. 

Anyway, I feel like a caterpillar just about to turn into a butterfly after that long postpartum and my serious health issues...many of my health issues were resolved with removing alpha gal foods. I am starting to hope...can I have a life again? What can that look like? Can I do more things? It's exciting and also scary. Yesterday my husband looked at me and said...hey we should have another baby! And I thought he was crazy but today I was like, maybe. Maybe we could try.

Here are our groceries for the week. I made it in budget! So excited. Our weekly grocery budget is $250 and this cart was $244.95. I felt really proud of myself. As you can see, I bought a lot of ice cream but...there are only four ice creams in each box and so each box lasts one day. This is three days worth of ice cream and we won't have any left over next week. Yum.

I plan to make these meals for lunch and dinner this week: sourdough pizza, egg salad wraps, turkey sandwiches, salads with mac and cheese, spaghetti, tuna, soup, something with potatoes because I bought too many, and biscuits and gravy.  If you have an idea about the potatoes, please leave it below. I have two freezer meals to use up from my deep stash that I'm trying to get through and replace with alpha gal safe ones...so I will eat something different and/or leftovers that night. 

Breakfast ideas: pancakes, muffins, french toast, oatmeal, bagels, smoothies, and I really want to try to make these pop tarts if I am feeling adventurous.