Weekend Recap!

Hi, friends! Welcome back for another recap of our weekend highlights...starting with Thursday evening! While it wasn't technically the weekend yet, Keith was gone for the night and I couldn't resist sending him this pic of the sunset to remind him of the view that he was missing from our front porch. We have the best sunsets and sunrises over the mountains!

Friday morning we stayed close to home (no school!), which was nice. We played outside,

and I made a version of THESE quick Egg and Cheese Mini Muffins to have on hand for the week. I added some diced ham and some fresh chives in this batch. They freeze well, too!

Then we went up the road to Yoder's Country Market to return our milk bottles and pick up some groceries. We were pleasantly surprised to see the donut truck in the Yoder's parking lot!! It's basically the only "food truck" anywhere near us, and it's owned by a local Mennonite family. These yeast donuts are served fresh and warm, the smell is heavenly, and we just couldn't resist.

The boys chose this big Cinnamon and Sugar donut for us to share.

Before we headed into the store, the kids climbed on the playground,

and visited with their favorite animals.

We had lunch at home before Hannah arrived to stay with Spence and Gibbs for the rest of the afternoon while I ran Casey into Charlottesville for a doctor's appointment.

Casey noticed that there was a head of rainbow chard ready to be harvested in the garden, so he delivered this beautiful bunch to our kitchen!

I served it salad-style for dinner with a Tahini Dill dressing, along with carry-out pizza from one of the few restaurants in town.

And the boys were so excited for "Family Movie Night." You can read all of the details of our Family Movie Nights HERE, but this was actually more like "Family Movie 15 Minutes" since that's about how long it took the kids to scarf down a few slices of pizza before they were off and running again. There was no quiet lounging around watching Star Wars...

Instead they headed back outside with Keith for a little while before we dragged them in for bed.

After pancakes, yogurt, and fruit for breakfast on Saturday morning, Keith squeezed in some yard work (spraying fruit trees, etc.) before the sun got too hot.

Spence and I watched from the safety of the porch, while the older two boys entertained themselves (and bickered) out in the yard.

Once my shopping list was complete and I had a meal plan for the week, Spence and I made a stop at the Farmer's Market on our way to Gibbs's soccer game.

Sporting my new hat from my favorite farm stand, which my parents brought back from their recent trip to the Vineyard. Perfect for a morning on the sidelines!

At the market we picked up:

- Rosemary

- Eggs

- Strawberries

- Mulberries

- Spring onions

- Zucchini

- Cucumbers

- Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

- Snap Peas

Gibbs played in one of his last soccer games of the season,

while these two wrestled like puppy dogs on the sidelines.

After the game, Casey and I swung by the grocery store for a couple of remaining grocery items for the week (plus some food to donate to the local food bank).

Then we quickly went home for a lunch of leftovers before putting everyone in their rooms for a little bit of quiet time.

Spence took a nice long nap while I got some work done on the computer (including starting this post!). When he woke up, the boys had some almonds for snack before we all went outdoors.

There was a serious water gun fight going on in our yard...

while I transplanted some of my indoor herbs from the kitchen window to the outdoor gardens. Hope the move doesn't kill them! My dill plant is looking pretty sad out there. 🙁

Spence was distracted from the water play by the tractor baling hay across the street. Watching tractors = favorite pastime!

Then it was time for some dry clothes and dinner prep! The kids had some snap peas from the Farmer's Market and did some coloring while I marinated THIS 4-Ingredient Baked Salmon for dinner. I actually made it 5 ingredient salmon by adding some fresh green onions from the market, and it wasn't baked...Instead, Keith grilled it.

In addition to the salmon, we also had broccoli (that I bought at the market last week and never got around to using), a mix of brown jasmine rice and regular white rice that I made in the rice cooker with a little bit of sesame oil and garlic, and zucchini noodles ("zoodles"?) that I sauteed with the same marinade that I made for the fish. The meal was a big hit with everyone! Best of all, we capped it off with some chocolates that my mom brought earlier in the week and some oatmeal chocolate chip cookies from the market!

After dinner, I spent a looooong time cleaning up the counters and floors (so.many.crumbs.), plus loading the dishwasher, while the boys played with trucks outside.

A shower for me, baths for the boys, some quiet play with Legos, and then we put them all to bed! Keith and I watched t.v., I wrote up a blog post in the evening, and we called it an early night.

This morning started with breakfast: peanut butter sandwiches, milk, and plenty of berries to go along with it! The dark purple berries that you see in the photo are the mulberries that we bought at the market yesterday. The boys' babysitter lives on a dairy farm up the street, and each spring the mulberry trees on their farm ripen and bring great joy to the boys' tastebuds for a week or two. They are sweeter than blackberries and SO good...it's a wonder they're not more common.

Keith spent some time outside sawing wood while the kids and I stayed indoors. I made a few Mason Jar Salads to have on hand for the next few days, and prepped some ingredients for dinner tonight and later this week. I made the filling for Mrs. Peachey's Stuffed Peppers (<-- oh my gosh, look at how young Gibbs is in that post!) for tomorrow night's meal, and I also browned the meat and veggies for some Slow Cooker Sloppy Joe's a different night (using ground beef instead of turkey and adding diced green bell pepper).

Casey wanted to check on the overnight growth of his corn, peas, and other veggies in the garden (update: not much changed in the last 12 hours!), so I asked him to snip some rosemary for me to use in the marinade for dinner.

In the house, Gibbs built a huge track for Spencer's trains, which occupied them both long enough for me to change the sheets on our bed and start a load of laundry. Then, when the fun was over, I asked him to clean up the mess. A temper tantrum ensued (but was not captured on camera...this time!).

Before lunch, we all made a quick trip to Walmart and Lowe's for various supplies like sunscreen, tonic water, a new car wash that Spence just had to have,

and these huge storage bins. We have a clean-up project on our hands for later this afternoon!

Everyone was hungry by the time we got home, so I made left-over salmon sandwiches for me and Keith to finish off last night's fish. They were SO good. The boys had turkey and cheese tortilla wraps like THESE. And for dessert? The kids picked out Nutella & Go packets at Walmart:

It was Spencer's first introduction to Nutella, and needless to say...he was a BIG fan.

The boys are having some quiet time/naps in their rooms and I just finished grilling and photographing a new Chicken & Veggie Kabob recipe for dinner (coming to the blog next month!).

Our afternoon will be spent in the old General Store building on the front of our property, cleaning up the random mess of toys and books that have been tossed around by the kids. Giant storage bins to the rescue!

On the dinner menu this evening: Grilled Peach-Glazed Chicken & Veggie Kabobs and Cheese Tortellini in Pesto Sauce. Have a great week!!