18 days until Christmas!

We jumped back into reality last week with work and virtual school, plus art and swim for the trio.  It was nice that we arrived home on Saturday so we had Sunday to do laundry and regroup for the week after our trip.

And Chippy was sure glad to have his family home! He did great with Cheryl, but there is nothing like snuggling under my desk, being held, or chasing around his trio! Plus having a sister that will pick him up when he decides he is tired mid-walk. 

Chip also had a big week as he was fixed on Thursday and spent the night at the vet after his surgery.  Officially, there will be no little Chippy’s in our future.

Other weekly highlights included:

• Waayyyy too much online ordering.
• Recording Episodes 3-6 of the Travel Tidbits Podcast (going live December 14th!)
• Toilet installation (we live on the wild side over here!)
• Lots of Christmas “chores” – wrapping, organization, teacher gifts, cookie baking, tile making, calendar making, etc.

Mike was off work on Friday, so we spent a chunk of the day organizing and wrapping our gifts so we can mail what we need to and see what else we need.  Even though I’ve cut back in recent years, this part of Christmas is still overwhelming and my least favorite.

As a reward for our hard work that day, we drove the trio and Chip through the Christmas lights at Rotary Park and picked up Culver’s for dinner.  Since Saturday and Sunday involved a great deal of Christmas prep too, we balanced it with some Christmas fun and watched Home Alone on Saturday evening and Home Alone 2 on Sunday evening.  Both are such classics and we have watched them for so many years that the trio can quote parts of it!

Even though we are STILL on a Top Chef kick (almost 2 years in!) the trio decided over the weekend they like Survivor — so that may be our next family show!

We have another busy week again — but I’m counting on it being a good one!

Meals last week

Monday: Potato soup and ham/cheese paninis

Tuesday: Meatball subs with salad (really easy – bag of frozen Italian meatballs, jar of Raos in the crockpot at lunchtime.  When ready to serve, top hoagie rolls with 1 slice of mozzarella on one side and the meatballs on the other and toast in a 350 degree oven for 5 to 7 minutes – another option that even Anna will eat!)

Wednesday: Papa Johns – Bo requested “pizza with all of the meats, especially bacon” after swim practice

Thursday: Pulled pork taco bowls and razzleberry pie (cook a pork shoulder with lime juice and chili powder, plus salt and pepper, all day in the crockpot and pull apart — serve with all of the taco bowl components, rice, lettuce, cheese, salsa, black beans, sour cream – a family fav!)

Friday: Culvers take-out — including pints of ice cream that we enjoyed Saturday and Sunday night too

Saturday: Crockpot chicken and wild rice soup, sourdough bread

Sunday: Spaghetti, Caesar salad, garlic bread (I use a slightly modified version of Ree Drummond’s sauce recipe, concentrated a bit, and then freeze it in individual containers — adding a jar of Raos to each container when we are ready to cook)