You can't call him Your Honor

My boss heard back already today that he did not get the judgeship (he applied for 3 positions and only interviewed for one so far). This is good news for me.

Business has been a little slow however, so he cut my hours from 9:00 am - 5:00 pm Monday - Friday to a somewhat wonky schedule: I will now work M-W-F 9:00 am - 3:00 pm and Tu-Th 9:00 am - 5:00 pm. This means that I will be able to pick up my kids 3 out of the 5 days per week! This is exciting for all of us! My boss did indicate that the hour change may be temporary and when business picks back up he will resume my regular schedule again.

This cut in hours doesn't affect my take home pay, necessarily, because I will be saving money from not having to pay for after-school care. It basically will be a wash in the end. IF he ends up and needs to cut more of my hours then I might need to get worried, but so far so good.

Back To School

Well, summer is over (it went by just a tad bit too fast if you ask me!) and the kids head back to school today - well, the boys do and Lady Bug starts on Wednesday.

The school hours changed this year so instead of starting at 8:00 and going until 2:30, they will start at 8:45 and go until 3:15. The boys are excited that they get to sleep in a little this year and I am excited that they get out a little later. 2:30 seems to come so quickly after 8:00! :-)

Spirit is going into FOURTH grade....eek - where did all the time go? Didn't he just start kindergarten? Wow. Lefty is starting THIRD grade - I will say it again, time moves way too quickly! Then there is Lady Bug, who is excited and a tad scared all at the same time to be starting kindergarten!

We had back to school night on Friday and got to meet the teachers and see the classrooms. It was neat to have a little one-on-one with each teacher and see where the kids will sit, etc.

In 1st grade Lefty had a best bud, but they got separated in 2nd grade and we discovered that they are in the same class again this year so Lefty is very excited about that!

Here's hoping for another GREAT school year!

P.S. - I will probably be shedding a lot of tears on Wednesday as my baby starts kindergarten - I am trying not to think of that right now.

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In Other News:
My boss has an interview today for ONE of the judge positions he applied for (he applied for 3 total). So I may or may not know more about my job in the next couple of weeks -- I will keep you posted.

Meal Plan for August 21 - 27

SATURDAY:
Breakfast - Overnight Bubble Bread / Smoky bacon wraps / fruit / eggs
Lunch - Chili dogs / fruit
Dinner - Crock pot black bean salsa chicken / rice

SUNDAY:
Breakfast - Cereal
Lunch - Beenie Weenies / Fruit salad
Dinner - French Dip/ corn / applesauce

MONDAY:
Breakfast - Cereal
Lunch - Orzo salad
Dinner - Cabbage Buns / green beans / cottage cheese

TUESDAY:
Breakfast - Cereal
Lunch - Turkey Pita sandwiches / chips / fruit
Dinner - Grilled chicken / steamed veggies / twice baked potatoes

WEDNESDAY:
Breakfast - Cereal
Lunch - Left overs
Dinner - Spaghetti / salad / garlic toast

THURSDAY:
Breakfast - Cereal
Lunch - Grilled cheese / chips / fruit
Dinner - Waffles / Bacon / Eggs / Fruit

FRIDAY:
Breakfast - Cereal
Lunch - Spaghetti / cucumber slices / fruit
Dinner - F.F.Y. - Fend For Yourself (This is where momma cleans out the fridge! No more left overs! Which means we may all end up with a different looking plate to empty out those left over containers!)

Friday Recipe - Mexican Pizzas

We tried these a few months ago and they were really good. Mr. Man actually came up with this, only he rolled them up. The problem with rolling them up is you can't fill them as full or they rip and fall apart so then we decided to cut them into triangles and eat them flat. We also have made two layers which works well for the adults, but it is a little too much food for my little one, she just gets one layer.

Mexican Pizzas
INGREDIENTS:
1 (16 oz) can refried beans
1 lb ground beef
1 (1.25 oz) package taco seasoning mix
1 Tbls vegetable oil
corn tortillas (figure on 1-2 per person)
TOPPINGS - such as cheese, sour cream, chopped tomatoes, chopped green onions, sliced jalapenos (the jarred kind used for nachos), avocado slices, sliced black olives, salsa

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Warm up beans in a saucepan.

In a large skillet, brown ground beef, then stir in seasoning packet following packet directions.

Place a small amount of oil in a skillet and heat the oil. Place one corn tortilla in the skillet. Cook for 15 seconds then flip and cook another 15 seconds. Repeat for all tortillas. Drain on paper towels.

Arrange cooked tortillas on a foil-lined (for easier clean up) cookie sheet. Spread a thin layer of beans, then beef and cheese. If doing a double layer one, add a second cooked tortilla on top of cheese and add beans, beef and cheese.

Bake tortillas in preheated oven for 20 minutes. Add whatever toppings you'd like and then eat up.

A little of this and that!

* We still haven't found the camera. :-(

* I have been dieting and exercising and have lost 10 pounds in 3 weeks! YAY! I say "diet", but really I am watching portions and paying more attention to what I eat. I have been walking 3 miles nearly every day too. Only 14 pounds more to go until I get to my goal weight!

* I am on vacation from work this week! We didn't have daycare for this week so I am using vacation time to stay home. It works perfect because the kids start school next week and so I plan to use this week to prepare for next week, we are readjusting bedtime routines so we are going to bed at a decent hour and we will organize all the school supplies, etc. We also made a "to-do" list for this week of things the kids want to do with me! Today we are going to see a movie! Good times!

* In the last week we have deep cleaned and rearranged the family room a little bit, I love how it feels in there. We also deep cleaned Spirit's room - looks awesome! Over the weekend we deep cleaned and rearranged Lefty's room and I made the bottom bunk of his bed into a fort -- it looks awesome (wish I had a camera to show you pictures). This week I am going to work on Lady Bug's room and one thing I plan to do with her is switch dressers with her. The one she has is just so big for her tiny room, so I will take it and give her the one I have been using. Hopefully that opens up her room a little bit for her.

* Due to no camera, I guess I will be asking for a new camera for Christmas. :-(

* I am enjoying the cooler weather we are having - cool mornings and cooler evenings! I just love it.

* We had a garage sale this past Saturday and really did quite well! I didn't think we would do as well as we did! At the sale I made a comment about using the money to buy a new chair for our family room and Spirit said "Mom, maybe you should buy our school supplies." - Since when did he become so practical?

Meal Plan for August 14 - 20

I know I haven't posted a meal plan in ages, but with summer we ate out a bunch or we were eating light or eating in shifts and so it just got so hard to even plan my weekly menus that I knew there was no way I could post anything!

But now that summer is winding down and things are settling down in the house too I think I can post our weekly menu again, at least for the time being! I love summer and all the activities it brings but I also enjoy when we slow down again. School will be starting up for us in about a week - the 23rd the boys start and Lady Bug starts on the 25th!

So, here we go with this weeks menu plan - the first of many more to come!

SATURDAY:
Breakfast - Eggs Italiano / fresh fruit / blueberry bundt cake
Lunch - Gazpacho / crusty bread / strawberry pie
Dinner - Grilled Chicken breasts / au gratin potatoes / bacon wrapped asparagus

SUNDAY:

Breakfast - Cereal
Lunch - Left overs
Dinner - Grilled shrimp pesto salad / crusty rolls

MONDAY:

Breakfast - Cereal
Lunch - Gazpacho
Dinner - Mac n cheese / peas

TUESDAY:

Breakfast - Cereal
Lunch - Sandwich wraps/ fruit
Dinner - Pasta bake / garlic bread / salad

WEDNESDAY:

Breakfast - Cereal
Lunch - Chili dogs / fruit
Dinner -  Sausage, potato and bell pepper medley / fruit salad

THURSDAY:

Breakfast - Cereal
Lunch - Left overs
Dinner - Grilled salmon / steamed veggies / rice

FRIDAY:

Breakfast - Cereal
Lunch - Sandwich wraps / fruit salad
Dinner - Spicy mango chicken with sweet potatoes (new recipe)

Friday Recipe - Eggs Italiano

This is a tasty and filling breakfast using poached eggs and fresh veggies over an English muffin.

Eggs Italiano (serves 4)
INGREDIENTS:
4 eggs (I actually made more because I made 2 eggs for Mr. Man)
1 medium yellow summer squash, cubed
1 medium green zucchini, cubed
1 small onion, diced
1 tomato, seeded and diced
1 clove of garlic, minced
1 tsp olive oil
basil
salt and pepper to taste
1 avocado, sliced
 Parmesan cheese
4 whole wheat English muffins, toasted

Heat olive oil in skillet. Add in garlic, squash, zucchini and onion. Cook until veggies are tender, but not too soft. Add in tomato and cook only long enough to warm up tomato.Season with salt and pepper and a little basil. Remove skillet from heat.

To poach your eggs: In a tall sided skillet add 2" of water. Bring water to a boil over medium-high heat. Add in 1/4 c of vinegar and reduce heat to a simmer -- the water should be steaming and small bubbles should come up from the bottom of the pan. Crack each egg into a small bowl, cup or soup ladle and slip them one at a time into the simmering water, taking care not to break the yolks. Cook for 4 minutes for soft set, 5 minutes for medium set and 8 minutes for hard set. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the eggs to a clean kitchen towel to drain.

Place the 2 halves of the English muffin on a plate. Top with the veggies. Place eggs on top of veggies then add your slices of avocado. To finish this off sprinkle some Parmesan cheese on top.

I like to serve this with ham on the side and a little coffee cake to wash it all down with! This is a great brunch meal.

**NOTE: You could also serve this with fried eggs if you prefer.