Slices of Life

 It has actually been a pretty quiet and boring week around here; which I have not minded at all.  Summer, for us, is definitely winding down with the boys all starting back to school on Monday.  The tropical storm passed us by with quite a bit of rain and only a minimal amount of power outages so I can't complain.   While it was no fun saying goodbye to my sister and her family we had a great time hosting the whole family here for a cookout to give them a great send off.  My mother and step-father, my sister and her family, my brother and his family, plus all of us was a good 18 people and we threw this cookout together in just 24 hours!  They left early the next morning and in a day and half had safely settled into the hotel where they'll be staying for the next month while awaiting the closing on their new house.  They even got a free upgrade into a room with a full kitchen once the desk staff heard their story!  I am so happy for them tha...

 I almost didn't pull this post together in time to share today.  I have been having such a hard time making myself focus and get down to blogging this week with so much else going on.  I didn't want to miss a link up with Holly and Patty though!   Since it's the last Thursday of the month it's time for Monthly Musings and this month is all about back to school & fall planning.  1. Do you meal plan and prep?  YES!  I tend to plan a whole month out at a time and prep most of my meals in the morning so I can just throw them together at night or (once fall hits) toss them in the crock pot and forget about dinner until it's time to eat.  Some of our favorite back to school recipes & meals can be found in this post all about quick family dinners .  2. How do you buy and organize school supplies?  It depends on the supplies... our back to homeschooling supplies all get put on our bookcase in the office.   Alec's back to ...

And just like that it's the last Thursday of the month! I drafted this post early in preparation for Hurricane/ tropical storm Henri, since I wasn't sure if we'd have any power or internet connection once the storm passed us by.  We woke to the not so joyous news on Sunday that the new path had the eye of storm passing right over us and we should expect widespread and long term power outages.  Oh joy!  Thankfully we have a generator as we tend to lose our power often and we're getting to be old pros at living on limited power.   And Now, It's Time for This Week's Encouraging Hearts & Home Blog Hop!     Join your Encouraging Hearts & Home Co-Hosts each week for encouragement and support for your heart & your home . We hope to provide a space that builds each other up and lends a helping hand along the way. With all the negativity in the world, let's shine a positive light! Some of my favorites from last week: Garlic Herb Grilled Salm...

It's the last Wednesday of August which means it's time for What's Up Wednesday with Sheaffer & Shay.  We're down to our last few days of summer with school starting for all three of my boys on Monday.  I'm trying to whip us all into some semblance of routine.   What We're Eating This Week: I'll be sharing my monthly menu next Tuesday but here's a peek at a few of my favorite meals from the month: Shrimp, veggies, and cauliflower rice bowl My daily granola, fruit, & yogurt breakfast  I made a teriyaki steak, green bean, and mushroom stir- fry and served it over white rice; it was a huge hit!  What I'm Reminiscing About: My own childhood.  My younger sister left this past weekend with her entire family to move to North Carolina (moving just a few miles away from my older sister!).  We had a small cookout here for her and we were all swapping stories of growing up.   (pictures from the cookout) What I'm Loving: All the sweet...