Saturday Morning Meal Planning – The Reluctant Grownup

Liam got The Darkest Minds book series for his birthday from my sister, and . . . well, we miss him. He’ll rejoin the family once he’s through them all, I guess.

Heading home in the car from July 4th fireworks – he brought the flashlight for this purpose.

You can’t see the book in this pic but he fell asleep while reading on me.

Meanwhile, Craig and I (and the Prof, taking turns) have put in some HOURS at the ball field. He joined Little League in March, and what a difference four months has made. He made the All Stars team for 8u coach pitch (8u means aged 8 and under, so it was mostly 8 year olds but a few 7 year olds like Craig). He is a decent hitter now, and a very accurate thrower. Still a little afraid to catch it, and taking a pop-out to the cheek at practice the other day didn’t help that at ALL.

Not the most flattering pic but check that cheek bruise. He’s a toughie.

Still, he played in the district Little League tournament and they won several games. A week ago Friday, their first game started at 2pm in the rain, and they destroyed the other team. Their next game was immediately after, at 4:30. The rain stopped, the sun came out, and slowly over the course of the game they all totally melted down. So they lost that game – which was fun! The whole muddy, sweaty, disgusting mess of Little Leaguers trooped over to a pizza joint where their coach bought everyone’s meal, and after it was over I venmoed the waitress thirty bucks because hoo boy were these kids a nightmare. But it was great fun, and now he’s in tryouts for the travel team!

It’s been a fun couple of summer weeks. Someone sent Jack’s bearded dragon a dragon costume, which Rex predictably did not love, and the humans predictably did. I bought dipsy doodles at the mall – I’ve never had them before and I wish I didn’t know they existed, YUM. Fourth of July at Crescent City Park was delightful, boys on scooters and everyone playing Will Smith songs (as he funded our fireworks show, he’s filming a movie here).

Now I am writing the movie that we’ll film this summer with the cousins when we visit my parents. I bought a green screen so we are LEVELING UP with this one. It’s a Harry Potter story, so I bought a pattern to sew robes for all the kids (and some adults), which I’ll do before we go. Gonna be a fun one! Below is the meal plan for the week. All new stuff again – feeling experimental. Have a great week, friends!

Coconut Lentil Curry and Aloo Tikki – we are having vegetarian friends over for dinner and will make this
Jamaican rice and peas
Firecracker chicken meatballs
Greek chicken orzo power bowls
Salt and pepper pork chops
Black bean and sweet potato flautas