Failing to Plan

I've spent plenty of time just living life by the seat of my pants. And my pants are often seated in a restaurant.
The truth is, I'm often disappointed with the food I'm served & find myself thinking "I could've done this way better in my own kitchen, and now I gotta go pay for it." (I'm more lenient when the service is awesome. I'll eat mediocre slop for good service and fine ambiance.)
I pay in dollars and pay in hollers... after stepping on the scale and finding my number has jumped a few digits.

SOoooo.... I must plan our meals.

So I made a little menu planner while getting an Excel lesson from my husband. (Thanks, Babe.)

It'll get the job done, I figure. 

And I figure I'm not the only gal out there with this on her mind.
If you'd like to begin planning your menu a week in advance, you're welcome to this sheet as well and can download it to your computer to use over-and-over-and-over. Just click on the following link:

Our Family Menu Planner

If you don't have a compatible version of Excel and would like a PDF or Word Document version, I'm happy to e-mail it to you. Just send me a message or comment below. 

Happy Planning & Eating, Y'all! 

Summers' Here!

One kid is outta school for summer! Just waiting on the other to end his year.
I gotta tell you - vacay day CANNOT get here fast enough!
Why?

We're going to spend a droplet of time in...

and I assure you - it's gonna be grand! 

And it's gonna taste good too! Because we'll be spending one night in New Orlean's French Quarter and that TOTALLY means beignets and chicory from Cafe Du Monde! 

And when we arrive in Florida, we'll be staying in Bonita Springs because of the fabulous deal we scored. We'll be livin' it up at the Bismark!

Can you believe that this is our backyard pool for the week of Floridian bliss?!?!
And of course it would make no sense to be in Florida without hittin' Key West!

Oh YES! I'm gonna have temporary conchmanship status! 

Mallory Square

 We wanna clap at Sunset.
Marinate in sunshine.
Down a shot at Sloppy Joes.

Which of course means that we'll have completed the current Hemingway novel we've been reading as a family that is actually SET in Key West -
"To Have And Have Not".

Which rounds out with a tour of the fabulous Hemingway abode.

Hemingway House - Home of freaky-toed felines, penny in the concrete, and classic literature treasured by many! 

I can't wait - and we've earned this.
Ebay has made a killing off of seller fees as I've sold a great deal of items to fund the ride.

Just a few more weeks.


And allow me to direct you to my PHOTOGRAPHY BLOG!

That's right!
Visit www.JessicaReynoldsPhotography.com

Pre-graduate specials going on right now until my graduation from The Art Institute.
You know you've been wanting to update your family portrait... why wait!?!? You are FABULOUS as you are - and since I'm learning Photoshop, we can tweak zits and fly-away hairs!
If you happen to rock the Photoshop CS5 program - come teach me and I'll shoot you for free! I am not picking it up as super sonic as I'd like. (But I can ban a blemish!)

I have a BAY-BEEeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

This is an admission of lived-in-ness within the walls of our home. 

Hunter is nine and Gianna is one (16 months to be precise about it) and there are moments more frequent than I'd admit to that I am shocked at the reality 'I have a baby.' Maybe it wouldn't be this way if there wasn't such a spread of time in between the two kids. But occasionally, I trip over a plastic tea cup with a smiley face - and I smile. And inside I am giddy because I am still in that baby game.
When you open the cabinet next to the fridge, there's a good chance an avalanche of Playtex bottles, liners and sippy cups will shower your head.

Our master bathroom was once decorated to be an oasis for Kevin and I, but now the bathtub has been overcome by squeaky squirty toys, musical bath flutes and various bottles of delicious baby soap. The sight of all this makes me happy.

The day that I looked into my cabinet and saw shiny coffee mugs and looked into my tub and saw a layer of dust has come and gone and thank God because that day made me sad. I guess babyhood wasn't out of me maybe it's why God gave us this blessing of tiny pink socks with dirty soles and sticky remote controls. I don't know - and I'm not gonna think it too much because I'm busy drinking and breathing it in as it is today, that laundry pile can wait another day - it's been there a week, already!

It's just how it is.

My babies are fine despite not having a Martha-clean home to live in.
They're happy. Proof positive is this mirror in Gigi's room. See the smudges on the glass?

Those are kisses she's planted on the sweet baby image reflecting back at her. She loves herself.
How could I ever dare to erase that affection!?!

Super short post, I know... but baby "G" is almost finished with lunch and I need to clean the food out of her fine little curls.

And I think 'Brobee' would appreciate a thorough hand-washing before she resumes dragging him through the house.

HUGS AND KISSES! Happy Monday!