Hello, friends! I have so many updates for you! First, regarding my blog, you may have noticed it's got a fresh new look! (Imagine me squinting at the computer screen as I watch [and rewatch] YouTube videos on how to use CSS codes. Oy!) The good news is that I've updated it with a pretty new logo, which better reflects my vision for this blog. The bad news is that said pretty new logo doesn't show up correctly when viewed on a cell phone. Grr. I will work on figuring this out, but if you are technically savvy (or know someone who is!) who might be able to help me with this, I'd be incredibly grateful!

Second... We finally have our new garage door! {Disclaimer: I apologize for being so excited about a silly garage door. Unfortunately, we don't have the budget to do big impressive renovations like other home bloggers, so I get ridiculously excited about the small things we can do. This update was done out of necessity--our old garage door was literally cracking and breaking apart!} Ready to see it? Here it is!

Funny story about this. I had a very specific design in mind for our new garage door. I sketched out my design and emailed it to the overhead door company. The office manager told me that they would definitely be able to replicate my design, so I was ecstatic (see above about being way too excited about a garage door!). When the young men arrived to install our door, I thought that I had better confirm with them that they had two sets of hardware and were going to install it to create the illusion of having two carriage style doors. BUT. If you know me casually, you may be surprised to find out that I'm an introvert by nature. I was a painfully shy child, but I eventually learned how to force myself to act outgoing, and I can usually pull it off quite well. On this particular day, I was the only adult at home, the littles were being particularly needy, and I didn't really feel like going out and talking to the installation men. Oh, I'm sure the office manager passed along my design. Of course, he talked to them about it, I told myself. I don't need to go out there and confirm it. But my gut told me differently, and, finally, I asked myself, What would Joanna do? (Joanna Gaines, that is, haha!) Joanna would go out there and confirm her design plan. I mustered my resolve, perched Theo on my hip, and headed out into the garage. "Hi there!" I called over the young men's screeching drills. "It looks great so far!" A brief conversation with these nice young men revealed that the office manager had not, in fact, passed along my design plan. The installers only had one set of hardware, so they were going to have to come back another day to install the two sets as I envisioned. Lesson #1: When it comes to design, it's always a good idea to ask, "What would Joanna do?" 😉

The next day, I could hear the diesel truck approaching our house before I could see it. A different pair of men hopped out of the truck, and I stepped outside onto our front porch to greet them. Feeling a little self-conscious, I headed outside to confirm with them that they were going to install the hardware according to the design I had provided them. Yes, they were going to install two sets of hardware, but, no, they weren't going to install the hardware according to my picture. One of the gentlemen was even the office manager I had originally spoken with, and he didn't even recall seeing my sketch! I showed them the picture one more time, and the hardware was installed just as I had envisioned. Lesson #2: confirm, confirm, confirm. Even it feels like overkill, confirm.

In the end, I was one happy chica. Here's the new front-view of our house.

Theo turned six-months old on Saturday! He is such a good baby, and we are all totally smitten with him.

Our family had a lovely Easter. The only imperfection was Shane (almost 9 years) telling me that he thinks he's too old for Easter egg hunts. I actually teared up when he said that! Time is just passing way too quickly. {I will probably write a whole post on this someday, but MAMAS. I know that time seems to drag when you have just one child, and they are a baby, toddler, or preschooler. But when you are blessed with another child (and possibly more), time starts flying like crazy. SAVOR those slow moments with your first. Relish in them. I know they can be hard [I remember thinking, often, How on earth am I going to pass the time with this little guy today?], but it's fleeting. In retrospect, it was the blink of an eye.} ANYHOO, we had unseasonably warm, sunshiny weather, and it was GLORIOUS. We went to the 8:00 AM worship service, and the dazzling light streaming through the stained glass windows took my breath away. Alleluia, He is RISEN!!!

Phfew! I told you I had a lot of updates! 🙂 Let's talk dinner now, shall we?

Notes on last week's meal plan:
{Tuesday} A dear friend who is considering homeschooling visited us at Classical Conversations last week. I was so focused on arriving on time that I totally forgot to (a) thaw my freezer meal the night before and (b) put it in the slow-cooker. We ended up heading to Chili's to take advantage of their free kids meals on Tuesdays! Even though it wasn't great for our budget, we all ate for less than $25, including the tip. Not too bad!

{Saturday} I forgot to mention that I reserved 3 cups of beans from our Beans & Rice meal to use in Saturday's Chicken Tortilla Soup. I try to overlap ingredients like that, if I can. I also changed the recipe a bit. Instead of cutting corn tortillas into strips and putting them in the soup, I like to crumble tortilla chips on top. It's easier, and I like the crunch better too.

Here's what we're having for dinner this week!

{monday, 4/10}

Whole-Wheat Linguine with Marinara and Meatballs, Italian Bread, Salad 

{tuesday}

Slow-Cooker Meal #6: Zesty Orange Chicken over Rice, Steamed Broccoli

This meal is from Lauren Greutman's Meal Plan #4. It's on repeat from last week, because I forgot to thaw/cook it. (See above.)

{wednesday}

Hamburgers, Potato Chips, Salad

(I'm itching to try to grass-fed beef from Aldi!)

{thursday}

Leftovers

{friday}

Pizza (from Aldi), Salad

{saturday}

Ham, Cheesy Scalloped Potatoes, Green Beans

(Even though we had a ham dinner at my parents' house for Easter, we always a buy a ham on sale for ourselves. My favorite is the Hormel Cure 81 glazed ham. I prefer bone-in for flavor, and I can use the bone for another meal. Hint: You'll be seeing a soup in next week's meal-plan!)

{sunday}

Leftovers/PC&A

Have a great week, friends!