{Menu Plan Monday} Taming the Chaos

Posted on by Sarah Marshall

Menu Plan Monday
Last week was pretty insane for me and I have vowed to do what I can to make nights a little easier for me. So I’m back to menu planning!! I’m hopeful that having a menu in mind and knowing that I have all the ingredients I need in the kitchen will bring the stress level down at 5:00 when I have schoolwork, Brooke’s new gymnastics class (!) and the gym on the agenda after dinner.

This week:

Monday: Crack Burgers (via Plain Chicken)
Tuesday: First Gymnastics Class – thinking a little snacky dinner before and another snack after
Wednesday: Meatballs over Noodles (via allrecipes)
Thursday: Taco Night!!!
Friday: Crockpot Lemon Chicken (again Plain Chicken)

Hopefully a little prior planning and prep will lead to a smoother week!!

This post is linked to Menu Plan Monday at orgjunkie.com.

If you’re taming the chaos that comes at back to school time, be sure to get your Back to School Boost for Moms eBook bundle. It’s only available until 8/8!!!

Tired Mommy Approved – Pony Royale

Posted on by Sarah Marshall

This post is sponsored by Pony Royale. I was selected for this opportunity as a member of Clever Girls Collective, and the content and opinions expressed here are all my own.

Excited to start playing!!

The weekend before the Princess Ponies arrived at our house, Brooke had been taken on her very first horseback ride by her Grandpa & Grandma Marshall. Suffice it to say, she had horses on the brain. So when I let her open up the box without giving her any idea what was inside, she was stoked to see that inside were TWO pretty ponies to play with.

Brooke loves her Princess Ponies!

Once we got the horses out of the packages (oh the packaging!), Brooke was totally in love with them. There were so many different ways to dress them up! Each pony comes with two manes and two tails and their saddles, tiaras & mane decoration (there is probably a technical term for that) that you can mix and match. When you add in more ponies, the options grow.

There are 12 Princess Ponies in the collection and each has its own birthstone and comes from a different Kingdom in the land of Pony Royale: Air, Earth, Fire or Water. The ponies we were sent were Harmony, an Earth pony and Sky, and Air pony. Brooke thought it was really cool that one of the ponies from the Water Kingdom was named Brooke too!

For more of the story behind the Princess Ponies of the Land of Pony Royale, check out this video.

At first, Brooke had a little trouble getting the manes on but after she took her time and let me show her, she was having no problem at all. She and I sat for a long time swapping pieces back and forth and seeing the different combinations we could make.

For as independent as Brooke is, playing alone is not one of her strong suits. But if I suggested playing with her new ponies, she’d be off and running and soon I could hear her hilarious dialogue and pretend play between the two ponies. She even had a dance party with them one afternoon!

Which Princess Pony would you like to play with? I think Rosie is my favorite!

Visit the Pony Royale website for more information. The Pony Royale collection will be available at Toys R Us in late July and in select Target stores in August. Meanwhile, be sure to check out Pony Royale’s Facebook page and follow them on Twitter!

Dear Grandpa

Posted on by Sarah Marshall
Guarding Slave Labor Camp during WWII

Dear Grandpa,

It’s been two years since you’ve left us. I wasn’t prepared for it at the time. You always battled back from whatever evil tried to take you down. I guess I was naive to think you could pull that off forever.  I don’t know how much Brooke will remember but I’m so SO glad that she was there to see you one last time.  The smile on your face when she came into your room is a memory I will treasure forever.

I will tell her about that day as she grows up and how even as your time with us was coming to an end, your family could bring you such joy.  I try to share as much of you as I can with her. “My grandpa liked *this*.” “I used to do *this* with my grandpa.”

You already know this but you’re still with me all the time. The man across the street reminds me of you. I see him mowing his lawn and he wears clothes very similar to yours, has a build similar to yours, even wears the same style ball cap. When I see him I smile and I tear up. How the sight of a stranger can make you so happy and so sad at the same time, I’ll never understand.

I sometimes wonder what you would think about decisions I’ve made or what I’m doing. I think you’d be proud. I have a great marriage, a wonderful little girl, I’m taking charge of areas in my life that were faltering…I’m happy, really happy, and I feel that’s all you ever really wanted for us.

Study break with some #redpop in honor of Grandpa. I miss you and tonight in honor of you, I drank an honorary bottle of Redpop. I hope you’re having some too. And maybe some peanuts…and all the other foods you weren’t supposed to have.  We all knew you ate them anyway!!

Until we meet again,
See-rah