At this point during the game, I started keeping up with a bit more information I found vital that I will share with you. A lot of the information was important until this point in the game as the rules started to change.
DIY Telescope
One of the fun things Melody likes to do with her newish swing set is play with the telescope. She thinks it is so much fun to point it at us throughout the yard and find us. So we had the bright idea to let her make her own telescope using paper towel rolls.
Closet Revamp
In our new house, we have a massive master bedroom closet. And not just in size, but height. The shelves are so, so high I have to stand on my tippy toes to hang things. So the original layout of our closet kept all of my things on the bottom, and Brad took the top. But then I could never reach my purses, and my shoe situation was a mess. You can see the mess below!
Air Fryer Okra
We are loving our air fryer. One of our favorite fried things (or at least mine) is fried okra. But frying it in grease leaves the house stinky. When doing the recipe below, I actually tried two methods. I find this recipe is about as close as I can get to real fried okra.
Pandemic Legacy Season Two March
Now that we won February, we were able to move on to March. We had another perimeter report card to read first. Since we had not opened package 67 yet, we scratched the box. It basically just encouraged us where to focus on reckoning first. We scratched the second box to just be nosey, ha!
My Dad Rocks
One of Brad’s presents for his birthday was a fun and very hard craft I had Melody make for him before she went back to school. I made the template on my computer, and as we worked on it, I had to keep adding space because she has such big hand writing. It was a really adorable craft though, and I think Brad loved it.
A Day at the Lake
About a month ago, my parents bought a pontoon boat. It is a work in progress, but they wanted to buy one so that Melody could experience river/lake/boat life. We had a boat growing up, and I have so many fun memories on the river with my family. So I am really excited for Melody to experience something similar. A few Saturdays ago, we decided to head down to Smith Lake to take a ride on the boat for the first time.
Queso Chicken
This is another recipe that I found from Piece of Keto Pyatt. It is really good and we definitely do not pair it in a keto way (we serve with chips, quest, and salsa). I think it would also be really good served over Mexican rice too! I might would even go crazy and add some refried beans for myself, ha.
Pandemic Legacy Season Two February
So now that we lost all of January, we are moving onto the start of February. With that comes new cards from the Legacy Deck.
Back to School Gift
With this being Melody’s last year at her sweet preschool, I wanted to give her a little gift the day before starting. We bought Melody a Pottery Barn Frozen backpack and lunchbox a long while back. She asked for a backpack for her birthday, so we decided to go ahead and give her that then. So we knew we had a lunchbox to give her. And I wanted to get her a new back to school book. The last thing we ended up with was a Rainbow Rangers toy set. I happened to find this on the Walmart website, and I knew I had to have it! It just so happened this was the perfect occasion to give it to her!
Cinemark Private Watch Party
To start the week of celebrating Brad’s birthday, we visited our local movie theater for a private watch party. For approximately $100 you can rent an entire theater. You can pick a movie from their list, and then you can bring up to 20 friends. It’s a great deal for a group of friends wanting to go to the movies but remain socially distant from other people and have some privacy.
Waffles
We love waffles in this household, but we have never found a recipe we just love. We have the tried and true Bisquick version, but I do keep attempting better versions. These were really good, but still not the fluffy waffles we were going for. I would make these again though!
Pandemic Legacy Season Two Late January
Ok, so we lost the game originally played in January, so now we get to attempt it again. You will see me refer to months as “early” or “late”. If we lose the “early” game, we get one more chance by playing a “late” game. The changes made during the early game still stand, but you get another shot to conquer that month’s objectives before calling it quits and moving on. If you lose, you also get to add 2 more Rationed Event cards. However, if you win, you take away 2 Rationed Event cards for the next game. Since nothing changed other than that, you can see the 6 cards we picked below, and I will dive right into game play! nothing changed other than that, you can see the 6 cards we picked below, and I will dive right into game play!
Back to School Teacher Gift
I have not done this in previous years, but since it is Melody’s last year, I decide to send a back to school gift to her teacher. This year is the first year she only has one teacher, so that also made it easier. During the summer, I bought these adorable paper clips from Simplified. The specific ones I used for this gift were apple shaped, but I also bought some pencil shape ones too I may use as a gift for someone else later. I then wrote a nice note on matching cardstock, and I had Melody sign it. Then I attached it using ribbon. Super cute and easy!
August Fun
August has been one busy month!
Italian Chicken, Potatoes, and Green Beans
Brad absolutely loves this recipe that my best friend, Emily, has been making for years. So I finally decided to make it for us. It makes a LOT. It’s a great recipe when you are having a group of people over because of this too!
Brad is 37!
On Sunday we celebrated Brad during 37! Unfortunately it did not live up to the hype of last year’s birthday at Disney, but the pandemic had other plans. (Ironically we were supposed to be at Disney World this week.). We celebrated at home with a lot of Brad’s favorite foods (that aren’t McDonald’s or Wendy’s). I think he had a great laid back, relaxing day of celebrating.
Pandemic Legacy Season Two Early January
As mentioned in a previous post, I plan to try and post weekly about our experience playing Pandemic Legacy Season Two. There will be many spoilers, and I honestly can’t identify them before each one, so reader beware! Now follow along on our very first game post-prologue!
Melody's First Day of Preschool
So this year is Melody’s third and final year of preschool. I remember first signing her up for preschool and crying after dropping her off for her first day. Last year was complete chaos because we had just moved, and it of course ended just as chaotically. She goes to school the morning of March 13, and we never went back except to pick up her belongings in May. This year we have high hopes on a really great year. There are some changes this year, but we are looking forward to getting back into a routine and getting Melody back to school to learn and socialize.
Shrimp Fried Rice
I was really skeptical about this all in one pot kind of air fryer meal. I mean you literally cook it all in the air fryer which seemed kind of crazy. But it went really well and I can’t wait to make it again!