I try to post this by Monday each week.  Oh well, better late than never.  

Here is our menu from last week since I will probably never be organized enough to plan a week ahead.  I hope you find some inspiration and I would love to know what you are having for dinner.  (I need some inspiration too.)  Feel free to share your menu ideas or links to your favorite recipes in the comments.  

Monday:  Split pea and ham soup, Bread machine buttery rolls
Tuesday:  Leftover soup and grilled cheese sandwiches
Wednesday:  Pork roast, homemade mashed potatoes, peas
Thursday:  Mashed potato soup with lots of bacon
Friday:  Hamburgers, homemade onion rings, sliced tomatoes
Saturday:  Italian beef, homemade potato salad, sliced tomatoes
Sunday:  Leftovers

Tonight I am thankful that I got to shop at the grocery store with only one child.  There is a huge difference between shopping with three children and shopping with one child.  My afternoon had been a little crazy with two active little boys who just weren't getting along.  I needed a break and we really needed some things from the store, but I wasn't about to take the boys with me.  

The older boys did everything they could this afternoon to irritate each other.  Mostly our three year old enjoys irritating our five year old, who then retaliates and then we have a wrestling match.  They were like this all afternoon until they saw a dead bird outside the picture window and turned into little zoologists.  They couldn't wait to go outside and see this bird.  I was thrilled to send them outside, but told them not to touch the bird.  I hope they listened.  Oh well, Daddy gave them baths tonight so they're clean now.  

Anyway, when the hubby came home around 5:30 I took our youngest and went to the store by myself.  It's so much better this way.  I can actually concentrate on what I am doing and it's so much easier to use coupons (I use a lot of coupons).  The baby enjoyed seeing everything for most of the shopping trip so it was actually kind of enjoyable.  When I have all three boys with me or even two it's usually stressful.  Tonight the baby did great until we got to the checkout and had to wait in line forever.  He was desperately trying to climb out of his special baby seat cover until I broke open the new package of oreos.  Two oreo cookies later we were done and on our way home.  

If you would like to participate in 30 Days of Giving thanks, you can link up your posts at Blessed Beyond Words.  

I have made other onion ring recipes before, but I really like this recipe because these were easier to make and held their crunch better.  I used both panko crumbs and bread crumbs and have to recommend panko crumbs in this recipe.  Both are good, but the panko crumbs give a nice texture and crunch that is a step above regular bread crumbs.  My five year old who always proclaims that he does not like onions loved these.  We had to limit him so that he would eat the rest of his dinner.  These are truly great onion rings.  For a special treat, top a hamburger with some BBQ sauce and then some onion rings.  Delicious!

Directions

1. Heat the oil in a deep-fryer to 365 degrees F (185 degrees C).
2. Separate the onion slices into rings, and set aside. In a small bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder and salt.
3. Dip the onion slices into the flour mixture until they are all coated; set aside. 
4. Whisk the egg and milk into the flour mixture using a fork. Dip the floured rings into the batter to coat, then place on a wire rack to drain until the batter stops dripping. The wire rack may be placed over a sheet of aluminum foil for easier clean up. 
5. Spread the panko bread crumbs out on a plate or shallow dish. Place rings one at a time into the crumbs, and scoop the crumbs up over the ring to coat. Give it a hard tap as you remove it from the crumbs. The coating should cling very well. Repeat with remaining rings.
6. Deep fry the rings a few at a time for 2 to 3 minutes, or until golden brown. Remove to paper towels to drain. Season with seasoned salt, and serve.

Slightly adapted from Allrecipes.com.

Tonight I am thankful that my husband did the dishes and cleaned up the kitchen after dinner.  I didn't even ask, he just did it and there were a lot of dishes.  I am also thankful for our bountiful table.  The Lord provides.  I made a big turkey breast, sweet potato casserole, rolls, and stuffing.  It was delicious and the best part was not having to clean up afterwards.  

If you would like to participate in 30 Days of Giving thanks, you can link up your posts at Blessed Beyond Words.  

Tonight I am thankful for a productive day.  I am listening to an audio book about adultescents (22-35) year olds who haven't quite grown up and are still heavily dependent on their parents.  One of the common characteristics of this group is their lack of cleanliness.  They tend to leave messes everywhere in their apartments, homes, and even their parents homes (many of them live with their parents).  I heard this chapter of the book this morning as I was driving my boys to preschool and was inspired to clean up my house.  

I started with the 1st floor bathroom and cleaned it top to bottom.  This is all I got done in the morning and then I had to pick up the boys from preschool.  My husband even got into the act and scrubbed the much neglected shower.  After I returned with the boys we had lunch and then returned to our cleaning mission.  I cleaned the kitchen a couple of times today and did a couple of loads of laundry, but we do that everyday.  

I decided we would tackle the upstairs.  The boys room was so bad we could hardly walk through it.  Toys and books everywhere.  I spent a long time helping the boys put their stuff away.  It takes them forever, but they are learning to pick up after themselves.  I have been really bad about putting away my clean clothes and the boys clean clothes.  There was a laundry basket full and piles all over my room.  I spent all afternoon working up stairs and got most of the boys and my clothes put away.  I still have to put the babys clothes away, but I have to rotate sizes first.  It was an enjoyable day as it feels good to get things done and the boys room is spotless.  I still have some work to do in our room, but it has come a long way.  

My husband cleaned out the garage then fixed the phone line upstairs which had been damaged and even hid the cord under the floor.  

It was a busy and productive day.  We need to have cleaning days more often.  Luckily we had a fridge full of leftovers so we didn't have to do any cooking tonight.

I hope you had a great day too.  What are you thankful for today?

Tonight I am thankful for those who have sacrificed so much to protect our freedom.  I am thankful to our Veterans, our HEROS, who put country first and risked their lives while sacrificing valuable time with their families, many times missing the birth of a child, anniversarys, graduations, the most important moments in life.  Thank you to the men and women who have served our country.  God bless you.  Let Freedom Ring!

Here is the last verse of  
My Country 'Tis of Thee
by Samuel Francis Smith

Our father’s God to, Thee, 
Author of liberty, 
To Thee we sing. 
Long may our land be bright 
With freedom’s holy light; 
Protect us by Thy might, 
Great God, our King!

Tonight I am thankful for beautiful warm sunny days.  We had the most wonderful day today with a high of 71 degrees.  I really don't like cold weather and cherished our time spent outdoors today in the warmth and sunshine.  

I baked cinnamon rolls this morning and we had way more than we could eat so the boys and I got out the big wheel and the radio flyer wagon and delivered cinnamon rolls to some of our neighbors.  It was so nice out that we decided to take a ride/walk through the neighborhood.  We met some new neighbors and ended up spending about an hour on our walk visiting with friends and meeting new people.  

Then we came home and grilled hot dogs for lunch and ate outside.  It was so nice to dine outside.  I think it had been a month or longer since we had eaten outdoors.  

If you would like to participate in 30 Days of Giving thanks, you can link up your posts at Blessed Beyond Words.  

Tonight I am thankful for my sweet 5 year old little boy.  He says the funniest things that I will treasure forever.  My husband is a graduate student at the University.  We often mention that Daddy has to go to school or Daddy is at school, etc.  My sweet little boy always refers to Daddy's school as Daddy's preschool.  Tonight our little guy was so excited to ride over to "Daddy's preschool" to get something from his office.  He said with much excitement, "I haven't been to Daddy's preschool in forever".

I took this picture on his first day of preschool this year.

Tonight I am thankful for the indoor playground at a local church.  We are so blessed to have an amazing indoor playground at one of the churches in town.  This playground is huge and is encircled by a walking/jogging track.  It can get pretty cold here in the midwest and the boys can get really stir crazy.  They love to go to the indoor playground.  

Today, I suprised them by packing our lunches and taking them to the playground after I picked them up from preschool.  They were so excited and had an amazing time.  After we ate lunch in the table area, the older boys played and the baby and I hit the track with the jogging stroller.  I always have to stop a few times to redirect one of my children on the playground, but I am able to get in some exercise and everyone has a great time.  We are all thankful for the indoor playground and the church and its members who have blessed our community so much.  

Tonight I am thankful that my oldest son had a major breakthrough at preschool today.  I won't go in to details so as not to embarass him, but we were all very excited.  

I am also thankful that the boys finally went to sleep tonight.  It was around 9:30 before we had them all down.  It was a long day, but they are sleeping soundly now.  The hubby and I then relaxed with an 80's classic "Big Trouble in Little China".