There's a SIM Card in That Thar Crockpot!

Or: What the Heck Do You Do All Day?

The other day I was thinking of grabbing a notebook and reporting everything that went on in my day.  For no reason except for my own pondering.  Somehow that turned into a goal to record it all in a blog post when I heard someone mention something about "lazy SAHMs".  That's stay-at-home-moms.  Though, personally, I much prefer Household Manager and Domestic Entrepreneur.  And yes, that would be said tongue-in-cheek.

So I recorded nearly every moment of my day, but not the complete saga.  I mean, I think I forgot to say that we ate breakfast, or that I tweezed my eyebrows, or searched for missing paperwork, etc.  And I may or may not have popped back on the computer a few more times that what I've listed.  Whatever.  The following is extremely boring, but it could be worse.  You could have had a play-by-play of me shaving my legs.

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6:30 a.m. :  Wake up and see that the kids are already watching cartoons on Netflix while their dad makes himself breakfast.  Great.  Why do we not own a TV again? 

6:45 a.m. :  Go for run.  Fall twice before I get smart and trade off between running on the street and the boulevards.  Decide I REALLY don't like the Week 2.1 c25k download here.  Too many drug and violence references for my delicate sensibilities.  A little bit is okay.  But this is over my personal limit.  Disappointed because I really liked the Week 1.2 playlist.  Possibly will have to find another one.

7:15 a.m. :  Come home, shower, quick computer break.  Emme comes out and tells me she has changed Juliet's (cloth) diaper all by herself.  She is very proud.  I am very proud. 

7:20 a.m. :  A few minutes later JJ crawls over to me, I pick her up, notice that her butt is decidedly UN-fluffy for a cloth-diapered girl.  And that would be because her sister did change her diaper, yes.  However.  She forgot to put an actual diaper inside the new diaper cover.  Thankfully, a disaster of epic proportions was averted by my quick prefold-stuffing skills.  Skills.  Yeah, I've got 'em.  I'm cool like that.

7:45 a.m. :  That was exhausting.  So I take another quick computer break.  An online forum is discussing Feminism (hello NFP friends!) and before I know it my research spark is lit and I spend a little too much time digging into the subject.  Whoops.  Mental note to curb computer time for the rest of the day.

9:00 a.m.:  I make my bed, tidy the bathroom, get the kids ready and going on their chores, do my hair and in the process of all that, I notice that even my eyebrow hairs are turning white.  Wonderful!

10:15 a.m.:  Get the brilliant idea to precook a bunch of chicken breasts and ground turkey/beef and prechop a bunch of onions.  Am having a difficult time staying on top of meals lately, so thinking that doing this and throwing the stuff in the freezer will be helpful to me at approximately 5 p.m. every day this week.  Wonder why I never thought of that before?  (Hm, could it be because I always get these 'brilliant ideas' but never follow through longer than a couple weeks?)  So I start preparing all this food while lunch is cooking.  Decide that I am hopeful that I can convince myself to do this more often.   Decide to expect that I won't.

11:00 a.m. :  Listen to Hannah unfurl to me her Great Book Club plan.  I agree that this is a great plan, and yesterday we went to the library to pick up her book club kit for The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe.  Which she has read.  Multiple times.  And has been read to her.  Multiple times.  Why she picked that one is anyone's guess, but who am I to question her self-directed educational prowess?

11:30 a.m. :  We are all straightening up while dancing to some Kung Fu Fighting.  The dancing turns into actual Kung Fu fighting by everyone except me, so I shut off the music for the time being.

11:35 a.m. :  The library calls to tell me that we actually only have half the book club kit.  Sweet librarian emails me the discussion questions instead of having to go back and get them.  Which I wouldn't be able to do anyway because I had neglected to petition the use of our lone vehicle for the day. 

11:55 a.m. :  I realize that aforementioned book club is scheduled to meet at 2 p.m. today.  Except that I haven't spoken to any of the parents.  I decide to call and make sure they know that our daughters are planning to meet at our house today.  They knew.  It's all good.

12:00 p.m. :  Try to read a math book to Max that he has been begging me to read to him all morning.  I see that there is a page torn.  He tells me it's "Ju-ju's" fault.  I'm skeptical.  Read the math book to him anyway.  He is already correctly formulating mathematical sentences.  I will try to focus on this good thing a little while later.

12:15 p.m. :  Go down to do laundry.  Come upstairs and see that Max is clearing off the table all by himself.  Give him lots of love and praise.  Pat myself on the back for training such a helpful little three-year-old.  Will also try to focus on this good thing a little while later.

12:30 p.m. :  Check on my chicken in the crockpot.  See something blue floating in it.  Ew!  Dig out floating blue thing: an old (but still wanted) SIM card that had been lying on the table 20 minutes previous.  Now here is where I try to focus on those better sides of Max.  Except it doesn't work.  I yell.  A little.

12:55 p.m. :  I've been listening to the same playlist over and over today.  I put Juliet down for a nap while Train is playing.  She kicks in time to Hey Soul Sister while nursing.  Happy that I am finding her to be not only a fellow multitasker but also that she takes after me in the rhythm department (thank goodness!).  But I decide that we have heard this playlist a few too many times today.

1:05 p.m. :  Go down for another load of laundry.  Find Emme reading her cat books.  That kid has checked out every single book on cats/cat care/veterinarians/large cats/domestic cats/ASPCA guides/whathaveyou contained in our library.  Entertain a fleeting worry that I have no idea what we will do next week when there are literally no more cat books for her to read.  I guess she'll just start reading them all over again.

1:20 p.m. :  Trip up the stairs carrying clean laundry.  Realize that I have yet again neglected to vacuum the stairs.  I am always forgetting to do that.  Throw the laundry on my bed.  Try to tell myself I will get it put away before bed tonight, all the while realizing that laundry in the proper places is merely a pipe dream.

1:30 p.m. :  It is nearing time for the book club meeting and the kids are getting squirrely with excitement.  I think that I need to create a calming playlist for times like these.  I'll probably get to that eventually, but for the time being it is easier to let them watch a show while they wait.  To make myself feel better, I say that it has to be an educational documentary.

1:40 p.m. :  After ten minutes of listening to squabbling over Pets and Their Vets (Emme) vs. Secrets of King Tut (Hannah) vs. Go Diego Go! (we told him it was not an option, but he's persistent) I kick them all downstairs to their rooms.  Not literally.  Figuratively.

1:45 p.m. :  Found some old hoagie buns in the freezer from back when we ate nonwhole-grain breads.  Don't want to waste anything, so I chop it up into crouton sizes. 

2:04 p.m. :  It is book club time but no one is here yet.  I look around and see that the kitchen sink and one counter are piled with dishes, which looks kinda scuzzy.  But I also see that most things are picked up, the garbage is all out, and I have vacuumed and swept the floors, so I call it good and hope none of the guests notice.  Or if they do, hope they don't care.  Make the informed decision to hop on the computer for one more little break instead of doing the dishes.

2:15 p.m. :  Only Michelle came, and she doesn't care if my dishes are done.  Plus she knows that I'm not the dish-doer in the house, Conrad is.  Have a nice little chat while the older kids discuss their book club plans and the younger ones find creative ways to bug them.

3:45 p.m. :  Play Guess Who with Max.

4:00 p.m. :  Play checkers with Hannah.

4:30 p.m. :  Play Jenga with everyone.  This is quickly abandoned, in a way, for a Jenga block-and-domino train.  Man.  We worked so hard to get that all set up (it fell, many many times), only to have it complete the entire show within seconds.  Oh well.  Obviously we just need more dominoes!   The following video is sideways.  I can't get it to straighten!  Also, by this point in the day the floors are no longer swept nor vacuumed, but I swear I did it just three hours ago. 

The video is not working.  I'll have to try for it tomorrow :-(

5:30 p.m. :  In the intense game-playing mode I was in for so long, I forget about supper.  Quickly throw together a cranberry/balsamic salad.

5:45 p.m. :  We eat dinner.  Correction:  Conrad and I eat dinner.  The rest of them pick at everything and whine.  Juliet happily eats her baby food but demands three jars of the stuff.

6:30 p.m. :  I put JJ to bed and head off to run errands.  Leave the husband, who is watching a tiger documentary with the older three, with strict instructions on when to put the rest of them to bed.

6:45 p.m. :  ATM machine #1 is out of order.  

6:55 p.m. :  Drive to next ATM machine.  #2 is in working order, thank you very much.

7:00 p.m. :  Hy-Vee for staples we absolutely cannot live without for the next day.

7:25 p.m. :  Back to the library for the second time in two days to get research materials for hubby.  Drive all the way across town for this, only to (stupidly) remember that it is Friday and the library is closed.

7:45 p.m. :  Drive all the way back across town to Target to return a black slipcover I absolutely adored and wanted with all my heart but realized very quickly, post-purchase, could not actually afford.  Picked up a new memory card reader and printer ink in its stead.

8:30 p.m. :  Come home and Conrad is asleep on the couch.  The rest of them are watching Hello Kitty on Netflix.  It is past all of their bedtimes.  Grrr.

8:45 p.m. :  Am uber-exhausted.  Think about going to bed early, but get back on the computer.  See, this is becoming a problem I think.  I'm like a moth to a computer flame.  I let the kids fall asleep on living room floor.  Eh, it's Friday.

9:20 p.m. :  I remember this blog post and make an executive decision that it must, absolutely MUST, be posted today.  Because otherwise how would anyone know what I did today?  My readers wait with baited breath.

10:00 p.m. :  Realize that I forgot to put away groceries.  Quickly do just that, and feel relieved that they weren't left out too long.

10:15 p.m. :  But I find that the crockpotted chicken breasts (the ones cooked with the yummy SIM card) were left in the crockpot.  Which had been turned off.  Four hours previous.  Recall which road is paved with good intentions...  Then mutter to myself that I might as well just have let the SIM card cook with the rest of it.

10:57 p.m. :  I. AM. GOING. TO. BED.  Stieg Larsson is waiting for me, though I'll most likely fall asleep on him before finishing three pages.

Project 365: Day 31

Santa Claus gave this to me in my stocking.  The only planner I've used for more than three weeks without looking for something "better".  It's like organizing heaven every time I open it.  I am not one for electronic organizing; it's just not the same as the satisfaction of having something rattling around in your brain and physically writing it down.

Project 365: Day 30

My sweetener of choice.  Lower on the glycemic index than sugar or honey.  

Project 365: Day 18

The wall art above my piano.  Everyone always comments on it.  I didn't even realize that I wasn't composing very well; mainly it was desperation to get a photo on here so I don't skip another day!  It will be nice when the warm weather returns so I don't have to scrounge around the same couple rooms of the house to find something to shoot.

Project 365: Day 13

 Bye-Bye Christmas.  Bye-Bye Nativity.  Hello Ooooordinary Time.  So...ordinary..

We finally took down the tree and all the decorations.  I had to get one last image of the Advent/Christmas/Nativity/Whatever Tree because it was like a symbol this year.  Lots of growing pains, but we finally are on track to establishing our own family traditions.  

Now, I admire a gorgeously decorated genuine pine or fir tree as much as the next person, and if you are a person who can pull that off, well more power to ya!  I, however, am most comfortable with a well-used fake tree covered in a hodge-podge of yearly keepsake ornaments from my childhood, "handcrafted" ornaments by small children, and random bits and pieces of tinsel and clothing tags sprinkled at will for best effect.  Topped off by an nonworking light-up angel bought for 99 cents at Goodwill.  And one must not forget the Christmas Nail hidden far beneath the branches.

Project 365: Day 4

 

Braided Agave and Honey Oat Bread.  I am dying to adjust the white balance on this photo, but the bread still looks yummy...I think I want more...

Trying Something New

Me? Trying something new? I know, unbelievable, right? I'm just dripping with sarcasm here, in case you are reading this and don't really know me. It's so big, so revolutionary, I just had to share. Ready? Here it is...

I'm planning ahead!

Woo-hoo! That's big, ain't it?

Planning ahead meal-wise, that is. Not just planning out meals for the week--that's nothing new--but actually cooking them ahead as well. See, we have this problem of eating out WAY too much in our family. Unhealthy, of course, but even bigger of a problem is that it is very quickly d-r-a-i-n-i-n-g away our (well, hubby's) hard-earned money. The number of times eating out last week=7. It may be normal for some people, but for us that is just actually unacceptable.

The draw for me is the convenience, pure and simple. You eat somewhere else, that means someone else has to take the time to cook and the time to clean up. You arrive, eat, and leave, and you don't even make a dent in your clean kitchen. It's very attractive, I must say. However, there's the $$$ thing, as I mentioned earlier. Eating out is not so convenient when it comes to balancing the checkbook...

So anyway, after I came to this realization that things needed to change, I figured there was only one of two things I could do: either buy more convenience-type foods at the grocery store or do something like OAMC. The latter was out right away; I don't like a lot of re-cooked food that's sat in a freezer for a month, and we don't have a lot of room with our 1.5 freezers after harvesting from the garden. As for the grocery convenience food, at times it is more expensive than Burger King and more often than not, just as bad for you--or worse.

But then as I was making my meal list for the week, I had a thought. What if I just took one morning a week and pre-prepared (is that a word? it is now...) what I could for the next week's menu? Then everything wouldn't have to come out of the freezer, it would still be mostly-from-scratch meals, and it would be convenient at the same time. Does everyone already do this? Is this one of those things that everyone else just knows but it takes a kick in the head for me to figure out? Don't answer that.

So here's what the oldest three and I did this morning:

-precooked two meals' worth of chicken

-browned ground beef for spaghetti

-prepared the spaghetti sauce

-made 16 waffles

-made one loaf of blueberry bread

-crockpotted (another new word for the day) two meals' worth of pork

-made 15 individual scrambled egg circles for breakfast sandwiches

-cut up an impressive amount of lettuce

So! I'm excited to see how this experiment works this week. And just to set the record straight, yes, I love writing about the mundane happenings of everyday life. Isn't everyone as excited about new tactics for the running of a household as I am? Don't answer that.

Asian Sprout Salad

A while back I promised to post some recipes. Well, I kept thinking that it needed to wait until I could remember to photograph the end products, but you know what I've discovered? This is impossible. I have four kids home all day long, every day. By the time I get around to making supper/dinner/whateveryoucallit, there is no time or organization to take pictures.

Plus, there's really bad lighting in my house after 1 p.m. (this is the bane of my existence, quite honestly).

I just want to share some yummy things, most of which are really easy. This one's the absolute easiest of all.

Asian Sprout Salad

Lettuce (my preference for this salad is a butter and red leaf mix)

Chicken breast(s), cut up

Garlic

Ginger

Red pepper

Soy sauce

Hoisin or teriyaki sauce

Sprouts (I like broccoli sprouts best)

Grated carrots

Chow mein noodles

Marinate the chicken in the garlic, ginger, pepper, and sauces, then stir-fry. Or just stir-fry it all together. Mix the lettuce, sprouts, carrots, and noodles together. Top with the chicken. Sometimes I go ahead and toss the whole thing with some light asian dressing, but the husband does not prefer this.

Notice may be taken that I have no ingredient amounts listed. That's because I never use the same amount twice; I just throw in what looks right or what I have. Personal preference will dictate the amounts you use.

See? Easy. Not to mention super-cheap. I think next I'll share our other favorite salad, taco salad!

Boring Bulleted Updates

• Happily whittling away the time in my third trimester. Ever since I stopped feeling deathly ill about 10 weeks ago, it's gone by really fast, thank goodness! (But still, February really can't come fast enough.)
  
• Week 3 of Advent is coming up this week. Last year's "Advent Tree" and decorating according to the liturgical calendar worked out so well that we've decided to make it a family tradition. I have to tell you, it also takes a lot of stress out of trying to get all the Christmas decorating done in one day.
• Babysitting, babysitting, babysitting. I actually don't mind watching other people's kids, which is good because I've been doing it a lot lately. But I also depend a lot on other people to help me with my own brood, and thankfully I have a wonderful support system for this. So naturally it makes me happy to be part of a support system for others!
• Taking lots of pictures with my now-outgrown-to-me camera and just waiting on Christmas so I can hopefully finally get an actual lens for my new camera. It's hard to take pictures on a camera with no lens. Any rich people reading this who would like to send me an anonymous Christmas gift feel free to take a look at my #1 choice here.
  
• My kids have decided to switch bedrooms. Apparently a 6 y.o. girl and 2 y.o. boy rooming together and an 8 y.o. girl and a yet-to-be-born (and even then probably not occupying for at least another four months) baby girl rooming together work better than the older girls together and the younger two together. Can you guess who gets the sweetest deal here? Oh well, their choice!
• I've been cooking experimentally a lot lately. And feeling the urge to share some made-up recipes in which I won't ever measure anything and may or may not remember all the ingredients. That's helpful, right? Look for some of these delicious yet utterly nonhelpful recipes in the coming weeks.
  

Feed Me, Seymore!

So the other night we ordered a Jumbo pizza from Godfather's. And I mean, this pizza is so huge that our entire family of five could only eat half the pizza for supper that night (well, we did have potato wedges to go with it). No problem, right, I figured the outside-the-home worker could take a couple pieces to work for lunch the next day and the kids and I could have the rest for lunch at home.

Next day, 12:30 p.m., it is much later than we usually eat lunch because school had gone a bit long. The children were about to destroy each other out of hunger and I'm about to pass out from not eating in five hours. It would be so very simple to just throw the pizza in the microwave, plop a bag of baby carrots on the table, and immediately satiate myself and the beasts.

Except that when I ran upstairs and opened the refrigerator...THERE WAS NO PIZZA. So I called dear husband--surely this was a mistake, he would never take all the pizza to work leaving the rest of his family to waste away in the middle of the day, right? Well, his phone went straight to voicemail and I rapidly deduced that this was indeed what had happened. So I did what any self-respecting pregnant woman would do in this situation--I sent the following text message:

JERK!!!! You took all my pizza DAMMIT!!!!! (sad face emoticon followed by mad face emoticon followed by red-faced horned emoticon followed by six more sad emoticons followed by three green-faced puking emoticons)

Then I sat down and cried. Cried, for the loss of an easy lunch preparation. Cried, because of high-pitched shrieking and wailing of the hungry clamor of the beasts. Cried, for the health and safety of my dear husband..because who knew just what kind of damage I might inflict on him when he returned home that night.

So anyway, I figured that message would convey the gist of my feelings, and I expected a response full of remorse and shame. Except shortly thereafter I received this on my phone:

Ha ha! That was hilarious! I'm totally saving this one for posterity. (grinning face emoticon)

Later I found out a bunch of coworkers also thought this was hilarious. Why do people think a pregnant, hungry, raving lunatic is so funny, I ask you?

Did I mention I'm having food issues lately?

This Relaxed Homeschooler

Originally published at Homeschoolin' Mamas
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is doing a 180.

We have taken the plunge and signed the girls up with Minnesota Virtual Academy (a K12 program). I think I will miss our relaxed homeschooling days, but it is exciting to move on to something new, as well.

Why the change, you may ask?

Well. As much as what we have done for the past two years has really worked for us in these early grades, the times they are a-changin'. Firstborn Daughter is now moving on to third grade, and she really needs something more rigorous and organized and scheduled and planned and detailed and...you get what I'm saying? I just don't have the time or energy to put into making her education rigorous, organized, scheduled, planned, and detailed on my own. In order to continue homeschooling now that she is older, there are two of school age at home now, Max will be right behind them shortly, pregnant mama is sick and crabby and miserable, there is still a house to keep clean, meals to be made, fun to be had...(deep breath)...we need to turn to some outside direction.

And I am very excited about this outside direction! The best thing about this program is that it is all laid out for us. All books, materials for experiments, a computer, everything, is mailed right to our doorstep and modem with complete instructions, for free! I'm sure there will end up being downsides to this; I'm wondering how it's going to be having to report every thing they do and grade things, etc. I'm also wondering how having to learn within a certain time frame of the year is going to work for us. I think it's a challenge we are up for, however.

I just love learning, growing, and changing as a family. This has been a real pleasant surprise of adult life for me.

Resolved:

I don't usually do New Year's Resolutions. I think I stopped after the year I decided that my resolution would be to stop smoking. I don't smoke. I just figured that if I resolved to stop smoking, by the time the year was over I could honestly say that I had kept my resolution for an entire year! Well, the year ended and I kept my resolution, but the next year I had a hard time choosing another resolution that I knew I would keep. Stop cheating on my husband? No more picking my nose? Make sure to shoplift every other Saturday? Nothing sounded right, and frankly I think it might have felt a little weird to have to utter any of them as an answer when the inevitable question of NY's resolutions came up. So I stopped.

I think that was about five years ago, but I think I have finally decided that I'm okay with having an actual resolution for 2009.

Are you ready for it?

Here it is:

I, Kelly, resolve that I will try to keep my living room clean/cleared every night before bed and before leaving my house.

Yes, I added the words try to because I am not perfect and I admit it. Anyway, it seems like if I can do that, then it makes a big difference in my attitude and mood. I have finally finished getting this room all situated after the move-in/painting/Advent-Christmas tree removal/etc., so I would like to actually get to enjoy it now.

Do you have any resolutions for 2009?

Go visit The Lazy Organizer for more Talk About Tuesday!

Letting Go

Have you ever wondered why "a weight lifted off my shoulders" is worded the way it is? Okay, quite honestly I never really have wondered that, but in a recent a-ha! moment, I've found that the answer lies in letting go. Lifting off and letting go are synonymous, and the reason people speak of having a weight lifted is because letting go is such freedom!

Recently I've discovered that the only way we can grow is to let go. For me, I've really struggled with learning how to become an adult. Ironically, for all of my childhood I was so much more grown up than other children...only to find that when I did grow up, I felt like a child. The only way I can grow is to let go. Let go of unnecessary things. Of unnecessary feelings. Of unnecessary attitudes and ideas. I let one thing go, I grow up a little more.

Here is a little snippet of some things I've let go of, and how I've subsequently grown as a person:

Children's clothing choices. Is it worth huge tantrums just to have my children wear what I consider matching clothing? I'm not giving in to those tantrums, I just wonder does it really matter? Am I hung up on what they wear because of them...or because of how it reflects on me? Children need some choices, and I think I've come to the conclusion that, with the exception of dirty or inappropriate (weather or otherwise) outfits, they really should get full reign, since it appears to be so incredibly important to them. If people are going to think less of me because my 7-year-old fashionista expresses herself by wearing four shirts and a mismatched skirt to the grocery store, well, I guess I'll just deal with that myself.

That one's let go of, poof! Children are ecstatic, Mom has done a bit of growing up, and all are less stressed.

Having a lot of time to myself. Although I honestly never gave it a conscious thought, I guess I just must have unknowingly expected that when I was an adult and a wife and a mom I would have just as much time to do things for myself as I always had. But, on the contrary, I have internally fought myself for eight years to have "me" time whenever I want it. I'm not totally there yet, but I'm in the beginnings of realizing that although having "me" time is necessary and wonderful and all, it has no value unless I have given of myself first. I need to focus on my responsibilities and my family's needs, and then when I have time to myself it means so much more and is so much more enjoyable!

There's another one let go, poof! More necessary things get done, more fun ensues.

Spontaneity. (Not to be confused with flexibility, of course.) Being too spontaneous, not having a plan, not having direction is just bad bad bad. For me. If I let go of my leanings toward just being...whatever...then it forces me to be focused, be alert, be structured. And structure, really, is freedom in and of itself. Planning ahead takes more effort than I usually want to exert, but if I let go of that feeling and get down to brass tacks, I am free to do more.

And another one bites the dust, poof! No more chaos resulting from TMSS-- Too Much Spontaneity Syndrome.

The desire to have nice things. I never really expected to have nice things, but I still have my wants and desires and wishes for nice things. I have had to tell myself, Listen lady, if you want to continue with the lifestyle you have chosen, then it ain't gonna happen! This is more about weighing priorities and deciding what is worth more to me. Being home with my kids, homeschooling, having my husband only work one job, and following Dave are worth more to me than any nice house, cars, clothes, or just, things.

Problem solved and let go, poof! Knowing priorities and keeping them in mind are also quite freeing.

Packratism. Letting go of this was a HUGE step for me! Clutter destroys brain cells, I'm sure of it, but I never realized that saving everything as if there were another Great Depression headed our way (um...wait...that was before 2008...) was creating giant amounts of clutter and killing off my poor brain cells one by one, not to mention making me crazy and anxious and depressed all at once. I'm a convert now to the Church of Tossmas, and it feels sooo good!

And there goes the biggest one to let go of, poof! My home is now like the inner tube of an earthworm, in and out, in and out, in and out. Ew. Sorry.

See how grown up I can be?

Privileges

Apology in advance for the poor quality photos. We really don't have the greatest lighting in our kitchen at 10 p.m.

If you exhibit any of these behaviors...




You may choose one of these privileges from the envelope...




And put it this jar.





Unsavory behaviors or attitudes will result in a privilege being ejected from the jar.
Wailing and gnashing of teeth to then commence.

8 Meal Ideas For Megan R.

Okay, I've been meaning to gather a list of some good meals for some time, and now (tired and pregnant) Megan needs some good meal ideas, so here's a whole blog post just for her! *wink*

These are mostly really simple easy-peasy recipes and all are fairly cheap. Some I have found elsewhere, others are just ones I've made up. Feel free to post some of your favorite meal ideas in the comment section.


1. First is Megan K.'s skillet baked ziti/penne. This one is more labor-intesive (but not much) than the following recipes, but I love this. It deserves a spot at the top. It's my favorite meal ev-ah(!) now. It's totally amazing just following the recipe, but I've tweaked it a bit to fit in with my own family's tastes:

-I like to make this with tri-color rotini, and I think it holds the sauce better.
-Once I just had Hunt's spaghetti sauce on hand and no crushed tomatoes, and that is our preferred base now.
-I put more mozzarella on top. You can never go wrong with more mozzarella!


2.. Easy, easy, easy quiche. I don't put the broccoli in.


3. Put a pork roast in the crockpot until it falls apart, mix in BBQ sauce, and serve on buns. How can you even get any easier than that???


4. Put a beef roast in the crockpot until it falls apart, mix in fajita or taco seasoning, and serve on tortillas with the taco fixings your family prefers. I can't ever go back to ground beef tacos after I started making it this way.


5. So, you put some chicken breasts in the crockpot...noticing a theme here?... When you're almost ready to eat you make some boxed stuffing, following the box instructions except replacing 3/4 of the water with white wine. Pour the stuffing on top of the chicken breasts, put some swiss cheese on top of that, pour a bit more white wine on top and cook until melted.


6. Cook some chicken breasts however you wish. For some reason I usually don't use the crockpot for this one. Hmmm, strange... Anyhoo, in a small saucepan mix up salsa with a good amount of brown sugar. Pour sauce on chicken breasts. Make some instant rice on the side. On each individual plate pour any extra sauce on top of rice.


7. Brown a pound of ground beef. (Feeling poetic today, apparently...) Mix in a couple cans of tomato soup, a bit of salsa, and a bit of cheese (usually I use Velveeta or cojack here). Once it has heated through, cut up four flour (and alliterative?) tortillas and mix the pieces in. Sprinkle shredded cojack, jack, or cheddar cheese on top, cover, and cook on low-med until melted.


8. Drive here. I promise you a great meal.

It's My Party...

...and I'll eat cake if I want to!





On our safari we had a tiger cake...


...a monkey cake...


...an elephant cake...and a little giraffe-style M cupcake.


It was a hot day in the savanna, but a good time was had by all.

The Stressless Wonder

Would be me. I know, I know, me, no stress? I'd just like to take this moment to publicly announce that I got through a weekend of company and a whole child's birthday party* yesterday without stressing myself out. So cool.

This comes on the heels of making a conscious decision that this one time, for this one event (the boy's first birthday party), I would try to catch myself and not worry about a thing. An experiment of sorts. Here's the rundown:

Guests showing up earlier than I had planned the day before -- "I will not stress."

Needing to still do a lot of shopping the same day -- "I will not stress."

Hubby works all afternoon/evening leaving me to care for the kids, party preparations, and guests by myself -- "I will not stress."

Staying up baking and decorating cakes 'til the wee hours -- "I will not stress."

Leaving the baking/decorating giant mess to go on for the whole day -- "I will not stress."

Letting all creation into my home in the state of aforementioned mess -- "I will not stress."

Forgetting to put up most of the decorations -- "I will not stress."

Forgetting the candle for the birthday boy's (one and only first birthday) cupcake -- "I will not stress."

Having to clean everything up the next day -- "I will not stress."


And I didn't. And the oddest thing happened. Everything that would have been left undone in my usual stressed-out state was still left undone, and everything that would have been accomplished in my usual stressed-out state was still accomplished. And I tell you, I enjoyed myself immensely more than I usually do. But the kicker is that I feel so further ahead of the game today than I think I would usually feel.

This cognitive and behavioral therapy experiment just might have worked.


*Pictures forthcoming.

Feelings, Nothing More Than Feelings

Don't you just love that feeling? I mean, the feeling of walking barefoot on carpet in your bedroom for the first time in a long time because your entire floor was cluttered up with stuff for two and a half weeks and you couldn't even see--much less feel--the floor? You know, that feeling. Yeah, that. Don't you just love it?

Because Boredom is Not Allowed

This is our summer list. I've seen examples of this all over blogland, so I'm not sure exactly whom to give credit, so I'll credit it to...myself :-)

The girls and I had a brainstorming session the other day of what all we would like to have accomplished this summer, and this is the result.

I have left a little room at the bottom to add more if we need to, and I gave each of the girls a little box to draw their own summer scene because they really wanted to help, but my OCD side wanted a clean poster. By giving them their own space, they feel like they are helping, and all the random artwork is contained in two neat little rectangles complete with captions.

I hope to have a picture at the end of summer with all items checked off!

10 Reasons Why: Living in a Small Space...

...is OKAY, and even GOOD:

1. Less to clean. This would be stating the obvious.

2. We can pretty much see and hear the kids from anywhere. No baby monitors needed here.

3. We are forced to keep fewer material goods.

4. We can't get away from each other. You'd think this might be bad, but it forces a family to actually deal with each other instead of hiding away.

5. On a similar note, it creates more bonding opportunities. Everyone doesn't just go do their own thing in a separate space. We play games together in the same room, read together in the same room, and even when we are doing our own things, we're together doing them.

6. We have a lot of on-call help in the form of a gardener, snow-remover, pool-cleaner, lawn caretaker, electrician, plumber, and other prompt on-site maintenance...and all for FREE with a quick telephone call. This is specific to apartment dwellers, and not necessarily just small spaces, but it's both for us.

7. It is good for children to share bedrooms. In my not-so-humble opinion, anyway. I have Thing #1 reading over my shoulder at the moment declaring, "I don't LIKE to share a room. I want my OWN room!" See? It drives home the point for them that you can't always get what you want. Cue Rolling Stones music.

8. Decluttering is a must, and is much easier. Smaller spaces, simpler life.

9. Along with #3 and #8, having fewer material possessions and going through them more often is good because it forces us to determine what is truly valuable and meaningful and forget the rest.

10. And one of the biggest things is that it costs less. More money saved for our bigger goals in life.