i've been having all sorts of deep thoughts lately. i wouldn't call them epiphanies, but for someone who tends toward selfishness (me ;)), they're pretty big.
an example...
after dealing with cade's rotten attitude all day, after cooking and serving and cleaning up a homemade dinner, after bathing all the kids and having at least 2 loads of laundry to look forward to after the kids' bedtime, i was a little touchy. rob knew i was grouchy but pointed out that he had at least read a book to the kids. (wasn't that so thoughtful of him??? i do all the legwork and he gets the cuddles? yeah, i thought so too.)
i started a load of laundry, still angry, then went up to the sofa to read & listen to my ipod. i needed some down time while i stewed in my anger.
after about 5 minutes of not being able to focus on the book b/c of my anger, i realized how thankful i should be that i have all of this work to do. after that little thought popped in my head, my balloon of anger also popped...thankful that my kids are healthy and home in their comfortable warm beds....thankful that my husband was home and ready to read them a book and kiss them goodnight...thankful that we have a working washer and dryer in our basement so that i can sit around and read a book...thankful for this body that can carry loads of laundry up and down the stairs.
my anger disappeared and i enjoyed the rest of the evening with my book. i let rob suffer a little longer however. i apologized for my behavior at bedtime though ;)
usually there are so many times during the day when i think about all that i HAVE to get done, and no one to help me do them. i begin to get resentful, it seems that all my time goes toward chores or encouraging potty time or reminding reminding reminding the kids to finish their chores or pick up their toys. with that teeny thought last night still in my head this morning, i'm going to try to remember that it is with a thankful heart i get to cook a healthy meal for my family, i get to encourage independence in my two year old, i get to teach my children about picking up after themselves and contributing as a member of the family. just one little thought is all it took.
what are you thankful for?
3.25.2009
3.23.2009
dinner. it's what's for, uh...dinner.
and it's monday again.
how do weekends go so fast? they go even faster when it's warm & sunny outside. rainy saturdays last FOREVER, it seems.
this weekend i started something that before i had always laughed at, secretly made fun of. when i realized that i could start saving money doing it, i decided to give it a shot.
i'm meal planning!!!
hm, not as exciting as training for a marathon or digging a garden plot but certainly a big change for us.
i'm only planning our suppers for now. i could go crazy and plan lunches, but during the week there's just 2 kids home so i'll just jump in and see where it takes us. before trying this grand experiment, i'd just throw some oven-ready creation in the oven, add a fruit or vegetable and call it dinner. truthfully, that still resembles my meal planning, only now it's on the fridge for everyone to complain about.
i shouldn't say everyone is complaining, just my 4 year old. he's been the main deterrent to meal planning in the past. the fact that he a) hates meat, b) hates most vegetables and c) hates most sauces should let you know why i've put this off for so long. i've realized that if he's going to be a kindergartener in a public school next year, i should start putting new foods under his nose. who knows what those lunch ladies will try to feed him!
so far, not so good.
last night was meatloaf muffins, using this recipe. pretty much just turkey meatloaf (with cheese mixed in, to tempt him...what 4 year old can resist melted cheese???), put into well-sprayed muffin tins, with a spiral of ketchup on top. reese and rob LOVED them, both will be eating them for lunch today as well. i thought they were pretty good too, but i restrained myself with just two. elisha ate about 1/2 of hers, which is normal. cade, however, had to add drama to the meal. crying, screaming, crouching into the fetal position on his chair WHILE crying AND screaming...but eventually he at least took one bite of the meatloaf, and one bite of the mashed potatoes i had fixed on the side. his dinner was: 1/2 an apple (no skin), 1/2 slice of homemade bread (with butter), one bite of meatloaf, one bite of mashed potatoes, and one mini banana chocolate chip muffin. the muffin was the deal maker, obviously. cade will do anything for those yummy things.
anyway, tonight is spaghetti and breadsticks, with broccoli and/or cantelope. cade's meal will be: buttered spaghetti noodles (remember he hates sauces), cantelope, and as many breadsticks as i'll let him have.
i'm actually looking forward to dinners this week. it's almost like since it's on paper, it's there to back me up when cade starts whining about what's being served. i did work in some fun dinners too, it's not all meatloaf and crockpot dishes. wednesday we're having chocolate chip flax pancakes. you KNOW no one will be late for that dinner!
how do weekends go so fast? they go even faster when it's warm & sunny outside. rainy saturdays last FOREVER, it seems.
this weekend i started something that before i had always laughed at, secretly made fun of. when i realized that i could start saving money doing it, i decided to give it a shot.
i'm meal planning!!!
hm, not as exciting as training for a marathon or digging a garden plot but certainly a big change for us.
i'm only planning our suppers for now. i could go crazy and plan lunches, but during the week there's just 2 kids home so i'll just jump in and see where it takes us. before trying this grand experiment, i'd just throw some oven-ready creation in the oven, add a fruit or vegetable and call it dinner. truthfully, that still resembles my meal planning, only now it's on the fridge for everyone to complain about.
i shouldn't say everyone is complaining, just my 4 year old. he's been the main deterrent to meal planning in the past. the fact that he a) hates meat, b) hates most vegetables and c) hates most sauces should let you know why i've put this off for so long. i've realized that if he's going to be a kindergartener in a public school next year, i should start putting new foods under his nose. who knows what those lunch ladies will try to feed him!
so far, not so good.
last night was meatloaf muffins, using this recipe. pretty much just turkey meatloaf (with cheese mixed in, to tempt him...what 4 year old can resist melted cheese???), put into well-sprayed muffin tins, with a spiral of ketchup on top. reese and rob LOVED them, both will be eating them for lunch today as well. i thought they were pretty good too, but i restrained myself with just two. elisha ate about 1/2 of hers, which is normal. cade, however, had to add drama to the meal. crying, screaming, crouching into the fetal position on his chair WHILE crying AND screaming...but eventually he at least took one bite of the meatloaf, and one bite of the mashed potatoes i had fixed on the side. his dinner was: 1/2 an apple (no skin), 1/2 slice of homemade bread (with butter), one bite of meatloaf, one bite of mashed potatoes, and one mini banana chocolate chip muffin. the muffin was the deal maker, obviously. cade will do anything for those yummy things.
anyway, tonight is spaghetti and breadsticks, with broccoli and/or cantelope. cade's meal will be: buttered spaghetti noodles (remember he hates sauces), cantelope, and as many breadsticks as i'll let him have.
i'm actually looking forward to dinners this week. it's almost like since it's on paper, it's there to back me up when cade starts whining about what's being served. i did work in some fun dinners too, it's not all meatloaf and crockpot dishes. wednesday we're having chocolate chip flax pancakes. you KNOW no one will be late for that dinner!
Labels:
cade's a jerk,
homemade bread,
meal planning
3.18.2009
spring is almost here
and where the heck have i been?!?!? geez.
can you believe that i had to have my blog password reset? i could not remember what it was for the life of me. now i doubt i'll really write in here much more than usual, but at least i can comment on other people's blogs. yay!
it's been a long winter and spring is taking it's own sweet time finally getting here. the crocus & daffodils are blooming but the last 5 days have been cloudy and about 45 degrees. i guess cold days like that make you even more thankful for those blooming bulbs.
the kids are great. our youngest is probably officially pottytrained. she's wearing underwear all day, keeping diapers dry almost every night, and running herself to the potty when she needs to. so now i have almost a full package of pullups leftover. and yes, i'm kind of irritated, those things are $15 a pack and of course i had to rip open the package so she could have the ones with the princesses on the tummy instead of the ones from target with the goofy little girls on them. our neighbor has volunteered to take them off my hands, her 3 year old SON is still in diapers.
rob is traveling more these days. lucky for him he gets to be in washington state for 3/4 of the kids' spring break. he gets back on april 10, the kids go back to school on april 14. and with the jet lag he'll go through, i'm sure he'll be pretty much worthless for 2 of those days. he is only gone for 2 weeks, as opposed to 6+ months, so i'll pipe down on the complaining...but i really think spring break is going to be anything but a break for me :/ it's 3 weeks away anyway, so here i am wasting so much energy dreading it when it's not even til next MONTH. that makes it sound even farther away.
i'll make a better effort this spring to bore you all to death with more frequent posts. sounds like a fun goal for me, for sure!
can you believe that i had to have my blog password reset? i could not remember what it was for the life of me. now i doubt i'll really write in here much more than usual, but at least i can comment on other people's blogs. yay!
it's been a long winter and spring is taking it's own sweet time finally getting here. the crocus & daffodils are blooming but the last 5 days have been cloudy and about 45 degrees. i guess cold days like that make you even more thankful for those blooming bulbs.
the kids are great. our youngest is probably officially pottytrained. she's wearing underwear all day, keeping diapers dry almost every night, and running herself to the potty when she needs to. so now i have almost a full package of pullups leftover. and yes, i'm kind of irritated, those things are $15 a pack and of course i had to rip open the package so she could have the ones with the princesses on the tummy instead of the ones from target with the goofy little girls on them. our neighbor has volunteered to take them off my hands, her 3 year old SON is still in diapers.
rob is traveling more these days. lucky for him he gets to be in washington state for 3/4 of the kids' spring break. he gets back on april 10, the kids go back to school on april 14. and with the jet lag he'll go through, i'm sure he'll be pretty much worthless for 2 of those days. he is only gone for 2 weeks, as opposed to 6+ months, so i'll pipe down on the complaining...but i really think spring break is going to be anything but a break for me :/ it's 3 weeks away anyway, so here i am wasting so much energy dreading it when it's not even til next MONTH. that makes it sound even farther away.
i'll make a better effort this spring to bore you all to death with more frequent posts. sounds like a fun goal for me, for sure!
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