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Five Minute Friday: Gift

  • Posted on March 30, 2012 at 12:45 pm

On Fridays, Gypsy Mama holds a blog carnival where we all stop and write for five minutes – no editing, no over-thinking, just write. Care to join us?

This week’s topic is: Gift

Brianna and I were discussing what she learned in Puggles last week, and she was happily telling me about how God and Jesus made her, and love her (and made Benjamin, and Mommy, and Daddy, and her friends, etc).  Then she asked me, “IF God and Jesus love me so much, can they come to my house?”

I stammered. I have no idea exactly what I said, other than I think I mentioned that God was special and he was always with us, and that God and Jesus live in heaven which is really far away. “Like Grandma’s house?” she asked.  Well, kind of, maybe, I guess.

I have no idea when I expected theology questions form her. She’s three years old, so it’s understandable, but I’m so not ready.  I feel totally inadequate to point her to the gift I’ve found in my relationship with God, the gifts I rediscover every day.  I feel like I’m failing at this, and it bothers me a lot – I bought some books, reviewed my Cubbies material, started brainstorming ways to work spiritual truths into our everyday life…Maybe it’s time to buckle down and start devotions, to start her on some Bible memory – the scriptures can teach her much more effectively, I think, than I can.

My children are a gift to me from God – but in turn, I’m responsible for guiding them to him, so they can find the gift of Life… and that responsibility seems so huge right now.

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Maybe tomorrow I’ll start over

  • Posted on March 30, 2012 at 10:08 am

— 1 —

I missed an entire day of work yesterday, because I went in for what was supposed to be a consult to see if I needed a root canal done on a specific tooth… and ended up with an actual root canal.  After which I did not feel like going in to the office and doing work, and instead went home, took a bunch of medicine and went to bed for the afternoon. But at least they let me “watch” a movie while I was being worked on (and also, Nitrous.  I loves it).

— 2 —

I am totally turning 30 in a few days.  Which everyone kind of expects me to freak out about, and I’m all like, meh. 30. I don’t feel old yet.  I feel out of shape, overweight, and tired all the time.  But not hair-buns-and-pencil-skirts-all-the-time old, ha ha.  I don wonder, though, what things I have missed out on learning in the last 20 years.  For instance – I’m pretty sure that most 30-year-olds, do not need instructions from their dental hygienist to figure out how to brush effectively – I apparently do.  I have this perception that most 30-year-old-moms-of-two-kids know how to keep a reasonably clean house, and don’t do things like, say, forget the laundry in the washer for two days.

— 3 —

Chad keeps asking me what I want for my birthday, and I have no idea. I mean… as per the usual, all of my ideas are intangible or unobtainable. Like – I’d like an extra couple hours in the day.  Every day.  Or maybe once a week. I’d like the house to stay clean for more than one minute while the kids are awake. I’d like to be the “fun mom”, if only for a few minutes at a time.  Sadly, Chad is not impressed by this wish list, and would rather I tell him something tangible and within budget to go get. Ha!  I told him we’re taking a trip to Denver in a couple weeks, that’s probably my present. He disagrees.

— 4 —

I have managed to stay caught up on laundry for a record amount of time now.  And it’s amazing how being caught up on laundry transforms something that would have been a crisis – Brianna wetting the bed two nights in a row after staying dry almost two weeks – into a mere inconvenience.  We have clean sheets, the washer is empty, no problem getting the sheets washed and dried before bedtime so we can go to bed with the spares ready – just in case.  Makes for a much nicer mommy in the middle of the night, and much less stress on everyone.  Chad has been an awesome help with the laundry, too, even washing an extra load when he was working from home yesterday.  So yay us!  The house might be a disaster, but we have clean laundry. It’s the little things.

— 5 —

One of our neighbors is having a party for her daughter, C., on Sunday – C. is Brianna’s age, and she is having a cowgirl themed party.  These neighbors throw the most elaborately themed kids parties I’ve been to – for their son’s one year party, the theme was fishing, and they had cupcakes with fishing poles and gummy fish on them, and served goldfish crackers, and sailboat cookies, and gave all the kids homemade toy magnetic fishing pole pets, and it was really cool.  The mom sews the kids an outfit that matches the theme, and the party generally looks like Pinterest exploded with great ideas everywhere.  And she works!  I am sadly almost out of place – my idea of a theme party for Brianna is to let her pick out matching plates and napkins. And maybe match the cake to that. Ha.  Anyway, Brianna is excited about wearing her boots and cowgirl hat, and we’re all looking forward to it.  But the day Brianna asks me if I can throw her as cool a party as C.’s mom does, I’m moving :-) [Edit: I'm not the only one! Look what I got in my mailbox about 2 minutes after I posted this! Kat, you are amazing - and just what I needed today.]

— 6 —

I started running a couple of weeks ago (literally, this is my second week).  I’m doing Couch to 5K, not because I really like running (I kind of hate it a little), but because I NEED to do SOMETHING. Let me tell you, internets, it is totally kicking my butt.  But I’m DOING it. So.  My new goal is to run in the Pear Run in May.  Anyone want to join so I don’t chicken out?

— 7 —

I have so many weekend projects lined up, but no idea when I’m going to be able to fit them into my weekends. For example, I need to strip & re-caulk our shower in the master bathroom, the kids both need haircuts, I need to weed out all the winter clothes from their drawers, I need to finish Brianna’s quiet book I started, and I need to finish my steampunk goggles. Those are just a few, but this weekend is my birthday (more or less), next weekend is Easter, and the weekend after I’ll be in Denver, dancing & hanging out with Manda.  So I have no idea when I’ll tackle these crazy things, but I would like it to be soonish…  This goes back to needing extra hours in my day.

For more Quick Takes, visit Conversion Diary!

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MPM: Week 2

  • Posted on March 26, 2012 at 8:47 am

Menu Plan Monday at OrgJunkie.com

Last week, we did pretty good.  Wednesday we ended up at Wendy’s instead of Sam’s club, due to a time crunch at Chad’s office, and Sunday we had Little Caesar’s instead of frozen because Chad forgot to put the pizzas in the oven while I was at Awana, haha.  But other than that, victory!  Here’s what’s up this week:

Monday: Grilled chicken breast, biscuits, and green beans

Tuesday: Chicken sandwiches, mac-n-cheese, and corn

Wednesday: Eat at Sam’s Club (we’re trying again…).

Thursday: Ham & cheese pockets (homemade!), salad

Friday: Shepherd’s Pie

Saturday: BBQ – smoking something yummy for my birthday

Sunday: Frozen pizza

Breakfasts and lunches stay the same…

For more Menu Plan Monday posts, head over to OrgJunkie!

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Five Minute Friday: Loud

  • Posted on March 23, 2012 at 10:24 am

On Fridays, Gypsy Mama holds a blog carnival where we all stop and write for five minutes – no editing, no over-thinking, just write.  Care to join us?

This week’s topic is: Loud

The kids are so loud – all the time, it seems.  Loud when they are angry, because I’m not giving in to their whims, or because the other is not sharing, loud when they have a new bump or scrape or owwie – but also loud when they are happy, playing together.  Brianna loves to make Benjamin laugh, usually involving some form of yelling.  Benjamin loves to yell, just to get Brianna (and the rest of us) to look at him.  And while, at the end of a long day at work, the LOUD can grate on me and I count the minutes until bedtime and quiet and peacefulness – so many things happen in the loud that I would hate to miss.  Like Benjamin’s smile of triumph when he jumps out of the playhouse and says “Boo!”, or Brianna’s laughter as they chase each other up and down the hall… like Benjamin surprising us all by counting to ten yesterday, or Brianna telling me I’m her “favorite princess”… like Brianna’s stubborn mornings, just like her daddy, or the look on Benjamin’s face when he wants a banana.

If I can live in the loud, these are the things i can see – and they certainly are worth every minute of loud, no matter how long my day was.

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WFMW: Easy Lunch Boxes

  • Posted on March 21, 2012 at 10:27 am

I have been trying to pack lunches every day for a couple of reasons – one, it save a ton of money, as the cafe in my building is not cheap, and two, I can plan ahead to make healthy eating choices (at least in theory).  So – I’m a big fan of leftovers for lunches, because leftovers are essentially “free” (basically because I have no idea how to cook for the number of people in our family) and because they are yummy.

But.  Packaging them can be a pain in the behind. And getting all the parts together to make a meal – veggies, starches, and protein – is difficult, since there may be more of one left from a meal than others (I’m looking at you, veggies).

I looked everywhere around town for divided containers that I could pack in my lunch box – I have a Tupperware one, but it’s a little bigger than what I need – but I could not find anything, anywhere.

And then. Then I discovered the world of Bento boxes, and all the little pieces and parts that go with them.  I knew that would be perfect for me – except for keeping up with the pieces.  And also, they tend to be a little expensive.  So I decided to shop around.

I found these on Amazon:

EasyLunchboxes 3-compartment Bento Lunch Box Containers

Ah. Mazing. It was totally, exactly what I needed.  The three compartments are the perfect size for meals, and the big section is even big enough for a sandwich.  The middle section is the perfect size for a single serving Mott’s applesauce. The whole thing is freezer/microwave/dishwasher safe.  I pack traditional leftover-type lunches in these, but they would totally work for cute bento lunches as well.

They are not leak-proof, and if you turn them on their side they will leak any liquids in there. FYI.  But – one of the reviewers on Amazon said you could use Press’n'seal wrap on the sections to stop this – haven’t needed it, so I haven’t tried it.  For your standard veggies/casseroles/etc, I haven’t had a problem yet.

See how cute my lunches are, even without heart shaped boiled eggs and dinosaur shaped sandwiches?

Tater-tot casserole, green beans, and applesauce

Meatloaf, mashed potatoes, and peas

Easy Lunch Boxes work for me :)

You can find more Works For Me Wednesday post over at We Are THAT Family.

Just so you know – No one paid me to give my opinions, and I didn’t get any free stuff.  BUT – the link to the lunch boxes is an Amazon Affiliate link.

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MPM: What we’re eating this week

  • Posted on March 19, 2012 at 11:08 am

So my standard meal planning method is to use sticky-notes on my calendar.  Which is effective, but the last couple of weeks have been rough and I haven’t been sticking to it as much as I should have. So this one’s for accountability, and maybe I’ll stick to it this time :-)

Monday: Fish sticks, Mac’n'cheese, and green beans. (My kids will think I’m the bet mom ever! But really I just need something I can cook quickly because I forgot to defrost anything for today…)

Tuesday: BBQ Chicken quarters (in the slow cooker), baked beans, corn

Wednesday: Eat at Sam’s Club (we live it up around here).

Thursday: Mini-meatloaves, mashed potatoes, peas

Friday: Sandwiches or leftovers – I have a party to attend! So dinner will be short and sweet, minimal cooking.

Saturday: Hamburgers, homemade fries.

Sunday: Frozen pizza

Breakfasts for me will be instant breakfast, or an English muffin with peanut butter. The kids eat breakfast at daycare, and Chad will stick to granola bars or pop-tarts.

Lunches are leftovers or sandwiches, depending on what we have.

For more Menu Plan Monday posts, head over to OrgJunkie!

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7 Quick Takes

  • Posted on March 16, 2012 at 12:26 pm

— 1 —

My children are amazing, and also drive me crazy on a regular basis.  But its the growing up part that getting to me this week – preparing for a yard sale, and going through all the baby things we don’t need anymore with a 19-month-old and a three-year-old.  I cried at the idea of selling the crib bedding, even though we’re set to pack up the crib (for good) here pretty soon.  It’ll be the first time in 3 years with no baby in the house, and that makes me a little sad.

But no sad enough to seek out another :-) This mama knows she has all she can handle at the moment (and sometimes more).

— 2 —

Speaking of growing up, Brianna spent her first diaper-and-pullup-free overnight last night.  And woke up with dry sheets.  I know there will be accidents along the way, but there is light at the end of the diaper tunnel and I can see it! Another year or two and we’ll be done for good! And yes, I might cry a little over that one, too.

— 3 —

I need more sleep. Which might explain the crying, lol.  But no, seriously, the sleep. I think I’ve averaged less than 6 hours a night this week and it’s not working for me.  Only tremendous amounts of caffeine is keeping me upright and functioning. Which is not good for a variety of reasons.

— 4 —

Like my weight.  My caffeine of choice is Mt. Dew. Not diet. I started tracking calories again, and like a third of what I’m taking in is SODA. Which is unacceptable. And probably why I can’t seem to lose this baby weight (is it still baby weight after a year and a half?).

— 5 —

So I’m guessing my goal for next week will be to make getting a good amount of sleep a priority.  Somehow without dropping the ball on housecleaning, spending time with my kids, work, or spending time with my husband. (It seems like I can only maintain 1 or 2 of these things at a time…)  Not sure how I’m oging to manage this, but I guess starting with a firm 10pm bedtime would be a start.

— 6 —

Exercise.  I can’t even begin where to fit this in, and yet I NEED to.  My weight it stupid crazy, and I feel tired and weak and lazy.  The Xbox is down, so no Zumba for me – and I don’t want to pay for it, so no gym.  I need to either fire up my dance workout dvds, start couch25k, or buy a bike (um, more money).  And yet.  The time thing.  I am so frustrated by this – again, I’m not sure what to sacrifice to find this time. Sleep is not an option, per takes 3 and 5, so what else has room to give?

— 7 —

And I supose that is the plight of the modern working mommy. If anyone knows any great ways to sleep and/or workout while cooking dinner or cleaning house, apparently I need them :-)

For more Quick Takes, visit Conversion Diary!

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Five Minute Friday: Brave

  • Posted on March 16, 2012 at 10:03 am

On Fridays, Gypsy Mama holds a blog carnival where we all stop and write for five minutes – no editing, no over-thinking, just write.  Care to join us?

This week’s topic is: Brave

I don’t think I am brave.  I dodge conflict like a pro, waiting until things are almost unfixable (or worse) before dealing with them.  I often still sleep with the baby monitors on. I avoid any kind of situation that could lead to confrontation.

But I also avoid deep friendships. Too often, starting a new friendship requires me to put myself out there and be brave, and all too often I shy away from that – because it might hurt. Or because i might fail. Because I’m not brave enough. What if they don’t like me? What if I’m all awkward and dumb? What if… I don’t even know. Too much worry.  Not enough bravery.

Six years in this town, and I still feel like I haven’t put down roots.  Because I’m not putting myself out there. I need to be brave – I need to actively seek out good friends and good situations.  And I need to be brave, and try new things.  But it’s hard. I need to stop whining! And do it!

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WFMW: Laundry

  • Posted on March 14, 2012 at 8:38 am

Works for Me Wednesday!

I am caught up on laundry.  This fact is in and of itself amazing.

See, I tried this thing, a while back, were I did a load of laundry every day.  And it worked! And I was caught up! and it was amazing! And I looked like this:

Doing the Laundry

(image courtesy of Hyperbole and a Half)

 And THEN.  I ran out of laundry. I mean, it was all clean! And there was no “one load” to do! For several days! So after practically spraining my shoulder because I was patting myself on the back so hard…. I promptly stopped doing laundry.  Until we were all out of socks and underwear. And then only washed the bare minimum to get by.

But. In my quest to minimize the STUFF in our house (OMGoodness, the STUFF), I culled down the kids clothes.  Like, a lot. Brianna helped with her clothes (to pick out ones she would wear, because trying to get a 3-year-old to wear something they don’t like is not on my top ten list of things to do every morning), and I culled down to like, just over two weeks worth of clothes each.

Amazingly, this means when they are all clean, all the clothes fit in the drawers.  I KNOW!

And now, I have to do the kid’s laundry once a week or so. Which is fine, it all fits in one load, or I can separate the darks and lights and put it with the grown-up’s laundry.  Total? about two loads a week of clothes.  Which gives me a day to wash towels, a day to wash sheets, and some slacker days (Huzzah!). AND…. I have to fold it and put it away, because people will run out of clothes otherwise. It’s amazing how much gets done when it’s a necessity.

Now I’m culling my clothes, in prep for a yard sale this weekend.

Laundry today or naked tomorrow – it works for me!

(For more Works For Me Wednesdays, visit Kristin at We Are THAT Family)

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In the middle of the crazy / God your love is so amazing

  • Posted on March 13, 2012 at 8:09 am

Man, I love me some Mandisa. I mean, seriously. I can’t think of a song of hers I don’t like at this point, and she certainly has a way of coming up with lyrics that reach my right where I am.  Like last week.

It was amazingly crazy.  Monday, I went to work, but came home before lunch because I was sick.  To be fair, I had been getting sick since Friday or so, but refused to admit it, and decided to CLEAN ALL THE THINGS!!! over the weekend. Note to future self: do not clean all the things when you are getting sick.  Maybe just clean some of them, ok? So yeah, pretty much spent the day in bed.

Anyway.  Tuesday, I worked from home, still sick.  Wednesday I was feeling better, but was taking a vacation day so that Brianna could have her ear tubes removed…  except she was sick (not the same thing I had, naturally).  So we came home with her, and spent the day pushing fluids and tylenol and motrin and let me tell you, it was not awesome.

Thursday, she seemed better, so I sent her to school (um, bad mommy?).  She promptly threw up all over the place, and started running a fever, so I raced home again. And stayed home the day with her, trying to work, but not really succeeding.  Friday, Chad stayed home with still-sick Brianna as I frantically tried to get a weeks worth of work done in a day (fail).

There was a lot of crazy. And there were times that I was totally lost in it, overwhelmed and not sure I would survive.  But. There were also times, the times I made it a point to count my blessings and remember to trust God, that I knew that everything would work out.  And you know what? It did.  Brianna’s surgery will be rescheduled, possibly the same day as Benjamin’s ear tube placement (if he needs it).  My work will get done.  The house is actually a little cleaner today than it was last week (Chad helped a lot).  Somehow I’m caught up on laundry.  Slowly, I’m starting to see that it really does all work out (very slowly.  I’m stubborn).

So yeah.  The Lord really met me in the madness this past week, and I’m very thankful.

I never liked Mondays or bad news
Or breakin’ in new shoes
And mornings when I can’t find my phone
Nobody likes traffic or short nights
Or situps or long flights
But sometimes that’s just the way it goes
It’s funny what you use to help me grow…

So I’ll learn to love these days
Life along the way
In the middle of the crazy
God your love is so amazing
Through the ups and downs
You’re the only hope I’ve found
Lord you meet me in the madness

I’ll learn to love these days
I’ll learn to love these days

I can see a silver linin‘
When the sun’s not shinin’
Even when you choose to bring the rain
Oh, but I’m trustin your leadin’
‘Cause your Lord of all my joy and all my pain

So I’ll learn to love these days
Life along the way
In the middle of the crazy
God, your love is so amazing
Through the ups and downs
You’re the only hope I’ve found
Lord you meet me in the madness

I’ll learn to love these days
I’ll learn to love these days

I could wait the hundred years
You gave me here the days when you near
The days when I was out there
Lookin’ for what comes next
Oh, cause every minute,every hour, everyday
Is such a gift and I can say
I’m thankful for each day

So I’ll learn to love these days
Life along the way
In the middle of the crazy
God, your love is so amazing
Through the ups and downs
You’re the only hope I’ve found
Lord you meet me in the madness

I’ll learn to love these days
I’ll learn to love these days

~These Days, Mandisa

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