I Have Determined...

That I need to pack snacks to send with my children for the whole hour they're in the Y nursery...this is after yesterday when I witnessed my 18-month-old scavenging under the high chair to eat the other children's leftovers.  *joy*

That we need a bigger bed.  Not because we are crowded sleeping-wise, but I don't think this laundry sorting business is going to get any easier...

That Rachel requires breakfast on the table as soon as her little feet hit the floor.  No exceptions.  So funny how this kid's entire life has revolved around food (please reference determination number one).

So you're telling me that it's not ready yet??

Please, please, please make me some eggs and toast!!

That my children are on a low carb diet.  Seriously...who eats a sandwich and leaves the bread??  My children, that's who...

That Butch will never fit through the kitty door...and he will probably never stop trying.

That a single cookie will immediately find it's way to my rear end - I don't even think it gets digested before it goes to fat stores.  Gotta love 30's metabolism...although I'm pretty sure it gets better from here...

That my husband and I have some strange pillow talk.  Last night, Scott wanted to have a serious discussion about why I wasn't incorporating the Versa Climber or kettle bells into my every day workout.  He really wasn't accepting the fact that I didn't like the things.  I think this probably came directly after I was complaining about the found cookie evidence on my thighs...

That my children are weird...

That Fridays are wonderful and I'm thankful for you!  Have a great weekend!

My New Maid(s)

Before you ask, yes, she IS available and NO, she's not cheap!

Why hello, Mother...I was just thinking that I would wash my hands in the sink instead of the bathroom to save you the trouble of having to mop up two floors.  You are welcome!

Hey!  What is this??!!

So fun to squeeze and then put back in the water and fill up again!

I wish I was a little bit taller...  Actually, I think I was trying to capture the collecting pool of water around the chair.

Uh oh...captain little sister to the rescue.

Don't worry, Elizabeth, I will just (grunt) bulldoze over this chair (grunt) and help you with whatever fun thing you are doing.

Um, Mama...when I squeeze this out over the floor, water gets everywhere. 

See like this??  The inspector couldn't resist checking it out for herself.

Enjoy your day!

The dreaded No Nap zone

I'm possibly entering some very dangerous territory here...the no nap time zone.

Perhaps you've never known the sweet silence of a house in the middle of the day when two children under the age of three sleep for three hours.  Maybe you've never experienced the freedom of being able to get things done in daylight around your home without requests for sippies or going to the potty or snacks.  Or the simple ability to sit and write your thoughts to other coherent adults and receive feedback and camaraderie...

Ah, it is bliss.

And I think it is almost over.  

I know...pour a little out for me, if you please.

Daddy and his girls in their night time routine.  Rachel loves Hop on Pop!

But Elizabeth is continually up and about at night - up a good hour and a half to two hours past putting her in bed.  Bounding down the stairs, she comes full of energy.  Or sneakily, she tip-toes down and hides.  Nothing like finding your child laying behind the couch as you get up to go to bed.  

Last night, I sat outside her door for an hour and a half to keep the sneaky temptation down and she got up about every 10 minutes to check on me.  I only complained a little because I have two babies that I need to crochet blankets for and I have finished about a half of one.  So the time sitting in the hallway wasn't completely lost.

Day one of being in a big girl bed - I think this was last year at this time.

We have tried everything short of locking her in her room - and I refuse that.

We have rewarded her for staying in the room - that only works at nap time though.

We have taken away her beloved Juno and the light up ladybug and anything else in her room.

We have spanked, we have scolded.

She's lost TV, dessert, McDonalds after gymnastics...

We've left the light on so she can read for a little bit if she wants.

And she's still our escape artist.

I call this her Beiber hairstyle...she refuses to push her bangs back in her headband...and refuses to let me help her put it on.  See?  Stubbornness is in her blood.  I have no idea where she gets it.

I could keep up the reward/punishment system but Rachel misses Elmo and it has now been six evenings in a row that I haven't gotten to have any kind of intelligent conversation with my husband...so something's gotta give.

And that something may be my precious nap time.

So we're going to try to theory that maybe she's just not tired and see how that goes.  I will certainly keep you updated and please, if you have any tried and true methods at your home, pass them my way.  I love success stories.  

And admittedly, it was my attempt to try this yesterday, but I was so tired and just needed to lay down for 15 minutes and my big girl cuddled up beside me on the couch and was out as fast as I was.  So that wasn't the best test.  (She doesn't wake up any later just because she's in bed later - it's 9:30 p.m. to 6 a.m. for her so she is tired and ready for a nap by the afternoon...therefore, this evening might be a struggle if we don't get one today.)

Now excuse me as I go start the coffee pot...

Planning Meals through the Crazy times: A cry for help!

My hats are off to you working mamas...

I'm not sure I could pull it off anymore and I just was in a bit of your world Saturday.  I had a clinic in the morning for an hour and a half and then traveled across town to do another clinic for another hour and then got home and gave a lesson...

And then I promptly died on the couch.  Clay-rimmed ankles and everything.

(I can't say that I miss THAT from the softball field!)

I couldn't think of anything dinner or cleaning...I'm telling you, I was down for the count. 

So, I did what any exhausted person would do = asked my loving husband if we could go out to eat.

And do you think that we went to the cleanest, healthiest restaurant in town??  Oh, you know me better than that.

Mellow Mushroom is one of our favorites and it is right in the middle of downtown and when you go a little after 5, you can get right in and get a seat with your little children who hate to wait. 

And Saturday night, after working all day, it hit the spot.

An order of soft pretzel appetizers, a token salad and half of the best calzone I've ever eaten later, I was feeling somewhat human again.  And that somewhat borderline was crossed over by a quick trip to Ben and Jerry's afterwards.

Which was a fun trip because as we walked in, Elizabeth announced that she wanted vanilla.  I said, "Honey, they have all kinds of flavors here...why don't we just look and see what they have and then you can decide what you want?"  So I picked her up and let her smear her greasy little face along the glass and peer at each tub of yumminess.  Then she turned and pointed at the one she wanted.

It was vanilla.

So later, as I lay in my food induced, sunburned coma, I began counting the endless calories I had consumed in the time that I was exhausted. 

How easy it was to say, "Forget it...I'm just hungry...it doesn't matter...I've worked hard all day."  Every statement making excuses for food I really shouldn't have been eating.  Perhaps you might be reading this, feeling sorry for me and thinking that maybe that I had earned it?  I hadn't...I didn't workout that day and I barely did more at the clinics or lesson then stand and walk around, probably only burning off the calories from the Coke I consumed in between clinics. 

Not that cheat days stress me out all that much.  There are a lot of programs that encourage you take a day to eat whatever you want - saying that it keeps your metabolism in check, as well as your mental sanity, as long as you eat clean for the rest of the week.  When Scott and I were staying pretty strict to the Body for Life once upon a time, we would wake up on Sunday mornings and celebrate with a dozen donuts and a package of bacon.  So please realize it isn't that I can't give myself a break.  But you see, we had just had a couple of McDonald's sandwiches for lunch...and Zaxby's for dinner the night before because it was Friday and I hate to cook on Friday...and Mexican two nights earlier because I had burned the soup to a crisp.  

Can you burn soup??  Oh yes...I can.

So I know that it is merely a product of me being tired and not organized.

And as my lessons pick up (such a blessing) and my time becomes busier, it will become more and more important for me to plan.  Currently, I plan my meals a week out, but think I might need to go further out - like a month.  I need to better utilize my freezer and Crockpot.

So my question to you:  how do you plan healthy meals for your family when your schedule is busy or you are working?  What are your best go-to resources for the rest of us?  (I will list mine below and please list yours in your comments.  And by all means, if you cover this on your blog, promote yourself!) 

I think...no, I know...if I knew that I was coming home to something already prepared, then I'd be less likely to go through a drive thru / order take out / go to a restaurant.  So what do you do?  Do you give into temptation?  Do you plan ahead?  How far ahead?  Do you have a single day cooking bonanza?? 

Share!  I need to get back to meal planning...

My favorite meal planning resources:

$5 Dinners

Once a Month Mom

A Year of Slow Cooking

On to the Den!

I really did have every intention of posting this yesterday, but it was a busy lesson day for me (and an exciting one at that because one of my little pitchers, Bre, pitched to batters for the first time at her practice later in the day and did awesome!).  Knowing it was going to be busy, I actually planned ahead and spent nap time preparing dinner in the Crockpot.  I got this recipe for Pesto Spinach Lasagna from Stephanie O'Dea's, A Year of Slow Cooking and since I had a mile of basil growing in the backyard, I thought I'd give it a try.  (And it turned out great!  Although way too much green for the skeptical Elizabeth Rose.)

I even woke up early to take pictures before the girls could do their damage...ha!  I love our den and it was a big selling point for us on the house.  Our rental house only provided a living room and dining room as far as living space and we really thought that one more room would be perfect for the girls to trash play in.  It has turned out to be a God-send and most of the toys stay in this room, leaving mostly books in the living room.  It has a high, vaulted ceiling with a wood beam and a wood burning fireplace that I can't wait to try out this winter.  What a blessing to know that we can still have heat if the power goes out!!

I feel like an idiot when it comes to decorating mantles and I wasn't really sure what to put up there.  I'm still not 100% thrilled with this - so start chunking suggestions and I'll switch it around.  The basket is full of "dog towels," as the door to the back yard is to the left here.  There is a wood parkay floor inlay that curves around the fireplace and the doors and then the rest is carpeted.  I didn't show it to you because it's filthy and I must retain SOME dignity, people!

My grandparents gave us this shelving unit and I absolutely love it.  My husband didn't love the moving process from Pennsylvania (which involves wonderful stories like having to take a elevator ceiling apart and getting the truck stuck in the mud), but that is an entirely different post!  It is wonderful storage for pictures and knick-knacks and it looks so good on that wall, I think. 

I love that we finally have a spot for our ridiculous collection of books...and this was after we weeded out the ones that we didn't want!

And of course, the girls have designated drawers...currently occupied by puzzles.  

And there is room on the top to display some family antiques.  Now, I must back up for a moment and explain to you that my husband is a minimalist.  He would have been fine with moving into the house with the girls, me and a backpack and called it a home.  Me?  Not so much.  I have had boxes of memories, pictures and little odds and ends packed away and waiting for the perfect home.  So just please realize that when you look at these pictures, you are seeing purely my decorating taste, as my husband would have been perfectly happy with just looking at empty, clean shelves.

He lets me do what I want though...so perhaps that's a secret to a happy marriage?? ha!

Another angle of the room.  The ottoman has toys in it and the room never looks like this.  In fact, you can rarely see the floor.  Well, except for the spot in front of the piano, which they keep clean so they can climb up on it and jump off.  The monkeys also love climbing on the outside of the staircase, so I tried to deter that by putting the baby bed and kitchen in front of them.  Three guesses on if that worked or not...and the first two don't count...

Our wonderful realtor, Susan, donated the toy bins to our cause and most of the kitchen food is located in the toybox on the other side of the sewing machine there.  Rachel loves the sewing machine, that was my Memaw's, and will open and SLAM the door shut, causing me to fly into a fit...which makes her laugh...

kids...!

Ok, there's the den!  Onward to the living room tomorrow and then I'll do the bedrooms all in one post.  Shew...house tours are exhausting!

On to the Dining Room!

It looks like a spaghetti bomb has gone off in my kitchen, so I need a short and sweet room today - and since the dining room needed disinfecting after my children got through with it at lunch anyway, I decided that today was the day for its feature.

We eat all our meals in here and I really love having a formal dining room - especially just off the kitchen.  It has a nice feeling to me - especially because we have it furnished with a dining room set my grandparents handed down to us.  It's the same table where my mom remembers eating, coloring and doing art projects as a little girl - and I just love that my girls are growing up around the same table.  

There is something so fundamental about family meals - something Scott and I never had as a couple-before-kids, because most of our dining was done in the living room in front of the news.  Or standing in the kitchen.  So much of our life was on the run then.

But after Elizabeth was born and was able to eat finger foods, we found ourselves gravitating around a table because it was easier with her in a high chair.  Scott began blessing our meals and it really became a way of life for us - so much so that now, the girls automatically link their hands together and both chorus a strong "Amen!" after his.  I swear, my heart overflows.

So you can see why this room is sentimental for me, even though we've been living here a couple months.

Susie (my MIL) and I found the new, awesome chandelier on sale at Lowes and I could have died when it was only $35.  It's a slight improvement on the old one, don't you think?  

I want to do all the curtain rods on the lower level in wrought iron to match it - plus I think that will go with the style of the house.  Well, and I just love Tiffany...even faux Tiffany...  The pictures on the wall are old ones of our families.  I have a handful more to frame, but I'm pretty anal about the frames matching - so they are waiting for my next trip to Michaels sans-little children.  (I have no idea why I don't want to take my offspring shopping for breakable things...silly, silly, silly...)

We're also looking for a matching buffet to go on this wall under the chair rail to hold the rest of the china we have still boxed in the garage (also from my grandparents).

I can hardly believe this china hutch is full - but again, we've been handed down so many antique crystal and sets...I was thankful to be able to pull some of these things out of boxes and give them a home. 

Of course, we won't need the wire rack once we find a buffet, but for now, I use these things so often, there's really no other place to store them.

 

Are we ready for a dinner party or what??  I love that everything is a mismatch between Scott's and my families.  Other things are wedding gifts that have been packed until now.  And then of course, you have the mug that my best friend Amanda and I painted (see far left top shelf) when we were visiting sometime after college and I love it because I still remember how much fun we had at that pottery shop and we just seemed so young then and ready for the next chapter of our lives.  It's filled with seashells from the beach trip when Scott proposed and his dried boutonniere from our wedding.  So what may look out of place, has a pretty high spot on my list.  

We have crown molding in almost all the downstairs rooms, which I didn't realize made such a difference until we had it.  It just puts such a nice touch on everything.  I don't like the carpeting in the dining room, but like I said yesterday...we're hoping to eventually hardwood the entire downstairs eventually, so it isn't a huge deal.

 

So there you have it folks...that's where we eat!  Still no curtains in there, as you can see.  I was thinking purple...suggestions? 

House tour - Day 2: The Kitchen

Just let me begin by saying that our house is sectioned into rooms.  I know that a lot of people are looking for an open concept right now - and we certainly weren't against one - but our budget came in first on our wish list and this house checked off in a lot of other areas.  So the kitchen isn't "open," but at the same time, it isn't small either.   Coming from the small, galley kitchen in our rental house, I was in no position to complain!

I actually don't mind this linoleum - it cleans up well and hides a lot of dirt.  Eventually, we'd like to put hardwoods through the entire downstairs, but that's very long term - as we're in the land of dogs and sippy cups now.  The wallpaper doesn't drive me up the walls (ha!), but we'll change it eventually.  It looks like they updated the light fixture too, but when we decide to make changes in here, we'll change that as well.

My dream would be to do white cabinets with black pulls and a copper colored counter top.  And then we'd like to find some sort of island that could also double as a bar to feed the girls when they get older.  That little chicken over the sink used to be in Chris's kitchen when I was growing up and it always makes me smile when I'm cooking.

This is about as clean as we get for a Monday afternoon...  I do love all the cabinet space and pretty much everything has it's place, which is wonderful.

Ugh...then there's this area.  I do like having a desk in the kitchen...HOWEVER, I am not the type of person that leaves her desk in a situation that appeals to company.  Those little nooks over the desk are nice but I still haven't found a good system for them and I'm so embarrassed by the cabinets above, I won't even open them for you to see.  We have our eye out to move this whole shootin' match upstairs to our bedroom.  The fridge is old but will go out in the garage when it kicks the bucket.  It is clean and has an ice maker, which is really nice. 

 

Pantry...small, but a lot handier than what we've known.  And yes, there is a knob missing in that top left hand desk drawer, because MY CHILDREN WILL NOT STOP TURNING KNOBS!!  They are driving me crazy with it, so I've just started a collection in a Ziploc bags of knobs they've removed with the screw...I dream of pulls...;)

And behind doors one and two??

The most awkward laundry layout ever...I've banged my noggin on that header so many times - but you can't move it because of the stairway.  So, we're hoping to plan for some sort of renovation here.

Laundry storage...

We have one half bath downstairs, which is really handy and it's off the kitchen.  It, too, is outdated and we'll eventually remove the wallpaper and update everything...but for right now, everything is functional and we're not really in the point of life that we can have nice things, so it really works out.  

What's next?  We'll see which room is the cleanest tomorrow to take pictures...thanks for caring, guys!!