making it up as i go along
We bid summer adieu with a trip to my uncle and aunt’s lake house. They graciously hosted our family and our friends for a fun-filled weekend of outdoorsy pursuits.
We hiked. We boated. We played pirates.
We (Ben) ran through the sprinklers.
We chilled with friends. We had Oh.So.Much.FUN!!
Now we begin the countdown to school. Haircuts. Teacher meet-and-greet. Dentists appointments. And a weekend visit from 2/3 of the Nashville grandparents.
With less than two weeks to go before S-Day (School Starts! Day) I have been busily planning out the kids breakfasts (that’ll be another post) and lunches for the school year. This is a wholly new thing for us since our sitter has fed the kids both breakfasts and lunch and snack and now we’ll have to get our act together and send the kids off with full tummies and a full lunchbox each. Not a monumental task for sure, but something new to add into our already crazy days. But I think we can manage.
I take my lunch almost every day and I pack it up as we are cleaning up from dinner the night before. That way I can easily pack up leftovers for myself and the kitchen doesn’t get messed up twice. I want to bring the kids in on this so they have buy-in on what is in their lunch box and they understand the ideas behind packing a healthy lunch: few processed carbs, a good source of protein and some fruits and vegetables.
I plan to slowly build up a store of frozen assets: lasagna cups, soups frozen into small portions in muffin tins, chicken nuggets, mac ‘n’ cheese, etc. for some of the times when leftovers aren’t available (or appealing), but mostly leftovers is the plan. For the remainder, we can send along some wraps, lunch meat sandwiches, homemade lunchables and the like. Nuts are either quite limited or verboten at both schools and I haven’t quite worked out the policies (it’s confusing at Tabby’s school; I think they’re OK for lunch, but not for snack? all nuts? just peanuts??). In addition to the main dish, we’ll add some sliced fruit, edamame, veggies with a little dip, maybe yogurt or a muffin.
In an effort to minimize waste and (eventually) cost, I’ve purchased a few reusable items that will hopefully carry us through the year. I looked into some of the more pricey options; bags as well as kits (like laptop lunch or planet lunch boxes), but I really couldn’t justify the outrageous costs. I got cute lunch kits for $5/ea for the kids at Old Navy. Ben’s actually clips to his matching backpack (Tabby’s doesn’t for some reason – wish it did!). After doing some research, I got some divided lunch containers from Target – they’re Ziploc brand and they’re supposed to be somewhat leak-proof. Also garnered from the Target aisles are the squatty little thermoses we can use to send warm foods in. Off Amazon, I ordered some silicone push-pop molds to use for healthier on-the-go yogurt or frozen smoothies or applesauce or whatever as well as a set of kid-sized Contigo water bottles – my personal favorite; no leaks, no straws! – so the kids can take water with them to school. Lastly, I purchased a bunch of reusable sandwich bags from an Etsy seller since sometimes it’s just darn convenient to have a baggie. Unfortunately they were on back order and estimated 5 weeks out, so we will probably not get them before school starts.
I can’t decide what to do about milk – I don’t usually allow our water bottles to have anything in them but water because they just get icky if they’re used constantly for other things. But Ben loves his milk and I either send it in a container or buy a ton of (wasteful) single servings. Maybe I can get them to keep a gallon for him at school and just send a little cup every day? He could also just have his milk with breakfast and dinner and not worry about lunch. Maybe that’s the way to go.
I’m also torn on what to send for napkins and silverware. Ben has the assistance of his teachers to make sure everything is packed up properly, but Tabby does not. I would like to send out our IKEA kid flatware and cloth napkins, but I don’t want them disappearing. Maybe I’ll test it out with one of our more stained napkins and see how it goes?
I’m sure by next year this will all be old hat I’ll marvel at how crazy I went planning this year. Anyhow, if you’re interested, I’ve got a few pins on my School Daze Breakfasts and Lunches Board. Carry on!
I am guessing I’m not the only parent who has trouble with their kids interrupting them. I feel sometimes like I can’t even complete a thought let alone a sentence when I’m talking on the phone or with Matt. I’ve tried some of the things that the “experts” suggest, like making sure I give them my undivided attention so they feel like they are heard. I’ve also gotten fed up and put the kids in time-out after repeated interruptions or just lost my temper. But nothing stopped making them interrupt, no matter how politely they did it, “Excuse me! Excuse me!”
So a week or so ago, I put Tabby in time out after constant interruptions, but when her time out was over, I talked to her. I explained to her that when she interrupted me it was like she was saying that what she had to say was more important than what I had to say. I asked her, was that the case? No, she said. Then I explained to her that it was pretty much saying that she was more important than me. Was that true, I asked? No, she said, everyone is equally important. Correct, I said. We talked about how hard it can be to wait, but that it was the polite, kind thing to do.
And just like that, it’s been days since my last interruption … from Tabby. Ben is a different story. We’ll civilize him one of these days! Maybe. I don’t know that it will be long-lasting, but so far this has been the only thing that’s even helped. So I’m hopeful. It is lovely to have her at an age where logic and reason are possible.
As predicted, the weekend was FAB. Steamboat is a beautiful town (in more ways than just the one above!). We went hiking, checked out the HOT springs, danced our butts off and tossed back a few. My girls worked hard at making my b’day a super special one and it was very rejuvenating to be with such an awesome group of women. We all see the world in a similar way, though some of us stay home and some of us work and we vary in age by up to 10 years (I’m the baby in case you’re wondering!). We had lots and lots of good conversation (including the 4hour+ drive home – car on fire=traffic).
Meanwhile, back at the ranch, my better half was fearlessly mustering the troops all on his own. They worked in Daddy’s shop. They went grocery shopping (and bought mostly yogurt from the looks of the fridge?) and on an outing to the aluminum supply store.
Tabby, it seems, got to sleep on her floor. I asked Tabby if they liked being home alone with Daddy. Tabby said, “Yes, it was fun. But I missed you lots.” My sentiments exactly, baby girl.
Then we got to celebrate birthdays with the extended family. We had a very lovely dinner – fried chicken! – and desserts. I received lovely gifts, including a family portrait from Tabby, kisses from Ben, some very nice software from Matt, and some cute clothing from my mom and sister. Not to mention the lovely birthday wishes from folks near and far. I am truly truly blessed!!
Last night while Tabby was at rock climbing class, I got to spend a bit of time home alone with Ben. He absolutely revels in having time alone with us and last night was no exception. We built a Brio train track all around the first floor of our house (kitchen, dining room, living room and family room go in one big circle). He kept telling me things like, “Dis is gonna be so awesome!” and “Dis an awesome twain twack!” and “Fank you fo building wif me, Mama.” Love that kid.
It’s getting alarmingly close, this back to school nonsense. Supplies have been purchased (and pilfered from around the house). Fees have been paid. Every time we pass it, Ben delights in reminding us, “There’s mah new school! Mah BIG BOY school!” I am truly very excited for them, but I am alarmed at how fast they’re growing up.
What is up with the peaches this year? They have been truly outstanding. I’ve been having them sliced over cottage cheese (my constant bid to eat more protein) every morning lately and I never get tired of them. Both kids have been having one daily at least as a snack and unlike a whole apple which they often leave half of on the counter, they eat their peaches to the pit. I’ve made peach crumb bars twice and if it weren’t for the carby/calorie-laden nature of them, I might eat them at every meal. YUM.
Saturday is my birthday and I am heading to the mountain with some girlfriends for the weekend. Honestly, this is not the way I’d choose to spend my birthday – nothing against a good girls’ weekend – I love them! – but I really enjoy my family and I hate the idea of being without them on my birthday. It will be the first time I’ve spent a birthday away from my kids since they were born and it bums me out a bit. I also hate the idea of being the spotlight when we’re on our trip – it is not something I ever like, let alone seek. But this was the weekend that worked and I wanted to go, so I made my choice. I know I’ll be glad I went.
I just finished reading American Wife by Curtis Sittenfeld. It is one of those books I wasn’t sure I wanted to read – it’s loosely based on the life of Laura Bush and I wasn’t sure I liked that angle or hook or whatever. But after reading it, I’m convinced, the author wasn’t trying to use the Laura Bush thing as an angle to intrigue or sell books, I think she saw in Laura Bush’s life the framework of a potentially great story and she ran with it. She is a really good writer – I really enjoyed another of her books, Prep, though I think this one is a more mature work – and the story is engaging and has a nice comfortable feel to it, somehow, despite the backdrops of grandeur. It is long, but well-edited and when I’m done I have the new Mary Kay Andrews and Susan Elizabeth Phillips books for some nice light reading.
We are incredibly behind on Olympics watching – just finally got through the Women’s Gymnastics finals last night and that was because I FFed through practically everything, including the irritating announcers. Our Women were AMAZING! They really nailed everything. I was sad for our men – their start was so promising! – but I did love seeing the Brit Blokes get a medal on home turf even if it wasn’t silver. Well deserved. Also, could Missy Franklin be cuter? She’s very poised for 17. She seems far older than the gymnasts near her age – maybe it’s the little girl voices?
A group of us are offering babysitting services and bringing meals to our friend who has breast cancer. It is a scary thing, though I know what amazing medical technology is available to her, all of us. In the meantime, what we can do is make things a bit easier on our friend and her family. Hopefully it will really help relieve their considerable burden and it helps us feel like we are doing something. I’m due next Wednesday and I have got to figure out what to bring. I want to bring a freezable main dish and some muffins for breakfasts and snacks, also freezable.
This morning we did a workout called “Pick Your Poision” where you select one exercise and do n of that exercise each minute. So the first minute you do 1, the second minute 2 and so on until you can’t do that many within the minute. I picked pushups and made it to 25 minutes. Now I can barely lift my arms. Washing my hair was painful. For those of you doing the math, yes, that is 325 pushups. Clearly I’m insane.
Last Tuesday was L-day … as in Launch Day. The kids had been looking forward to this for quite some time. It was the day we would set off the air rocket they built with daddy.
The concept of an air rocket is pretty simple. Rather than having some sort of slow burning onboard fuel, an air rocket is all the initial thrust. You use a cylinder to capture air at high pressure. The pressure comes from a standard bicycle pump. You then release the pressure suddenly, expelling the air straight up and into a rocket made with paper and reinforced with painter’s tape. NASA has a good description of some of the physics.
Tabby is getting to the point where she needs more to read than just sight words, but finding her books that are age appropriate and worth reading – let’s just say I’m not big on Fairy Princess Barbie books – is pretty darn hard. So when I saw Playdough to Plato’s great idea of making your own Easy Reader books, I knew I had to give it a go. I thought of going with the paper model, maybe putting it together in InDesign and printing it out, but then I thought that maybe I could make a Kindle Book! I’m techie, how hard could it be?? Turns out, happily, not very hard. Here’s how you do it.
A couple of notes: first of all, I did this on my Windows based PC. It looks like it would work for a Mac, but I don’t know and I don’t have a way to test. Also, from what I’ve read, the resulting file would work on a variety of eReaders, but since I only have a Kindle Fire, that’s all I’ve tested the file on. This is the method that worked for me and I’ve had no problems with it, but mileage may vary, etc. I am happy to have any feedback from you and I will try to help if I can!
What a week we had. Not only was it one of the busiest on the calendar, but it was just … weird. I received two pieces of very bad news … a divorce, a diagnosis. Neither belong to me, but both affect dear friends will continue to for years to come. It was hard and kind of depressing. You hate to see the ones you love in pain. Continue reading “Where’d that week go?”
So long ago I used to do the paper scrapbook thing … sorta. But I’d already been doing the digital image thing for long enough that the messiness of paper scrapbooking really bugged me. I also never liked the “overhead” involved in picking up and putting down a project. Digital is just my thing. So when Tabby was born, I tried to do some digital scrapbooking and I didn’t get too far. It was a good idea, but a few things plagued me. 1. I went too crazy and I got discouraged. I wanted to have all the photos and when I couldn’t find one, I’d get frustrated. And I wanted all my layouts perfect and super creative like the ones I saw online. 2. I got overwhelmed by volume – too much to catch up on! 3. I really didn’t have the time. Continue reading “Digital Scraptitude”
Is the weekend really almost over? It went by so fast!
The mercury was pushing the high 90s so Friday we went to the pool and stayed for hours. It was the only outdoors place to be, that’s for sure. It was so much fun hanging with our friends. That evening my family came over for Pizza and Downton Abbey (a great combo if there ever was one).
Saturday morning we had our friends’ boys with us. The kids played for a while and then we took them on a short expedition to IKEA where Matt and I looked for this and that and mostly didn’t find it. I did get a great new bin for Ben’s train tracks and some shelves for Ben’s room. The kids were hungry early and we took them to the restaurant for meatballs which they practically licked off the plate.
Saturday afternoon we had a birthday party for our friends’ kids. It was a nice low-key BBQ and we all enjoyed ourselves. Afterwards my parents picked up the kids for a date at Larkburger and a showing of Ice Age 4 – both were well-received. Matt and I meanwhile headed off to the 5th anniversary party for my gym, another nice lowkey BBQ affair. We hung around with all of my fab classmates and their spouses and celebrated Robyn, our awesome coach. We got to spend the rest of the night relaxing sans kiddos.
In the morning, Matt and I slept in REALLY late – I think that’s the first time in years I’ve slept past 9. Then we did stuff around the house – cleaned out the fridge, worked in the garage and hung Ben’s shelves. Then we hit the grocery store and went to get the kids. We ended up going out to lunch with my mom and before we knew it it was time to head home. Tabby had afternoon swim lessons. We had to rush to get there on time and as soon as we showed up, the pool was closed for lightning. Boo. Lessons rescheduled for later this week.
So now we are doing the Sunday night thing – getting ready for the week and doing just a bit more relaxing. It is quiet and nice.