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How Do You Spell….?

February 8, 2010 | No Comments »

We have been living inside a spelling bee for several weeks now.  My day starts sometimes as early as 5:30 with a whisper in my ear, “Mama, how do you spell ‘window’?” and if I don’t respond, “Mama, how do you spell ‘couch’?” and it’ll keep going until I start spelling.  In the car on the way to work I hear “Mama, how do you spell ‘tree’?” and “Mama, how do you spell ‘back hoe’?” or my personal favorite, “Mama, how do you spell ‘Signwithredinit’?” and “Mama, how do you spell ’somethingelse’?”   And my favorite response – “Wow, that’s a weird word”

The worst part of the inescapable spelling bee is that I’m pretty sure Xander thinks we’re like seals.  He asks and we perform.  I’m not convinced that there is any sort of retention or learning going on when we spell.  I think this because if you ask Xander to repeat what was just spelled, or even the first letter, he can’t (or won’t – not sure which) do it.  Which then leaves me wondering at 8pm when I’m trying to get the little man to sleep and he’s asking me “Mama, how do you spell ‘bear’?” why do I keep going?  I’m pretty sure it’s negative reinforcement, like when you pick up a phone to make it stop ringing, or pick up a tea kettle to get it to stop whistling.  I wonder when (and how) we’ll get out of this never-ending spelling bee…

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What’s worse than a sick kid? Two sick kids…

February 5, 2010 | 1 Comment »

I’m coming out of radio silence this week after juggling two rather sick boys for the week.  It started last Sunday with two very cranky boys.  We went for a drive to get out of the house – Xander of course needed to pee and for the first time ever, we got turned down when we asked to use a restroom.  Where, you ask?  The Campton Cupboard.  They have zero sympathy for pee-pee dancing 3 year-olds, so don’t even try.  Also, if you try to use the restroom in the Dunkin’ Donuts in Campton, be forewarned that it’s easier to pee outside than it is to try to skip in front of rude tourists in line.

Fast forward to several sleepless nights and two days home, first with Xander and then with Parker (who managed to catch another bout of RSV, complete with a 101.6 temperature and back onto nebulizer treatments).  Parker is still waking up between 2:30 and 3:30 every morning for a few hours, and Xander is still crying every morning that he doesn’t feel good and doesn’t want to go to school (please note that by the time we arrive at school he is running to get inside and play with his friends, so we’re not taking those complaints too seriously).

Evenings have been EXHAUSTING.  First, one kid will cry, and then before one of us can calm that one down, the other starts crying so we’ve had an almost constant flow of tears between the hours of 5pm and 8pm for the past 5 days.  Yeah, I’m on my pity wagon – all are welcome!  I’m hopeful that we’ll turn the corner this weekend and start to see more smiling and less crying.

Unfortunately, Xander has rediscovered his love of puzzles recently.  He’s getting quite good at putting them together on his own.  The biggest challenge is that Parker firmly believes that his primary role in our family is to pick up puzzle pieces and put them in boxes.  He couldn’t care less if anyone else might have wanted to use that particular piece.  This of course starts a great deal of arguments and the cycle continues until Parker goes to sleep. Ah, the joys of parenthood…

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Regrets?

January 28, 2010 | 3 Comments »

One of the bloggers I follow wrote a great post yesterday about her fleeting wishes.  Last year when I had Parker, I also had a tubal ligation.  Zach and I talked about it at great length.  I discussed it with my doctors, and we decided it was the right decision for our family.  I waffled a few times, I tried to convince Zach to get a vasectomy instead of me, but I would already be on the operating table, so it was logical for me to get it done instead of him going in for a separate procedure.

My doctor told me that the biggest side effect of a tubal ligation is regret.  I think that regret is too strong a word for what I feel.  I don’t regret the decision.  I love my children and I love the amount of sleep they usually allow me to get these days.  I worry that I don’t spend enough one-on-one time with them as it is and I can’t imagine adding a third little one into the mix and dividing my time even more.

But, sometimes as I’m drifting off to sleep (my children already slumbering peacefully in their own beds) I have this vision of a much older version of myself fluffing the train on a beautiful white dress worn by the daughter that I will never have.  Then the vision changes to the real older me, the mother of the groom.  I’ll be the one sitting in the front row, beaming at my child and my soon to be child-in-law.  But, that woman on the alter will have her own mother to fluff her gown and tell her she is the most beautiful bride in the history of brides – she won’t need me.  Then my vision shifts to a hospital where that same beautiful bride is now holding a squealing bundle of joy, and looking to her mother for guidance and approval while I stand in the back of the room, patiently waiting my turn and again, not needed.

And then, I see awesome things like this on the internet.  And I want one.  I want to build one and play with my children.  And sure, we could build one, and my kids might even have fun with it.  But, in all honesty, we are far more likely to end up with a tool bench in our house.  And then I look back at the past 3 days worth of KidSteals and I see “Adorable outfits by Twirls and Twigs” (all girls), “Visor Beanie for Coccoletta” (very cute for girls), “Comfy Quilted Dress” and then at Babysteals “Katelyn & Co. Crochet Headband & Jewel Flower Sets” (they were slightly better this week – offering “pee-pee t-pees and slings and diaper bags too).

And I think about stores like Wal-Mart and Target where there are rows and rows of girl clothes and accessories, and if I’m lucky, 3 racks of boy clothes.  I recall my first experience buying Xander big boy underwear and that I actually had to ask a clerk to help me find underwear that wasn’t pink and didn’t have a princess on it – just for the record, while there is an entire aisle dedicated to little girl underwear, there are exactly three different styles in one bin for boys.  Choices are dinosaurs, superheroes or Cars.

And then, I remember mother-daughter relationships.  So many highs, but also so many lows.  Screaming matches, stolen clothes, arguments over boys, and phones, and cars, and makeup.  PMS and weight control issues.  I am going to miss out on a lot of things not having a daughter.  Some of them my heart aches for, but others, I just smile and think “thank God I have boys”…

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Yeah, he’s pretty cute.

January 27, 2010 | 2 Comments »

Boys 001

This morning and yesterday morning Parker and Xander have ended up on the couch watching a few moments of Little Einsteins.  I assumed that Parker, in his post-sleep stupor was mostly vegging out on the couch with a bottle, which for a few crazy moments in the morning is just fine with me.

This morning though, while I was trying to talk Xander out of his pajamas and into his clothes, Parker raised both hands over his head.  I thought, “hmm, that’s a little random” but when I turned around to see what he was looking at, it wasn’t random at all – he was following the directions.  In every single Little Einsteins episode (I say this with confidence because I have seen every single episode) when they take off in Rocket the have this little take-off routine that they want your help doing, and the routine ends with “blast off” and hands over your head.

I don’t know when I missed that, but apparently Parker is perfectly able and willing to follow directions these days – I guess I’m going to have to start giving some!

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What’s For Dinner

January 26, 2010 | 1 Comment »

betty_crocker_spoonRecently I’ve noticed that as with most things, every family seems to have a different style when it comes to dinner – meal preparation and grocery shopping in particular.  Growing up, my dad went shopping for dinner supplies and whatever else we needed just about daily.  Zach’s family seemed to shop far less frequently.  Really, it seems to be whatever works for your family.

Yesterday I read a fascinating article about a woman in Texas who has planned out an entire year’s worth of meals.  Wow.  I admire that woman’s planning and forethought.  I can usually plan out about a week, but I have a hard time going further than that.  We’ve got several “family favorite” recipes, but I also like to throw something new into the mix occasionally.

If you’ve ever talked to me about food, I’ve probably told you that I am in love with bettycrocker.com.  I like being able to store recipes in an online recipe box.  I like the variety of recipes available to me, and that I can search by things like beef or chicken, or by things like slow cooker or event type.  If I could convince Zach to use it, I would love the shopping list feature too.  I’ve tried other sites like allrecipes.com, but I keep coming back to the familiarity and comfort of betty crocker.

So, what are we eating this week?  Well, Monday night is usually grocery shopping night for us (it’s much less busy than the weekends, and we’re often too busy to do shopping on the weekends anyway).  This means that my goal on Mondays is always to find something quick and easy because I know we won’t have much time to cook.  Last night we tried out a new “30 minute meal”.  Mac ‘n Cheese Shells with Sausage.  However, we did substitute several things – rotini instead of shells (they didn’t have small shells at the store Zach shopped at), Monterey Jack cheese instead of American, and breakfast sausage (cooked before added) instead of smoked sausage.  However, the result was still quite tasty.  Both boys ate a good amount of it, and Zach gave it a thumbs up as well!

Tonight Zach won’t be home (his weekly night out) so I try to opt for relatively quick and easy (i.e., boiling a pot of water and stirring something in with one hand while jiggling a cranky 1-year-old with the other and dragging a weepy 3-year-old on my leg).  So tonight we’ll have Broccoli and tortellini Alfredo.  This is already a favorite with the younger set.  Parker LOVES broccoli (yeah, I know, he’s a little weird) ;-) and Xander things anything pasta based is just about the best meal in the world.  I’ll be altering it slightly since I have a bag of egg noodles I’d like to use up, and that saved us buying tortellini this week.  We’ll see how it goes…

Tomorrow night we’ll have some Salisbury Steak with Mushroom Gravy.  We’ll probably have mashed potatoes on the side, and I like to make them like this lately (though I usually skip the bacon bits and green onions).  Xander is a big fan of cooked carrots, so I’ll probably heat up some frozen ones to go along with this meal.

Thursday night, we’re going to enjoy some tasty Smothered Chops with Bacon Bits.  I’ve got some extra broccoli to pair with this, and maybe some rice – we’ll see…

Friday night is our no cook or low cook night.  We often opt for a frozen pizza (which we usually doctor up with fresh veggies/cheese, and/or bacon and sometimes a side salad).

Since our weekend are usually crazy, busy and sometimes nowhere near our house, I don’t usually extend our dinner menus into the weekend.  Sometimes we’ll pick up extra supplies later in the week if we know we’ll be home, or we go with kid favorites – pb&j, grilled cheese, mac ‘n cheese, spaghetti, etc.

A few disclaimers: I am by no stretch of the imagination a “good” cook.  I opt for quick and easy 9 times out of 10.  I judge a recipe on the directions – if I can’t understand it, or it calls for something I don’t own (a dutch oven for example) then I skip it.  I don’t spend time learning new cooking tips or techniques.

Zach does the grocery shopping.  He is excellent at finding deals, and is familiar enough now with my list-making and planning that he’ll substitute or alter sometimes depending on cost and what we’re making that week.  This week’s bill was $70 (we of course didn’t buy every ingredient for every recipe – we’ve got basic cooking supplies) but that also included other things (a jug of water, cereal bars, conditioner, etc.)  We typically spend somewhere between $70 and $100 to feed our small family of 4 each week.  We don’t use coupons (unless they happen to be on the package) but we always shop for good deals.  Most of the time we find superstores like Wal-Mart to be more expensive than the local grocery store.

Zach enjoys cooking – he likes to learn new tips and techniques.  Where I am all about exact measurements and following a recipe, Zach enjoys pulling together a few ingredients and a basic idea and making his own creations (which almost always comes out delicious). Dinnertime cooking usually ends up in my lap, but not because Zach doesn’t want to, it just usually ends up that way – he’d be perfectly happy switching roles and doing the cooking while I entertained the children and sometimes he does (especially if we’re having a Mexican themed meal).

I’m sure it’s no surprise that every week is hit and miss with our kids.  Some days they love what we cook, and if we cook the exact same thing next week, they won’t touch it.  Xander more so than Parker is picky about food.  We don’t make a separate meal for anyone.  We don’t make them stay at the table until they’ve eaten everything (especially Parker because he starts to throw food when he’s done, and I hate having to clean all that up).  What we make for dinner is what is available to eat, and if they don’t want to eat it (they have to at least try it), then they don’t have to eat, but they won’t get anything else to eat either.  We very rarely eat dessert or treats in our house.  I’m not saying our methods are right or wrong, but this is what is working for our family right now.  This means that there are some nights when Xander goes to bed with very little to eat.  But, he doesn’t complain about being hungry, and he almost always eats a good breakfast and lunch.

If you haven’t noticed, I am a type-A personality who likes to have things in my life planned out.  I am uncomfortable not knowing what I will need to do when I get home from work. Where a loose schedule works great for some families, it stresses me out too much.  So what do you do – do you plan out meals?  How far in advance – daily, weekly, monthly, yearly??  I’m always looking for ideas and suggestions to streamline the process, which means I’m very interested in how your family tackles these daily routines ;-)