A Day In My House

The “Spring Forward” time change weekend is this weekend  (March 14th)

- How many days will it take us to recover from that one lost hour of sleep?

Easter is less than a month away.

- Not a fan of Easter baskets when it comes to filling them with candy. With Andrew’s peanut allergy, finding nut-free candy is always a challenge. (… as it was with Valentine’s Day and Halloween. Speaking of which, why does October through April have to bring a perpetual influx of candy?

- In the past, I’ve done Easter buckets with digging tools for the backyard, books, and only a little candy. This year, I’m thinking along the same lines. I’ve already bought some nut-free jelly beans and chocolate eggs. To add to that, I stumbled upon a Klutz book – Bristlebots (Watch video, see book). It’s basically a battery contraption you add to the head of a toothbrush (both provided), and then watch them walk, race, etc. They look really cool, and I expect they’ll be a big hit. I also bought some paints and paper, and a race car kit for each of them to assemble and paint.

Vacationing in my hometown

- And later in the month, we’ll be packing up for a long drive (7 hours) to visit my family. A much anticipated visit. Usually a once-a-year-visit (hoping for two this year). Looking forward to spending some quality time with relatives, watching them get reacquainted with my 6 1/2- and 5-year-old versions of my kids, and enjoying just being together.

As with each spring, I start on a list of high hopes – plans to do this or that with the boys over the summer.

This year, I really do want to plan some fun things to do with them. But the keys to our (my) success are going to be:

• Pace ourselves. Don’t try to plan a special something for every day of the week. Plan a special outdoorsy or craft thing for one day a week. Then have a rotating list of things to fill the other days, along with free play. Story time. Errands. Play date. Lunch Out. Class at the community center.
• Break from the norm. I remember from last year, that things like painting on canvases on the deck, was what they so enjoyed and have asked to do again and again. And, on a perfectly mild summer day, it was therapeutic and relaxing for me too. Unimaginably so.
• Go old-school. Do things like they did them back in the old days. Hang a sheet and let them paint on it and then use it as a curtain for a stage. Make an obstacle course in the back yard. Make mud pies.
• And throw in some real school. Practice math and reading with boy boys some each week.

What not to do? Don’t let the summer pass by having shared nothing special with my all-day time with my kids. Don’t wish for it to hurry and be over, having them both in school full-time. Instead, enjoy the here and now. Savor it. Cherish every moment.

I’m intrigued by the whole process of deciding what to cook for dinner. Many take the approach of “what do I have on hand” and some of those only do so an hour before they plan to eat? Others may go to the store every couple of days to buy for the immediate future. Some purchase prepared, ready-to-eat foods or frozen, throw-in-the-oven type foods. Some purchase kits or mixes that they can assemble and bake. Some buy the staples and prepare a meal from memory – no recipe needed. And still others, actually prepare meals from recipes most nights.

I fall in this latter category the majority of the time. I’ve been known to rely on a frozen bagged entree here and there, and frozen pizzas too. But for the most part, I look through my recipes each week deciding what to cook for the next week ahead. I usually do this Thursday, and shop Friday. And while I do have a list I rotate through, it is not as helpful as it seems.

This week’s selections are:

Saturday - Kielbasa and Sauerkraut (slow-cooked) with roasted red potatoes, and broccoli

Sunday - Slow-cooked Beef (using stew meat instead of a roast this time), carrots and potatoes

Monday - Spinach and Swiss quiche with biscuits (a throw-in for the kids)

Tuesday - Tamale Pie

Wednesday - (night off from cooking; eating pizza at church)

Thursday - Herb Parmesan Chicken (my sister’s recipe, which I’ve made once before, and then not successfully) with corn and carrots

Feel free to share your process, a week of meals in your house, or your favorite family dishes.

As the afternoon high approached 40 degrees Saturday, the kids had already been outside for what was probably two hours. It started as a reason for Josh to play with his new hula hoop and bubble gun (both scored on a birthday-money-spending-trip to Target). It transitioned to Bob and the boys disassembling an old computer for fun.

The fresh air did them good. And I enjoyed the quiet time in the house. It all results in begging for more. More outdoor time, more fresh-air time. And warm, spring weather to usher it all in.

In case yesterday’s quotes weren’t enough for you, here’s one more. Below is a conversation we had yesterday. I was at the table working on a grocery list while Josh was within ear shot washing his hands in the bathroom.

Josh: Mom, if you ever tried soap, I want you to know, it would taste sour.

Me: How do you know?

Josh: Because I tried doing that before.

Me: You tried soap?!

• Hospitals can’t fix dead.
• If you eat a paper napkin you would die.
• He prefers to say “yes” as “yase” (long a)
• Wouldn’t it be cool if a shark got eaten by another shark!
• Here in Ohio, we don’t have many rainbows. (as he colored a picture of a Leprechaun)
• Josh to Andrew: Princesses live at the very top of the castle. Did you know that?

I’m here and I know you are looking for something enlightening or charming or at the very least entertaining. But today I have nothing special or funny or interesting to share.

Fighting some sickness, and just planning to snuggle up with my 5-year-old (as much as he’ll let me) in between the normal stuff (chores).

Thankful to be at home and thankful for warmer weather heading here this weekend.

Enjoy your day and I’ll try to muster something up for tomorrow!

March is here! Welcome!

Even though it was 25 degrees with a 17 degree wind chill this morning, it still feels different knowing the month is now March. Because March brings hope – we know that the warm up is on its way, although it may be two more months before we feel it. We know March brings spring break and initiates the next three months of school which will now seem to fly by.

For us, Spring Break will bring a trip to visit my family in Kentucky – a long awaited trip and one much looked forward to.

My favorite part of spring, is the flowers that will poke their head from the ground gracing it with beautiful colors against the dead greenish-brown grass color, probably still decorated with intermittent piles of snow. (Hear that snow clouds? Intermittent! – No more of this 4 to 8 inches. No more 9 inches. No 12 inches, as March of two years ago brought us.)

So although the weather may be exactly the same as the last day in February, the outlook is much brighter, cheerful and happy, headed March-ward.

St. Valentine, as in Valentine’s Day.. is still on my mind – specifically, how
this holiday is named after someone. It got me to thinking, if a holiday were
named after me, what would I hope that it would celebrate? (Note that this is not an exercise in vanity, but rather, thinking about how one might hope to be remembered.)

Organization. Planning. List Making. Nah. While those are qualities that help
define me, they are not something holiday-worthy.

It has to be bigger. It has to be celebration-worthy. It should be good and the
spreading of it should be worthwhile and special.

I love to cook for friends and family. I enjoy preparing and serving. Food
brings with it a quality of connection, conversation, sharing. Sitting down to
dine with friends or delivering a meal to someone brings a satisfaction that is
just pleasing to the soul.

So I think, maybe, I would hope that a holiday named after me would celebrate
hospitality. To someone you know. Or even a stranger. Offering something to
them, for no reason in return. Just because.

What would a named-after-you-holiday celebrate?

You might first wish to read Part 1 – List of Things To Do.

To recap, Andrew wishes to visit:

1. Egypt
2. Canada
3. Haiti
4. California

I love the pure innocence with which Andrew makes his “when I grow up” plans. It’s adorable and cute. But in the back of my mind I think he’s likely never to do those things.

But then, I think to myself, I don’t want to squash his dreams. Rather, I want to encourage him to do exactly what he wants to do. And I want to believe that he can and will. Sure his list might change by the time he is old enough to accomplish them, and that’s ok. But if it doesn’t change or if his list contains other equally aspiring things (and also easily dismissed because they appear to be too big of an obstacle to overcome) then I hope I am there to remind him. I will remind him that he can do what he sets out to do, and that he should do what he wants to do. God put the desire in his heart for a reason, and God has big plans, too.

I need to take my own pep talk to heart when contemplating my own aspirations – that mental list we all keep of things we would love to do. And maybe all of us should. What if, just what if… we, as grown ups, actually did them?