The week of March 28 through April 3, 2011

Menu Plan:

*Last week we didn't follow my plan. Kids were sick so when Mary offered to make a giant batch of homemade mac 'n cheese we were able to stretch that for a few meals. Which is kind of nice because now I have more stashed in the freezer for this week. I went to Sams on the 21st and spent a grand $600 yet we are almost totally out of food. I mean we have bread and milk but we've eaten through our produce and snacks and cheese ... hungry kids or inadequate supplies I guess. I'm determined to not shop until the 1st so we are working hard at being creative and eating our freezer stash.

Monday: Cereal/Alphabet Soup/Pasta/Spaghetti Squash with Marinara Sauce and Italian White Beans
*put enchiladas and roast in refrigerator
**make cookies ... no reason I just want cookies

Tuesday: Pumpkin Muffins/Mac 'n Cheese/Enchiladas with Spanish Rice
*thaw enchiladas and roast on counter
**make cheese biscuits for freezer

Wednesday: Cheese Biscuits for the road/Picnic/Leftovers

Thursday: Pancakes/Ramen/Shredded Italian Beef Sandwiches

Friday: Toast/Burritos/Pizza

Saturday: Donuts/Salami Mommy/Corn Dogs (Date Night :) ... I will NOT be eating corn dogs

Sunday: Bundt Cake/Picnic at Tartan Day/Nachos

I'm trying to adjust to our new schedule. Chess on Friday afternoon for the boys which allows me to make pizza with the girls while they are gone. Saturday dance class requires a picnic lunch and snacks. Also, being gone on Saturday and then going right into Date Night (which is a non-negotiable activity!) makes it necessary to be prepared for church by Friday morning-ish.

This week we have our first Texas field trip. I'm so excited. First, we are going to Mary of Puddin' Hill to make our own chocolate bars and tour the factory and, then, we are going to the Audie Murphy Museum which is right around the corner. It will take up all of Wednesday but should be fun. We also have the entire morning on Thursday at our new orthodontist reserved for our first visit. I kind of feel like the President must feel when they close someplace so he can just visit alone ... it seems silly.

We had our first Urgent Care visit since moving this weekend. Timothy's cold turned into a raging ear infection. He kept saying his ear felt plugged which didn't sound much like "pain" to me so I waited and by Saturday afternoon (between dance and date night) he had a fever and was miserable. The Urgent Care was amazing. In and out quickly and they gave him Ibuprofin and numbing drops on the spot. Not the most financially practical idea but definitely worth it this weekend. I can't decide if we have a new cold going around or if the previous cold is lingering but the little kids all have rotten coughs and noses. Even tiny Elijah (ok, so he's not so tiny anymore but ...).

The REAL secret to my pizza ...

Elijah, the pizza apprentice.

Elijah had to pick up the slack because the girls were practicing dance. Mary Stephens is the best big sister on the planet. The girls have their first Texas dance class in the morning.

The boys are at the UT Dallas chess club. Luke beat the top female player on the team and is so thrilled. Luke has had very few positive things to say about our move and him finding his niche at a new chess club will be a huge answer to prayers!

A morning in the life ...

Jacob reading Hank the Cowdog to the kids while Timmy and Anna make waffles.

Timmy and Anna cooking waffles.
Rachel and her dog, Anna, waiting for breakfast. I particularly like Anna's tag on her collar. It says, "Rose Bud 70009828" ... it sounds like her owners named her after their backwoods cousins, Rose and Bud, although I know she means "rosebud". I think the numbers are her owners phone number.

And so begins another day ... Lizzy's nose is the runniest nose I've ever seen ... I just gave her Benedryl at the beginning of the day which is a parenting no-no in that she'll be zonked by 10:00 a.m. but I just couldn't stand the icky-ness of it for one more second. Elijah is playing with his two new, little, white teeth with his pointy, little tongue ... it's adorable.

Isn't it always the way ...

... that when you determine to get back on track, start a new schedule or wake up earlier all of your kids get sick making it excruciating to do so? Sheeeesh. Dear Elijah was up sniffling, coughing, gagging and fussing all night. It's so hard to know what to do with a runny nosed baby. I propped him up but after a bit he either slid down or got annoyed that he was all propped up. At 4:30 Mike got up and took over so I could sleep which I did until Rachel and Timmy "cuddled me" at 7:07. It was super nice to sleep a little late but super hard to get going. Then I met Mike to drop off the van to be fixed making for even a later start. But, we survived, finished school, completely unpacked Rachel and Lizzy's room (2 girls in just one room, oh, I think I'm in Heaven) and seriously made a dent in the play room. The dent in the play room is partly due to me hiding several bins in Joe's room but that's a problem for another day ... that day being right before Joe comes home. Mary made us snickerdoodles this afternoon which would make any day sunnier and she and Luke also fed the littles dinner so that we could pick up the fixed van ($$$$) and Mike's new, altered suit for his big interview ($$$$). I am blessed and lacking in $$$$ ... ha!

I'm noticing areas where the younger kids are needing work in school. A verb is a .... 8 times 7 is ... oh, and Rachel can't seem to remember 15. She counts 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 16, 17 ... which I think is so funny. I mean I'd forget 17 long before 15. I've taken post-it notes with the numbers on them and placed one on each tile in our entry way. She has to hopscotch up to 20 or by 5's up to 100. She loves this and will do it indefinitely but still can't remember 15. Darn that number 15! It is her nemesis.

Ok, I'm tired and giddy and ready for bed. Our kitten, the school distraction pictured earlier this week, will snuggle her little face right up against mine and then curl up at my feet if I catch her at just the right moment. You know cats ... you don't know if they are going to love you or claw your eyes out at any one moment so I must go before I miss the moment!

A day in the life ...

Along the lines of "the dog ate my homework" Timmy can claim that "the cat slept on his homework". How's a boy supposed to do math with this distraction?

Timmy's solution was to switch subjects and move to the couch.
Lizzy is so happy to be back in a routine ... she loves "Blanket Time".
Rachel was pleased with her school work ...
Anna was not. It's rough getting back into the swing of things when all you really want to do is go climb a tree.
Ben perched his way through school ... why is this a comfortable way for him to sit?
I would have taken a picture of Jacob but he finished his school super fast and disappeared to play with his Lego Knights.
I found this picture in the camera so he had to come down at some point to find the camera but was stealth-like so as not to disturb school.

Mary and Luke hid away and worked hard to catch up. The move has been the hardest on them because their school gives them reports that show how far behind they are ... I think Mary's told her she'd be doing school through August 9th ... but we'll catch up ... I'm not worried.

Joe made it home safely. My wonderful parents drove up to DIA from Castle Rock, picked him up and took him to Ft. Collins. Above and beyond the call of grandparenthood. What a relief to have family loving Joe while he's away.

We finished school and while we lost park privileges due to lack of chivalry among a few not-to-be-named boys we did make it to The Purple Cow for shakes in the afternoon. A good day was had by all.

Now I'm whirling up one of my last 3 (there were 4 but one was lost in the move) pumpkins form my garden to make Pumpkin Bundt Cake for breakfast tomorrow ... or maybe muffins ... we'll see. And Mike thought it was silly to move 4 pumpkins.

Day One of the New Reality ...

In bed by 10:30, up at 11:00, 2:00, 2:30, 3:00, 3:30, 4:00, 4:30 ... finally stayed up. Josiah is off to the airport with Mike, Lizzy and Rachel are sniffling on the floor watching a movie (yes I turned on the t.v. at 4:30 a.m. ... the horror), Jacob is sniffling on the couch, Eli is sniffling in my bed and I'm making coffee. It wouldn't be the first day back without a rough start I guess. Off to read God's word and take a long hot shower. We'll see what the day holds!

"Sing to him a new song; play skillfully, and shout for joy." Psalm 33:3

Despite being tired I intend to "play skillfully" today ... after we finish chores and school, of course.

Back to Reality ...

We've been in Texas 3 weeks, Spring Break is over and now it's time to dive back into reality. Schedules, school, chores, menu plans and budgeting all have been cast to the side for much too long. Plus, this week all the kids got sick. Fevers, sore throats, runny noses and such. So far little Eli hasn't gotten sick which really is miraculous. So, with great trepidation, we will dive in head first. The menu for the week will be the following:

Monday - Cereal/Bean Burritos/Spaghetti

Tuesday - Muffins/Mac 'n Cheese/Enchiladas

Wednesday - Pancakes/Potatoes/Sloppy Joes

Thursday - English Muffins/Sandwiches/Quiche

Friday - Toast/Left-overs/Pizza

Saturday - Donuts/Sandwiches/Soup

Sunday - Coffee Cake/Nachos/Pot Roast

Anyone who has followed me for a while will notice my menus are becoming increasingly simpler ... pretty soon I'll just write food/more food/even more food. I've actually tried to change up my menu recently and my brain just has no more room for change. I have to stick with what I'm used to at this point or I pass out ... kidding ...

When we first arrived I began "training" Ben, Jacob and Timothy to take over "Kitchen Duty" from Josiah, Mary and Luke. This has been something that needed to change for ages but I just hadn't taken the time to do it ... and now I know why ... teaching 8, 10 and 11 year old boys to clean a kitchen takes time and energy ... both of which I don't have. But it must be done. The first few days the new job was a novelty and the boys energetically took on the challenge. Now, the novelty has worn off and it's just plain work. Plus, being in Texas, we have BUGS if we don't clean well so I have to inspect and help. At each meal one boy must wash the dishes, sweep the floor and wipe the surfaces. The three little girls will clear the table and put things away. I think we'll go back to using paper plates more often with this new plan ;) .

Mary and "the girls" have taken over the laundry. Literally. I don't see it, touch it, fold it or put it away. Mary is doing an amazing job staying on top of it and for some reason she enjoys it ... I love this girl. Luke has all trash duties and will manage the cleaning of our main bathroom ... you know the one that 12 people (ok, so Eli doesn't do much damage yet but just wait until he potty trains) use non-stop all day long. Gross. Mary is also cleaning the kids bathroom upstairs which isn't much better than the other one but it's mainly used at night and in the morning. I'll clean the master bath. Our vacuum isn't working well so I've used that as an excuse to not assign vacuuming yet. At this point it goes to whoever is either closest to me or who needs to be put to work the most. I'll sit down at some point this week and figure out more chore details but that's where things stand right now.

Josiah flies back to Colorado tomorrow. His visit went way too fast but we did have a nice time. He may come home for Easter and his birthday in April but we'll have to see. So far we have 5 birthday, Chess Nationals, Highland Dance Regionals and Easter all in April. Oi. Mike has a BIG job interview in Austin on Thursday with Dell. If he starts this job it will mean global travel but would be an amazing opportunity. I'll keep you posted on that front but for now I'm off to figure out dinner and get ready for the week.

We are here, we are here, we are here ...

... and it feels great. It's been a little over two weeks since we arrived but such a busy two weeks it feels like a year. Leaving Colorado was extremely sad and our stop over in Amarillo was less than stellar BUT when we pulled up to our house in Texas two of our dear family friends were cleaning our house top to bottom. It was about the most heart warming, encouraging thing I've ever experienced. We were tired, over-whelmed and concerned as to what we'd find and our friends presence was so affirming. There was a lot of work to be done between installing new carpet, painting the walls in the rooms where dogs had been locked with Kilz (awful tenants), unloading the truck, fixing 5 years worth of neglect all on top of the dailies. We've made great progress but it will take months to get settled I think. Our friends have showered us with help and meals and fellowship which has eased the trauma of so much upheaval.

Josiah came down for Spring Break this week. We are enjoying having him home and hoping he can begin to love our home as much as we do. Our house is so much bigger than our Colorado home and the space feels great. The neighborhood is filled with kids including another home schooling family. North Texas is growing and has been well planned making it a really nice, family-friendly place to live. We have no complaints although will always have the occasional longing for family and mountains.