Spoiled child.

I was a spoiled child. I still am. :) I try not to take things for granted though but I know as a child when you don't know any different, you just really don't know any different. That's just the way life is. That's the way life is for my kids as well. They are the only cherished children with lots of adults around that love them. FG and I knew this would happen when we gave birth to them. We saw it coming and we talked about how we wanted to make sure they didn't become spoiled brats.
So yesterday Pop (my dad) picked up DS from school and took him to buy a tackle box and some fishing gear. DS has found a love of fishing. I grew up fishing. Pop took me fishing when I was born practically and I grew up in a little fishing boat in Northern Wisconsin. My whole family fished. FG does not fish. But somehow DS got the gene and loves it. He's been talking about it for years. Pop is thrilled that he can do this with his grandson. So off they went to buy DS his very own tackle box. Awhile ago DS also asked for a PSP because his buddy on the bus has one and lets him play it with him sometimes. Pop had won a PSP a few years ago and it's been sitting in the box ever since. Really, what is a 60 year old man going to do with a PSP? Play Manhunt? Uh, sure that will bring up some lovely Vietnam War memories for him! So Pop told DS he would give him the PSP. I tried to convince him to wait and give it to him for Christmas but nope, Pop wanted him to have it now.
Let's review: over the weekend DS got a giant set of Legos inherited from me. Friday he got take out dinner AND ice cream for having an awesome week at school and bringing home incredible grades and just simply trying really really hard. He won a free cone gift certificate from school for his hard work. Yesterday he got a special treat of going with Pop. He also got another ice cream, a new tackle box and gear that he got to pick out, a PSP AND a game that he picked out at the store and Pop bought him.
So last night when he started asking for more things FG LOST IT. When we both said to him, "Will you think about all of the great things you have just received and not be greedy asking for more and appreciate all that you already have?!" he said, "Oh yeah, I have gotten a lot except I didn't get....." I don't think he ever even got there. FG grabbed him and hauled him off his chair. It was more dramatic because the chair went down from DS's leg hooked to it. That scared the crap out of DS. DS was sent to the dining room with his dinner plate to eat alone and think about being greedy. And he had to go get his brand new PSP and game and turn it over. He is incredibly bummed. We are simply hoping that he will appreciate it a bit more when he gets it back.
We both talked to him separately after we calmed down about wanting more and more things. I've also tried to get him to understand it's ok to want things but we have to think about what we NEED first and the list of NEEDS is a lot smaller than wants. However NEEDS come first and if there is money left after the needs, then sometimes we can choose a want.
We do not buy the kids things regularly. We've attempted to put a stop to the incessant buying of things by the grandparents as well. That isn't always successful. But we do talk to the grandparents as well about how we want appreciative kids, not spoiled brats. We make the kids say thank you and talk to them about how we get money. DS earns an allowance now. He seems to be getting it where money comes from and how you get it. We talk about how things are expensive and how hard Daddy has to work to get certain things. At almost 8 it is sinking in a bit. DD is learning by watching him as well. She sees him doing his chores and getting an allowance and sees him saving it. We go to the toy store and he pays for what he picks out with his own money. Often when he's asking for something when we are out, I'll ask him if he brought his allowance. That usually quickly ends the whole thing and he forgets that he ever wanted said item at all.
Still, we refuse to have a spoiled brat. We are making DS earn back the PSP and every time he brings up wanting something I remind him of why he lost it and how that attitude isn't going to get it back any quicker. FG and I have already decided we'll keep it for three days. He really is a good kid, we just want to keep it that way!

Menu Plan Monday/Caramel Corn Recipe

FWEW! What a weekend. You can read about the neighborhood escapades here. The rest of the weekend was pretty low key - birthday party for DS's classmate, SMA came to dinner. I played lots of games with the kids, found my ahem, ancient, Lego set from when I was a kid and gave it to DS. That's all he did all weekend was play with Legos. I had written my name on the box so he wrote his name next to mine. It was pretty cute. Then he told me I was "damaging his youth" because I had my headphones on and couldn't hear what he was saying. So I was damaging his youth by "ignoring him". I informed him I was simply trying to silence the "little voices in my head." Tell it to your therapist in 20 years, ok kid? DD was particularly clingy this weekend, which is unusual for her.

FG has to take off for work and he will be gone most evenings before he goes. Happy Happy Joy Joy. not.

• Sunday - Lasagna w/ sausage, salad, fresh bread, caramel corn* and rice krispie treats for dessert.
• Monday - Stuffed chicken breasts, roasted rosemary red potatoes, grilled eggplant with parmesean cheese
• Tuesday - French Bread Pizzas for the kids, Sweet & Sour pork stir fry for me and maybe some for FG if he doesn't eat at his meeting. Otherwise - leftovers for me!
• Wednesday - Shrimp & pasta w/ veggies
• Thursday - Soup & grilled cheese
• Friday - Spaghetti & bread
• Saturday - Make Your Own Pizza Night w/ some kid friends over to play.
• Sunday - Mom & Dad's for dinner. :)

The Caramel Corn is so yummy and really easy to make. I made it last year for DS's class Holiday party and the teachers are the ones who didn't want to share it. I almost bought a box of Crunch & Munch the other day and thought, nope, I can make caramel corn pretty easily! Then I know exactly what's in it and how long it's been sitting there too.

Caramel Corn

10-12 cups popped popcorn (not microwave)

1 cup packed brown sugar

1/2 cup margarine or butter

1/4 cup light corn syrup

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

Heat oven to 200 degrees. Divide popcorn between 2 ungreased rectangular pans (I use my large turkey roasting pan and do it all in one).

Heat brown sugar, margarine, corn syrup and salt in 3 quart saucepan over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until bubbly around edges. Cook 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, remove from heat. Stir in baking soda. Pour over popcorn; stir until well coated. Bake 1 hour, stirring every 15 minutes.

You can add nuts to the pan of popcorn before pouring the liquid on top. Store in an airtight container for 1-2 weeks (if it lasts that long).

4 Police cars, two firetrucks, one ambulance, two towtrucks

That is what FG woke me up to see at 4:30 am. Oh wait, I missed the firetrucks.
I thought it was morning when he stood next to my side of the bed and woke me. I was sleeping hard but when I opened my eyes I saw him standing next to me, dressed in his usual "working around the house" clothes and it was bright. Then I realized it was artificially bright, not sunny bright. He just said, "You have to come check out what's going on."
Sleepily, I hopped out of bed thinking it was something with the kids. Then I notice the bright light is coming from the street and it's shining right into the front of our house. We have a big window with no window covering (for a couple more weeks anyway, we just order the shade finally after 8 years!) above the front entryway. The window is directly across from our bedroom doors and it and the opening to below are between the two kids rooms. I can see from there that it is an ambulance. I ask if it's the old lady across the street and FG says "No, it's those kids." I mumble something about them having a party and he tells me no, no party. I ask what time it is and he tells me it's 4:30. I'm thinking What the hell are these kids doing at 4:30 in the morning? This is such a quiet neighborhood. By mistake, we've left our garage door open a few times, the front door unlocked, the windows open downstairs and nothing has EVER happened. But lately there has been a few kids, friends of a teen girl across the street, who make me nervous. The mom across the street is certainly Not-Mother-Of-The-Year. From what we can tell, she has 3 kids by 3 different men. The old lady, her mother, is on oxygen and smokes up a storm on the front porch - with the mom and the teen girl and teen girl's friend. One teen girl is actually supposed to live up the street a bit. I don't know details at all but she lives across the street with the messed up family and I rarely see her go to her actual parents home. It was her friends who have been the issue lately. The teen girl who actually lives there (daughter of Not-Mother-Of-The-Year) had her boyfriend living there with her. From what I can tell, he's over 18, she is 16. I'm figuring they want Grandma to be a Great-Grandma before she croaks from smoking????
So yeah, it's not a regular, nuclear household by any means. Teen Girl "M" has had some trouble, which is I guess why she lives there instead of with her parents a few doors down. I dunno. But I called the police the other day because I have had it with her and two guy friends sitting in a car outside all the fucking time. If N-M-O-T-Y won't even let these boys in her house then that tells me they really are trouble. I watched them roll a joint. Then I swear I saw one with a needle. FG said maybe he's diabetic. Um, ok, possible but highly improbable if you look at him. So I called the neighbor who is a Sheriff and he said he'd call his buddies. His kids play with my kids nearly every day so he & I are on the same wavelength. I do NOT need this shit across the street from my home. Not in my very quiet neighborhood. Who knows what these kids will do if they really are into such hard stuff? I don't even want to take a risk with my home and family.
Fast forward to last night, well, very early this morning. FG and I go into our bonus room where we can see the street very well. He told me he went out and talked to the Sheriff and told them about the issues with the white car. They gave him the low-down on what was going on.
Apparently, there were about 15 or so cars vandalized on a nearby street. They got a description of a Jeep Cherokee and found it parked across from our house along with the white VW. FG told them he has never seen that Jeep before but told them what we had seen go on in the VW in the past few days. The Sheriff told FG that while they were questioning one of the kids, he passed out, thus the firetrucks and ambulance. I think he blew some ridiculous number so he was more than 3 sheets to the wind. He told FG that when they questioned the kids about some vandalism one of them said, "We don't know anything about any windows." The Sheriff chuckled and said, "I never said windows." So they knew they had the right kids. The kids had used an air rifle to shoot out the windows of the cars.
FG and I watched for TWO HOURS as they questioned the kids separately, had them write statements, scoured the vehicles and found various drug paraphernalia (a couple of pipes that we could see and some baggies and a jar), one father showed up - the one of the kid who passed out and he was released to his dad, and finally we watched four kids get patted down and handcuffed - ON OUR FUCKING SIDEWALK. FG and I sat on DS's floor because his window was open and we could hear what was going on. They got something like 15 FELONY counts of destruction of property.
Then they rang the doorbell of the house across the street. Teen girl "M" came to the door, talked to the cops and then went back inside and shut the door. They waited and waited for awhile. They searched the bushes and found what I think was a BB gun and they took it. Thank goodness because I'm sick of those stupid plastic colored BB's all over my grass, driveway and sidewalk! Those don't hurt anything except, well, you know, you could shoot out an eye. hee hee. Finally M came back outside and the officers went inside. N-M-O-T-Y got up and we could see her as well. The officers brought out another kid and arrested him.
Later in the morning, FG was out pulling weeds and N-M-O-T-Y came to talk to him. She told him what happened from her side. She said M had been in the car with these boys when they shot out the windows. They came back here thinking the police wouldn't find them. Well, when they went inside the house M told them there were no boys there but they found the boy hiding in the closet (the one they brought out and arrested).
All in all, 4 juveniles got in BIG trouble and 1 "adult" (the kid was probably barely 18) got in big trouble. 3 juvies went to juvenile hall, one went home with his really pissed off looking dad and one "adult" went to jail. Two cars were thoroughly searched, pipes and pot was seized and the cars were towed. FG and I went back to sleep for about an hour from 7-8 and I was very thankful my kids are late sleepers. I'm amazed that they didn't wake up with all the commotion and lights. Their windows were open and all of this was going on right in front of their windows. I took the opportunity to have a little chat with DS this morning about choosing good friends. He is so in fear of getting in really big trouble (you should have seen our house when I thought he said "nigger" the other day. OMG, that is a whole other story. I was too shocked to yell which I think scared him more. Turns out he didn't say it - whew!). So we talked about how it's best to listen to your heart if other people are doing things you know aren't right and how it's ok to walk away from people like that. I sat there last night watching the whole scene thinking, "Oh my God, I hope and pray I never have to be the parent on the other side of this mess."
I also hope and pray that the teen girl M straightens herself out and chooses better friends. She was a crying mess watching her boyfriend and friends get hauled off. Yes sweetie, it IS real and it is wrong to just go be destructive. Yes, you can screw up your life by one little "joyride". I also hope I never see those kids again in my neighborhood. You can bet I won't hesitate to call the cops if I do.

One of those 6 silly things Meme thingamabob's

Just because I know you are all dying to know these things about me....

1. I have a hard time cooking without an apron on. I absolutely cannot bake without one on. In fact, you will often find me wearing an apron from late afternoon until I put the kids to bed on a weekday and nearly all day on a weekend if I'm home and in the kitchen.


2. I always rip off the necessary T.P. prior to peeing. Don't know why but I just noticed that I do that. Weird huh?


3. FG has a new nickname for me, "CSI". He says I am the freaking CSI of this house and know what goes on when I'm not looking or not here. Example: We got home Saturday night and I said, "K got M to bring her down some carrot cake." (K is the babysitter, M is her friend that lives down the street). FG shook his head wondering how the hell I figured that one out. I can figure out all sorts of things that go on when I'm not around and I've been known to glance in the garbage to figure it out.


4. I have an irrational fear that a plane will crash into the house.


5. I have an irrational fear that some "bad guy" will scale my front porch and get up on the lower roof, sneak into DD's bedroom and steal her. I should fear that she, as a teen, will go the opposite way. Bars will be installed on her windows in the next few years.


6. I try to do all my laundry in one day as well as get it folded and put away. When I hang things on the clothesline, I do it in an order so it's easier to accomplish that. (things that need ironing go on the line first so they get taken off last and put immediately into the ironing basket, then FG's golf shirts because they need to sit on top of the pile or they get all wonky in the collar, then the kids shorts/skirts etc, then my the kids t-shirts, then mine, then FG's t-shirts so they are taken off the line first and in the bottom of the basket. Once washed and dried, he is responsible for his own clothes - I don't fold or put them away I just pile them on his side of the bed. I do fold the kids and put DD's away but DS gets a basket in his room to put his own away.) Yes, I would agree I am very anal about the laundry process.


7. And a bonus, I like to clean the whole house all in one day. That gives me the power to look at my family and tell them how I worked my ass off cleaning the house and I would like it to stay clean for longer than 5 minutes. It usually lasts about 10 before someone does something to mess it up.

Ups & Downs

I'll start with the downs so I can end on a good note!

• The acting class I tried to sign DS up for (the same one he's taken in the past) is FULL! That not only screws us up, it screws up my friend who we were going to carpool with. Hopefully someone will drop out because he's 1st on the waiting list. If not, my research for another activity begins.
• The economy sucks. I'm tired of it. I'm tired of watching the news and sometimes just watch fluff tv instead because it's a much better escape from reality.
• I can't go on my girls night out tonight and FG and I got into a fight about it. True, I should have looked at his schedule and but when I asked him if he had plans he said no. There is something on his schedule but it begins at noon. How am I to know that it's going to last until after 7 pm???
• It's freaking cold at night! I had to shut the window at 2:30 because I was cold under my down comforter! It's almost time to turn on the heat.
• The filters need to be changed.
• The yard looks like crap. The weeds have taken over. I cannot do it all and have told FG he better not be playing golf this weekend!
• He has to leave town for work again soon. Leaving me with a week alone - over a weekend too. ick.
• DD is growing like a little weed. I have trouble keeping her in shoes and clothes that fit! DS on the other hand I'm feeling like needs some new clothes because he's got the same shirts he wore in Kindergarten. He's in 2nd grade for God's sake!

Now the ups!!

• FG is not playing golf this weekend and I've already warned him he has a To Do list. He agreed and told me he expected it. He is good like that and doesn't mind if I give him a list. His request is that I write it out for him so he knows exactly what I would like him to get done. Most of the time, he does 100% of it too!
• I'm going to buy filters now. He will install them this weekend. :)
• FG surprised me and bought my season ski pass. Whoohooo!! Now I have to pray for snow. I hope we have a winter like we did last year. Not only do we really need the water, it was an awesome ski year and I DIDN'T GO ONCE! DS didn't go once. DD has never gone and really wants to. But this year with a pass again I plan to drop her off at preschool and head up the hill for a few runs before I pick her up on the way home. It will be GREAT!
• We are finally moving forward with one of the house projects we want to do. Last year it was the stone patio outside. This year I feared we wouldn't be able to do anything. But we had a contractor that is a client of FG's come over this morning to sketch out built in's for the front room.

It looks a bit different there now, this is several years old and the toys are all moved to the playroom we had built 4 years ago. But behind the doors of the cabinet is my computer and where I am at this exact moment. We've never been happy with the look of the entire wall and it was never the "vision" I had when we moved in. Now it will be one 7' high unit that goes along the entire wall. You can't see to the right of the bookshelves is another filing cabinet and then a little 1 1/2' pop out wall. This whole area is one big open room with the family room to the right of what you see. It's been a great layout with little kids, it just needs to be more aesthetically pleasing and functional. I'm SO excited!!!!

Menu Plan Monday!

I sat down with a notebook the other day and went through all the stuff I have in my freezer. I listed out what I could make with each meat item and if there were going to be leftovers, what I could make with those. I'm really trying to stretch it and see if I can go at least a month without needing to get anything but fresh foods. I'm 2 weeks in and think I'm doing pretty good!

This week's planned menu:

• Sunday - Roasted Pork Loin, stuffing, veggies, sugar cookies
• Monday - Beef Tips & Noodles*, veggies
• Tuesday - School Fundraiser Night
• Wednesday - Mom's Night out/FG & the kids will have hot dogs w/ homemade chili sauce, pasta salad, fruit
• Thursday - FG works, the kids and I will probably have a frozen pizza
• Friday - Sloppy Joes made from the homemade chili sauce on Wednesday, french fries, veggies
• Saturday - leftovers

* * Exported from MasterCook *
Beef Tips and Noodles in the crockpot
Amount Measure Ingredient -- Preparation Method

1 lbs. stew meat -- (1 to 2)

1 med. onion -- sliced

1 tbs. oil

1 can beef broth

1/3 cup flour

1 cup water
Saute onion slices in oil until tender and browned.Remove from skillet and put into crock.Brown stew meat in same skillet in onion/oil drippings.Remove from skillet into crock.Pour broth over meat and onions - season if desired (we like things more seasoned so I added some seasonings to ours. I also salt & peppered the meat as I browned it.)Cook in crock pot on low for 6-8 hours.I hour before serving, mix flour and water until smooth. Pour into crock pot and stir to combine. Continue cooking until thickened.
Serve over egg noodles

Pop over to Laura's site for many many more menu plans!

Also, update on the pork loin. I used a different roast and it was good but I needed more liquid in the pan to make any sort of sauce. It took forever to bake and the sauce just turned to baked on gunk. The roast was excellent itself, very moist with good flavor. Also, the sugar cookie dough is still in the fridge for me to make today so no cookies. I did make homemade baking powder biscuts that were yummy!

Forget OPK's, it's OKP!

I'm irked. One of my biggest parenting pet peeves next to parents who say "No", "No", "No", "Ok". to their kids when begging for something is parents who act like they deserve special treatment because "THEY HAVE A CHILD!" Not to put anyone down, but I've found this to be a problem more so with parents who have one child or one child and a new baby. Not every one is like that but it's an observation I've made. I'm sure I was the same though I've always tried to be aware of it and realize other people exist in the world too. You all have seen it, it's the parents who expect the waiter at the restaurant to bring their food quicker/hotter/cooler before other patrons because they have a child with them. The parent who thinks they need to cut in line because they have a child with them (though I have asked for a "pass" in a public restroom at a basketball game once while P/T my DD and the understanding mothers in front of me were happy to help me out. I will freely admit to that but know that I did it ONCE.). The parents who want the better parking spot because they have to get their child out of the car and into the massive stroller because those shopping carts are just icky and they wouldn't dare place their precious cargo in one, even with a seat liner!

Yesterday was a birthday party for my friend's 2 year old. I explained to my kids on the way there that I didn't want to have to speak to them about their behavior the whole time. I expected them to act properly and politely while they still had fun. I also explained to DS that he is the "big kid" (meaning older because he barely outweighs a 4 year old) and that meant he had to be extra careful and gentle on the climbing structures. As I'm sitting and happily chatting with some friends I hear another child screaming and crying. I look up and hear my DS saying, "I am VERY SORRY!" in a hurried, panicked voice. Now my kid is very non-violent. He doesn't initiate any fights or pushing matches but he will do it if he gets to a point where he can't take something. I know he's not perfect! The dad is cradling this 4 year old boy like a baby and he's wailing. I went over and DS says, "I'm very sorry, I didn't mean to but I pushed him." I look at the dad and say, "I'm so sorry about that." The wimpy dad starts to go on about how this wasn't the first time and it happened before. blah blah blah. I tuned him out. I could NOT BELIEVE he was going to go that route. I mean, I scolded my child, he apologized, I apologized, I didn't just brush it off, I made my kid leave the playroom and go sit in the lobby on a bench. Take the apology, calm your kid down and let's move on, 'mkay? I asked DS what went on and he said the kid wouldn't leave him alone, he kept hitting him with "fake knives" from the dress up trunk and he asked him to stop lots of times and he JUST WOULDN'T STOP! So the kid drove my kid to the edge.
The dad shot me a dirty look when I went back into the room. The mom wouldn't look at me. OMG, GROW THE FUCK UP people. They are KIDS. They have a 4 year old boy and a 1 year old girl. The fighting hasn't even started in their house yet and if they keep treating their son like a porcelain doll they are going to have a very rude awakening soon.
I was fuming at my own behavior because I went off on DS big time. I was mostly mad because we had talked about it before the party, not that he actually did the shoving. However, he should have known better. So I admit that I was really too harsh on him. He pouted and it ruined the rest of the party for him. I was embarassed by my own actions though. I reacted and took it out on him when I should have taken it out on that father. I realized later that he's the one who really got me upset. My pet peeve of OKPs (Other Kids Parents) and their idiocy came roaring out.
Thus I didn't sleep well last night, replaying it in my mind and feeling awful that I ruined DS's time at the party. Karma coming back to bite me in the ass. I lay awake in my bed for a long time, not able to get comfortable. I just hope those other parents didn't sleep well either, realizing that they can't put their child in a bubble and still keep him in the real world. It's gonna happen and you have to admit it sometimes when your own kid is part of a problem. I admitted mine did a wrong thing. But I didn't see any angel wings sticking out of the back of that kid either.

Weekly recap

I am feeling a thousand times better, thank you! I did nothing but rest on Monday. There was plenty of housework that needed to be done, games that went un-played with DD, meals that could have been cooked but nope. I did nothing but tried to get myself better. I informed FG that from the time he got home from work, he was in charge of the kids - dinner, homework, toy-pick-up, bedtime - all of it. Sure enough, he handled it all and I slept on the couch! I really think that with me being so direct with him and telling him exactly what was expected (basically act like I'm not even home except to fetch me something when I asked for it) he stepped up and handled it. It was nice. With the help of some Zicam, some tea with honey, lots of rest and doping myself up before bed by Tuesday I was a new woman! The housework waited for me as well as the laundry but I felt well enough to tackle it all and make dinner.

Speaking of dinner, I think I need to put down the Kraft Food & Family magazines. I feel like everything I'm making is coming from them right now. I certainly can't complain about anything I've made though. It's all been good and easy too.
Tuesday's dinner (not from KF&F) was simply grilled shrimp kabobs drizzled with a balsamic vinegar & honey mixture. I added zucchini slices to FG's & my kabobs. We had wagon wheel noodles tossed with butter, garlic and Parmesan cheese (one of DD's favorites knowing she doesn't care for shrimp).

Wednesday & Thursday FG was gone so it was just the kids and I. We ate Dino nuggets & mac & cheese one night and a casserole that only I liked the other night.

Last night we had an impromptu dinner with my parents. They decided to pick up the kids and take them fishing after DS got off the school bus. The only thing he caught was his sweatshirt, which thankfully my mom manage to get the hook out of without snagging it. But I ended up making BBQ Spare ribs, my grandma's baked beans (she adds sugar AND molasses - mmmmmm!) then I made cornbread and after baking spread a mixture of melted butter and honey over the top. A "non cooking" friend taught me that and it is SO yummy like that!
Out of the KF&F mag from this fall I made the Ranch & Bacon Coleslaw. It was good. I warned my dad because I think he was expecting regular coleslaw. This looks similar but tastes very different. With the bagged cabbage, I generally make the Oriental Salad I've posted before but wanted to try something different. FG really liked this version but that almost goes without saying for anything with bacon in it.

Now today I have a few little things that we need to go do then a 2 year old's birthday party to attend. FG and I have a dinner to go to tonight. And tomorrow I have NOTHING planned but dinner. Oh I can't tell you how good this feels! Sometimes I'm glad my kids aren't into sports or I could rushing around only to end up sitting on a soccer field. DS is going to start acting class again as he really is sooo at home on stage. But it's too cool to go swimming at my parents house (and I think they actually have other plans anyway!), the boat has be winterized until next spring, I could do some yard work but eh, I hate yard work. It just feels so nice to know there's not a lot of commitments this weekend! The kids are playing together right now and happy. I think that's important to keep them close. They are looking forward to the birthday party at the bounce house place and the sitter coming tonight. I think we all feel good having some FREE time. Well, except FG who has a golf tournament but hey, that's his own fault!

My daughter decided to share

her LOVELY cold with me. Yep. Or course I ended up with it. Despite the two benedryl I took last night which usually knocks me out cold, I was awake a good portion of the night, drooling on myself and struggling to breathe. Nice visual huh?

I'm headed to the couch with a stack of magazines, a cup of tea and the remote. No real Menu Plan this week as I think the fam will be either fending for themselves (at least for tonight & possibly tomorrow) or FG can open some cans of soup tonight. Though it's still warm out and soup isn't sounding all that appetizing. Maybe he'll offer to pick up dinner.

Speaking of dinner, I did manage to make a great dish last night out of the Kraft Food & Family Magazine. It was Chinese Take-Out Lemon Chicken. I was skeptical about using the Jell-o but it was good. Not overpowering, not overly sweet. The kids weren't big on it but they are getting over this crud as well so it could have been that. They usually like the chicken picatta I make. Anyway, I used zucchini, green onions, sugar snap peas and red pepper slices in mine. It is definitely something I will make again.

Breakfast with a side of B-O-R-I-N-G

I have taken on the total 50's housewife roll of making a warm breakfast for FG about once a week. He's been really bad about not eating lunch. He's not one that needs to lose weight (tone up, sure, just about all of us need that but actually lose pounds of fat? nope) so I get annoyed with him when he eats something for breakfast and then doesn't eat until dinner. His breakfasts usually consist of a bagel or a couple of pop tarts or one of those frozen breakfast sandwich things... that sort of stuff. And always a Red Bull. Just the small ones but he's a big ol' crab if he doesn't get his Bull in the morning (because he gets a raging headache from his caffine withdrawl!). We aren't coffee drinkers and I feel "off" if I don't get my cup of tea in the morning as well so I get it. Knowing he's not eating much before dinner, I am trying to make sure he gets a decent amount of food in the morning and once in awhile I'll drop something off at the office for him to find.

Anyway, the kids are fairly easy breakfast kids. They don't care for eggs often so they eat things like frozen french toast sticks, frozen mini-pancakes, my homemade frozen buttermilk waffles and they always get turkey sausage links and juice with those. Or they somehow inhale boxes of cereal. I cannot believe how two bites of a non-favorite dinner will fill them up but 2 LARGE bowls of cereal leave them asking for more but have no more time to eat it! I let them have sugar-y cereal but it's always mixed with stuff that has 3g of sugar or less per serving. We're all happy that way.

Back to the breakfasts for FG. Last week I made him a breakfast burrito. That is simple, chopped bacon in a skillet, fry that up until almost done & drain of 95% of the grease. Throw some scrambled eggs on top of it to cook and dump all of that into a tortilla and sprinkle with cheese. I don't get into the peppers or potatoes or any of that fancy stuff. I could, it would be excellent, but that would cut into my 10 minute cooking time start to finish.

Today I made essentially the same thing. I cooked up a bunch of bacon so the kids could have some as well. I made an omlette of one scrambled egg in a small pan. I toasted one english muffin. I folded up the egg, put it on the muffin, added a slice of cheese and 1 1/2 slices of cooked bacon. Done. FG had a warm breakfast.

It smelled and looked so good I had to make myself one. I looked at it and thought "I should take a picture so I can share this." Then I took a bite because I could NOT WAIT. I thought, "I really should take a picture." Then the next thing I knew, it was gone. So sorry, no pictures. But we've all been to McDonald's and had an egg mcmuffin and we all know what those look like. Mine didn't. It wasn't that perfect. But it tasted damn good!

DD has a cold. She's acting fine but is stuffy-nosed. We'll skip gymnastics today I think. Of course, one week into preschool and she comes home with a little bug. My exciting plans for the day? Laundry, cleaning bathrooms, mopping, dusting, cleaning out the fridge. Whoohoo! BTW, this week's meals are already all messed up. We did have ribs last night but I made yummy parmesean cous cous and salad. Tonight has been switched from lasagna to leftovers because it's still nearly 90 degrees and I don't want to run the oven or be over a hot stove that long. Tomorrow is still Hot Beef sandwiches and after that, who knows if we'll stick to the plan!

B-O-R-I-N-G. Aren't you glad you stopped by here today?

Menu Plan Monday

Ok, I'm not in a good mood this morning. I spent the weekend with ALL of my IL's. Saturday was awesome as FG and I went to the winery. With the exception of ME trying to be nice and drive us the 2 1/2 hours there and him bitching at me the entire time, it was a lovely day! We sipped some good wine and brought home a box full to add to our collection.

But yesterday we met up with FIL and his wife and our kids at a nearby lake and took our boat out for awhile. That was tolerable. But then we had to go home and get all ready to go to MIL's house for dinner where my parents were joining us as well. So the kids got to see all three sets of grandparents this weekend but that meant FG and I got to see them all at once as well. I was bummed because my bread flopped in my bread machine so we had to stop off for a grocery store french loaf.

Now it's back to reality this morning of DD complaining she doesn't want to go to preschool. She loves it there but she thinks it's much more fun sometimes to stay home and sit in front of the TV all freaking day and when I turn it off she howls. I'm letting her wake up a bit and draw for a few minutes hoping she'll be more willing by the time I get this done. DS was already bugging me about getting new fish, setting up playdates, making "goop".... Happy Monday Morning!

After preschool and the office stops I'm going to the grocery store - alone!

Here's our plan for this week:

• Sunday: Dinner at MIL's
• Monday: BBQ ribs, veggies, curly fries
• Tuesday: lasagna, bread, salad
• Wednesday: Shrimp kabobs on the grill, buttered noodles, veggies
• Thursday: Make your own pizza night with the kids
• Friday: hopefully take out!
• Saturday: salmon burgers (I keep putting them on the menu and never making them!), pasta, cabbage salad.

That's it for here. I'm still trying to catch up and hoping to get some new recipes tried out and new cooking posts up! Head over to Laura's site for more menus!

Change of plans since I just got home from the grocery store. The deli had roast beef on sale and au jus packets were on sale too. I added a few dutch crunch rolls from the bakery and boom, there's dinner! So I'm switching out Wednesday's shrimp kabobs to Saturday and Wednesday we'll have Hot Roast Beef Sandwiches. Easy Easy! But see, those Salmon Burgers are STILL not going to get made! Evenutally I will make them and when I do, I'll share the recipe.

DS will be happy I remembered to get the cornstarch for the goop. FINALLY. Do you think that will encourage the nagging on his part since he kept it up this morning and I remembered the corn starch this afternoon? ARGH.

Thanks for the compliment Karen! It's all courtesy of The Cutest Blog on the Block. I'm certainly no web designer!

"QUACK! Catch up!"

That's a line (at least as I remember it) from a book I used to read to DS called Dawdle Duckling. It's how I feel right now and I know I'm not alone. I know at this time of year most people are feeling some sort of pressure. Even my friends with younger children or children in year-round school feel an urgency right now. The changing of the season certainly makes me feel like I need to eek out the best of summer while I can. Yet, I also feel a sense of urgency to get us into our comfortable routine to settle down into the cold months. It becomes quite the dilemma in my little brain! So while today I am going to clean some of the house and get a Costco trip taken care of to replenish the freezer, I am also going to take DD to a new park with some friends and pick up DS after school and head to my parents house to swim. Then of course, it's home for dinner and finishing up the homework folder to be turned in tomorrow.
I'm itching to cook and bake. I'm itching to make a big batch of soup and some yummy fresh bread. But I also realize that it's 90 degrees outside and I will be really bummed come January when I want to cook something on the grill and it's covered with snow. So for now, the soup will wait, the grill will stay fired up and we'll enjoy the last few lazy days of summer while trying to ease us all into the routines of school and Fall.
I do have one fun thing to look forward to! We're going to our favorite winery this weekend (sans children!) and stocking up on some yummy Syrah. Ohhhh I can't wait. I'm actually forgoing a football game for that. If you know me, you know it usually takes a lot for me to say No to a football game!
How are you feeling about the change in season right now? Do you get like I do and get anxious for the next step but then get agitated toward the end of the cold months and long for summer?