Meal ideas anyone?

OK we are getting down to the wire of when I will be leaving. I leave a week from tomorrow. My husband leaves a week and day after me. My goal is to have as much as possible packed before I leave. And I don't want to have to put off packing too much. So right now I'm trying to think about what we are going to eat.

I want meals that don't require too many pans and bowls to make. Breakfast isn't too hard. If we have cereal with juice every morning the only prep dish we need is a pitcher for the juice.

Lunch, could be PB and J. If I buy pre-made bread, all I need to make it is a knife and spoon (which can be plastic).

Dinners however are a bit more complicated. I am trying to come up with as many meals as I can that you can make with 1 frying pan, 1 sauce pan, and maybe a colander, cutting board and set of sharp knives. Or less. Also I want them to be meals that take as little prep as possible, because I am going to be busy all day, and not have a lot of energy for cooking at the end of the day. I might be asking for too much, but if you don't ask, you never learn right?

So if anyone has any meal suggestions, I would appreciate the input. And if you could give me basic instructions on making it (if it isn't something simple like to make spaghetti: you boil the noodles, and heat up the sauce), I would appreciate it.

So I need dinner ideas for this Saturday through next Thursday suitable for my whole family, and then meals for the next Friday through the Friday after that for my husband.

Thanks.

Sleepless nights

So as I mentioned in a previous post Guy has been sick lately, and it has been disrupting sleep. Pretty much all of the members of our family have had their sleep interrupted. But last night was the worst. Hopefully it gets better soon.

We woke up to Guy screaming and coughing about 12:00 or so. Actually I think I woke up, I don't think Daddy was awake, because he said something about ice cream, so I think he was still dreaming. :)

I went and got Guy, as has become my nightly routine. I picked him up, got his pacifier and blanket, and took him to the rocking chair. We sat down and he kept screaming, he started thrashing around on my lap, and didn't want sit down. I tried standing up. He didn't want to stand. I tried walking with him. He didn't want to walk. He just kept screaming and kicking. Finally I was just so frustrated I was crying. I went and woke Daddy up, and told him I couldn't calm Guy down, it was his turn.

He took Guy in his arms, and rocked him there on the bed. I just stood there and watched. I wasn't sure I wanted to get back on the bed, because then I felt like I would be pushing all the responsibility off onto him, but also I didn't want to rock the bed at all and stir Guy again. I was sobbing, feeling so bad that my son was suffering so much, but wouldn't do what he could to calm down. It was so frustrating. I wanted him to calm down, but I couldn't make him. Finally Daddy got him to calm down, and got him back in bed.

About an hour later, I woke up to the same thing. I felt completely useless, so I sent Daddy in there to begin with. This time Daddy couldn't get him to settle down either. So I tried again. I couldn't get him to settle down. I was so frustrated, I couldn't figure out what to do. So I put him in the middle of our bed and tried to ignore him. He continued to scream and thrash around. The whole while I had been praying, and finally I had an idea. This night was the first night we hadn't given him Tylenol before he went to bed, because he didn't have a fever. I thought, maybe he is hurting somehow, and if we give him some Tylenol he will be able to settle down. So I suggested it, and we gave him some. He instantaneously settled down. So I don't know if he was hurting, and knew the Tylenol would help him feel better so he calmed down. Or if he just decided he felt better because he got some meds.

Anyway, I hope he does better tonight. Currently he is sitting on my lap trying to type on the keyboard, instead of going to bed. But he and Cinderella were keeping each other up, so I'm keeping him up till she goes to sleep, and then we will see what happens. I'm definitely ready to get more sleep.

Packing

Have you ever tried packing with toddlers? It is an adventure let me tell you. As soon as I get a box out, Guy is all over it. Climbing, trying to use it as a slide, stomping on it, etc. I'm sure you get the picture.

Then comes the part of trying to put things in the box. If I can distract them long enough for me to get something in the box, it doesn't take long before they have removed it from the box.

Also, unfortunately, Mama can't play with them as much when she is needing to pack, as she can normally. This is hard for my munchkins. And so consequently, when I try to pack, they are trying to get me to play with them. So I can put down my packing and play, or I can try to get them doing something else and pack, or I can play "Mama puts it in the box, and kids take it out."

Or I can send them to someones house while I pack. This works wonderfully, when I do it. The downside, is my kids have been sick most of this winter, and right now is no exception. So I can ask someone to take my kids, but doing so is not only giving them sick kids, who are whiny and coughing all over the place to deal with, but also asking them to take the risk of their kids getting sick. Also I feel like I am being unfair to ask the same person to watch my kids every day of the week so I can pack. Does this mean I don't do these things? No. I still do them, because I know I have to pack, and I have limited time. I just them feel extremely guilty for doing so.

One day, this will all be over. My kids will be healthy again, and my packing will all be done. Then I can move on to the next challenge that life has to offer.

Potty training again

I thought the next time I would be writing about potty training it would be with Guy. I was pretty sure that Cinderella was all the way there (other than at night time), but boy was I wrong.

She did really well. Until we flew to Grandma's house. She had an accident on the plane, but that one was understandable. It is kind of hard not to have an accident on the plane, being newly potty trained, when you can only have access to the restrooms at certain times. But then being at Grandma's house, she had at least one accident every day we were there. However that is understandable, because routine is different, and the bathrooms are in different places than she is used to. But even since we came home, I think there has only been one day that she made it through the whole day without an accident. I know that we are still progressed past when she wore pull ups. But I am getting really tired of having to clean up her mess off the floor. I have her do as much as she can, but really she can only do so much.

I'm sure it is because there is a lot of change happening right now, and I'm guessing she is feeling a lack of control, and if she uses the potty, is completely in her control. Even though it really frustrates me sometimes that it isn't in my control.

I look forward to the day, when she finally decides she is ready to be potty trained again. I know it could still be a long way in coming. Like not until after Sleeping Beauty is born. But one day that day will come, and I will be very grateful.

Valentines Preschool

OK so I know this happened a little while ago, but life has been busy, and if it wasn't for Sunday's, a day I make a day of rest, and refuse to pack, I probably wouldn't even be writing about this yet.

On February 13, I taught my last preschool lesson. Well the last one for the preschool we are currently involved in anyway. It was a Valentines Party. We traced the letter V, made heart shaped sugar cookies, and put heart shaped stickers on hearts cut of of construction paper (made valentines). The girls seemed to enjoy it, but of course they enjoyed playing most of all.

When they are sick, it is Mama.

My kids seem to get sick at the most inconvenient times. Lately we are fighting a nasty cold. The kid have a dry cough, that just doesn't want to go away, and I can't come up with anything that really helps. And of course it is worst at night.

So my life has been kind of crazy lately, and having sick kids just adds to the craziness. I am trying to pack my apartment. I am trying to keep my house somewhat clean and presentable. I am trying to make sure my families needs for food and clean clothing are met. And I am trying to give my kids the attention they need. And unfortunately for all of us. When kids are sick, they need a lot more attention.

I feel bad asking anyone one to watch my kids during the day, so that I can get some packing done. Because they are sick. But I need the help, so I do it anyway. Sorry if I got your kids sick. :0(

At night time, they always seem to have the hardest time. Daddy is a really big help. Pretty much for the last 5 months or so, if the kids have a problem in the night, he gets up and takes care of it, so that I can get my much needed sleep. There is one exception to this rule however. When the kids are sick, it is Mama. That is who they want, and Daddy just doesn't know what to do to help them. I don't blame him. I think it is a mothers intuition, or maybe just some feminine instincts. But I have spent many a night lately getting up, picking up a crying Guy out of his bed. And taking him to the rocking chair. We then rock until he settles down. You see, he wakes himself up, then gets worked up, and as long as he is worked up, he is coughing really bad, and so he can't calm himself down. So it is Mama's job to calm him down.

Last night, in my not total awakedness, I created an even bigger dilemma for myself to deal with. I heard both kids coughing away, and not being able to sleep. So I sent Daddy to get them a drink of water. Well, neither kid was really interested in the water, and all it did was proceed to wake them up enough that they couldn't go back to sleep. So I had gotten Guy, and had taken him to the living room to rock. He had finally calmed down, but I could hear Cinderella coughing and crying for Mama. I wasn't sure how I was going to get Guy in his bed, and Cinderella calmed down, without re disturbing Guy. Thankfully the transfer seemed to work OK, and I had Guy in his bed, and Cinderella in the rocking chair. We rocked until she calmed down, then I took her back to bed. I got back in my bed, and was there for about 2 or 3 min. when I heard Guy bump his head on the wall or bed, and then start crying and coughing again. I quickly went and got him, so that he wouldn't wake up Cinderella again. As I was rocking him this time, I wondered how long this was going to keep up. I offered a prayer that we could all get the sleep we really needed, and thankfully once he settled down this time, they both went back to sleep and allowed me to do the same. Later in the night Guy came into our room, asking Daddy to help him find his "plug" and blow his nose. I was grateful that he was handling waking up this way this time, instead of crying. I could see that my prayer was being answered. So other than Daddy getting up to meet his needs at that point, we were able to sleep the rest of the night uninterrupted.

Sing Song Boy

So I woke up earlier than the kids this morning, and decided to write a few blog posts. We will see what I can get done, before I hear the pitter patter of little feet.

Guy loves music. He loves to sing. When ever I have music on he is singing along. It is so cute to listen to.
Last week at church. When we were getting ready to go home, the congregation that meets after us was having choir practice. Guy was enraptured. He stood in the door way of the chapel, just starring at them, and listening to the music. And all they were doing was warming up. They were making an "Ah" sound to scales. But he was fascinated.

On our way home from church, he sat in his car seat doing his own little variation to the warm ups he had heard. Seeing my son like this makes me glad that I have a home, that I try to have music be a part of. We don't have a piano, although one day we would like to get one. We don't do musical instruments. But Mama and Daddy sing a lot of the time. And we often have fun, uplifting music playing in the background when we are trying to work, or clean up. So it hasn't taken a lot of effort on my part. But I can see how it has influenced the lives of my children.