All Quiet on the Blog-front

Look over to the right side bar...notice anything different?

My "About Me" has been updated to reflect the arrival of our newest addition!  LittleBro joined the family last week and we couldn't be happier, or more tired.

This post is just a heads up that the blog is going to go quiet for the next month or so as we adjust to being a family of 6. 

I hope to return to posting once I can sleep for a couple hours continuously and form/remember a coherent thought :-)

Courtney

Preparing and Comparing for Preschool

I know I can be very Type-A, living by my checklists and charts, but please tell me I'm not alone in making a preschool spreadsheet?!

LittleSis will be three next school year which means now, January, is the time to start researching preschools.  In the area where I live, most preschools open to in-house registration in late January or early February and outside/new family registration a couple weeks thereafter.  Now is the time to make some big decisions. 

I know it's just preschool and I'm only looking for 2 mornings a week to give us a break from each other and let her work on all those school preparation skills like sitting still, sharing, waiting in lines, etc. but I feel as if I am about to pack her backpack for kindergarten.  Don't get me wrong, my oldest went to three different preschools in three different states and was still ready for kindergarten.  BigSis went to the same preschool program for two years and though it was not overtly academic she is thriving in kindergarten.  I know things will work out and in two or three years LittleSis will start kindergarten without much fuss. 

There are a lot of factors that go into picking a preschool.  Besides the obvious ones of costs and hours, I've been thinking about those little things like
a) will I have to walk her in the building every morning and pick her up at the classroom at the end of day or will there be a curbside system (because unloading a baby is always fun)? 
b) are there other neighborhood moms who will be using this same preschool?
c) will she be able to attend and thrive at this one school for the next 2-3 years?
d) do they have before or after class programs?

I've just started the comparison spreadsheet, only having gleaned information from websites and flyers.  Up next is the phone follow-ups and site visits. 

Uck...so much input required for such an important, but maybe not that important, of a decision!

Make Your Own Doorway Puppet Theater

A couple years ago as my Christmas project and gift to my kids I made a doorway puppet theater.

Let me tell you, that thing was a labor of love.  Not necessarily because it is difficult sewing, can you sew a straight stitch in a relatively straight line -- you can do this. But because it was a multi-step project that I was keeping secret from the kids that meant my working hours were only after they went to bed, hidden away in my bedroom.  I imagine I could have completely the project more quickly had I been able to lay everything out on the living room floor, pin it all once and sew to town.  Such was not the case.  I digress...

I love toys and playthings that encourage imagination and creativity and whenever I see this doorway puppet theater up and in use it makes me smile.  When it is not in use, I simply roll it up and tie and extra length of ribbon around it to store. 

Save this post for next fall when you are considering Christmas gifts or think about maybe making one for Easter, a birthday, school's out or just because.

Below is my hand-drawn pattern for the finished product.

• the base is a heavier weight canvas fabric.  A standard doorway is about 30" wide so I bought a straight yard (36") of fabric and the inherent length was about 54".  I did a rolled hem on the bottom edge, hemmed the sides and then made a curtain rod pocket along the top.

• Start by figuring out where you want your window to be.  I was ok with the feet of my puppeteers showing underneath the theater so I based my window off of a kneeling position hanging height.  I eyeballed that to be 11" down from the top edge.  I cut a window opening of 21" (L) x 17" (H).  I then tucked the edges back and zig-zagged everything down and in place. A little fray check in the corners to keep everything glued down doesn't hurt either.

• I selected two "fun" fabrics for my curtains and the window borders.  Each of these items, sewn separately are essentially just rectangles with finished edges.  
• curtains x 2: finished 12" (L) x 19" (H); sewn to the base fabric just above the window opening, underneath the top window cover so that when hanging straight they are just hitting the bottom of the window
• top window cover: finished 31" (L) x 8" (H); sewn to the base fabric along the top and side edges only  
• bottom window cover: finished 31" (L) x 10" (H); sewn to the base fabric along the bottom and side edges, used with the ribbon to make a dowel rod pocket

• I used 1.5" neon green ribbon as my bottom window embellishment as well as the curtain tie backs
•  curtain tie backs are 7" long anchored about 10" up from the bottom of the window.  Each tie back has a  piece of velcro on one end, corresponding velcro sewn to the back of the theater at/near the anchor point
• a single length of ribbon must be sewn to the bottom window covering before placing it all on the base fabric, this larger piece (window cover and ribbon) needs to be sewn such that there is a rod pocket directly beneath the theater window.  Essentially, sew the ribbon edge flush with the window edge, leave a pocket space on each side and then stitch down the remaining sides, bottom and new "top" of the window covering.  Without this pocket and the final insertion of a 1/2" thick dowel rod (bought at the hardware store and cut to 36") the window of the theater will droop and gap open instead of staying straight.

• The pom pom rope is sold by the yard at most craft/fabric stores.  Completely optional bling.

As final thoughts, have fun with it and make it your own.  And, never shop the fabric store without a coupon or two.  It might take a couple trips to get all your supplies but your wallet will thank you in the long run for getting each fabric piece by piece so you can maximize savings.

Happy Sewing!

The puppets that we use were purchased off of Amazon.
People Puppets
Animal Hand Puppets

My Third Trimester Tradition

Have you met my friends, Ben and Jerry? :-P

The only time they've ever come to my house in the last 8 years has been during the last trimester of each of my pregnancy's. 

I adore ice cream but I don't keep it in the house for that very reason.  However, being pregnant brings with it certain liberties regarding indulgent foods and I've learned to embrace the goodness and treat myself.

It all started, 8 years ago when I was pregnant with BigBro.  I was at 38.5 weeks, totally exhausted and ready to pop.  My doctor gave me a note to allow me to work only half days (woohoo!).  One my very first half day, I worked in the morning and then on the way home, I stopped by Walmart to do my grocery shopping.  I filled the cart and as I headed past the frozen food section I thought to myself "why not get some ice cream?"  And so, Phish Food ended up in my cart and then in my belly when I later lounged on the couch eating until I thought I was going to be sick.  The very next day, I gave birth.

Having had only that one day of relaxing indulgence with Baby #1 made me sure to put my feet up and treat myself a little more readily while pregnant thereafter.  Karamel Sutra Core was the flavor I chose while pregnant with BigSis.  LittleSis led me to try out Americone Dream.  And now, today, about a month away from meeting Baby #4 I am licking Chubby Hubby off of my spoon.

Life is about to get more crazy and savoring my own solitary pint of ice cream gives me a little sense of indulgence and relaxation which is just what I need right now!

House Rules of Toy Ownership

Mine, mine, mine.

She won't share with me.

It had my name on it.

Oh, the exclamations of Christmas afternoon when the wonders of unwrapping presents and the sugar-highs have worn off.

How do you handle toy ownership in your house?

Our house rule is pretty simple: It is yours and yours alone for 1 full day. 

This generally equals the holiday/birthday on which the toy was given and the following day.  After that, all bets are off and sharing rules are enforced.

Another useful thing we do in our house is, in addition to individual Christmas gifts, we also give one or two "all kids" gift that is specifically intended to be used by all the children (ex: board games, books, coloring books).

May the odds be ever in your favor.

The Gift I Really Want (You Probably Do Too)

I've spent considerable time thinking about exactly what to get my family members so that they will be entirely pleased on Christmas morning and in the process I've done quite a bit of thinking about what would please me most on Christmas morning.  Fortunately, for anyone reading this who might be shopping for me, what I really want doesn't cost a lot of money and isn't necessarily a material gift though it could translate into that on occasion.

The gift I really want is to be acknowledged, to be seen, to be noticed.

When I find myself in one of those moods and bemoan my adult life, motherhood in particular, no matter the impetus of the discussion all roads seem to lead back to this -- I sometimes feel invisible.

My very first post on this blog speaks to this feeling.  I included the thought "I AM a competent, capable, worth engaging in conversation adult." Many of the actions of motherhood are completed over and over again with little acknowledgement, accolade or thanks.  The dishes that were washed and put away today will be dirty again tomorrow.  The clothes must be washed so that there are warm things to wear to school and work.  Meals are planned for, shopped for and prepared because everyone has to eat.  All in all, most of what I do on a daily basis falls into the category of "things that must be done" and because my husband works outside the home, the responsibility for their completion rests on my shoulders.

So what is it that I want?

I want a new spatula to replace my favorite one that broke because someone noticed when it happened.
I want my child's teacher to send me a note saying "I know you've been working hard with your child and while there is still work to be done, I've seen improvement and I appreciate your effort."
I want someone to ask me what book I've been reading and what I plan to read next.
I want a text saying "I saw this today and it made me think of you."
I want a new charm for my charm bracelet in conjunction with an occasion to wear it.
I want to be asked my opinion on a matter of non-trivial importance and be listened to without distraction.

Some of these things are material, some are action based and some just require looking at me, Courtney The Person [NOT Courtney The Mom, Courtney the Wife, Courtney The Errand Runner] and seeing me!

*** As I read and re-read this post, prior to publishing I felt like I should add the following disclaimer: I'm not so good at doing these things either!  I am horrible at thanking my husband for working hard to provide for our family because I mentally chalk his effort up to "well, he gets to go to work and people appreciate him there and he gets promotions and raises to prove it."  He is quite good about always complementing me on the meals I prepare and thanking me for the effort I expend on the household.

 

The notion of invisibility in adult life I think sometimes stems from the fact that, for better or worse, it is easier to categorize someone based on an observable characteristic be it race, gender, age or parental status and interact with them based on that known characteristic.  I'm often so caught up in my own expectations of what I should or feel like I have to do that I forget that to be noticed I have to be willing to be vulnerable, open and accessible; I have to be willing to be more than my category or stereotype -- all things that I am pondering as 2017 dawns.***

Keeping the Kids Busy -- Thanksgiving Craft Ideas

I have a confession.

I have never cooked a turkey or cooked a Thanksgiving meal for that matter.  Coming from someone who loves to cook, this may come as a surprise but it's true.  We've been fortunate that usually Thanksgiving finds us as guests at the table of friends or family who graciously take on the bulk of the cooking responsibilities.  I help out where I can but know when to stay out of the kitchen.

The past few years, my role on Thanksgiving has been one of child entertainer.  Depending on the weather there may be a slew of young cousins running amuck with no way to productively expend their energy. 

Today I am going to share with you links to come of my favorite crafts for Thanksgiving.  Now's the time to peruse the options, see what crafts supplies you have on hand and which you might need to buy and decide on a craft or two!

First Palette -- this site has fantastic, step by step instructions with pictures!  A great resource for the craft challenged.  I've made the paper strip pumpkin, Mayflower ship, and paper cup turkey from the directions on this page.

The Crafty Crow -- this site is a compilation of links to other blogs and craft pages.  Be forewarned may of the ideas here are a bit more labor, time and skill intensive.  Still great ideas!

Red Ted Art -- a great blog with many kid friendly craft ideas

Google Images if my friend for craft ideas!

Projects for Preschoolers -- if you have a younger crowd this is a good resource for less intensive activities

Preschool Express -- I have this bookmarked under "learning" instead of "crafts" but this is a great source for written ideas on activities or things to do with the preschool crowd that may or may not involve an actual craft activity

Google Images -- Google is my friend.  Google Images is a particularly good friend.  I use the search engine to visual scroll through a ton of ideas [try searching Thanksgiving Kids Crafts] and if something looks appealing I can usually link directly to the source.  Also a great way to see different variations of the same craft.

It might be a good idea to search for some quick Christmas countdown crafts too!  Black Friday is a great time to work on those.
My kids have enjoyed a candy countdown like this except we use after-dinner mints as the candy.

#MomHacks -- Kids' Art Display

My kids are prolific artists, especially BigSis, so today's #MomHack is brought to you by my desire to not be overrun by artwork but to satisfy the children's desire to have their prize creations displayed in some manner.  Oh, and not to spend alot of money! :-)

Introducing, the Curtain Rod Artwork Display

Materials
- cheap curtain rod ($2-3 at Walmart or Target)
- ribbon
- clothes pins (Dollar Tree)
- hot glue or regular white glue if you have more time and patience than me

Instructions 
- Cut ribbon into assorted lengths.  This will help prevent artwork overlap when hanging.
- Glue one end of the ribbon to the clothes pin.  With the other end, glue the ribbon to itself to form a small loop.
- Once dry, attach the ribbons to the curtain rod by passing the clothes pin end through the loop, forming a sort of slipknot over the rod.
- Mount the curtain rod wherever desired.

When all the display positions are full, the child(ren) must decide to take something down before a new piece of art can go up in its place!  My kids and I also have an understanding that once something is no longer displayed it will very likely end up in the trash or mailed to a grandparent or other family friend.

Happy creating!


 

Halloween Aftermath: What to do with all the candy?

The ghouls and goblins have all gone to bed and woken as tired, tummy-aching children who still have to go to school and you have to figure out what to do with all the candy that under NO circumstances can be kept around the house.

1. Remove and save actual food items and non-food items that you like-- goldfish, animal crackers, pretzels, pencils, erasers, etc.

2. Each kid gets to fill a sandwich size bag with whatever candy they personally want to keep and eat over the course of the next week.  Make sure to set a timeframe!

3. Decide what YOU want to keep
     - bag of parental prerogative goodies because we all have our favorites!
     - future baking ingredients: I now have a stash of plain M&Ms in my freezer ready for cookies
     - emergency tantrum kit for the car: I fill a bag with non-melting candy (Starburst, Skittles, Nerds) and keep in the center console of the car.  This is particularly handy for a) long drives or b) a child who is losing his mind

4. Donate the rest (and get paid!)
Find a local participating Halloween Candy Buy Back location and take your candy in to be weighed.  You get $1 per pound and the candy is then donated to military service members overseas and veterans in VA hospitals around the country.  Most of these buy-backs are hosted by dentist offices so you usually get a free toothbrush and toothpaste too!  Win-Win  To incentivize my children even more, I offer to double their money (if they sell back 2lbs and get $2, I'll give them another $2) so that they have a chance to buy something a little more pricey with their new found spending money.

Happy November!

Favorite Recipes for a Quick Serve Dinner

The past couple days have been about how to plan and how to shop, today I'm sharing some of my all-time family favorite recipes for a quick serve dinner.  There are lots of recipes that we enjoy but the ones listed below are meant to help you get dinner on the table during a busy weeknight.

Keep Calm and Cook On

Crockpot: everyone's favorite fix it and forget it appliance
-- applesauce BBQ chicken
If you've tried applesauce chicken before in the crockpot and were underwhelmed like me, the addition of BBQ sauce makes this a winner
--  honey sesame chicken
This recipe calls for 1cup of honey, feel free to use 1/2 - 3/4 and you'll still enjoy it
-- honey bourbon chicken
Contrary to it's name, there is no actual bourbon in this recipe but the taste is on point.  Like other recipes with honey this recipe calls for 1cup of honey, feel free to use 1/2 - 3/4 and you'll still enjoy it
--  crockpot falafel
This recipe cooks in about 3-4 hours so put it together during naptime and enjoy for dinner. 
--  ground beef
Brown up a couple of pounds (or 5-7lbs depending on the size of your crock) of ground beef without having to stand over the stove for an hour.  This is a great time saver for making chili, tacos, shepherds' pie or any other recipe that calls for cooked ground beef
--  20 to 40 clove garlic chicken
The amount of garlic is up to you.  I make this with drumsticks and serve with mashed potatoes drizzled with the onion/garlic juice from the bottom of the crock!
-- crockpot cranberry chicken
This is a fall favorite and quite frankly good year round so when cranberry sauce goes on sale after Thanksgiving buy a few extra cans and make some freezer kits of this meal.

Instant Pot: the new kid on the kitchen appliance block that everyone loves to rave about
-- whole porkloin with potatoes
Everyone loves a one-pot meal and this delivers in under an hour.
-- whole chicken
I skip the browning step depending on my timeline and just place the whole chicken in the pot with whatever seasoning I desire.  Definitely make sure to use the rack or else you might have a hard time getting the chicken out of the InstantPot without it falling apart!  Use the carcass to make bone broth later!
--  sausage and rice casserole 
This is my childhood favorite updated for the Instant Pot.
-- porcupine meatballs
I've adapted this recipe from my stovetop pressure cooker cookbook as well as my childhood; I can't wait to share it with you.

Make Ahead, Double and/or Freeze: a little extra work today could mean dinner for another night
-- black bean taquitos
-- meatloaf
-- shepherds' pie
-- taco meat
-- lentil empanadas

Favorite Recipe Resources
Stephanie O'Dea's A Year of Slowcooking Blog and Recipe Index
Once a Month Meals Recipe Index

In case you missed them, make sure to read my posts on Meal Planning and Grocery Shopping Strategies!

My Meal Planning Tips

This week is all about food and what it takes to get food on the table.  For me, grocery shopping is a minimum two day process with the first step in the process being MEAL PLANNING.

I'll be honest, I didn't really start taking meal planning to heart until I had my second child and my husband was deployed for a year.  All of a sudden, I had two little people to take care of, one of whom was very needy, and I myself couldn't just get by on goldfish and chicken nuggets for a year waiting for another set of adult hands to free me for a leisured dinner prep.  I realized and began to utilize the sacred naptime for dinner prep as well as discovering a range of freezer cooking recipes.

The biggest part of planning is actually writing something down!  For me, I have found that the standard vertical monthly calendar from Printfree.com is absolutely perfect.  There is enough space to write in an entree as well as note any activities and it's a single sheet of paper which takes of little space and is easy to reference.  I think it's very important to annotate your family's activities and commitments on the meal plan because when filing in dinners you can quickly know that on Wednesday evenings you need a crockpot, scoop and serve or other quick meal so that you can eat as soon as you get home from sports practice.

Monthly calendars, a document protector and a magnetic clip make meal planning painless.

My secret weapon in meal planning calendars is that I keep them for one year (yep, a whole 12 months) in a document protector that is clipped to the side of my fridge.  That way, when November 2016 is coming around, I can pull out November 2015 and remember some of my seasonal favorites that might have been forgotten through the previous months of summer cooking.  At the bottom of the calendar I also might note recipes that interest me or that I remember from previous months so that I have them in a visual queue for the next time I'm planning meals.

There aren't really any right and wrong ways to meal plan.  For me, I like to write out at least 2 weeks worth of meals (we are fortunate to have a chest freezer and second refrigerator) so that I can really stock up when I take a trip to the grocery store.  I also schedule a vegetarian meal once per week as well as a meal that involves fish or seafood (a great meal to have the night before trash day so you don't have to worry about salmon skin or shrimp tails sitting around for too long).  Also, I try and update the  meal plan based on what we actually ate.  This helps me know that I still have a particular freezer meal available or that I didn't actually serve burgers twice in one week.  Finally, I have a mini-white board that is stuck to the front of the fridge where that week's menu is written.  This helps me immediately know what I'm serving so I can consider what prep work might need to be done as well as making sure I have meat thawed and ready to go for future meals.

What's for dinner? Look and see for yourself!

Come back tomorrow and I'll be discussing Grocery Store Strategies so that the necessary chore doesn't have to be a necessary evil!

Kids' Runs and the Daily Struggle to Set the Example

Parenting: full contact sport where an impressionable little person or persons watches, sees and emulates just about everything that you do.

Setting the example is HARD HARD HARD!  We see this all the time in the area of morals and ethics -- yep, I was speeding, didn't come to a full and complete stop, told the telemarketer that the other parent wasn't home when they are sitting right there, said I didn't have any cash on me when I just went to the ATM...the list goes on and on.

However, let me encourage you that there is one area of life that it can be easy less challenging -- Health and Wellness.  Do you want to be healthy?  Do you put a priority on working out and staying fit?  Notice: I did not say do you put a priority on being thin and beautiful.

Part of how my husband and I have chosen to help our kids in these pursuits is by involving them in our sport, running.  Kids' Run are great ways to teach the young ones that fitness can be fun and rewarding.  Sometimes they are an expense that seems a little hefty [$20 for a t-shirt and a run down the street?!] but think of the long-term dividends.  When we lived in New Mexico my kids were fortunate to have a running club at school that was sponsored through a local race organization, RunFit.  They are so proud to wear their race t-shirts and display their finisher medals and their memories are ones filled with positive associations between fitness and fun.

I'd encourage you, if you don't already have a fitness routine or if you haven't seriously considered your health and nutrition choices, consider the immeasurable investment you'd be making in not just yourself but your children.  Start by shifting your mindset, instead of saying, "I'm supposed to eat vegetables", say "I'm so glad that I get to eat vegetables to give me necessary vitamins and nutrients to be healthy and strong."  If you don't like running, try Zumba, go for a walk, watch yoga on YouTube.

It doesn't have to be expensive either!  Most nights, the vegetables on our dinner table were frozen and subsequently cooked in the microwave.  Don't feel like you have to shell out a lot of money for kids' races either.  Set up a course in your neighborhood, invite your friends and draw a sidewalk chalk finish line.  Celebrate the effort and accomplishment by your children!

Whatever you do, just be you, the healthiest YOU that you can be today because your kids want and need you, and your friends do too ;-)