5am Silhouettes

There's been no blogging this summer because life has been too full to allow it.  But since both of my daughters had trouble sleeping tonight (which means that *I* had trouble sleeping tonight because they prefer company when they are sleepless)...I had a few minutes.

And I decided to do something that's been on my list since March.  I have these two GORGEOUS frames on the desk in my bedroom.  Two gorgeous, gilded, pathetically empty frames with the Marshall's price tags still on them.  And I have these AMAZING silhouette photos I took for a photography challenge in March.  But one of them was horizontal, and I needed it to be vertical, and that required Photoshop.  Add to that that my printer of choice, Mpix.com doesn't take Paypal which meant that I'd actually have to get off my derriere and find a credit card to enter into the computer.  That was enough to put it to the back burner.

But not tonight! (er, this morning?).

So now these beauties are on their way to my doorstep, and as soon as they get in their frames I'll post an update!

THERE!

Now if I was Marc, I'd call it a morning and go exercise or do something productive.  

(insert guilt here)

But if I was Marc, I wouldn't have been woken up multiple times in the middle of the night

...every night for the last twelve years!.

(insert excuse here)

So this tired mama is going back to bed!

(insert pillow here)

G'Night!

Packing Lunch

A little more about how I've tweaked our lunch prep so that I can maintain my sanity, and make sure the kids have something to eat each afternoon...

On Monday mornings I lay out six ziplock containers; three for Ben and three for Molly. This will get them through Wednesday with fresh lunches.   I found that if I try to make more ahead of time things can start to spoil.  I also noticed, that by Thursday they're pretty bored with what I've been feeding them all week!   So making three meals a time is the sweet spot that works for us.   I drag everything I need out to the counter, and fill them up assembly-line style.

Of course Molly and Ben can't eat the same thing, that would be too easy!  Not only do they have different preferences, but Ben eats at the allergy table because of his tree but allergy. This means he can't bring any peanut products in his lunch, While Molly can and often does.

This week, Ben is getting his favorite butter sandwich on a pretzel roll (it's really Smart Balance, but it's the only 'butter' he knows) an apple-mango sauce pouch, some mini ham and American cheese slices, and a new type of Cheez-It that he chose at the store last night, roughly 30 seconds before I nearly threw myself under a bus and renewed my vow never to grocery shop with him again.  I threw in a Hersheys kiss as a treat because I was feeling generous.  He's not treat-seeking kind of kid, and could care less if there's anything sweet in his lunch as long as there's something salty.  Ben is my most adventurous and reliable eater at the moment. Usually he brings his Ziploc container home completely empty.

Then you've got Molly… Who couldn't be more opposite!

This week for lunch Molly is getting vanilla greek yogurt with granola (a homespun mix of KIND granola, raw sunflower seeds, Enjoy Life chocolate granola and a few chocolate chips) some popcorn, and an applesauce pouch.   

Popcorn has become my go to crunchy side snack, because I don't buy chips, but they get so jealous of their friends who all have chips that I needed to come up with a solution so they don't feel slighted.  Popcorn is fun enough and crunchy enough that they feel like they got away with something, but I know that it's full of fiber and healthy for them.  It's a win-win!

Molly, unlike her little brother, is a full-time treat-seeker with the appetite of a bird.  Her lunchbox usually comes home mostly full.   She complains that she never has enough time to eat for lunch because their lunch period is too short. And while I agree that 15 minutes is not enough time to eat a proper lunch, she always finds time to eat her treats!

Back to the counter though...two of the lunches get popped straight into lunch boxes and backpacks.

Molly likes her lunch COLD, so hers goes into a 'Pack-It' that i freeze each night (it really does keep things cold all the way to the end if the day!). Ben could care less, so he gets a lunch box with a cold pack added.  

The rest of the containers go straight into the fridge...

And there they wait, ready for the morning rush!

Thoroughly Modern Millie

I'm sitting here outside Gregory Middle School at 11:18 at night. Jack is on the tech crew for the spring musical, and tonight, after the last show, the tech crew was responsible for dismantling the entire set. 

It was pretty fun to watch them all march each night as they built the set last month. A dozen sixth, seventh and eighth graders, mostly boys (but there were two girls!) filing in with their drill cases in hand, ready to work.

I couldn't believe that they truly were going to keep the kids this late tonight, but apparently, they are.  Jack is in his crowning glory, and I know he feels like a totally independent tween.  

It's been a great week to be Jack. He got selected to be one of a handful of sixth-graders to work on the 'Select Tech' team that ran the show behind the scenes (his job was 'Light Queue').  Then he got his COGAT results back and scored in the 99th percentile, which makes him eligible for the gifted program at school next year.  Finally, he got a coveted 'positive referral' at school for being a good leader in his FLEX (foreign language exploration) class today.  They were doing a paper folding craft and as Jack says, "Being an expert from 5 years of paper airplane and origami folding was pretty helpful!"

It's not easy, being Jack. Which is why wins like these mean so much. And why, even though the mother in me wanted to say "Absolutely not! There's no way you're staying until 11:30, young man!", the cheerleader in me kept my mouth shut and let him enjoy his moment.

I have a feeling this is the first of many to come.

Epilogue: The winning streak continued, and Jack won a first place and two third place trophies in a karate tournament this weekend!  I told him to soak up all the good feelings from the week and bring them back out to visit when he's having a not-so-great week some day in the future.  I'm not sure he heard me way up there on cloud nine, though.

Sweet baby

It's 1:23pm and I'm sitting here watching you sleep

Yes, you are still napping in your swing.  It works, so that's what we do.  But today Ben has a doctors appointment and we need to pick him up in seven minutes.  

I shut off your noisemaker, and the swing five minutes ago, and still you slumber on.  It breaks my heart to have to wake you from such a drowsy place, but it has to be done.

I think I may just sit here for another minute though, and listen to your rhythmic breathing and watch your sweet face, as I'm sure mothers have done with their babies since the dawn of time.

It was all my fault

I never should have put the boots as snow pants away on April 10th.

Or hung the forsythia wreath on the front door on April 12th.

Or put the nail in the coffin when I opted for a no-chip pedicure on April 14th.

Because I should have KNOWN, Murphy's Law being what it is, that all that tempting date would force Mother Nature to show her might once again...

With 3 plump, sticky, totally not melting inches of SNOW on April 17th!!!!

I'd wave the white flag of defeat, but I'm afraid she'd mistake it for a request for more snow!!

School Lunches and Bag No. 16

Into this bag is going roughly $75 with of Laptop Lunch containers.  

They have served us well for three years and are still in tip top shape.

I'm having a hard time letting go!

I'm a huge proponent of waste free lunches, not to mention that with just 15 minutes to eat lunch each day, sending the kids with 6 different baggies to fuss with is not smart time management!

I truly adore these lunch boxes; they are customizable with different sized inserts for anything you can imagine, they  keep contents safe and secure, yet allow a child to open just one lid to access an entire meal, they fit easily into a regular lunch box for easy portability, they are BPA free, and they are just plain cute!

 When I just had Molly to make lunch for (Jack buys hot lunch at school each day) I had so much fun coming up with creative and fun bento-style lunches for her.  That was my life until this past September. 

But not anymore!

Today, Ben is in kindergarten and I have to pack 10 lunches a week.  I also have a busy toddler at home who won't stand for Mommy spending an hour every morning making 5 breakfasts and two lunches, two snacks and two water bottles..

What works for my life today is to make all (or nearly all) of the week's lunches and snacks all at once ahead of time.  But that isn't possible with laptop containers that require daily washing and re-packing.

A simpler system, that doesn't take up much space, or require as much upkeep, was necessary for our collective sanity.  I've moved on to using Ziploc's divided containers, which I can pack and stack in the fridge for easy grabbing each morning.  They are BPA free, easy to dunk in soapy water and rinse, and last at least six months.  They fit in a lunchbox, don't leak, and are easy for the kids to open and get down to the business of eating lunch.

  So it's time to pass our Laptops along to someone else who can get use out if them.

And I'll be glad to get my kitchen island's center cabinet back!

Bag No. 7...and 8...and 9...and

10, 11, 12, 13, 14 and 15!  

All totaled, it was a full carload of STUFF that I drove to Goodwill this weekend.

Maternity clothes, baby clothes, kids clothes, seasonal decor, small appliances, toys, games, DVDs, and more!

I'm trying on a new perspective when it comes to the accumulation of  things we own.  It all started when I read an article that despite searching for hours, I have not been able to find again.  But the gist of it is this...

YES, 

it is true that a penny saved is a penny earned.  I could continue to save these things for the day I may

Need them

Refurbish them

Use them in a project

Sell them in a garage sale

Post them on Craigslist

Gift them to a friend in need

HOWEVER,

the amount of time I spend focused on these things, trying to 

House them

Organize them

Catalog them

Keep track of them

Take them out

Put them back

Shuffle them around

Reorganize them

Worry about them

LEADS ME TO BE

Consumed by the space they take up

Overwhelmed by the sheer mess it all makes

Aware of how upset this makes my partner

THIS

is time and energy that I might otherwise use to

Love my family

Love myself

Love others

Love our home

Love the freedom the unoccupied physical space provides

Love the peace that the unoccupied EMOTIONAL space provides

So, the car got filled up.  

And it will be again, and maybe again after that.  

Lent is only half over...and I've got lots of work to do!