Baby steps

This is my third attempt at posting in the past week or so.  Is it really this hard to function these days? My to-do list doesn't even exist because I haven't been able to sit down and focus,  yet every time I turn around I realize something else that must get done ASAP. Another fire to put out or another thing that demands my attention above all else.  I've got multiple phone calls to make, but as soon as I get on the phone Sassy starts yelling and screaming for my attention. And have I mentioned she's going through a hitting and pinching phase? Good times.


Managing this house, and all who dwell here, really shouldn't be this tough, right? I am trying to figure out a budget, get organized for Winter and have food on the dinner table on a daily basis.  We have a lot going on, but not nearly like some of our friends.  We're fortunate that the economy isn't really effecting us and we don't have any major issues with our family.  So it seems ridiculous that I'm struggling again. I know there are people that would trade places with me in a second.  I should soak it in, relax and be thankful for how good things are for us.  When I am stressed that the house is a mess, and I'm flying solo again and I'm frantically trying to whip up dinner, I need breathe.  And remember I get to be a SAHM.  And not only does BigDaddy have a job, it's his dream job-- getting paid to coach college volleyball. And we are fortunate to have a great house. And at least I have lots of food choices already here in my kitchen. Things really aren't that bad.  And they are a lot worse for some people who aren't as fortunate as us. I have a wonderful husband, awesome kids, and great friends. I'm a lucky girl! 



So today I'm not having a pity party. I will not hide in the closet doing tequila shots. I will not stand in a hot shower pretending I don't hear Sassy's whiny cry from the living room. okay, maybe I did do that last part. But I'm focusing on good stuff. Not sweating the lame stuff. And being thankful for what I have.  I realize that we're all just trying to figure this game of life out. We all have those moments, often times on a daily basis, but this is just a process.  I'll never have it all down and it's okay.  So baby steps it is. again.



I'm been busy with my mini-projects, in addition to winterizing the yard before it gets to freaking cold to be out there for more than 15 minutes.  Unfortunately, these things take time getting started, but long term they make a world of difference. Here's what I've been investigating:

• Budget tools with Pear Budget.  If nothing else, check out the free 30 day trial and get a better grasp of your total expenses.  It was an eye opener for me.  We now have specific categories for everything.
• Opened a free savings account at ING Direct and plan on opening more and using the "envelope system" with various accounts. (If you want to open your own, let me know and we will both score $$!)
  
• Called our flexible utilities to see if we can reduce our bills (i.e. cell/home phone, cable, etc)  Basically we can't unless we want to significantly decrease what we have.  At this point we don't, but at least I know we are being cost effective for what we want.
• Created yet another shutterfly share website, this one for BigBoy's class.  I love these sites. Ridiculously easy to keep family and friends (or class parents) up-to-date.
  
• Created a master calendar with everyone's schedules that's EASY and usable with google calendars. I love that I can view multiple calendars at one time, individually, and they are color coded.  email reminders and I can import icals from other sites (like BigDaddy's team schedule.)  Heaven! (I'm also trying to consolidate emails, but yahoo and google aren't friends, so it's not happening at this point.)
• Using bookmarks with delicious.com,a social bookmarking site, to keep online stuff organized-- check out my bookmarks here.  I mainly use this for recipes, but I also keep track of travel info since I can't always remember where I saw something specific and I only need to type my "tags" and Viola! It appears! love it! especially with the tool bar button download. easy peasy.
• Coupons.  I hate clipping coupons.  I think I'm going to use them, then I don't.  And then I feel guilty.  but I recently found a gazillion coupon blogs and they make it much easier!  I'm not going crazy with it, but I'm keeping an eye out for deals on things we use on a regular basis.  Most coupons aren't for what we buy, but once in a while there are some great ones.  I also found out you can stack manufacturer's coupons with Target coupons! hello! I'm all over that.  I also have been keeping diaper coupons in my wallet since I always seem to forget them.  Online coupons are great though and you can print what you want.  Cheat by visiting deal blogs like: moneysavingmom.com and thefrugalfind.com or at website forums like gottadeal.com. (My FAVORITE Black Friday info site.)
  

Here's a very helpful post on one of my favorite blogs about using on-line tools to organize your homelife at simple mom.  I love how she thinks, makes sense to me and she's tech savvy, so that's a huge plus in my book. And her website is beautiful-- clean, lots of white space and great fonts!

There you have it. Put one foot in front of the other...

Photo credit: stefano ricciardi

Halfy-Birthday!

Today is a big day in Casa de Crazies!  BigBoy is officially 5 AND A HALF.  He's been asking me for months now, when will he "turn" 5 1/2.  BigBoy and Sassy are 2 1/2 years apart, almost exactly.  So one has a birthday and the other turns their "1/2" in the same month.  We've been looking at the calendar, counting down the weeks and days. Today he gets the edge over the mere 5 year olds.  He's 5 and a half.

I'm not sure why this half year became so important.  But now he has kids to compare notes with.  There are kids just turning 5 in his class (our cutoff is Sept. 30) and kids who started at 5 1/2 and even some 6 year olds who started Kinder a little later.  But instead of trying to figure out when he will be 5 1/2 ("I'm almost 5 and a 1/2!!") He can proudly state he IS 5 1/2.  It's a partial birthday celebration, so in my book it means cake! I made a cheapy mix really quick last night and just did one round layer, cut in half and stacked.  Half a cake, of course!  Any time I can throw baked goods into the day I'm a happy girl.  


So what else does one do for their half birthday? I'm not really sure. We've never celebrated one.  We have the half cake for dessert tonight (half birthday does NOT = breakfast cake in bed) and I got him a pack of Pokemon cards- the new obsession with his buddies, though they have no clue how they work. But other than that it's a kiss and a "Halfy Birthday!"  


Anyone else ever celebrate half birthdays or do so for their kiddos?  I did a Google search, because you know, if Google points you in the right direction, it MUST be legit.  Google says so. I saw the 1/2 cake idea. Well duh, even I came up with that. Wikipedia has an entry for Half-Birthday, but you already knew it would.  But one family does a date night with 1/2 bday child which I think is cute-- but I think one-on-one dates are important year round.  In general, I think it's a fun little thing to do, half birthdays are such a milestone for young kids.  

I love coming up with new traditions for our young family. Plus it's pretty funny sing Halfy Birthday to you... We started our day with a round of giggles. And that's always a good thing. I'm on the hunt for more ways to to add fun to our days.  I'd love to hear what other families do.  The comments section isn't scary, I promise. Be brave and leave something... 


*Attention Miss Nikki-- please share, you have so many fun traditions!

my confession.

I have a confession to make. I shouldn't be driving my vehicle of choice. I'm a big fat faker. I shouldn't be allowed to drive around town in my Honda Odyssey since I'm technically not a soccer mom. Last year,I was totally legit. We did a Saturdays only soccer session at the Y and loved it. But this year I'm the un-soccer mom.  It wasn't happening.  I thought about it for about two seconds and realized it just sounded absurd to add it to our Fall mix and I thanked my lucky stars this Saturday that I didn't sign up.  I had a relapse of my can't-get-rid-of-this-stupid-sickness.  And Yeah! I didn't have to schlep my way to soccer for kinders. We stayed in jammies all day and watched movies, played wii and built train cities.

I'm pretty happy letting BigBoy run down the backyard stretch and playing with our neighbors at will instead of structured, organized play.  We are lucky to live in a area where we can do that. We also have a lot of friends with kids the same age and can have last minute play time after school-- since they aren't at soccer or dance either (okay, one is, but it's only one day a week.) By the end of the week we NEED to veg out together on the weekends. Spend family time together. Be totally lazy and not have a jam packed day.  Or go on a day trip. I couldn't even imagine having 1-2 practices during the week (when he doesn't even get home until 3:45) and then games every Saturday. I'm overwhelmed as it is! Let alone lugging Sassy to everything and personally having to BE at all the practices and games since BigDaddy is MIA in the Fall. No thanks. I think I'll pass.

So will this scar him forever? He hasn't asked about it once yet. So I doubt it. Will he be behind developmentally in the sports category? Not likely. He's 5 1/2. He has so much time to figure out what he wants to do. And he's surrounded by coaches and plays in a gym for a good part of his life. When he starts pushing for it, I might cave. But until then I'll be the un-soccer mom in the soccer mom mobile.  Kicken back in my jammies on Saturday morning. Being totally lazy and hanging with my family. You won't rat me out, right?

A better plan.

I admit it. I was all fired up and yet, I haven't done much since my last post.  I got sick.  My body gave up and forced me to slow down. forced me to get some much needed rest. forced me to sit on the couch and play on Facebook.

But this proves to me that I am taking excellent care of the family. I'm the only one sick so that must mean that everyone else is sleeping well because when they get up they get mommy and go right back to sleep, eating well since I did manage to do a meal plan but haven't really eaten much of it because I forget to eat or am sick, and feel totally at ease and comfortable in their work/school place because we all know who is putting out all the "fires" and coordinating all the parental homework.

I was feeling all woe-is-me, but then BigBoy jumped off the school bus and announced that his friend (and our down the street neighbor) had told him to meet outside to play. Okay, now what.  I can't lounge around on the couch.  I can't be all sicky. But I CAN sit on the back porch and just hang out.  So it was decided: our yard, stay out of the messy, germ infested house, and be nice to Sassy. 

It worked!  The kids all, pretty much, got along and were swinging and running around.  And then magic happened. They found the Crown Jewel of all playthings.... a cardboard box.  I love how kids turn a box into a million different things... this box was a cat cage (???), a tunnel, and finally a roller coaster when combined with the slide--and of course with a set of cool space goggles.  How could my pity party go on when I have kids totally excited about a cardboard box, space roller coaster? I mean, really. 

The impromptu play time made a world of difference for all of us.  BigBoy played with his older friend he doesn't get to see during school time (only on the bus), Sassy got some social time in, and Mom ended her pity party and got up off her sick booty.  Since they were outside, I didn't feel so guilty letting the munchkins watch a show while I got dinner going and they both had great appetites for dinner.  The laundry stayed in the pile it was in. The bath toys were still a mess in the tub. Dinner was not started early. Not the game plan, but a better plan.

Kindergarten rocks my world.

Just when I just kinda, sorta felt like I had this whole Happy Homemaker gig down, I got a huge wake up call. again. This time around it was called Kindergarten.

Who would have thought that sending my kid off to school everyday, ALL day, would rock my world in a not-so-great-way.  I mean really. He's gone ALL day. How is my life more challenging? one less kid. LESS = EASIER, right?!? But somehow it's not. I feel more disorganized than ever before. And throw in fundraisers, volunteering, pre-school drop offs and pick ups, and board meetings -- all while being a volleyball widow. It ain't pretty folks.

BigDaddy was gone all morning with a visiting friend on Saturday, so it was just the munchkins and me.  I let them sleep in to whatever time, pick out breakfast, and eat in front of the TV in jammies while I worked on cleaning up. Don't judge, you TV-free friends.  Around 9:30 I was a Domestic Rock Star! I had the kitchen super-cleaned (special projects included), floor mopped, house picked up -- day totally started off well. A HA! This was my pre-K routine. And it worked. But it's not my reality anymore.

Now I have to do the get-ready-for-school-shuffle every morning... wake up, breakfast in the kitchen TYVM, dressed, cleaned up, notes, lunch, hoodie, coffee and wait outside for the bus. Bye BigBoy! Then I exhale and look at Sass and try to get motivated. Most of the time, it doesn't happen in a timely fashion. I can't even tell you what the heck I DO do. I look around and feel overwhelmed. And then I look around some more and get more overwhelmed. Then I call my friend and fellow KinderMom and we talk about how crazy it is that we don't have a grip on our lives with one less child.  Then I eat a snack.

I haven't blogged, haven't done meal plans - so I'm scrambling trying to figure out dinner or running to the store last minute. I haven't even been watching bad daytime TV. Okay, I DID watch some The Doctors show, but that was only once!  And have you seen the medical eye-candy on there...Hubba Hubba. I also was able to clean up the DVR for all the fall premiers. Priorities.

We've been working on the basement for the past week or so, trying to get everything all situated now that we have new gutters, steam cleaned the carpets and got rid of all the furniture that was ruined thanks to the Big Flood in our basement. So we HAVE gotten some bigger projects done. We really don't need our "basement school" set up since the kids are in regular ol' school and preschool. It's now becoming our family/bonus room/workout room thingy.  We set up the wii and Mr. Snarky (aka wii fit) and a DVD player for my workout DVDs.  I'm slowing getting all the toys, books, supplies organized. but I'm doing it. I'm moving forward.

So now what? Time to take control. Time to go into Domestic Rock Star mode full-time, or most of the time anyway.  I'm in the process of figuring out a weekly routine thing, going back to doing meal plans and working out. I'm even doing a budget. I know, right? Of course, I will share with you Loyal 7. It won't be perfect, but I know you guys will understand.

I miss her.

I'm gutting out cleaning our guest room in preparation for my mother.  She's coming to visit over Sassy's birthday week and the guest room has no room for a guest.  After the basement flooded and we moved Sassy out of her crib to her big girl bed the "guest room/office" become quite the storage room.  Add the seasonal paring down of kids' clothes to the mix, which of course ended up in the guest room, and I have quite a task before me.

I also started a project a few months ago of getting picture frames and photos on the walls and out of boxes.  I love pictures and I want to look AT them not through them. So diving into my said project meant dealing with a LOT of different types of projects.

Sassy went to a friend's house for the morning and I got to deal with the bulk of crapola that was on the floor.  During her nap, I purged a bit and then sat down next to my stack of photo frames and some loose pictures.  Time to switch gears. I was looking at one of my favorite pictures of me and my paternal grandparents. I must have been a little bit older than BigBoy in the photo, maybe 7ish? I'm sitting on my grandma's lap, between both of them, after a family dinner. We were looking at pictures (you could see them on the table) and we are all smiling.  Looking happy.  Happy to have each other.  Happy to be there together. Happy.

And then I started to cry. no sob. I miss them. and really I miss her. I'm sad that she didn't get to be a part of my wedding, and that she never got to meet her great-grandchildren.  And I'm sad I can't call her anymore.  Or ask her about something only she would know the answer to. Or see if she has any more costume jewelry that Sassy could have to play with.  Or find out why she pronounced her name, Eloise, two different ways. (E-loye-s and E-lo-ezz.) Or just to tell her how much I adore her.

As an adult I realize how much she loved being my grandma.  She was fantastic. She doted on me. Adored me. Spoiled me. I ate it up. But above all, she enjoyed me. She lit up when she saw me or got a call from me. I made her day. and I knew it.

As I'm having my cry-fest, Sassy walks in after waking up from her nap and waves to me with a sleepy grin and says "Hi Mama!" Hi Baby. She crawls up on the couch next to me and snuggles in. I look at her cuddling next to me with that sleepy grin and her crazy bed head, I realize I have much of my gramma still with me. She taught me about unconditional love. And how it feels to be so wanted and enjoyed. I need to remember that when I'm tired. and/or overwhelmed. and/or cranky. And when one of the munchkins wants to play trains on the floor. again. I have to remind myself: Am I still lighting up when I see them? Am I paying attention to them? Do they know how much they make my day? Do they realize how much I adore them each and every day?  Thanks Gramma.  Thank you for teaching me how I should be doing this "parenting" thing. Even if I half-ass all the other stuff, it's okay, as long as I get this part right. Now if you will excuse me, I need to jump off the laptop and and hit the floor to be "mama train" and take "baby train" to the zoo.

Getting Real About the High Price of Cheap Food - TIME

I took a day off from lunzygras yesterday (I've been trying to post M-W-F every week.)  My day kicked my booty: two children getting ready for school, me getting ready to look presentable, volunteering at K, picking up Sassy, running to the farm for a few things, trying to clean-up, revamping another blog's page that wasn't showing up in IE right, playdate as soon as BigBoy got off the bus and had a snack, dinner, bath, bed. I was done.  So instead, I'm sharing this wonderful article that I posted on Facebook.  Great read and spells it our eating habits in plain speak, you don't even have to read an entire book now for this info.  I hope you enjoy the read and hope even more that it will make you think about what and how you are eating.

Getting Real About the High Price of Cheap Food - TIME

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Life, not cleaning, happens.

I had this magnet forever. I loved it. But the munchkins played with everything on the fridge and now I fear it's in the black hole also known as BEHIND THE FRIDGE.  So when the day comes that we might have to move again, I'll probably find it.  But the magnet always made me smile. It cracked me up. It also kept it real for me.

Yesterday I planned on a "tidy day" to get back up to speed and get the house in a bit better shape. I started the day with great intentions, really I did.  But then I had to call BigBoy's school about switching busses to one that goes right past our house. (Now I get 20 extra minutes in the morning and don't have to show my face in public to anyone except the bus driver! I see sweat pants in my very near future.)  And then I remembered Sassy needed to do her self portrait for pre-school orientation which was THAT NIGHT.  Which then meant we had sequence, buttons and silk rose petals all over the freshly swept and mopped floor.

And then I got motivated again and found a mouse party going on in the kitchen.  So I quickly found myself dealing with three mice without BigDaddy to help-- because of course he had his first match of the season. of course.  I did get some stuff done, mainly the kitchen during random bursts.  And then I checked out flylady again, because I like to torture myself. But come on! Her "Home Blessing" takes an hour and you spend 10 minutes doing each major task. From the website:

The Weekly Home Blessing hour is the time FlyLady spends slipshod cleaning her home. No detailed cleaning required; vacuum the middle of the floors only!

FlyLady sets her timer for 10 minutes to work on each of 7 tasks:
Vacuum
Dust
Mop
Polish Mirrors and Doors
Purge magazines
Change Sheets
Empty all trash

This takes approximately one hour; some tasks take less than 10 minutes.

Wait, 10 minutes to mop? Seriously? And sorry, but didn't see "sweep" as part of the Blessing and I don't know about you, but I need to sweep my floor before I can mop it. And I need to clean the counter tops before I can sweep the floor... hmmm.

So my Blessing "Hour" actually took me all day. And I only got my kitchen done, because, uh, well, real life stepped in.  I had to find the camera cord for BigDaddy's video camera, and talk to the school about our gutters being fixed, and throw in making breakfast, lunch, dinner, snack, snack, snack, snack and then fill out all the forms I forgot I needed done for orientation...  OH, and then after that I went to get Sassy's birth certificate I realized it's gone MIA. Geez, did I even order it in my foggy mama-to-a-newborn-coma?

So you see my Blessing Hour wasn't happening, because all around me, LIFE was happening.  And if it means I needed to stop and play with Sassy and check out her new moves to Dirty Dancing- Havana Nights (flamingo leg kick, twirl) or to glue sequence on her self portrait cut-out ("parkley hair,") then so be it.

Sorry FlyLady, I think I need to break my stalker habit with you.  I'm filing a self imposed restraining order. Until further notice, this FlyBaby is on hiatus.

Pink Princess Sparkle

As you know, BigBoy's first day of K was an emotional day for me and Sassy.  So what better way to get our minds off the sadness in our hearts? Go Shopping! Go to Lunch! Shop some more!

Sassy and I hit the road and headed up to the City.  Girl Time I told her. "Girl Time? No boys?? Yeah!! Ha ha ha ha ha (think neener neener voice.)" Alright, game on. Let's see what this only child situation is like again. I needed to get some things for BB that I either a) couldn't find over the weekend or b) totally spaced.  Mainly tennis shoes. I forgot the boy needed some sneaks for PE.  BB doesn't wear tennis shoes. ever. It's Crocs in the summer and Fuggs in the winter--if he's wearing shoes at all. We walked into the shoe store and I quickly realized my mistake of taking Sassy with me. She raced down the crowded kid's shoe isle.

"AAAAAWWWWW!!!  Moooommy look! Pink! and 'parkley! and Piiiiiink! Ahhh!! and Princesses!!!! Oh Mommy. MY school shoes?? Deese for me???"

And then she gave me The Look. You know the sweet, you-really-truly-can't-say-no-to-me look. And usually I can, really, truly say no to her. Usually The Look only works on the Daddy/Grandparent types. But not today. Not on the day my first born, my baby boy, left me. She had me. I caved. I got her the most gaudy pink, sparkley, princessy shoes you could ever dream of. And she loves them.

She wanted to put them on the second she woke up from her nap. "Mommy, where my 'parkley shoes??" Shoes were on, a few taps on the floor for good measure and then came the second request.  "I need music mommy.... Beyonce.  I need Beyonce."  Cue All the Single Ladies, please ....(excuse the table- just keepin' it real folks)

I don't get the "girlie" thing.  I'm not girlie. I thought, no way my kids would be girlie... if I even had a girl.  I was totally convinced I would be a mom of all boys. And since my first child was a boy, surely any girl that would follow would be a tomboy-- like I was.  But no. She want PINK everything. You want sparkles on your toothbrush, really? This wasn't how it was supposed to be.  My husband is a coach for Pete's sake. We were supposed to have gym rat kids. I never saw this coming. I don't get it. It's not part of my being.  But I guess Karma came and bit me in the butt. My mom is about as girlie as you can get. The smaller, sparklier, cuter, the better. She's also a crafter. Me?  Not so much. But my daughter? OH YEAH. Nana's genes totally skipped me and took all that extra time and energy and gave me a super-turbo, pink and crafty, girlie girl. They are kindered spirits. *sigh*


So we have pink in our house. Lots and lots... and lots of pink. And dresses. And sparkles. And princesses. And to be honest, it is kinda fun to have tea parties and dress dolls and dance to Beyonce.  Maybe I'll cave again and get Sassy a Bedazzler for her upcoming birthday. She might get sparkles on her toothbrush after all.

It ain't easy being Mean

Apparently I'm a Mean Mom. Day 1 of Kindergarten and I'm a Mean Mom. Really? Already? We were, I was all excited about our cool laptop lunchboxes. BigBoy and I developed a list of food that was deemed acceptable for school lunch. We practiced opening the main box and the cute little containers. Talked about healthy choices and how hot lunch at school was junky. How mommy was packing a special, healthy lunch for him that will give him lots of energy and brain power for the day...

Lunch was not a hit. And when lunch is not a hit, Mom is mean. Baby spinach with dip is not cool at school- so I've been informed. "Junky chips in little bags"= cool.  Wow. I'm fighting this fight already. *sigh*

The day started out well enough. BigBoy was actually up 15 minutes before I needed to wake up him up- Hallelujah! We've been hitting the sack way late this summer and he got in the habit of waking up after 8, which was unheard of pre-CA trip. Our morning was pretty smooth-- lunch was packed, outfits set out, and BigDaddy was home to help. 

Since we had some extra time and Sassy was still snoozing, we decided to read The Kissing Hand by Audrey Penn. At Back-to-School night all the K teachers read the story to their classes and they wore little hands around their necks.  Totally puppy dog cute. We had the book already so I pulled it aside to read the night before. Oops! Mommy brain totally spaced it so luckily we had some time in the morning to cuddle and read. Great for BB but BIG, HUGE mistake for me. The story is about a raccoon who is leaving for school for the first time. Mama Raccoon kisses his palm and tells little raccoon that when he gets sad and misses her, all he has to do is press his palm to his cheek to feel the warmth of his mother's kiss. Sappy book for mamas, sweet and reassuring for kids. Strangely, no mention of Mr. Raccoon. Sorry BigDaddy. By the end of the book I was already fighting back the tears.

While I was taking the kids' pictures I caught the munchkins sitting on the front step and could hear BB telling Sass the story in a very serious tone.  Proof that They DO love each other!

Now Sis, I'm going to Kindgergarten today...

and I'll miss you and you'll miss me. But see, this is your "Kiss Hand."

 

 Now you'll have my kisses all day.

 I heart my brother!

We met up with our friends down the street and take pictures upon pictures. The kids were jazzed and thankfully the frenzy of activity and the bus showing up early (EARLY?!) kept the kids the moms from getting too weepy.  But the tears started to flow as I watched the bus pull away down the street with my Baby Boy inside.

The mini-munchkins were not happy the older sibs got to go on a cool bus and head off to school, so what's a mom to do? Instant playdate and snack time!  Throw a little dancing into the mix and we have some happy 2 y.o.s and moms.  Sassy and I headed home after our emotional morning and then decided to have a girls' day.  Shopping and a leisurely lunch.  Nothing like a little Panera and retail therapy to forget about our woes.

That afternoon, we had an entire Welcome Home Crew for the kids; tons of hugs and kisses from the families.  About 2 seconds after BigDaddy walked back to work the meltdown started. Here we go...

Between trying to stomp on his sister's shoes, chug milk leftover from his lunch and overreacting to e.v.e.r.y.t.h.i.n.g. I tried to get the gist of the day. Did you like it? Was it fun?  Were the kids nice?

BigBoy: You're a MEAN MOM! I didn't like my lunch! I didn't have ANY junky stuff! The other kids had LOTS of junky stuff... like junky chips in little bags. They were in their own little bags. I don't get anything like that! Just a little bit of junky snack mix, and THATS... ALL! [For full effect, insert major stomping here.]

Mean Mom: Well honey, when we went over your list of lunch foods that were yummy, all those things were on it. You LOVE spinach and wanted it all yesterday. And you wanted peeled clementines. These were things you said you wanted.

BB: I don't remember that.

MM: Well maybe next time you can help me make your lunch from the list. But we don't eat a lot of junky food at home, so you won't get a lot of junky food for your lunch. And we buy snacks in big bags and use containers so we can re-use them.

BB: Um. Okay. But I really want those junky chips in little bags. I would even recycle the bags mom. really.

That's my boy. Saving the world, one little junky chip bag at time.

After prying out more info throughout the afternoon I was informed I was a Mean Mom yet again.... I left his rest towel at school as part of his supply list. HOW COULD YOU?! Now, all of a sudden, he LOOOOOVES that towel. I found out some kids had actual blankets and nap sacks. Good Lord. So I found an acceptable baby quilt that was cool enough to use at school and sent a note asking Mrs. S to switch it out.

At the end of the day, we were both beat and having meltdowns. In a few hours Day 2 will be over and I'm sure the laundry list of how Mean I was today will start. I just picked a bunch of ripe, orange, Sunsugar Cherry Tomatoes from the garden- the same ones on the previously mentioned list.  I think I'll send them with BB to school tomorrow to give to Mrs. S for snacktime. Nothing screams Mean Mom like sending Organic Vegetables with your son to hand out for snack time.  I'm thinking this being Mean thing is gonna take a lot of work and preparation. I better whip up my own list: Things Mean Moms do to embarass their 5 year olds at Kindergarten. Attn: Loyal Seven- I'm open to suggestions...

School lunch follow-up: menu ideas

It's here, it's here! Our laptop lunchbox! Shipping is definitely not their strong point- FedEx and it still took all week. And I'm a bit disappointed in Sassy's- it's the older version and the little cubby containers don't fit. Thought I checked to make sure, so now I need to call them... But overall, I'm happy with boxes. Bonus: it fits in the Land's End lunchbox. phew! Didn't even think to measure, but it fits perfectly. I'll do a review on them after we've been using them for a bit.


Here is my list I've been compiling (thanks to all you who have sent me links/e-newsletters for ideas!)  I think we are off to a pretty good start.  BigBoy seems more interested and excited about his lunch since he's been helping me "practice" lunch.  I also ask him if there is anything he might want from the store before I leave. He's helped me make our grocery list a bit.  Plan on seeing more meal planning, "spring cleaning", and home organization posts in the near future.  My meal planning has gone out the window with BigDaddy's preseason, we've even eaten at the school commons a few times--- help me!  

Next post will be first day of Kinder re-cap!  Wish us luck!

Let me know if you have any other ideas and I can add them to this list!


Entrée/Protein
Salami, ham, roast beef sliced
Cold chicken breast slices/tenderloins with dip* - We have a winner!
Pinwheels: flour tortilla with roast beef & cream cheese, pb & j, hummus
Peanut butter & honey on whole wheat
Eggs-hard boiled eggs, egg sandwich
Buckwheat pancakes w/ bacon
Meatballs
Pasta salad*
Lunchmeat rollups (filled with cream cheese)
Tuna salad *
Chicken salad
Cold pizza (leftover from homemade)
String cheese, cube cheese (maybe use cookie cutter shapes?)
Hummus
Black bean dip

* Need to taste test still.


Fruit/veggies
Clementines- peeled
Apples- whole, applesauce
Grapes, frozen?
Banana, flat banana
Spinach w/ ranch
Carrots w/ranch, hummus
Celery w/ ranch, hummus, cream cheese, pb – ants on log?

Grains/snacks
Nuts
Kashi crackers
Annie’s bunnies- chocolate, cheddar, whole wheat
Homemade chex/trail mix
Homemade muffins/cookies
Pretzels
Pita chips

Our baby's all growns up

It's starting to sink in a little bit more and more each day. I'm a Kindergarten Mom.

Starting on Tuesday, I will no longer with him 24/7. It's bitter sweet for me. BigBoy is so excited to start public school. But he also doesn't realize this means we are no longer homeschooling. No mid-week play dates playing in a creek, no field trips to amazing gardens while no one else around (they are all in school or at work), no homeschool co-op every week, and no more waking up when he feels like it. And now he has a teacher that he can't charm he way out of everything. For now at least.

Deciding to go the public school route here was a little stressful for me. I wasn't sure if a kinda country school was going to be the best place for BB. He's busy. and creative. and a hands-on learner. and doesn't always listen. and has a million and one questions. I'm terrified that he will be "that kid" and then of course I become "that mom." I want him to love learning as much as, if not more, than he does now. and I like our homeschool friends. and I'm sad I won't be learning side-by-side with him anymore. Being his teacher was amazing. I realize we will still be "homeschooling." It doesn't end because he's in public school... yada yada yada. but it will be vastly different. He will be away from me more than with me. Can you feel the waterworks edging their way in here? As a mom, my role is dramatically changing. I'm not saying it's a bad thing. We are creatures of habit and I am used to being BB's main caregiver, teacher, friend, role model. That's my job as a stay-at-home-mom. It's exhausting, but that's what I signed up for. And I love it. I'll miss it.

We had our Orientation Night last night. Thankfully, I have our neighbor friends to go through this with since BigDaddy is in preseason. I found myself in a mini-van with not one, but two, giddy, excited, soon-to-be Kindergarten chatterboxes. We arrived at "MY SCHOOL!!!! " with plenty of time to grab our packets, drop off forms and find seats. As we were filling in something amazing happened to me for the first time since moving here. I knew people. I saw familiar faces, lots! And they knew me too! I'm on the board at Sassy's preschool and we had a meeting last May with a combined incoming/outgoing board. To be honest, it felt good to finally be in a setting where I didn't just have to smile a lot and pretend to look for stuff in my purse as everyone chatted away. Times are a-changing.

We sat down in the gym and soaked it all in. Mr. Principal welcomed us, said a few words and then it was time to release the Kinders! Teachers names were called, then their charges were listed off. BigBoy jumped up and ran off to Mrs. S., turned to wave and smile, and off he went with his new leading lady. I got to see him again when everyone rode the school buses around town and then had a snack-- cookies and Hawaiian punch at 6 pm. *sigh* Thankfully BB kept asking for more water.

Overall, the orientation was great. If this school delivers everything Mr. Principal claims, we are in for a great ride. They talked about really focusing on the individual learner and building a program to suit his/her needs. Stressed communication with parents. They are big on email and actually use email to alert parents on closings and to send out weekly e-newsletters. Hooray! His teacher has been teaching for 30 years and says she knows that kids learn through touching, feeling, doing. Cooking will probably happen weekly. Lots of field trips that units are based on. No assigned seats. She doesn't like lined paper- just get them writing-- period. And one thing BigBoy has been missing with our homeschool. Blocks. Big, heavy, wood school blocks. Mrs. S has them. Lots and lots of them. And tons of Lego bricks. And they have an "Engineering Center" that they go to to build things out of "stuff" (boxes, tubes, paper, containers.) Heaven to my 5 y.o. boy.

So far, I'm feeling pretty good about our decision to go the public school route. for now anyway. See how I'm still holding the door open?. Our community is fantastic, involved and concerned. And it feels like our school will be like that too. I was blown away when our bus driver called to check-in with us about the bus route. She apologized for not being able to pick BB up at our house; she doesn't go down our street, so the closest she can get is his stop at the corner. I could probably yell down to him at the corner it's so close. After talking to her a bit, I found out she was calling my neighbor next since she realized the computer set her stop way, way, too far for a K kid. She's picking her up at her house since it's along the route. After talking with my friend about it, we decided to just have her pick up BB there too since it's not much farther, the kids will love it, and it will give them a nice porch to hang out on while they are waiting. I'll be able to call back Ms. Bus Driver since she gave me her cell phone number and told me to call anytime. (But she couldn't talk during the route.) She said she'll just keep an eye out at both stops on Tuesday and we'll figure it out.

Seriously? My kid's bus driver is sorry she can't pick him up in front of our house and she's calling me at home before school starts to touch base. Good God, I love the Kinda Country.

All in all, I'm already stuffy. I didn't think it would be happening already, but it is. Thankfully the kids are riding the bus from Day 1, so I won't be at the actual school sobbing, just my neighbor's front porch. Then I can hide inside, enjoy a strong cup of coffee with my fellow KinderMom and reminisce about when our kids were "little."

Early to bed, early to rise.

Recently on FaceBook my status was Lisa "is a morning person. how in the world did that happen?"

I got "you lie" from my sister and "no way!" from a friend. Gee, thanks guys! Mornings were kicking my butt. One of the kids would usually stand bedside and stare at me, then start poking me or in the case of Sassy would sometimes just yell "MOOOOOOOM?!?" in the hallway. I'd drag myself out of bed and stumble into the living room, throw on the TV and try to shake off my sleepiness. Not my idea of how to greet the new day.

Something had to change.

This month I joined the 30 days of [blank] challenge and I decided to dedicate 15 min. of time to myself everyday. Little by little my Me Time began around sunrise and before little munchkin feet hit the ground. So in reality, I'm getting waaay more than 15 measly minutes and I'm getting the benefit of another habit: waking up early everyday. I'm doing my blog writing, on-line reading, thinking about my day and what I need to do, and hanging out with the cat. I get my coffee, look out the window and soak in the morning, and check out the sunrise. Now THAT is my idea of greeting the new day. Sometimes I just sit on the back porch and enjoy the coolness of the dewy morning since we don't have central air conditioning and it's been sweaty hot everyday.

And as you know, BigBoy is starting school next week and needs to be curbside just before 8 a.m. This is a HUGE change for us. I need to be up and ready for the day- prepared to organize the troops. If I'm in a frenzy, the kids will be too. Yelling "Come on, we need to GO!" isn't exactly setting them up a great start.

I'm usually up around 6:15 nowadays, but I'd like to be up by 6 on a regular basis: get my work out done and still have some free time. It might need to be 5:45 which pains me as I write that. But I know mornings are where it's at for me and getting stuff done. Nights just seem to fly by... dinner, bath, bedtime. And then I'm beat or totally unmotivated. I've also started to meander back to flylady. Why I do this to myself is beyond me. But I love that she has you plan out your life to be more orderly. This speaks to me. So BigDaddy and I actually mapped out our daily schedule. Volleyball season creates such a crazy schedule for us, if we don't plan it, it won't happen. And even then, sometimes things just don't happen. In typical lunzygras fashion, I'm sharing the ever so exciting details with my Loyal Seven.

Wake up:
Me- 6
BigDaddy- 6:30
BigBoy- 7
Sassy when sassy wants. ;)

Nap for Sassy around 1

Dinner around 5/5:30
Bath around 7

Bedtimes:
Sassy- 8
BigBoy-8:30 (these may be adjusted, but for now, this is the game plan)
Me- asleep by 10:30, BD asleep by 11.

I might be able to get BB off for the day and then workout after he's gone since it will only be 8 and Sassy is pretty happy to watch or do yoga with mommy :) We'll just have to see what works best.

I'm hoping to get BB's lunches packed the night before and it should be a snap since I ordered the laptop lunch box. Yep, I just went for it instead of hemming and hawing my way through it, only to realize they're out of stock when I go to buy them. btw- I ALWAYS do a google search for coupons when I buy on-line. Found a 20% off coupon for the laptop lunchbox systems ideal55. SCORE! I got one for Sassy too.

So back to my morning time... we'll have to see how the reality of school will play into this, but I'm glad to have a head start. This week we will be scaling back bedtime and taste testing lunches. Can you feel the excitement?!

Some inspiration for you to become a morning person, if you so choose:

One of my new favorite blogs: 10 Benefits of Rising Early from zenhabits.com.

How To Wake Up Early, the blog. Of course someone has a blog about getting up early!

More food for thought.

BigBoy starts kindergarten in just over a week.

I'm feeling a lot of pressure. PTA membership? Classroom volunteer sign-ups? Stress about the bus route times? Nope. Not so much. Not yet anyway. The big unknown: what the heck am I going to make for his lunch every. single. day??

BB has full day kindergarten, everyday. So now I need to actually plan every lunch out for him. Make it healthy, appetizing enough that he won't trade it away or throw it out, and have it all fit in a box, stay fresh and be intact when he digs it out hours later. phew! Now THAT's pressure. I already ordered his lunch cooler which matches his backpack. But now I'm thinking I want to get something like this laptop lunchbox to put inside (pictured above.) I love the compartments and like how it's more eco-friendly.

I'm searching for lunch ideas (with photos) and so far found these:

From parents.com (they actually had a decent article this month, but I can't find it online only in the mag- Sept. 09, page 198).

Laptop lunch idea photos

Very cool flickr pool of laptop lunches

5 ways to pack a healthy lunch

We're doing dry runs this next week, testing out what will be winners and losers in the lunch contest. BB and I have started discussing what is okay and what is "definitely, definitely not" okay

good ol peanut butter and honey on wheat- I think my kids will turn into PB pretty soon.
salami on anything, or just plain
pinwheels - flour tortilla with cream cheese and lunch meat, rolled up and sliced
clementines- peeled
apples- whole, NOT sliced
carrots
grapes
baby spinach- with blue cheese dressing to dip in
cheery tomatoes- only the orange from our garden. sigh.
nuts- almonds, peanuts, cashews
flat banana- from trader joes
hummus
milk
water
Annie's snacks

so that gets me to what, day three?? Maybe I can convince him that pasta salad rocks in the next week. or cut up chicken breast is super cool. or maybe he will just have peanut butter and honey sandwiches 5 days in a row. Think he'd notice?

Thanks Pirate Johnny for the photo!

H1N1 - is it worth a shot?

I have a lot of new readers lately, I'm not really sure how or why, since I've been MIA for more than a month, but Welcome! Since a lot of you newbies may not know, my blog could be categorized as a "Mommy Blog" or "Family Living Blog" but I tend to lean toward the slightly eco/green/organic side. I'm a bit crunchy, but still shave and don't smell like hemp.

Given that, I usually don't get on my soapbox and preach that the government is out to get us, or rant on and on about social concerns, or freak out about health issues. But this one IS kinda freaking me out. I view this blog as a chance to sit down and act like I'm on the phone with a close friend. So after an actual phone conversation a few days ago with one of my BFFs, I feel like I need to share, with you all, my virtual BFFs. Shall we do a group hug, hold hands and sing Cumbaya?

Okay stop singing! It's time to panic! N1H1 is coming to a town near you! This FALL! You better be prepared with a big fat shot! or not. I'm not a big fan of putting ANYTHING in my body, or my kids' bodies, that isn't meant to be there in the first place be it chemical or biological. Our bodies were created the way the are for a reason. Messing with that system, or any bio-system for that matter, is risky business. We just don't know what we don't know. But like it or not, we will soon be faced with a big choice this flu season regarding the H1N1/Swine Flu Vaccination.

The government rushed to get H1N1 vaccination massed produced and has granted the pharmaceutical companies legal immunity. (Associated Press, 7-17-09) Which means we have no idea what the side effects are short term (tests just starting and they want to start administering by October) or long term since this is brand spanking new and you need two doses before you get full immunity. Which means, after the two doses you are "fully covered" around mid-December. But rest assured Joe Citizen, they are doing these rapid tests and not taking any shortcuts, really. Don't you have full faith in Corporate America anymore? Big Business is here for YOU. Even if there are major side-effects (which we won't know for a while,) we can't do much about it, since the drug companies- not you- are protected from injury.

"The purpose of these trials is always to make sure they are safe," said Dr. Karen Kotloff, professor of pediatrics and lead investigator and researcher at Maryland's Center for Vaccine Development. "But even after six weeks, if things look good, we're pretty sure the vaccine will work." So apparently they feel confident, well "pretty sure" at least, that six weeks is enough to mark this new product as safe. In their defense, apparently this shot isn't developed much differently than the regular ol' flu shot. So fast tracking the design I understand. Fast tracking it with different components without long-term testing sounds shady.

We've had swine flu scare before. Wait, what?? Yep in 1976. And a swine flu vaccination fiasco to go right along with it when more people died from the flu shot than they did from the swine flu. In a round about way, I guess proves the vax worked? Some 500 Americans out of the 43 million vaccinated developed a rare paralyzing condition called Guillain-Barré syndrome that was most likely a immunopathological reaction to the shot. Thousands filed claims contending they suffered side effects from the shots. (AP, 7-17-09) Hence the legal immunity for phamra companies.



The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) banned Thimerosal (a mercury-based preservative with is 49% ethylmercury) from all child immunizations. (CDC Mercury FAQ) However the H1N1 vaccination will be a multi-dose shot that WILL contain Thimerosal. *There will be Thimerosal-free shots available, but finding a doctor that has them for you could be a challenge. Also, if you are preggo, most OB/GYNs don't bother with this option because the CDC doesn't say there's any need for pregnant women to avoid Thimerosal (but the FDA does say to avoid mercury.)

Speaking of the Preggos, the CDC is strongly recommending that pregnant women get the new N1H1 flu vaccine as soon as it becomes available. Pregnant women (and infants) are in the "high risk" group. (CDC, 6-30-09) but are also more susceptible in general due to a compromised immune system. And guess what, they weren't a part of the test group, so this is a TOTAL unknown.

The CDC also recommends that pregnant women receive an annual flu shot, again with Thimerosal. But the FDA categorizes it as PREGNANCY CATEGORY C (this is from the flu shot package insert) Animal reproduction studies have not been conducted with Influenza Virus Vaccine. It is not known whether Influenza Virus Vaccine can cause fetal harm when administered to a pregnant woman or can affect reproduction capacity. Influenza Virus Vaccine should be given to a pregnant woman only if clearly needed.

H1N1 has sickened more than a million people in the U.S. alone since April and circled the globe in a matter of weeks. However,"Despite a brisk flu season in the Southern Hemisphere, the new swine flu isn't yet mutating to become more dangerous," says CDC's Dr. Nancy Cox. "It's actually quite surprising that the virus is showing so little genetic variation given its rapid spread." (AP, 7-23-09) So the strain they are currently basing the vaccine on, looks like it will remain the same for the big H1N1 flu season. Good news for people already planning on getting the shot.

I'm officially confused. The shot is based on this particular strain. But this particular strain hasn't mutated to become more dangerous. It becomes more dangerous AFTER mutation and then the strain this vax is based on isn't the same as the strain causing mass infection. Am I the only one this sounds totally insane to? Maybe something is better than nothing? Or is nothing, better than something? Is the best defense basic hand washing with plain ol' soap and water, staying away from sick people as much as possible, and getting your vitamin C? Is that enough?

p.s. if you are allergic to eggs, you may have a reaction to the shot itself since, like regular flu shots, it will be egg based. (AP 7-23-09)[From the flu shot insert: CONTRAINDICATIONS: Fluzone vaccine should not be administered to anyone with known systemic hypersensitivity reactions to egg proteins (eggs or egg products), to chicken proteins, or any component of Fluzone vaccine or a life-threatening reaction after previous administration of the vaccine or a vaccine containing the same substances.]

My Disclaimer: I'm not posting this to convince you one way or another. I DO want you to get informed ANYTIME you do something to your body. I'm just a mama looking out for my family and friends. I'm not a scientist, a doctor or health professional of any kind. I'm not out to argue these points with anyone or get into a battle of wits on this (there are MANY places on-line you can find to do this.) This is just the tip of the iceberg, there are more facts, more figures if you want to go digging. If you have info to share, please do. But leave any attacks at the door TYVM.

And now back to our regularly scheduled program where I'm a techie wanabee or drooling over Strawberry Panzanella or slowly getting healthier.

* Photo courtesy of thehomsar via flickr.com

Other resources:
CDC's H1N1 site

Dr. Mercola's wrap up

US News on Women- Dealing with the Swine Flu Threat During Pregnancy

Well, looky there!

We have watermelons! As part of my Mother's Day present, we went to the Mennonite Nursery and picked out plants for the yard. BigBoy insisted on getting watermelon plants. Really? Watermelons? Okay, fine, but we are putting them on the back of our house away from everything else. When they weren't growing as fast as the garden plants were, we figured it was a bust. I consulted with my personal gardening mentor (my step-dad) who said they take quite of bit of time to grow. So we figured we would do a wait-n-see. On our trip to CA they exploded!


But unfortunately, so did our weeds. sigh...



And the bird's nest has been abandoned yet again. The Blue Jays built it first with thick sticks, but I don't think ever laid any eggs. The Robins swooped in and added some fluff and little twigs and called it Home. But now the chicks are on their own. Just an empty nest now. I still look out the window every time I walk into our bathroom; still expecting to see Mama and Papa Robin and the three little scrawny necks popping up for worms. sniff, sniff. Our little baby's all growns up.


And then I stopped for a moment and realized who we were all really, REALLY missing from our yard...


This guy:



Zip, please, please tell your Mama she needs to board you at school again this year. pretty please. We have peppermints and apples waiting for you. We promise to do lots of activities in the backyard to keep you entertained. I'll even pet you EVERY time I see you hanging around the fence. Pinky Promise!

Weekend Warriors!

This weekend we kicked some major booty! Go Team Spector!

I started my 30-Day Challenge and on Saturday, Day 1 of taking 15 min. each day for myself. I sat outside drinking my coffee and enjoying the morning cool. Sassy found me at about 13 minutes (2 shy of my goal) but for Day 1, I'll take it! Yesterday I hid out in our guest room, lay down on the bed and listened to the rain. I was trying to nap, but it didn't work, so I settled for rainy calmness. This morning I woke up before the entire family and had over an hour by myself. I'm still in shock! I did some on-line maintenance junk and starting writing this post. woo hoo! I might actually try to wake up before everyone on a regular basis since I'm feeling better and everyone seems to be sleeping later than normal- a total bonus from being on West Coast Time for almost 3 weeks. Anyone else decide to do the challenge? I want to hear about it!

I'm back in my blogging groove, finally! It feels soo wonderful to have this outlet again. I didn't realize how much I missed it and YOU, my Loyal Seven. You guys rock! I'm working on a research heavy (lots of links) post, but it should be up later this week. Anything YOU are interested it or curious about? Drop me a line at lunzy@lunzygras.com or leave a comment here and I'll do my best to address it.

My favorite weekend project is our Family Command Center (don't mind the table, just keepin' it real, people):


I simply love it! I see it before I walk out the door and I smile. It makes me happy. The whole set-up was ridiculously cheap. I had everything I needed on hand already, minus the white board/cork board combo, which only cost $8 at my favorite close-out center, Ollies. But right now is perfect for finding dorm room organizational pieces and supplies anywhere due to Back To School. I used 4large 3M hooks (bags), 3 medium sized hooks (keys), and 1 small hook (for the bucket). I got the small metal bucket (for the white board pens) at Target for a buck in their dollar zone forever ago. New board pens, and some push pins a la WallyWorld. I already had the shoe basket, just needed to clean it out (and put all the shoes that spawned more shoes back into our collective closets.) On a side note... I loooove these 3M Command Hooks I seriously have them in every size. I've used them for Christmas Stockings on the fireplace, hooks for dress-up clothes on our brick, basement walls, to hang up our homeschool calendar, towel hooks in the kids rooms, everything. They're great and pretty cheap.

I also kept going and cleaned up our dish hutch and turned it into more of a desk area with space for our laptop and office/mail supplies. I love it! I doubt if I'll ever actually use it as a desk, but maybe for paying bills. At least the laptop has a home!! It also a good space to hold important mail. I still want to add some wall file folder holders and a small basket cup thingy for outgoing things.

The hooks: #1 mama's purse, #2 Sassy's backpack that will arrive soon and is basically the same as the one pictured, only pink, of course, #3 BigBoy's backpack that hasn't arrived yet, #4 our cloth shopping bags. Big Daddy got a tub under the desk area for his work bag and all the random things that come and go between our house and his office. It's a nice big catch-all for his stuff, which is usually larger and heavier.

I cleaned up our Household Family Binder and reorganized my Recipe Binder. Have I ever confessed to you my obsession with office supplies? Throw me in an Office Depot for the afternoon and I'm a happy girl. FWIW, Lowes works just as well for my Inner Home Improvement DIYer that hasn't materialized just yet. I worked on our menu plan for the next two weeks and it's almost done! BigDaddy rocked my laundry world and the kids' rooms are cleaned. Yeah!! It feels great to start the week off like this!

Me, me, me!

Okay people. I'm fired up, on board with the program and rarin' to go! BigDaddy gave me a Get Out of Jail Free card tonight so I took it and ran! I was literally gone for about 5 hours- marathon shopping. I don't look at the clock and I piddle. Piddling is something non-parents get to do. Singletons. People with Nannies. Parents with grandparents nearby. I rarely get the night to piddle.

So of course I went to Target! And Ollies (local closeout store) and Ross, and WallyWorld Can I seriously leave the house without visiting Walmart? No, not so much. I had a bunch of returns and lots of odds and ends. I wanted to get started on my Family Command Center and I grabbed school supplies from the Great Kindergarten Supply List. I also went to Panera and ate slowly, didn't have to share a stinkin' bite and drank all my own lemonade. It was fabulous. I piddled in the dollar zone. I piddled in the school supplies. I even piddled in the sports department- mainly because I had NO idea what medium sized, top floating, bass fishing lures looked like. Thankfully everyone is pretty friendly around here...

So at Panera, one of my most favorite places in the world, I sat eating my Pick-2 combo and watched the world go by from my outside bistro set chair. I thought a bit about this 30 Day Challenge notion. Did I want to do it? And what in the world would I set off to do everyday for 30 days. And finally it hit me. It was ME! I needed to focus on ME for 30 days and make that my new habit. Is it really too much to ask for 15 min. for me? So my 30 day challenge is.... drum roll:
Do something for myself for at least 15 min. everyday.

I also don't want it to involve food, like "make myself a yummy dessert, just for me" but it can be sit outside on my porch and enjoy the scenery with a glass of wine. Other ideas: take a bubble bath, read for pleasure, work-out, go for a walk, call a friend, meditate, learn how to meditate, play wii-- alone. Get the picture?

I love being with my family and doing things "as a family" but I've realized that everyone else's schedule/emergencies/problems dictate what happens in my day. I'm taking back 15 minutes dammit! everyday. For 30 days. Who's with me now??

* Photo courtesy of Gianluca Neri via Flickr.com

How lunzy got her groove back.

I'm in a funk I just can't shake. It's become a habit I'm afraid. A Big Bad Habit. Of doing nothing. I haven't worked out in over a month. My little slice of blogosphere is bare. I haven't planned out a menu plan in who knows how long which means I've made very few planned meals. I've also gained back almost half of my weight I lost. And I'm all flabby. Every part of my life; from my diet, to the garden, to the house, to my organization, is out of whack, out of control and in total chaos. I have lots of great reasons/excuses, but at this point it just needs to be done with.

Time to get motivated. Time for the excuses to go away. Time for lunzy to get her groove back. I found my way to a new blog via PW called Room 704. Anyway, she has a 30 day challenge- Do [blank] for 30 days starting on Aug. 1. I'm not sure if I'm doing "the challenge" but Aug. 1, tomorrow, is a good day to shake off the funk and get my groove back. The kiddos are starting school at the end of the month and I need to get my good habits back (which is said to take 30 days, hence the challenge) before K and PreK worlds collide with my own world.

I consolidated all the new calendars- Volleyball schedule, K school, Pre-K school, various board meetings, College calendar- into one, family calendar. I weeded the garden yesterday and pulled out all the stuff that bolted during our trip, and tied back our crazy renegade tomato plants. I still need to transplant our pepper plants (they are getting NO sun due to the craziness of the tomato plants.) The laundry mountain is slowly going away. BigDaddy is my dirty dish hero. And I don't feel like a truck ran me over and left for dead with two munchkins yelling MOOOOOOOOMM! non-stop. A good set up for getting one's groove back. So another day of planning, dr. appts (BB's K physical), and getting moving. Tomorrow we start! Who's with me?

At least I got tan.

Two & half weeks in Sunny SoCal kicked my booty big time. It was challenging, fun, exhausting, memorable, frustrating and wonderful. Would I do I again? No way. I over-estimated the amount of time that we could really be gone without all melting down... by about a week. Am I glad we did it? You bet. But even more glad it's over. And for the first time in forever, I came home TAN! (Huh? How the heck do you go to CA and not get a tan? Well, we go to CA to visit people, not for a seaside vacation, in general. We don't usually spend a lot of time lounging about by the pool/bay. Plus, the kids are older now, I'm not holding a BABY 24/7 and they can actually play on their own. Lots of sunshine for Mama!)

We got home last week and I got sick on Day 1. Then around Day 5, I woke up with Pink Eye-type symptoms. Didn't I predict this? Sassy got sick at the tail end of the trip, who then gave it to me. BigBoy was sick at some point between us, but in normal fashion was only down for the count for about 1/2 day.

This happens every year, but this trip wore me down especially. Perhaps because BigDaddy left a week before us and got back a week after us. Thankfully my MIL flew home with us to help with the trip back and helped me get all settled at home again. It was pretty miserable. I was a mess, the house was an instant mess and I was just trying to get groceries stocked in my house again. Fresh produce that our bodies were sorely missing, organic milk available upon request, dairy products galore, and of course, my beloved fresh eggs from the farm.

My garden became a bit of a jungle. Our tomato plants are crazy-big, over my head at this point. The zucchini and peppers are quite happy and producing regularly. Our watermelon plants even look pretty happy with lots of yellow flowers. The carrots and beets? Not so much. And our lettuce bolted, as did our broccoli, but I got most of the crop before we left.

BigDaddy got home today after traveling for almost 24 hours. yikes! Finally we are all home. Group hug. Big breath. I'm so beat, I'm almost not thinking about how our summer is almost over. Or that BigBoy is going to start Kindergarten in 28 days. Or that Sassy is going to start preschool in 36 days. Actually, I'm not thinking about it at all. really.