Tuesday To Do

I have a to do list a mile long. Actually, that's how long it would be if I bothered to write it down, but if I wrote it down I would lose it anyway so I don't bother.... never mind...I was saying...
I have a lot of things that need to get done around here. And they never get accomplished. So here goes. I am going to write out my to do list for the week and come back next week to see how I did.
This week I want to:
* do 5 loads of laundry-that means, wash, dry, fold, and PUT AWAY!
* move around the dining room to find a place for the Christmas tree
* make some more ******** for Christmas presents
* pick out a Christmas card and get a picture taken
* get rid of two bags/boxes of useless stuff
* donate two bags/boxes of stuff I don't need anymore

The cat came back!

Two Fridays ago I went out at the end of nap time to get some groceries for the day care and ended up picking up Frances while I was out.  Consequently, I stayed late at work to do payroll and make sure all the cleaning got done.  I didn't end up leaving until about 6:30.  Ken had called in an order at a Chinese restaurant, so I stopped there on my way home to pick it up.  I finally got home at 7 with three tired and hungry kids.  I was carrying Benjamin in one hand and dinner in the other hand while shooing the other two kids inside, and while the door was open, Oscar slipped out.  I guess I was just distracted enough that I saw it happen but forgot to follow up on what had happened.  It wasn't until Saturday morning while cleaning the living room that Ken said "Where's Oscar?"
We walked around the neighborhood twice calling for him (Frances sounded so pitiful calling his name that I almost cried.) and talking to neighbors.  We put up signs and called the SPCA.  Nothing came of any of it and I was rather upset with myself over the whole thing. The nights were getting colder and I was worried about him being cold, hungry, and lonely.
We went out of town for Thanksgiving and I even checked the voicemail a few times to see if anyone had called about him, but no such luck. I was sure he was gone for good, but I still didn't know what to tell the kids.
On Sunday night, I gathered up the brand new bag of cat food and new jug of  litter and took them next door to our neighbor who keeps cats.  She kept asking "Are you sure?"  And I told her "If this is what it takes for him to come home, then so be it!"                                                                          
Well, it worked!!  When I got home tonight I saw a cat slink across the street a few houses down. I looked at it and felt a bit nostalgic for Oscar.  Henry must have seen it too because he wanted to go see it.  I got him out of the van and carried him down the street. We got to the truck we had seen the cat run under and I put him down, sure that the cat was long gone; but when I looked he was still there.  I called out to this cat, just to see what would happen and lo and behold-out walked my kitty!  He walked straight over to me and rubbed up on my leg.  He let me pick him up right away and I carried him home. He got a bit nervous when the kids screamed excitedly, but I held tight and got him in the house.
He went straight for his food dish and has been eating tiny bits off and on all evening.  Right now he is sitting on my lap snuggling with me.  I think he missed us as much as we missed him!
Welcome home Oscar!!

By the way, this video is totally unrelated because we did not try to get rid of the cat, but the whole scenario made me think of this and I had to go look it up.  Enjoy!

Menu Plan Monday

I am trying to get back into some good habits that I have gotten out of recently.  One of those habits is blogging. Another habit is planning out our menus.  Things always seem to go much more smoothly when I have my meals planned out for the week.  I get home so late in the evenings that the kids are starving the moment we walk in the door.  This week's plan is:
Monday (Ken works late and is then going to see his dad):  Chili and cornbread
Tuesday (Ken still gone): turkey soup and biscuits
Wednesday: Hamburger Helper
Thursday (Ken is off and in charge of cooking):
Friday: Kids (and possibly me) headed to my parents' house--no need to plan dinner

I had been planning out a fruit and a vegetable to go with each meal, but lately the kids have wanted more input into dinner, so they take turns picking out a fruit and vegetable each night.  Consequently, they seem to eat more of said fruit and vegetable because they picked it out!

Benjamin's Incredible Talent

I remember when Frances was born that I was very anti-pacifier. I had read all sorts of things about them being bad for breastfeeding, hard to get rid of, tough to keep track of and not good for your teeth. In the end, however, it mostly came down to the fact that I hated they way they looked. I knew a lot of kids that constantly had them in their mouths and you could never see their faces. Even for pictures.  So I was determined that Frances was not going to have one.
For some reason I had one in my purse though.  Maybe it was "for emergencies only." I honestly don't remember, but it was there. And I remember the day I took it out.  I was running errands with Frances in the car.  She was probably about 6 or 7 weeks old at the time.  And. She. Was. Screaming!! She wouldn't stop for anything.  And there wasn't much I could do anyway! I was driving home and kept hitting traffic and traffic lights.    I tried sticking my finger in her mouth, but I couldn't drive that way, so it only worked for when I was stopped.  In the end, I pulled out the pacifier and plopped it in her mouth and reveled in the silence. After that it was a constant presence, especially at bed time. The worst part about it was that it would fall out of her mouth in the middle of the night and she would wake up crying for it.  Ken and I got into the habit of keeping a few extras in her crib to make the middle of the night groggy grab easier.  And long after she "slept through the night" she would wake up and cry for that pacifier.
Fast forward a few years and along came Henry.  He was a bit of a fussy baby.  There were times he would just cry and we couldn't figure it out. So we tried a pacifier....and he spit it out.  So I bought a different kind...and he spit that out too.  I think I ended up buying about 4 different styles to see which one he would take, but no go.  He spit them all out!  Or knocked them out with his fists.  It took him a while, but he finally got his fists, and then thumb in his mouth and he was finally happy.  Once he mastered it, he could stick his thumb in his mouth whenever he needed to and soothe himself.  And when he slept through the night, he really slept through the night!  He still sucks his thumb, but I am determined not to worry about it. He really only does it when he is tired or upset.
Then came Benjamin. I wasn't sure whether he would suck his thumb or take a pacifier.  I couldn't honestly say which I preferred.  They both have benefits and drawbacks.  Well, sometimes he sucks his thumb and sometimes he takes a pacifier.  I was a little bit sad when I remembered all the times we had to get up in the middle of the night with Frances, but I didn't see a way around it.  Then a miracle occurred!  I watched Benjamin put his own pacifier in his mouth!  I don't remember Frances doing that until she was much older.  I see Benjamin do it all the time. Sometimes he pulls it out just to put it back in.  And then the second miracle occurred. He did it in his sleep!  We were out of town and he was sleeping the bed with me.  He woke briefly, but I was giving him a minute to settle himself.  I watched him pick up his pacifier, plop it in his mouth and go back to sleep! Yeah Benjamin! You rock!!

I can't say "no" to free!

As I was perusing my regular blog roll a few days ago, I saw a mention of a great freebie that I had to follow up on.  I read Another Ordinary Miracle which is the story of a couple building their family through several different means. In one of her posts, she mentioned that Shutterfly is giving away 50 free cards just for blogging about the promotion!
I have used Shutterfly in the past as an easy way to share pictures with my family.  I have even used it to share pictures with parents from my class in such a way that they can see the pictures and order whichever ones they want without me having to attach photo after photo to emails.
I am also using Shutterfly to put together a Christmas present for my husband's family.  You can create your own personalized calendar and add in dates and pictures specific to your own group.  I am having a good time going back through pictures from the year and it gives me an even bigger excuse to take pictures over the Thanksgiving weekend while the cousins are together.
We also enjoyed the mini-book that Julie put together for us after her wedding. It is a great book of pictures of Frances as the flower girl for that occasion.  You can see similar ones here. Our is hard bound with glossy pictures inside and a great way for all of us to look back on that special memory.
What I am most excited about, though, is picking out Christmas cards this year.  I had lots of intentions of getting Christmas cards together for last year. It was our last year as a family of four and I was enjoying being pregnant.  However, with Henry's unfortunate and very stressful hospital stay, that didn't get done. In fact, most of my Christmas memories from last year are not good.  Don't get me wrong-people rallied around us and the staff and volunteers at the hospital were great, but it was a horrible experience I hope to never replicate--and that was just pneumonia. I can't imagine what people with seriously ill children go though! This year, however, I want to go all out and make some really great Christmas memories.  And 50 free photo cards would be one great way to do that!
Now I have to decide which card to pick (and of course, take a decent family picture!)
How about this one?

or this?

or this?

Geez, those are just from the first page!! I have a lot more looking to do!
And if you want to get your own free cards, just go here and sign up!

Frances makes dinner

The kids and I are trying out a new chore system that seems to be working pretty well.  I created a bunch of two by two cards with different chores on them (set table, collect trash, put away clothes, etc.)  and put them all in a ziploc baggie on the fridge. When it comes to chore time, the kids pick out whichever cards they want and then move the card to their own bag.  Sometimes I assign a chore to a specific child and sometimes I let them pick out a few to do.
Frances has been asking to help make dinner for a while now, so I added that as a chore choice, but just haven't had the chance to let her help-dinner during the week is pretty hectic.  Tonight as I was making dinner, I was thinking about meals for the rest of the week and decided to let Frances make a meal.
This one is officially rated "So easy a 7-year old can do it!"

Easy Chicken Pot Pie
Mix together: one can of mixed vegetables (drained), one can of cream of "fill in the blank" soup (we used cream of chicken), and a can of chicken.  In a separate bowl mix together one cup of Bisquick, 1/2 cup of milk and one egg.  Pour this mixture over the chicken/vegetable mixture. Bake at 400 degrees for 30 minutes or until the top is golden brown.

We baked it tonight and will reheat it tomorrow night for dinner after work. And Frances was SO proud of herself!!

November Update

Life has been pretty busy. I don't even remember the last time I posted anything here! I want to get back into the habit of writing, if only for a record of the kids and growing up.

Frances is loving first grade! She learns the most amazing things everyday and enjoys coming home to tell me about it.  She wrote a cute story for homework last week about helping Betsy Ross build a new home and then having a tea party with Betsy and Helen Keller! Then she dreamed that our flag got ripped and she had to sew it back together by hand. She woke up exhausted!  I told her that next time she should borrow my sewing machine.  She has lost two more teeth for a total of four with one more loose one on its way out.

Henry is doing better at school. It is a still a challenge for him to know the difference between Mommy the Mommy and Mommy the teacher.  He has made friends, though, and for that I am thankful. He is starting to know some of his letters and he loves retelling the stories that we read during the day.

Benjamin is growing up so fast!  He has started crawling and there is just no stopping him!  He is learning to eat baby food also.  I bought a new food processor/blender and have made all his baby food for him (except the rice cereal). So far he has had (and enjoyed) avocado, banana, applesauce, pears, squash and carrots. He was not a big fan of the carrots, but we will try them again soon.  He is up to 16 pounds as of his last doctor's appointment and still ahead of the curve in development.  His sleeping habits are less than ideal, but right now he is teething, so I will excuse all of the night waking.

Hopefully that gets us caught up. I am going to try to get into a better habit of posting more regularly from here on out.

Benjamin's 6 month checkup

Due to a lot of wacky calendar conflicts and crazy work schedule changes, Benjamin's 6 month checkup wasn't until mid-November.  So his stats are slightly off, but still something to remember.  He weighed in at 16 pounds, 3 oz.  and he was 26 inches long.  He started eating solids a few days before his official 6 month birthday.  Avocado was the first thing he had.  He had a hard time getting the hang of eating versus nursing, but once he got it figured out, he has been a really good eater.  I bought a new Ninja blender and have been making his baby food myself--so fun!  I have made him avocado, banana, peaches, applesauce, pears, green beans, carrots, butternut squash, pumpkin, and sweet potato.  I cook them and then stick them in the Ninja for a few pulses. Then I pour the puree out into an ice cube tray until frozen. Then they go into a plastic bag labelled with the food item.  So easy, so fun, and so much cheaper than hundreds of glass jars that I feel guilty about even when I recycle them.  I actually have his teachers at school save me a couple of the other kids' plastic ones with lids so I can bring his cubes to school without worrying about losing my own containers. They just happen to be the perfect size!