I Tried, and A Breakthrough

I finished NurtureShock, and one of the chapters that got me thinking the most was the one on kids playing. The authors spend a lot of time explaining a curriculum developed by two psychologists called Tools of the Mind that helps develop executive function in kids. There's a lot more to it than I'm able to explain here, but one of the tenets is planned play.

"The plan consists of children describing the roles and actions they will engage in during the first few minutes of play. This initial plan is used to help children act purposefully. Children modify and change their plans as they play with each other during center time."

So based on this idea and what I read from the Tools of the Mind Web site (I thought the Parents info was very helpful), I thought I would try to create a play plan for last night when we got home. I thought it would be great to play restaurant. We could make dinner and then make menus and then role play as waiters or customers and eat dinner.

Rule number one: Play plans should come from the kids, NOT the parents. LOL

In the car on the way home, I asked the boys, "Do you guys want to play restaurant when we get home?" They both enthusiastically answered, "Yeah!" So we talked about how we could make menus and be waiters and someone could be the chef. Then William said, "Can I watch Backyardigans when we get home?" I said, "What about restaurant? Don't you want to play restaurant?" He said, "Well, I don't think so. I just want to watch TV."

Hmph.

When we got home, I did not turn on the TV. But William still didn't want to play restaurant. Seth wanted to be the chef, though, so I got out the dough for the Stromboli. I asked William if he wanted to make the menus. He said no. Mind you, by now, the whole concept of the "play plan" has been completely dashed. William did take interest in the Stromboli for all of, oh, 2 seconds. Then he said he was too busy to play because he needed to work with his cranes and build a building.

Looks like I'm going to have work on this. Actually, William has NO problem playing, using his imagination and using objects in symbolic ways. At a very young age, he started taking various large utensils out of the kitchen drawers and using them as digger controls. He'd stick them between the couch cushions and say, "Look Mommy! These are my controls for my backhoe." Anything can become anything in his world. He's always inspired by what he sees on TV or reads in books. If he watches a show on space, he'll get up to find his rockets and space shuttle. If he sees a construction video, he goes to find his construction toys. Seth, on the other hand, doesn't really play like William plays. He is more literal and hands on. I think he would benefit from a little more guidance and prompting. He definitely uses his imagination, but he's just not inspired by toys as much as William is.

At any rate, as I've already said, the book has given me so much to think about. I'm going to go back and re-read some chapters. I'm going to pay a lot more attention to the books we read and the TV that we watch. I'm going to take a more active role in teaching the boys. I feel like I've missed some important opportunities to really work with the boys in their cognitive abilities. I've been somewhat lazy, relying on the awesome teachers and curriculum at daycare to take care of that stuff. I thought that a lot of intelligence is innate, and the boys will be who they are. But after reading the book, I think I've fallen through a bit in that part of my job as a parent. I'm not beating myself up, and I know that Ed and I do a lot of things right. We read to the boys every night and often in the morning and many times on the weekends. We talk to them, respond to them, ask a lot of questions, answer a LOT of questions, we provide appropriate toys and take them to lots of different places. But overall, I think there's more I could be doing to help develop their little brains. Fortunately, they're both still young, and it's not too late!

Switching gears here, I mentioned a breakthrough in my title. William still wears a pull-up to bed, which I really have no problem with. He very very rarely wakes up dry, and for some kids, it just takes a lot longer than others. So no big deal. For the last few weeks, however, William has been peeing so much in his pull-up that he's had leaks almost every night. And these are the overnight, heavy-duty pull-ups. I realized that the problem is that once he has the pull-up on, he feels free to unload in it, whether he's sleeping or not. So he'll use it before he falls asleep, instead of getting up to use the potty. And he uses it in the morning when he wakes up, instead of using the potty. So we've made some changes. We've stopped doing chocolate milk right before bed. He has it with his dinner and has to finish it by 7:30. After that, if he's thirsty, I'll give him water. But that's all. (And since he doesn't like water, he won't drink very much.) Next, I don't put him in the pull-up until right before bed. So he wears underwear while we're reading stories. And finally, in the morning, as soon as he wakes up, I take him in the bathroom and take his pull-up off and put him in underwear. He hasn't had any leaks for the past 4 nights. And last night, for the first time, he woke up around 2:00 a.m. and got up and used the potty. (Of course, he woke me up so I could "help" him, but I'll take it!) I don't really want him to wake up in the middle of the night every night to use the potty. So I'm assuming that he still can't hold it all night, and that the pull-up will remain for the near future. But if I can get him to get up and use the potty when he's AWAKE, I think that's progress.

So, that's our breakthrough. I'm glad it's Friday, and I'm definitely looking forward to the weekend! It seems like it's been a long week.

This and That

I re-instituted the evening walk tonight. We've had a two-day break in the humidity, so I took advantage of it. (And the fact that Ed was home from work before we were, making the evening routine much easier.) William came with me and he spent most of the time holding a stick with a pine cone attached to it and pretending it was some kind of light. He had a running dialogue going that I only partly paid attention to. When I asked him what his favorite part of the day was, he said it was learning about volcanoes and how they "interrupt." (Instead of erupt.) Too funny. The only problem with the evening walk was that William didn't fall asleep until 9:30. But that may have been the case whether we walked or not. Hard to know.

In other news, I'm almost done reading NurtureShock and now I'm a little freaked out. There's a chapter about how a lot of "educational" programs and books actually teach kids relational aggression (basically, how to be mean to other kids without physical or verbal aggression). The chapter doesn't say which shows and books are bad, though. I need a list! It mentioned Arthur, which is one of William's favorites. (He really likes the books, too.) And Spongebob Sqaurepants (which we've never watched), which I could have figured out. And Clifford (which William likes, but we haven't watched it in a long time.) But what else?  Both William and Seth love Backyardigans, and fortunately, I don't think there are ever any examples of relational aggression on that show. They're never mean to each other. So I can't imagine that show is objectionable. William likes Martha Speaks and Word Girl. Both are meant for older kids, but I'm wracking my brain trying to figure out if they portray relational aggression. Other shows the boys like are Sid the Science Kid (no relational aggression that I've seen), and Bob the Builder. I think the machines get into tiffs on that show, so I should pay more attention.

But what about the damage I've already done by letting them watch the objectionable shows? I say that partly tongue in cheek--if you believed and tried to follow every parenting advice book, you'd be twisting yourself into knots. So much of parenting is common sense and moderation. But there's a lot of research to back up what the authors of the book have discovered. And that part makes me wig out just a teensy tiny bit. The book might not start out as a parenting advice book, but really, that's what it is. "Here's all the ways parents are f-ing up their kids, and here's the research to prove it." Great. It's definitely enlightening, and I'm glad I've read it, and I'll definitely re-read certain chapters. I'm taking it all with a grain of salt, but it's kind of depressing, if you ask me. Despite that, I'm planning on buying a copy of the book to give to the teachers at William and Seth's school. And it's getting late, and I want to finish it tonight. So I'm signing off!

Menu Plan Monday -- July 26

Another good weekend. Not much to report! We went to a friend's house for dinner on Saturday and had a great time. We definitely need to work on socializing more! Seth's Zoom Around the Room class was much better this weekend. He still got upset when it was time to clean up for circle time, but he got over it quickly. He wouldn't participate in the songs, but he did participate in the parachute play, and he enjoyed it. William, meanwhile, earned his white belt in Taekwondo, and Ed said he did pretty well in the class. He got a gold star that I have to sew onto his uniform, though, and I have no idea how to do that. Thank God for Google! We also spent time at the pool yesterday, so we're meeting our goal of pool time every week.

We've had three weekends in a row of very few commitments and it has been so nice not to run around and feel pressed for time. We haven't really done any "fun" or exciting adventures with the boys, but I think they enjoy playing at home just as much. Next weekend may be "busy." We'll probably celebrate Ed's grandmother's birthday, and I'm going to visit a friend with a new baby (by myself). Hopefully we'll still find time for the pool. And maybe we'll even do the pool after work one day this week. We did it on Friday and it was great.

Switching gears, here's this week's dinner plan.

Sunday: Grilled salmon, corn on the cob, broccoli, dinner rolls

Monday: Parmesan chicken nuggets, green beans, biscuits

Tuesday: Black bean quesadillas

Wednesday: Waffles/breakfast for dinner with fruit salad

Thursday: Ham and cheese Stromboli (I doubt William will like this, so I'll offer William ham and cheese or pepperoni and cheese separately. He doesn't like melted cheese.)

Friday: Dirty rice (I love this recipe but I'm not sure if the boys will like it. So I'll need to have a backup.)

Saturday: Dinner out

Phone Photo Friday--Late Edition

We finally made it to the pool after work today.

And although I gripe about it a lot, there's one good thing about DC traffic--the view:

Mean Mommy

Tonight was not a good night. William was primed for meltdowns by the time I picked him and Seth up from school. I forgot the apple juice for the car ride home, but before I could even explain that we could walk to the corner store right by the school to get some, he threw a fit. Once he calmed down, we got some juice and all was okay. But then we hit traffic and it took us 50 minutes to get home. (I can't even begin to tell you how horrible traffic has been, and how cranky it makes me. There's construction going on by one of the bridges and it's causing cluster-you-know-what at every other bridge leading into Virginia..

Once home, both boys played while I made dinner (I didn't even take the time to change my clothes), but then neither one wanted to stop playing to actually eat dinner. They both claimed they weren't hungry, and even though I warned them several times that if they chose not to eat, they would not get chocolate milk, and they would not get another chance to eat (it was after 7:00 by this point, so it's not like there would have been time for them to eat later anyway), they both said fine. Then they didn't want to stop playing and clean up when it was time to go upstairs and take a bath. After several warnings that they would have to go to their rooms if they didn't clean up, they both ignored us, so they both got put in their rooms, and much crying and wailing ensued. After a few minutes, we let them out and told them to clean up. William continued to cry and wail, so he stayed in his room for a few more minutes.

After finally cleaning up their toys, we went upstairs to take a bath, and William was still whining and crying. And of course, they both wanted to eat. Nope, sorry. Cry cry cry. Once in the bath, they fought. They settled down, but when it was time to get out, cry cry cry. Then William wanted chocolate milk. Whine whine whine. I said no twenty times. He's nothing if not persistent. It's almost 9:00 and he's still awake. He hasn't asked for chocolate milk for at least 10 minutes. Let's hope he's given up. Seth seemed okay with ice water before bed. I'm worried they'll both wake up because they're hungry. But such is life. Sometimes parenting just sucks.

Awesome Chicken and NurtureShock

I was convinced that tonight's Thai Grilled Chicken with Cilantro Dipping Sauce was going to be a major disaster. The recipe calls for a basting sauce made of cilantro, jalapeno peppers, fish sauce, sesame oil, and garlic. You mix all of that in the blender and then coat the chicken in it right before you put in on the grill (or under the broiler). Well, we didn't have any jalapenos, so I left those out. And while the recipe calls for 4 cloves of garlic, I missed the part where you only use two cloves for the basting sauce and then use the other two for the dipping sauce. I used all four for the basting sauce. And I also missed the part where you coat the chicken with the sauce right before grilling. I poured the sauce over the chicken last night and put in the fridge for about 20 hours. Furthermore, once all the ingredients were blended, all I could smell was the sesame oil. And when I tasted it, all I could taste was sesame oil and salt. The cilantro flavor did not seem to come through. So, I did not have high hopes.

When we got home today, I went ahead and put the chicken on the grill. And when it was done, I made the dipping sauce. And OH MY GOD--it was awesome! Sooooo good. And for people who don't like spicy food, leaving out the jalapenos was fine. (I will probably leave out the peppers again next time I make it for the kids, but if I was just making it for me and Ed, or for a dinner party, I'd probably add just one jalapeno.) The dipping sauce really made it awesome, although neither of the boys liked the dipping sauce. They did, however, eat every bite of their chicken. So score! It might taste even better if you make the sauce and put it on the chicken right away and then cooked it, rather than making it the night before. But either way, it's easy, quick, and yummy. I'm very excited to have a new chicken recipe that's a touch exotic, yet easy, and something that everyone loves. Plus, it's a great way to use up cilantro.

In other news, I'm reading NurtureShock, and wow--it's really thought-provoking. It's definitely not a judgmental parenting book, prescribing a certain way to do things. It does, however, leave me feeling somewhat panicked that I've probably been doing a lot of things "wrong."  But mostly, it's making me consider and understand things from a different perspective--such as how we praise kids, talking about race, the importance of sleep, and intelligence--and I feel like I will be a better parent for having read and processed the book. I highly recommend it!

Menu Plan Monday, I mean Tuesday, and Updates

Better late than never, right?

Sunday: Parmesan chicken tenders, corn on the cob, broccoli (Made by Ed)

Monday: Annie's mac-n-cheese, green beans (William has not been eating mac-n-cheese lately--kind of weird. He ate yogurt, some of the beans, a few bites of bread, and a few bites of American cheese.)

Tuesday: Shrimp scampi with asparagus

Wednesday: Thai Grilled Chicken with Cilantro dipping sauce, salad, dinner rolls

Thursday: Pork piccata, broccoli, biscuits

Friday: Homemade pizza

Saturday: TBD--Black bean and cheese quesadillas as a fallback

Now for the updates:

Sleeping: Since I wrote the post about being so tired, both boys have been sleeping pretty well. Seth has been sleeping through the night, but I hear him wake up and drink from his cup but he goes right back to sleep. I've been putting watered down apple juice in the cup because although he's been fine with water a few times, more often he stands up and calls for me and wants chocolate milk. So if I keep watering down the apple juice, I figure that's an okay trade-off. I do wonder if I broke him of the habit of drinking anything during the night, if he would stop waking up. Only one way to find out, I guess.

William has been waking up around 5 a.m. or so. He usually gets into our bed, and wants chocolate milk. I've found that if I give him milk, he'll drink it and go back to sleep for another hour or more. If I don't, he'll doze and wake up every 10 minutes and ask for chocolate milk. Kind of a no-brainer in my book--he gets his milk. If it's before 5 a.m., though, he doesn't get milk. So that's where we stand with sleeping. It's definitely better!

Food waste: I've been terrible with food waste lately. I have half a cantaloupe and half a small watermelon that I'll have to throw out this week. (For some reason, the boys have not been eating a lot of fruit lately.) We also never finished up the leftover pork chops from last week. And there's some steak from Friday night that we're struggling with finishing. I'll probably be able to eat a lot of it by bringing steak salad to work tomorrow. And I can offer some to William tonight if he doesn't want the shrimp scampi. Anyway, definitely need to pick it up a notch! I threw out some cottage cheese that hadn't gone bad, but I had tried the low sodium kind, and blech! I did not like it. I should have tried putting it in a smoothie or some other such recipe. But I didn't have the energy to figure out what to do with it. Boo on me. I've also got a tight budget the next two weeks, so I need to minimize extra spending. That means bringing lunch to work every day, and making do with what's in the pantry and freezer and not making extra grocery store runs. And of course, eating the food already purchased and prepared.

Home search: I mentioned in my last post that Ed and I went to a bunch of open houses last weekend. I was disappointed, mostly because our desire for the kind of house we want to live in is not going to be possible in the neighborhoods we want to live in. So we're either going to have to live further out and deal with the commute, or we're going to have to settle for less house. Neither one of us wants a house that we'll have to fix up. We're really not good with home projects, and we'll just end up never doing anything and we'll live in a house that we don't really like. It's hard enough to make simple decorating decisions. I don't want to have to meet with contractors and re-do bathrooms and replace fixtures and floors and carpet and all the other things that we'd want to do if we bought closer in. Maybe I'm getting discouraged too soon. We still have time, and housing prices look like they will continue to fall. (Although not in the close-in areas where we want to live.) That could mean fewer prospects on the market, but spring is always a better time for house hunting anyway. We'll see.

Exercise: That should really say, lack of exercise. I just can't get it together peoples. Getting up early is not happening. And walking after dinner is not happening. I could probably be making more of an effort to walk after dinner, but it's been so freakin' hot, and thunderstorms have been common in the evenings. And it's been hard to get the boys bathed and ready for bed by 7:45. By the time I'm done reading stories to William, it's been more like 8:15 or 8:30, and by then, the last thing I want to do is go walking. I guess it's my mindset that needs changing more than my schedule. I'll keep trying! 

So that's about it for my world. Not sure if swimming will happen this week. The weather calls for possible thunderstorms every afternoon. I think I'll put bathing suits and towels in the car and if the weather looks good one evening, I'll have Ed meet us at the pool with pizza. Now THAT'S a good plan!

Weekend Report

Another good weekend--low key, not a lot of commitments, time to do chores, hang out, take a nap. Seth's nose started dripping like a faucet again today. Ed's did, too. William has been fighting something for two weeks now, but it still hasn't gotten the best of him. On Friday, he seemed pretty congested and wiped his nose a lot with the back of his hand. (Lovely.) But he hasn't gotten worse over the weekend. I got probiotic vitamins for the boys--chewables--but Seth doesn't like them. I should have just gotten the kind that you sprinkle in drinks or food. Oh well, live and learn.

But anyway, back to the weekend. Friday night was movie night for William. He LOVES movie night. I put Seth down to sleep while Ed and William pop popcorn, and then we all sit on the couch and watch a movie. We usually try to pick a short movie, but Friday night, William wanted to watch Karate Kid--the original one with Ralph Macchio. I thought he'd want to turn it off as soon as it started. But he watched almost the entire movie. He stayed up until 10:30! We payed for it a little bit on Saturday, but it could have been much worse. He didn't even take a nap on Saturday like I thought he would.

On Saturday morning, Ed took William to Taekwondo and I took Seth to "Zoom around the room"--a soft playroom where the kids have free play and then gather for circle time to sing songs and do the parachute thing. Seth was a bit of a terror during the class. The moms kept giving me sympathetic looks, and one mom even said to me, "It's okay. We've all had a two year old." Most of the kids were older than Seth, but not that much older. He really wasn't that bad until it was circle time. The teacher started pushing all the soft blocks to the wall to make room and Seth freaked. He was screaming and crying and trying to drag the blocks back to the center of the room. He wanted NO part of circle time and song-singing. I finally carried him out of the room kicking and crying, and we watched circle time through the window. After a few songs, he agreed to go back in if he could sit on the side and watch. He did. During parachute time, the teacher told me to come grab a handle, and she figured Seth would want to join in. I knew Seth would freak, but I didn't want to refuse the request, so I joined. And Seth freaked. He starting crying again and grabbed at my shirt and arm and leg, trying to drag me away. It was pretty funny. Luckily, it was the very end. Once it was all over, he perked right up, got a sticker from the teacher, said "Thank you," and even gave the teacher a hug. Can't wait until next week! (That was sarcasm, in case it doesn't come across in my writing.)

The rest of Saturday was spent going to Target, taking a nap (Seth and me), playing (William and Ed), and then going to the pool. I decided to take the boys swimming in the late afternoon (5:30 p.m.), and brought along a picnic dinner. It was awesome. The boys had a great time, it wasn't too hot, and it helped wear them out for bed. We got home at 7:30, put on pajamas, brushed teeth, read stories and I turned out lights. William fell asleep immediately. Seth, on the other hand, did not. He was wide awake. Ed got him out of the crib after about a half an hour of listening to him try to talk to us and brought him downstairs. They watched TV. Seth came upstairs with me for a little while and played while I folded laundry. He went back downstairs and watched more TV. He finally went to sleep at 10:30. What gives?

The really crazy thing that happened this weekend, though, was that William slept in on Sunday morning until 8:15 a.m. He had woken up at 5:45 a.m. and asked for some juice. I gave him some, changed his pull-up, and he came into our bed and went back to sleep instantly. And he slept until 8:15!!!! He has NEVER slept that late. I was so glad that he caught up on his sleep. Seth, meanwhile, woke up at 5:15 a.m., but also went back to sleep, and he slept until 7:15. I thought he would sleep later, but considering that fact that he took a 3-hour nap both Saturday and Sunday, I think he's getting enough sleep. And tonight (Sunday), he fell asleep pretty quickly. They both did.

So overall, a really good weekend. Today, Ed and I spent four hours looking at open houses in various neighborhoods while Ed's parents' watched the kids. It was a little depressing. What we can afford pretty much sucks. Luckily, we still have time. In the meantime, where we live now works pretty well. I especially like having the pool so close. And speaking of the pool, I'm planning a possible pool night after work one day this week. I'll have a picnic dinner again, and we can swim until bed time. We'll see if the weather cooperates.

A Night in the Life

For the last three days, traffic getting out of DC has been HORRIBLE. It has taken us well over an hour to get home every day. I have tried every route possible, and each one is worse than the one before. It's making me nuts. There must be 300 ways to get from Capitol Hill to Virginia, and each way that I choose is the most jammed. I think it has something to do with some repaving that's occurring on one span of one bridge. Either that, or I just have a knack for choosing the MOST CONGESTED way home.

At any rate, our plan today was to stop by the library on the way home so I could pick up a book on hold for me (I finally came up for Nurtureshock!), and the boys could get a few books, too. Then we would go home and eat. On the hellacious drive home, however, which took one hour and ten minutes, William needed to use the bathroom. I was already on the interstate, though--the HOV lanes, where there are no exits and only concrete barriers on both sides of the lanes. I could have pulled onto the shoulder (which is hardly wide enough for the minivan) and let him pee into a diaper or pull-up from the diaper bag (done that before), except we didn't have the diaper bag, so no diapers or pull-ups. I could have let him pee out of the side of the van, onto the pavement. But that's just gross, and I didn't want to open that can of worms. So I begged him to hold it. And then I finally told him that if he had to pee in his pants, that was okay. We could clean it up when we got home. So that's what he did. His mood sure did improve, though, once he let it all out!

So instead of the library on the way home, we went home, got William changed and cleaned up, got the car seat cleaned up and the cover in the washer, and got dinner for the boys. (Quesadillas for Ed, Seth, and me; waffle and broccoli for William.) The boys still wanted to go to the library, though, so at 7:40 p.m., we headed to the library. I quickly picked up my book, and then helped William pick out some books. Seth is always a bit of a mess at the library, so I was that mom using my loud whisper  voice (you know the voice, right? Where you yell in a whisper?) every five seconds--"Seth, stay with Mommy." "Seth, do not pull books off the shelf." "Seth, we do NOT stand on books. That's not okay." "Seth! Where'd you go?" It was great fun.

But we made it home, the boys were happy, we still fit in baths and books, and they were in bed with lights out at 9:00. Much later than usual, but a successful night in the long run. And once the boys went to bed, I made banana crunch muffins, so even more productive than I could have anticipated. And since I have not been posting a lot of pictures lately, here are two of my recent favorites, taken with the new point and shoot. Maybe not the greatest camera, but definitely the greatest kids!

Midnight Snack

At around 12:30 a.m. this morning, Seth woke up crying, "Cracker. I want a cracker." He's never asked for anything to eat before in the middle of the night, so I figured he must really be hungry. I brought him downstairs and pulled out a box of Ritz crackers. Then he said, "Cheese." So I got out a piece of American cheese and divvied it up among the crackers. Seth sat at the kitchen table and happily munched on his snack. I got him a cup of milk and sat down next to him. I was in a total sleep stupor, but he was so cute eating his crackers and cheese in the dark. After he finished eating, he took several slurps of milk, and then asked to go back upstairs.

Once upstairs, I rocked him for a few minutes, but it took several attempts before he got settled and fell back asleep. I finally went back to sleep at 1:30 a.m. Then, at 4:30 a.m., William woke up coughing. He wanted to come into our bed. I said no. He wanted me to come into his bed. I said no. I compromised and laid a comforter on our floor next to our bed and let him sleep there. He coughed and coughed and begged for chocolate milk. I got him some orange juice. He finally drifted back to sleep at around 5:15 a.m., only to wake up again an hour later.

Sigh. This has basically been the pattern since we got back from vacation. Seth wakes up around 12:30 or 1:00 a.m., and then William wakes up around 4:30 a.m. It's like having an infant all over again. (At least my infants, who didn't sleep.) They usually go back to sleep pretty quickly, but they insist on waking me up before they do. Isn't that thoughtful of them? William goes through these phases pretty regularly. A few weeks of sleeping through the night, and a few weeks of waking up in the wee hours of the morning (for a variety of reasons). Seth has moments (a few days here and there) where he'll sleep all night, but he usually wakes up once. I'm used to it, and as long as they go right back to sleep, it isn't usually a huge deal. Not something I feel the need to do anything about.

But right now, I'm tired. Bone tired. So I guess it's time to make more of an effort. For William, that means working on incentives for staying in his bed all night and not waking mommy. For Seth, it means, well, I don't know what it means. I guess it means letting him cry and taking the risk that William will wake up, too. Something's gotta give. I'm not getting any younger, and since a full night of sleep still seems like a pipe dream at this point in my life, I guess I need to be a bit more proactive. And yes, I've said this all before. No reason to think I'll be any more successful this time than any other time. But you can't let failure keep you from trying, right? Well, that's what I keep telling myself, anyway.

In the meantime, I'll just keep trying to appreciate all the moments I spend with the boys--even those that happen in the wee hours of the morning.

Menu Plan Monday -- July 12

The menu plan has been non-existent over the past two weeks, so I'm glad to have it back in place. It hasn't been too bad, though. I managed to get us through last week's mini-week without a grocery store run (other than for milk and OJ) and without a lot of takeout. We did get carry-out from a local restaurant one day last week. It was right next to the barber shop where we got William's haircut. Nice change of pace for a weeknight!

Anyway, we also haven't been too great with food waste, so time to take it up a notch. I really want to start composting, but there's no good place for a compost bin at our townhouse. Not to mention the fact that I wouldn't use the compost. All in good time, though. Time to get back into the groove with the menu and eating the food we buy and prepare. So without further ado:

Sunday: Ribs, asparagus, crescent rolls (we use a dry rub recipe--sage, thyme, salt, and pepper--from the Joy of Cooking cookbook on the ribs, and then either cook them in the oven, or on the grill. Yum!)

Monday: Chicken enchiladas, salad (William will probably not eat these, so he'll have leftovers)

Tuesday: Leftovers (Trying to eat up leftover steak from Friday night, leftover ribs, leftover pork chops, and leftover wagon wheel pasta)

Wednesday: Homemade pizza (not entirely homemade, since I'm using pizza dough from a can) and salad

Thursday: Quesadillas (Cheese and black bean, with salsa and sour cream--again, William probably won't eat them, so I'll offer him waffles, or maybe he'll just eat a plain tortilla)

Friday: Sirloin steak, twice-baked potatoes, salad or broccoli

Saturday: TBD, hopefully fish of some kind. (We may take a little trip to the DC waterfront, where they have all kinds of fresh seafood markets. In all my years in DC, I've never been there!)

Still Working on Vacation Recovery

Last week was long. Even though it was short. And if you think that doesn't make any sense, welcome to my world. Seth and I are still getting over our colds. And it seems like William is on the verge of getting sick. (Fingers crossed that his immune system is kicking into high gear!) Fortunately, we had no obligations this weekend, so I used the time to rest and get organized. The boys got to spend a lot of time playing at home. And we even managed to make homemade cookies and cream ice cream with the new hand-crank ice cream maker that Ed's parents gave me for my birthday. Mmmmmm.

But first things first. I promised to report on our trip to North Carolina over the 4th of July weekend. As I mentioned, it was great. It was hard, mind you, and I'm not sure I'll do it again without Ed, but overall, it was great. The boys did really well on the long drives. They watched videos mostly. (At least William did. Seth is not much for TV, yet.) William did a lot of "when-are-we-going-to-get-there?" whining, but that was the worst of it, so not too bad. Ed's parents were a big help, which definitely made it easier.When we arrived in Charlotte on Friday evening, we ate dinner at Ed's sister's house (with the boys' cousins, ages 7, 5, and almost 1), and then headed to my mom and brother's house.

On Saturday, we spent the early morning at a park right next to the complex where my mom and brother live. Later, we went to an awesome park near downtown Charlotte. There was a playground and an old locomotive steam engine that the boys could play in. There was a big pond with lots of ducks and then a small nature museum. The boys had a blast. In the afternoon, we went swimming in the pool (part of their townhouse complex), and we went out to eat in the evening. The only hitch with Saturday night was that Seth had started showing signs of a cold on Saturday, and by Saturday night, it was pretty apparent he didn't feel well. I gave him some generic Motrin before bed, but then I don't know what happened. The child would not go to sleep. He was WIDE AWAKE. He screamed if I put him in his pack and play, he played if I put him in the bed with me (William was also in the bed, fast asleep), and he came downstairs repeatedly if I tried leaving him in the bed. I was beyond frustrated. I wanted to rip my hair out. I was so exhausted and I just couldn't deal. It was about then that I swore I would never do a trip like that again without Ed. Luckily, my brother was downstairs, so I took Seth downstairs and deposited him with my brother while I went back upstairs and chilled out for a little while. Finally, Seth was ready to go to sleep.

On Sunday (the 4th), we went to Ed's sister's house, and even though Seth was not feeling well, he was a trooper. The boys had a great time with their cousins, and their cousins' toys, and around mid-day, we went to an awesome water park. We stayed there for several hours and then came home and Seth took a long nap. Meanwhile, William played and I got to relax. When it finally got dark, the neighbors all got together and started shooting off awesome fireworks from the cul-de-sac. William was beyond excited. He LOVED it. Seth, meanwhile, was beyond scared. He sat on the couch in the family room, under a blanket, as me and the two grandmas alternated going outside and sitting inside with Seth. Poor Seth!

On Monday, we left Charlotte in the morning and I took Ed's parents to Chapel Hill to visit friends and then headed over to LauraC's. I posted about that already, so that brings us back to this week. And oh yeah--pictures! I brought my new point-and-shoot camera with me, but it turns out that my camera was never the problem. I'm the problem. My pictures with the point-and-shoot are even crappier than with the good camera. Bummer. Here are a few shots anyway.

These were taken at my brother's, in a park that's right next door to their complex.

This shot, although blurry (note the stellar photography skills!) is pretty funny. This was taken at the water park on the 4th of July:

Here are all the grandkids--five boys!

And finally, five grandsons with Grandma.

As for our recovery, hopefully, this weekend got us over the hump. I finished up the laundry, cleaned bathrooms, dusted (here and there), went to the grocery store, cleaned a few things out, and made a menu plan. I'm definitely feeling more settled as we head into the new week. Hopefully, I'll post a bit more. And we'll get back into a groove. That holding pattern doesn't look so bad from where I stand now!

Vacation Recovery

We're back from our long weekend and have entered the "recovery" phase. Our mini-vacation went really well, and the boys had a great time. Seth and I both got sick, but it's just a summer cold, so things could have been a lot worse. It didn't really slow us down, and we all managed to have fun. The boys did great on the long drive there and back, and having Ed's parents along helped a lot.

I have pictures to download and stories to tell (not as many pictures as I had hoped to take, but that seems to be the norm), but all in good time. For now, I just wanted to say I'm back. And of course, I have to give a shout out to LauraC and JonC, the most gracious hosts anyone could imagine. They opened their home to us and they could not have been nicer. When we arrived, I had to wake William up and he was super grumpy. So we were not off to a good start. I was a little worried that he had caught the cold bug, too, but he rallied and we all put on our swim gear and headed to the pool. My boys watched Nate and Alex swim like fish, and Seth and Alex proved to be the perfect pool buddies. Seth repeatedly threw water rockets into the pool and then yelled, "I want my rocket! I want my rocket!" And then Alex would happily fetch the rockets for Seth.

After swimming, the boys played in the back yard and William was in heaven. I was surprised at how well they all got along. After all four boys took a bath together (where they still got along really well), they all went to bed and gave Laura and me a chance to catch up. Initially, William had said that he wanted to sleep in Nate and Alex's room, so Laura set them all up with sleeping bags. But at the last minute, William chickened out, and ended up sleeping in the bed with me.

As Laura mentioned, we enjoyed catching up, knowing that we would see each other again soon. And yes--Seth was quite the two year old (not just at Laura's house, but the whole weekend), reinforcing for both of us the certainty that we feel about not having more babies. (Even when I spent time with my SIL's 9-month-old son, who couldn't be a cuter or easier baby, I could unquestionably say that I do NOT want to go there again.) But back to the point--Laura and Jon are so awesome and they go out of their way to make guests feel welcomed, without making you think they're going out of their way. (The true definition of graciousness!) I was uber-impressed with how independent Nate and Alex are, and I have to admit that several times since we've left, I've said things to William like, "Nate and Alex drink out of big boy cups." (William has an attachment to his sippy cups.) And "Nate and Alex get dressed all by themselves." And "Nate and Alex always wash their hands when they go to the bathroom. (Don't ask.)

Anyway, it was a great visit and I hope we can return the favor in the not-too-distant future. Thanks so much Laura and Jon! And I will give the low-down on the rest of the weekend in my next post, with pictures. I'm just glad to be back, and hoping we have an easy transition back into our routine.

Taking Time

Yesterday's weather was gorgeous! Gone is the high heat and humidity we've been experiencing for the last three weeks. Instead we had blue skies, temps in the low 80s, and very low humidity. It actually felt cool enough in the morning to wear a sweater! When we got home from work (after going through the Burger King drive-thru, a first for me!), we were pleasantly surprised to find Ed home. So the boys quickly ate dinner and we all headed out for a walk.

The boys had a blast. We let them walk along the path with us and push the strollers. We went to the waterfall that graces the entrance of our development, which the boys love. Then we walked around the pond and back home. Once home, I let the boys play on the playground and draw with chalk on the sidewalk. I took that time to clean out the car in preparation for our trip. Although I had tons of things to do to get ready, the weather was just too gorgeous to pass up. We finally dragged the boys inside at 7:45 to start the bedtime routine.

Of course, that meant that I didn't start the laundry until 8:15, and I didn't head out to the store until 9:30, and I didn't go to bed until after 11:00. But none of that matters when you have a gorgeous day in June and the chance to spend time with the three boys you love most in the world! Today's weather is a repeat of yesterday's, so I'm thinking we'll do the same thing tonight. If Ed has to work late, maybe we'll get Subway sandwiches and have a picnic in the park by my office. Seth always wants to stop and get out when we pass it on the way home, and I always think, "One day, we'll do that." So here's our chance.

I probably won't post again until we get back, so wish us luck! And happy 4th of July to everyone!