The kids brushing their teeth at bedtime. Buggy is always fighting, (ahem, I mean asserting), her right to share the same stool with her brother.
Showing posts with label family dinner. Show all posts
Showing posts with label family dinner. Show all posts
Saturday, May 1, 2010
A Week in the Life: Day 6
I wish I brought my camera around more. I was still able to get some cute pictures. Enjoy!
My little girl without her signature pigtails. Makes her look much older...I don't know how I feel about this.
Another view of her single ponytail...still not sure how I feel about this.
Dining al fresco. The children are there, just hard to see.
Perfect outdoor dinner. Brats, loaded with peppers, the best watermelon ever, and potato chips!
So good, yum!
My son loves creepy-crawlies and likes to name them. This year, this little guy is "furry." When my son returned him to where he found him, he said, "Good luck finding your family!"
Monday, April 5, 2010
Plan to Eat
If you've been following along, you know that I'm not the most organized person, hence the many times-lost keys, the mixed up dates for preschool enrollment, the pile of papers on my kitchen counter (that I swear breed when I'm not looking!) Organization is something I have to work at and towards. Sometimes I would love to throw in the towel and say "Fine! You win!" to all the stuff that accumulates (it's really just papers!), but I don't and over time I have become more organized. I'm better than I was 10 years ago and definitely better since I've became a SAHM two years ago.
Being a SAHM, I have taken over the cooking and I've already mentioned that family dinner time is important to us. Two years ago, this was a daunting task and not one that I relished. My husband is a fabulous cook and I'm thrilled when he takes over. But again, over time I have learned to like it, to learn to go with the flow, and now venture into new recipes. One of the things that used to throw me for a loop was the ageless question: "What's for dinner?" It takes so much planning! Do you need to defrost anything? Do you have the right ingredients for what you want to make? Did you just have chicken last night? Do you want it again tonight?
If you've ever been to my house you may have seen the calendar on the side of the fridge that has a meal written down for each night. I keep in mind dates that I know we won't be eating at home because we are at a celebration, nights for leftovers, and at least one night for a slowcooker meal. My friends were impressed but then I shared my secret, I have a cookbook called "The One-Armed Cook" than I love. The meals are simple and can all be done while holding a baby in one arm if needed. I also use the calendar to help me with my shopping list and to know "What's for dinner?" every night of the month. It totally helped when I made the transition of having one kid to two kids. I shop at two places for food, the local grocery store and the local superstore. I get my dry goods and frozen ingredients at the superstore and my fresh produce at the grocery store (only because I'm afraid that I can't eat all of the fresh stuff before it would go bad if I buy it in bulk.) However, my planning can take up to over an hour for planning for the month, including writing grocery lists (one for the local grocery store and one for my bulk items at a superstore).
On my birthday I received an e-mail for a contest I had entered for a year's subscription to Plan to Eat. I was informed I won and I am so excited! What a great inadvertent birthday present! It's an electronic version of my pen & paper method of planning meals for the month and writing out grocery lists. I've only had it a few days and have only logged on a couple of times because of it being Easter weekend and being terribly busy. I'm still learning to use it to my full benefit. So far, really easy! I type in my recipes, drop them into the days of the calendar, and the site helps me to create shopping lists from the ingredients I'm using (read: it actually creates the lists for me! I don't have to go back to my recipes and write down my shopping list on a separate sheet of paper), gives me a place to add non-food items (diapers, wipes, etc) to my list, and then I can drop my items into a shopping list for any of the stores I use. It took way less time to create a shopping list than it usually does. How about mere minutes versus 30+ minutes to an hour!! I'm looking forward to how this will help me save money too! With me not working I am really conscientious about how much money I spend everywhere. One place that I can cut costs without making sacrifices is the grocery store. It just means shopping better. With the lists I think I can do that. I'll let you know how it goes!
p.s. I am not receiving any compensation for writing about this. I am just really excited I won this. I really got into using it last night and I'm shocked how it is already saving me time. The longest part is writing in all my recipes. But once I'm done with that I won't have to do it again! No more lost recipes I snipped out of magazines. As the Discombobulated Mommy I am happy to pass along anything that will help us find more time to spend with our kids and less time on the "chores" of the house, while still maintaining our sanity. If you join Plan to Eat, friend me and let's share recipes!
Being a SAHM, I have taken over the cooking and I've already mentioned that family dinner time is important to us. Two years ago, this was a daunting task and not one that I relished. My husband is a fabulous cook and I'm thrilled when he takes over. But again, over time I have learned to like it, to learn to go with the flow, and now venture into new recipes. One of the things that used to throw me for a loop was the ageless question: "What's for dinner?" It takes so much planning! Do you need to defrost anything? Do you have the right ingredients for what you want to make? Did you just have chicken last night? Do you want it again tonight?
If you've ever been to my house you may have seen the calendar on the side of the fridge that has a meal written down for each night. I keep in mind dates that I know we won't be eating at home because we are at a celebration, nights for leftovers, and at least one night for a slowcooker meal. My friends were impressed but then I shared my secret, I have a cookbook called "The One-Armed Cook" than I love. The meals are simple and can all be done while holding a baby in one arm if needed. I also use the calendar to help me with my shopping list and to know "What's for dinner?" every night of the month. It totally helped when I made the transition of having one kid to two kids. I shop at two places for food, the local grocery store and the local superstore. I get my dry goods and frozen ingredients at the superstore and my fresh produce at the grocery store (only because I'm afraid that I can't eat all of the fresh stuff before it would go bad if I buy it in bulk.) However, my planning can take up to over an hour for planning for the month, including writing grocery lists (one for the local grocery store and one for my bulk items at a superstore).
On my birthday I received an e-mail for a contest I had entered for a year's subscription to Plan to Eat. I was informed I won and I am so excited! What a great inadvertent birthday present! It's an electronic version of my pen & paper method of planning meals for the month and writing out grocery lists. I've only had it a few days and have only logged on a couple of times because of it being Easter weekend and being terribly busy. I'm still learning to use it to my full benefit. So far, really easy! I type in my recipes, drop them into the days of the calendar, and the site helps me to create shopping lists from the ingredients I'm using (read: it actually creates the lists for me! I don't have to go back to my recipes and write down my shopping list on a separate sheet of paper), gives me a place to add non-food items (diapers, wipes, etc) to my list, and then I can drop my items into a shopping list for any of the stores I use. It took way less time to create a shopping list than it usually does. How about mere minutes versus 30+ minutes to an hour!! I'm looking forward to how this will help me save money too! With me not working I am really conscientious about how much money I spend everywhere. One place that I can cut costs without making sacrifices is the grocery store. It just means shopping better. With the lists I think I can do that. I'll let you know how it goes!
p.s. I am not receiving any compensation for writing about this. I am just really excited I won this. I really got into using it last night and I'm shocked how it is already saving me time. The longest part is writing in all my recipes. But once I'm done with that I won't have to do it again! No more lost recipes I snipped out of magazines. As the Discombobulated Mommy I am happy to pass along anything that will help us find more time to spend with our kids and less time on the "chores" of the house, while still maintaining our sanity. If you join Plan to Eat, friend me and let's share recipes!
Monday, March 15, 2010
Family Dinner
My husband and I both grew up having family dinners. I remember growing up (more specifically in one of our duty stations in Maryland...dad was in the Navy) that we would have dinner around 4:30. Dad would get home, change out of his uniform, walk the dog, and Mom would have dinner on the table for all of us the moment he was back from taking the dog out. My husband remembers family dinner being important in his family, too. He is one of five children and he has some fun stories about them being together for dinner.
Having dinner as a family was never something we really discussed, it was just something we did once we had kids. Being newly married and both of us in grad school we spent many a dinner in front of the tv late at night before having our first born. Once our son was old enough to join us for dinner in his high chair, we moved to the dining room table (biggest eating area in our town house). When we moved, I was excited that we would have a kitchen area to eat in and also a separate dining area for when we have family over for formal dinners such as Thanksgiving or Christmas.
Family dinners give us a routine and give us an opportunity for us to catch up on each other's day. My husband always asks our son what he has done that day. Our son gets to share all of his exploits. The baby watches us from the other end of the table while getting food in her mouth...as well as her hair, her bib, her face, her legs, and any other once clean surface :) I start to unwind because my husband is home and we start the transition of him taking over the kids so that I have a break. It's so important to us and it's not a question if we will sit down for dinner...it's what time will Daddy be home to make sure dinner is on the table on time. (While my husband has a job with relatively steady hours, he is an attorney and sometimes he has to finish a last minute memo, or file charges, or simply, metro is late again.) The sooner I have dinner on the table, the more time my husband has to play with the kids after dinner and before bed.
If you read my last post, Deadlines Pass and Discombobulation Ensues, you know that I felt off all week. When my husband and I spoke about this he reminded me that we haven't down as a family in our own home for about a week. I ran through our week and he was right:
Sunday: Bonfire dinner with our best friends. Kids ran around and played while adults chatted and ate.
Monday: Kids and I at a birthday party while Hubby stayed late to work. He ate leftovers at home.
Tuesday: Hubby worked late, kids and I had leftovers and a light dinner, hubby ate in front of LOST
Wednesday: Swim classes. L. ate at grandparents' house, McD's for W., Hubby & I ate in shifts
Thursday: Ordered pizza for family. Kids ate with babysitter, I ate on the go before going to Totswap. Hubby ate when he got home.
Friday: Soup Supper at Church. We ate together, but different atmosphere and son played with new friends
Saturday: Celebrated our Goddaughter's birthday. Ate dinner with friends...as a family, but two families together with a total of 5 kids...not a lot of family bonding going on...just trying to keep it together. Though it was fun to catch up with our friends.
Sunday: Sit down dinner as a family, my parents joined us.
My husband said that we were off our routine. And it's usually at dinner time that he asks me what I have going on for the next day or for the week. I tell him. He usually doesn't remember, but it helps me to keep track of what's going on, and then when I tell him again later he sort of recalls hearing about it before. It's a system that works for us...not the best system, but it works...sort of.
Our week is not as busy as the last two weeks. Thank goodness! Though Thursday will be tricky between preschool, my daughter's check-up for an ear infection and the booster to her H1N1, my son's 15-minute singing concert for which my MIL will join us, lunch with Grandma (my MIL), my son's first T-ball practice. Too many things in one day, but they couldn't be helped. But fortunately the rest of the week is relatively low key.
I'm off to turn in the late paperwork to confirm my son's preschool placement for next year. Wish me luck! I hope I haven't lost my space!
Having dinner as a family was never something we really discussed, it was just something we did once we had kids. Being newly married and both of us in grad school we spent many a dinner in front of the tv late at night before having our first born. Once our son was old enough to join us for dinner in his high chair, we moved to the dining room table (biggest eating area in our town house). When we moved, I was excited that we would have a kitchen area to eat in and also a separate dining area for when we have family over for formal dinners such as Thanksgiving or Christmas.
Family dinners give us a routine and give us an opportunity for us to catch up on each other's day. My husband always asks our son what he has done that day. Our son gets to share all of his exploits. The baby watches us from the other end of the table while getting food in her mouth...as well as her hair, her bib, her face, her legs, and any other once clean surface :) I start to unwind because my husband is home and we start the transition of him taking over the kids so that I have a break. It's so important to us and it's not a question if we will sit down for dinner...it's what time will Daddy be home to make sure dinner is on the table on time. (While my husband has a job with relatively steady hours, he is an attorney and sometimes he has to finish a last minute memo, or file charges, or simply, metro is late again.) The sooner I have dinner on the table, the more time my husband has to play with the kids after dinner and before bed.
If you read my last post, Deadlines Pass and Discombobulation Ensues, you know that I felt off all week. When my husband and I spoke about this he reminded me that we haven't down as a family in our own home for about a week. I ran through our week and he was right:
Sunday: Bonfire dinner with our best friends. Kids ran around and played while adults chatted and ate.
Monday: Kids and I at a birthday party while Hubby stayed late to work. He ate leftovers at home.
Tuesday: Hubby worked late, kids and I had leftovers and a light dinner, hubby ate in front of LOST
Wednesday: Swim classes. L. ate at grandparents' house, McD's for W., Hubby & I ate in shifts
Thursday: Ordered pizza for family. Kids ate with babysitter, I ate on the go before going to Totswap. Hubby ate when he got home.
Friday: Soup Supper at Church. We ate together, but different atmosphere and son played with new friends
Saturday: Celebrated our Goddaughter's birthday. Ate dinner with friends...as a family, but two families together with a total of 5 kids...not a lot of family bonding going on...just trying to keep it together. Though it was fun to catch up with our friends.
Sunday: Sit down dinner as a family, my parents joined us.
My husband said that we were off our routine. And it's usually at dinner time that he asks me what I have going on for the next day or for the week. I tell him. He usually doesn't remember, but it helps me to keep track of what's going on, and then when I tell him again later he sort of recalls hearing about it before. It's a system that works for us...not the best system, but it works...sort of.
Our week is not as busy as the last two weeks. Thank goodness! Though Thursday will be tricky between preschool, my daughter's check-up for an ear infection and the booster to her H1N1, my son's 15-minute singing concert for which my MIL will join us, lunch with Grandma (my MIL), my son's first T-ball practice. Too many things in one day, but they couldn't be helped. But fortunately the rest of the week is relatively low key.
I'm off to turn in the late paperwork to confirm my son's preschool placement for next year. Wish me luck! I hope I haven't lost my space!
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