Revenge of the Sippies

Our sippy cups are multiplying like rabbits, or so it seems.

We do have an abundance of sippy cups here, and they have a mind of their own. Somedays they are like the rabbits. Other days they are like socks in the dryer, I wash them and all of the sudden I have more cups than lids. The one thing that happens every day though, is that almost all of them get used.

I have tried to teach my kids to bring them to the kitchen when they are done, but that only happens 60% of the time. I find them under pillows on the couch, in their rooms and anywhere else you can imagine. The best find is when they had chocolate milk in them!

Every night I have to wash and dry almost all of them. As I do this I think of plans to get rid of them, to have my kids drinking out of regular cups, or to stop buying more. Once they are put away in the cupboard I try to forget all about them.

Their revenge: as soon as the dish water is drained, another dirty one appears.

The Meal Scramble

So, I attempted to meal plan this week. I set the menu Sunday night, then Monday morning it changed.

It's only Wednesday and the plan has changed 4 times.

I will admit that most of the meals stayed on the plan, they just got moved. So, I guess in the broad scheme it did help, but it doesn't feel very productive when the list on the fridge in no way resembles what comes to the table each night.

Last night I served Saucy Pork Chops...

...they just happened to look exactly like Chicken Cordon Bleu.

hmmm.....

At least it's a start, a step in the right direction.

Fresh Salsa

I love going to the Farmer's Market. I started going at the end of last summer, and tried out 3 different ones this summer. I'm a bit overwhelmed when I go look at all of the beautiful produce. It all looks so good, but I know that my family is a little leery of new things and I don't know what to do with half of the produce there, or what some of them actually are.

Tuesday we went to market #3. It is getting toward the end of the season, but we found a few lucky items that came home with us. My favorite was the fresh salsa kit. One booth had samples of fresh salsa, and it was delicious. My only concern was that it makes 8-10 cups and must be consumed within a week. I thought I would risk it.

I remembered to take a few pictures this time around, but only after I had already started.

The Fresh Salsa Kit:

(also included was a large onion, mine was in the fridge to aid in chopping without tears/allergies)

The chopped veggies after draining - looks yummy already:

The salsa was so fresh and crunchy. I didn't make mine very spicy, I was scared to put in the jalapeno seeds, or at least very many. Maybe another time I would try a few, but it would depend on the end purpose for the salsa. This time, due to the lack of spicy, I tried bruschetta and bruschetta chicken. I've never made either, but I was willing to try.

Oiled, loaded and ready for the oven!

The chicken:

My husband hadn't devoured his as quickly as I did, so he had to stop eating for the picture. I would make other sides the next time around, but my kids are happy with mashed potatoes and corn, so we go with the regulars most of the time.

I still have some salsa left. I will be having a snack here shortly. I'm still deciding if I'm going to fire up the oven and slice the bread, or if the tortilla chips will win out tonight. Either way it will be happy late night snacking!

The Domestic Helper

After writing my last post, I'm afraid it might sound as thought this blog is no longer relevant. No, I'm not giving up my goals, I'm just coming at them from a different angle, with a better Christ-centered focus. Although they are my goals, so mostly about me, I'm attempting to not think of them in a self-centered, self-affirming manner. I want to conquer my goals in a way that fulfills my purpose here, to better my faith, myself, my family and to encourage any one else who relates to these thoughts to do same in their own life.

With that being said...

Last year my sister pursued canning, and I went along for the ride. I have since wanted to find a wonderful spaghetti sauce that I could make and can to have ready at a moments notice. I have not been able to find a brand at the grocery store that I have fallen in love with. I've been collecting dozens of homemade recipes, but have not tried any of them. Canning a sauce seemed like the option that fit for now and I thought it would be fulfilling to make my own.

At this point in the journey let me introduce you to my sister. She is often the source I turn to for crafty, creative inspiration and usually the one who is able to actually figure out what I want to accomplish. A lot of my friends think that I am crafty and creative, but they have not met my sister. She takes things to a level that I cannot. I often attempt something, she does it better and then I copy her. I of course do this in a loving fashion, and there is always an abundance of laughter involved. We are now moving on into food explorations, and I am thoroughly enjoying the ride.

My Grandma canned all her life. My mom swore she would never touch it. My sister is a bit more into it that I am, but I'm getting there. For me it depends on what we are going to can, but it really comes down to wanting to do something my Grandma did, as well as having a great time doing it with my sister.

One of my goals is to be "homey" in the kitchen. (Note: this is not home-ly) I want to be able to make food from scratch, to cook without recipes some of the time. I want to try new foods and techniques, to teach my kids how to bake and cook, and to make fond memories that involve all aspects of food.

Back to the sauce. In a recent addition of Better Homes and Gardens there was a simple recipe that seemed to have promise. So in my true fashion, I told her to look it up and let her figure it out.

Last night I "helped" make the recipe. And then held down a stool while she processed it. We had a great time! I brought my camera, forgot that I had it until I got home and so, never took a picture of any of it.

We did taste the sauce, and it was wonderful so far. It is sitting on her counter, so when I get my jars I will post a picture with a little more detail. However, since this was my major accomplishment of the weekend I thought I should document it.

I'm Letting Go

I have been thinking a lot about my goals. Sometimes I think that they are attainable, and most of the time I think not.

Yesterday my oldest had preschool orientation. I dropped my youngest off, went to school, picked up a celebration lunch in honor of the newest preschoolers (my son and nephew), went back to my youngest, had the lunch, let the kids play and then head home. I was hoping (dare I say praying) that my kids would nap. I should've known better. Before I knew it dinner was upon us, the evening activities and then bedtime.

No goals were met, no progress made.

By this morning the discouragment had gotten to me. Now, don't get me wrong, it isn't like I have 300 goals that I'm crossing one off each day. I just hope to make a step in the right direction each day. Yesterday had no direction.

My mind was in 100 different places. Not only were my goals running in my head, but thoughts about my son and his new beginning as well. I have feared for the last year (and really since he was born) that we weren't teaching him enough, or not the right things, or sheltering him too much from the big, bad world. I worry about him making friends, having fun, getting picked on, embarrassing himself...the list could go on. We headed into school and made through a "practice day". Being there just made me think of more questions, more concerns and more worries. My Mess just got worse.

The whole day ended. I had gotten what seemed like nothing accomplished, added new thoughts to my jumbled mess and realized that getting anything accomplished this year could be impossible.

"Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?"
Matthew 6:27

This morning on my way to work I was listening to my new Francesca Battistelli CD. The song "I'm Letting Go" came on. As I thought through yesterday, this morning and all that is in my head, I started listening to the words. I have heard this song numerous times, but I had not really listened. God was speaking to me this morning, there is no denying it.

I constantly feel like I'm drowning and there is no getting to the top. I'm holding so tightly to my own selfish ambitions that sometimes I can hardly breathe. I am clinging to my own thoughts, decisions, and goals...which are suffocating.

I said in my first post that the focus needed to be in the right place for the mess to be beautiful. Hearing this song reminded me, yet again, that my focus has not been in the right place.

I'm letting go.


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As I wrote this post the radio was on...this song came on in the middle of typing. The odds of this happening: 100% in God's favor!

Fruit Fly Update

Because this really IS important in the broad scheme of things...I clapped a fruit fly to death tonight. It flew right in front of my face, I backed up a little and clapped.

Dead!


The best part: My husband was sitting across the room.

I said nothing, just held up my hand. The dead fly was stuck to my middle finger.

Point made.

The Life of a Fruit Fly

I hate fruit flies!

I love to get fresh produce, but have trouble with the insects that insue.

In an effort to keep my home free of them, I often flap through my kitchen attempting to clap them to death. My husband hates this as much as I hate the flies.

My average is 2 out of 10. But it is just so worth it when there is a dead one on my finger!

Tonight at the dinner table I attempted to get one. I thought that I had a chance. I didn't, the thing got away.

I told my husband that I knew it was an older one, I could tell because it was a bigger one and by its lack of speed in flight. I said that they usually only live 4 days.

My husband then thought I was cruel for trying to kill them when their life span was so short. And that they probably try to fly into a wall to die on their own so that they can escape my clapping.

Either way, they end up dead and I feel better.

Thrifty Acres

When I went through the check out lane tonight at the grocery store, I ended up with the same cashier from the night before. Yes, I was at the store two nights in a row. But worse, she recognized me! "I've been seeing you a lot lately," she said. I told her that my cart was so full I didn't have room for everything so I had to come back. This was partially true. My cart was full, but I wasn't sure what pop I needed to get for a party this weekend, so I had to go back.

I got to thinking though, I was at the store on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday this week. The same store everyday. A problem? Not if you don't like saving money.

My husband claims that half of his paycheck goes to the grocery store. I am begining to think that he is right.

I tried avoiding the grocery store...impossible, we need to eat.

I tried couponing...it didn't work out.

I tried buying just what I needed for meals...I couldn't do it. You see this option requires meal planning and well, perhaps that is the part that I couldn't do.

So, I still buy what I need for dinner (this is how I end up at the store everyday!) and I stock up on things on sale that I use regularly. This results in 20 boxes of cereal, 10 cans of diced tomatoes, 8 jars of salsa and a pantry and closet full of food. Which is great, if you are feeding the masses or know exactly what you are going to do with all of these treasures.

However, this can also lead to items you think you will use, and then don't. Case in point, the marble cake mix I threw away that expired 3 years ago. I think that I can still remember buying the mix, it had a purpose at the time. The purpose obviously failed, and the poor cake mix suffered the consequences.

In an ongoing effort to actually eat us out of house and home, I have inventoried, looked through recipes and tried to meal plan accordingly. I'm usually missing a couple of grocery items to finish off the plan, so I head to the store and the vicious cycle resumes.

Goal for the 30th year number 2: To eat through the pantry, meal plan and stick to a grocery budget.

I might have to try this in baby steps, good thing I have about 10 months to perfect it.

Procrastinating

I love how easy it is to procrastinate first thing in the morning.

I snooze my alarm once saying that my hair will survive not being washed for a day. I snooze the alarm yet again saying that I allowed plenty of extra time in our morning, I don't need to get up quite yet. I snooze it one more time thinking that if the kids get up and eat breakfast during Curious George, I could get ready at the same time and we would actually be ahead of the game. Win-Win.

Then the door swings open and in walks child 1, so much for sleeping in late...or later at least.

On Monday I cleaned my house. It was clean for about an hour. By five o'clock the daily tornado had come through, so I said to myself, "When the kids go to bed I'll clean up again." Then after bedtime, I decided that tomorrow would be a better time to attempt another cleaning, I would hate to wake the children you know.

This is one of my 30th goals: To keep things cleaned up and stop procrastinating about doing it!
--to not leave things on the counter when I’m cooking or baking when the cupboard is just inches away
--to not leave clothes on the end of my bed rather than hanging them up.
--to not leave laundry hanging in the basement so long that it smells like basement and I need to wash it again.
--to stop coming up with things to do rather than actually doing them.

This is a daily thing for me, this procrastination. I would never have called myself one in the past, but I'm trying to re-discover myself here. So let's be honest, I am a... ... ...closet-procrastinator. I guess I cannot really admit this charateristic about myself to its fullest extent yet, maybe tomorrow.

The Start of a Journey

My life is a mess, but I'm striving to make it a beautiful mess.

Most days there are so many things to do and never enough time to do it. The main problem though, is that I have so many things that I WANT to do on top of the things that I need to do. When a free minute arrives I have no idea where to start.

About two months ago I turned 29.

Less than 365 days now until 30.

I was never one to have lofty goals of "by the time I'm 30....." However, a month or so before The Day of 29 I started thinking. I am not sure how I really got to this point in my life, and I am not so sure that I like where it is at. During my silent meltdown the week of turning 29 I decided it was time to make those lofty goals and set a path for my 30th year and hopefully the rest of my life.

I want to accomplish the things that I need to do, and enjoy the others activities that I want to do. I need to create a balance, I need to get life in order and I need to get my priorities straight.

There is a song on Christian radio stations right now by Amy Grant, and it has become my theme, Beautiful Mess. "Beautiful the mess we are / the honest prayers of the breaking hearts / ... / Better than a hallelujah"

From the first time I heard the song I knew that it was one of those things that would change my life, I just was not sure how. But as time passed, events have occured in my life that have led me to realize that life really is a mess, but with the right focus it can be beautiful.

So join me on my journey, my 30th year, and in living my beautiful mess.