Saw the doctor the other day. We both agree that I am still pregnant.
I am now partially convinced that St. Ann's canonization could have happened merely on the fact that she delivered the Blessed Mother on Sept. 8th. If it be God's will I would love to only have winter babies from now on.
So many times over the past week I have found myself motivated to work but just not physically capable of doing it. As we speak Mr. Sloth is redoing the garage and the children are sleeping. I however, with my swollen feet and hands can see nothing better to do than to sit on my couch in the air conditioning. Even that isn't helping much.
In case you are wondering I have made some progress with baby preparations. Earlier this week I started collecting all the newborn clothes only to find I was missing our boy clothes and neutral clothes. After 24 hours of obsessing including one sleepless night where I asked Mr. Sloth at 2:30am if they might be at his office, I finally found them at Obscures home in a mislabeled bin. I always have a mix of feelings sorting through baby clothes but this time it was different. Not only do I have memories attached to Happy's clothes but a hand full of them are the ones he wore in Europe. It brought back such fun un-pregnant memories. Maybe Mr. Sloth is right, maybe we should go back this Spring...
I have come to the realization that we have too much baby equipment for this house yet I am unwilling to get rid of any just yet. We have a mini packnplay that we use for baby for the first 7 months,then we have a regular packnplay, we may be bringing in another swing so we'll have one upstairs and one downstairs, plus we have the travel swing that fits the infant car seat, plus our baby seat and if it's a girl we have a bouncer now, and an excersaucer. One day Mr. Sloth is going to go on a baby equipment rampage. So much stuff! The good news is that I've decided for now that baby will stay in our room until they are too big for the mini packnplay, which is usually around 7 months. And then we'll just put baby in with the other kids. Happy is getting close to being able to get out of his crib and when that happens it's bunk bed time! We can go cheap and baby friendly with the Ikea bed which has one mattress on the floor and the top bed is only about chest high on an adult (not too far to fall). Or.....I have been checking out some super-awesome bunkbeds online, but maybe we'll save that for the next house.
Even though I'm feeling rather pregnant-lazy these days it doesn't keep me from *thinking* I can do everything which is why we are planning a little Assumption party for tomorrow. I'm sure I got carried away with planning so we'll see how much I actually get done tomorrow.
Speaking of over achieving. I have a habit of only surrounding myself with friends who are smarter and more talented than myself. I don't know if self-tortured or inspirational but it seems to work out that way. You'll notice I'm following the blog of my ever talented college roommate (and Happy's Godmother). She has started a sewing blog and every post makes me simultaneously jealous of her talent and angry that she doesn't live next door. So whenever you are bored hearing about what that Lazywife *didn't* do, check out her blog The Chipper Snipper.
I will now proceed to move some baby stuff around and pretend that I did something.
The Sloths
Lazywife, Mr. Sloth, Demand, Prophet, Rooster, and King
Saturday, August 14, 2010
Thursday, August 5, 2010
Good Timing
Remember Wednesday when I had plans for the pool but then it was too cool outside? I caught on quickly that it was plenty warm for the pool. I quickly contrived a plan for the afternoon. After naps I'd take the kids (along with my neighbor and her baby) to the pool and Mr. Sloth could meet us there after work. Then we'd have dinner pool side swim a bit more and head home around the kids bedtime. It was a genius plan!
Around 2pm while the kiddos were still asleep my neighbor called to say she couldn't make it due to a crabby-baby situation and seeing as the pool is a half hour drive away, I completely understood. I had the van all packed and ready to go and Demand knew where we were going we were just waiting for Happy to wake up. Then Mr. Sloth called and said he'd be a bit later than planned.
Argh! Could I really do this on my own? What was I getting myself into?
As soon as Happy woke up it was into the van and off we went. The good news was that by the time we got to the pool and got dressed and out to the water it was 3:40. I only had an hour an a half on my own. I could do this, right?
At this point you are expecting a twist. What went wrong? This is the best part....NOTHING went wrong. Yay! Demand is extremely cautious and doesn't wander which is great. Happy took a little training while he warmed up to the idea of the pool, but I wasn't exhausted in the slightest which was an improvement since the last time. By the time Mr. Sloth came Happy was very comfortable in the water. Hilarious actually. He was having so much fun that I couldn't even sit in the water I had to be standing RIGHT THERE because he kept dunking his head under....just for fun. Mr. Sloth arrived hungry and ready for dinner only to find that the cafe wasn't open for dinner for some reason. Demand wanted to swim a bit longer and Happy was really in a swimming groove so we stayed for another half an hour and planned to go out to eat.
Twenty minutes later Demand asked if we could go to an "Astronaut" (her word for restaurant) now. After an inexplicable length of time to get dressed we started to make our dinner plans. We had two cars at the pool and were a half an hour from home and an hour past dinner time. Mr. Sloth drove with us while he searched for a restaurant on his "magic-phone" meanwhile I knew where I was going the whole time. Once we realized that it made more sense to drive separate it was back to the gym to get Mr.Sloth's car. Demand was very confused. Finally we were on our way to Red Robin for dinner. Suddenly it was a down pour of rain. I mean a down pour. I wasn't comfortable driving and thankfully it wasn't far. Looks like we left the pool at the best time. The rain stopped for us to get in the restaurant and was done when we left the restaurant. The kids did great especially since we were an hour past their dinner time and a half an hour before their bedtime after a few exciting hours in the sun.
Mr. Sloth and I were certain that Happy would be asleep by the time I got home but we were both wrong. The kids jumped out of the van ready to play a little baseball before finally being dragged into the house for bedtime.
So we had a day that was planned and then unplanned and then re-planned but with assumed difficulties that ended up not having difficulties.......anywho we had fun.
Around 2pm while the kiddos were still asleep my neighbor called to say she couldn't make it due to a crabby-baby situation and seeing as the pool is a half hour drive away, I completely understood. I had the van all packed and ready to go and Demand knew where we were going we were just waiting for Happy to wake up. Then Mr. Sloth called and said he'd be a bit later than planned.
Argh! Could I really do this on my own? What was I getting myself into?
As soon as Happy woke up it was into the van and off we went. The good news was that by the time we got to the pool and got dressed and out to the water it was 3:40. I only had an hour an a half on my own. I could do this, right?
At this point you are expecting a twist. What went wrong? This is the best part....NOTHING went wrong. Yay! Demand is extremely cautious and doesn't wander which is great. Happy took a little training while he warmed up to the idea of the pool, but I wasn't exhausted in the slightest which was an improvement since the last time. By the time Mr. Sloth came Happy was very comfortable in the water. Hilarious actually. He was having so much fun that I couldn't even sit in the water I had to be standing RIGHT THERE because he kept dunking his head under....just for fun. Mr. Sloth arrived hungry and ready for dinner only to find that the cafe wasn't open for dinner for some reason. Demand wanted to swim a bit longer and Happy was really in a swimming groove so we stayed for another half an hour and planned to go out to eat.
Twenty minutes later Demand asked if we could go to an "Astronaut" (her word for restaurant) now. After an inexplicable length of time to get dressed we started to make our dinner plans. We had two cars at the pool and were a half an hour from home and an hour past dinner time. Mr. Sloth drove with us while he searched for a restaurant on his "magic-phone" meanwhile I knew where I was going the whole time. Once we realized that it made more sense to drive separate it was back to the gym to get Mr.Sloth's car. Demand was very confused. Finally we were on our way to Red Robin for dinner. Suddenly it was a down pour of rain. I mean a down pour. I wasn't comfortable driving and thankfully it wasn't far. Looks like we left the pool at the best time. The rain stopped for us to get in the restaurant and was done when we left the restaurant. The kids did great especially since we were an hour past their dinner time and a half an hour before their bedtime after a few exciting hours in the sun.
Mr. Sloth and I were certain that Happy would be asleep by the time I got home but we were both wrong. The kids jumped out of the van ready to play a little baseball before finally being dragged into the house for bedtime.
So we had a day that was planned and then unplanned and then re-planned but with assumed difficulties that ended up not having difficulties.......anywho we had fun.
Wednesday, August 4, 2010
What to do?
So I had plans today. I had planned on taking the kids to the pool. However instead of being warm and sunny it's cooler and cloudy. Not that I'm complaining about the weather improvement. I was also planning on making dinner using a 3 lb boneless turkey breast only to find out we have a 5lb bone-in turkey breast. I smell a conspiracy. Mr. Sloth "accidentally" bought the wrong one so he could grill it later. I'm on to him.
So I'll have to find something else for dinner. We could honor the feast of St. John Vianney by eating boiled potatoes and drinking milk, but I've mentioned before that Mr. Sloth gets the shakes if some animal wasn't slaughtered for our nightly feast.
I have to decided what I'm going to do with my morning since plans have changed. It's been brought to my attention that whatever is growing inside of me is going to come out soon and want to live with us. I feel as though I should probably find a space for our new roommate. Before I can even bring baby's bed or clothes back into our house I need to clear at least a 3x3 space. I guess I'll work on that dilemma.
I'll let you know how things work out...
So I'll have to find something else for dinner. We could honor the feast of St. John Vianney by eating boiled potatoes and drinking milk, but I've mentioned before that Mr. Sloth gets the shakes if some animal wasn't slaughtered for our nightly feast.
I have to decided what I'm going to do with my morning since plans have changed. It's been brought to my attention that whatever is growing inside of me is going to come out soon and want to live with us. I feel as though I should probably find a space for our new roommate. Before I can even bring baby's bed or clothes back into our house I need to clear at least a 3x3 space. I guess I'll work on that dilemma.
I'll let you know how things work out...
Sunday, August 1, 2010
7 Years
This year is so out of the ordinary and with me having pregnancy brain things like our Wedding Anniversary are getting overlooked. We were married 7 years ago yesterday. Both of us kept forgetting all week and even yesterday. I remembered first thing in the morning but then forgot again. It wasn't until Mr. Sloth brought me flowers from the store that I remembered again. Needless to say I was surprised.
A part of the reason we kept forgetting is that our weekend was already booked so we're celebrating next week (or something like that).
I'll work backwards. Sunday we had a Homeschool Picnic starting at 3pm. Before that of course we had naptime, lunch, and Mass. We woke up sore and exhausted from Saturday's adventures. Saturday we woke up, dressed, breakfasted, and left the house at 10:03am. We spent the next 12 hours traveling down to Mr. Sloth's brothers house and hanging out with his family and then coming back that night. While on our visit we took the kids to see a replica of the Nina and the Pinta. Our only observation was that they were really small boats and that was before realizing they were 50% larger than the originals. Yikes! Next we stopped for ice cream much to Demand's merriment! After that Mr.Sloth and I headed to see "Comedy of Errors" at the Shakespeare Festival while the kids stayed and played with their cousins. Afterward we ate dinner there and then dressed the kids in their jammies and headed home. They fell asleep about a half an hour before we got home. Mr. Sloth just carried them into bed and we crashed shortly afterward.
These pictures are from our Anniversary. I always have our picture taken on our Anniversary no matter what we are doing that day so this is what we got this year. You can't tell but we are all very dirty and gross after a few hours in the muggy weather with plenty of playground time. Needless to say the kids received baths as soon as we got home and I was next.
Again, hopefully we're actually celebrate our anniversary soon.
A part of the reason we kept forgetting is that our weekend was already booked so we're celebrating next week (or something like that).
I'll work backwards. Sunday we had a Homeschool Picnic starting at 3pm. Before that of course we had naptime, lunch, and Mass. We woke up sore and exhausted from Saturday's adventures. Saturday we woke up, dressed, breakfasted, and left the house at 10:03am. We spent the next 12 hours traveling down to Mr. Sloth's brothers house and hanging out with his family and then coming back that night. While on our visit we took the kids to see a replica of the Nina and the Pinta. Our only observation was that they were really small boats and that was before realizing they were 50% larger than the originals. Yikes! Next we stopped for ice cream much to Demand's merriment! After that Mr.Sloth and I headed to see "Comedy of Errors" at the Shakespeare Festival while the kids stayed and played with their cousins. Afterward we ate dinner there and then dressed the kids in their jammies and headed home. They fell asleep about a half an hour before we got home. Mr. Sloth just carried them into bed and we crashed shortly afterward.
These pictures are from our Anniversary. I always have our picture taken on our Anniversary no matter what we are doing that day so this is what we got this year. You can't tell but we are all very dirty and gross after a few hours in the muggy weather with plenty of playground time. Needless to say the kids received baths as soon as we got home and I was next.
Again, hopefully we're actually celebrate our anniversary soon.
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
Sloppy
At 5am Mr. Sloths phone alarm went off. (Yes, we Sloths don't believe in things like actual alarm clocks anymore) He was trying out a new ring. We had discussed previously in the week that I should be the one to pick out the sound since I'm the one who actually hears the alarm. At 5am I was cognitive enough to come up with the sentence, "That is obnoxious". Thankfully though, the alarm was just for him and I went back to sleep.
At 7:05am I heard Happy screaming in his crib, assuming Demand had been up for hours I let him go for a few minutes hoping he'd work things out. He did not. I came in the room and he was screaming and Demand was laying bed also wondering why her brother was screaming.
So that was the beginning to our day. I had no plans for the so I made the decision to not have plans for the day. In fact I would take the day slowly and make cleaning my only goal. To be quite honest I never changed out of my pajamas all day. There are a number of reasons though, one, I didn't feel like it, two, only three shirts fit me now anyway, and three my only plan for the day was cleaning. I made the mistake of turning on the "Today Show" while having a leisurely morning drinking coffee and cleaning up downstairs. Choosing to not watch that show a few months ago was a good decision. That's all I'm going to say.
I was pretty slow to dress the children. Demand was only running around in a tank top and underwear so I did dress her, but Happy was wearing footed pjs so I let him roam a bit. It wasn't until I noticed him tugging on his clothes that I realized he wanted real clothes on. He was really excited when I showed him clothes. He grabbed his shirt and sat down to be dressed. The kids played happily almost all day while I cleaned and organized random rooms. I did notice that with no schedule to the day the morning goes by pretty slow.
Before I forget I gave myself a random goal to use as much from our freezer, pantry, and refrigerator as possible this week. (AKA no extra grocery trips) It's getting more tricky and it's only Tuesday so we'll see if we can make it to Friday. Right now we are out of fruit and tortilla chips which is the equivalent to being out of toilet paper and heated water. Sorry, we are not completely out of fruit; we have two apples and I found a big can of peaches in the pantry (plus tons of frozen fruit), but my kids really like fruit. So lunch was leftovers and a mish-mash of food. After lunch we have our new tradition of having to sooth Happy because he cries when Mr. Sloth leave to go back to work (Who doesn't!).Thankfully though books heal all wounds around here. Happy's vocabulary has really grown this week. He now can now say fish (shh-shh), truck (guck), and uh-oh. Last week he started telling us or admitting when he....filled his pants. If you ask him if he pooed he bends himself in half looking at his diaper and then stands up and says "I poo, I poo". Don't be fooled though he still has no intention of having his diaper changed. He bolts out of the room if you accuse him of such stinkiness.
Happy woke up from his nap a bit early and Demand was still sleeping (and I wanted to be) so I took him downstairs for cuddles on the couch with Curious George. Happy is so cudddly when he wakes up I just can't pass it up. As we were laying there our friend stopped by to see what we were up to. She has a one year old little girl. Happy wasn't interested in playing right away he was very content cuddling and watching his show. We had a casual kiddie-pool party playdate a block down the street scheduled for later in the afternoon but first I thought I would make dinner.
Sloppy Joes! To round off my day of sloppiness. I made the actual sloppy joes before heading down the street for our playdate. Once I saw Mr. Sloth's car in the driveway we headed home. It was then that I realized I hadn't really planned dinner. I came up with some sides on the spot. Leftover canned peaches from lunch and pickles. I found half a bag of french fries in the freezer and realized I could deep fry them in 8 minutes. I have owned a deep fryer for 7 years now and it has never dawned on me to do this. It was yummy! I had more than my fill of food. So that was our sloppy day. Here are some pictures from last nights dinner. It was also yummy.
Yesterday's Menu
Chicken with 40 cloves
cheddar biscuits
chive mashed potatoes
salad
wine
Before
During
After
Tomorrows menu
Breakfast: probably cereal the kids like cereal. I am always wiling to make pancakes or french toast though.
Lunch: This will get interesting. Grilled cheese perhaps? We have mashed potatoes perhaps I can make potato pancakes (not that I've actually made these before) I'm sure no one will go hungry though.
Dinner: left overs. Finders keepers!
Friday night we are having veggie Papa Murphy's since I have book club later. Quick fix, and no clean up, plus their veggie pizza is super yummy!
Ok, enough about food, I'm hungry.
At 7:05am I heard Happy screaming in his crib, assuming Demand had been up for hours I let him go for a few minutes hoping he'd work things out. He did not. I came in the room and he was screaming and Demand was laying bed also wondering why her brother was screaming.
So that was the beginning to our day. I had no plans for the so I made the decision to not have plans for the day. In fact I would take the day slowly and make cleaning my only goal. To be quite honest I never changed out of my pajamas all day. There are a number of reasons though, one, I didn't feel like it, two, only three shirts fit me now anyway, and three my only plan for the day was cleaning. I made the mistake of turning on the "Today Show" while having a leisurely morning drinking coffee and cleaning up downstairs. Choosing to not watch that show a few months ago was a good decision. That's all I'm going to say.
I was pretty slow to dress the children. Demand was only running around in a tank top and underwear so I did dress her, but Happy was wearing footed pjs so I let him roam a bit. It wasn't until I noticed him tugging on his clothes that I realized he wanted real clothes on. He was really excited when I showed him clothes. He grabbed his shirt and sat down to be dressed. The kids played happily almost all day while I cleaned and organized random rooms. I did notice that with no schedule to the day the morning goes by pretty slow.
Before I forget I gave myself a random goal to use as much from our freezer, pantry, and refrigerator as possible this week. (AKA no extra grocery trips) It's getting more tricky and it's only Tuesday so we'll see if we can make it to Friday. Right now we are out of fruit and tortilla chips which is the equivalent to being out of toilet paper and heated water. Sorry, we are not completely out of fruit; we have two apples and I found a big can of peaches in the pantry (plus tons of frozen fruit), but my kids really like fruit. So lunch was leftovers and a mish-mash of food. After lunch we have our new tradition of having to sooth Happy because he cries when Mr. Sloth leave to go back to work (Who doesn't!).Thankfully though books heal all wounds around here. Happy's vocabulary has really grown this week. He now can now say fish (shh-shh), truck (guck), and uh-oh. Last week he started telling us or admitting when he....filled his pants. If you ask him if he pooed he bends himself in half looking at his diaper and then stands up and says "I poo, I poo". Don't be fooled though he still has no intention of having his diaper changed. He bolts out of the room if you accuse him of such stinkiness.
Happy woke up from his nap a bit early and Demand was still sleeping (and I wanted to be) so I took him downstairs for cuddles on the couch with Curious George. Happy is so cudddly when he wakes up I just can't pass it up. As we were laying there our friend stopped by to see what we were up to. She has a one year old little girl. Happy wasn't interested in playing right away he was very content cuddling and watching his show. We had a casual kiddie-pool party playdate a block down the street scheduled for later in the afternoon but first I thought I would make dinner.
Sloppy Joes! To round off my day of sloppiness. I made the actual sloppy joes before heading down the street for our playdate. Once I saw Mr. Sloth's car in the driveway we headed home. It was then that I realized I hadn't really planned dinner. I came up with some sides on the spot. Leftover canned peaches from lunch and pickles. I found half a bag of french fries in the freezer and realized I could deep fry them in 8 minutes. I have owned a deep fryer for 7 years now and it has never dawned on me to do this. It was yummy! I had more than my fill of food. So that was our sloppy day. Here are some pictures from last nights dinner. It was also yummy.
Yesterday's Menu
Chicken with 40 cloves
cheddar biscuits
chive mashed potatoes
salad
wine
Before
During
After
Tomorrows menu
Breakfast: probably cereal the kids like cereal. I am always wiling to make pancakes or french toast though.
Lunch: This will get interesting. Grilled cheese perhaps? We have mashed potatoes perhaps I can make potato pancakes (not that I've actually made these before) I'm sure no one will go hungry though.
Dinner: left overs. Finders keepers!
Friday night we are having veggie Papa Murphy's since I have book club later. Quick fix, and no clean up, plus their veggie pizza is super yummy!
Ok, enough about food, I'm hungry.
Monday, July 26, 2010
The List
You know it's funny I had a nice neat list of things to do today and there was nothing on the list that said "put up with whiny, fussy children". Do they even read my lists???
I came downstairs this morning and the from the moment Happy saw me it was nothing but fussiness. Now Demand was a different case. I had planned out some home school stuff for us after our morning chores but she kept refusing to clean saying she just wants to play. I decided to let her play however playing turned into whining and complaining about Happy. Grrrr! It got so bad it started to feel like I was breathing in a steam room. (I don't like steam rooms) We did end up doing some school work which she loved. Today our lesson was on smelling and tasting. She had fun. Poor Mr. Sloth probably had the worst lunch hour as the kids were still fussy and I was signed out. I took a ten minute-cool down nap and then tried to ignore the whining. It was quite clear an early nap was in order. Around 2:30pm everyone was up and a bit happier. We are now convinced that Happy is getting yet another tooth now that we look back at the past few days of symptoms, doesn't explain Demand's behavior though.
So that was the morning. Overall our day was actually productive. During the morning I made the first step in arranging this baby's Baptism and I also made Dentist appointments, both have been on my to do list for a long time. After the much needed naps, I strapped the kids into the van with snacks and some milk and we were off to run errands and head to the gym. We first stopped at Office Max where I inevitably grabbed a cart with a broken seat belt. I spent half of the trip trying to keep Happy in the cart. There was a poor man behind us in line with only one item and then after we left I realized I was blocking him from his car with my many car doors. He was very nice and said it wasn't a bother and that I had cute kids. I doubt how much he knows comments like that can lift a mom up some days. Next stop was Michael's. As a part of our downstairs bathroom remodel I wanted to frame a print of a hand-drawn map of Assisi that Obscure bought us during our trip. First off, let me just say that Demand found this map the other day and took the wrapping off and started coloring on the wrapping. We are so lucky she didn't see the black and white map and think it needed color as well. Anyway, I knew custom framing was expensive so I was waiting for a Michael's coupon before having it done. I knew framing was expensive, but I had no idea how expensive. Without the coupon it would have been $340. That's a lot of money for something to look at while you wash your hands. Thankfully the coupon was for 60% off. At first she told me it was going to be $160. I said, "Great, now how can we get that lower". So I guess I am an official adult because I just paid $149 for something that is going to hang in my powder room.
By the time we were done at Michael's it was too late to head to the gym which is frustrating because the gym is only a few blocks from Michael's. I called Mr. Sloth to let him know he could work late if he wanted as Dinner wouldn't be ready until 5:30pm. I decided to save my nerves and have the kids watch the VeggieTales they got from Church this week while I made dinner. At some point I read on one of the blogs that it was the Feast of St. Anne and Joachim and that St. Anne is associated with the colors green and red so many people celebrate her feast with watermelon themed dishes. Shower of Roses did a Watermelon Pie. I had no intention to start celebrating feast days until August but since I had been meaning to make this drink anyway and had all the ingredients I thought I would give a try.
We had taco salad for dinner (it was only a salad because I failed to pick up and taco shells or tortillas) so the red of the tomatoes and the green of the lettuce and green onions was festive. Next, and this is where it gets dorky, I found a picture of St. Anne on the computer and put my computer in the center of the dining room table. Now that's a technologically advanced Catholic home for you. When I tried explained St. Anne to Demand she laughed when I mentioned she was Jesus' grandmother. I'm sure it's never dawned on her that Jesus had a grandmother. After dinner I made the watermelon drinks. I really had no idea if I would like them or even Demand but we both loved them. Mr. Sloth kept it monastic with his beer but did enjoy the taste he had.
Mmmm! The Sloths could eat tacos for dinner everynight.
Classy, huh?
Watermelon Slushies
After drinks I gave the kids haircuts. Happy desperately needed one and I just pretended to give Demand one because she loves getting her hair cut. I then, for some reason, agreed to clean the kitchen instead of putting the kids to bed. Perhaps I need to look at the kitchen before making such agreements from now on.
Tomorrow I had big plans to take the kids to the pool but my pool buddy can't make it and it looks like it might storm and since we have to drive a half an hour to get there I'm not going to risk getting the kids excited. Demand asked if we could do more homeschooling tomorrow which we can and maybe we'll head to the gym in the morning as well.
Aside from the framed map, which will take two weeks apparently, I just have to hang the towel ring in the powder room and we'll be all done. Mr. Sloth hung the toilet paper holder tonight. Next I can start working on the play room!!
For dinner tomorrow I'm making one of Ina Garten's recipes. "Chicken with 40 cloves" I've been wanting to make this dish since we bought our Le Creuset pan a few months ago. So it's going to be Chicken, mashed potatoes with chives (I've grown them I have to use them in something) salad and cheddar biscuits for dinner tomorrow. That is if Mr. Sloth remembers to stop at the liquor store before lunch and pick up dry white wine and cognac. I have not reached the point where I am desperate enough to drag my children through the liquor store just yet even if they do know us by name.
So even though the children tried to plot against me and my list today. The list and I conquered, I got everything done on the list. Yay for me.
I came downstairs this morning and the from the moment Happy saw me it was nothing but fussiness. Now Demand was a different case. I had planned out some home school stuff for us after our morning chores but she kept refusing to clean saying she just wants to play. I decided to let her play however playing turned into whining and complaining about Happy. Grrrr! It got so bad it started to feel like I was breathing in a steam room. (I don't like steam rooms) We did end up doing some school work which she loved. Today our lesson was on smelling and tasting. She had fun. Poor Mr. Sloth probably had the worst lunch hour as the kids were still fussy and I was signed out. I took a ten minute-cool down nap and then tried to ignore the whining. It was quite clear an early nap was in order. Around 2:30pm everyone was up and a bit happier. We are now convinced that Happy is getting yet another tooth now that we look back at the past few days of symptoms, doesn't explain Demand's behavior though.
So that was the morning. Overall our day was actually productive. During the morning I made the first step in arranging this baby's Baptism and I also made Dentist appointments, both have been on my to do list for a long time. After the much needed naps, I strapped the kids into the van with snacks and some milk and we were off to run errands and head to the gym. We first stopped at Office Max where I inevitably grabbed a cart with a broken seat belt. I spent half of the trip trying to keep Happy in the cart. There was a poor man behind us in line with only one item and then after we left I realized I was blocking him from his car with my many car doors. He was very nice and said it wasn't a bother and that I had cute kids. I doubt how much he knows comments like that can lift a mom up some days. Next stop was Michael's. As a part of our downstairs bathroom remodel I wanted to frame a print of a hand-drawn map of Assisi that Obscure bought us during our trip. First off, let me just say that Demand found this map the other day and took the wrapping off and started coloring on the wrapping. We are so lucky she didn't see the black and white map and think it needed color as well. Anyway, I knew custom framing was expensive so I was waiting for a Michael's coupon before having it done. I knew framing was expensive, but I had no idea how expensive. Without the coupon it would have been $340. That's a lot of money for something to look at while you wash your hands. Thankfully the coupon was for 60% off. At first she told me it was going to be $160. I said, "Great, now how can we get that lower". So I guess I am an official adult because I just paid $149 for something that is going to hang in my powder room.
By the time we were done at Michael's it was too late to head to the gym which is frustrating because the gym is only a few blocks from Michael's. I called Mr. Sloth to let him know he could work late if he wanted as Dinner wouldn't be ready until 5:30pm. I decided to save my nerves and have the kids watch the VeggieTales they got from Church this week while I made dinner. At some point I read on one of the blogs that it was the Feast of St. Anne and Joachim and that St. Anne is associated with the colors green and red so many people celebrate her feast with watermelon themed dishes. Shower of Roses did a Watermelon Pie. I had no intention to start celebrating feast days until August but since I had been meaning to make this drink anyway and had all the ingredients I thought I would give a try.
We had taco salad for dinner (it was only a salad because I failed to pick up and taco shells or tortillas) so the red of the tomatoes and the green of the lettuce and green onions was festive. Next, and this is where it gets dorky, I found a picture of St. Anne on the computer and put my computer in the center of the dining room table. Now that's a technologically advanced Catholic home for you. When I tried explained St. Anne to Demand she laughed when I mentioned she was Jesus' grandmother. I'm sure it's never dawned on her that Jesus had a grandmother. After dinner I made the watermelon drinks. I really had no idea if I would like them or even Demand but we both loved them. Mr. Sloth kept it monastic with his beer but did enjoy the taste he had.
Mmmm! The Sloths could eat tacos for dinner everynight.
Classy, huh?
Watermelon Slushies
After drinks I gave the kids haircuts. Happy desperately needed one and I just pretended to give Demand one because she loves getting her hair cut. I then, for some reason, agreed to clean the kitchen instead of putting the kids to bed. Perhaps I need to look at the kitchen before making such agreements from now on.
Tomorrow I had big plans to take the kids to the pool but my pool buddy can't make it and it looks like it might storm and since we have to drive a half an hour to get there I'm not going to risk getting the kids excited. Demand asked if we could do more homeschooling tomorrow which we can and maybe we'll head to the gym in the morning as well.
Aside from the framed map, which will take two weeks apparently, I just have to hang the towel ring in the powder room and we'll be all done. Mr. Sloth hung the toilet paper holder tonight. Next I can start working on the play room!!
For dinner tomorrow I'm making one of Ina Garten's recipes. "Chicken with 40 cloves" I've been wanting to make this dish since we bought our Le Creuset pan a few months ago. So it's going to be Chicken, mashed potatoes with chives (I've grown them I have to use them in something) salad and cheddar biscuits for dinner tomorrow. That is if Mr. Sloth remembers to stop at the liquor store before lunch and pick up dry white wine and cognac. I have not reached the point where I am desperate enough to drag my children through the liquor store just yet even if they do know us by name.
So even though the children tried to plot against me and my list today. The list and I conquered, I got everything done on the list. Yay for me.
Sunday, July 25, 2010
Finding Balance
This week the Sloths are starting to find some new balance to life. From Sunday celebrations, to the home, to preparing for the arrival of the new little sloth and even to a new/first school year.
First, let me explain Sundays. A few weeks ago Mr. Sloth and I hit a wall one Sunday afternoon. I believe my real breakdown was when after a day of whiny kids at Mass, whiny kids all day and short naps, I was trying to make a taco dinner (on the Fourth of July) and I had 6 people in the kitchen with me. (Two of whom were less than cordial.) I had had it! I was done, sick of Sundays! What were we doing wrong? Isn't this supposed to be a day of rest?? Mr. Sloth agreed; our Sundays were miserable from the moment we woke up. We had a messy home, we were living on top of each other whiny kids and felt anything but rested. I went to my good ole home school group for answers. As it turns out we aren't the only family with this struggle, but the good news is we found some suggestions that work and/or are least worth trying. Many explained that Sundays with little ones are always going to be work and it's just where we are in our lives right now. So here are some of our new changes.
Since the messy house bothers us so much and we live in a cramped space we can't just let it go, but we don't have to clean all day. If we clean Saturday night and once or twice on Sundays there shouldn't be too much work.
Secondly, even though we love to cook, cooking makes a mess so we need to simplify (Sadly).
Third, we need to just relax and have fun, mess or no mess.
A few weeks ago was our first attempt at a new approach to Sundays. As usual I had everyones clothes ready for Church the night before. I prepared a french toast bake the night before and it ready to put in the oven by morning. We're not fans of casseroles but if it gives us some peace it might be worth it. We also decided that while many families go very formal on Sundays this exhausted young family is going very informal on Sundays. Disposable everything; cups, plates, silverware... I had also prepared a crock pot meal (again we don't usually like them but we're desperate for peace) of beef-stroganoff before we left for Mass so it would be done for dinner.
The next step was relaxation. Our problem is that both Mr. Sloth and myself want to rest but the children make this nearly impossible and they are, for some reason, always whiny and clingy on Sundays. So how could we entertain the children and relax???? You may have guessed; Television. We decided to get a special movie for the kids and make popcorn this way Mr. Sloth and myself could at least rest on the couch for the afternoon.
For the most part our plans worked. The kids loved the novelty of movie and popcorn with Mom and Dad and we loved the rest and ease of everything. It was definitely a much better Sunday over all even though the food was just so-so, but I'm working on that...
Today was another attempt at a happy-restful Sunday. Without doing much preparation and considering I hadn't prepped clothes the night before and Mr. Sloth and I both slept in... things went pretty well. We've started to ween Happy off of his Masstime nap while trying the technique of not letting a child touch the floor of the Church until they are two or three years old, and he's getting much more tolerable. Before if he was awake he was running, but now Mr. Sloth holds him the whole time and today was the first day he didn't fuss. Keeping him awake is crucial to our restful Sundays because if he naps at Church he doesn't nap later which means WE don't nap later. Demand wasn't her best at Church today but we are trying new things with her as well. I've been telling her she can kneel, sit, or stand (at any time) but she can't hang on us or lay down, if she does then she has to lay down when we get home. We're also trying to curb the unnecessary trips to the bathroom. For the first time in years she cried at Mass when I told her she couldn't lay down. When she did anyway she received 10 minutes in bed when we got home from Church.
Over breakfast I had the idea of just having the kids out at the pool for the afternoon and make it a fun pool party. Dressed for Church and kids in the van I was filling a kiddie pool so it would be warm after lunch. Home from Church we all changed clothes and Demand had her ten minutes in bed before we had leftovers for lunch then after a quick clean up Demand and I made popsicles from her cookbook and then it was out to the pool...for some of us. Demand kept insisting that it was too hot out so instead of hearing her whine we let her play inside. I sat reading in the shade with my feet in the now warm water while Happy played with the water. Mr. Sloth tossed the football around with Sidekick before remembering he was older now and out of shape and that it was much warmer than he realized.
At last it was nap time.(Turns out we were right, Demand was tired) Wouldn't you know it, I wasn't particularly tired. After a short nap I woke up, but the kids were still asleep and Mr. Sloth was watching baseball. After a loverly plate of nachos I headed back out to the pool for more reading and sunshine. Don't fall off your chair but I read an entire book this weekend! Me! Mrs. Sloth! I'll explain but first let me finish our Sunday....
I had a great time in the sun finishing my book and flipping through an Ina Garten cook book and getting wonderful ideas for the next few weeks. Mmmmmm! When the kids woke up it was clean up time and then off to Grandmas for Mr. Sloth's birthday celebration. By the time we left the house the downstairs was spotless, a rarity for a Sunday. Dinner and ice cream cake at Grandmas helped keep our home peaceful as well of course.
So my book. I read "The Well-Ordered Home" this weekend. Granted it is small in size and only 120 pages but I devoured every word. It has helped inspire my grand plan for August. In the car yesterday I referred to August as "Garage" month. Mr. Sloth wasn't as excited as I was. Back in May Mr. Sloth bought lumber for a number of projects one of which was re-shelving the garage. It has yet to be started. I thought with summer ending and baby coming, August would be the best time to get this project done. Hopefully he agrees. So that's just the garage, using tips from this book I hope to purge each room in the home or at least the top few. I also want to continue to purge clothing (something I started this week) and start reorganizing our storage space since we're most likely in this house until next Spring. Purging clothes is the first step in reorganizing our bedroom since we'll have a new little roommate in a few weeks. It dawned on me recently that Obscure is storing our newborn clothes at his home for the moment but I have no where to put them until we reorganize our bedroom. I hope to finish redecorating the downstairs bathroom this week before finally starting in on the playroom. I moved furniture around a week ago but there are still some storage issues to work out before the start of a school year.
Speaking of school year. I realized today that Demand's fall schedule is booking fast. She has Good Shepard (preschool CCD meets Montessori) on Tuesdays and most home school field trips happen on Fridays so that leaves three days a week and we'd like her to take one more extra curricular activity such as ballet or swimming or gymnastics. As for me I have decided to not teach CCD this year and Thursday morning Bible Study was canceled but I'm more than ok with that. I'll try and plan home school stuff while Mr. Sloth teaches CCD and a number of us are doing the Bible Time-line Study starting in August. Since I've already done the study it will just be a refresher but honestly I think I could do the study every year and learn something new each time.
So like I said we're trying to find balance in Slothville. Balance of time, balance of possessions and balance of work vs. rest.
First, let me explain Sundays. A few weeks ago Mr. Sloth and I hit a wall one Sunday afternoon. I believe my real breakdown was when after a day of whiny kids at Mass, whiny kids all day and short naps, I was trying to make a taco dinner (on the Fourth of July) and I had 6 people in the kitchen with me. (Two of whom were less than cordial.) I had had it! I was done, sick of Sundays! What were we doing wrong? Isn't this supposed to be a day of rest?? Mr. Sloth agreed; our Sundays were miserable from the moment we woke up. We had a messy home, we were living on top of each other whiny kids and felt anything but rested. I went to my good ole home school group for answers. As it turns out we aren't the only family with this struggle, but the good news is we found some suggestions that work and/or are least worth trying. Many explained that Sundays with little ones are always going to be work and it's just where we are in our lives right now. So here are some of our new changes.
Since the messy house bothers us so much and we live in a cramped space we can't just let it go, but we don't have to clean all day. If we clean Saturday night and once or twice on Sundays there shouldn't be too much work.
Secondly, even though we love to cook, cooking makes a mess so we need to simplify (Sadly).
Third, we need to just relax and have fun, mess or no mess.
A few weeks ago was our first attempt at a new approach to Sundays. As usual I had everyones clothes ready for Church the night before. I prepared a french toast bake the night before and it ready to put in the oven by morning. We're not fans of casseroles but if it gives us some peace it might be worth it. We also decided that while many families go very formal on Sundays this exhausted young family is going very informal on Sundays. Disposable everything; cups, plates, silverware... I had also prepared a crock pot meal (again we don't usually like them but we're desperate for peace) of beef-stroganoff before we left for Mass so it would be done for dinner.
The next step was relaxation. Our problem is that both Mr. Sloth and myself want to rest but the children make this nearly impossible and they are, for some reason, always whiny and clingy on Sundays. So how could we entertain the children and relax???? You may have guessed; Television. We decided to get a special movie for the kids and make popcorn this way Mr. Sloth and myself could at least rest on the couch for the afternoon.
For the most part our plans worked. The kids loved the novelty of movie and popcorn with Mom and Dad and we loved the rest and ease of everything. It was definitely a much better Sunday over all even though the food was just so-so, but I'm working on that...
Today was another attempt at a happy-restful Sunday. Without doing much preparation and considering I hadn't prepped clothes the night before and Mr. Sloth and I both slept in... things went pretty well. We've started to ween Happy off of his Masstime nap while trying the technique of not letting a child touch the floor of the Church until they are two or three years old, and he's getting much more tolerable. Before if he was awake he was running, but now Mr. Sloth holds him the whole time and today was the first day he didn't fuss. Keeping him awake is crucial to our restful Sundays because if he naps at Church he doesn't nap later which means WE don't nap later. Demand wasn't her best at Church today but we are trying new things with her as well. I've been telling her she can kneel, sit, or stand (at any time) but she can't hang on us or lay down, if she does then she has to lay down when we get home. We're also trying to curb the unnecessary trips to the bathroom. For the first time in years she cried at Mass when I told her she couldn't lay down. When she did anyway she received 10 minutes in bed when we got home from Church.
Over breakfast I had the idea of just having the kids out at the pool for the afternoon and make it a fun pool party. Dressed for Church and kids in the van I was filling a kiddie pool so it would be warm after lunch. Home from Church we all changed clothes and Demand had her ten minutes in bed before we had leftovers for lunch then after a quick clean up Demand and I made popsicles from her cookbook and then it was out to the pool...for some of us. Demand kept insisting that it was too hot out so instead of hearing her whine we let her play inside. I sat reading in the shade with my feet in the now warm water while Happy played with the water. Mr. Sloth tossed the football around with Sidekick before remembering he was older now and out of shape and that it was much warmer than he realized.
At last it was nap time.(Turns out we were right, Demand was tired) Wouldn't you know it, I wasn't particularly tired. After a short nap I woke up, but the kids were still asleep and Mr. Sloth was watching baseball. After a loverly plate of nachos I headed back out to the pool for more reading and sunshine. Don't fall off your chair but I read an entire book this weekend! Me! Mrs. Sloth! I'll explain but first let me finish our Sunday....
I had a great time in the sun finishing my book and flipping through an Ina Garten cook book and getting wonderful ideas for the next few weeks. Mmmmmm! When the kids woke up it was clean up time and then off to Grandmas for Mr. Sloth's birthday celebration. By the time we left the house the downstairs was spotless, a rarity for a Sunday. Dinner and ice cream cake at Grandmas helped keep our home peaceful as well of course.
So my book. I read "The Well-Ordered Home" this weekend. Granted it is small in size and only 120 pages but I devoured every word. It has helped inspire my grand plan for August. In the car yesterday I referred to August as "Garage" month. Mr. Sloth wasn't as excited as I was. Back in May Mr. Sloth bought lumber for a number of projects one of which was re-shelving the garage. It has yet to be started. I thought with summer ending and baby coming, August would be the best time to get this project done. Hopefully he agrees. So that's just the garage, using tips from this book I hope to purge each room in the home or at least the top few. I also want to continue to purge clothing (something I started this week) and start reorganizing our storage space since we're most likely in this house until next Spring. Purging clothes is the first step in reorganizing our bedroom since we'll have a new little roommate in a few weeks. It dawned on me recently that Obscure is storing our newborn clothes at his home for the moment but I have no where to put them until we reorganize our bedroom. I hope to finish redecorating the downstairs bathroom this week before finally starting in on the playroom. I moved furniture around a week ago but there are still some storage issues to work out before the start of a school year.
Speaking of school year. I realized today that Demand's fall schedule is booking fast. She has Good Shepard (preschool CCD meets Montessori) on Tuesdays and most home school field trips happen on Fridays so that leaves three days a week and we'd like her to take one more extra curricular activity such as ballet or swimming or gymnastics. As for me I have decided to not teach CCD this year and Thursday morning Bible Study was canceled but I'm more than ok with that. I'll try and plan home school stuff while Mr. Sloth teaches CCD and a number of us are doing the Bible Time-line Study starting in August. Since I've already done the study it will just be a refresher but honestly I think I could do the study every year and learn something new each time.
So like I said we're trying to find balance in Slothville. Balance of time, balance of possessions and balance of work vs. rest.
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