Solo Survival Success

This week Matt has been on the road.  He left Sunday afternoon.  Anticipated return home is Friday night.  Meaning: I’ve been on my own this week.  That in and of itself feels like it should be a success sometimes! 

But moving onto this week’s successes…..

1.  This week was super busy with lots of appointments.  I can honestly say that to-date, we’ve been on time (or early) for every.single.one.  We’ve met friends for coffee, had meetings, an ultrasound, a doctor appointment, speech therapy sessions and three gymnastics classes.  Phew!

2.  Despite Tuesday being our busiest day of the week – I managed to cook dinner at home.  (Let’s not talk about the rest of the week.  It’s been a week of eating on the go).  But Tuesday was a success.  I made Table for Two’s crockpot Beef and Broccoli.  Quite good!  The boys enjoyed it and it was the perfect amount for the three of us.

3.  I seem to have mastered the nap time battles (at least for the moment).  I’ve been allowing both boys to lay in mommy’s bed and watch one 30 minute TV show.  Then Nathan heads off to his bed on his own accord and John sleeps in my bed.  Sometimes I nap with John, sometimes I sneak out to get things accomplished around the house.

4.  I’ve continued our quest to clean out the basement.  Another two bags of trash and a giant pile of recycling at ready to depart the house on appropriate days.  I also have a large bag of items to donate and a few items that I need to sell.  Purging feels good!

So there you have it – a week of surviving on my own.  Complete with appointments, activities, and a little bit of crock pot cooking.

Starting to Prep

As I mentioned in a previous post – our house is clean enough to be safe and dirty enough to be lived in.  I like this philosophy.  I have two little boys and the idea of having a sterile and completely organized home seems completely impossible.  I’m not by nature a huge lover of housework, but I don’t mind an afternoon or two of cleaning and organizing when the rooms start having “round corners” from all the stuff I’ve wedged in them to clear a path through the middle of the space.

So I’m starting to prep….and by prep I mean I’m cleaning because over the next month or so our house will be inundated with visitors.  In the upcoming weeks (months?) we’ll be playing host to a soon to be 21 year old, my in-laws, and a 10 year old.  Not to mention that somewhere in the mix of all that we’ll host a 2 year old birthday party and a number of friends/family visits during a wedding (which happen to be occurring the same weekend).  Oh yeah – factor in there a road trip to Wisconsin and my husband heading to Austria for 10 days.  It’s gonna get busy really quickly!

Successes for the week then? Well, I’ve….

…organized the coat closet in the front entry way.  Nothing exciting, but it’s done.  Coats that don’t fit (or won’t fit by the next appropriate season) have been donated or stored.  The items that were piling up on the floor have been purged and organized.  We might actually be able to put some additional items in the closet now that it’s cleaned out.

…trimmed the hedges.  We have several shrubs that require periodic trimming throughout the warm months.  This is one of my few ‘official’ outdoor chores (Matt does most the lawn care, garage cleaning, planting, etc).  This task fell to me a few months after we moved to this house when Matt inadvertently trimmed the extension cord that was powering the electric hedge trimmer.  (It should probably be noted that as of typing this I’ve got 5 more hedges/bushes to punch out…but that’s down from 13 and I promise to have them done before this posts on Thursday morning)

…after a small pity party (and some tears) on Tuesday following a phone call informing me that John’s speech therapy was being denied by the insurance company, I’ve started the appeals process.  By started I mean I’m gathering the appropriate paperwork before I can officially start the appeals process.  I am mommy…hear me ROAR!

…enjoyed a family dinner out with Matt’s national sales manager.  Yes, I said enjoyed!  The boys were well-behaved, the food was good and plentiful, and the conversation actually flowed easily.  Since I much prefer speaking to large groups (I’ve never really enjoyed or excelled at 1-1 small talk) this experience certainly qualifies as a success.  And the sales manager commented on how beautiful and well-behaved our boys were!  (Proud mommy moment!)

…spent a lot more time playing with the boys despite my desire to clean the house from top to bottom.  Nathan is loving to do art projects right now and John’s imagination is taking off, so it’s been a lot of fun around here recently.  I’m trying to remember to embrace those moments. We’ll get the house cleaned before company arrives….but these little daily moments will disappear long before the first person knocks on our door.

“Cleaning and scrubbing can wait till tomorrow…for babies grow up…I’ve learned to our sorrow. So quiet down cobwebs… dust go to sleep I’m rocking my baby and babies don’t keep.” – Author unknown

…been diligently cleaning out our fridge.  Sounds silly, right?  But we’re not a huge leftovers family.  So we tend to pack up the leftovers after a meal then leave them in the fridge until I can no longer remember when we originally consumed the item and I throw it away.  This is not budget friendly!  Instead, I’ve been trying to repurpose items into other meals and working hard at eating those leftovers out of the fridge.

…utilizing our produce co-op again.  Yay!  I love our produce co-op, but often we don’t consume all the produce before it goes bad.  Again, a waste of money.  I hate that.  Since the fridge has been relatively cleaned out recently I’ve had room for all the produce.  Added bonus is that with the extra space in the fridge I can see all the produce and we’re consuming it in a more timely manner.  You just can beat the taste of fresh fruits and veggies compared to canned and/or frozen. 

Well, I’m feeling like a pretty big success this week!  Lots done, lots still to do…  Bring it on!

Make sure to swing over to Chocolate for Your Brain and encourage other moms on their journey to success!

Keeping It Real

I missed last week’s Small Successes (mostly out of laziness) so I decided I absolutely needed to post this week.  Let’s be honest – I mostly want to post because I’m excited about the accomplishments of the past week.

1.  Thanks to a great pin on Pinterest (seriously, I’m addicted! and if you haven’t checked it out yet you really should) and a wonderful website, I made homemade finger paints for the boys.  Awesome because when Nathan sticks his fingers in his mouth I don’t freak out and it gave John some sensory play.  In fact, John ended up using the paints with his developmental therapist.  It went much better than mommy anticipated!  And when all was said and done, the therapist asked for the recipe

2.  With Matt’s help we did a serious cleaning and purge of the playroom last weekend.  Serious, how do two little boys get soooo many toys?  Oh wait, they’re called grandparents.  Ironically, after we spent a whole afternoon taking toys downstairs, donating toys we don’t need/use, and finding homes for the remaining toys, my mother arrived with a bunch of toys that all the teachers at her school were not using anymore.  Maybe the innate desire to purge toys was Divine Intervention?

3.  I finally finished gathering the 9 bazillion pieces of paper, forms and surveys that the developmental pediatrician needs from us before he’ll even schedule John’s appointment.  It’s going in the mail today!  Praise God!  This has not been the easiest process considering it required records requests from 5 therapists, 4 hematologists, 3 hospitals, 2 pediatrician offices, 1 chiropractor and a partridge in a pear tree….  Not to mention that Matt and I filled out a nearly 30 pages on health history, family history, concerns, and questionnaires.

4.  Next week is going to be a packed week with lots and lots to do.  This summer we haven’t had the chance to attend many of the boys playgroups or activities through the MOMS Club because of John’s therapies, trips, and everything else.  SOOOO – I canceled several of John’s therapy sessions for next week and we’re going to Jumping Kangaroos (John’s playgroup), Little Monkeys (Nathan’s playgroup), hosting Executive Board (my group) and headed to STL for some fun at City Gardens on the MOMS Club field trip.  Sometimes we need a break from all the “help” we get and need a chance to be little boys!  Executive decision made!

What To Choose?

What a great week it’s been!  So much accomplished and so much to be proud of that I’m going to having a hard time picking out our successes.  We’ve just been a really busy family!

1.  Last week I hosted cooking club for our MOMS Club.  I choose a theme of “Served On A Stick” and it was a huge hit.  We enjoyed fruit salad on a stick (fruit kabobs), stick in the mud (chocolate cookie on popsicle sticks), PB&J skewers, muffin pops (mini muffins on toothpicks, and more.  I personally made bacon-wrapped breadsticks and they were the hit of the party!  And super simple to make thanks to the microwave and only 3 ingredients.  Then a mere 3 days later I hosted the MOMS Club executive board here at the house for our monthly meeting.  We got through our business and had time to enjoy each other’s company which was wonderful.  So we’ve been a bit like MOMS Club Grand Central Station this week…

2.  With the help of my wonderful husband, we purged the clutter out of the dining room, cleaning closet, coat closet, and most of the cabinets and drawers in the kitchen this weekend.  I’ve been feeling overwhelmed with all the random ‘stuff’ that doesn’t have a real home in our house, so he graciously agreed to help me do some serious cleaning.  A lot of items went in the trash, some went to family members  who could use them, and a bunch are now downstairs in our yard sale box  Those two rooms and two closets make me happy!  Hopefully we can keep up the momentum and work our way through more of the house in the upcoming weeks.

3.  Nathan is right on the verge of walking.  He has taken a couple steps here and there this week (the first truly notable ones on Sunday, July 24 while we were Skyping with grandma and grandpa).  He’s now standing up in the middle of the room periodically so I’m sure the actual walking will be here in no time at all.  Then I’ll be chasing two little boys around! Nathan-man is also a chatty little boy.  “Up” seems to be his favorite word right now meaning “pick me up mommy!”  He babbles the day away and makes requests for “dink” (drink), “up”, “ow-pa” (out please – of his highchair), “mow” (more) and “aw-duh” (all done).  I’m loving all the conversation!

4.  Since I used #3 to celebrate on behalf of Nathan – I’m tacking on a #4 for John.  He successfully made it 60 minutes in the child care room at the YMCA yesterday!  Only brief tears at the very beginning and then he did fine the rest of the time.  This is a huge success in my book.  Since he was 1 we’ve never been able to use the child care room because he would cry to the point of hyperventilating within the first 10 minutes at which point the day care workers would come get me from the gym.  With the help of his psychologist from Early Intervention over the past 6 months – we’re now up to 60 minutes!!!  And on another note – we’re meeting with a physical therapist today to have the structure of John’s ankles and feet examined.  I’m interested to see what she has to say! 

So – it’s been a busy week – I could keep going!  We’ve booked tickets to South Padre Island in September, I’ve started holiday/birthday wish lists for the boys, I baked my first ever blackberry pie, I located a developmental pediatrician for John and have started gathering the 9 bazillion papers and forms he wants, and we started doing some school supply shopping in hopes that John gets into Early Childhood starting in October.

Jump over to Chocolate For Your Brain and share your successes!

New Successes

Today I’ve decided to celebrate the new successes in my week.  You know, the things that I’ve never done before – but did this week. 
1.  I made blackberry jam!  All by myself.  OK – let’s be honest – with the help of my wonderful neighbor Dale who provided us with 1 gallon of blackberries from his backyard.  It tastes great, looks pretty and best of all – I MADE IT!
2.  We went blueberry picking and got 2 pints full.  Where you may ask?  Right in our backyard.  When we moved into this house last summer we noticed a few blueberry bushes on the side of the house.  However, with Nathan being born in mid-June we never got out to pick any of the blueberries last summer.  Nathan is loving them – he’s a blueberry-aholic!
3.  I bought the supplies to make my own laundry detergent.  I know this isn’t really something to brag about – but it’s a step in the right direction.  I’ve always tried my own detergent.  So much cheaper, and wonderfully clean clothes!  Now – to find the time to make it (or more accurately…find the grater that I don’t mind getting soapy with Fels-Naptha).

Can you tell I’m feeling very Susie Homemaker this week?

What are your successes? 
Let us know over at Chocolate for Your Brain!

My Favorite Summertime Drink–Cold Brewed Iced Coffee

This has never been much of a food/cooking blog – although I often think about how much I love to cook and should probably share more of that on here.  But as I’m sitting here this morning….I’m really enjoying my morning iced coffee.  So I thought “there has to be another mommy some place that needs a great morning pick-me-up”

The recipe requires a little advance planning, but it’s well worth it!

2/3 c. course ground coffee
2 Tbsp. coffee creamer in your choice of flavor
1 c. milk
cold tap water

Place coffee in french press and fill press with cold water.  Allow coffee to cold-brew overnight.  In the morning press the coffee down and pour into a storage container for the fridge. 

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To make your iced coffee:

Fill a glass with ice, add coffee creamer, milk and cold-brewed coffee to taste (I use a little more than 1 cup).  Stir and enjoy!

Coming Back to Small Successes!

I’ve been away for a while…hope no one thinks it’s because Small Successes is now being hosted by Sherry over at Chocolate for Your Brain.  I’ve just gotten away from blogging for a little while.  You know – so I could deal with things like my family, my house and my friends.  Not a bad exchange if you ask me.

But what are the successes for the past week?

1.  We’ve been working on potty training.  This is a huge success in m book.  Although John’s still having plenty of ‘accidents’ we’re making progress.  I was hoping it would work like a light switch..just flip on all of a sudden and he’d be dry for days.  Not the case!  But with lots of reminders to ‘tell mommy if you have to go potty’ we’re on our way.  (Maybe the light switch just takes a month or so to flip?)

2.  I’ve been baking Amish Friendship Bread every 10 days and passing out my starters to friends.  So far so good.  Although I may be exhausting my list of friends who have any true interest or talent in baking.  We’ll have to see if I can find enough friends to pass this next round of starters out to ….

3.  With the help of my dearest husband….we’ve paid off my car!  Which means we officially own both of our vehicles!  YAY!  So hopefully we’re a little easier on our budget (since we’re still paying a  mortgage in NC and rent in IL – Anyone what to buy a house in NC?  3 hours to the beach, 2 hours to the mountains, quaint town, completely remodeled in 2007… Just sayin’)

Make sure to head over to Small Successes Thursdays at Chocolate for Your Brain!

Snowed In Successes

I haven't left the house since we ran to the store for provisions on Monday morning.  We've been snowed in all week.  Besides starting to get a little stir crazy and getting a slight case of cabin fever - I've/We've survived.  That alone ought to count as a success...in fact, let's count that as #1

#2 - John's been fighting a croupy cough and a nasty cold.  Since we can't run around the house or roughhouse in the basement due to extreme coughing spells that ensue, we've been looking for 'sit-still' activities for a 2 year old.  We came up with some good ones!

#3 - Nothing makes a snowy day go by faster than being in the kitchen.  Being snowed in this week I've 'home-made'  broccoli cheddar soup, rice krispie treats, brownies, italian beef, and pizza.  And today I have more in the works....Malt-O-Meal muffins, apple cinnamon oatmeal, and maybe some taco soup.  Maybe I'll get motivated and post some of the recipes here later today...

Bonus #4 - The house continues to get cleaner and cleaner.  This is a feat when you can't leave the house and every toy known to man gets dragged out 5 times a day!  But since we're stuck inside I've been dusting, sweeping, mopping, wiping and purging.  No wonder I'm so tired!

Share your successes over at Faith and Family Live!

Success Celebration

Danielle Bean from Faith and Family Live! encourages to us to look at our successes each week.  She reminds us that when you are busy being a mom sometimes it has to be a few small things that add up to the big triumphs.  So here goes nothing....

1.  I've stayed on top of the chores this week.  Things are getting done around here.  No, the house isn't spotless, but it's livable and it's making me happy.  And the best part of it - with my new routine - it isn't taking up my entire evening or the entire day.  I'm getting it all done in 15-20 minutes during the boys nap (then taking my own nap!) and 15-20 minutes in the evening after the boys go to bed.  YAY!

2.  With the house in decent condition this week - I was able to invite a friend over at the last minute for dinner one night.  Her husband was working late and Matt is out of town - so we let the kids play and I enjoyed some adult company.

3.  I've been back in the kitchen this week making more baby food for Nathan.  I've really enjoyed making most of his food and I love that I have more control over what Nathan is eating.  Additionally, the variety is soooo much better when you make your own food.  Face it - Gerber/Beechnut only comes in about 10 flavors....NOT homemade food!  Nathan has enjoyed broccoli, cauliflower, bell peppers and parsnips, rutabaga, peach applesauce, mushroom risotto, spinach, and much more! 

Bonus #4 - After having a day where I really questioned my parenting skills - I've come up with a battle plan for fixing where I fell short.  With support from the right people we're going to reverse some poor decisions made by myself and others.  Just wait and see!  Parenting is not for the faint of heart!

Share your successes!

Late, But Finally Here

As promised...pictures from our San Antonio trip including Nathan's baptism, Grandpa Warren's birthday, Chris & Stephanie's engagement party and Thanksgiving....

Happy Birthday Great Grandpa!



The Future Mr. & Mrs. Garcia



Garcia Sisters



Newly Baptized Nathan!

Godparents

Godparents & Grandparents

 

Bathtime!



FAMILY PORTRAITS

and finally....

Hangin' Around Grandma's Kitchen



New Year - New Successes

The past year has brought tons of changes to our family.  We moved, we had another baby, we (almost) sold our house in NC.  It was rocky, but good.  BUT we're into a new year.  That brings with it a sense of hope and change.  More excitement and more changes.  So let's start the year off right with a list of this weeks successes and hope that the successes keep on comin' in the months ahead.

1.  We've found a renter for our house in NC.  No, it's not a buyer, but it will help us pay the bills and take some of the financial pressure off my hard-working husband.  Hopefully, in the next few weeks my successes will include a statement along the lines of "our renter moved in and we got our first rent check in the mail"

2.  The house has stayed in (relatively) clean condition since we got the holidays put away.  Yes, we're still looking for places to stash all the new toys, but we're staying on top of the big stuff.  What's the big stuff...well, right now it seems to be vacuuming up Cheerios that Nathan is dropping on the floor in his attempt to find his mouth and doing a thorough wipe down of the tables/counters after every meal since John has decided that he likes spices and sauces and tends to miss his plate when he dumps them out to taste them.

3.  I've gotten back in the kitchen this week and I love it.  We're eating at home more (better for our pocketbook and waistline) and really enjoying our cooking.  So far this week we've had tilapia and yellow rice, pork chops and roasted potatoes, Chinese coleslaw, homemade salad, sausage and fried cabbage and I found time to make homemade salty snack mix.  I really do enjoy cooking and I forget that when I get caught up in the day-to-day feeding of two tiny boys.  :)

So what are your successes? 

What are your goals for this year? 

Let us know over at Faith and Family Live!