Teachable Moments...

Today, I have come to the following realizations...

1. McDonalds for dinner on Wednesday nights (meeting day) may be even better than my CrockPot dinners (I can't believe I just wrote that down...)
2. I thoroughly enjoy, in a manner I cannot fully explain, thiefing the french fries from my daughters' Happy Meals and eating them on the sly.
3. We are in serious trouble; my children ate six chicken nuggets each tonight (yes, even Sophia (not even 18 months)), apples, and two servings of macaroni and cheese.
4. It is ALWAYS possible to take the high road/do the right thing/make a smart choice.  In today's technological age it may seem impossible, but walk away for five minutes or five hours.  The e-mail will still be there but your response will be well thought out, more articulate, and less offense (even if the person deserves every ounce of abrasive verbal diarrhea you can hurl their way).
5. I still have not sent out Christmas thank you cards...
6. Going to bed before 9:00 does not make you a bad person, but forcing yourself to stay awake actually may.
7. It's not always easy to stick to your guns and hold your ground, but it is ALWAYS rewarding.
8. I'm fortunate to have friends to text at 7 am like it's 2:00 in the afternoon.  
9. Life is fragile.
10. One encouraging text from my husband can change my entire mood for the duration of the day.
11. Coming home to a clean house is worth every penny.
12. I LOVE Pandora.
13. TLC is beginning to disappoint me on a weekly basis.
14. I am so over Michelle Obama's bangs, dress, and designer.  CNN is supposed to report NEWS!
15. My husband is convinced that my daughters and I have already aligned our "cycles"!  lmao  After the above mentioned eating spree and Sophia waking up at 4 in the morning asking for "milk", "snack", "eat" we determined it was a growth spurt...until he remembered we went through the same thing four weeks ago...I'm afraid there may be some truth to this.

That is all...

Four years and counting!

Four years ago tonight I was snuggled on the couch of my best friend/Maid of Honor.  We were watching 27 Dresses and laughing so hard it hurt.  I'm sure we were eating junk food and I'm almost positive at least one of us fell asleep.  And then, well after any respectable store was open, I realized I had forgotten to purchase a crucial element for my wedding day...I didn't have a garter!  How on earth did I forget to purchase a garter?!  We ran through every possible solution...Victoria's Secret on the way to Ocala in the morning, WalMart, Target...all of which seemed a little too risky...do they even carry those in the store?!  Maybe we could find a bridal store?  And then Regina had a ridiculously perfect idea...we had to go to porn store!  It was after midnight the night before my wedding and we headed to a porn store.  The first one was a little shady...we never got out of the car!  lol  (Aren't all porn stores a little shady?!)  So we headed across town to another one.  When we walked in the door we were told we had to lock our belongings in a locker...WHAT?!  Okay, we were desperate!  It took a little searching, but we found one...with a graphic, plastic ornament on it!  Use your imagination!  That came off in the car on the way home and came back to haunt Regina later!  lol  I can only imagine Angel's face!  :0)  We stopped for one last junk food push before the morning.  I vaguely remember telling Regina I was going to blame her if my dress didn't fit!  That Whaddaburger hit the spot; I slept like a rock until morning.  It was the day I had waited for my entire life.

I have never been happier, chaos and all.  And there is no other person I'd rather have by my side to hold my hand, make me laugh, wipe my tears, and make me a better person.  That day was the start of a new life; our life.  The family that was built around our love has surpassed any expectation I could have ever dreamed.  In this crazy world...

"All you need is love...love is all you need."

Photographs by Rob Witzel Photography

 "I didn’t always know it was your touch that I craved or your smile that brightened the day or your kiss that felt like home.  But when I found you I recognized these things from years worth of dreaming.  You finally crossed my path.  And despite my fears and initial apprehensions you waited, with your arms wide open for me to find solace and comfort in.  It was your embrace I had been seeking all along... 

You are all things important, reaching to all corners of my world.  You’ve made me happier and more content than I ever thought imaginable.  And although I may not always make it easy, I vow to spend every day of my life trying to do the same for you.  

Doubt thou the stars are fire.  Doubt that the sun doth move.  Doubt truth to be a liar.  But never doubt I love."

********

"I enter this union with you filled with more excitement and hope than I knew I could feel.

Our path will not always be easily navigated.  It will undoubtably present hardship and challenge, as every road does.  Through these I promise to you my unyielding pursuit of our family’s health and happiness.

I promise to be your best friend, and put your needs ahead of mine

I promise to be passionate, about our love and our life

I promise to be loyal, and a father deserving of the title

I promise to be strong, and a rock on which you can lean when times are tough

I promise to be spontaneous, and celebrate us, even when moments must be stolen, and dances danced in the kitchen while dinner is cooking on the stove

And I promise to do my best to inspire you the way you inspire me

From this moment on I know

exactly where my life will go

Seems all I really was doing

Was waiting for you...."

A few resolutions...kind of

I'm not really one for resolutions.  At least not the kind that you make on New Year's Eve and have forgotten about by February 1st.  I often find myself, at various times throughout the year, brainstorming how I can make my life better, easier, more organized or meaningful, or simply a bit more balanced.  I have been told, and have come to accept the fact, that I don't know how to be stationary.  I am a lot like my mom in this respect.  And my dad, for that matter.  Unfortunately, this can often manifest itself in doing more than I have to, need, to, or am supposed to.  This is not an awful characteristic at home, but it does tend to cause me to overextend myself at work, which consequently impacts my home life.  This is where my life is out of balance most often.  And this is the area of my life I most desperately want to change.  I want to see my relationship with my husband flourish daily, not simply succeed.  I want to look back on the years of my daughters' childhood and have fond memories of coloring at the table on a "school night", not brushing them off in order to fold laundry, wash dishes, grade papers, etc..

Throughout the years I've implemented different strategies to help balance out my life:

• I lay out the girls' clothes for the week on Sunday night
• I try to wash/dry a load of laundry at night and fold it in the morning before I go to work
• I wake up 30 minutes early during the week in order to do something small or meaningful around the house
• I've used Peapod grocery delivery service
• We hung new closet organization systems in our master closet
• I carefully took pictures of each grouping of toys and taped them in the bottoms of the organization bins to aid in clean up (for all parties involved)

You get the point.  I don't wait for the first of the year to start setting my life on a better path.  When I recognize an area of opportunity I try to work as quickly as possible to find a viable solution and put it into action.  However, this year, I do have a few...

1. Shall remain unannounced.  It is personal, intimate, and the most precious of my resolutions.  I believe that my relationship with Jason is the cornerstone of our family.  We are living in a happy, healthy relationship, but I never want to find ourselves stagnant.  I want to continue falling in love with him daily.  I want to make sure that we do not wake up 15 years from now stuck in the exact same place we are today.  It's not a bad place to be in four year into marriage (official in three days), but it's not where I want to be 20 years into marriage.  We can ALWAYS do better.
2. I want to plan my meals for the week in advance.  I want to prep as many dinners in advance as possible; Sunday will be busy, but that means Monday-Friday may possibly be relaxing.  During tonight's dinner cleanup, I took an extra 15 minutes and prepped tomorrow's dinner and got it ready in the crockpot; tomorrow's dinner is practically done.
3. I want to get back on the healthy eating wagon...don't get me wrong, we are a VERY healthy family.  There are a lot of fruits and vegetables, NO white grain, bread, or pasta, and plenty of lean protein. But we can do better. I want to incorporate as many "raw" foods as possible into our diet and I'm determined to make my own healthy alternatives to store-bought, processed items (see below for two wonderful recipes!)  If I plan the menu out in advance I can make sure we are keeping up a healthy variety of menu items.  Which leads me to...
4. I want to keep a calendar of meals for the year of 2013...just for my nerdy self.  Tonight's dinner was Rosemary and Garlic Chicken with Couscous and Broccoli, tomorrow's menu is Turkey Meatballs and spaghetti. 
5. I want to enroll Sophia in a Parent/Tot class at MyGym (or the equivalent).  I want her to have as many of the same experiences as her older sister.  Just because our lives are busier with two children, does not mean that she has to miss out.  
6. I want to take time for myself.  Maybe this is reading more.  Or sipping wine just because I want to.  Maybe it's grocery shopping alone or calling a babysitter so that I can get a pedicure.  But it's probably going to manifest itself in a ballet class.  Few things, aside from my family, offer me the opportunity to feel so completely at ease.  In any case, I am important, too.  And this year I intend to remind myself of this.
7. I want to plan my lessons better and execute them in a manner that allows me to feel successful but not overworked.  I vow to use all resources at my disposal, even if this means front-loading my instruction with my own purchases; I will make efficient and engaging choices.  I will remember that my students are 12, not 17, that sometimes they just need practice, not mastery, and that's okay.  I want to feel "okay" with simply checking off an assignment or assigning it a grade based on completion and work generated; I do not want to feel guilt or anxiety because of this choice.  My students are working harder than they ever have before.  They are in sixth grade.  Yes, sixth grade.  One step up from elementary school.  I want to remember this fact when I'm planning my lessons.  I want to challenge them with realistic goals and expectations.  They have great potential ahead of them, and these realistic goals and expectations will help them reach this potential.

In an effort to help fulfill resolution #6, I am going to leave my bag in the car tonight.  I am going to read a book that I'm intending to ask my principal to purchase for my students.  It is a highly engaging, fun read; not a classic, but it's topical and relevant and has the potential to reach every single one of my students (reaching resolution #7).  I am going to enjoy a cold Blue Moon and some leftover Garrett's popcorn (obviously, not even coming close to #3!)  I may even run a bath. And I'm going to remember my ultimate goal in life: a happy, healthy, and well-balanced family unit.  

Here's the recipe for granola (we eat it as cereal and over yogurt)

6 cups oatmeal (not quick cook)

1 cup each of sliced almonds, coconut, ground flax seed, and raisins or craisins (I probably add a bit more of these)

1 Tbs each of cinnamon, vanilla, and almond extract (I only use the almond extract if I'm adding cranberries)
Honey to coat, I'm guessing I use about 1-1 1/2 cups

Preheat oven to 250.

Mix all of the dry ingredients, except raisins/craisins, in a large bowl. 

Add the honey and mix until its fully coated. 

Spread in a thin layer on a cookie sheet (you may need two sheets) 

Cook for a total of 30-40 minutes, depending on how thin your layers are. You don't want it to toast too much. Stir twice during the cooking time. 

Allow granola to cool completely. Sprinkle the raisins/craisins on top. Transfer to an airtight container with a large spoon, so that the granola crumbles just a little bit

Here's the recipe for the granola bars:

The original: 

2 1/2 cups rolled oats

1/2 cup shredded coconut

1/2 cup pepitas (pumpkin seeds)

1/4 cup flax seeds

1/4 cup sesame seeds

1 cup whole almonds (or other nut)

1 teaspoon sea salt

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/4 cup honey

1/4 cup natural peanut butter

1/4 cup brown sugar

1 cup dried cranberries (or other dried fruit)

Mix the first 6 ingredients in a large bowl, spread on a parchment paper lined cookie sheet.  Toast in a 325 degree oven for 15 minutes.  After ten minutes, combine the remaining ingredients in a sauce pan over medium-low heat; melt.  Remove the oat mixture from the oven and combine in large bowl with the peanut butter/honey mixture until well mixed.  Line an 8 inch baking pan with parchment paper; spread mixture into pan, using the back of a spoon to flatten.  Bake for 30 minutes.  Remove and cool completely.  Using a very sharp knife cut into squares.  Store in an airtight 

container.  

 My adjustments:

I almost doubled the recipe.  Kind of.  I don't cook from a recipe often, so these are my best guesses at measurements.

I used about 5 cups of oatmeal (not quick cook), 1/2 cup- 1 cup of coconut, no pumpkin seeds, 1 cup GROUND flax seed, no sesame seeds, 1 1/2 cups sliced almonds (but I crumbled them, too; I didn't want a choking hazard for Sophia!), and about 1/2 cup of chopped peanuts.  I omitted the things I did simply because I didn't have them in my pantry!  lol  I mixed all of these together and toasted them in a 300 degree oven for about 15 minutes. 

For the wet mixture I used 1/4 teaspoon of salt, probably 1 1/2 teaspoons of cinnamon and vanilla, about 3/4 cup of honey, 1 cup of PB and 1/4 cup of brown sugar.  I used raisins instead of cranberries because I like raisins and peanut butter.  Be careful when you melt this.  Make sure there's enough to completely cover the oatmeal mixture when you combine them.  If not, add a little more honey.  This recipe fit on a cookie sheet, not in an 8 x 8 brownie pan.  I baked it for probably 20-30 minutes.  Just keep an eye on it.  Make sure it's completely cool before you try to cut it (this is the hardest part because the house will smell delicious!)  I'd say use the crumbles that are left over after cutting for yogurt or ice cream, but if your house is anything like mine, there won't be any left!  Bella and Jason were circling like vultures and Sophia was trying to climb my leg!

Next time I think I'll try substituting almond butter for the PB, including sunflower seeds and cranberries. Just an idea...

Enjoy!!!  Jason said the girls ate a ton this morning for breakfast!  And every time she has some Bella says, "Mommy, this is very, very good.  Thank you for making this."  Music to my ears!

Winter Break? Where's the break?!

One of the perks of being a teacher is knowing that I will have two weeks in the middle of the school year that can be used to regroup, plan, spend time with my family, vacation, sit around in my pjs...you name it!  This year has been a bit different.  Starting with the week leading up to Winter Break our family has been hit with a series of comedic errors.  Some avoidable, many not.  Although I am grateful for many of the blessings we've experienced this holiday season, right now my body, mind, and spirit are tired.  Really tired.  I've contemplated taking an additional day off from work on Monday simply to have a day to rest.  I know, deep down, that I will not do this, but it's tempting.  Very tempting.

• Bella got sick the week before Winter Break.  My initial thought was better now than over break, I had no idea this would be the catalyst in our "vacation".  Jason was out of town for part of the week and worked from home part of the week.  We managed to keep it together and get her healthy.  It took a whole week, Friday to Friday, but she got better.
• Because of her illness it took her almost three weeks to sleep through the night again.  (I think it actually has a lot to do with the pajamas she wears...this child is a bit OCD!)
• Jason found out, contrary to previous guidance, he was not supposed to take vacation the week of Christmas.  
• I baked treats for all of Jason's Chicagoland restaurants.  We delivered them as a family to all five of them.
• Sophia is cutting her i-teeth; on the plus side this is the first indication of any teething concerns, and she already has at least 14 other teeth...VERY different than Bella's teething experience.
• I found out the day after Christmas that my dad was going to be having surgery the following Saturday.  My parents knew about this for almost a month but decided not to tell anyone until after Christmas.  Although I appreciate their desire not to impact our holidays, I know it took a toll on them.  My mom, in particular, had to deal with this news alone, while being strong for my dad.  My mom is my rock, always has been.  I only wish that in this situation I could have returned the favor.  She shouldn't have to cry alone or hold her fears inside.  I would have booked a flight to be there by her side.  This was important and I wasn't there.  
• Although the surgery itself seems to have gone well, we still await results from lab tests, and my dad is still in the hospital suffering migraines that do not seem to be related to the surgery.  My mom has been by his side from the time she wakes up until she heads home to sleep.  My exhaustion must be nothing compared to hers.  
• We installed a new closet organization system.  I LOVE it.  After painting, installing, and several trips to Home Depot, it's almost completed.

• We put up Sophia's big girl bed!
• I converted the crib into an art desk (pictures on previous blog).
• We celebrated "Christmas" with my Chicago family.  I made homemade granola for my family.

• Jason got bronchitis.
• Our dryer stopped working; this resulted in a mass washing, drying, and folding expedition at a local laundromat, which I was happy to pay someone else to do!
• They couldn't schedule a repair for this until almost a week later (and he's running late)!
• Jason's sisters and our nieces came to visit over New Years!  My only regret is that Jason wasn't feeling his best.  I wish we had been able to have the visit that we had talked about instead of one that was a little more laid back.  Although we did make it to the Chicago Children's museum and Sky High Sports (which was a lot of fun)

• I tumbled into the foam pit at Sky High Sports and I STILL have a headache!  (it's been almost three days!)

• It was wonderful to watch Bella, Emily, and Madison play together like they had just seen each other last week.  They all got along together wonderfully and Sophia even had a great time until...

• Sophia got sick...upper respiratory infection, a complication from the flu.

• I have Lysol and bleach stuck up my nose.
• There are mounds of dirty, "sick" laundry all over the house because I can't effectively put them through the washing process!
• I haven't graded a single paper or planned a single lesson...I have no idea what I'm going to be doing when I walk in the door on Monday.  I planned to send both girls to school today and tomorrow so that I can actually do that, but...
• Sophia was too miserable to send to school today, so I'm not sending her tomorrow either (I refuse to pay an entire week of tuition for one day!)
• Sophia was crying out in her sleep, assuming from body aches or teething pain, so at 1:00 this morning Jason and I came downstairs to get her some medicine, only to be greeted by a puddle of water on the kitchen floor...
• The toilet in our bathroom was leaking from the pipe and leaked into the kitchen.  Thank goodness she woke us up, it would have been disastrous had it been another 6 hours!  We shut the water off and cleaned up.  Then we decided to have a cup of hot apple cider and talk on the couch for an hour.  It was an unexpected, but wonderful escape.  We laughed about the leak because there wasn't much else we could do.

So now, instead of grading and planning, I'm waiting for a plumber and a dryer repairman and cleaning my house.  All of which needed to get done.  Sophia is sleeping, there are linens in the washing machine (because they are the only thing I can easily hang up to dry), and several K-cups of coffee waiting to be made.  Today I will vacuum, mop, wash dishes, and try a new recipe for granola bars that my sister-in-law gave me.  I might even begin taking down the Christmas decorations.  And I will definitely be contacting our baby sitter to see if she can help me escape for a few hours tomorrow.  It's just a day in the life.  An exhausting day in the life.  But it's my life and it's great.  Winter Break has brought no such break in the chaos, but that's okay.  I've always said I work because it offers a break from home and children, I guess no truer words have ever been said!