Under construction: Mealtime

Now that Justin is home in the evenings (thank the Lord in Heaven above volleyball season is over), I've found that I really do enjoy cooking dinner for my family.  It took a few weeks, but we really have our evening rhythm down now and I can already tell Jackson is catching on.  I love that once we finish dinner he starts getting excited about bathtime - which is followed by pjs, teeth brushing, toy clean-up and books.  He's doing so much better transitioning from one activity to the next now that he has a very predictable rhythm to follow.  Ah, relief.  (Mornings are coming together great too!)

So, with our evenings settling down some, I have been trying to work on improving our dinner selections.  During volleyball season, I was just trying to get something (anything) pulled together and on the table.  We ate way too much Chick-fil-a, Hamburger Helper, and Kraft Mac & Cheese.  Before having kids I never expected to feed my children a considerable amount of prepackaged and highly processed foods.  I always thought that I would bake and cook almost everything we ate from scratch.  But then reality of having two young kids set in and I felt like no matter what I did, I was behind before things even began.  Thankfully, with Justin home I feel like I'm FINALLY catching up!  I'm working on planning and cooking much more wholesome foods.  I'm not big on organic foods, but I do want my family eating as many "whole" foods as possible.  I'm trying to get our foods from as close to the source as possible.  If you know of a good, local milk/egg source, please let me know!  I think part of the fun in that would be for the kids to see where their milk and eggs come from.  I'm trying to cut WAY back on our salt and sugar consumption.  I don't want my children to develop a taste for only white breads and high sugar/salt/fat foods.  My next step is to start baking our own bread!  I've always been terrible with bread baking, but I'm hoping I can get better with the right recipes. 

It feels so good to be back on the right track, but I know it's going to take some time for our taste buds to adjust back to a more healthy diet.  Tonight I made beef stew with low-sodium vegetable broth - wow, what a difference the lack of salt makes.  I think Justin might have the hardest time with the changes, but I'm hoping that he and I can set a great example for the kids. 

With the changes comes the need for new recipes!  If you have any websites or cookbooks that you recommend, please let me know!  I still need recipes to be fairly quick, but I do have a little more time now than previously.

Completely unrelated, but here are a few pictures from Thanksgiving! We celebrated in Blacksburg with both of our families. I LOVE having all the grandparents (and a few great-grandparents and aunts/uncles) together for the children. My "German sister" was in town when we first arrived and she was finally able to meet Justin and the kids. It's been about 5 years since we last saw each other since her family relocated to Maine. It was so good to see them all and I hope we see each other again for much longer soon. Summerlin was able to meet her great-grandmother for the first time too! It was a great long weekend - we are incredibly blessed to both come from such wonderful families!

Baby girl faces forward now in the car!  She's 32" and 23 lbs...too tall for the baby seat (the weight goes up to 32lbs)!

 Such a happy girl.  She was all smiles for the camera.

 Family jam session.  Justin's cousin on the guitar and brother on the banjo.

 Banjo man.

 Hello beautiful!

 My handsome little man concentrating on something.

Santa's elves are busy!

This is the kitchen I wanted for Summerlin for Christmas.

 But, as most everyone knows, teachers salaries are not large.  So we oftentimes have to be resourceful and creative.

This is the kitchen we got (for free) from a kindergarten classroom that no longer has time for free play.  (Totally different topic, but one that makes me so sad/angry and I'm sure I'll blog about it later.)

So, Santa's elves have their work cut out for them.  I have a bunch of ideas of how to spruce up the kitchen set.  Today we took off all the doors and started sanding.  I can't wait to post pictures of the final product!

More Thankfuls

Well, today is the 21st and I've only posted 7 things I'm thankful for so far....so here are 14 more.  Some serious.  Some not.

8.  Coffee.  Said it once, saying it again.  I can't live without it.  Lots of it.

9.  Healthy, growing children.  I may go broke keeping them clothed, but I am so thankful that my children are overall healthy and growing like little weeds.

10.  My mini-van.  I never thought I'd like driving one, but it does make like a lot easier.

11.  Being able to stay at home with my kids.  I know not everyone can, but I am forever grateful for a husband that equally values our children and their development over money. 

12.  Getting into grad school.  I'm scared about going back.  I'm not looking forward to being away from my family two evenings a week.  But I'm thankful for the opportunity to start working towards a longtime goal of mine.  (For the record, I still don't really want to go back to work.  I just like school.  And yes, I want my PhD just for the sake of earning it.  I am crazy.)

13.  Such a loving, supportive in-laws.  I love Hubby's parents.  His mom is so helpful with the kids and his dad is the best at getting Hubby motivated to start and finish home projects.  I've never met a more inclusive family and I couldn't be happier to be a part of it!  Plus they are a lot of fun! 

14.  Our house.  It's not new.  It's not fancy.  It's perfect.  It's overflowing with warmth and love.  I like that it's a little on the cozy side.  Sure, I'd love a kitchen (and bath) four times the size of ours that includes a dishwasher, but I wouldn't trade this house for anything right now.  I bought it four years ago when I was a single woman.  I was glad for the extra space - thinking eventually I'd fill it with a family.  Well, that happened much quicker than I ever expected.  I'm so thankful for our huge back yard.  Our three bedrooms.  That we own it and don't have to rent.  The AMAZING deck my hubby built.  The actual laundry room/kitchen extension my hubby also built (It originally had a concrete floor and cardboard walls.  Literally, they were pieces of cardboard instead of drywall.)  But I know that most of the reason why I love this house is because this is where my family started.  This is the first house Hubby and I owned.  It's the house our kids came home from the hospital to.  It's where we're raising our family.  I've never lived in one house more than four years and I know we'll still be here for several more years.  I'm going to be pretty emotional when we leave it...even if it is for our dream "forever" home.

15.  Red wine.  I'm enjoying a glass right now.  It's been a busy, long, wonderful day.  Red wine is a yummy way to relax.

16.  My girlfriends Kendall and Elizabeth.  Kendall and I have been BFF since 10th grade - and now we're raising our boys (that are only 5 weeks apart) in the same town.  It's wonderful.  Elizabeth and I were college roommates all four years and now we too are raising our kids together.  Both of these wonderful women have stood by me through thick and thin.  I know I've been a terrible friend at times, but they still love me (who knows why).  I am eternally grateful to them.

17.  Hubby.  If I was thankful for coffee twice, I get to be thankful for Hubby twice.  I couldn't ask for a better father to my children.  Baby Girl is the BIGGEST Daddy's girl ever - in fact he even had a little chat with her yesterday about not abusing it.  Funniest thing ever.  Little Man looks up to his Daddy so much.  You can just tell he is his hero right now.  I wouldn't want it any other way.  He's the best and he's mine.  :)

18.  Running.  Running comes pretty naturally to me.  It's the best release.  I love the feeling of running.  I love being able to get such a simple form of exercise - just me, my shoes, and the open road.

19.  Debt free living.  If you consider a mortgage debt, then this isn't true.  But I am so thankful we are able to pay every credit card bill in full, we have zero car/school/etc loans, and we have been able to stay this way even with me staying at home.  I don't think we could make it on a teacher's salary any other way.

20.  Our health.  Hubby and I are in shape and healthy.  I was able to conceive and give birth to two healthy babies. 

21.  Date nights at home.  Hubby and I try to have dinner just to two of us about once a week.  We feed the kids and get them to bed early.  I love the time for just the two of us, without having to dress up and pay for a baby-sitter.  Plus Hubby is the grill master.  No restaurant even comes close to some of his creations.  I'm a lucky woman.  :)