Chore Charts

I've recently implemented a chore chart in our household to try to keep the kids accountable, and also bring some order to the chaos.  It seems lots of people have interest in chore charts so here's mine :)

Note - all the clipart was randomly found on the Internet or part of my excel program.  Please use for personal use only.

I was attempting to upload the excel version of the file so you could use it as a template... but I can't seem to. So if you need it, leave me a comment with your email address (I suggest using a phonetic version of your email to avoid spam like "susie at yahoo dot com") and I can find a way to email to you. :)

Here's an attempt to paste the table, in a format you can hopefully copy!

https://docs.google.com/open?id=0B8rZrAJUjsvVSUc2YmNiOWZlUVU

Hamburger Tater Tot Casserole

I'm sorry I've been missing in action lately.  Life got away from me and I did take a wonderful trip with my husband as well :)

I'm seeking comfort lately, and this week I'm not worried about carbs or calories :).  So here's another old standby recipe.  In my opinion, this SHOULD work better than it does for getting kids to eat veggies. My mother never mixed my veggies with cheese and hamburger or there would have been way fewer dinner time battles! :)  Instead I was forced to eat things like beef stroganoff (WITH mushrooms) and the like.  Apparently I'm just too nice of a mom in terms of my cooking. So my kids don't appreciate really yummy recipes like this.  There's a lesson there I guess.  Unfortunately my middle son won't eat this because he doesn't like tater tots (or veggies LOL).  The younger son will usually eat most of it and my oldest daughter, husband and I clear our plates and get seconds.  YUM.

Hamburger Tater Tot Casserole

2lbs ground beef
onion powder, garlic powder to taste (~ 1tsp)
salt & pepper to taste
2 cans of Campbells Cheddar cheese soup
a bag of frozen mixed vegetables
a bag of frozen tater tots

Brown the hamburger and season with onion powder, garlic powder, salt and pepper to taste.  You may also add chopped onion if you wish - we aren't big onion people so we don't add it.  Drain the excess fat.  Spray a 9 x 13 casserole dish with non stick spray.  Layer hamburger, veggies, and soup and stir lightly together to combine.  Bake at 350 for 15 minutes. Top with tater tots and bake at 350 for additional 45 minutes or everything is melted / bubbly and the tater tots look lightly browned.   I like to make this recipe a few hours ahead and keep in the fridge until it's time to bake for dinner. It will usually cook in 45 minutes or less coming from the fridge instead of the freezer.  Leftovers are equally satisfying :)

Hope, life, love and sweet baby cuteness

I went with my girls to visit my sister and her family this past weekend.  My sister was 38 weeks pregnant and my young neice is just under 2 years old.  Add in me and my two girls and you have a recipe for chaos :).  Fortunately the weekend moved smoothly. I was impressed with how well my neice and baby daughter got along.  They are only 1 year apart but I guess I expected a bigger gap in their interests and abilities.  It was so fun and exciting to see them fascinated with each other.  I took them for a walk in the 'new to them' double stroller and my neice was patting the baby's head and telling her, It's ok baby.  Adorable.  My older daughter was patient and fun for the two younger girls.  I had special time with each. Happy mommy / aunt weekend.  My older daughter even told me it was fun - score!

My sister is wonderful.  Caring, loving, smart, a great companion and my oldest and best friend.  Yet any woman at 9 months pregnant, is bound to be slightly cranky, haha.  We did not fight or get upset but I'm sure we each had our moments.  Nevertheless, I left for the airport on Monday wishing we lived closer and could spend more time together.  I especially wished that our children could play more regularly as I remember my cousins and I did.

Monday afternoon brought news that my sister's blood pressure was too high and she was to be induced the following morning.  The next 12 hours were fraught with anxiety, information gathering, and yes, prayer.  Thankfully the labor was relatively uneventful and baby nephew arrived safely.  He is absolutely adorable; tiny and perfect.

As I gaze at his picture, I am reminded of the hope, joy and love that such new life brings.  Tiny babies are a blessing and a wake up call rolled up into one.  This tiny person will learn everything from scratch.  We (the community or the parents) are influencing how he views the world.  As parents, this concept is not new.  We know we have tremendous responsibility and influence to the little people.  And we bemoan the fact that we no longer have such influence during those wonderful teenage years.  And of course we worry at least a little about how our actions will appear to the therapist some day!

Yet my message today is for the community.  Teachers, coaches, neighbors, family, friends, grocery store clerk, photographer, bus driver, policeman, fireman, professional athlete, nurse, doctor, dentist, stranger on the street, stranger waiting behind us in a long line, stranger on the airplane... you have influence too!  This tiny boy (and all the kids really) are watching you.  They see how you say please or thank you (or how you don't). They hear your tone and learn to read your body language.  They see how we interact with each other and with them.   They are looking to us to learn what's right and what's wrong; what's good and what's bad; what's success and what's failure.

So I respectfully ask you to use this influence for the benefit of the child and the world.  Treat others as you would like to be treated.  Smile at that small baby on the plane, even if you may be having a less relaxing flight than you hoped.  Give a word of encouragement to that mother or father dealing with a temper tantrum.  Or at least walk away before criticizing their choices.  Be polite to people as much as you can.  Use decent language, or at least bad language quietly ;).  Remember who's watching and learning so often, even when you aren't aware.   

I for one, would like to leave our children in a better place than I had.  I want them to be BETTER than me.  Common decency and respect for each other is something we do have to practice, in order to teach.  This generation is growing up in a vastly different world than we did.  But they are our hope and our future.  They may grow to be the next president, CEO, church pastor, healer, scientist, bus driver.  We need them to care about the world, themselves and each other. 

"I believe the children are our future
Teach them well and let them lead the way
Show them all the beauty they possess inside
Give them a sense of pride to make it easier
Let the children's laughter remind us how we used to be."
Whitney Houston, The Greatest Love of All lyrics

Dijon Chicken - another low carb meal idea

Another low carb dinner - suitable for induction period of Atkins or the first two weeks of South Beach or anytime you want to reduce carbohydrates!

Dijon Chicken
One of my personal favorites and super simple and rather fast.

4 Chicken breasts, cut in half lengthwise and opened up to cook quickly
8 slices of Canadian bacon or ham
4 slices of the cheese of your choice (I like Swiss best but my kids eat American better. It works w/ cheddar too!)

Dijon butter sauce
3/4 cup of light (or regular) butter
1-2 tbsp of dijon mustard (to taste - I use 2 because I like it stronger)

Spray a broiler pan with cooking spray.  Salt and pepper your chicken lightly and put on the broiler pan under the broiler for approximately 5-7 minutes on each side or until cooked through.

While the chicken is cooking, melt butter in a small saucepan.  Once butter is completely melted, mix in the dijon mustard to taste.

When the chicken looks like it's cooked through, add the two slices of canadian bacon or ham and top with a slice of cheese.  Broil for an additional 1-2 minutes or until cheese is melted.  Remove from heat.

Serve with dijon butter sauce! Yum.  Approximately 3 net carbs per serving.  Serve with other low carb veggies such as cauliflower, some asparagus, a little broccoli or as much salad (lettuce and cucumbers and celery) as you like. Watch your dressings! Some dressings with low carbs are caesar, oil and vinegar, blue cheese and certain brands of ranch.

Blue Cheese Steak Butter - part of my Spring Low Carb Journey

I'm beginning another low carb journey, specifically attempting to follow an Atkins Induction / South Beach Phase 1 type diet for the next two weeks followed by healthy lower carb lifestyle thereafter.  Specifically I'm going to try to avoid all baked good for the next 6 weeks.  I need to lose about 15lbs immediately since my clothes are all tight and I'm going on vacation in 6 weeks! Ideally I'd like to drop more like 25lbs by year end. We'll see how it goes!  This is mostly baby weight, but I've been somewhat lazy what with the holidays and Girl Scout cookie season...

On that note, I will likely be posting low carb recipes over the next few weeks. Sorry to the carb lovers out there. I'm sad too! But truly it has to be done ;)

First I'm so excited about this recipe. I hope and expect it will be yummy!
Blue Cheese Steak Butter
1/2 lb blue cheese, crumbled
3/4 cup butter, softened
2 garlic gloves, crushed
1 tbsp spicy brown mustard
a dash of tabasco

Combine in a food processor until smooth.  Serve warm over steak.

What's perfect anyway?

I'm having one of those weeks where I question the expectations I have set for myself and the expectations others have for me.  I'm wondering why can't I seem to do it all? Why is something always lacking? Why do I need to sleep anyway??

I admit that I sometimes enjoy a historical romance novel.  Its pleasant, its normally easy on the emotions and its going to have a happy ending.   I admit that I enjoy losing myself in the somewhat trivial entertainment of a love story fraught with dilemmas of love or circumstances or intrigue.  At the end of the novels, I frequently spend a few moments thinking how wonderful their lives must have been.  How wonderful to just be responsible for a home and my children. How wonderful to have a husband home most of the time and servants to help.  How wonderful to have all that time for passion and tea and cakes.

I then wonder why I have no time for tea and cake? Why do I have little energy for passion? Why do I not go visiting and have time to read in a nook in the library? Then again, why don't I have a LIBRARY? :)

The simple answer is real life.  I have children who need time and attention. I have a house that constantly needs straightening or sweeping or such. I have a job that requires my time. I have volunteer activities that require time and energy.  I have a family to feed, and they want to eat 3 meals and 2+ snacks a day!

Since I am lucky, I have family members to help me clean and care for my children while I am at work.  I don't know how I would truly tackle that mountain of laundry without them there to do some during the week!  Then again, having my kids in my home all the time makes a bit more dirtiness than if they went somewhere... But I recognize the good fortune to have the extra help.

I view life as a big juggling act.  I spend my days juggling work, kids, husband, home, etc and trying to keep all of my "balls" of responsibility in the air.   As with all juggling, sometimes things fall down.  Sometimes certain items are up highest and other items are near the ground. The juggling act requires total concentration and focus.  How am I going to fit everything into my day? When can I mail this? Who will get the dry cleaning / child / groceries / dogs?  What's for dinner?  What homework do the kids need to do? What's for lunch tomorrow? When or how will I do this work project or that one?  On and on it goes.

I'd like to tell you that I have this all figured out.  Unfortunately I'm still on my journey of self discovery and organization!  So feel free to leave me your tips in the comments.  The best I can tell you is I'm not perfect.  I do my best and that's good enough.  Prioritization is key.  What HAS to be done? What can wait?

My other piece of advice is to prioritize time for relaxing and enjoying life.  Its not easy!  But we need to dedicate some time each day to turning your brain off and being in the moment.  We work to LIVE. We don't LIVE TO WORK.  We have children and partners and friends to enrich our lives, and make the overall experience a better, happier one.  If we're constantly cleaning (like we probably would HAVE to be in order to be "perfect") then we're missing out on the good stuff.  We're missing out on playing that game of Candyland or reading that story. We're missing out on laughing with our partner at a movie or show.  We're missing out on good books and cuddles and the like.  It's not worth it.  After all, wasn't it Jesus who told Martha not to chastise her "lazy" sister Mary, as she was spending time hearing his message while Martha was cooking?  Of course someone has to cook or it won't get done! But that's a whole other post for another day.

For me, perfection isn't the goal.  Decent is the goal, with very occasional perfect moments in there.  Once a year for happy kids and husband, clean and organized house, stocked pantry and a beautiful put together me will have to do.  Because the other 364 (or this year 365) days I'm going to be enjoying the moment.  Cleaning what needs to be cleaned, organized what needs to be organized to keep me sane.  And spending the extra moments with my kids and my husband, my parents and my friends and trying to get all I can out of life.

I can learn tricks and time-saving tips and I can improve and grow.  I can find systems that work to get my house reasonable and my life organized.  I can do what I can until 9pm and then commit to sitting down and relaxing for the rest of the evening.  Let's face it, that laundry or bathroom or kitchen sink is going to be there tomorrow and most of the rest of our lives!  But our kids are only little once. And every day we and they are getting older.  Every day is a day we don't get back!  I won't waste it.  I will do what has to be done and I will find that good enough.

Being 3 years old is tough

The treacherous threes. The terrifying threes. The TANTRUM threes. Call it what you will, the 3rd year of life can be tricky and tiring for a parent.  My younger son is in this stage now.  He's having mood swings like a teenager.  He's throwing tantrums like a 2 year old.  And, he's trying out all kinds of new ways to deliberately cause trouble.  Like peeing on the floor when he's mad.  Crying and whining when he doesn't get his way. Defiantly doing that thing anyway because he's "big" and he can.

I'd love to tell you that I have a degree in child psychology and I know exactly what's going through my son's head during these times.  But sadly, I do not.  I'm just a mom who has been through this 2 other times, is in the middle of it now, has one more to go and mostly pays attention.  So I can tell you with certainty that this too shall pass.

Right now, the three year old is testing the limits.  Seeing how much he or she can play the cute factor to get you to cave on what they want.  They are testing to see what kind of behavior is effective in getting what they want.  They are continuing to discover that they HAVE wants or needs of their own and that they can speak up and assert themselves.  They are finding their own small power and independence in a frustrating world where they have Mom or Dad choosing clothing, meals, bath times, bed times, preschool, toys etc.  They are battling their own tendency to want to be babied and special while still being independent.  They are finding that adults have stronger expectations of their behavior and new rules and new punishments for not following the rules.  All in all, it's a tough year for the three year old too.

The three year old will eventually have a better understanding of how the world (and rules!) work.  If you've persisted in being a parent, the three year old will also have learned that actions have consequences.  That they do have control over their own lives to some extent (you can choose to eat this dinner, or you can eat nothing... you can get dressed by yourself or mommy will dress you... do you want cereal or toast for breakfast?).  The options aren't always acceptable or what that three year old is hoping to get.  But they do have options and sometimes a parent is successful in spinning things so that both parties are happy or satisfied.  Then again there will be times when the three year old tantrums threaten to drive you to drink... and so you distract the children with something fool proof like play dough, a yummy snack, or even the old reliable television.  You give yourself a mommy or daddy time out and hide in the bathroom / garage / your bedroom for a  few minutes... sometimes with screams into pillows. And sometimes with tears.  And sometimes with absolutely no idea of how you are going to get through this.

There is hope, Parents!  Use your mommy or daddy time out to take a few deep breaths (or whatever else works to let out your frustration).  Perhaps count to 10 in your head.  Perhaps count to 1000.  And then head back out into the fray.  Do your best to be calm and collected.  Do your very best to stay firm as much as you can.  Give your child some straight forward choices and allow them some empowerment so that they can save face! Even children like to save face sometimes :)   But if they are NOT having a donut for dinner, then they cannot have the donut, period.  They have to eat their dinner come crying, screaming, kicking, throwing, stomping, slamming, sudden sweet cute faces or even high water.  But watch out for high water - I've had my kitchen flooded before and it's not pretty.  Of course, it's a good excuse to have "Kids Mop the Kitchen" day...

And on those really bad days? Remind yourself that this is good practice for when you have teenagers.  Only I'm convinced that will be worse! But there is hope for some calm and peaceful moments in between. :)  And there's copious amounts of alcohol too.