Everyone Pitches In

Making most of our meals from scratch is work. When I was employed and out of the house for 9 plus hours a day five days a week it was really, really hard to make a majority of our meals from scratch. I did the best I could but running in the local grocery store and grabbing a hot roasted chicken and microwavable mashed potatoes was so easy. Ordering pizza on a Friday night just seemed like a nice end to the tough work week. Now that I’m home we still have pizza once a week but we stepped up to gourmet pizza. Homemade, thick, cheese-stuffed crust with veggies and bacon or burger.  Our homemade pizza is better than any purchased pizza we have ever had. The cost difference is huge. The crust cost only cents to make, .54cents to be exact. Making the crust seemed daunting at first but we figured out how to use our stand mixer or our bread maker to combine the ingredients without the mess.

The sauce, cheese (we buy brick cheese and grate it ourselves) and toppings average $7.00. $8.00 for an extra large, extra cheese, meat and veggie topped, stuffed crust, 12 slice gourmet pizza. Yummm!

Now that I am a stay at home-school at home Mom I do not have any excuse to not feed my family healthy, homemade, and low-cost meals. The difference is that now everyone pitches in. The boys and I are home all day and we can have the dinner prep completed before lunch. All the chopping, peeling, and measuring is completed and ready for the oven. Meal prep is a great opportunity to spend quality time with your family. Math, problem solving, planning and motor skills are just some of the skills that can be developed during this time. The boys are willing participants and I overlook many calamities to keep the mood light and cheerful. We have found that including the boys in the meal preparation they are more agreeable to trying new foods and in eating meals that look nothing like their boxed competitors. My husband is “famous” for his homemade macaroni and cheese. Our oldest child (soon to be 22) still request this meal when she is home. The recipe is baked and uses white sharp cheddar cheese so it looks nothing like the blue box that most kids would eat 3 times a day if they could. When macaroni and cheese is on the menu the boys argue over who will grate the cheese which is usually all grated by noon.

My husband works 40-60 hours a week and still pitches in. On his day off he will cook the main meal or help the boys and I. When we first met I assumed I would always do all of the cooking. I am the wife is that not my job? I have discovered that cooking is no ones job and its every ones job. Confused? Everyone regardless of gender needs to know how to cook. Everyone has different tastes and ideas. When everyone is a part of the process then generally everyone ends up happy. Happy = Good and everyone benefits from that.

Change

Warm weather is so energizing. More so to children I think. Yesterday was spent pretty much like the day before...outside. My kids love it. Sure they love the first snow and playing in freshly fallen leaves but the love of warm air and sunshine never seems to fade like the formentioned. The only downside I can think of is I realize now we are back to a bath everyday for the boys! No, I do not bathe my offspring everyday all year round. I did that with Britt and Shane and I am quite sure that constant bathing has something to do with their fear of dirt! We bathe the boys ...they are quite independent...we tell them it is bath time and they do the rest (except Luke needs help washing his hair) every other day or even every 2 days and yes...there has been the occasional span of time when Ben and I look at each other scratching our heads as we try to remember when they had a bath last. And of course when they were dirty they got a bath.....or a good wash cloth scrub down at the very least. But somewhere in the past 6 years bath time became a chore for me. I try to keep positive...my boys still think baths are a treat and a reward for good behavior. But deep inside I dread bath time and will pass it off on anyone who is willing! Ben is great, we usually share the task he takes one night and I do the next. We (parents) need something to make bath time fun for us. There is tons of stuff for the kids but what about us? What is out there that for the bathers of the bath that I don't know about? My friend Chrissy at http://stayathomechristianmom.blogspot.com has some great bath time tipsfor little people.

Mom on Duty 24/7 plus overtime

Fun at Camp
Originally uploaded by nhfamilytimes.

MOM ON DUTY...that is my sign. Glowing 24/7 like a neon diner light on route 66. How come there is not a sign that reads MOM OFF DUTY....? BECAUSE we are NEVER OFF DUTY!!!!It's the hard truth. Even when Dad is home...even when we are at camp and everyone is miles away on the snowmobiles...Moms are still on duty. When our kids are with us we take charge..it's automatic. When are kids are not with us we worry....also automatic. There is no off duty switch. So let me share my weekend being on what I'd call overtime. We all went to camp this weekend. We made the 3 hour trek up north with Britt, Scoot(boyfriend), Will, Luke, Mali, Ben and I all in the same vehicle, packed in so tight it was difficult to make an accurate head count. The snow mobiles in tow we headed up the highway taking in the scenery (mostly brown grass and patches of mud). We got plenty of odd looks...you know.."where are those fools going to snowmobile?" or "It's a long way to Alaska, and your going in the wrong direction!" . Well when we got to camp guess what! There WAS snow! I was skeptical. We could not trail ride but the 50 acres around camp was scattered with snow, enough to ride. An the weather, what a bonus! 50+ degrees. It was sunny and clear, just beautiful for riding! So we enjoyed a weekend of snowmobiling, good old fashioned sledding (we did ride the snowmobiles back up the long hill) lots of napping and eating. The overtimes comes into the picture now.....when we are at camp everyone stays up late and gets up early. I know...doesn't make sense does it? The other thing is that the first night at camp no one gets hardly any sleep. Understand now why there is so much napping(only by the big people nap...little people are too excited to nap) So instead of 10 or so hours of sleep for the kids it gets reduced to about 6. This makes little people cranky. Which in turn makes big people cranky. So Mom gets cranky.....and hence...overtime, working extra hard extra long hours. We are working on this, we got home unpacked, gave the boys PB & J for supper a good bath and it is 7:32pm and they are off to bed! Still I can smile when I reflect on this past weekend...and we all came home in one piece...Despite Will's driving lessons on
the snowmobile. He hasn't quite got the hang of how hard to squeeze, or not to squeeze-the accelerator. Despite... Ben's cooking (just kidding) Despite Luke's constant inclination to leave the porch when no one is outside with him. Despite Brittni's thoughts on how to handle spiders, chamber flies, porcupines and other camp critters.

Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow!

327 Snow 002
Originally uploaded by nhfamilytimes.

We are really getting pelted with snow. Poor Britt traveled 20 miles to class this morning only to find out it was cancelled. That is tough for an 18 year-old at 7:30 in the morning. For us old-timers it would be just another day in paradise. Ben left out of here before 4:00am to plow. And from the looks of things we may not see him again until tomorrow. On days like this I usually get engulfed in a project of some sort. My Blog does not qualify...so I am going to wander aimlessly until something strikes me...the basement..hmmm..maybe. I'll let you know. Also, note to self: tell about conversation with my friend who recently lost her Father.