The Lumberjack's Wife

Feeding Kids.

My kids always eat everything I give them and they love it and they love me and they sing my praises at each meal and beg for more and lick their plates clean and no one complains and everyone speaks nicely and uses their manners and they inform me of my awesomeness constantly and they always use their napkins and sit on their bottoms and clear their plates and sweep the kitchen floor.

Kind of.

Ok, so not at all.  But, I cook what I cook and they have to eat it.   I have four kids and I don’t have time to worry about what each person loves and does not love.  There are some minor exceptions.  For example, Daisy Mae hates meat in the ball form.

Why?

We cannot be certain.  She is my biggest meat eater out of all the kids, but you show her a meatball and it gives her, and I quote, “A head-ick.”

That would be “daisy-mae” for headache.

And the bigger the meatball, the bigger the head-ick.

So I don’t mind if she leaves out the meatballs.

Little Dude loves peas.  He cannot get enough of them.  And his diapers are evidence of that, if you know what I am talking about.  And if you don’t know what I am talking about . . . lucky you!

But Little Dude despises green beans.

And Sweet Pea can’t stop eating green beans.

So, there you have it.  There’s no pleasing my fickle bunch.

But here are some things that are usually pretty big hits with the kids:

Smaller sized fruits:

blueberries, grapes, mandarin oranges, strawberries

Note:  I never give them regular oranges.  They simply do not know what to do with the pale, white-ish, thin skin that covers oranges.  Hence, they spend most of their time spitting out said white stuff and asking me what is all over their “or-nanges.”

Vegetables-

raw carrots, peas, and green beans

Vegetables are hit and miss.  Ranch can be your friend.

Fun Fact:  I have a nephew who hates potatoes in all forms.  Even French Fries.  I wish I hated French Fries.

Yum!

For breakfast, we usually do cereal, toast, or pancakes.

For lunch, we do bean and cheese burritos, chicken noodle soup, and sandwiches.

Some fun things we do:

When eating chicken noodle soup, I give them a straw and let them suck up the broth.

I must admit, it has been my finest parenting moment to date.

When making sandwiches, we sometimes use large cookie cutters to cut them into shapes.

My kids are homeschooled.  Sandwiches in shapes easily excites them.  What can I say?

And, finally, I wanted to share with you a recipe that my kids love.  I love to make it when I have leftover Spaghetti Sauce (with meat) and leftover cooked noodles-that makes it super fast to throw together.

(This recipe comes from The Dinner Doctorby Anne Byrne.)

Spaghetti Casserole

Ingredients:

1 T olive oil

1 pound ground beef (or in my case elk-ha!)

1/2c chopped onion (I omit)

1 clove garlic, peeled and cut into slices

1 can (10.75oz) cream of mushroom soup

1 1/2 cups of your favorite tomato-based pasta sauce

1 cup shredded cheddar cheese (or sometimes I sub mozzarella)

4 cups cooked spaghetti

2 T shredded Parmesan cheese

Directions:

1.  Preheat oven to 400 degrees

2.  Cook beef in olive oil with onion and garlic.  Drain.

3.  In a large bowl, combine the beef, soup, pasta sauce, 1/2c cheddar cheese, cooked spaghetti, 1/2c water and stir to mix.

4.  Transfer to a 13×9 glass dish and sprinkles all but the remaining 1 T of cheddar and 1T of Parmesan

5. Bake until heated through, about 18-20 minutes.  Sprinkle the remaining cheeses and serve.

It comes out creamy and cheesy.  This picture was even taken the next day after I reheated it.

The kids love it!

And they never spill any of it on the off-white carpet.

So, what about you?  What are some of your favorite tips for feeding little ones?

Happy Thursday!

 I am joining in with Kelly’s Korner on Show Us Your Life. 

(I am joining in on Kelly’s Korner today.  This is a post about a fun, different school day we had.  For more on our curriculum, click here.  Thank you for visiting!)

Is funnest a word?

Probably not.

Yesterday, we went to town for piano lessons.  I was planning on getting right home so we could start some school work (yay).  But then, my darling Handsome Dude asked,

“MOOOOOOM!  Could you I go to da Wybrary? I want dinosaurs jumping on da bed book!”

And who am I to stifle a young boy’s craving for good literature?

So, to the library we went.  And darn our luck, but a story time for 2’s and 3’s was beginning in 15 minutes.  And my Handsome Dude noticed this.

Oh, yes.  He is getting to the age where he “notices” things.  This is discouraging.

So, I set the girls up to explore the children’s library on their own for a bit so I could take my 2 and 3 year olds to the story time.

I used to take the girls to the story time often when they were little.  And I remembered something as I sat there with my boys . . .

I hate the story time at the library.

I know.  I am sure you are all aghast. 

But I hate it.  I do.  I really do. 

Making 20 toddlers/preschoolers sit in a room and listen to four books is torturous for the parents.  I also fear it is a place where parents’ can’t help but compare their children to other children. 

Oh.  Look at that girl.  She has sat and quietly listened the whole time.  Why can’t my kid do that?

Oh, my.  That boy is asking such intelligent questions.  My boy is just picking his nose.

Oh, good.  That kid is being really naughty.  At least my kids aren’t doing THAT.

I will have you know that my boys were not naughty at all.  At least, in my opinion.  But they were weird and creepy.  Handsome Dude refused to look at the librarian and would only sit ON me.  Little Dude was trying to snuggle and take a nap.  Handsome Dude asked every two minutes if we could leave cause doesn’t like any of this.

So.  It wasn’t fun.  Surprise.

But then that darn librarian had the audacity to inform the 2 and 3 year olds that they could join her in another room for a craft.  And guess whose kids decided that would also be fun?

Handsome Dude always chooses pink.  Just an FYI for you.  Not that I am concerned.  Just informing you.

So.  That fun lasted for a total of 45 minutes.  And we still hadn’t found the dinosaurs jumping on da bed book.

An hour and a half after we first entered the library, we left.  We currently have about 40 items checked out between two cards and none of them are the dinosaurs jumping on da bed book.

And Handsome Dude is letting his displeasure for that fact be known.  Often.

So then we were starving and had about a 45 minute drive home.  And who can wait that long to eat?  Not me.  So, we went to Wendy’s.  When I brought the tray of food to the table, Handsome Dude shouted for all the world to hear:

“You are da BEST Mom in da whole wibe word!!!!”

Attention parents: Chicken nuggets will redeem you for not being able to fix the fact that the dinosaurs jumping on da bed book has been checked out by another lucky boy.

We got through Wendy’s without any incident and started our journey home. 

But then, I got a hankering to go shopping.  I have limited options in the Ruralville area.  But I have found that if I take a small detour and head west for about 20 minutes, I find a cute, small town with a cute, small shop and a cute, small park.

I got to shop for a bit and the kids were . . . pretty good. 

 The shop owner lady was super nice and she made all the kids a hot chocolate-for free!

Little Dude can hardly contain his excitement for his warm, chocolatey drink.

The kids wanted to play at the park, even though it was probably about 20 degrees out.

Then, my kids, decided they should gather up all the branches that were lying around and organize them into one, nice pile.

Because everyone knows branches cannot just be littered all over the place. 

I wonder who they get that from?

Tis a mystery.

And, just to show you how cold it was-

Here is Sweet Pea on ice.

So, we loaded up into the rig.  And I still didn’t want to go home.  Do you ever have those days . . . where you just have to do something different?

We took a drive.  Our Ruralville house is near the lake, so we went exploring a bit around there.

And we counted 14 deer.  Which was fantastically exciting, even for a little boy who was still reminding his mother about his unhappiness over the aforementioned dinosaur jumping on da bed book.

And, as we were driving down our road, we saw 45 turkeys in the field next to us.

And we watched them fly up into their nests!  All of them!

Science . . . check.

See?  We didn’t completely bail on homeschooling.  I figure we got in music (piano), reading/library time, and science.  Oh!  And PE for the park.

Then we arrived home and the girls had to tend to their TEN rabbits.

Oh!  Did I forget to mention that we now own ten rabbits?  Silly me.

Ooh!  That was more science.

Yes.  And soon we will get chickens and goats and probably like milk the goats or something different like that and make our own candles and knit and grow garden-like stuff and can stuff and maybe get a cow named Bessie and I shall wear jumpers every day and gather eggs in my denim dress as I wear birkenstocks and have hair down to my knees that I wear in a super fat braid.

Not that there’s anything wrong with any of that.

And we have 3 boy rabbits and 7 girl rabbits, which will only enhance my up and coming science lecture on How Babies Are Made.

Coming sooner or later.  Hopefully later.  Much later.

Oh, and after dinner I made a cake.

Dang!  I am fantastic.

But I just had to share with you what my husband does to good, decent cake.

Ok-that is a terrible picture.  It did look edible when we were photographing it.

Anyways, he takes the cake and he dumps applesauce on it.

Gag me.  But what can you expect from a man who enjoys eating elk?

Oh, and it could not be any applesauce.  No, dear readers.  No.  It MUST be the applesauce that we make with the crazykin inlaws.  And guess what?

They ALL like to eat their cakes and other baked goods smothered with this applesauce.

THEY.

ARE.

SO.

WEIRD.

Anyways.  That was our Tuesday. 

Happy Wednesday!

PS-all my pictures were taken with my super cool phone.  Look at me with my big-girl-uploading-photos-from-her-phone-to-her-blog-pants on!

Don’t pretend you aren’t impressed.

Welcome to our first edition of Fat Tuesday 2011.

I trust you are all thrilled.

You may ask, “Taylor!  What on earth is Fat Tuesday?”

Well.  I would describe it as a accountability day for those of us who are trying to meet some healthy diet/fitness goals.  Anyone is welcome to join in anytime.  Also, anyone is welcome to bail anytime.

See!?  I am super hard core and will help you be accountable.

I am going to pump you up.

Let’s go through this week’s Wins/Fails, shall we?

I actually followed the Weight Watchers plan and I even tracked in my handy dandy points tracker thingie-ma-bob.

WIN!

Except for on Saturday.  Saturday was kind of a free for all.

Fail!

And Sunday.

Fail!

But the rest of the week was golden!

WIN!

I lost one pound!

Super Duper Shocker WIN!

I exercised with my friend Leslie Sansone two, count them, two times!

Surprising WIN!

I even walked the entire four miles each time.  Without skipping.  Or quitting early.

WIN!

Except for the stretching.  I always skip the stretching.  Who needs it?

Serene and Soothing FAIL!/Time Saving WIN!

On Saturday, I hauled a lot of brush and branches for my darling, Lumberjackish husband.  I will count this as exercise, cause I certainly can’t count it as fun.

WIN!

I also cooked elk meatballs.

Good Wifey Win!

Sanity Fail.

I ate garlic bread.  Yum!

FAIL!

I ate a second piece of garlic bread.

Fail!

I ate 3-5ish more pieces of garlic bread, depending on how truthful I am feeling.

FAIL!

I was 4thplace in the Biggest Loser Contest I joined.  But my friend SHELLY messed up with her math calculations and I was really 5th.

Shelly FAIL!

And, for all you smartie-pantsies out there who are snickering, NO, there are not FIVE people in the contest.  There are TEN.

ThankYouVeryMuch.

So, how about you?  Did you meet your goals?  Do you have any yummy, lowfat recipes to share?  Any fun exercise ideas?

Did you also eat garlic bread?

Let us know in the comments section.  If you have your own blog, leave the link to the post in the comments section if you would like, or just check in with a comment.

Happy Tuesday!

PS-I also ate a french fry.  Or seven.  But it was off someone else’s plate, so it doesn’t really count.

A Friday List.

1.  I am tired.  I suspect it is because I had the audacity to wake up at 5:45am and do an exercise DVD.  Which was asinine, on my part.

Fun Fact:  Did you know that when you say “asinine” it sounds like you are being a potty mouth, but you really aren’t? 

It’s true!

And I looked it up, just to be certain.

2.  After we did our morning school session, I decided the house was in dire need of a massive clean up.

3.  I scrubbed the tub and shower and the toilets and the floors and vacuumed and did laundry.

4.  This was also asinine.

5.  I had plans to also organize a bunch of junk that is all junked around and to maybe even tidy up my closet. 

6.  But I have instead collapsed on my bed.  And since I was just on the computer to send in some school stuff, I decided to blog all about nothing.

7.  Lucky you.

8.  Would it be weird if I took a bath right now?   I certainly don’t have to worry about any surprise company popping in.

9.  However.  Two times in the past month, a strange man has come to my door demanding to know where Donna is.

10.  I know not this Donna of whom he speaks.

11.  Do you know Donna?  Maybe you can help him.  He seems certain that she should be here.  He’s slightly frustrated with me and my lack of knowledge about said Donna.  I am afraid next time, he might use potty language.

12.  I might get a table with eight chairs tomorrow off of Craigslist.   Does this excite you as much as it excites me?  If not, did you notice the part where it said EIGHT chairs?

13.  We are having people over for dinner next Saturday night and they have four children, so it would be nice to be able to seat at least half of the people.

14.  Four children!  Can you believe some people?  I mean, come on.  Enough is enough.

15.  Poor Little Dude.  He is stuck in the high chair until we get a new table.  For we can’t fit everyone at our current table.

16.  Poor Little Dude.  He is also stuck in a crib until we are able to get him into his own room.

17.  Poor Little Dude.  We have to put a window into this aforementioned room before he can sleep in it.  According to my handsome and dashing Lumberjack, this will require a concrete saw.

18.  Raise your hand if you did not know concrete saws existed.

19.  The boys were playing hide and seek last night:

Handsome Dude:  Cokey.  You sit here on the couch and I find you!

Little Dude:  O-Tay!  Come and get me!

Handsome Dude:  O-Tay!  Just a minute!

Handsome Dude runs down the stairs

Handsome Dude:  One, Two, Free, Four, Seben, Nine, Firteen, Firteen, Firteen, Twenty!  Here I come!

Handsome Dude runs back up the stairs.

Little Dude:  I’m on the couch!

Handsome Dude:  I found you!  O-Tay!  My turn!  I hide on the couch and you come and get me!  O-Tay?

Little Dude:  O-Tay!

My boys are bright, yes?

20.  Someone once asked me on this very blog why Little Dude is called Cokey.  Well, Handsome Dude has a hard time saying Little Dude’s factual name, so he just calls him, “Cokey,”, “Cokes,” “Cokey-da-bear”, and “Co-Co.”  So, if you hear me say any of those names, just make sure to remember it is Little Dude.  And if you know us in real life and cannot remember which one is Little Dude, then you will have to refer to the helpful pictoral guide located on the right sidebar of this here blog.

Keep up, people!

21.  I have recently purchased new, albeit cheap, bubble bath at the not-so-local-anymore Walmarts.  I thought you might need to know this.  In case you were still debating about whether or not I should take a bath.

21.  Why do I clean my house?  It is all in vain.  I bet it already looks messy.  I am just too tired to get up and look.

22.  This is a good reason why people shouldn’t exercise.  I mean, if they have to get up at 5:45 in order to escape the cranky-morning-children-and-their-demands-for-chocolate-milk to be able to exercise in peace and they are so exhausted from having to move so much at such an ungodly hour, then I ask you, dear readers, What Is The Point? 

23.  I am hungry for a snack.

24.  I might make pizza tonight.  If I can get up off of my exhausted bum and go prepare the dough.

25.  Oh, yes!  I must make my own.  For we have not pizza deliveries in Ruralville.  Nor do we have Donna.

26. This post has gone on long enough.

27.  Drat.  I have two “21”‘s.  That’s a shame.  Now I look like an idiot.

Happy Friday!

Yes.  Hello.  Good Evening.

Nothing much going on over here in my world.  Today was a wonderfully, perfect day.

It’s strange that I just said that, isn’t it?

I’ll give you a moment to recover.

The day went fantastically.  And I don’t know if fantastically is a word.  But today was so fantastically wonderfully, it is worth the error.

School went great!  We got so much done in the earlier part of the day, which was a nice change.

Usually the morning involves much weeping and wailing and time outs and poopy diapers and discipline and naughtiness and weeping and wailing and complaining and pooping and crying and truck throwing and pooping.  So it is sometimes hard to focus on the academics.

We took a break around lunch time and the kids played outside while I got to be inside ALL BY MYSELF.

Letting the kids play outside “unsupervised” is somewhat foolish on my part.

Earlier this week, the kids got out their sleds and tried to “boat” across the giant puddles.  (All of our snow has melted and has resulted in several giant puddles/small-ish ponds around our property.)

The boating events caused the children much joy and jubilation.  And it caused me much laundry.

Anyways.  It has been nice to let them play outside.

Today, the older three even ate their lunches outside.

And I was able to watch them through my kitchen window.

Aren’t they the cutest?

The boys went down for a nap and the girls and I got back to school.  And just when we were about to start science, my dearheart friend Bimlissa called.

Now, normally I try not to answer my phone during the school hours.

 However.

It is rare that I actually speak to someone on the phone and not text.  So when I saw it was the real Bimlissa, and not the messaging version, I just had to pick up.

So.  Science was quickly switched to coloring time whilst listening to books on CD and I got in a nice chat with a real person.

Don’t judge me.

I’m lonely.

The girls were hoping to learn all about how babies were made today in science.

Yeah.

So I consider Bimlissa’s call to be an act of God.

Then my husband came home.  And he took the kids out to build a tire swing.

Two periods of ALONE time in ONE day?!  Can you believe my luck?

Here they are trying to find the perfect spot.

Little Dude came back in before the others.  I like to think it is because he misses me and loves me the mostest.  But he was probably just cold.

He helped me make brownies.

I know, I know.  I am supposed to be watching  what I eat.

But guess what I did!?

I took one brownie mix.  Then I added 1/2 cup of applesauce, two egg whites, and 1/4 cup of water.

Mixed it all together, put it in a 13×9 pan and baked it at 350 for about 20 minutes.

I let it cool, then spread light cool whip on top and added sprinkles.

It was a hit with everyone, even my husband.

True.  I did not tell him that it was lowfat.  And if he knew, he would not have tried it.

But that man would love dessert every night and I am hoping to make healthier choices.

If you have some healthy/low fat dessert recipes you would like to share, I would love to hear them!

Anyways, that was our day!

I hope you all had a great one, too.

Happy Thursday!

So.  I have this friend.

Let’s call her Shannon.

Shannon is new to blogging and she has been searching for the blog that hosted the Fat Tuesday link.

100 (meaningless) points to whomever can remember which pointless blog hosted that one.

Ok.  It was mine.  And I gave up because I had no time.  Or goals.  Or discipline.

But I had an idea!

What if I hosted Fat Tuesday again temporarily?  I think to have it every Tuesday forever and ever would be excessive, don’t you?

I mean, really.  Who wants to commit to good health and exercise all year long? 

No.

It’s best to take these things in small spurts.  That way, you can gain back what you lost, mourn and wail, and then start all over again!

See?  Brilliant.

So.  I might start it up again if enough people are interested in doing it.  I would run it through Mid-April.

Here’s the deal if you are interested:

1) The purpose of Fat Tuesday is to keep people accountable to their health/diet/fitness goals.

2)  I do not promise to be inspiring.  Or helpful.  Nor thinner when this is over.

3)  If you would like to participate, simply say, “I would like to participate.”  And you can join in whenever.  I do not care.

4)  State your goals.  Check in each week.

5)  You can check in via comment or with a blog post in Mr. Linky.

6)  Do you know who Mr. Linky is? 

7)  If you choose to link a post, you can link up anything that would relate to healthy living, like recipes or exercise tips. 

Ok.  So are we all on the same page?

You may ask, “Taylor!  Why are you doing this?”

Well.  I joined a Biggest Loser Competition.  And I am in 4th place thus far, holla!

And I thought it might be fun.

Ok.  Here are my wins/fails for the week.

I have lost 3.4% of my body weight in two weeks! 

Win!

I am still trying to figure out why people enjoy exercising.

Fail!

I have actually followed Weight Watchers for two weeks in a row!

Win!

Did you know that all fruits and most vegetables are now zero points?!

Win!

Did you know that you actually have to exercise in order to lose tummy fat?

Fail!

I have a lot of tummy fat.

Fail!

I am not pregnant.

Sanity Win!

Yet, sometimes I look like I might be.

 Ego Fail!

Sweet Pea told me I needed a new driver’s license picture today.  She said I look way older now.

Sweet Pea Fail!

I still drink this all the time

Delicious Fail!

Alright.  That is all for now.  Let me know if you have any questions.

Make sure to go say holla to Shannon.

She’s new to blogging and her blog is quite good!

You should leave her a comment.  It will rock her world.

For reals.

Or realz.

Whichever you prefer.

Oh, and she is trying to beat me in this Biggest Loser competition.  So maybe you should try to sabatoge her somehow for me.

Happy Tuesday!

Sister Meagan to Handsome Dude: Hey, dude!

What’s coming out of your nose?

Handsome Dude:  I not know!

Sister Meagan:  Dude.  You’ve got like blue and brown snot!

Me:  Did you put candy up your nose?

Handsome Dude:  No!  Cokey did it.  I not!

Lest any of you are confused, “Cokey” is his nickname for Little Dude.

Sister Meagan:  Gross!  There’s tons more!

Me:  Did you sneak into Dad’s M&Ms?

Handsome Dude:  Ummm, no!  Ummm . . . . yes.

Me:  Did you stick an M&M up your nose?

Handsome Dude:  Yes.

Me:  Dude!  You canNOT do that!

Sister Meagan:  Seriously, buddy.  Do not stick things up your nose!

Handsome Dude:  O-TAY!

Me:  Hey, Meg?  Did a peanut happen to come out?

Sister Meagan:  No, why?

Me:  Cause those were peanut M&Ms.

Sister Meagan:  Nice!

***

My son can’t be the only foolish boy who has stuck something up his nose . . . right?

Right?

Hello?

Alright.  That’s all for tonight.

PS-We have yet to find the peanut.

PPS-Are we not proud that he is wearing his glasses?

PPPS-They have since broken.

PPPPS-Are we surprised?

PPPPPS-This post script has gotten excessive, has it not?