Possum Fun

What a fun Monday for the boys! Doug had all the boys today since Patti is having her arm operated on - and he was a bit nervous about surviving the day.  However, it turned out to be a great day all around!  Doug took the boys to 'the Big House' and when they were playing in the sun room they found a little baby possum that had fallen into a big cardboard box and gotten stuck.  They probably saved its' life - as it seems to have been there a few days and was really thirsty. 

 After Doug made sure it wasn't injured and in relatively good spirits (as far as possum's go) the boys picked him up and delivered him to outside to a nice puddle on the concrete so he could drink.  Then they took off across the yard looking for a good place to let him go so he could "find his momma."  And yes, Gabe kissed his tail. 

I don't know how it is that they always find this cool stuff when they are with Doug.  In the last few weeks they have seen the possum, a swarm of bees, and several snakes.   They are outside boys if there are were such a thing!

Meal Planning Monday : May 7

Another crazy week on tap at the Bowen house.  It seems like every week gets just a little more jam packed - just when you think 'surely this is as crazy as it can get,' it goes up a notch!  This week is going to be a lot of quick and easy standby meals.  I have to make sub plans for Wednesday, a meeting after work on Tuesday until 7 - and Grayson has ST after school, then Wednesday I will be running around taking Reece to his 18month well baby appointment followed by Grayson's IEP meeting, then more ST for Grayson on Friday - and I have an assignment due that I haven't finished.  Throw in Amanda being induced on Wednesday, a chance to work on my Scrapbook on F or Sat, AND the Mother's Day plant sale over the weekend and it is one INSANE week!

Monday: Grilled chicken w/ mango peach salsa, grilled zucchini, and Acini de Pepe side dish
      ALSO -- make bread!  Whole wheat sandwich bread + cinnamon raisin bread

Tuesday:  Kalua Pork in corn tortillas

Wednesday: Beef and Gorgonzola Gnocchi with salad

Thursday: Tofu with Peanut Noodles

Friday: Grilled bread with goat cheese and other yummy toppings

Linking to OrgJunkie, where MPM lives

Snakes and other fun stuff

The boys love to go look for the snakes that live up in the garden rock wall.  This weekend was a little dreary, but apparently it was just right for the snakes to come out.  They found one in the garden and one in the front flower bed.  And despite his fear of snakes, Doug caught them BOTH so the boys could look at them up close.  Now they know that the snake sticks out his tongue and that snake poop really, really stinks!

Gabe wanted to kiss the snake, but Doug convinced him this probable was not the best idea.  He did, however, like touching it and seeing how smooth it felt.  Grayson really liked the way its' tongue darted out - and Reece thought the whole thing was a riot.

I'm so glad our boys are growing up outside, enjoying nature and learning new things about the world around them everyday.  I think (hope) it is setting the stage for a life long love of learning.  It makes us odd man out amongst a lot of folks that our kids don't watch a lot of TV, play video games, or go to movies -- but I think this is really the way kids should grow up. 

Meal Planning Monday : April 30

We seem to be moving at break neck speed these days.  I just have realized I've really slacked off on taking pictures and that means I'm missing some cool things the kids are doing.  I am going to really try and get my act together and get back in the swing of things!

Despite the mayhem this past weekend, I did manage to sit down and meal plan for the week.  It isn't a fancy menu, but it is a plan - and that is what we are aiming for these days.

Monday:  Black Bean Soup (Moosewood) and Cornbread
Tuesday: Pimento Cheese Burgers (yum!!)
Wednesday: Roasted Carrot and Potatoes with Chicken (or turkey if it gets defrosted!)
Thursday: Ordering Pizza - a rare treat!
Friday:  Big Salad with grilled tuna and other yummy stuff

Walk around the yard

Everything is blooming really early this year and it has kind of messed up our purposeful color combination and staggered bloom time plantings.  So right now lots of things are in full bloom - even though they shouldn't be for about 3 weeks!  It looks great right now - but is probably going to be pretty barren in a few weeks.  So I walked around and snapped a few pictures of things that were open.  It had rained over night and many still had droplets on them, which made them look pretty cool.

Now if I could just the web page to put them on the way I wanted to - I'd be all set.

Meal Planning Monday : April 23

Another crazy week - and I had let the meal planning slip, so I am trying to get back into the swing of things.  Nothing fancy going on this week, just trying to make use of what we have and eat at least semi-healthy.

Monday: Soft Tacos and make 2 loaves of bread for the week and some Preschool Crack (ok, Bunny Bait) for the kids to take for snack week at school

Tuesday: Pasta w/ sauteed sugar snaps, red peppers, walnuts and lemon ricotta cheese
Wednesday: BBQ Ribs in the Slow Cooker, fried okra, and corn
Thursday: Loaded Baked Potatoes
Friday: Left overs or homemade pizza

This weekend I'm hoping to get a turkey breast thawed and cooked so we can munch on that for a few days early in the week.

Rainy Day

It has been raining most of the weekend and the kids are going absolutely stir crazy.  This, of course, leads to melt downs, tantrums, and general destruction of the house.  At one point the boys wanted to go outside and play so badly that we simply had to give in and let it happen - even though it was rainy and 48 degrees.  We warned them it would be cold, that they needed a jacket, and shoes. 

No luck.  Out they all bolted half dressed and full of energy.  This little outing lasted about 15 minutes before they all returned shivering and requesting dry clothes and warm snugs under a blanket.  But while they were out Doug snapped this picture of Reece - mowing the pavement - in the rain - in his jammies - barefoot.  Apparently, we are "that " kind of parents...

Planting Tomatoes and Dinner with the Brothers

Gabe planting tomatoes with Daddy

All the boys eating together at the kid table.

 Spending a nice day outside is always fun.  Gabe planted tomatoes to snack on with Doug and we finished up by having dinner outside.  The boys all wanted to eat together at the 'little table.'  Good times.

Let me tell you a secret...

It is so fun to watch the boys figure out new things - like what is funny, what is silly, what a secret is, etc.  We were doing an 'everybody wash your hands' event before going to dinner and the cutest thing happened.  Gabe went over to Grayson and told him to he had to tell him something. 


Then he leaned in and whispered (as well as a 3.5 year old can) "Grayson, I'm telling you a secret!"  That WAS the secret, but still, pretty darn funny.

Worn Out...

I don't know why this insists on loading upside down!
Today Doug took the boys to work in Berryville and wore them out completely. 

Beautiful Flowers

Gabe has become our dandelion control system this spring.  He has taken to picking every little yellow flower that opens up and bringing them to me with the instruction to "smell the beautiful flowers, Mommy!" My kitchen is now full of them, and yes, I literally sneeze every time I enter the room.  But really, who could resist this:

For you, Mommy!

Meal Planning Monday - a day late! April 10

We have really fallen off the meal planning wagon the last few weeks.  I have resolved to get my act together and do a better job.  I hated that each day we had no plan - which meant Doug and I ended up eating crap a lot. 

So - with that said, this week we are having:

Monday: Loaded Baked Potato Soup
Tuesday: Ham (left over from Sunday) and Cheese Frittata w/ salad
Wednesday: Pasta with sauteed Broccoli Rabe
Thursday: Navy Bean Soup (made in crock pot overnight with ham bone from Tuesday)
Friday: Homemade pizza with prosciutto, ricotta, and asparagus

Linking to OrgJunkie where MPM lives

On a much happier note, I have continued to purge from our overcrowded/outdated closet.  I am happy to report that I have gotten rid of three large totes of clothes - about half were mine and half were things Reece has outgrown.  It feels great!  I have been trying to get Doug to do the same, but he is just not as willing.  He has managed to get rid of all of 3 articles of clothing.  That's it - even though there are things on his side of the closet he has not worn in over 5+ years.  He just won't part with them.  I fear it is his pack-rat gene kicking in.  I'm not sure what to do about it - but I am going to keep at it.  I am finding the process really liberating and I feel great getting rid of things I have been packing up/pulling out and not wearing for several seasons now.  I figure once I see what I have that I am actually wearing I will be ready to look at getting some new clothes - which is exciting, as I have been pregnant twice in the last 3.5 years - so my clothing options have been pretty limited!

The Easter Egg Store

Today the boys decided to play "Easter Egg Store."  They worked together to get the wagon where they wanted it, then flipped it over.  Then Reece and Gabe retrieved the little chairs and brought them to wagon - where Gabe was selling and sharpening the eggs on the wheels.  (?? I don't know, this is what he kept telling me.)  When they ran out of eggs, they picked more.  Apparently, my kids have Easter eggs growing on our maple tree - because that is where they went to get them.

Trampoline Hair

This weekend was pretty dry - and Grayson suffered from some serious trampoline hair.

There was so much play and outside time that around 2:00 Grayson simply gave in to the need for sleep and laid down and fell asleep on the trampoline for over an hour!

Kool-Aide Easter Eggs

This year we decided to dye Easter eggs for the first time.  I saw a blog post on how to use Kool-Aide to dye your eggs and decided to give it a try. 

The kids were super excited (we've never done it before) and I was excited that it didn't make my whole kitchen smell like vinegar.  All we had to do was mix a packet of Kool-Aide with 2/3 cup of water and dip them.  The color developed really fast and we even mixed some colors to try and make new colors.  (This only worked on some colors - like yellow and blue did make a nice light green - but we never managed to get a nice lavender.)

Flowers and hats, but not flower hats...

Apparently Gabe wants to go skiing/snowboarding.

First tulips to bloom in the yard

Another really nice day today!  The boys are loving all the outside time after school.  We even ate dinner outside again today.  As usual, we played on the trampoline numerous times, went up and down the slide, ran around the yard, dug holes, looked for worms, played with water beads, make silly putty, and eventually made it back inside to wind down.

Why?

Why must boys do this?

Weekend Rodeo

Another great weather weekend!  The boys are loving all the outside time.  We spend all day outside, even eating lunch and dinner out there.  Now that it is getting warmer, the trampoline has become a very popular place again.  It is fun to see how much the boys have grown and gotten stronger since last summer.

We have been playing chase a lot.  They have also decided it is great fun to have you try and bounce them off balance.  This weekend we added the 8 second rodeo to the mix.

Needless to say, I see Doug having to do this a lot this summer!

Early Spring

We are enjoying unusually warm weather this week - upper 70s to low 80s.  We have been playing outside with the boys most of the afternoons.  Last night it was so warm we even had dinner outside.  I've got some pictures from the trampoline I'll add later when I find my camera cord.

On the closet rehab front, I am making slow progress.  I have set my self the task of purging TWO items of clothes each day.  So far I am on target - three days = 6 items in the 'to-go' box. 

Meal Planning Monday: March 12

I think we have finally returned to the land of the healthy in our house.  Woo Hoo!  After a bit of a disaster of a week last week where we went without a plan, which meant I shopped without a plan, which means I spent a ridiculous amount of money ($120!) on random food and we still had crappy meals - I hope we are back on track.  I made a plan and a list and made it out of the store for under $55.  Shocking the difference!

Here is our plan for the week:

Monday: Mac and Cheese w/ grilled chicken
Tuesday: Beef and Broccoli Stir Fry
Wednesday: Big Salad with lots of yummy stuff
Thursday: Loaded Baked Potatoes
Friday: Fritatta with salad

And on a random food related note... the boys helped make pancakes this morning.

Linking to OrgJunkie, where MPM lives.

Boxes are Fun!

I wish I had gotten my hands on the camera faster so I could have gotten more shots of this in action.  We got a box in the mail that had this little clear window in it and Reece decided to put it on his head.  At first he was walking around looking like a little robot - then he climbed up in the chair with it still on his head. 

This little boy is an absolute riot - and I think he knows it!

Closet Rehab Plan

After having some success with the 29 day organization challenge and getting most of my living room / dining room back, I decided to tackle another trouble spot in the house.  The one closet upstairs that Doug and I share and have to rotate our clothes through every season.  Since having the limited time for the February challenge really helped 'make it happen,' I decided to give myself a new deadline - two months, so May 9th.  I think a little more time is needed because I am going to have to purge clothes that are currently in the closet AND clothes that will be brought down as we make the change of the season.

Here is what I am hoping to accomplish:

• a major purge of clothes I haven't worn in years (and get Doug to do the same)
• removal of any clothes that are in need of repair, because let's be honest - while I know how to do it, it isn't going to happen given our current life
• I want to get some closet organizing stuff - because right now we have one hanging bar and three shelves, and that's it

I know this is going to cost some money to pull off, but I have been hating this closet for the 9+ years we have been living in this house.  It makes no sense that we have not tackled this problem area.  

It's not all good...

The truth of the matter is - that having 3.5 year old twins is hard.  You think 'terrible 3's' are hard with one kid - try having two of them going through it at the same time, in the same space, with the same issues.  There are lots of good moments - they really do play nice a lot of the time.  BUT...sometimes it just isn't going to happen.

I was out of the house less than 15 minutes when I get this video from Doug:

You can even hear Reece in the background cheering them on...

Is that a Cheerio up your nose?

I decided a picture really wasn't in order for tonight's post.  The boys decided they needed a little snack before heading upstairs for a bath and bed so we were in the kitchen and they asked for cereal.  Gabe was eating Life (he calls it tasty squares) and Grayson was eating Cheerios.  I turned my back to them and was cleaning the counters when I heard Grayson ask Gabe why he couldn't get the Cheerio out his nose.  This got my attention!

So I turned around and went over to Grayson, who had is finger wayyy up his nose, and asked him if he had put a Cheerio up his nose.  He silently nodded yes.  Geez.  OK - but then I thought he may not be telling the truth, it could just be his finger.  So I ever so gently reach over and put my fingers on either side of his nose to see if I can FEEL something crammed up there - and it crunches.  Crap.  There is a Cheerio up there.

As I am trying to get the now crunched Cheerio out his nose (we are not going to the ER to have this thing extracted - I am going to get it out myself even if it means we knock him out with Benadryl and I use long tweezers), I hear Gabe behind me ask why he can't get the tasty square in his nose. 

OMG.  Why would a child cram cereal up his nose??  

I finally get the Cheerio out with much squirming and grossness only to see Grayson try to cram ANOTHER one up the other side of his nose not 5 minutes later.  I cannot fathom how this is funny,  fun, or in any way a good idea - and yet, they both thought it was riot. 

Organization Challenge Final Link Up

Well, it's that time.  Time to share my final photos of my combo dining room/play room.  My after pictures are dark because I took them last night, but I hope you can see the progress!

I decided this was the space to really tackle for several reasons:

• I felt like the clutter had gotten out of control and was causing me stress - I used to have a clean and orderly house before kids and I want my kids to enjoy a clean orderly space because I am sure it is less stressful for them, too
• I didn't think the cluttered play space and messy piles of toys were really "good" for my kids - and certainly not conducive to productive play
• It was really an embarrassing mess that I was simply not getting control of until this challenge gave me a push

Before

It was really hard to get this done in 29 days because with three little boys, no closets, and our house being plagued with illness most of the month, we lost a lot of time to just trying to get through the day.  I feel like it is still in progress - but I do think it is much better than it was.  I still have one tote with the boys current year art work and all their big paintings rolled up on top of it.  Last year we went through the whole year of art they brought home and narrowing it down to 10 pieces we framed in their room.  We are planning on doing the same thing again this year.  There really was a progression in their work - and it they love having it up on their walls in their room.

Before

As I have gotten it more under control I have realized other options for the space that never entered my mind before.  (Like now that my kids have space to paint - they do it almost every day and want me to hang the pictures up.  I'd like to add a cork tack strip to the arch way where we can pin up their work.)   To make it happen I committed to planning during the week (first toys, then papers, etc. ) so I could really implement the plan on the weekend when not at work and the kids were napping or after they went to bed. 

Before

The toughest part of this challenge is the fact that my 100 year old house has NO closets downstairs at all - and is an open floor plan of sorts.  This meant I couldn't shut the door and tear it apart because the kids (3.5 yr old twins and 15 month old) would be able to get at it the minute they came downstairs.  That meant I really did have to plan and think about what could I do in steps that would keep everyone safe - including a few really sentimental antiques, but also keep moving in the right direction.

I purged a lot of stuff.  I was very happy (ok, almost giddy) as we packed up the car with stuff.  We took a lot things to Good Will and offered up the baby toys that everyone had outgrown or not played with on FreeCycle.  I also tossed/recycled anything broken, had pieces missing, or that I really couldn't remember why I had kept it in the first place!

The first time (yes, first time) I saw the top of my dining room table I was thrilled.  I hadn't seen it since we started using it as a "safe place" to put pretty much anything we wanted to keep out of the reach of the kids almost 3 years ago!  I actually saw the top of the table come and go several times during the process as I tackled a new corner of stuff.  We do still have 3 little boys - so as much as I wanted to ditch the baby gate - I just couldn't.  It still protects the curved glass china cabinet and a few other antiques that had to be moved to safety. 

Boys new play space

The best physical tool I used to contain the mess was the cubby shelves for the boys to put 

their toys on.  They were so excited as we put them together and immediately started organizing their toys as soon as they were up.  Now they actually put their toys away as they play.  Even the 15 month old 'gets it.'  Without any promoting I watched him take his xylophone from the living room and carry it all the way across the foyer, through the sitting room and put it on the shelf when he was done with it.  I used a small rolling cart to contain all my scrapbooking stuff.  I would like to get a real storage system for it one day and maybe set up a corner in my room - but for now the rolling cart works because I can move it to where I am working, then roll it back to the corner.

Look!  I have a table!

These shelves also gave me a limit to how much stuff we were willing to keep.  Once the shelves were loaded, we were done.  This lead to a more careful look at what we had and the removal of toys that really weren't getting played with or were on their way out because the boys were getting older / moving on to new things.  We tried to make sure the shelves weren't jam packed so the boys could really see and get to what they had.  What you can't tell from this challenge is that all the tpys that used to be in the other side of the house are now all in one place.  So we got our family room back.  It used to store tons of toys under the coffee table, on the coffee table, and just all around.  Now everything is over in the dining/living room and contained.  (Double bonus!)

We also moved the table on a bit of an angle and told the boys that "this side" where the cubby shelves are is "your side."  All this stuff is for you to play with and enjoy (and take care of - as much as preschoolers can, which is more than you might think!)  We added a little table for them to use as a work space.  This helped them have a limited, central location on which to paint, color, play kitchen, etc.   Then we told them everything on the other side where Mommy's china cabinet is - is the grown up side.  We don't touch things on that side without asking first. 

I think my advice to anyone wanting to organize a space is to set a deadline and just make it happen.  Even if it feels overwhelming - you don't have to do it in one day, or even one week.  All you really have to do is just start.  I found that breaking my huge task into smaller ones and being able to walk away from it each weekend was helpful and made me start each new session with a fresh and critical eye.  I know if I had tried to do it all at once I would have started purging less and less as the project wore on and I got tired.  It would have seemed like I was throwing/giving away so much stuff, but taking a few bags and boxes out each week felt great - AND the kids weren't overwhelmed by the change or loss of 'stuff' because it happened gradually.

Now, I have printed the list of hints for purging clothes and since we are so closet challenged even upstairs - I am preparing to purge as I do the seasonal change over of the closet.


This has been just what I needed.  I feel like letting go of the clutter really lightened my overall stress.  I might even update the pictures to daylight when I get home this afternoon - because there is only one little overhead light and it didn't give the space justice last night!

Thank you OrgJunkie for making me start the process of getting my house back!

Chair Stacking 101

I usually don't post too much about work on my blog because - well, it's work and I don't like for it to creep into my at home time.  HOWEVER, this is just too good to let go without a mention.  This semester I have an extended 4th block class - which means my few 10th graders who are ahead of their peers are not allowed to leave the room during FLEX solely because they are 10th graders.  (It makes no sense, but what-ever.)

So these few are bored.  Really, really, really bored.  This is how they are entertaining themselves...

It's a sousaphone...

Gabe is in a phase right now where he is obsessed with all things musical.  When we watched the Christmas parade in town, he was not concerned with Santa.  Nooo - he was excited to see the marching band.  We took him to the HS band concert - he literally danced in the isles.

Every instrument is equally loved - pianos,  the fife (yes - fife), drums, xylophone, and his current most favorite - the sousaphone.  Which, in case you didn't know, is the actual name of the tuba that gets carried in a marching band.  (I admit, I did not know this, but somehow my 3.5 year old DOES know this.)

Having lunch at the Hardware store

And would someone please tell my 1.5 year old that he is growing up way too fast??  He insists on sitting at the table, with a fork, and eating the grown up food available.

Meal Planning Monday : Feb. 27, 2012

We are finally all starting to feel human again at our house so I feel a little more motivated to plan some real food.  Only Reece is still feeling yucky - complicated by teething, so he doesn't care what we have!  I made bread again on Sunday - kept one loaf plain and made another cinnamon raisin for breakfast toast.  I think we are slowly getting back on track!

Monday: Grilled Chicken
Tuesday: Taco Salad
Wednesday: Homemade Pizza - woo hoo!
Thursday: Frittata w/ veggies, salad, hot rolls
Friday: Pasta w/ freezer sauce (will depend on what mood I'm in)

Linking to Org Junkie where MPM lives

We have a toddler infestation...

 

that is further complicated by the preschoolers that have just gotten tall enough to open the pantry door.

Meal Planning Monday : Feb 20

This is the first week since I started meal planning that I just don't feel like doing it.  I know a lot of it has to do with being sick and the fact we are all worn out and exhausted - but I also know that is even more reason that I SHOULD be planning.  Ugh.

The one exciting (?) thing is that yesterday I made my weekly batch of bread and decided to make one of the loaves cinnamon raisin.  I wasn't sure how much I should use, and now that I have sliced it I realize I could have used A LOT more, but it still smells heavenly in the toaster.  It even kind of looks like the fancy $4.00 a loaf bread in the store.  After almost sending Gabe to the hospital last week because I used a different brand of Nutella and didn't read the label (may contain traces of other tree nuts) I have decide the more control I have over our food the better.

So my half hearted attempt of meal planning for the week looks like this:

Monday: chicken / pasta something...
Tuesday:  Homemade Pizza that didn't happen last week
Wednesday: Beef and Barley Veggie soup with biscuits
Thursday:  Soft Tacos
Friday:  Crock Pot day - taking Grayson to Baltimore

Linking to Org Junkie, where MPM lives

Feb Organization Challenge Update #2

We continue to be plagued by sickness in our house, so progress has been really, really slow going.  I had hoped to have more done by this point.  This week I managed to get the second cubby shelf put together, take things to GoodWill, and I got the dining room table completely cleaned off.  I know, there is stuff on it in the picture - that is new stuff.  I am tackling the piles of things that have been lurking behind the baby gate - so I started by pulling out a huge mess of it and started sorting and purging.  Again - it is slow, but there is at least some progress.  I'm happy this challenge made me start.

Now I hope to get the kids play table in the room and continue to tackle the mess in the back corner.  I would have liked to have moved things around more, but we just can't because of the placement of windows and the radiator.  The mirror and table in the corner would be way too hard to move, as are walls are plaster on brick - and hanging that huge mirror was quite the task in the first place.  We decided it was better just to work around it for these few years when the kids are still so little.

So, like I said, not show room / magazine perfect - but getting better and hopefully it will be highly functional for us.  That is what we are aiming for.  With three boys under the age of 4, I have long let go of the concept of perfectly clean!

Org Junkie Challenge

Story time with Reece and Daddy

Story time with Daddy before bed

Sick Day

This morning the twins woke up with raging fevers and feeling really lousy.  It seems they have finally caught the nasty, nasty crud that is rampant in the schools right now.  We decided that Doug would stay home with them and let them veg out on the couch and take it easy all day.  Since they don't get TV very often, we figured we could let them watch Blue Clue's, drink juice, and lay on the coach most of the day.

Of course, as luck would have it, the ONE day (yep, first time ever) that Doug stays home with sick little boys his dad calls and gives about 2 hours notice that he needs a ride to the airport an hour away.  I'm not thrilled with loading sick, fever ridden kids into the car for a 3 hour back and forth - but I didn't find out until after the window of opportunity for me to get a sub had passed and I was already at school.  Ugh.

I hope they get the rest they need today - and I hope I can stop feeling guilty for not staying home so they could sleep in their own beds like they need to.