10 ok, 11 ways to make dinner more enjoyable for everyone!

6/10/14

Dear Moms and dads,

I know that dinner can be hard for you to enjoy sometimes because often your children are running around like wild animals and no one wants to eat the food you've made.  There is lots of shouting, chaos and whining.  Since that's not fun for anyone, I wrote out 10 ways to make dinner more enjoyable for you and your family.  Please remember, you are the parent and your child is the child.  You CAN have rules that your children follow, and you should.

So, here they are.

1. Have dinner time with the whole family and make it a priority. (It doesn’t have to be EVERY day.... but a lot of days-- or pick a meal where everyone is home together if you have a weird work schedule. =))

2. Require everyone to sit at the table the ENTIRE meal.  Yes, from the beginning to the end.  (unless of course they’re causing a huge problem in which case removing them to a different, boring spot would be appropriate.... like when Grace is screaming and fussing at the table, we put her in her crib or put her highchair in a different room)  Requiring them to sit in their seat after they are finished eating waiting for others to finish is a good lesson. I want my kids to care about others. Also, kids need to LEARN to sit still.  If you let them run wild, they will.

3. Require everyone to eat the meal you’ve prepared. It’s not an option.  Kids can eat what you’ve prepared. I promise.

4. Limit snacks before dinner.  If you are having issues with kids not eating the meal, don’t let them have any food after lunch.  They will not starve between lunch and dinner no matter how dramatic they are, seriously.  Hungry kids eat better than full kids.  Make sense, doesn’t it?

5. If they don’t eat their meal don’t let them have anything else (Especially not dessert...). A lot of kids don’t eat dinner because they know if they hold off they’ll get something they like better later.

6.  Do not allow them to whine and fuss about what you’ve prepared and stop letting them choose what they want.  Make them a plate of food and hand it to them. No I'm not joking.   Dads... you can say,“This meal is delicious! Thanks for making it for us”  If dad is fussing, your kids will too.

7. Start slow if your kids are older and this is new.  Sit your kids down and tell them your new rules for the table and the consequences for not following them and be consistent.  They’ll get it.  They really will.

8. Use dinner time to talk about everyone’s day and let each person have a chance to say what they did, how they’re doing. etc Don't allow shouting and interrupting-- it's highly unpleasant for everyone.

9. Have family worship and involve your kids with questions, let them comment, and even sing songs!

10. Be on the same page as your spouse when it comes to dinner expectations!

ok, I'll throw in #11

11. Don't make gross food that no one likes. ;)

Dinner time should be a FUN family time, not a nightmare for everyone.  Train your kids to enjoy it and to enjoy food.  They’ll miss out if they’re picky forever....  Oh, and they'll make MUCH better dinner guests.

 

 

Monday, bathroom, and goofy

Happy Wednesday!

Monday was a SUPER great day, so I'll tell you about it.

1. I went grocery shopping by myself (I do this every Monday, but it's still amazing)

2. At Aldi the price of Hershey bars went down.  YES!!!  And, if you know me, you know I eat a lot of Hershey bars.  In fact, I just finished one.  It helps me blog...??? Whatever.

3. The checkout guy at Walmart tried to scan MY coffee mug ....again. HAHAHAHA. It gets me every time.  Seriously.  It doesn't even phase them that it's full when they pick it up.  

4.. Ben was home all day.  So, Monday is usually a good day anyway.

5. Ben and I got to go on a date (that's TWO Mondays in a row..... crazy!)!  We went to Bd's Mongolian Grill (which you may have seen on facebook), and it was DELICIOUS.  If you sign up for their Club Mongo, you get a FREE birthday meal.  That's a great deal... because Bd's ain't cheap!

6. Ben got me a mini ipad for my birthday, and it came Monday.  It was a HUGE surprise.  He felt bad he broke the last one because although it was "his" I used it ALL the time for cooking.  I usually cook from the internet, and having the computer in the kitchen is kind of hard.... and dangerous for spilling.  I thought it was so sweet of him.  Plus, he knows I would never buy one or say I wanted one.  It's better if he just gets it for me. ;)  He's the best.  And not just because he got me a present.  He's was the best before that... it just REMINDED me. haha. I'm just kidding. 

7. We went bowling after Bd's.... and I bowled a 74! I know...super bad.  I think I was distracted by the high schoolers next to us acting like the F word was a perfectly normal adjective to use.  

8. We stopped at Ikea too, and I bought more plastic plates, cups, bowls, and silverwear.  I LOVE their kid dishes.  The bad part was seeing someone wearing a shirt with the F word on it.  Ben and I decided that should be illegal.  That's JUST what I want people to be wearing when Caleb starts learning to read...... ?? "Hey Mom, what does F**** mean?!"  No thanks. 

Now, let's talk about bathrooms (I like when subjects flow naturally after all......).  I find it frustrating that restaurants have to have cutsey names on their bathroom doors.  I prefer walking into the bathroom with TOTAL confidence.  My favorite sign is a picture of a lady in a dress with a "WOMEN" sign above or below it.  You know why?  Because I never question if I'm going in the right door. 

We go to Northwoods occassionally and I think I've got it now, but the first 5 times I went, I had a panic attack every time because the door says "Doe".  I know, I know, everyone knows doe is a female deer.  BUT, you do NOT want to walk in the wrong bathroom, so even if you think you know it, you second guess yourself. (I am QUEEN of second guessing myself and freaking out) I seriously sang "Doe a deer, a FEMALE deer" every time before entering.  Why do they do that to me?  Bd's had "Mongals" on the door.  It's OK, but you have to focus for a second to be sure.  Ben said he once went to a place where they had the male and female signs-- you know, the arrow or the cross on the bottom.  Those were the ONLY signs for the bathroom. I burst out laughing-- that is CRAZY!!!  If you are unsure of the signs google "gender signs".  I just did it (since I'm second guessing my description of the signs...).  Don't worry, wickipedia just informed me of all the additional gender signs.  Apparently you can be "other" or be genderless.  Interesting.

Speaking of gender.... I know that the world thinks you can be genderless, but since I know better, I have decided whether the child in my womb is a boy or a girl. My official guess is... GIRL!  So, we'll see.  Ben is guessing boy, so we have to decide what kind of bet to make.  The other day someone asked Caleb about his siblings, and he said he had a brother in mama's belly. HAHA!  Girl would be easier since I already have my name picked out.  Ben says it's my pick (within reason obviously) since he picked the last two. =)

Since we haven't had a picture yet, I better add one....  Here's my sweet little peanut!  She has a bruise on her cheek from banging it on a drawer, and then yesterday she crawled into the corner of the wall and got the gash on her forehead.  Accident prone?  Hmm.... weird.  Wonder where she got that?  Probably Ben......;) 

And here is Caleb after I gave him "goofy"  I pretty much got him nothing for his birthday, and so the other day when I was at the store and saw Goofy, I HAD to buy it.  Ok, "had" is a bit strong, but I just knew he'd love it SO much that I bought it.  And, if you know me, (which I say A LOT), I NEVER do things like that.  Enjoy the blurry picture.... whoops.  It's hard to get a good picture when Goofy can't stop dancing.  

That's all.  Hope you have a good Wednesday! Tonight we go cheer daddy on at his softball game!

-Melanie

Ebates

So, recently I came across something called ebates.  It is a site that claims to give cash back on your internet purchases.  I felt a little bit weird about it.... but then gave it a try anyway.  UM.... it's BRILLIANT, and I've gotten a check and a giftcard in the mail from them, so I KNOW it's real. Bascially, before you buy anything online, you go to ebates.com.  You look through their stores and click the one you want. (There are A LOT of different stores on there...)  It will tell you how much cash back you get for that store.  Sometimes different stores have double cash back-- it just depends on the week.  Anyway, you click on the store you want, and it directs you to their site... and THAT'S IT.  Seriously.  It's not really a hassle at all and you earn cash back!  I use it all the time-- like when you buy on Amazon (which is currently 5% back!!)... or at Christmas it was really helpful.  It's just nice to get a little bit of a discount when buying online.  The only negative thing is that you get a lot of e-mails from them.... but my brother, who I referred a while ago, said that he changed it so he only gets them once a week.... so really, I guess that's not a problem at all!  To sign up or see what it's about click here.  And you know what else!?!  When you sign up you pick where you want a $10 giftcard from (there's like 4 store choices I think, Target, Walmart, Kohls... etc.)!! I do think with the gift card thing you have to buy something within a certain time frame or it starts losing money-- I'm not positive on that.....

You're welcome.  ;)  I actually first read about this through southernsavers.com, which is a coupon/thirfty website I sometimes look at.  I used to be more faithful with reading it, but sometimes the drug store coupon thing overwhelms me.  Maybe I'm just lazy.

I've been meaning to mention this for a while since I feel like it's a really easy way to save, and I know a lot of you reading are into great deals =).

Stay tuned because tomorrow (I think) I'm posting about Caleb's Birthday BASH.  There were a whopping 6 people there!  You won't want to miss it.... ;)

-Melanie

Family pictures!

 We went to portrait innovations yesterday, and I was a little bit nervous about how it would go.  Caleb is REALLLLY bad at taking pictures (kind of like his mother....) and so getting him to say "cheese" is a bad idea because it turns into a veeerrrrryy dorky, fake, squinty eyed smile (although I generally never have the squinty eye problem....).  The key is to get him to laugh... and then close his mouth and smile....  Oh, and get him to do that for a strange woman, in a strange place, standing in the exact position she put him in. I believe the words "Cross your legs. Put your arm here" "Ooop! Cross your legs!" "Ooops! Put your arm here" etc. was said over and over and over and over and over again.   UM... kind of overwhelming for an ALMOST three year old. ....and maybe more overhwhelming for his mother. (By the way, he turns three next Wednesday. I CANNOT BELIEVE IT.)  So, I promised him he could watch Mickey Mouse (which turned into cookie monster) if he obeyed nice and smiled.  I generally stay away from bribery, but when something is new/different/possibly scary, I try to extend some grace.  Back to pictures...  we had to have Grace sitting still and smiling too.  Another thing, Grace (OF COURSE) woke up with this beautiful little red rash on her cheek.  Doesn't it just figure? The night before Ben asked what I wanted him to pray for, and I said that pictures wouldn't be horrible and we'd get some nice smiles, and that Caleb would be able to obey.  (Caleb was HORRIBLE last time we tried to have pictures taken... I think that's why I was on edge.)  Anyway, prayers were answered.  Enjoy the pictures!  OH, and my parents came along to get some Grandparent pictures too.

 

 

I'm SOOOOO pleased with how they turned out!  I think Caleb looks super grown up.... and Grace looks like she has crazy hair.  Oh wait, she does ;)

Oh, and BIG NEWS.  I think Caleb is potty trained.... or at least really really really close.  It's like the happiest time of my life.  The only horrible part is that I have to do it all over again with Grace....

-Melanie

I'm BAAAAAAAccccck!

I'm back!  Back to my old stomppin grounds.  And, I'm glad.  Ask me why.  Thanks for asking!  Well, wordpress caused me a lot of problems.  I'm not very good with the computer overall, and I found it stressful.  Especially the tabs.  If you go to double dutch, you'll see all of Amanda's recipes under the recipe tab.  If you go to family, you'll see about four of mine.  This is because I didn't have the desire to figure out how to do it... and then after Amanda explained it I basically felt like... aint nobody got time fo dat!  Definitely not something I felt like doing. Amen? And, if blogging is stressful, it's not worth it.  Blogspot is the one for me.  Unless of course, someone wanted to do it all for me, and then Wordpress could be the one for me.  And last, and maybe most importantly, we felt like we were too different to blog together.  We had big dreams-- like doing meal planning and all sorts of things that we could do together, but it basically turned into Amanda's blog one day and Melanie's blog the next.  We don't want to be confusing.  Oh, and no one panic, we're still friends.

So, what's new around here? Welp, as you know, I'm stuck in glasses... SO I'm thinking I should get a second pair.  The other day when I was smothering Anna (as usual), she ripped my glasses off and held onto them with a pretty intense grip.  I try to be careful with my glasses... but there's no way I'm going to stop smooching my baby, and there's REALLY no way I'm going to remove my glasses each time I do it.  So, due to the frequent risk of breakage, I thought I should have a second pair.  I mean what would I do if my glasses were broken? I can wear contacts for approximately 3 hours (sometimes more, sometimes less), so I'd have that amount of time to get a new pair.  OR, I'd be confined to my bedroom until I could get a new pair since I can't see anything without them.  OR, depending on HOW they broke, I could probably tape them.  That'd be reeeaaaal cool.  I'd probably start a new trend though. Let's get real.

Anyway, so I decided to order some free tryons from Warby Parker.  They let you pick out five pairs of glasses and they ship them to you for free and then you ship them back... for free!!  I tried them, and those below were my favorite.  Ok, they weren't.  But, none of them worked out.  I might try again, but after the first time, I need a recovery period.

NIIIIICE! Eh?  Ok, they seriously looked WAY better on the model... I don't get it?? ;)  I know my hair looks bad, and I have no make up on, but I'm thinking that was only part of the issue... 

Then one night I was modeling the glasses to Ben, who shook his head no pretty violently every time I put a new pair on, and Caleb walked in.  He was supposed to be sleeping but obviously wasn't, and he thought he'd just join right in on our glasses party. "MOM! Can I try those ON!?" 

Thankfully he doesn't need glasses (yet), but isn't he cute in those? 

 The search continues.  We'll see if I ever find a pair I like (or Ben likes).

My birthday was a couple weeks ago, and my lovely parents took me and the kids out for lunch.  I chose Jimmy Johns because I love it.  We ate there, and they didn't have booster seats, high chairs, or eating utensils.  Uhh?? It actually went better than expected.  Gracie got to sit (well, more like stand) next to her best friend, Grammy.  Isn't that such a sweet picture!?! The two of them together makes my heart glad.  A few times Gracie has woken up saying "A papa n gam? a papa n gam?" I might prefer something like, "MOM!!!! I'm so glad to see YOU this morning!!!" But what can you do?

The other day when I got back from garage saling with my mom, Gracie came running out of the garage SOOO excited.  I was so happy to have such a wonderful response to my home-coming but then she ran right into Grammy's arms.  Stinker.  I think that puts me in 4th place.  Daddy, Grammy, Anna, Mommy.  Oh well, Caleb loves me enough for both of them.  Can you say mama's boy?! YIKES! Oh, and she's a mama's girl on Sunday mornings when I'm trying to drop her off in the nursery.  Usually Caleb is hanging on one leg and she's hanging on the other as I try to get Anna out of her carseat.  It's SO fun...

And speaking of mothering being SO fun sometimes, I recently listened to this Missional Mothering series on Revive our Hearts, and it was AWESOME!!!  I've been inspired in many ways.  Here's the link in case you missed it on Facebook. Missional mothering series that is totally honking awesome.  It was good for young moms, old moms, grandmas... anyone. Even non moms.  Seriously. Sit back and enjoy.  I was bawling my eyes out for part of it-- where the older kids talk about their mother during childhood.  It was so sweet.

I've been listening to Revive our hearts again a lot lately while I'm cleaning.  It's being double productive. I LOVE being productive.  WHICH is why I'm considering deleting my facebook account. I'm not sure yet, but I think I'm going to go for it soon.  I'd still blog though. But, I'm still thinking on the whole thing.

I'll leave you with this sweet picture.  LOOK, they're SHARING! I'm praying they are friends forever.

Alright, that's all for now.
It's good to be back on blogspot.
-Melanie

We have some catching up to do!

Wow. I feel like I haven't done a family update in a while.... especially as I was looking through my pictures seeing all the stuff I haven't blogged about.

First, I HAVE to include a picture from Grace's birthday bash (beginning of July I guess).  We have pretty small birthday parties over here since my children have no cousins and most Aunts and Uncles and a set of grandparents live QUITE far away.  Theresa (my sister) was out from Arizona, so she could make the party-- that was fun.  So here's one of my favorite pictures from the party.

And then, a while back I was at a garage sale where all the clothes were 25 cents a piece and shoes were 50 cents.  Those are my favorties, and I STOCKED up.  Anyway, Grace didn't need a swimming suit.... but when you see something THIS HONKING CUTE for 25 cents, you'd have to be crazy not to buy it.  JUST LOOK AT IT!!!!

Oh yes, and her hair is wet because Caleb thought it would be a good idea to dump water on her head.  He's lucky she's a good sport and didn't react how HE would have reacted if something similar happened to him.... (I seriously cannot get over the suit... you either??)

Then , a lot of people have been commenting on the length of Caleb's hair lately.  I buzzed it quite short.... and may need to do it shorter and keep it that way for a while.  The reason I buzzed it is....

See that beautiful bald spot? You can't have a kid walking around like that.... you HAVE to shave it when it looks that bad.... agreed??  It's there because my son pulls his hair out. Don't ask why. I don't know. Also, please refrain from telling me stories of people you know who ended up in the nuthouse after having such a weird habit-- it doesn't help.  There's good news and bad news with this problem.  I'll do bad news first:  I have to keep shaving it until he stops I guess, and it's a bummer because I MUCH prefer him to have a bit longer hair. The good news?  Someone else in our family (I won't name names but not me or Grace....) had this bad habit as a child and turned out quite nicely I'd say.  So, while it's annoying and weird, I'm not going to freak out about it.

Then last week my parents and I decided to take a trip to Iowa to see Uncle Alan (and of course my cousin Heather and her family)!  We took my parents car, and so one of us was smashed between both carseats during the 9 hour drive (which we broke up into two trips both ways).

I shouldn't say smashed because it really wasn't that tight-- I was surprised at how comfortable I was. It was just hard getting in and out.  I'm not as young as I once was.... ;).  This was my view when sitting in the back.  Pretty sweet huh?

We stayed at the Holiday Inn which had an indoor pool, thankfully, since it was winter in Iowa while we were there....

Caleb did OK in the water.  He went in but not for long.  He mostly stayed on the stairs.  And towards the end he would "jump" in.  This was him sitting on the edge and me pulling him in and catching him..... I let him call it jumping because it was an improvement.... I'm hoping to do swim lessons next year and get him a bit.....ok A LOT more confident.

And then THIS happened about a half an hour before we pulled back in our driveway..... those little STINKERS!

 

Our trip to Iowa was short and sweet.  I'm glad we went, but I can't say I'm eager to make the trip again-- especially while being pregnant.  My back has issues.

And then let's recap Sunday, just for fun and pray this week is better....

7 am-- Caleb pees on bedroom carpet (REALLY?!??!?!!)

7:03am-- I notice

7:05am-- Grace wakes up

7:05am-- Caleb is sent to sit on toliet while I clean up the mess (he's crying)

7:05-7:15am-- I google how to clean urine out of carpet and scrub the stain using vinegar, baking soda, and vaccum it up.

7:15am-- I ask Ben to deal with Caleb

7:17am-- I get Grace and find she did THIS to her blinds.....

Thank you Grace.... NOT.....

It was a rough day that ended in hand foot and mouth disease.  Not to be confused with hoof and mouth disease or mad cow disease.  Hopefully next Sunday is better if we end up going to church, which I'm not sure if we will (you'll know why we wouldn't from my previous post).

And now I will go continue cleaning out some things-- it's on to cleaning out the kitchen cabinets!!

Thanks for listening,

Melanie

We have hand foot and mouth disease....

It’s true.  We have Hand foot and mouth disease in this house.  Caleb and Grace got fevers on Sunday.  That’s how it began.  I’ve talked to my doc’s office, other moms, other doc’s offices, and done some research on the good ole’ internet.  I’ll tell you things I’ve learned, so you can be just as confused as I am.

1. Hand foot and mouth disease starts with a fever

2. Sometimes kids don’t get fevers with it.

3. You are no longer contagious after your fever is gone EVEN if you still have spots on your body

4. You can be congagious for WEEKS after all your symptoms are gone.

5. Adults cannot get HFMD (that’s the fancy shortening of it)

6. Adults can get HFMD

7. Adults cannot spread HFMD (since they can’t get it)

8. Some adults can be carrying it without symptoms and pass the virus on.

Well, I’m feeling much better now…. NOT!  What am I supposed to do with information like that?!

Apparently my kids are no longer contagious but still are for weeks…..  I’m feeling REALLY confident.

Oh, and in case you’re wondering about my kids, they no longer have fevers, Caleb is acting normal– just has spots on his feet and hands.  They don’t seem to bother him. Grace doesn’t have spots(yet?!) but has a very poor appetite. It could be A LOT worse, so I’m thankful for this seemingly mild case.

Thanks for listening.  I may need therapy when they’re better…. which could be now… or a few weeks. And maybe I’ll get it, but probably not since I can’t.

-Melanie