Sunday? Family fun! - Games

Do you play games? I mean kids games? The ones they throw at us telling how smart, creative verbal etcetera ... it will make our kids and at the mean while make them glow from the good time spent, feeling completely grateful for having such sweet loving parents that are willing to buy this stuff for them ... ?

Well we do it very rarely ... mostly when kids are acting out, and I start thinking that it may be because I don't do enough quality time activities with them, the boxes, books and other activities will come out ... but there is no real routine ... which is a shame ... because as I found out yesterday ... we step back in our old ways so easily without routines ... and I always seem to find excuses to put these extra fun activities on the program ... but that just ain't fair. That's why I love DianeDenmark 15m crafts so great! Which excuse can we possibly bring in against 15m magic.
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So today I put the kids on a project where they are decorating shoe boxes, they will have to fill them up with toys they no longer use, but that will be for another day lol ... because the fun part of the giving up toys ... ;/

But still bit on the skinny side for "family fun" ... Maybe I look at it in a to P* way ... Thinking, DH won't join in in a family activity, because he has his own (basement-remodel) mission today, and already made it clear that he won't stop till he finished the first part of the basement(which will keep him busy till late this evening). Why do I find this difficult, simple fun activities at home? Why do I feel the urge to run of and start some chores? Why do I look at weekends as the time to catch up on work? Ok scraping myself together ... this is supposed to be fun! Going to join in on the decorating, putting some kids music on and just bond :) for 30m :)

Saturdays blessings - old ways

Auch, today I fell in my "old ways" a bit ... whenever I get the feeling that things reaaally need to be done, I sometimes get in overdrive ... forgetting to put the fun part in my saturdays ... I got punished for it ... I'll remember I hope, next time I want to plan another day like this one :/ Kids felt deprived and were very very exhausting ... but I was the only one to blame, should have made a more relaxed saturday program and not try to catch up on things ... BABYSTEPS!!!

On the bright side, I got a lot done. I bagged lots of clothes, especially socks, that were too small for kids Let go of lots of clothes I just kept around ... in case ... Did lots of laundry, yes even the putting away part :) Cleaned a carpet ... ok that threw me off schedule lol ... didn't even get to the toy organizing, donating project :/ But tomorrow is another day ... :)

Foodies Friday - Fruit and menu plan

Nowadays fruit take a very important place in my diet. I eat at least three pieces a day and mostly even more! I havn't always been a huge fan. I have a sweet tooth and often the soury or bitter taste will throw me off ... And then there is the peeling, slicing , sticky fingers ... sigh ;) Luckily there are some fruits for the lazy daisies :) ... Kiwi's ... and especially the sweet golden ones! And I couldn't believe .. also one of the healthiest fruits on earth! Ever since I met these little golden sweeties I need one to makemy day complete :) (Click pic to see website from zespri with cool kids corner and yummie recipes!)

saturday

Vegetarian couscous.

sunday

Mashed potatoes with green beans and porc.

monday

Spaghetti with ricotta sauce and bacon, with fresh green salad.

tuesday

Rice with tomato based veggie sauce and vegetarian burgers.

wednesday

Fresh fish wit potatoes and ricotta endive sauce.

thursday

Bulgur grains with cauliflower gratinated in oven.

friday

Leftover friday.

Toddlers thursdays - food

Parenting! Raises questions marks ... highlights exclamation marks ... brings up the occasional "..." Apparently the "Brangelina" couple is checking ponctuation too lately. Reason? Meat or no meat for the kids ...

Now being a foodie in the most broad sense of the word. Being married to one and being sure that this love of food is in my genes ... well food occasionally raises some exclamation marks too instead of serving it's primary pleasuring goals.

Luckily DH and me are on the same page when it concerns feeding our toddlers. Allthough DH tends to be more relaxed about food in general and I mostly am the stricter one. What do we try and teach our children when it comes to food?

Try and have a taste .. pretty pleaze ... but respecting a "no".
No seperate meal plans. (There are some exceptions when it comes to spicy food, seafood ...)
Fruit is a must eat!
Veggies must be eaten in order to get seconds from meat or grains.
Three cups of milk a day ... but recently this is becoming a problem I will need to work on more creative ways to give it to them ....
Dessert is only for those who eat a reasonable portion of the main dish.
Trying to trick them into eating things using songs, desserts, special playtime ... (not entirely happy with this, but it works)
Trying to replace unhealthy high fat high sugar desserts by more healthy ones and reducing them to 3 small portions a day.
And where do the exclamation marks come in? Well when dh gives in to the kids when they start whining they want their dessert without finishing their meal, when family members think I'm harsh expecting them to eat healthy foods and start stuffing them with sweets and chocolate while saying "at least they have something in ... " Hard to stay "Zen" ... very hard ... for me that is ;)

Just Clean

:) Needed to see this one again :)

Lifestyling tuesdays - Morning routine

I just love sleeping. You know the feeling the second you crawl under your sheets, lay down your head and exhale ... bliss. Instant relaxation. If I could catch that calmness and contentment in a bottle ... what a marvelous thing it would be to open up during times of stress ... just a few seconds would do wonders ... It is also (mostly)the moment of the day, where everything seems so easy. I can plan hours and hours of work, walk through easy peasy routines ... at night I can't imagine how Princessy, tiredness, two kids, a dh, family, friends, schoolwork, a home to bless can give me such a hard time to balance out. You just get up, be cheerful, patient, and get on with it lol :)

But mornings are quite different. In the morning I can hardly comprehend how on earth I could even consider getting up that early, let alone being cheerful. How could only one cup of coffee get me energized? Why could I only take 15m of computer time? Clearing up breakfast, making beds, rescue bathroom ... why can't they wait.

When afternoon comes, guilt sneaks in ... aah why didn't I just do as planned ... sigh!

But no whining. You can make things better! I already made a huge babystep, by setting a fixed (euh with 1h 30 margin space lol) hour to get up in the morning. At first it made me shiver. No sleeping in, ever ever, for more than 1h30 ... but somehow it has worked quite the opposite. It has removed the bitterness from getting up ... because I DECIDED that getting up ain't something negative ... something I have to do on weekdays to get the family and myself launched ... I do no longer long for weekends and holidays to FINALLY have a sleep in. Kids do not longer irritate me when waking up at the same time as weekdays, when I planned in some extra sleep ... and the 1h30 margin gives me some space when exhaustion caught up with me because of whatever reason I thought was more important than getting my hours of sleep.

So, this late night owl changed her ways and became an early bird. My alarm starts ringing before 5am and I try to get out around 5... It seems to work for me! Most days I succeed and get the gift of me-time: pc time during breakfast, 30m work-out on home-trainer and most importantly: a stress-free launch ... ok that is if dh can control his stress levels :-)

Monday Flylady Blessings - chaos

Well one knows that routines need attention when 5m roomrescue turns into 1h houserescue :) ... ok lets make that :( Anyway ... I just love my 5minute miracles sessions. Sometimes even 15m/room crisis cleaning can't keep my feelings of being overwhelmed at bay ... so then I use my 5minute wonders. Also helps to give some attention to the upstairs area, that will mostly be left out when working with my 15m sessions... In one hour I can give almost every room a tiny bit of my attention AND I even get some decluttering done! Also thinking about making a check list with all my area's to alternate my 5mrr during schooldays ... when time for 1h sessions is scarce ... and for now babystepping my way to a routine where in 15m my house can be ready for guests!

Sundays family fun - Lille

Dh and me have enjoyed every second of our little break from reality. Yesterday we checked in at the novotel hotel. Dh spoiled us with an "executive room". Lovely room, cute bathroom, nicely made bed ... just wonderfull. But we soon took off to visit this cute little town, which perfectly (sorry lol) fits dh and my profile. Lots of shops, among one adorable cookery shop where I just had to buy my new specialised chocolate frosting decoration equipment :), bakeries and restaurants of all sorts. On top of that the second best art museum after the Paris Louvre is situated here! We didn't get to visit becuse of All Saints Day, because we were led to believe they woud be open ... but off course ... Anyway,Lille will be revisited ... and i it is up to DH and me ... very very very soon!

Saturday blessings - anniversary

Yes ... any excuse is good for lots of celebrations. So we are taking this five year anniversary excuse with us aaaaaall weekend :)




Kids will go to the seaside with my aunt and grandmother for a spoiling extravaganza. DH and me will drive off to Lille in France ... that is when he finally gets out of bed lol! Check out where we will be going (click pic):




So as usual the fun part is taken care of. For the homeblessings? Well I am doing some laundry while dh is sleeping in! And OK BTF .... off computer and off with my magic wand to put out the fires!

Foodies Friday - Halloween muffins /menu planning

Well I am a "she" ... have been planning and plotting for weeks about making some "Halloween muffins" ... In my p* world I would make them early as a trial in sweet harmony with the kids. Muffins would turn out gorgeous an delicious ... and I would bake an extra batch later on for my D(ear) S(tudents) ... Oh well :) I made them this morning, just before leaving for school lol. Couldn't find my quantity of baking salt, because I always seem to forget writing it down on my recipe card, recipe book was at a friends house ... luckily @mominisrael helped out. I made my batch of white chocolate coated chocolate chip muffins... but had to drop the Halloween spider, because it was to difficult to draw for me. I made one with a cobweb, which I actually liked ... but had to leave it to that because .... I ran out of dark chocolate frosting lol. Aaah kids at school were thrilled anyway ... and there is always next year :)

Friday

Italian restaurant: Tagliatelle with deer and mushrooms for me and dh took ravioli with mushroom filling.

Saturday&Sunday

Trip to France .... :)

Monday

Vegetarian pasta.

Tuesday

Fish-sticks with mashed potatoes and broccoli.

Wednesday

Chicken drumsticks with bulgur, and mixed veggies in tomato sauce.

Thursday

Potatoes, vegetarian burgers, and cabbage.

Friday

Leftover friday

Toddlers thursdays - mommy and daddy break

Kids are staying with my family this weekend. They left Wednesday evening after dinner and we will pick them up Sunday evening. DH & me have our 5 year anniversary and are going on a trip to Lille, France. To be honest, although missing them ... I really enjoy the sudden freedom when my kids are not home ... I can't imagine life without them and although they are not here ... almost every conversation is about them lol. Almost every plan includes them .... But still, sometimes I wonder how life would be if there never was a break with me-time and possibilities to recharge batteries for longer then the usual potty break :) ... Is there something that I am doing wrong, that makes parenting sometimes so tiring? How did and do mothers cope when there never is a break? And how did, do they collect their thoughts to evaluate their life when these sweet little toddlers among these never-ending homeblessings seem to always need our attention. Or is it true as some of my older female family members are saying and is the problem my lifestyle expectations. Is it so that a mother isn't supposed to workout on a daily basis for an hour or more a day, is it so that computer time and finding friendship on the net isn't a mommy thing, blogging a luxury that we should sacrifice to save energy for our family, meditation , study , working outside the home, ... do I exaggerate? ... Or will these 4 days without them give me the space to look for ways to balance everything out in a new way?

Wordless wednesday - zone

Is it only my livingroom that seems to have transformed into a playground?

Lifestyling tuesdays - my hometrainer&me

Sports have become hugely important in my life lately. And this tunturi hometrainer (not exactly the same as in the pic) has lived in my bedroom the last six years. But for a month or two it finally gets some regular attention since a very long time.

I really love my hometrainer now. I exercice most mornings for 20 to 30 minutes and every two weeks he gives me a test to monitor my improvements ... thats when our love hits a rough patch ... I really hate him for his honesty :/ During the first test he announced my cardio age ... 67 ... euh .... that's only a 34 years difference :( .... Ok by now I have reached the age of 57 ... still not what I am aming for but at least I'm getting younger. My last test was this weekend, but no improvement ... guess I'll have to be a bit more patient ...

Monday Flylady Blessings - evening routine

Last week before autumn holidays! Thank God! I love my job, but this term was way to long! Especially considering that my wings are a bit broken ... But no whining ;) Babystepping it, because it's the only way!


So lets resume my first steps:


Laundry: the folding and putting away keeps haunting me


Swishing and swiping: ok for toilets, but bathroom is getting out of control :/


And what do I blame lol : my evening routine. I just want to go to bed because I'm so d* tired ... But BTF. If my bbr is the problem ... well lets address it.





For this week's goal: 1. BBR: a) teeth


b) 15m laundry (getting scared though ...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L5Mm_e5CDpc ;)

2.MR : adding: s&s bathroom

Sunday? Family fun! - Sea (II)

Well last weekend was so relaxing ... I just had to do it again lol ... this time with dh, the kids and dear friend. Sun, sea, lots of shels, pancakes, icecream ... and two very very tired kids who are now snoring peacefully in ther little beds... who needs toys?

Saturdays blessings - Halloween walk

This morning I want to get lots done ... the lazy way :) So...
plan and play disguised as blogging ;)
laundry reboot
launch kids
room rescuing
baking
Plan and play II
We "travelled" to Denmark for a crafty spooky afternoon. Which set the mood for ...

Our evening Halloween Walk, organised by the parent board (DH member), as a way to raise money for the school. I promise pics :)

I hope I can fit in a 15m decluttering long-term miracle in the office area tonight ... so I can balance work and fun better this week!

Foodies Friday - comfort food /menu planning

I'm running out of energy lately ... I'm balancing in between babystepping and trying not to drown :/ One more week and we will have our autumn break at school ... wieeeeha :)

But in the mean while ... I have been in deep need of comfort food. So my food and mood book is put aside a bit lol! To tired to look up the healthy fixes :)

So tonight leftover friday was levelled up with home made chicken nuggets :)

Next week?

Saturday

Chicory with red sweet pepper, potatoes and ricotta spinach sauce.

Sunday

Chinese rice with mushrooms.

Monday

Spaghetti from freezer.

Tuesday

Chili sin carne with tortillas.

Wednesday

Potatoes with haricots and fishsticks.

Thursday

Quinoa with tomatobased sauce, carrots, nuts, artichokes.

Friday

Leftover friday.

Toddlers thursdays - sad

Two days ago a friend passed away. She was about my age. With this cute little two year old. Today for toddlers thursday ... I just want to honour her. What a blessing to have known her ... what a blessing just being here today with my kids ... I can kiss them and hug them, cuddle them ... I just wished that I could pass one of her kisses, cuddles on to her little boy right now ...

Wordless wednesday - Tips?

Any tips to put my new purchase to good use? ;)

Lifestyling tuesdays - yoga

Tomorrow I will be going to my weekly yogaclass. After recovering from my illness last year. I realized I had lots of stress-related problems. When I learned that through the brestcancers survivors group, we could sign up for yoga and relaxation ... well I didn't have to think twice!

Ok, I still have a long way to go, banning useless stress out of my life ... but I can highly recommend it to everyone! For now babystepping it and only doing exercices during class. But I soon hope to have a routine, where I can add a little yoga everyday! Anyone joining in? :)