Little Things

I've been feeling rather under appreciated lately and then I am reminded that I matter in little ways:

A mom at work thanked me for writing a simple note on a daily sheet reminding her about a sack lunch being needed.  She would have forgotten otherwise but my note helped her and made her day smoother.

My daughter is on spring break this week and wanted to help mom out by working at preparing dinner for the family.  I helped some but she did quite a lot of it...and it was good!  Thanks to the firstborn for her help tonight!  I appreciate our wanting to help me by doing something I normally do!

The husband made the bed for me, I had taken off the sheets this morning and hadn't yet made the bed and he helped me out by putting the fresh sheet on, new pillowcases, and other things just because he loves me!  I'm looking forward to sleeping in a clean bed tonight.

The toddler is growing up, I can now peek in his classroom and see him throughout the day and he doesn't cry when I leave.  He knows that I am in the building and that I will come and get him when I am done with work and the teachers he is with take good care of him.  It makes the day move much more smoothly.

The 10 year old is going to make a cake tonight,  I am thankful that the kids are learning how to do more and more things and do them well.  I will have to help him but he is capable of doing a lot of it himself!  I'm glad he is growing and maturing.

Valentines Day

It has been a week for us.

We have been so busy, so everywhere, so focused on Valentines Day.

Valentines Day....I used to dislike this holiday. I've never been a mushy gushy person.  Don't get me wrong, I feel love, I just don't need Valentines Day to show love to people.

However, this year I embraced my inner Valentines...I put more thought into it and decided to bless Dan in the process.

He knows I love him, I know he loves me.

We do forget to do nice things for each other sometimes so we decided to put thought into our love and show each other love this month.

In honor of  Valentines Day I made him cheesecake...homemade, not from a box, water-bath baked cheesecake.

I've never made cheesecake before...see I don't really like it.  It's okay, but not my favorite.

 

 However, I've recently joined Pinterest, and I found these cute conversation heart cheesecakes and I totally thought I am going to make these for him...so I did and they tasted great, but I couldn't get them out of the pans so they technically were a fail.

I also pulled a Supermom, Superteacher moment and baked full size blueberry muffins for my class and mini muffins for the toddlers class.  I really felt domestic...but we did have to eat McDonalds in order for me to have time to do all these things...I do work you know.

We both worked on V-day and so I crocked pot a Pot Roast for dinner and we enjoyed a quiet evening together on the couch catching up on shows on our DVR...my kind of night.  

On another note, we have found a way to keep the toddler busy...YOUTUBE...especially the yogabbagabba channel...he can watch this on the computer and we can watch other non kid TV...he goes back and forth and enjoys it so I am using it for the moment...

Plus for me....See's Candy....only the best candy in the world...my favorite for Valentines Day!  Thanks dear for the present!  Love ya!

IT's JUST TOO HARD

"This is impossible"

"I can't stand this"

"I don't want to do this, it's just too hard"

These statements I have heard this morning coming from my living room.

And no, I didn't say them, I overheard them.

The 10 year old is working on cleaning up the living room....and the mess its bad, really bad, and I offered to pay him but he really doesn't want to do it.

He's frustrated, and I understand, I'm there with him.

However, I am stopping playing the martyr.  I'm not going to let him give up, and I am not going to do it for him.  He needs to learn, and I need to guide him to do his best and accomplish the task.

My life has been like this...full of frustrations and hurts and complaints of it just being way to hard!

I've gained some hope though,  it's hard, yes, it's hard...and I am not the only person in the world who feels this way.  I have friends,  and other mom's who blog, unknown acquaintances who also struggle with this same stuff.  I'm not the only one who struggles and struggles and fails at being "SUPERMOM".

I don't have to be "SUPERMOM"!  I don't have a magic cape, I can't fly, I'm not Mary Poppins and IT's OKAY!

Whew...wow...did I finally admit it!

That's the heart of it, I have to let go of my desire to be perfect.

I'm not perfect, I'm not amazing, I'm not the best...I'm just me.

Sometimes I do things really really well.  Sometimes I don't do things very well.

I thought of it like this...

I can be a good cook....but I can also be a good kitchen cleaner so I want to cook more!

I can be a great mom...and I can let the little things slide and inspire my children in their inspirations.

I can be a good teacher...and I can also have an off day...but I am not defined by my failure.

I can be a good motivator...and ASK for help!

I can be weak....I can't carry the load alone.

It's just too Hard to do things alone...and it's just too hard to do things in my own strength...I've been again seeing that only be allowing myself to be weak and frail and asking for help and asking for God's help am I truly able to get through the day and work at being the best mom, wife, teacher and friend I can be.

It's hard to admit your not as great as you want to be, but at the same time it is a very freeing experience!

Getting Back to the Routine

Now that Christmas Break is over I am trying to get back to the routine of life.

It's harder than I remember...probably because I am trying to be cleaner and more organized.  More purposeful too....

So tonight I really don't want to cook...I want to go out for dinner but we shouldn't go out since it is much more affordable to eat at home...but I am cooking because it is a good grown up thing to do.

Chicken and spicy rice with lemon...will be good...I hope...but it's good to be cooking and meeting the needs of my family.

Tomorrow I will post my P365 pictures for the week!

Feeling Saucy!

Dan and I spent the evening creating a homemade BBQ sauce. It's got quite the kick and is super yummy! Not bad for our first time creating sauce from scratch!

Working together

Dan and I enjoy cooking together...most of the time!

Tonight he was in charge of chopping the vegetables while I was in charge of making sure all the veggies were washed, and in smaller containers to cook all together in a delicious stir-fry! We made enough for 3 meals for Dan at work and leftovers for me to eat at different times early this week.

I am very proud of my man, he is really sticking to his new diet regime. He is also being very diligent in making sure that we have a plan in mind for him for taking food for work! I am then able to be supportive of his effort by knowing ahead of time what I need to cook or fix and have ready for him to pack in his lunch the next day.

All in all a very productive weekend full of family time and fun! We all are enjoying taking turns on the Wii and having a good time giving each other pointers! Looking forward to a busy yet active week ahead!

Just call me Martha...

Today I cooked all day. I made lots of yummy food for next week. I had the idea to make food on Saturdays and portion it out for the week. I often don't want to cook when I get home from work and Dan is looking to take food for his lunch to work to help save money. So I cooked lots of yummy stuff.

Chicken and Noodles..yummy

Cheesy chicken and broccoli casserole

I completey boiled and deboned the chicken for dishes.

Homemade meatballs

I am quite tired but feeling really good about what I accomplished today. I still have more chicken for another dish but I ran out of steam today. Will be cooking more tomorrow.