Menu Plan Monday

It has been awhile since I have last done a "Menu Plan Monday" but since I wrote one up for this week (and for next week as well) I figured, I might as well share it, right? So here goes:

Monday:
D - Lasagna, green beans, peaches

Tuesday:
D - Burritos, rice, fruit salad

Wednesday: (Oralee's birthday dinner)
D - Grilled hamburgers, potato salad, fruit salad

Thursday:
D - Grilled chicken wraps, corn, pears

Friday: 
D - Pork Stir Fry

Saturday:
B - Cold cereal
L - Graduation celebration (lunch served)
D - Retirement celebration (dinner served)

Sunday:
B - Pancakes, eggs and sausage (Fast Sunday for me)
L - Soup and sandwiches (Fast Sunday for me)
D - Pork roast with potatoes, carrots, celery and onion, peaches

I am going to link this post up to Org Junkie's Menu Plan Monday this week. Head on over if you'd like and see what other people are planning for their menus.

Trust and Patience

 I had a bit of an epiphany the other day when I woke up. It was Hubby's last day off from work that he would have for about two weeks. I had gone to bed the previous night with a migraine and when I first woke up in the morning to get the kids up and off to school, I was not feeling so great. I still had the migraine and had some sinus issues as well (I think it was from allergies). So I asked Hubby to get the kids up and take them to school for me, which he did. I did have to call out to them that Koren didn't need to wear shorts or tennis shoes today because although he did have P.E. for that day, he would not be participating in it because of his eyes being dilated. Oralee had P.E. on the schedule as well and she DID need her tennis shoes, which I also had to make sure that Hubby knew. But for the most part, he got them all ready to go.


I came out to the living room to keep an eye on Jeriah while Hubby went to drop the other kids off at school and then Jeriah fell back asleep as well (I think he might be having allergy issues as well) and slept until 11:30 in the morning. And for a kid that does NOT nap, Hubby got extremely lucky. Because I also fell back asleep. I didn't wake up until noon though, when Hubby was putting Jeriah on the school bus.

I got up and realized that Hubby had spent his entire morning after the kids went to school, playing video games and just relaxing. Normally, this is something that would severely tick me off. But I really think that there is something happening within my whole thought process and perception thing. Maybe it has to do with the official decision of me being the one that is staying home now, maybe it has to do with me just trying to make a stronger effort to be a better housekeeper and wife, maybe it is a combination thereof. But my first reaction was not to be ticked off.

My reaction? Gratefulness. Yep, you read that right. I was grateful. Because although there were things that he could have very easily done, he didn't do them. He felt like he could take that morning and just relax and do something fun for him to do. (I'm guessing the fact that he let me sleep in helped a bit too, to be honest!) I took his actions to mean that he TRUSTED me to get it all done. He had faith that he could just take the morning for himself and enjoy it, because he knew that the work would get done. And that is what I took as a huge compliment.

Not too long ago, I got offended because I had told him that I would get around to doing something and then I got busy with the kids' activities and lessons and my work and volunteering and church activities and whatever else. And I didn't get around to doing whatever it was that Hubby had wanted me to do. So he did it himself. I was hurt. He didn't trust me to get it done. And I reacted in a hurt manner. I'm sure I told him that I was hurt that he didn't trust me to get it done. And he responded by saying that he had trusted that I would get it done and then had waited patiently for me to do it until he just did it for himself.

Patience. My husband has way more of it for me than I do for him (on a regular basis). When I want him to do something, I ask him. When he doesn't do it, I ask him again. When he still doesn't do it, I ask again. I have learned how to ask repeatedly without it sounding to him like, "Nag nag nag nag naaa-aaaggg" All I have to do is ask. Then when I have waited an appropriate length of time, I just say, "Honey, I don't know if maybe you got distracted or forgot, or if you were still planning to do it, but I was wondering if you were still planning to..." to which he will generally respond, "Oh, right! I'm sorry. I forgot. I will get that taken care of right away!" and sometimes he doesn't get it done right away and I will wait another appropriate length of time and say, "Honey, I don't want to bother you, but if you need me to do .... , I can do it. Just let me know," which usually is the point he will do whatever the task was. But it is all about timing and tone. He can tell in my tone if I am sincere in the way that I am asking or if I am sarcastic. We have been married for 11 years, he should definitely be able to pick up on that by now.

But there is very little that Hubby actually asks me to do for him. So when he asks me to do something specific, I try to make sure it gets put up towards the top of the priority list. On the other hand, it could be said that he doesn't have to ask for much because I already do most of what he would ask for. But you know what? To be honest, I don't think that is necessarily true. I mean, I do try to make sure that the home is a comfortable, relaxing, inviting place for him to come home to at the end of his workday and to not bombard him with my day or with requests when he walks through the door. But I think it is just that he trusts me more to just do "my job" here at home.

And before someone gets their panties in a bunch about the house being my job, let me assure you, I am happy with it. The home and the kids and my husband ARE my job. It is my job to focus on them and make sure that they are taken care of and loved and to make sure that they know that too. My husband's hard work allows me to be able to do this. So when he makes the odd request of me to do something, I will do it.

It's funny, as I was typing this, my husband came up to me and asked me to switch a couple of meals around on the menu because he wanted a particular meal this evening (I am writing this post ahead of the day it will be published) and also asked me to pick up some very specific items at the grocery store when I go shopping. And asked that I do something very specific in the house tomorrow (which I did let him know that it would not likely be able to be done tomorrow, but that the following day, I would have a chance to do it) and he will not ask about these things again. He just won't. He trusts that I will do these things and he has the patience to wait for me to get it done. I could learn a lesson or two from him on this matter.

(And darn it! I saved my blog as a bookmark on his phone. Now he gets to read all of this about himself! Just kidding. I love you honey!)

Tackle It Tuesday - Catch Up Edition

So today, I have a long list of things to get done, so that's how it's going to happen today. You get my list. I get to check it off.

• Dishes. (Two dishwasher loads done.)
• Clear off the kitchen counters. (Done.)
• Clear off the stove top. (Done.)
• Clean the kitchen sink. (Done.)
• Take trash out.
• Take recycling out.
• Sweep and mop the kitchen floor.

• Move the bunkboard out to the shed.
• Clear off the dining room table. (Done.)
• Clear off the dining room chairs. (Done.)
• Sweep and mop the dining room floor.
• Take trash out.
• Feed and water the dogs. (Done.)

• Clear off the sectional. (Done.)
• Tidy up the TV stand. (Done.)
• Tidy the toy shelf. (Done.)
• Tidy the entry. (Done.)
• Tidy my table. (Done.)
• Pick up the living room floor. (Done.)
• Take trash out.
• Vacuum the living room floor.

• Clear off the armoire. (Done.)
• Clear off Hubby's desk. (Done.)
• Pick up corner near Hubby's desk. (It's a catch-all area.) (Done.)
• Clear off cedar chest. (Done.)
• Straighten chair area in den. (Done.)
• Pick up floor in den. (Done.)
• Take trash out.
• Vacuum the den floor.

• Pick up the floor in the hallway. (Done.)
• Vacuum the hallway floor.

• Pick up the little kids' bedroom floor.
• Put away the little kids' clothes.
• Put away the little kids' toys.
• Put away the little kids' books.
• Take trash out.
• Vacuum the little kids' bedroom floor.

• Pick up the older boys' bedroom floor.
• Put away the older boys' clothes.
• Put away the older boys' toys.
• Put away the older boys' books.
• Take trash out.
• Vacuum the older boys' bedroom floor.

• Fold laundry and put away. (Running tally of loads for the day: 0)
• Wash and dry laundry. (Running tally of loads for the day: 0)
• Clean out the bathtub.
• Clean the bathtub.
• Clear off the vanity.
• Clean the vanity.
• Clean the mirrors.
• Clean the toilet.
• Sweep and mop floor.
• Take trash out.

That is the total lump sum of everything that I'd like to get done today. It won't all get done. But I like having a list to work off of. And there are many more tasks that I could include on there. But I'm not going to. This is just an idea of what I would like to get done today. No time like the present to get started! You can click on the banner image at the top of this post to head on over to 5 minutes for mom to see what other bloggers are tackling today as well.

Clean House Challenge - Week 17

Admittedly, it has been a fair amount of time since I have done a Clean Home Challenge week, but there is no time like the present to get it started. This week's challenge is to sort through and purge bed linens. However, I don't feel that we need to do that. So instead of purging bed linens, it is my goal this week to wash them, dry them and get them folded nice and neat so that they can be put away.

If I find, while doing this, that we have more than what we need or that there are some that are just worn or whatever and should be purged, then I will absolutely do so! No before pic because I lost my camera and right now, all of our sheets are folded and put away in the cedar chest (we have a practical storage issue in our home - no linen closet - so we use the storage we have, in our case, a cedar chest)

I will let you know next week what I have gotten rid of in the bed linens department if purging does happen.

In the meantime, head on over to Katie's blog to see the rest of the challenges. You can also click here to see the challenges I have participated in. Wow. I thought that I had done more than that, but I guess not. Oh well, there will be more. Lots more!

Menu Plan Monday

It has been awhile since I have last done a "Menu Plan Monday" but since I wrote one up for this week (and for next week as well) I figured, I might as well share it, right? So here goes:

Monday:
D - Spaghetti with meat sauce, green beans, garlic bread and pears

Tuesday:
D - Frozen pizza, peaches

Wednesday:
D - Beef enchiladas, rice, beans, corn

Thursday:
D - Blue and Gold Banquet for Cub Scouts

Friday: (No School)
B - Pancakes, eggs and sausage
L - Homemade mini pizzas
D - Grilled chicken and spinach canneloni

Saturday:
B - Pancakes, eggs and sausage
L - Macaroni and cheese with baked ham
D - Grilled hamburgers and baked fries

Sunday:
B - Pancakes, eggs and sausage
L - Sandwiches and fresh fruit
D - Beef roast with potatoes, carrots, celery and onion, peaches

I am going to link this post up to Org Junkie's Menu Plan Monday this week. Head on over if you'd like and see what other people are planning for their menus.

Koren's Eyes

I put the drops in Koren's eye today, then snapped a picture of it with Hubby's phone (because my camera is MIA and has been for awhile now!) But anyhow, here ya go:

Isn't that odd looking? We love the kid regardless of his pupil size but it is a little bit odd to see him like this now. When Babycake's dad came to pick up Babycakes this afternoon, he saw Koren's eyes and said, "What the heck?" It really caught him off guard.

But the good news is that Koren seems to be doing well with it. He played outside in the shade for awhile, but came inside because the light was a little too much for him to handle. And now he is playing a video game. It seems he i snot quite as blinded by this drop as we thought he would be. Yay! That is GREAT news!

Exciting Change

I had mentioned in my Two Months in No Time Flat post that there were some very exciting new changes going on in our lives.

My husband has made the solid request that I stay at home.

In the course of our 11 year marriage, I have worked or gone to school nearly the whole time, minus end of pregnancy times. Sometimes, I had a "real" out of the home job, sometimes I had an out of the home job, but it was more of a self-employment kind of thing (CNA doing private duty, doing childcare in someone else's home, etc). Other times, it was an in-home job doing self-employment (marketing, sales, home childcare, etc) and then of course, some of it was spent in college. Most of the time, it was a combination of all of the above.

Late last year, I had switched from regular hours at my job as a private duty home health aide to a PRN schedule. But my PRN shifts were not very frequent. Then I got called on to do PRN for another family that I have been with for years and so then I was PRN at two different places. The only problem with this is that either they were both fine and didn't need me, or they both needed me at the same time. It was a real balancing act that was rather stressful for awhile there.

Meanwhile, Hubby had started a new job and was being cross-trained because the store manager (known as the general manager) wants Hubby to be an assistant manager in a certain area. So Hubby was working and getting more and more hours.

We worked hard to try to balance our schedules so that we were the ones home taking care of the children. There were times (some more frequent than others) where the kids would end up needing to spend time over at Hubby's parent's house. Which is fine. We love having them spend time with their grandparents but we also didn't want to rely so much on his parents for childcare.

Then, there came a slow spot in the PRN hours and during this time that I was home more, the children's behaviors and schedules improved, their grades and performance in school improved, the overall care of the house improved, I was able to focus much more on taking care of my home, my husband, my children and make them feel like they were really important, and not just something that I have to check off before rushing off to work. I know it may sound horrible, but sometimes, that's exactly what it felt like, and I'm sure that is what it felt like to them too.

Cephas began reading at or above grade level for the first time in four years, Koren began reading at or above grade level for the first time ever, Jeriah made such improvement that he was released from Special Education. Oralee, well, Oralee hasn't had much marked change but even still, with all of the other changes with the boys, we determined that it was due in large part to the time I was at home, able to focus on them and really help them to succeed.

We also determined that by making a few changes, we would be able to make ends meet on just Hubby's income. Now, there isn't a WHOLE lot of wiggle room, but we have enough for all of our bills and needs, savings, tithing as well as some leftover for fun stuff or to just simply take our family out for dinner (which isn't always cheap when you have a family of six!)

There was still the question, though, of should I continue with some minor part-time PRN hours, just to give us a little bit more wiggle room or savings or whatever. I wanted to make sure that I was also contributing to our household.

And then I got the call. One of the families wanted me to come back to regular hours. So Hubby and I sat down and discussed it. His answer? "No. I don't want you to go back. We don't need the extra money." First of all, NEVER before in our marriage have we been able to say that. We probably could have said that before, but I think our perspective has changed quite a bit recently.

I questioned him, wanting to make sure and listed out the benefits of having the extra money, to which he replied, "Yes, that is all true. But. The extra money won't volunteer in the kids' school. The extra money won't help our children to improve in their grades. The extra money won't give our household that added stability that having you home has had. The extra money won't make coming home each day to you feel quite as good as having you there to greet me does."

And so, the decision was made. I am now a stay-at-home mom. It has been quite the adjustment and I am still working hard to master the whole "stay-at-home" part of the term. :) But it has been wonderful. The best part? To know that what I am doing here has made THAT kind of a difference in not only my children and their schooling and overall demeanor but also in the way my husband now views our home. I think he actually considers it to be more of a sanctuary than he ever has before. It's not always perfect (actually, it never is) and quite often, there are still dishes needing to be done, laundry needing to be done, folded, put away or whatever. There are toys and messes here and there, but it's not about that to him (at least, not right now - it is something that I'm working on getting more attentive to), it's about the feeling of home. I think I'm doing something right at this point though!