Dinner

Plan (10 minutes)

Scan pantry, fridge & freezer

Decide what dishes to prepare tonight

Select meat and put in fridge to thaw

Prepare (45-60 minutes)

Marinate/tenderize meat

Dice vegetables.

Boil pasta or rice or potatoes.

Put meat on grill or in oven.

Clean dishes and utensils while cooking.

Set the table with plates, cups, forks, napkins, S&P, etc.

Mix up sauce/seasoning for starch.

Dice cooked meat and veggies on kids' plates.

Serve up everything else on plates.

Call "Dinner Time!" down the stairs and corral energetic boys into their seats.

Go over prayer and dinner table etiquette once again.

Pray.

Eat (5-10 minutes)

Daddy scarfs down everything on plate.

Caleb picks at food for a few minutes and then asks to be excused.

Ethan eats quickly and messily.

Mommy takes bites in between trips back into the kitchen to get requested items.

Clean Up (20 minutes)

Clear the table.

Scrape & rinse plates and other dishes.

Load & run dishwasher.

Wipe down table, counters & stovetop.

Hand-wash pans.

Sweep area around kids' chairs with broom and dustpan.

I am very grateful to have the time and means to cook healthy meals from scratch, but I do sometimes get a little discouraged by the very short time we actually spend at the table together, especially in proportion to the hour-and-a-half of prep/clean-up. I hope that our time at the table will be more than 5-10 minutes as the kids get older, but for now, I'll just be glad that we're not Amish.

Little Teacher

While cleaning up the dishes from breakfast, I heard this conversation:

Ethan: Ca-web, will you share your fruit snack with me? (Caleb's reward for waking up dry)

Caleb: Yes, I will, but you need to wait until after I finish my waffles.

(a few minutes later, while both boys are eating waffles)

Ethan: Ca-web, please give me some fruit snacks?

Caleb: I will give you just one fruit snack now, Ethan. I wanted to give you two, but you didn't listen to me and wait until I was done with my waffles, so you can only have one.

Hi-lar-i-ous :)

Insightful Moment

Yesterday, we spent the morning at a friend's pool. We haven't been swimming much since our trip to Florida because Caleb got burnt out on wearing sun screen while we were on vacation. Since then, every time we have been invited for a pool play date, I have asked the boys if they wanted to go, and Caleb has consistently declined (and convinced Ethan to do the same). Today, I decided that we really needed to go again before summer is over, so I didn't give him a choice.

All the way to the pool, he talked about how much he doesn't like sun screen and how much it burns his face and his eyes, and how he really doesn't want to go to the pool. When we arrived, I put sunscreen and hats on both boys, and they jumped in the pool. Sure enough, the first time Caleb's eyes hit the water, he started wailing that the sun screen was burning his eyes. I truly don't know how much is drama and how much is real discomfort, because I only put the sunscreen on his nose and on his face up to just above his cheekbones, staying clear of just under his eyes and his forehead (since he wears a hat). I think it is actually the chlorine that is stinging his eyes, but he thinks it is the sunscreen, and nothing can convince him otherwise.

So Caleb spiraled down into a full-out angry meltdown about the sun screen. Public meltdowns have been few and far between with Caleb, but this one was a doozy. I picked up a furious Caleb, placed him in a lounge chair and told him to stay there until he was done with his fit. He wailed that he wanted to go home and stated vehemently he would NOT stop crying unless I took him home RIGHT NOW. I told him that we were not going home because we had just arrived and Ethan and I were going to have a good time, whether he chose to or not. He kept crying loudly, so I told him that he could cry quietly as much as he wanted to, but if he continued to disturb everyone around with his crying, he was going to get a spanking. He lowered the volume right away and soon ceased crying altogether (since most of the motivation was disturbing everyone around him).

Ethan and I were having a blast in the kiddie pool and on the splash pad, and, after a while, Caleb piped up with: "Mommy, why don't you and Ethan go somewhere else and I will stay here." I knew he was wanting to get up and play, but he didn't want to be observed swallowing his pride. He watched us for a few more minutes, and then he finally got up and played happily with all of us for the next three hours. I had almost forgotten about the original incident when we were packing up our stuff to leave, until Caleb initiated this conversation:

Caleb: Mommy, you were right earlier.

Mommy: About what, son?

Caleb: You know, when I was crying? You were right that going home was not the best choice. I stopped crying and I had a lot of fun.

Mommy: Yes you did, Caleb. I'm very proud of you for getting control of yourself and changing your attitude. It is very hard to do that, but you did it.

Caleb: Yes, I did. Sometimes I am stronger than I know I am.

Mommy: (chuckling) Yes, you are, my son. Yes, you are :)

Noccalula Falls Park

This weekend, we took a last-minute day trip to Gadsden, Alabama to visit Noccalula Falls Park. We were invited by another family, and we all had a great time. Noccolula Park is a city park a little over an hour from home that is kind of a hodge podge of a things that kids love: a big park, a climbing rock maze, a large and varied petting zoo (including a bunch of white-tailed deer), a lioness (not part of the petting zoo :), hiking trails, and, best of all, a train that you can ride as much as you want through the three train stations in the park. We rode that loop at least four times during the five hours we were there. I think the kids' favorite thing to do, other than riding the train, was picking the tall grass outside the animals' cages and feeding them through the fence. Noccalula Falls Park will definitely be a favorite spot for us from now on, and especially in the spring and the fall when it is not so hot outside.

Seth, Thomas, Ethan & Caleb

Thomas, Tripp, Seth & Amy

Surf Trip

I know Marcus went on this trip almost a month ago, but I just got ahold of the pictures a few days ago, so here is the post :)

Every year that we've been married (except for maybe the years each of our kids were born), Marcus has added a notch or two to his "I've been to 20-million foreign countries belt." (When we got married, we were close to tied, but I haven't left the country since 2003, so I am WAY behind now.) This year, Marcus's international trip was to El Salvador with his dad and brother. They spent a week enjoying the sun and the surf in La Libertad, El Salvador. The trip started out a little rocky, since they were actually deboarded from their flight in Miami when it was canceled for maintenance reasons. Thankfully, Mike had purchased travel insurance, so they were able to stay in a nice hotel and enjoy an evening in Miami without any extra expense. They flew to El Salvador without delay the next morning, only to be joined by their luggage and surf boards four days later.

In spite of the travel hassles, they all had a wonderful time together: talking, surfing, eating & sleeping in. I am very happy that Marcus came home relaxed, refreshed and even a little bit tanned :) He works very hard all year long, and this trip is the one week out of the year that he can really relax for days on end. Then again, it would be hard to do anything but relax in such a beautiful environment. Enjoy the pictures :)