Spoons & Flops

I was lucky to get to spend Sunday lazing around the house.  I got in a short nap.  I think that you are already aware of the fact that I love my naps, but in case you missed that fact.  I LOVE my naps!!!  I am glad that I did take that nap yesterday because I really needed the save up my energy for today. 
Today I got to spend the day with my wonderful daughter at a field trip.  I love being able to take the day with my daughter and her friends.  Hopefully I am not to tired tomorrow and can get some work done.

Spoons & Flops - Camping at Lake Murray

I had a great weekend this past weekend.  We were able to take our camper to Lake Murray in Oklahoma.

Sunset on Lake Murray

What a fabulous park!  Apparently they have re-done the Nature Center where now there is a hands on room that with lake facts, dinosaur fact from the area, and wildlife fact for the area.  The Old Nature Center, Trucker Tower,

is housing facts about the area and the CCC, along with a great lookout.  The park includes the whole lake where there is horseback ridding, paddle boats, ATV trails, walking and biking trails, swimming, and even golf.  We had a great time hanging out at the campsite along with our visit to the Nature Center and Tucker Tower, and swimming in the lake.  I am glad that I was feeling good enough to be apart of all the festivities. Sunday I was a little sore, but was still able to help pack up and clean.

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Easter

Happy Easter! J We had a great day yesterday at our Easter Church function.  Emma got to ride a horse, get her face painted and even feed the goats.  I hope that everyone’s Easter Weekend was a good as ours. We are so blesses with our family and such good friends.  Thank you all and Happy Easter!

Stay-at-Home-Mom Article

What I wished staying at home looked like.

Yesterday my husband sent an article about stay-at-home-moms.  I have only been a stay-at-home-mom for a couple of month now and have not really heard many of these statements, but I could have been someone that might have made the same mistakes of others, by saying them to a stay-at-home friend.   The only statements of these stated in the article that I have heard was the first, third and fourth statements, and the first one, “What do you do with that free time?”, mostly from my husband.  Some of them I have not heard because I am not the mom of a baby or really young child.

“What do you do with all that time?”  This one is one of my favorites because as any house wife or stay-at-home-mom will tell you is that the work does not end.  Some days I find it hard to squeeze in a workout or a shower.  Keeping the house picked up and clean, along with ironing, cooking, carpooling, and grocery shopping while staying calm and organized is more work than anyone who has not done it can imagine.  Before staying home I really thought that I would have all this time to read and relax, but that is not the reality.  I cannot imagine having the time to care for a baby or small child at the same time.

If only I had that many arms...

“It must be nice to not have to work.”  I have been guilty of thinking this one also.  But, the reality is that, I work all day long, it is just different work than before.  Now that I am at home, we no longer have someone to clean the house, so the responsibility is mine.  The difference between having someone clean your house and cleaning it yourself is that in my case, I had everyone pick up their things the night before so that all that was left was the cleaning.  My housecleaner also washed sheets and towels along with putting new ones out.  Now I do all that work along with the picking up so I can clean.  I have now taken the place of the dry cleaners, in order to save money I iron my husband’s work shirts.  I did not know that ironing shirts would take so much time.  I know that I am new at it, but it takes about 15min. a shirt.  Who knew???

Bonus:  More time with my family.

“Your husband must do really well. I couldn’t afford to stay home!”  This is not the reason that I got to stay at home.  In the fall, we found out that I have an auto immune disease, fibromyalgia.  The stress and lack of sleep was intensifying the my symptoms of my fibromyalgia so much that in 2 months I had used all of my sick days.  There were days that I could not walk, and could not tolerate anything touching me, this does not mix well with Kindergartners.  I was also so tired at the end of the day that I would go to sleep upon arriving home, but could not stay asleep for longer than 2 to 3 hours at a time.  Our choice for me to stay home was a very difficult one.  I love teaching and did not want to leave my kids in the middle of the year, but at the same time, I was hardly there.  I also was not helping out at home and my husband was carrying his load of work along with mine.  Our decision was made on what was best for our family, my health, and my kindergartners having a full time healthy teacher.  I think that things worked out for the best.  I love being home and taking care of my daughter and husband.

I have copied and pasted the whole article from The Woman’s Daily below if you are interested in reading it.  Their website is also at the bottom.  There are some great articles on their website if you are interested.

9 Things Not to Say to a Stay-at-Home Mom

Learn what to avoid uttering to women who don’t work outside the home

By Petra Guglielmetti

Whether or not to stay home is a tough choice many moms have to make, and women who opt out of jobs to raise kids often face a mix of curiosity, jealousy and even disdain in comments that range from silly to downright mean. “You make this personal choice, yet people feel they have the right to weigh in,” says Leslie Morgan Steiner, author of Mommy Wars: Stay-at-Home and Career Moms Face Off on Their Choices, Their Lives, Their Families. Here are nine things that stay-at-home moms say they’d be happy never to hear again.

“What do you do with all that free time?”

“I sit on the couch and eat bon-bons, of course,” jokes stay-at-home mom Kimberly of Westborough, MA. As anyone who’s spent a day alone with a child under age 3 can attest, there’s hardly time to use the bathroom, let alone lounge about. “Questions like this come from people who don’t know what it’s like to scrub off the high chair, change diapers, put toys away and fold laundry again and again,” says Steiner. “Plus, depending on the kid’s age, there are times when a mom hardly has a second to herself because her child could choke on a penny or fall in the toilet if she looks away for a moment.”

“If you’re tired, why don’t you nap when the baby does?”

The only thing worse than attempting to function on three-hour spurts of sleep? Hearing the old “nap when the baby does” suggestion again. It’s a smart plan in theory, but people who haven’t stayed home with an infant overlook the downsides to mid-day siestas: The dishwasher doesn’t get emptied, the mail doesn’t get sorted, emails don’t get answered and more. “Also, even if a mom is blessed with a baby who sticks to a schedule, she might not be able to keep her own sleep clock in sync with her child’s,” says Margaret Usdansky, assistant professor of sociology at Syracuse University, who co-authored a recent study about depression in stay-at-home and working moms.

“It must be nice not to have to work.”

Being an at-home mom definitely qualifies as a full-time job. “Parents now are spending a lot more time interacting with their kids than 1970s parents did,” says Usdansky. “In fact, research shows that today’s working mothers are spending as much time with their children as the last generation’s stay-at-home mothers did.” So while there may have been room in the schedule for Tupperware parties and Days of Our Lives back then, modern stay-at-home mothers spend plenty of time reading to their children, helping with homework and exposing them to music classes, sports, language lessons and more.

“Your husband must do really well. I couldn’t afford to stay home!”

However hefty a couple’s savings account balance is, a comment about the family’s cash flow can rub someone the wrong way. Besides, that assumption might not even be true. “People now make calculated and tough choices,” says Usdansky. While many of the highest-earning men have wives who stay home, so do just as many of the lowest-earning ones. And in a lot of cases, not only does the man earn a small paycheck, but the woman’s own earning power is low compared to the cost of childcare—which means that working hardly pays off, especially with the time and stress involved. On the other side of the coin, many women earn as much as (or more than) their husbands, so choosing to stay home means sacrificing major bucks—and living a more frugal lifestyle. “They say to themselves, my house might not be as big and my car not as fancy, but staying home with my kids is more important than those things,’” says Steiner.

“When do you plan to return to your career?”

This implies that one should have a solid plan mapped out, when in reality, this economy leaves many people struggling to figure out the immediate future. Moms who’ve put their careers on hold worry about whether they’ll be able to get a job when they’re ready to return to the workforce—and they don’t need someone reminding them that the future’s uncertain. “Asking when also implies that staying home is a temporary detour, when it might not be for that person,” notes Steiner. It’s better to ask if a woman is interested in returning to her previous career, not when.

“Do you feel like getting your Master’s was a waste of time?”

Nothing conveys a lack of respect for the job of mothering more than this jab. “As one of the moms in my book says, ‘I’d get more respect if I said I was raising chinchillas instead of human beings,’” says Steiner, who notes that this comment also presumes that the ultimate goal of getting more education is inflating one’s paycheck. “Raising children well is hard, priceless work, but our capitalistic society places more value on entrepreneurship and money-making,” adds Steiner.  And as Usdansky points out, “Lots of stay-at-home moms aspire to do interesting part-time work, but what’s available is usually a step down, not in a professional area or not challenging.” Besides, many women hope to resume their careers once their kids are in school.

“You’ll never read a book again. Or travel. Or shower!”

This type of comment, often aimed at the new stay-at-home mom, comes from fellow mothers who are home all day with infants or toddlers. Usually, they’re trying to commiserate, not terrify, but sometimes the remarks come off as discouragement rather than camaraderie. “It’s that old ‘I suffered through it and now it’s your turn, so I’m going to let you know how tough it is’ thing,” says Usdansky. “Parents are almost afraid to emphasize the great things about having children, but if there weren’t incredible joys, those same people probably wouldn’t have multiple kids!” A gentler way to bond over the shared challenges ahead? Lead in with a simple: “Oh, you have a four month old and are staying at home? How’s it going for you so far?” suggests Usdanksy.

“I could never do what you do. I’d die without adult conversation.”

“This implies, ‘You must be simpler than me, so you can tolerate it,’” says Steiner. One stay-at-home mom, Heather of Charleston, SC, has even been referred to as Mary Poppins—to which she responded, “Um, Mary Poppins got paid.” Whether intentionally condescending or accidentally so, these kinds of comments sometimes stem from someone else’s insecurity about her own role as a parent. “There’s a lot of jealousy on both sides—from working moms and stay-at-home moms, because honestly, neither situation is easy,” Steiner points out. “It’s like what we all went through in seventh grade—if you can’t feel great about what you’re doing, the next best thing is to feel better than someone else, so you put her choices down.”

“Does your husband give you an allowance from his paycheck?”

Unless a stay-at-home mom views herself as a salaried employee of her husband’s (unlikely!), this comment isn’t going to go over well. And it’s common for the woman to be in charge of the budget and bank account, whether or not she’s contributing funds. “We’ve always had a joint checking account, even when we first lived together,” says stay-at-home mom Rachel of Albany, NY. “Now, I pay all the bills, do all the grocery shopping and decide when the big purchases can be made. If anything, he asks me for money!” Of course, not all relationships work that way; when it comes time for a couple to negotiate how money is spent, some non-working women feel they’ve sacrificed some of their decision-making clout. “Lack of financial independence can be scary, especially for a woman who worked hard to be financially independent in the first place,” says Steiner. Either way, it’s wise not to pry unless you’re a good enough friend to broach such a touchy topic.

http://www.womansday.com/sex-relationships/friendship/what-not-to-say-to-stay-at-home-moms

Emma’s Valentine’s Day Party

Emma using her Chopsticks

Yesterday I got the privilege of helping at Emma’s Valentine’s Day Party.  Being a teacher and working full time I have never gotten to help out or attend any of Emma’s Valentine’s Parties or really any of Emma’s school or pre-school events because I always had events of my own and wouldn’t you know they usually occurred at the same time.  I know that you are really feeling sorry for me now.  I am feeling a little sorry for myself also.

Emma’s first grade teacher planned a “Fancy Lunch” for the kids.  She had reserved the Science Lab (we decorated it), and had the cafeteria put the kids lunch orders in the serving containers so that we could plate the kids orders on fancy plates and serve them.  She also brought heart cookie cutters so that we could use them to make the food look fancy.  For the kids that brought their lunches she used her cookie cutters and plated the food so that it even looked fancy.  The kids really loved it.  She even made a fancy dessert that looked like sushi, but was really a strawberry shortcake roll.  The kids got to use chopsticks, which was great.  They are first graders so I have pictures of them stabbing their food with the chopsticks and even using them as swards to play fight with friends.  Overall it was a great experience and made me appreciate the fact that I get to see and be a part of fun events like this great “Valentine’s Fancy Lunch.”

If any of you got to help out or attend your child’s Valentine’s Day Party I would really like to hear about it.  Please share by responding to this post.

Happy Valentine’s Day

Love!

I hope that everyone has a great Valentine’s Day filled with love and loved ones!

Birthdays

Today is my husband’s birthday.  I am not sure about all husbands, but I do know that birthdays are a really big deal to my husband.  He claims that he gets a whole month for his birthday, and all month long uses the excuse that it is his "birthday month" to get out of anything (well, actually, he will use any excuse to get out if stuff all year long).  The rest of us are good to get a birthday day or maybe a birthday week, if we are real lucky. In fact, this year I had to buy my own birthday cake, which is a little depressing.  I love my husband, but when it comes to birthdays he is an “all about me guy”.

This is the first year where we did not hear all about “my birthday month”.  We did not even hear about a week or a day.  The activities that we planned were even very low keyed.  This is very unlike my husband.  I started to worry, but then I realized that he is getting closer to “40” and not as excited about drawing attention to himself, or at least I hope that is what is going on...

I do think that we had a great relaxing weekend.  In fact, I think that this weekend was one of my favorites.  If you are reading this Brad, I love you and, had a great weekend with you; Happy Birthday!

Three Night and Three Different Meals with Grilled Chicken Breasts

On Tuesday I decided to grill 4 large chicken breasts that we were going to eat on for most of the week.  I always marinate my chicken breasts in either Kraft’s Sun Dried Tomato and Vinaigrette or Kraft’s Zesty Italian Dressings.  Normally I put the chicken breasts in a gallon Ziploc and marinate them for a couple of hours, but I forgot about dinner until about 5:00 and we usually eat around 6:00 or 6:30.  So, on Tuesday I simply put the chicken in a bowl and poured Kraft’s Sun Dried Tomato (I had more of it) on top to marinate while I was heating up the grill.  I usually grill the chicken because Brad likes to OVER cook the chicken, and he was not home yet.  Tuesday night was an easy meal.  All I did was warm up Missions Blue Corn and Flaxseed Tortillas (they are awesome), cut up a tomato, and avocado.  I had some leftover chicken, bean and corn stuff that we also put on top of our burrito.  You could easily use a can a black beans and corn to add some umph.  We only used 1 and a half chicken breasts and put the rest in the refrigerator for Wednesday.

Wednesday night was the special night, church night.  I made the Pioneer Woman’s Pizza Crust and pretty much used her Potato-Leek Pizza.  (If you have not heard of the Pioneer Woman, you really need to check out her website.)  I did make some substitutions because I not only do not have leeks, I do not know what they are.  (Hey, I spent most of my life working and not cooking.  That is probably apparent to you now.)  Instead of leeks I used 1 of my grilled chicken breasts and shredded it.  I also used turkey bacon instead of real bacon.  (We are supposed to be on a diet.)  I felt that my pizza lacked color, so I cut up two green onions to go on top.  I know that you working moms do not have enough time during the week to make pizza dough, but I used to make mine on the weekend and freeze it.  The recipe makes enough for two or three pizzas depending on how thin you like your crusts, and it is only 4 ingredients.

I know what you are thinking... 

Tonight I am planning on another easy meal.  I am going to slice the last chicken breast up, cook some more turkey bacon, slice up another tomato and avocado and make tasted sandwiches.  Sounds pretty good!  There you have it, three nights and three meals on grilled chicken breasts.  We are a family of 3, so if you have more you might want to grill more chicken breasts on the first night. Just saying...

Gumbo and Disco

Saturday Night one of our neighbors had all the neighbors over for gumbo.  I know that this is going to sound crazy, but all of our neighbors are extremely good cooks.  Not only that, but we are all in the same age bracket and so are some of our kids (if they are not the same age they still all play pretty good together).  The gumbo was to die for!!!  After dinning on gumbo they turned up the music.  They have just gotten new blue ray with Pandora Radio, and a great surround sound system, so we danced the night away.  The sad thing was the station that we were listening to was the “Tone Loc Station.”  Yep we are old!   If that was not enough, our 16 year-old daughter had a boy come over for the first time.  I do not know what would be scarier to a 17 year-old boy, a dad showing up at the door with a gun or both parents dancing with other neighbors to 1980’s and 1990s’ music.  Oh yeh, we were also singing.  I am not sure if he will ever come back, but we sure had a good time.  I am so thankful for fun and great neighbors (that can cook).

Stay Home Moms

Growing up I always wanted to be a stay home mom.  In Kindergarten on Career Day I dressed as a stay home mom and told my teacher that I wanted to be a stay home mom, so I could drive carpool.  (Wow, I was cute!)  I even went to college to get my MRS, but instead I got my teaching certificate.  Since graduation, I have been a pre-school teacher, flight attendant, pre-k teacher, 4th grade teacher, 3rd grade teacher, and a kindergarten teacher.  (I do really love teaching.)  I have also gotten married and been married for 9 years, and have a 7 year-old daughter.  Wow, I have accomplished quite a bit.  I now get to live out my dream of being a stay home mom.

My idea of a stay home mom is June Cleaver.  I would be dressed nice all day, the house would be clean, and I would have a big home cooked meal on the table when Brad (my husband) got home from work.  Everything would be organized and its place.  In this dream I am the perfect wife, and everything would be so easy.  Wow, was I wrong!  Instead, I spend my days in pajamas (to help with the laundry load, and because why get dressed if I am not leaving the house), and I definitely do not put makeup on unless I am leaving the house.  I did not realize that cleaning the house and keeping it clean is impossible (well I did have a house cleaner while I was working).  The one thing that I have done is cook a nice dinner most nights (I really love to cook), but it is not easy and I am definitely not the perfect wife.  Was there ever a time when stay home moms were like June Cleaver, or was it just all TV?