Puppies

So when people used to tell me having a puppy was like having a baby and I'd scoff because babies are PEOPLE and puppies are DOGS.  I still see that distinction, but I can now also totally see the parallels.  Let's explore:
Babies get you up at night. They need to eat and be changed.  You sleepily feed them and change them and if you are reallllllly lucky you can sleep for a few hours before waking up again.  I still remember this phase and it is very very hard, and completely harder than puppydom, so if you are in the middle of the newborn phase please don't take this the wrong way.  Puppies get you up at night.  They have to pee.  You have to get up, get shoes, meander outdoors and stand there while you wait for them to do their business, and then if you are lucky, they fall asleep and you can do the same.

Actually, I never ever thought I'd be so in tune with the bathroom habits of an animal. It's all consuming.  I was never actually good at potty training.  It eventually got done.  Right now we do pretty well, as long as I am very nearly OCD about what the dog is doing.  We spend a LOT of time outside.  Figuring out how to get her to "ask out" is eluding me.  I have several doggie training books on hold at the library. If books can't fix it I don't know what can!  It's not bad but I am a very type B personality, and if I have to obsess about stuff for too long it takes a toll on me. 

The rest of living with a baby dog is more like having a two year old than a newborn.  They like to chew, they love to get into stuff. Just when you thought you had everything picked up, you find them chewing on something that you missed (this may be exacerbated by the 4 boy factor.) And the energy! She runs like lightning. Then two seconds later she's out like a light. Yep, much like a little 2 year old.

But despite it all she's CUTE! And we are all a little smitten with the new little creature in our family.

Summer Time. Day 3

We are on day 3 of summer time and thank goodness it looks like it might stay dry long enough for us to get to the pool! 

Yesterday, we had some friends over because our very close friends are moving to Texas. I've known it for a while, but what I hadn't realized was that the kids were leaving yesterday to visit their dad (in Texas) and wouldn't be returning to Florida.  The kids had a great time all together, and had sandwiches, played wii, and had a water balloon fight in the rain.  (It was just a sprinkle, and they realllllly wanted to. I'm trying to be less rigid on these things and just let them do stuff. I'm glad we were able to have some fun with them before they moved away.

Today, I am sleep deprived.   When we got our cute little puppy, I forgot about the part where they have to go pee in the night. I figured, it wouldn't be a big deal though, I made it through 4 newborns after all!  I think the difference is that I could feed and diaper my babies while still half asleep. Little Clover (Cloe) has to go outside and in the process I become fully awake and it's proving difficult to go back to sleep.  Hopefully this will all resolve.  At least it's summer and we don't have to be anywhere early in the morning.  Also, she is the cutest puppy EVER so this makes it all worthwhile!

I'm not quite where I want us to be as far as summer schedule goes. I want to get up, work hard, and then play just as hard.  We are doing some work, and we've played but it's not very smooth just yet.  Hopefully we'll get there before time to go back to school.  If not, flying by the seat of my pants usually works out ok.

My goals for the early weeks of summer are:
  
Getting the kids to sleep past 7.
Getting certain ones of them to listen and do as they are told the first time.
Getting certain other ones to stop pestering their brothers.

I have a few other goals, but I need to get past these 3 first and then the others will (hopefully) fall into place.

School's Out. Day 1

The first day of summer we  have - played with our new puppy, made spy cars out of boxes, made chore charts and gone over expectations, made a "boredom jar," had lunch, and drawn the first stick out of the boredom jar. This sent Eric and Mark on a quest to draw a map of the neighborhood and hide some item for me and the little kids to find (and mark it on the map.) 

Now this little quest took some letting go on my part.  I have issues letting them out of my sight.  I did send a phone with them, so we can keep in contact.  And they just walked in so I am breathing a sigh of relief as I type. The first time they went out, Ben followed them.  I called them to see if he was with them, just as they arrived to bring him back home.  Out they went again, and then they called me to say it was raining and ask what they should do. I left it up to them, if the rain is bothersome come home, otherwise stay out. A few minutes later it was pouring and I was gathering up Zack and Ben and our tiny puppy to go pick them up.  Right that minute they walked in the door.  They put on hoodies and headed back out again.  So, now they are once again home and just handed me the map. I'm off to hunt for treasure!

The TEAS Test

I walked out of the testing center with my hands shaking and feeling a little disoriented. Thank goodness for instantaneous results or I would have been even more shaken. Throughout the test, I had to quiet the voice. You know the one... the nagging doubt. The wondering if I should even keep going. I really did not feel like I was doing well in spite of the hours of preparation I had put in. Yet, the slip of paper said I passed, and with a fairly good score. It was tough... but I did it! I scored an 84%. I submitted my application to the nursing program and now all that is left is to wait. I should hear something by the end of June. Fingers crossed!!

Jumping back in

Well, it seems like it's been awhile.  I can't believe my last post was in January.  That's about the time school started back and I had a lot of studying to do.  I pulled through the semester with As in A &P and Nutrition.  Now, for the big, bad, ugly TEAS test. I guess I'll take it Thursday.  Then all that's left is applying to the nursing program. This terrifies me! Not the actual program, but the possibility of NOT getting in, then the figuring out what to do with the boys before and after school. It's a bit overwhelming, but I really feel like this is what I'm supposed to be doing right now, so all the details will work themselves out.

ANYWAY, I'm never very good at catching up, but I'm going to jump back in here because I really do enjoy the process of blogging and telling stories, and having such a great way to look back on things. I'll tell some of the stories I missed if they come to me.

Right now, it's time to gear up for the last 3 weeks of the boys' school. Then it's summer which is both thrilling and terrifying!  I'm in an online summer class (Lifespan Development) that started last Monday (the 7th.)  Funny thing, I ordered my book on Amazon because it was super cheap. The seller shipped it on April 20th and it's lost in the mail. SO for this already fast paced class I am behind.  We are in the process of the post office tracking it down, and since I have NO faith in that happening, I ordered another book that should be here tomorrow. Then I get to play catchup, and hopefully actually learn something in the process. Thankfully, even  having to buy 2 books, the cost was less than buying it used anywhere else.  And I can probably sell the extra book back for what I paid for it. I just can't help thinking how funny it is that of all the things we order off of Amazon, the book that I need for a 6 week course ends up getting lost.  Darn post office!

The boys are doing well. We are working on issues because I came to realize that if we don't tweak some behaviors I am going to lose my mind this summer...So operation get the naughtiness under control has commenced.  And they are good boys, so hopefully it will go well. (I am optimistic to a fault!)

Freezer Meal Update

So, Friday morning Ben and I went to Sams to procure all of the makings for my freezer meals.  That part of the mission was definitely accomplished.  I went to lunch with some amazing friends, and then did some school work Friday afternoon. So, I finally started working on actual cooking about 4 PM. Here's how it went down.

I had found some potatoes in the pantry, so I washed them up and stuck them in the oven to bake.

I chopped onions and carrots, and threw them in with a whole chicken I had in my freezer. I boiled the chicken, ending up with a cooked chicken to shred for meals, and also quite a bit of stock.
I started a huge pot of rice (8 cups water, 4 cups rice -- thanks Shanna for the advice and words of wisdome regarding freezing rice! That will come in handy!)

Scrambled 18 eggs.

Cooked 2 lbs of sausage (in crumbles)  while the eggs were cooking.

Once the eggs and ssg were done, I rolled about 16 breakfast burritos, and then bagged up the rest of the sausage crumbles for other recipes.

Then I bagged up the rice into 3  side dish portions, and 2 main dish portions. I didn't end up doing the fried rice recipe, however I don't think it will take much time to heat and "fry" the rice on that night's dinner.

I bagged up the cooked chicken that had been cooling. I'll probably regret not shredding it, but I just stuck it in a bag whole.

It was at this point that my Food Saver decided to stop sucking the air out of bags. Wahhhhh!

Then, I strained and put the stock in containers to freeze. I absolutely love having homemade stock to use for recipes. 

Next I made the "Asian" marinade for the salmon, and made 2 dinners worth of asian salmon. I had a little salmon left over. It wasn't enough for a meal, but Kevin through it on the smoker today while he was smoking the pork shoulder. It was delicious and he made a salmon dip this afternoon that was AMAZING!!

I used the same Asian marinade (I tripled it) and bagged up some chicken (2 meals) and pork chops (1 meal) in that. Then, I made the sweet and sour sauce. I coated chopped up chicken breasts in corn starch, and bagged the sauce separately. I will finish the chicken on the sweet and sour chicken night and serve it with fried rice.  I also just threw the leftover sauce to marinade some pork chops for a different dinner. 

I pretty much was exhausted at this point and decided to finish Saturday.

On Saturday morning I started some black beans, fully intending to finish my cooking spree. However, I opted instead to spend a fun day with my family.  Sunday, I ended up doing a decorating project, but I did manage to separate and freeze the rest of the meat.  I kept balking at the dishes that involved bread crumbs. Something just keeps telling me that is better done on the same day it is eaten. I could be completely wrong, as I am no freezer meal expert.  But, between being exhausted and just completely ADD, I made that choice.

I do feel good that I have a good amount of dinners that just need to be pulled out and cooked.  I also feel good that I have a good stock of meat in the freezer, which will cut down on the amount of days where I have to run to Publix to get stuff for dinner.  This will be a huge time saver, and less face it save money too!

In Which I Depend Upon the Kindness of Strangers

If I've learned anything in life, it's that if you can't laugh at yourself, you will be miserable, and if you happen to have a fiasco, it's all OK if you think of it in terms of having a good story to tell.

I had this idea.  Well, I can't take the credit for all of the idea, because I first saw it on Pinterest.  The thought was to take giant foam panels (designed for insulation, purchased at Home Depot) and cover them in fabric, and affix them to the wall for decoration.  We've been looking for something to go towards the top of our walls in the Family Room. It has 20 foot ceilings, with a ledge dividing it about  10 feet up. So, we have some stuff up there, but recently we painted below the ledge red on just that wall, and it's been seeming like it needs something. Additionally, since we put wood floors in, our house is quite echo-y. And we have 4 boys, so echo-y plus loud = crazy town.  As much as I try to let them be, there are times when the noise is just too much. SO. I thought this project would be awesome to 1. look good 2. be cheap (ish) and 3. maybe, just maybe soak up some sound. 

So, today I headed off to Home Depot to buy supplies. Somewhere along the way, Kevin and I decided instead of fabric, we'd use textured paint.  I had ideas of doing some abstract kind of craziness, but he reeled me in and we decided to keep it a little more simple. So to the Depot I went to acquire foam board and paint. I got there, and immediately got nervous. I obsessed over colors, hoping to choose the right one. I ended up getting all of the things and paid for and headed out the door.  The cashier said "Do you need someone to help you out with this? (Hello 98 x 46 sheets of foam?) "Nope," I said, I think I have it." In retrospect I totally should have let them help me.  So here is the picture.  I had a flatbed cart, with the foam on top. I'm walking to my car, when suddenly, a gust of wind lifts up the top piece of foam and propels it toward my head. I panic and try to keep it from blowing away, when I hear a crack and KNOW the one on the bottom has broken in two. I recover pieces, and two people (customers) run to my aid. A lovely gentleman helped me get to my car, with only a little more drama (another piece broke.) He helped me load the things which suddenly seemed very much larger, into my car (someone remind me to put the seats back where they go tomorrow before I have to get kiddos from school!)  So, finally I drive home with absolutely no vision behind me because there was styrofoam obscuring my rear view. I am so thankful to that nice man for helping me.  Otherwise, I'd have been chasing styrofoam all over the Home Depot parking lot for an hour, only to realize I couldn't get the one remaining piece in my van.

So, my vision of three large panels up there was dashed, and I quickly tried to revamp my plan. When I got home Kevin helped with the measuring and all that math stuff, and then we got down to the painting. They are drying in the front room tonight, and tomorrow we will figure out how to hang them.  I'm actually pretty excited about how it all turned out, fiasco notwithstanding.

I'll post pictures once we get it all on the wall.  There are some work in progress photos on Facebook if you want to check it out.