daily schedule

We've gotten into our school groove as far as our daily schedule and what it typically entails...

5:15  Mommy wakes up if doing my Jillian DVD
(6:00 Mommy wakes up if not working out)

6:15ish  Kids wake up

6:30 Breakfast

6:45 -7:45 Play, get ready, possibly a bath if didn't take one the night before

7:45 Leave for school

8:30 - 10:00 Get home, go for bike ride around neighborhood, play inside, play outside with Zoe, etc.

10:00 Much looked forward to 23 minute break for mom while Kendall watches Mickey Mouse (if you have DVR, you know that recorded shows last about 23 minutes) :)

10:23 Coloring, more play time while I get lunch prepped (I like to have it mostly done so we can eat right when we get home from school)

11:30 Leave to pick up Cam

12:15 Return and have lunch

12:30 - 1:15ish Play time and a little dinner prep for me

1:15 Kendall down for nap and homework time for Cam

1:45 Cam "room time"

2:32 Cam comes down at the VERY specific time we decide on (it's a friendly negotiation each day) and not a minute before or after :)

2:32 - 3:15ish Lego play or read books together until Kendall wakes up

3:30 - 4:00 Mess around upstairs with them, maybe some laundry

4:00 - 4:45 "Special Upstairs Time" for both kids in which they can do whatever they want...but they have to stay upstairs

5:00 - 5:46 :) Watch two shows while I get dinner ready

6:00 Dinner

6:30 Play with Zoe outside until bedtime

7:00 Bed time for Kendall

7:15 Cam gets ready for bed and can read in his room until 7:45

7:45 Lights out for the kids!!

Yesterday I wanted to do something fun since it was a Friday.  I found a buy one get one free coupon online for Auntie Annie's so we headed to Inland Center for a pretzel lunch and play time.  The kids were excited to meet my mom there and it was nice for me to have someone to talk to while they played. :)  Kendall was equally excited about the mall AND getting to skip her nap. :)

Here is Cam quite enthralled with the mall directory:

 These crushed to crumbs...

with this mixed in...

and a few of these...

covered in this...

equals super yummy cookie balls.

*This morning Kendall and I walked/rode her bike up to Starbucks.  We had a fun time together, which was good because it lessened my frustration with her due to her sudden refusal to poop anywhere other than her underwear.  Ugh.  So annoying.  I'm trying to come up with a consequence but have yet to think of a good one.  Time outs won't work for this and telling her she won't get a treat after dinner is too far removed from the incident.  Hmmm...

*Right now I'm working on a panel discussion I'm helping with for our next moms' group.  It's all about tips and tricks in the kitchen.  I think it will be really cool to learn from the other girls on the panel but I will say that I'm getting a little nervous about my time behind the microphone.  :)

*Tonight I'm planning on attending Awana WITH Kendall in the hopes of making her feel at ease, then hopefully letting her finish the rest of the night.  Crossing fingers! :)

desert costco

Today we went out to the desert for our Costco/mall routine.  It's been a while and it was fun to be back at it again. :)

Our Costco purchases:
*Canned chicken
*2 bunches bananas
*Cheez-its
*Ground turkey
*Turkey patties
*Feta cheese

Samples were in abundance.  The kids and I agreed that the gooey cinnamon rolls were the best.  Chris preferred the teryiaki meatballs. As we walked by the ice cream I couldn't help but pick up the most delicious sounding flavor.  Sidenote:  ice cream is the only dessert nuts can be tolerated in. :)

I wasn't intending on purchasing it, but I was curious as to the nutritional content.  I think this stuff rivals Ben & Jerry's and I also think I'll stick with my Skinny Cows. Yikes!! :)

 After Costco we spent a good chunk of time at Barnes and Noble and then went to play in the mall play area for a short time.  Heading home included a stop at Wendy's for a Frosty.

this week...

...we had our first night of Awana.  Cam did great.  Kendall was hyper excited upon drop off, but actually had to be picked up early after a phone call that she had been crying for 15 minutes.  She kept saying, "The kids were so loud."  I think it was the loud combined with having no one familiar in her class like she does at church.

...we went on a hike with some friends in Oak Glen.  We thought it would be much cooler up there.  It wasn't, but we still had a fun time.

...we took Cam's coins he collected in his new digital piggy bank to Staters to turn them into cash.  We then went to Walmart where he picked out a Lego set with the money.  There was even some left over for a trinket for Kendall.

...we went to Disneyland with my parents.  I thought Haunted House was especially spooky and second guessed myself in taking the kids on it.  However Kendall was talking ALL about it afterwards wanting to go on it again.  Not sure if I'll oblige. :)

...we watched the first episode of Revolution.  Pretty good :)

...we heard a funny from Cameron, "I think Halloween and Christmas are my favorite holidays."  "Why?" "Because they have like, yummy candy and stuff and Thanksgiving is just about turkey and meat."

...we (Chris and Cameron) went to movie night at our church and had a great time.

...we (Kendall and I) stayed back and she tried spaghetti squash for the first time (with a little butter and garlic salt).  She loved it!!  Woohoo!!

                                              

make ahead meals

A while back I was given the idea of a little money making venture.  So after a super cool flyer designed by Chris, I started my business, "Errand Girl".   Basically I offer errand services to seniors in my area.  This could include grocery shopping, appointment reminders, meal prep, etc.

That was a while ago, but I'm very happy to finally have one client. Every other week I'll go over to their home and sit with the husband (who is ill) while the wife is able to get out of the house for a few hours.  While I'm looking more for jobs such as grocery shopping (so I can bring Kendall), as opposed to this one where I need to have my mom watch Kendall, it is still a good starting off job.  Yesterday was our first time and it went really well.

She also is interested in hiring me to bring a home cooked meal each time I come, and possibly a few for her to put in the freezer.  So I've been scouring my cooking blogs and websites and found this AWESOME post.  It couldn't be more perfect for what I'm looking for!  The best part is that she has a section at the end of the post in which she talks about how to tweek the recipe in order to not cook it right then.   I was so excited to find it!!   Here are a couple I've flagged that I'm going to offer as options.

weekend

On Saturday Chris and I had a wedding to attend so we dropped the kids off at my parents on the way. I wore my token pair of high heels, which I've had for 6 years and have only worn 4-5 times. :)  We had a fun time.  We didn't know a soul there other than the groom (he and Chris met on the golf course and have become what I tease him as, "BFF's" ), but it was fun to sit at a table of all his firefighter friends and hear about that whole world. :)

Sunday Chris' aunt came to visit us for a night.  She brought Cam a birthday present which he ADORES.  It's a digital piggy bank that reads the amount of each coin placed through the slot.  He literally spent an hour and a half transferring all his coins from his old bank into his new one.  Such a perfect gift for him.  Thanks Noonie and Deb!!

*I had signed up the kids for the Chucky Cheese Birthday club and had received a coupon for 20 free tokens for Cam to use.  Yesterday we headed over and they had a blast.  They always love it when Chucky himself comes out and leads any kids who want to in a dance party, followed by throwing tons of tickets on the ground for everyone to pick up. :)

*I've started really looking forward to Kendall and my routine while Cam is at school.  Each day when we get home from drop-off, she'll ride her bike while I walk Zoe.  It's nice because everyone is at work so the neighborhood is quiet with few cars (which is good because she prefers street riding).

*Kendall and I did some baking the other day.  One word describes these
Buckeye Peanut Butter Cups.  Rich.  In fact, that was the only word two people gave when they tasted them).  Are they too rich?  No such thing. :)

It's obvious which ones were mine in these two pictures. :)   I can never get good stuffed cookies to come out right.  So while they weren't near as pretty as the Brown Eyed Baker, they were delicious!

*Right now kids are in room time and I'm watching a Hallmark movie.  They just had a commercial for the 25 days of Christmas movies that will begin in several weeks.  Sign me up!!!

pinterest

So I finally took the Pinterest plunge.  I realized what a waste of time it was for me to find recipes I wanted to try, copy/paste them into a Word document, then try and find said document and go to each link to try and remember what the recipe exactly was. :)

I had always thought Pinterest was mainly for girls who liked to craft, browse home decor, fashion, etc.  That's not really me as all I ever browse are recipes.  But I realized it would be a perfect way for me to organize my own recipe collection...hence I asked my friend Jessica to invite me.  Thanks!!

On that recipe note, yesterday Cameron asked me why I ALWAYS give them the same lunches (PB tortillas, quesadillas, and occasional tuna wraps).  I told him it was because they were so picky and when I asked him to suggest something else, he said Cheez-its. :)  Anyway, I do want to broaden their lunch consumption.  They like turkey sandwiches, I just hate buying lunch meat because of all the added crap that is in them.  So I'm searching for some good, tasty, not too strong hummus recipes they can dip things in.  If anyone has any, let me know! :)

insight into Cam

I've always looked forward to Cameron getting older for the simple fact that he'll be able to express himself more and explain things that I've always wondered about.  Like what really goes on in his little head when he gets so upset when Kendall cries?  But even though he's not quite there yet, we are able to learn a little more of how he feels through things he says and experiences we go through.

This morning Chris ended up leaving church with him and returning when Kendall and I were done.  Cam has difficulty if we arrive late somewhere (like a class) and things have already started.  One reason is that he needs to be welcomed and talked to by the teacher, which makes him feel comfortable and safe right away.  This morning we were late AND his favorite teachers were gone and a substitute was there whom he had never met.  A combination of the tardiness and expecting his teachers but then being surprised by a different one made him start to cry.

We've also now realized that he gets embarrassed at his crying in front of his friends.  Since his two buddies were in his class, he didn't want to stay.  After about 10 minutes with us in big church, we decided it best to just let today go.  In all this, I'm thankful that we are learning more and more of how he feels, so we can know better how to help him. :)

On a completely different note, yesterday morning I wanted to make something fun for breakfast and had seen several recipes for Breakfast Cookies on various blogs.  I found a good one and the kids were super excited to eat "cookies" for breakfast.  These are SOOOO tasty and healthy!!!!  Yum.  They are great to freeze too, which I love.

*I used only 1/3 cup honey instead of the 1/2 cup called for

*I used chocolate chips but I've found that with my kids, I never have to put the full amount called for.  All I need to do is put a few on top and they are excited.  :)

boxer

This morning we went and got our new puppy.  The kids were VERY excited and after much deliberation (and talking Cameron out of the name Henrietta...where did that come from???), we decided on Zoe.  She is absolutely adorable and all four of us are already taken with her. :)  This evening Chris and I overheard Cameron outside.

To our neighbors' dogs (whom he throws bones over to several times a day):

"I'm sorry Cooper and Sam, but we have another dog we got from someone else's house that we have to take care of.  But when she dies, it will be okay because I can still play with you guys."

To Zoe:

"I have school Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday.  I can't be with you during that time.  But I can play with you in the morning and the afternoon.  Deal???"

*I'm thinking about trying to carpool with another mom to school.  I'm just not sure if I'm ready to let go of being there every morning/afternoon (or at least knowing Chris is there).  But it would be nice to not have to make that trip quite as many times during the week.

*Last night I made my first attempt at deviled eggs.  Never again.  Despite the girls at my moms' group (whom I was making them for) trying to convince me that they really are easy, I think I'm good for a while.  After making the filling WAY too runny and mustard'y, I gave up and tossed the filling in the garbage.  So I'm left with a truck load of the whites, to which I chopped up into a delicious egg salad for lunch today.  Well...I guess I thought it was delicious.  The noises, comments, and faces from the kids told me they were not in agreement.  :)

*Cameron has been taking longer in getting out of his funk when Kendall cries.  We are thinking it's more when he's extra tired, but the other day it took over an hour for him to actually be REALLY back to normal. :(

*I know kids need to grow out of their lisps, but I secretly hope Kendall holds on to her's a while longer because it's SO darn cute. :)

*New season of Flipping Out started this week.  Both Chris and I love this show!

*10:30 tomorrow...picking up our new Boxer puppy!!!  Can't wait!!!

*I wore my hair down today, which is very unusual for me.  Usually I'm anxious to put it up in a pony tail almost the moment I leave the house.  I just hate hair on my neck when it's warm out.  Even if I'm inside, it's just annoying.

*Having some friends over for dinner tonight.  Serving these burgers, fruit, and chips.  Usually when I use allrecipes, I look for ones that have 100+ reviews.  That way I know it's been tried enough to really be good. :)

weekend

We had a wonderful time up north with my in-laws.  I think Cam felt very special.  The whole weekend was relaxing, fun, and made us wish we had another day there.  Some highlights:

*Cam really liked his cake I made.  Since he feeds our neighbor's dogs several times a day over our back fence, I thought it only appropriate to make his cake this shape. :)

*On Saturday we had our good friends Matt and Jana (and kids) over for Cam's party.  I always enjoy getting to hang out with Jana and usually find myself wishing we lived closer.  We had pizza for lunch and Debbie bought the cutest do-it-yourself pizzas.  Here are the kids decorating their own.

*One of the presents Cam received was this Legos set.  I think he and I spent about 3 hours total on putting it together.  It was actually a highlight for me because it's not often that he will sit still for something like that and I loved watching him get so into each step of the directions. :)

*Chris and I got to play tennis twice while we were there.  The first time I think he wanted to trade me in for a new wife because I had a ROTTEN attitude.  I tend to get super frustrated when I don't play well because all I have in my head is how I used to play.  But that was over 10 years ago so I need to give myself a break!!  I shaped up and we ended up having such a great time together.

*Sunday Chris and his parents took the kids swimming while I stayed back.  It was SO relaxing.  I just  read magazines and even got through an entire cheesy Hallmark movie. :)

*I love this pic of Cam (at church).  I think it's safe to say he had a great birthday weekend.

*Dog update:  As of now, we are scheduled this Saturday to go and pick up a dog we found.  I hope it works out because I can't wait to give her to the kids!!!