I'm right there with you, Missy

• I haven't had a menu in 7+ days.  I hate it.
• Mya gave me her cold, complete with eye drainage.  Even though I ran on Wednesday, I am drained.
• I started the laundry Monday night after we got home from the long weekend Up North (despite having a cold - all I wanted to do was lay on the couch, but I knew I had to get to it).  Load number 3 has been in the wash since Tuesday.  Time for a rewash.  Good thing it's Friday and time to start THIS WEEK'S laundry when I haven't finished last week's.  Ugh.
• The house is a mess.  Period.  Not straightened nor cleaned. Ugh.
• I also bought plants and got the planters planted.  YAY!  Now for the tough part - the annual bed.  I love it when it's done, but it's tough to do, especially pregnant.  Sigh.
• Where did the morning go?  Oh yeah, I spent 2 hours trying to balance my checkbook.  Now I know why it is important to (and why I usually) enter receipts every week.  What happened these last few weeks?  Ugh.  Then I spent the last hour paying bills.  All the while the girls have been playing.  Imagine a tornado going through the house.  That is what mine looks like (refer to point 4 above).  BTW, Lucky Charms were spilled twice during the check-balancing process.
• (As I write this, Mya spilled her milk all over the table.  Instead of telling me, she decided to play in it. Ugh.)

OK, time to go.  I need a nap, but there's too much to do.  And I would LOVE to get a run in today (even though at the moment I feel like a nap would trump a run).  Ugh.

Everything has fallen apart.

• No menu
• No laundry
• Nothing clean, except the kitchen and the boys room because John has horrible allergies and needs like hospital quality air in his room...annoying.
• Plants are finally planted but it has been raining everyday for about three weeks - I planted flowers in the rain for 12 hours on Sunday.  Jaime will tell you plants need rain and sun - we need sun.

• ugh.

ready...finally

Sometimes its harder to come up w/ a meal plan for the week than other times.  Here's what I got:

Tuesday:  Greek Yogurt/Parm chicken with stove top stuffing and roasted sweet potatoes

Wednesday:  Grilled Pork Tenderloin (I've never made one).  FOund this recipe on Pinterest with broccoli and baked beans

1⁄2 cups olive oil
1⁄3 cup soy sauce
1⁄4 cup red wine vinegar
Juice of 1 lemon
1-2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1-2 tbsp fresh parsley, finely chopped
2 tsp dry mustard
Freshly cracked black pepper, to taste
4 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
1 1-lb. pork tenderloin (silver skin removed) - sear then cook for 30 - 40 min at 350 degrees.

Thursday - Softball day and Paul has class, needs to be quick.  Spaghetti and meat sauce, Strawberries.

Friday - Grilled Steak Tacos w/ Black beans, greek yogurt, spinach, cheese.  Left over fruit to go along with it.

I'm so tired and I'm in bed.  BTW, I left Target and it was pouring rain when I walked out of the place and I mean pouring at 10:45pm on a Monday.  Awesomeness....NOT.

I colored the font to add some color to these dreary days we're having in MN.  You'd think we lived in Seattle.  GOOD NIGHT!

Totally using the blog for an idea.

Its been crazy the past few weeks - its really starting to drain me.  Paul went through two weeks of hell in finals which made our lives miserable.  He finished up on Friday last week.  WE had a busy weekend full of birthday parties, no naps, fun outside, 3 inches of rain in about an hour and evenings full of entertaining and fun but...whew.  Nothing got done for housework - or grocery shopping and since I don't plan to have extras we're getting a little scarce on food.  Grilled brats, roasted green beans and grape tomatoes with feta cheese,  apple slices and carrots were on todays menu - which was pretty good.  The brats don't really fit into my healthy meal planning but hell, whatever, we ate. 

Paul started up school again today - he goes every day from 8am until 5:30 and has to put in about 3 more hours of prep for the following class each night.  He's not working this week due to the schedule and he's not happy about all the work its going to be.  It wears on me a little bit - just one more year...sigh.  After this week he starts summer school on Tuesday and Thursday nights.   Much better than 5 nights per week like we had since January but nothing like the full summers off he's had the past two years.  I'm totally ready to never say "My husband is in Law School" again.  I'm sick of it and I think he is too.

So which brings me to right now.  Monday night, 9pm, I'm making a dinner list for the week and have to go to Target tonight and buy all the stuff.  I also have to finish putting the 11 loads of laundry I folded last night while watching Flashdance away and clean up more of the kitchen that I didnt finish because of bed time.  I also have to get everything ready for tomorrow.  Additionally, I don't have our normal daycare this week so I have to make lunches for the boys both Thursday and Friday for their backup daycare that they don't want to go to.  Lunches are the hardest for me for some reason.  I think probably because I rarely have to make them.  Let me know if you have ideas for easy kid lunch ideas - peanut free, of course :)

Alright, so I'm here to find dinner ideas from past blogs :)  ITs becoming a useful tool as well as a fun to read tool!!!   I'm tired.  I believe I can and I will.  Good night, Ann.  Take care and please tell Jon and the girls I say, "Hi".  Miss you guys :)

Better Menus, Thanks Pinterest

I have been slacking at putting menus on the blog recently.  Probably because they are so boring.  ANyway, I have renewed excitement after tonight's dinner, so here is this past week's and this week's.

Sunday (Mother's Day): Dinner at Bill and D's
Monday: Pulled Pork (pre-made, frozen.  Heat and eat.)
Tuesday: Tacos
Wednesday: Dinner at Dale and Kathy's
Thursday: Left Overs.  Jon worked late.  The girls had Spaghetti O's.  I had left overs.
Friday: Pizza.  I just wanted it!
Saturday (today): Tortellini with ham and peas.  Frozen tortellini, boil.  Leftover frozen ham, thaw and cube.  Frozen peas, add to pasta water for 30 seconds while pasta is finishing.  Make a white sauce (butter, flour and milk).  Mix it together.  YUM!  Add garlic salt afterwards, or spice more during the prep.  Pretty good, though!

Sunday: Missy's Garlic Chicken on the grill (can't wait to try it!)
Monday: Mexican Stuffed Jumbo Shells
Tuesday: Spinach Lasagna
Wednesday: One Dish Chicken and Stuffing Bake
Thursday-Monday: on the road Up North for Memorial Day weekend.  HAPPY SUMMER!

P.S. If you want a recipe, either check my Pinterest YUM! board or ask :)

Outside a lot, house is a mess.

A few months ago I gave up caffeine - except for the occasional piece of dark chocolate.  While it was a super tough transition of headaches, tiredness and crabbiness...oh, and trying to figure out what I could drink if I wasn't drinking Diet Coke it really did help my overall health.  I don't think I've had a stomach ache since, I don't ever get really hungry and crash, and I just feel better overall.  However, I am craving a diet coke today like none other and, since we've been outside so much I really haven't been keeping up with the housework - and since I've added 90 miles of biking to my weekly routine I'M TIRED!  I don't want to play catch up from last weekend when I spent all day sunday fixing my washing machine.  Argh.  It never ends.  It doesn't help either that I haven't seen Paul since early last week since Law School finals are ruining both of our lives.  Boo.  

While I love the warmer weather (its 64 today!) I'm not loving how messy my house has gotten.  After my bike home from work, running with the stroller to pick up the boys, coming home to this beautiful weather I literally drop my bike bag and the boy's school bags and grab a snack and come back outside to enjoy the wonderfulness we haven't seen in 7 months.  Then, since I live in St. Paul and I can't just leave the guys in the backyard so I end up grilling every night and run inside, prepare, run it outside without cleaning up the mess then running back in to grab something, out ASAP to check on them -----the house is getting messy.  Then we eat outside and I run the dishes in really quick to get back outside to hang out with them.  There's no cleaning up in the process...at all.  THEN, since the boys have gotten filthy from playing outside they need a bath almost every night so right to the bathtub.  By the time they're in bed, I need to work for a little while, Paul comes  home so I chat with him while he eats dinner then its like 11pm and I'm exhausted and don't want to clean up inside.  Its hard!

A diet coke is the answer to my problem.  A little extra energy for the 3rd shift. (first shift being work, second shift being a mom, 3rd shift being a homemaker).  The problem with drinking a diet coke is that once I start I JUST CAN'T stop!  So, tonight since Paul plans on getting home around 1am when the school closes, I'm hoping I can get everything cleaned up and ready to go for the weekend.  Sigh.  Can I do it?  YES I CAN!  but I'm so tired.  sigh.  

We have plans for tomorrow and they don't include cleaning the inside of the house!  Paul is gone most of the day (school opens at 8...), so the boys and I are going to make a bigger sandbox with real sand v. the little rocks we have right now.  Jaime wants sand so sand Jaime will get.  Do you guys have a sandbox?  Last weekend I picked up a bunch of landscape stones for sandbox - I think its going to be a good summertime play area for the boys - yep, they're taking up MORE of my gardens :(  Tomorrow we are also doing the following:  Trip to Best Buy, Trip to the Dump, trip to Target and Menards.  I also need to figure out what to get everyone for Mothers Day.  Law School sucks, I need a diet coke.

Have a GREAT Mothers Day, ANN!  Take care!  

Lessons learned - first two days of biking to work.

I think your week of meals looks really good!

Since you said, "Lesson Learned" - I have a few.

1. if you bike 9 miles to work, you really do need to take a shower once you get there.  Its not worth showering before you leave.
2. if you bike 9 miles to work and you havent biked for years and you biked 18 miles the day before your butt is REALLY going to hurt in the morning and your legs will be tired.
3. biking to work isnt as easy as it sounds.
4. biking to work isnt faster than driving (though, its really close - only 10 min slower).
5. If you bike 9 miles to work and you've never done it before you get really tired and want to eat and sleep when you get to work - not work.
6. if it rains and you bike to work....yeah, thats tomorrow. Lesson learned tomorrow? sigh.
7.  if you bike to work and have plans to get the boys at daycare afterward, get the attachment for your bike so you can actually pick them up.  I'm currently biking 40 min home and have 5 min to run to daycare with the stroller to pick them up - that'll be fixed this weekend.
8. if you bike to work  and haven't learned #1 yet, then, since you organized a running club back in November that runs every tuesday and thursday you still have to run with your group and you also have to take a shower after the lunch-time run (shower #3 in 5 hours) and if its 78 degrees out when you get home from your 9 mile bike home you'll likely have to take a 4th shower.  Grr.
9.  Biking is actually hard when carrying in all your clothes and a laptop.
10.  Bring multiple sets of clothes!  Sweaty clothes don't dry fast enough and when you're biking to work, running during the day and biking home - the clothes are still sweaty wet.  Gross.
11.  Backpacks get really heavy with so many workout clothes, work clothes, shampoo's, etc.
12.  I'm actually starting to like this biking thing and I think its really going to work once I learn my lessons.
13.  I found a new way home today cutting off 1 mile of my route!!!  YAY!!

BO-RING.

Here's this week's boring menu.  I feel like I make the same stuff over and over.  I am bored with it.  But until I get some better ideas, here's what we're doing (by the way, most stuff is coming out of our freezer, so that's a plus):

Sunday - we returned from Up North.  Kids skipped lunch so they had an early lunch/dinner.  We had leftover pizza.

Monday - Chicken Enchiladas (from the freezer)

Tuesday - Chinese.  Homemade fried rice (using leftover spiral cut ham from the freezer) with egg rolls.

Wednesday - ?  Pizza?  On your own?  Pork tenderloin (pre-marinated and already thawed.  We should eat this)?

Thursday - Margaritaville Jalapeno Popper Shrimp with rice? or noodles?

Friday - Pasta with Meat Sauce

Saturday - ??

Sunday - Mother's Day.  Early dinner at the Millers?

On a lighter note...  I ran 3 miles yesterday WITHOUT STOPPING!  That was 24 hours after my first official "long run" while pregnant (4 miles.  Yippee.)  Lessons learned:  running consistently helps get you back in shape.  Gray Grandma's marathon finisher shirt does not ride up to show off the baby bump:  good running shirt.  Gray sports bra is not nearly as supportive as I need it to be.  OUCH: not a good running bra.

getting ready for the week - the menu

The Menu:

Sunday: Papa Johns Pizza - strawberries and green beans for sides
Monday: Brown Sugar Chicken - left over strawberries and broccoli
Tuesday: Hamburgers - chips and carrots
Wednesday: Taco's - corn for sides.
Thursday: Lemon Pepper Chicken nuggets/salads
Friday: Turkey/Ranch burgers - baked beans and whatever left over veggies I have.

I made it the whole week last week without having to go get anything for food.  I loved it! :)