March Meal Plans

It's another month and I've been working on both putting together our monthly meal plan and sticking to our first month of Dave Ramsey style monthly budget.  To be able to do best as I could, I made sure to do a serious inventory check of all we already have in stock, especially stuff that's been hiding in the back of the fridge freezer and deep freezer.  We also have our quarter of a cow meat arriving today (yay!)

This year has been going fairly smoothly with meal planning and I always contribute some of that to my frequent use of our crockpots.  yes, I have to slow cookers because that's how big of a fan I am, hah.  Sometimes we use it twice a week!  It is a big relief to me come dinnertime to know that most of the meal is already done and it's just a matter of throwing together a side and tossing it onto plates.

Logistically speaking, I'm the queen of the kitchen (grocery shopping, cooking, and usually cleaning up) because I'm the one that's here (#sahmprobs) and also, I know what everyone likes and won't eat (or at least will complain about it) so I bear the dinner load (and breakfast and lunch loads - HAH).  

But, thanks to an awesome suggestion from my friend Haley (hi!), Brandon and I have been working on a 'Daddy dinner' days.  In the past, I have tried to just leave it wide open like - 'yo, B, you're on dinner duty next wednesday' but then next Wednesday rolls around and because of both of us we realize too late that neither of us really has a plan about it.  But, after talking to Haley about what she does, we've started flagging some days of the week as that the plan is as it is, it's just that Daddy is making the meal.  Seems like a duh, but somehow wasn't for me and so thank you Haley for sharing the tip!  We've done it twice last month and it's been a real treat for me to be able to use that dinner-making time for something else (shower? one-on-one time with a kid?) 

Here's what the Studers have on March's mealplan schedule.  What do you have a'cookin' over at your place this month?

3/1-3/4
T: YUM chicken sandwiches/wraps
W: Loaded Potato Soup and Homemade Bread
R:  Taco Pasta
F: Baked cheese Ravioli 

3/7-3/11
M: chicken & zucchini casserole
T: restaurant-style steaks
W: 'please make me' meatballs
R: fried rice (daddy dinner)
F: crispy shrimp pasta alfredo

3/13-3/18
M: chicken & gnocchi soup
T: Enchiladas (with my mom - 100 small things task #26!)
W: slow cooker three packet roast
R (St Patrick's Day!): chicken, stuffing, and broccoli casserole (daddy dinner), Lucky Charms treats
F: meatless spaghetti, salad, & garlic toast

3/21-3/25
M: slow cooker cream cheese taquitos
T: smoked kielbasa alfredo bake (not as spicy as last time!)
W: slow cooker BBQ pork chops
R: chicken & wild rice soup
F (Violet's half birthday!): pierogie lasagna, chocolate chip cookie cake

3/28-3/31
M: Coconut chicken tenders
T: crockpot beef and broccoli over rice
W: chili over mac&cheese (daddy dinner)
R: burgers on the grill!

my favorite photo from 2015

There are all kinds of mommas out there.  Some of us are really great at helping out at school and bringing in the best classroom snacks.  Some of us moms can clean and organize like nobody's business.  Some of us plan amazing parties, and some of us seem to balance it all effortlessly.  It takes all kinds of us mommas - so be proud of whatever it is that you bring to your village!

Personally, I'm the kind of mom that has her camera or phone out to snap pictures of the big events and of the everyday normal, boring stuff.  Our family yearbook is one of my very favorite things to create and is the biggest motivation to have my camera ready to snag the photos of what our days feel like right in this moment of very young kids where the days pass by in a bizarre and loud blur.  I'm the girl receiving regular reminders that my phone storage is low due to photo capacity.

When I was happily browsing Social Print Studio and daydreaming about my next purchase, I started wondering about choosing a single favorite photo from 2015.  I mean, could it even be done, just one single favorite photo?

I took a lot of photos that I really love over the course of 2015, it was a big one for us, after all.  We traveled to the Dominican Republic for a family vacation, we celebrated our baby's first birthday, our son started Kindergarten...it was a record year!  Even though I have loved tons of pictures from last year, it didn't take more than a few minutes to zero in on the number one favorite capture.  Out of all of those major events, my favorite photo actually comes from a regular moment on a regular day with our two girls.

I am one of three sisters, and for all my life, I will be grateful to be a sister of sisters.  For all my life, I will be grateful to be a mother of sisters.  A complete dialogue of a secret, silent language occurs within a glimpse between sisters.  Our husbands sit among us with furrowed eyebrows as the three of us hold entire conversations without ever finishing a sentence in it's entirety.

As with all siblings, there is a loyalty that runs deeper than comprehension, born into our bones through shared DNA and childhood memories.  But with sisters, that loyalty is laced with understanding and empathy and forgiveness.  I see this already in our girls at only four and a year and a half and my heart swells with joy and relief.  They will always have each other, and hopefully they'll also adopt their, future cousins and sisters-in-law into their little circle of giggling and shared desserts and unfinished sentences.

That's what this photo shines out for me; that secret language between sisters.  The mutual admiration and love and reverence that sisters extend to each other.  I imagine I will spend the rest of my life looking out at our two girls sharing a glance just as this one and I'll understand that secrets are being passed, even though I'll never quite know exactly what those secrets are without asking.  And that's just fine, because I'm content in knowing that they have each other, that I have a lifetime of motherhood to watch their relationship grow and flourish.
Our girls.
I will love this photo forever.

--

I have been a fan of Social Print Studio for a few years now, they have excellent products and make ordering prints of all of those instagram photos that tend to get stuck in cyberspace rather than printed super easy.  For two years, I have created and printed a collage of twelve of my favorite photos for the year to display in our staircase photo wall.  And the mini square prints are perfect to tack into our kids' baby books of all those magical little moments that is kind of what instagram photos are for.   One of my favorite and most unique Christmas gifts was the tearaway calendar that my brother in law gifted me once.  All of these thoughts are my own, and seriously, check them out - I can promise you that SPS is awesome.


ps. scf, i love you.

Around Here Week Eight: 02/19-2/26

A weekly review of what it is like to live in our home right this minute.

Intentional Hours Outside:  13.45 hours (out of 1000)

Woohoo!  We had absolutely beautiful weather last weekend and we spent a ton of time outside just soaking in the fake spring weather.  While the weather was warm, we all headed outside and got the trampoline all put back together and the kids were thrilled to get in some jumping time again.  We had a few pick up games outside (football, soccer, and keep away) and they even were running around in barefeet! As the weather started to cool off again though, we still made a point to get outside and rode quads at Gigi and Pappys house, and I miraculously remembered to charge the kids' jeep and the girls had fun driving all over the yard and exploring the tree line despite the chilly temps. 

Reading:  A Man Called Ove with our book club (still loving it), and still slowly sipping Dear Mr. You and still loving it so much.  In spare moments, I'm slowly chipping away at Buddhism for Mothers: A Calm Approach to Caring for Yourself and Your Children and it is almost like a bit of meditation.  I always walk away from the readings feeling lighter and more intentional in my parenting.  (it's also on my 100 small things list!) 

Celebrating our Gemmi Rose's fourth birthday.  She was a big helper on Friday getting ready for her movie star make-up party.  We had a great turn out and lots of fun at the various makeover stations followed by a dance party and photo booth.  Gemma loved being the star of the show and took it upon herself to pass out everyone's dinner plates and napkins.  We are so blessed to have so many people share our kids' birthdays with us and celebrate their lives.  I always get so choked up at the birthday song and candle moment, but I try to hold it together.  THEN she got her ears pierced!  Brandon was probably more nervous than her, she did a great job and there were no tears!  

Cheering on Grey at his indoor soccer game on Saturday morning.  Grey was so proud to play and the girls loved clapping and shouting out for their brother and his teammates.  My dad is one of the assistant coaches and it makes me happy to see their shared enthusiasm for the sport and for the time they spend together. 

Surprised on Saturday afternoon when we walked into my parents' house expecting a small lunch with my parents and sisters, to discover that we were in the middle of a surprise baby boy sprinkle.  My sisters put it all together and we were completely blindsided and so happy.  Brandon's parents, Mimi, and Studerbaby4's godparents, our dear friends Taryn and Matt, and their baby girl Claire were all there to celebrate too.  We had a little cake for Gemma's birthday and opened some gifts and I could not get over the little boy clothes!  It's been so much girl, pink, tulle, and glitter over here for so long that seeing all the blue and boy stuff really got me feeling so excited about having another little guy around here.  It was such a wonderful and unexpected surprise!

Making little moments big as we said farewell to my sister on her way back home on Sunday night.  Granted, she was only headed back to Pittsburgh and we'll see her sometime soon, but we made it an event by taking the kids down to the train station to see her off.  They were very excited to watch the trains come and go and we all waved goodbye in full on SCF obnoxious fashion as she pulled away.  We were all giggling and it was a weird little magical moment at the end of a busy weekend.

Feeling proud of one of our family friends, Taylor, a high school senior and amazing basketball player.  She's such a good person and excellent role model for our kids.  Their team unfortunately didn't win on Tuesday, but they were able to pull out a win at their game last night and are now headed to the State playoffs!  Go Taylor and the CC girls' basketball team!!

Enjoying a little grown up time last night at Brandon's work winter party at Seven Springs.  We dropped the kids at Brandon's parents' house and  we were able to arrive early enough that I got to take a long hot, uninterrupted (!), shower before heading down for a delicious meal (that I didn't make and I got to eat while it was still hot!).  We got to mingle and have adult conversations before we headed back late last night to grab the kids at 12:30am (!!!Thank you Gigi!!) so that Grey could get on the bus this morning for school.  We're a little tired today, but still definitely worth it! 

Baking my favorite cookies:  Chocolate Chip Walnut cookies and finishing off the last of Gemma's birthday cupcakes and the no-bakes that Mimi brought to the party.  It was a big dessert week in our house (hah!) And seeing the truth to what my Aunt once told me, 'you have to host a party occasionally at your home if only to remind you to get some stuff cleaned up and cleared out!' Because of Gem's party, our dining room table (our regular 'catch all area') has been cleared all week and we had Taco night dinner there this week.  The kids helped set and clear the table and it gave normal family dinner a little extra something.  (to eat at the dining table at least once a week is another of my 100 small things list!)