Menu Plan Monday 3.15.10 Edition

Another week, another menu plan. Check out orgjunkie.com for other menu ideas!

Monday-Ordering in
Tuesday-Grilled fish and coleslaw, hush puppies??
Wednesday-Irish Soda Bread, Irish Beef Stew
Thursday-Chicken in gravy with rice, salad
Friday-Leftovers
Saturday-Cheeseburger stuffed potatoes, salad
Sunday-Baked pork chops and potatoes, vegetable, Watergate salad

Breakfasts: Lite Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins or Carrot Muffins, eggs, Sausage and Cheese Grits Casserole, string cheese and fruit
Lunches: leftovers, soup, salads
Snacks: fruit, muffins

Welcome Company Girls! I want to say thanks to everyone who gave such great advice and encouragement to me last week. This week has gone much better..thanks in part to setting some boundries with extended family, getting a much needed break to myself and taking some of your advice to heart and into practice.

This week was also absolutely beautiful weather wise and I've really been working on getting the house decluttered, cleaned and aired out. Monday is our 7th anniversary so I've been especially working hard on our bedroom. Prior to this week, we had two queen sized beds in our bedroom, pushed together, to make co-sleeping a little easier. As a gift to my husband, I decided it was time to stop co-sleeping and reclaim our bedroom. We've been working on the transfer of Reagan to her own bed (which admittedly is taking lots of time and effort!). I also moved one of the beds into the guest room and then decluttered and cleaned our room and did a major makeover on our bed--new sheets, new mattress pillow pad, new pillows...it feels so comfortable and soft now!

I think that's it for today's post..Reagan is clammoring for my attention!

"Spring, spring, spring!" sang the Robin. It was Spring......

Yes, I unashamedly copied that from "Home for a Bunny". It's finally springtime in Indiana (well, sort of.) Although it'll probably snow a few more times, right now it's such incredible weather that I have the windows open, airing out the house, letting in the smell of fresh, damp earth.

It's 55 degrees and the air is alive with the sounds of birds chirping, winging their way in from southern climates. The streets are teaming with people longing to get outside after being couped up all winter. And Reagan and I have been enjoying long, slow walks together. Yesterday we even picked the first dandelion of spring. And we saw tiny, itty bitty green shoots and even some purple flowers cropping up in a neighbors yard. The yard is piled high with dark brown mud and we're even starting to see bugs.

SPRING!

Spring is literally a breath of fresh air after a long hard winter of worrying about ice and snow and trying to keep everyone bundled (very hard to do with a three year old sometimes) and worrying about frostbite and wind-burn, and driving where we need to go without ending up in a ditch or in a pile-up. Finally we can relax and BREATHE.

More political snippets

I cannot say this enough...if you haven't checked out Another Black Conservative...GET OVER THERE NOW! LOVE his blog!!!!!!!!!!! Here are some "recent" (I use that term to loosely refer to the last month!) bloglines!

Cheney Calls Out Obama and Biden for Taking Credit for Iraq (It just galls me to no end how men who spent the last several years bashing the war and President Bush from the east to the west coast can now take credit for President Bush's (AND OUR GREAT MILITARY'S) accomplishments!)

Ahmadinejad a 9/11 Truther? Says, “9/11 was a big lie” I could barely copy this link without gnashing my teeth and running around the neighborhood screaming at the top of my lungs. It was bad enough that the whack-job President Tom (as GB refers to him) denied the Holocaust, but now he's denying 9-11 ever happened. From my terror-filled front row seat at Fort Bragg, I can assure you, it DID happen.

And this is why I can barely stand liberals...they vote for the people that stand back and let this man take his pot-shots at America and sit idly by while he builds up his nuclear stash with pure intentions for destroying America. To those who voted for Obama....happy now?

Menu Plan Monday: 3/8-3/14/10

Time for another weekly menu....Check out more great menu ideas at orgjunkie.com

Monday-Chicken parm, green vegetable, bread (homemade rolls?)
Tuesday-Pork steak, mashed potatoes, vegetable
Wednesday-Breakfast for dinner: eggs, bacon, toast and a fruit salad
Thursday-Mac and Beef Casserole, vegetable
Friday-Leftovers
Saturday-??? We *MIGHT* celebrate our anniversary on Saturday since it falls on a Monday this year!
Sunday-Roast in the crockpot with potatoes, carrots, onions, salad and rolls

Breakfasts-bagels, cream of wheat, string cheese, yogurt, fruit, toast
Lunches-leftovers, salad, soup, sandwiches
Snacks-Banana bread, fruit, carrot sticks, raisins

Cowboy Up

Hi to any Company Girls joining me today...too bad I can't have all of you over for coffee and treats today because I really need advice from some seasoned "mother" girlfriends. It has absolutely been one of those weeks (ok, one of those years in some regards). Every single second I have been battling it out with Reagan. Wednesday I spent some time of the phone relaying my fears to my mother in law and yesterday I spent a good portion of the evening crying on my husband's shoulder.

To top it all off, my Great Granny passed away on Thursday morning and I'm feeling raw and emotional. I want to go home to be with my family but the plane ticket for just me to fly (and leave Reagan here :( ) at the last minute is a fortune and I am so stingy about the time I do get to go home that I would rather spend it with my family when we can have some real time together--they understand, but it doesn't stop me from feeling like a heel.

And this was the week I finally thought I was going to have it all together. Funny how life just keeps socking at it you when you feel like you have it all figured out. And actually, one part of my life IS going wonderfully. My marriage for the past week has been better than it has...well, in a really really long time...years, even.

Last weekend I had the opportunity to read The Proper Care and Feeding of Husbands by Dr. Laura and it was such an eye opener. I promptly changed my attitude and actions towards my husband and it was amazing to see how immediately and effectively it turned around his responses towards me.

So it absolutely took me by surprise this evening, when putting Reagan to bed, that I had an epiphany--and it really shouldn't have...taken me by surprise, that is. I realized that if I wanted Reagan to react differently...no whining, no temper tantrums, less anger...it was going to require ME changing my attitude towards her first. After all, she was only displaying the very emotions I had been displaying towards her....she barely smiles at me anymore because *I AM* always frowning at her! I've been so busy doing all the mom/wife/house things that I had forgotten my primary responsiblity---to love her and enjoy her.

It is absolutely a life changing realization to come to the understanding that *MY* emotions control the emotion of the household. If I want my child and husband to be understanding, loving and happy---***I*** must be that way first.

I told my husband this and he agreed with me on all points. The only thing left to do is take action...and Cowboy Up as he puts it.

Which brings me to needing some 'motherly' advice....when it gets all too much, how do you continue to be a loving mother and step away from displaying (and feeling) all those fustrations? I would love to hear some advice from those of you who have gone through the fustrations of raising a preschooler--especially a high needs, emotionally charged, independent and a little too intelligent one...because I want so much to be that Proverbs 31 wife and mom "her children rise up and call her blessed."

The Vice-Presidency: Out of the Mouth of Idiots...

OOOPS! I forgot to add the link to the blog this came from...click on "Another..." below and it'll take you there!!!!!

Check out this video from Another Black Conservative. (And yes, it's hard to hear...the translation is right below, then listen to it again and you can easily pick out Biden's voice!)



"It's easy being vice president — you don't have to do anything."
Whomever Biden was chatting with said, "It's like being the grandpa and not the parent."
"Yeah, that's it!" replied Biden.

Beyond Fustrated

Everyday is a series of temper tantrums, backtalking and not listening. I'm so stressed out by the time her bedtime rolls around that my head is pounding and I can't think straight. Reagan has a very dominant personality. She's super intelligent and is EXTREMELY independent.

My parenting skills are pretty worthless at the moment and everyday I find myself glowering at her instead of smiling and having fun. I'm REALLY struggling with three.

Get 1200 FREE prints plus free shipping

Click here to join ArtsCow and get 1200 free prints, plus free shipping and tons of other great offers. I just joined and am so excited..I haven't printed out photos in about 2 years now...eek!

Political Updates

If you aren't a fan of Another Black Conservative yet, you have NO idea what you're missing. Click the link. Get over there. NOW. It's a complete fluke I found this website (since most of my surfing has to do with homeschooling lately!) and I've been a dedicated reader for a few months now....I have it feeding into Google Reader so I won't miss a thing!

Here are some recent highlights I found of particular noteworthiness:

Epic Fail (I included this one just for Josh who loves using that term)

Crib Notes

Response to Tea Parties Comments

NY Times Proves It's Liberal Leanings Once Again--Coffee Party Post

Controversial Ad Regarding Abortion

I think I'm going to be regularly linking up to some of his posts because there are too many really great ones to miss!