Monthly Archives: February 2011

Feb 28

My Monday Morning

This morning I woke up grumpy with a sinus headache, and I couldn’t get to the coffee fast enough. I took the big kids to school, and brought the little miss back home to play a bit before her morning nap. I grabbed the much needed cup of coffee, and let her play in the living room. No sooner had I turned around, she had already dumped 4 of the large toy bins, and that’s when I decided enough was enough.

The toys, and costumes, the little plastic bits are a constant struggle for me. The kids just have way too much packed into a house that we are quickly outgrowing. This mommy is sick of the mess, I wanted our living room back, and now was the time to get it done. I decided to enlist the help of my favorite house cleaners the contractor bags, and as soon as the miss was napping, I tore into the living room.

I was ruthless, and shocked when I had filled an entire contractor bag full of toys from one single room. These are toys that they never even play with, toys that are tossed aside to get to the ones that they really want. I found more broken items, and things that they have outgrown.  Man did it feel good to take that bag out to the trash cans.

Feeling motivated, I decided to move up to the boy’s room and continue the clean out. I filled another half of a contractor bag with even more junk. Their bookshelves are still filled to the brim, and I am in need of some storage bins. I would love to visit Bed Bath & Beyond and get some cool storage, and get the boy’s room into shape.

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The boy’s room isn’t organized, but it is on the way to being decluttered. James was really surprised to see the living room all cleaned too. I was really happy with the work that I got accomplished, and that’s 2 more bags out of the house.

I’m sticking with my goal of 1 contractor bag a week, and I want to have at least 2 garage sales in the next 2 months. I really want to get the house back in order.

Feb 27

Well We Almost Made It

We made it to day 25 of the no take-out month, and the family couldn’t take it anymore. I picked up some donuts as a peace offering and ended the month, they were relieved. To be honest, I was surprised that we made it that far, they were pretty much ready to end the project after week one.

The kitchen kept me extra busy, I tried out a lot of new dishes, and made the usual take-out favorites for lunch. The dishes seemed to be never-ending (the next house I’m getting a dishwasher for sure), and I went through two bottles of dish detergent for the month. I also used the crock pot at least three times a week, that really helped out.

The kiddos really wanted take-out, specifically take-out with Uncle Rob. They asked for Pizza 51 and Crayola Cafe a handful of times. We’ll have to go on a road trip to K.C. soon.

James was a really good sport about it, but he was really relieved when I called the project off. I didn’t miss take-out at all, I always crave what isn’t here anyway, but I was really tired of washing all of those dishes.

I did notice a few things though… For the entire month I never had to fuel my van, without the extra trips here and there, I saved on gas money. I didn’t save on the grocery bill at all, I was hoping too, but I had to shop locally only (snowed in) and it adds up fast. On a happier note, even though I made a ton of extra desserts, I lost 5 pounds for the month. I thought that was pretty cool.

I don’t think we will take on this project again, it just wasn’t worth the grumpiness from the family. It was a fun experiment though, and I’m happy to have tackled some of my cooking fears. March will be here soon, so I had better get a menu plan together.

Feb 26

Simple Saturday: School @ Home

Thade is busy at school all day, but he brings home a lot of homework. This month there is a lot of extra schoolwork going on, so the dining room has become an at home schoolroom.

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All of the first graders are participating in the Ready Set Read program, and the goal is 30 books read by April. Thade finished up his first 30 last week, and is focusing on a goal of 50. I keep a big stack of books on the buffet to keep him reading during the week. He is hoping to finish another 10 this weekend, once he sets his sight on a goal, he is one determined kiddo.

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Thade is also participating in a Spelling Bee, and he had over 250 words to study. I wrote them out on little cards so he could read through them at his leisure. We also go through them at random during the evenings, and a little during homework time after school. The box below the cards has become a permanent fixture on the dining room table. It is an old scrapbooking supply case, but it makes a great holder of all of the day-to-day schoolwork. I keep the weekly spelling lists, and calendars in it, so I can remember what’s going on for the week.

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Thade would draw 24 hours a day if I would let him, so we set him up a big desk full of art supplies. Dylan sometimes hangs out too, and colors in his coloring books. Some nights Thade will have at least an hour of homework, I have him take drawing breaks to help keep him from getting burned out on all that homework.

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It’s a few simple items, but it has really helped this big kid get all of his homework done.

Feb 25

Nicostuff FAILs

Sometimes I have these great ideas, and I think that a new project will be cool. I map out a plan in mind, and then FAIL hard… Here’s three to share.

12 Months 12 Projects

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Shortly after I had Agnes, I looked around our current address and decided I couldn’t take it any longer. We needed to redecorate every square inch of the house. I made a list of 12 projects that I would tackle in 12 months, and I didn’t get a single one of them done…

Nicostuff’s Fried Chicken Quest

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This one made it onto facebook and through the twitter-verse, but it never quite made it to Nicostuff, here’s why.

I had this cool idea… I currently live in the fried chicken capital of the world, and I thought it would be fun to check out all of the surrounding communities Fried Chicken restaurants, and see if my homemade fried chicken is better. I made a short list of about 6 places to go, and kept busy perfecting my recipe, and I headed out to enjoy our first meal on the quest for the best.

I drove about 12 miles away for a local favorite, brought it home, presented it to the family, and I got food poisoning. They ate the tenders, I had the one that was still on the bone. I was brutally sick for a good week and a half, and thus the quest was ended.

P.S. My chicken is the best!

Lastly….

February’s 2011 No Take-Out Month

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I had a plan, I had a great menu, I had a family that couldn’t take it one minute longer. We made it to day 25, and I caved and picked up donuts, thus ending the project…I might just go and get Taco Bell for dinner and call it officially done.

Here’s to a new day, and maybe a noggin full of new projects. Some I might actually accomplish.

Feb 24

Happy Birthday Uncle Rob!

So today is a pretty cool day. Thade asked if he could ditch school, so we could drive to K.C. and surprise Uncle Rob at work. How I wish I could have said yes! Since I’m here though, I thought I should tell you a bit about one of my very favorite people in the whole wide world, and today just happens to be his birthday.

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Rob is my amazing Brother. He is beyond creative, a very talented artist, and seriously the best Uncle in the whole world.

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He is patient and kind, and the coolest person on the planet.

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He is loved by these little guys far more that he will ever know.

I feel really lucky to have Rob not only as my brother, but also my best friend ever since we were little…

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Happy Birthday Rob!

Wishing you the very best on your birthday, and here’s to many more!