The kids are home from school due to ice... surprise ice... All 6 of them (my 2 and 4 others)! I’m quite outnumbered. Thankfully, they played really well all morning in some sort of elaborate imaginative game involving traps made of Tinker Toys and Cupcake bombs used to protect the Magic Crystal Ball… I’m not clear on the details (I honestly tried to block them out as I am trying this new-to-me idea of letting them play without my interference… quite so often. And that is really hard because we have a very small living/play space). There was a dragon, and more “fighting” than I care typically care for, but no one was actually whacking or hitting anyone… and they were checking each other to keep everyone involved and happy! They even made my little 2yo Bear an important character! So excited to see them including him!                              

My new approach kept me sane! Hooray! Furthermore, after that bit of playful independence they were great to clean up together and get ready for lunch. Lunch time with six kiddos under 8 at the table was a bit more of a challenge to leave alone… “Not time for Simone says touch your butt.”… “It’s also not time for singing head shoulders knees and toes.” … “Or any other song in unison… with your mouths full!” Jeez!

        Finally, they have eaten, cleared their dishes and set up their bed mats, gathered their quiet time toys and books and sat down to do what they know they should! WOW! If only every day could go this smoothly! Still, it takes a while to be sure everyone is settled, comfy and quiet. Then, I get to eat! A quick peek in the fridge at the ingredients available to me and AHA! This week’s salad will be my version of the Cheesecake Factory’s Factory Chopped Salad. Yummm!

Here’s how I make it:

Dressing

I’ve got this great dressing mixer I use from my days selling Pampered Chef.
¼ c Balsamic Vinegar
¼ c Olive Oil
A splash of water… Like 2-3 Tbsp
¼ Tsp Salt
¼ Tsp Basil (I use freeze dried)
¼ Tsp Garlic (Fresh pressed or slightly less for garlic powder)
¼ Tsp Onion Powder
1 Tsp Sugar or 1-2 packets of your sweetener
1 ½ Tbsp Dijon Mustard …  This is the ingredient that makes this Balsamic dressing stand apart!

Salad

- Left-over cooked chicken  (Save some when cooking dinner, or buy a cooked Rotisserie for the week!)
- Spinach & Romaine Chopped Fresh for today’s Salad (I add spinach to everything for the health benefits)
- Bacon Bits... left overs, or packaged, or substitute Sunflower Seeds for the salty crunch like I did today!
- ¼ - ½  Green Apple Chopped
- ½ Avocado chopped - (Slice in half, pull half off for today, LEAVE the pit in the other half & put in a zip bag to keep for tomorrow. Tomorrow pop out the pit, sliver off the browning top and enjoy the fresh Avo below!)

** You can chop everything fresh daily… or throw a large quantity of these ingredients chopped into a Tupperware to use all week.

- Roma Tomato, seeded and diced
- Purple Onion
- Corn kernels (I use canned)

        Throw it all together, pour on some dressing & enjoy! I personally LOVE chopped salad, I chop all my salads to bits! I like to scoop a big pile of salad into my mouth without a huge piece of lettuce whacking my cheek with dressing! I prefer to make a batch of one dressing each week and I usually get about four-five lunches out of the deal. I try this approach to ensure I eat something relatively healthy every day to go along with my sweet tooth. My lunch was delicious, and now it’s time for hot cup of caffeine… I mean tea, and a piece of chocolate before Quiet time ends!

 

 

 

Procrastination... Balance... & A Movie

 
       Every evening I think of the things I meant to do, or the task I should do… now? No tomorrow… or soon at least! My name is Jamie and I am a procrastinator. I will jump out of bed when I realize I forgot to feed the cat or turn on the dishwasher. But when I realize I forgot to pay a bill or send an email, I figure that can wait. Except sometimes I forget… Then I deal with the consequences. I hold myself to a mix of high and low standards. I think it keeps me balanced. For example: High standards- wishing to enroll my daughter in gymnastics, drama, piano, and complete learning experiences from pinterest at home. Low standard- I’d much rather do ANYTHING but clean house, other than the basics. After all, the kids need my attention and they deserve it much more than the housework. I fully embrace the idea that my children (and others, as I run a daycare for income) must come first. Yet my procrastination always gets in the way. I intended to put the kiddos in gymnastics… I forgot to enroll them… and repeatedly procrastinated, until faced with the terrible regret of waking on the morning of what should have been their first class to realize I failed. I intend to enroll Love Bug in piano lessons… I’ve told her since she was 4 that I would… she’s 6. I finally found someone local. It felt like a great accomplishment! Then I drafted an email to her… and still haven’t hit send because I’m not certain I can actually get her to the lessons and pay for them without stressing out. This kind of crap drives me crazy all week long. Cleaning up at night so that the next day we’ll open a Daycare that looks acceptable, and we’ll have clean dishes to eat with. Good morning! Oh crap you forgot to do HW and pack the lunch last night… again!

        But today was a wonderfully useless rainy Sunday. I intended to go to the store for a few items, and take the kiddos to see FireDad at the station. Then I awoke to a down pour. Upon opening Facebook... to see what I'd missed while sleeping... (I guess that's my excuse for this ridiculous habit!?) I saw a friend posted herself in the downpour, captioned "Local weather announcement... Don't leave bed unless absolutely necessary." Seemed like excellent advice; however, I would need to get Little Bear from his crib and fix breakfast. We opted to all snuggle for one more morning cartoon, and then have breakfast. Instead of weekend homemade pancakes, I grabbed the school-day frozen ones... and Little bear thought those still took too long to cook... in the microwave... for 60 seconds.   

       We played Legos, but mostly the kids played and I looked on while completing school work on the computer. A load of laundry was started, but not finished so I shall rewash it again tomorrow. Dishes were loaded into the dishwasher. Everyone was fed, even the pets. Warm and dry on this yucky day without the stresses of daycare and school buses... I got a migraine. Seriously?!?  I decided this was an excellent excuse for the extremely rare Mommy nap.

       I am super grateful that I taught my children (and they sometimes are able to demonstrate) what quiet time is! About an hour later I awoke again to realize I needed to get Little Bear up if I expected him to sleep at night... and to realize the migraine had only dulled during my slumber. Darn. Water, tea, and a snack, back on to work on the computer... My mom calls. It's Sunday, and FireDad is at work, she’d like to know if we would like to come over for dinner? Ummm, let me think... YES. I think I could drag us into the cold for a big bowl of homemade chicken and dumplings... that I don't have to cook! This my friends is one of two reasons I am willing to give up my thoughts of moving out of our hometown (the other of course is my in-laws free & fantastic babysitting!).

       Once home with the kiddos tucked into bed (late… trying to not stress about that part), I again felt grateful that they were taking it easy on me. I took the computer into bed and flicked on the TV. Instead of my usual, catching up on favorite shows, I decided to watch a movie! I just realized I can watch any girlie movie I want while hubby is away! Mom’s Night Out sounds perfect. It was. (I am notorious for liking any movie I watch, as I so rarely watch a full movie, so take my opinion with a grain of salt.) While I’m sure it, as anything, could be nitpicked apart, I loved the fact that it was another mainstream example of how it is becoming socially acceptable to admit that being a mom is difficult. That being a mom is not all sunshine, rainbows and smiles. That being a mom comes with this weird sense of guilt about EVERYTHING! And finally, the movie ends and I am left reminded that even if I do not get Love Bug into every class I’d like, or my home is not in perfect order daily, or I cannot afford to eat everything completely homemade or organic, I am still doing a great job keeping my kiddos happy, healthy, and loved... and isn’t that what really matters? To me at least.

Mid-afternoon Chocolate Peanut Butter Mug Cake

Mmmmm, chocolate! What better way to treat myself on a Sunday afternoon, or any afternoon?!

       As my Love Bug was taking orders for cupcakes, served in the form of a lovely colored doodle drawing, I decided a (less imaginary) bit of chocolate cake would really hit the spot. Of course I was in the middle of a few tasks and quickly ruled out the idea of baking an entire desert that would result in leftovers… when it hit me. Aha! A mug cake! I had never made one, but have always wanted to try. Oh! And I’ve got half of a box of chocolate cake mix left over from the last time I made S’more Cake by Pampered Chef Kitchens!  Yes! Zoom over to Pinterest and Google for some inspiration... I’m not one for following a recipe; however, I do like to check a few recipes to gain an idea for the ratio or types of ingredients. I landed on The Novice Chef’s recipe for Chocolate Peanut Butter Mug Cake. Sounds Delicious! Calling Love Bug in to the kitchen to wash up and join me, I pulled out the ingredients and tools we would need:

Mugs (One for me, love bug, and FireDad)
Spoons, Tablespoons, whisks

Ingredients per Mug Cake:

3 ½ Tbsp Left over chocolate cake mix
1 Tbsp Vegetable oil
1 Tbsp Peanut butter
3 Tbsp Milk

Love Bug and I whipped them up quite quickly popped them into the microwave individually for about 1-1 ½ minutes each. Next, my sweet tooth got the better of me when I topped the hot mug cakes off with a dollop of vanilla ice cream and a drizzle of chocolate syrup. Mmmmm!

These little desserts were certainly more decadent than an afternoon treat should be, but they earned me the title of “Most Amazing Mom!” from my Love Bug (who as it turns out does not have my sweet tooth and admitted the dish was more than she could handle!), and making them on a leisurely afternoon served as a test run for making these another day as an evening dessert! I think the entire process took about 10 minutes for three Mug Cakes. This one goes in the win column!

Busy Busy Busy!

       Okay. Well, I haven't quite figured out how to blog every day... But I do think about it every day! I have had bunches of ideas, and I've saved tons of pics and activity notes to write about... someday. I am a stay-at-home-working-mom. I stay home with Little Bear, my two-year-old son, and I operate a home based child care. Every day is busy busy busy (imagining the magician in the Frosty movie. hehe!) getting my daughter and Z off to the school bus stop. My Love Bug is in Kindergarten! Then I get the boys, mine and J, fed and ready to drive J to Preschool at another local school… Then I head out to the library, a field trip, playdate, errands or to teach preschool to the little ones staying home with me and another child care. Of course it starts all over again around noon. Little Bear and I go pick up J from preschool, and head home for lunch and quiet/nap time. Then the “big” girls get home on the bus a bit later and it’s time for snack, play, and pretending to not be exhausted!
       Once everyone else’s kids have gone home, my husband arrives and there is dinner to be cooked, eaten, baths to be had, along with conversations, silly time, and the bedtime routine. Finally, the kids are in bed! I can eat some chocolate! Who am I kidding? I snuck a bite in between PJs and teeth brushing. At this point I’d like a big dessert, a hot shower, an hour of TV and some relaxation with my hubby… if I’m lucky I might get some of that… along with many requests for more hugs, more trips to the potty, and finding the toy that just fell behind the bed … Oh and maybe I should clean up a little.  At least Love Bug is exhausted and sound asleep after a long day at school! So, why don’t I blog while I eat my dessert? Because I’m taking graduate classes online to maintain my teaching certificate. Ugh!

Stay-at-home or working-mom, super-mom, single-mom, addicted-to-pinterest-mom, just-getting-by mom, or doing-the-best-you-can-mom… We are all busy ladies, just doing what we can to care for and love our kiddos. Good job! Have a great, busy day!

Me & A Blog

Hi there! I am Jamie and I'm going to give this blogging thing a try!
I am a certified teacher, turned stay at home mom/daycare provider/preschool teacher/tutor/direct sales consultant... Basically, whatever I can do to squeeze out some time at home with my kiddos and still contribute to our family's budget!

I've taken care of kids since I was still one myself. Starting around age nine, when my little brother was born, I became self proclaimed mommy #2. Then, at age thirteen I started babysitting for families in my neighborhood. In high school I enrolled in the Child Development Program. I have a knack for kids, educating them, crafting with them, making file folder games... it was perfect! I continued on this track...
Earned my 90 hour Certificate for Preschool my senior year (I had no clue how awesome that was)...
Enrolled in my local community college for Elementary Ed (much to my dismay initially)...
Took my Associates with me to enroll in my State University, and earned my Bachelors in Elementary Education...
Along the track I met my true love (high school sweethearts), dated for years, got engaged, planned & executed a wedding, and found out I was pregnant with our first child! (I'll tell that story in better detail another day).
So, I applied and was (finally) hired to teach in a public school. I put my certification and degree to use in the public school for four years. Just long enough to have two amazing children, and turn my second maternity leave into an indefinite one.

When I considered the cost of putting two children in day care, I had an epiphany (or so I thought)... I am HIGHLY qualified to do that myself! I could stay home with my kids and a couple others and get paid to play, and explore on our own schedule. So, I've been home for almost two years, I've established myself as a licensed Child Care Provider, and I've taken up a couple other jobs to keep making ends meet.

Most of the time I feel like I'm just getting by... counting down the minutes till the kids are in bed and I can plop down with a piece of delicious chocolate. That said, at least once a day I have a successful mommy or teacher moment... and those will be my positive posts! I look forward to telling you more about me, my children, & our adventures and successes... as well as my frustrations, and failures.
Fair Warning- I use too many of these () and these , and these ... and these ! But I hope you get the message and enjoy my posts :o)