thursdays…

i like thursdays because they are close to fridays.
i used to love thursdays because of must see tv… but i don’t really watch much anymore.
Parenthood is over and i am feeling like I’m through with series.
greys will finish up soon.
madmen is almost done… and i think I’m done.
is it my age?  what is it?
is it the new era of dvr and internet where i can pull-up anything whenever i want?
i don’t love anything like i did when i loved my fave shows.
it’s probably just that i miss those too much.
Seinfeld… Friends… ER…. Office… 30 Rock…

everything else is just those same stories over again.

moving on…
annie started piano lessons again.
by choice.
talby starts this week.
i love hearing them practice.
(although if i hear “All of Me” by john legend one more time i may die)

the other night annie was stalling before bed time and i walked in and caught this:

i love her rainbow room so much.
(and she loves stuffed animals a little too much!)
but to be sure i am always “keeping it real” over here she told me recently that she can’t wait to re-do her room in a complete basketball theme because she is going to play in the WNBA and wants her room to look very sporty.
OY VEH!
i can remember my first lesson in humility regarding room decor with lauren.
she was probably 8 and we had painted her room just the prettiest way i thought it should be.
yellow floral Martha stewart bedding… matching curtains… i even painted plaid on the wall!
and then… she taped magazine photos of animals all over the walls.
ALL OVER.
and that did not match.
i tried to tell her how these pictures did not flow with the look i was going for.
ha ha ha
but SHE thought they looked really nice.
she chose her favorite animals and knew why they were here favorites.

i think that’s when i learned that it was going to be ok.
(it probably took many more lessons but i do recall that night)
my home should reflect all of us… not just MOM’s idea of pretty.
everything doesn’t have to look like a magazine.
and no matter their style is… it’s OK!  it’s GOOD to have an idea!
it’s GOOD to know what you like!
if you like animals… GREAT!  if you like basketball… GREAT!
i hope someday annie gets her dream room.
although it’s pretty darn great right now… maybe we should switch bedrooms…. what do you think craig?  want to bunk up in the rainbow room with me?  ha ha ha

wednesday likes to sit in the sun… especially on the hood of my car.

i made Marta’s meat muffins the other night at 8 pm.
(the recipe she shares now is a little different… eggs, zucchini and lots of spices… maybe she will blog it?)
i make them for me… not the whole family.
i COULD feed it to them…. but then i don’t have my stock.
i freeze all but 6 and then eat two at a time for meals during the week.
when my 6 in the refrigerator are gone i pull another container from the freezer.
it’s great protein when i want to eat cookies.  🙂

and then when i was done… i made pumpkin waffles at 10 pm.
i used this recipe by paleomg.com.
they are definitely gluten free & dairy free as far as taste but i am trying to eat that way so when everything tastes that way then you get used to it.
i freeze these also except for a few.
i heat one up and spread a little almond butter and strawberry jam on them.
i make strawberry jam by putting strawberries in food processor.
nothing else added.
🙂

so those are two things i am eating to help me stay on track with my health.
remember my 2015 word was ACTION.

although… this week i have been sleeping like a bear in hibernation.
im not sure what the deal is but i am so tired.
hopefully it will go away soon.

this was yesterday morning at our house.
i just said “enough!”  (not in a mad way… just exhausted)
i am feeling tired and this does not help.
i mean… this is normal when 6 people share a space.
this is 6 people each leaving one or two or five things out.
and if it doesn’t get picked up… it multiplies.
and this is with the dishes done.
it’s so much worse when the sink is overflowing with dishes.

so i made a new chart.
it was time.
we used to have a whole system when the kids were younger just for sanity
but when we moved to the farm i never made it again.
now it’s back in a newer simplified form.

annie’s charts are her own personal movitation charts.
she gets to choose a treat of her choice when she completes it…not just the .99 ice cream cone.

yesterday was the first day.
i walked in at 9 pm from the garage and the smell of bleach was overpowering.
so i learned that i had to teach HOW to do these jobs.
we went over which cleaners to use… tools to use… what “put stuff away” means…. and how a counter top FEELS when it’s clean.
🙂
and this morning it was so happy to walk out to a clean kitchen.
they agreed that it felt nice to have it clean too!
ahhhh.

so if you got your kids started on their laundry…. maybe the kitchen is the next place.
your kids are going to hate that “Meg from Whatever”
HA!

my kids also load and unload the dishwasher.
scott & sean alternate loading and talby & sean alternate unloading.
(i step in and wash pots and pans… and load or unloadload when kids have been busy and having it done is better than waiting.)
no one likes this job at our house.
but who does?!
this is good for them.
we’ve been doing this for YEARS too.
it used to be lauren & scott loading and talby & sean unloading.
annie was too short.
but when lauren moved out… annie moved up.
it’s working.

chores are good.
they are!
i love being a mom so much.
but i don’t want to wait on them hand and foot.
my kids are able to help and we think they should.
they still have so much time for fun.. this is just life & helping each other out.