Tag: family time

Summer 2018- Part 3

This is my final recap of the summer, and as today is the first day of Fall, it is fitting!. Other than the 18 things on our to-do list {Part 1 and Part 2}, we also had plans to travel to San Antonio for a family reunion on my mother’s side.

We are extremely lucky that now, we only live about 3 hours away from my grandparents, my mother’s parents. Growing up we never lived close to them, and never were able to visit as much as my other cousins. Sometimes it make us, my siblings, feel like we are the odd ones out. Since moving, and being older now, I see that really it’s just that they don’t know us as well, but my grandparents WANT to have that kind of relationship with us.

Getting together with all the cousins, I think only one or two was unable to come, and their families was crazy! My grandparents had 5 kids and those 5 had: a total of 14 kids. Of those cousins, 6 of us have had at least 2 babies. I believe the total is now at 15 great-grand-babies! Plus some of my grandparents cousins came down. There was a lot of people at the big party.

Even though this wasn’t our first time to San Antonio, we finally got the chance to do some touristy things.

Like The Riverwalk:

All of us on the new boats
Tower of The Americas
Lunch at the old restaurant on the Riverwalk, Casa Rio. We enjoyed it!

The Alamo:

Living history on medical procedures
Living history, on firearms

And our favorite place, The Doseum!

No, we didn’t have two hats for Mr. Z. At some point before we road the river boats, Mr. Z lost his hat and we had to get a new one. His little dino hat was my FAVORITE and I am still devastated, so if anyone can find a replacement for Baby Hercules to wear send it our way!

Hotel shenanigans

 

Lastly, we were able to get Mr. Z a set of private swim lessons! He did a lot better this year than last year in the group lessons. Next year, both boys can do them!

Swim Lessons!

Today, I Needed the Hug

Mr. Z: Daddy, will you come have lunch with me today?

Mr. Wonderful: I can’t today, I have to finish a big project. I don’t get to even stop for lunch, I eat while I work on it.

Mr. Z, sad: Soon?

Mr. Wonderful: YES!

The conversation this morning, broke my heart. I remember wanting and asking my parents to eat lunch with me at school, but they always were “too busy.” What does “too busy” even mean when it comes to our children?

This morning I left late to get run some errands, and on my way home I had to drive by a 3 car rollover accident involving a garbage truck, a sports car, and the same make, model, and color compact SUV that I drive. The SUV was the one that flipped.

I was on my way home from a 2 mile walk, sweaty and wanting to shower. Baby Hercules needed a diaper change and I didn’t bring any. After driving past this accident, and seeing “my” car, I needed to hold my babies. Remembering the conversation my two Misters had this morning out the door, I glanced at the clock, decided to forgo the shower, got lunch and showed up for lunch with Mr. Z.

We had a fun little lunch together, and he enjoyed that I surprised him with Whataburger. He also didn’t mind that I needed to hold and love on him.

It is important to me that I let my children know that they are on my “Most Important” list. I don’t want to be “too busy” to go to lunch at school with my kids. If that means, we have to sacrifice the income that me working would bring in, and we eat rice and beans multiple times a week, then that is what it looks like.

Summer 2018- Part 2

 

It’s time for Part Two of our Summer!  Missed Part one? Look HERE.

This summer we created a list of 18 things to do. I do this list so that we have something to do other than not melt in the Texas heat. We did not get to everything on the list, but here are the ones that we did!

10: Photo Scavenger Hunt

This was totally my fault, I never put it together!

11: Visit the Brazos Valley Children’s Museum 10 times.

This is one of our favorite places, it is indoors and air conditioned, and since we have a membership, it’s free! The plan was to go at least weekly, but we didn’t always make it. Then I found out our membership expired in July! We decided that we would not renew with Mr. Z starting full day kindergarten we would not use it as much as we did this last year. We did make it 7 times before our membership expired, plus a trip to the Houston Natural Science Museum and to San Antonio children’s museum the Dosuem.

12: Watch Fireworks

We decided to check out the fireworks at the George Bush Presidential Library this year. It was pretty good. Plus the show had a live orchestra playing during the firework display, so the timing was almost perfect. Mr. Z also enjoyed some fun bounce houses and slides before it got dark.

13: Go to the Physics Roadshow

This one was another one of, mom made a mistake. I wrote down the wrong date on the calendar, and we showed up to the library 2 weeks too late!

14: Sponge Water Fight

I got this idea off pinterest, and Mr. Z loved it! No need for water guns, plus it’s more fun.

15: Picnic at the park

Summer is not the time to have a picnic outside in Texas. It was always too hot, and I just couldn’t bring myself to force us to do it.

16: Go to the Chemistry Roadshow

This one we did make! I think all the fire and “Ooohh! Aaahhh!” factor they have built into the show makes it a favorite for all kids.

17: Visit Washington on the Brazos

This was another one, that we made plans but weather did not agree with us. Once we got rained out and twice it was over 100*.

18: Write Letters to Friends.

This one was a bust. We got all the stuff out a couple of times and then Mr. Z decided he didn’t want to do it, or Baby Hercules would wake up and need my attention and Mr. Z would not finish. I think I’ll save it for next year, it might have been too early to do it this summer.

Next week I’ll post about our Big Trip and about some of the summer dreams we got to do.

 

Groceries-Week of Sept 10

Grocery shopping this week, with what happened Monday, was not in budget or really planned. Plans often go out to the wayside when unpredictable things like that happen.

The whole family headed to HEB late on Monday, so it took longer and we got a handful of impulse buys. I was not in the mood to fight for the budget.

At HEB we spent $67.98 (oops! That’s the whole budget for this week!)

$67.98 at HEB

We got, some frozen pizzas (there was no way I was cooking dinner after my morning), lettuce, chicken breasts, oatmeal, lunch meat, granola bars, salad dressing, strawberries ($0.87 a pound! We are going to slice and freeze mosts of them.) Oatmeal digestive cookies (Baby Hercules likes these ones, I got the wrong ones last time.) Hummus, and some cheddar bunnies.

Tuesday, I made it out to Aldi, and after loading up, realized I forget the peppers and had to drag the kids back in. I spent a total of $31.94 at Aldi.

$31.94 at Aldi

At Aldi I stocked up on some things that we need for lunches and pizza night; pasta sauce, pepperoni, trail mix, yogurt, mini cucumbers, yellow potatoes, pretzels, grapes, and bell peppers.

This week’s total on groceries was $99.42. Yikes! If I am careful, I think we can manage skipping the grocery store next week! That will help the budget, and maybe, just maybe give us a small rollover.

I also had a helper today with pictures… Good thing he is cute!

 

Summer 2018- Part 1

This summer we created a list of 18 things to do. I do this list so that we have something to do other than not melt in the Texas heat. We did not get to everything on the list, but here are the ones that we did!

1: Learn to ride a bike!

All decked out in safety gear to practice.

Mr. Z got a bike for Christmas last year, and getting him to learn to ride it has not been easy. We did get a few practice sessions in.

2: Ride a pony.

A mom’s group that we are in, has a summer trip out to one of the members home, where she has horses and a pony. She leads the kids around for a ride on the pony. We went, but Mr. Z was scared of the large animals and wouldn’t ride or touch it. I am hopeful, that one year he will ride the pony!

3: Vacation Bible School!

He loved the sport themed VBS.

Mr. Z did two weeks of VBS. IT WAS AMAZING, for us at least! Both were evening sessions and so we got to have time with just Baby Hercules. Mr. Z did enjoy VBS and loved having fun crafts to learn about bible stories.

4: Finish Summer Reading

Summer reading logs

Our library does the national summer reading program, but it is very different from our old library in Pullman. Most of the prizes here are coupons for discounted or free kids meals. But we do summer reading, more for the fun of making sure we read every day in the summer. This summer we read The BFG and James and the Giant Peach. Mr. Z loved them and I think reading at lunch will be a summer tradition for us.

5: One Week of NO TV!

This was one that Mr. Z was not excited for at all. But I knew we needed it. The first few days were hard, but by Wednesday, TV time wasn’t even asked for. We have also carried over no TV Sundays, from this.

6: Visit the 3 Splash Pads.

Mr. Z is great at making friends with everyone at the parks.

This one is one of my favorite things to do in the summer, plus, with Baby Hercules getting more mobile over the summer, he also enjoyed the splash pads. We have 3 splash pads at different city parks. One is our favorite and one we don’t really like, but I don’t like going to the same place every time. So I wanted to make sure we went to each one this year.

7: Find a 4-leaf Clover.

Mr. Z was unsuccessful in his search.

8: Read The BFG!

It only took us 10 days to read.

Like I said in 4, we did read it. It was so fun to read at lunch in the summer. Mr. Z just loved it and if I could, I think he would have wanted me to read it in one sitting!

9: Make Popsicles.

One of our favorite things, we have a couple different molds, and we like coming up with fun fruit and juice mixes. Mr. Z’s favorite this summer was strawberries and blueberries with orange juice.

 

Next week I’ll post the other 9 things on our 2018 Summer list.

Happiness and Sorrow

I haven’t given an update on our Daily Doings, as life has just been BUSY! Thanksgiving we drove up to Dallas, and spent a few days with my cousin and her family. Mr. Z has a second cousin who is 6 month younger than him and they had a blast chasing each other, riding bikes, and being boys.

Then for Christmas, we drove down to San Antonio to spend it with most of my mom’s side of the family. I believe at the height of the weekend there was 22 people in my grandparents house!

We had a good Christmas, and Mr. Z is enjoying all of his gifts. I think his Aunt won the Best Gift award this year with a set of gears. With his imagination and his desire to understand the world, those gears are constantly being constructed into some new contraption.

In January, Mr. Wonderful and I started school back up. We had a quiet birthday celebration for me. And the next day we had an ER visit.

Mr. Z almost cut the tip of his finger off and got four stitches to reattach the tip. It was terrible and bloody, with tears and screams.

I know that all the medical procedures that had to be performed were necessary, but listening and watching your child scream, yell, and fight against what is happening to him, is not easy. It was repeated, when we got his stitches out. I just hope now that he will be able to understand that hard things are necessary.

Our January has not been a great start for 2017. With an ER visit in our little family, our extended family has had its share of tears. Our hearts have been heavy with the death of my grandpa Dick. On Mr. Wonderful’s side, his grandfather is slowly approaching the other side. His dear mother has been by her father’s side for over a week. We pray for comfort and peace. We wish that we could be closer, so that we can physically mourn with those we love.

I didn’t get a chance to post this before, but Wednesday morning, Mr. Wonderful’s grandfather passes away peacefully in his sleep. We are grateful for his influence in our lives and wish peace to all who knew him.

Fermenting and Whole30

We are EIGHT days from January being over and we are ready. I have being doing Whole30 this month with a tight budget, but it is going well. I have had plenty of “I am giving up” moments but thanks to my friend’s support group, they have helped give me that extra push. Plus Mr. Wonderful has helped a lot!

A couple of weeks ago we got some cabbage, and it’s not something we normally have so I was looking for some things to do with it. Then I remembered that sauerkraut is fermented cabbage and when it is raw it has tons of gut health probiotics. So I made some with the help of my helper!

Then I got adventurous and made a mexican taco topping inspired vegetable ferment. If it works, I will share that one later.

I used to ferment wheat for bread and other things, think sourdough starter. It was a lot of work, and I had problems, but it is something I want to do more of. I think this summer I might bring that back.

One of the great things about fermenting is that it is doesn’t require any new equipment. Most home cooks have a glass jar, knife, salt, and a something to smash down the vegetables. I am looking forward to some probiotic full vegetables.

What we did: November 7 to 13

This last week was fairly uneventful. I am going to purposefully avoid taking politics because, well yeah. I voted, and not for Trump. That’s as much and as far as I want to go.

I have been working on Mr. Z Christmas stocking. I am not sure I am going to finish it, but I am trying my hardest to get his stocking finish for Christmas this year.

christmas-stocking

We also canned some pumpkin! Peeled, cubed, boiled, and pressure canned! I hope to use some for pumpkin pie this holiday season. We found a volunteer seedling, so we planted it. Maybe Texas will give us pumpkins in May!

volunteer-pumpkin

Since, we are cycling often, and sometimes it can rain without notice, I wanted to find a more permanent home for the trailer. Without garage, I had to get creative. It is a little bit of a hassle, but it stays dry, and no bugs.

bike-trailer-new-home

We also, rescheduled our family pictures. I found an AMAZING photographer. She was amazing with Mr. Z. She sent me some proofs and I can not wait until I get the finals!

family-pictures

What We Did: Nov 1-6th

It is November! Where we used to live that meant heavy coats, cold rain, and possibly a snow flurry. Now, in Texas, we are enjoying cooler temperatures and sudden thunderstorms.

Our week started out with me finally giving in and getting into the doctor about my allergies. I usually have been able to just live through the week or two of cold like symptoms. Now, in Texas, everything is bigger, and that means allergies are bigger too. Doctor prescribed me some steroids and 90% of my symptoms are gone. I have now joined the throng of seasonal allergy sufferers.

The next day, I was back at the doctor’s office, but this time with Mr. Z. He is a pretty good kid, and rarely gets so sick I have no idea what to do. It also one of those times where I just freak out, I can’t call my mom to be reassured, and I personally feel weird calling other “mother” type figures in my life with questions. I tried to wait it out, but I called the office to see what they would suggest and they asked me to bring him in.

Now, when you bring your sick kid to the office, I feel like magically they resolve every single symptom and start bouncing off the wall. Well this visit was just like that. It is so frustrating to me because, now I feel like I am that over reacting helicopter parent, which I try not to be.

Anyway, so we canceled our family pictures we had scheduled for the weekend and took a nice and easy weekend. Which was good because it rained all day Saturday.

Sunday biking

Overall our week was gloomy like the fall weather, but Sunday we had a little excitement. We have started riding our bikes to church, it is about a mile away, just straight down the street. Mr. Z looks forward to it, and my hippie dippie inter-soul is happy to save the environment just a little. Well, we didn’t check the forecast before leaving, and as we walk out of church, it starts raining and thundering. So we pedal quick as we can home and luckily made it home before the downpour and the lightening and thunder. Mr. Wonderful, didn’t make out so lucky. He stays for choir practice, and we had a little miscommunication. Now I need to find a good dry cleaners.

Movie time

We also started a new Sunday activity! Popcorn and movie after church, while we wait for daddy! It was fun, and we probably ruined dinner eating popcorn right before, oh well!

Popcorn!

We also did a couple of recipe tests! One I have plan to get out before Thanksgiving.

Recipe testing

What We Did This Week: Halloween Edition

This week’s ‘What We Did’, will cover a little more than a week, because I can’t save Halloween for next week! Maybe I should change these to ‘What We Did This Weekend’, cause our week is pretty boring.

christmas-presents
Started a simple blanket for Mr. Z

Wednesday we went to JoAnn’s and spent too much money on Christmas present stuff. And I started Mr. Z’s Halloween costume.

sewing-halloween-20161027
Finshed Mr. Z’s costume with just the right amount of bobbin!

Friday, our MOMS Club had a little Fall/Halloween Party. The kids played and we all ate some yummy and fun halloween treats. Some of the kids also did a skeleton craft. We brought ‘Spiders’ on the Log (recipe at the end!).

moms-club-party

craft-time

a-ghost-and-his-alien-skeleton
Mr. Z made an alien skeleton with multiple heads.

Saturday, our church did a little community Truck or Treat in the parking lot and Mr. Z got to go and enjoyed himself. At the end, he was SWEATING!! It was 85 outside at 6 pm! Such a strange thing for us for Halloween.

trunk-or-treat

truck-ot-treat-2
Hot and tired, “I just take a little rest right here.”

Sunday morning, Mr. Z and I loaded up and drove down to my mom’s parents to spend some time and to take Mr. Z trick or treating.

We had a great time, and even though the whole time Mr. Z kept asking to go home, he didn’t want to leave when it was time to come home. I am grateful that our move to Texas has brought us close to family. Mr. Z doesn’t get to grow up knowing my mom, but he gets to know her parents and a couple of her siblings that live close.

 

‘Spiders’ on a Log! This is really ants on a log, we just called them spiders because it was Halloween. I am always surprised when people tell me they never heard of this snack before. So now, world, enjoy a classic after school snack!

spiders-on-a-log-1

All you need to some celery, peanut butter, and raisins.

spiders-on-a-log-2

Wash and cut the celery stalks into “logs”, about 3 inches long.

spiders-on-a-log-3

Fill peanut butter.

spiders-on-a-log-4

Top with Ants! or Spiders! (or really with raisins!)

quality-control-20161028

ENJOY!

 

'Spiders' or Ants on a Log
 
Print
Prep time
Total time
 
A classic after school or afternoon snack that you or your kids can enjoy
Ashley Teare:
Recipe type: Snack
Ingredients
  • Celery
  • Peanut Butter (or nut butter of choice)
  • Raisins
Directions
  1. Wash and cut celery stalks into 3 inch "logs"
  2. Fill with peanut butter.
  3. Top with raisins (ants/spiders).
  4. Enjoy!