More milestones than you can shake a stick at.

This has been an incredible week!  Who would've thought that Jeff starting his job on Monday, would've quickly got overshadowed by a few MAJOR milestones by Sam?  Wow is all we can say.

Sam is growing up!  We've been working on her being able to take a shower on her own.  She does pretty well, but always needed a little assistance getting her hair rinsed completely free of the shampoo and conditioner.  Something magically clicked on Tuesday, when we returned from her gymnastics class. We walked in the door and she asked if she could take a shower.  I said, "Yes, I will come help you."  She went in the bathroom and as she was slamming the door yelling, "NO, I DON'T NEED YOUR HELP!!", she took the shower completely on her own, unassisted.  Setting aside the fact that I got treated with disrespect, it was pretty awesome that she did it.  When she came out of the bathroom in her pajamas and a big smile on her face, I told her I was very proud of her but didn't deserve to be yelled at.  She said she was "Sorry".  Then I explained how I was only trying to help her and she yelled back at me, "I TOLD YOU I WAS SORRY!!".  Lovely, right?  Anyway, I try to focus on the good in this story.  Sam is now showering on her own and she is doing a great job.  Woo-hoo!!

But the milestones just keep coming.  Each morning Sam has been working on tying her shoes.  This is a full year before Ian was able to master this skill at his age.  Something just magically clicked on Thursday morning and the next thing you know, Sam is now tying her shoes.  She can actually tie each sneaker in under 20 seconds.  It's very impressive. 

Sam is getting to be a big girl.  Jeff and I have noticed that her behavior is starting to get better.  I still notice many episodes of her yelling/demanding/whining/exploding at us for no reason, but it appears to be a little less frequent.  I've observed the more she is able to do on her own, the better behaved she is. She likes her independence and to be able to make decisions on her own.

Lunch.

Our rood to eating healthier (at least when we are home) is going swimmingly well.  I feel so good about all the food we are bringing in the house.  Slowly we've eliminated packaged foods that had dyes, high fructose corn syrup/corn syrup, preservatives, enriched flour, and lots of refined sugar.

Lunch has posed an issue for Sam.  She is tired of turkey sandwiches and would prefer to eat noodles 24/7.   Um, no.  That is not happening.  Even if it is whole wheat pasta.  I consulted my new bible, "100 Days of Real Food" cookbook and got inspired to think out of the box.

Voila!

The heart-shaped cut-out item on the left are apple slices (cut horizontally) stacked two high with peanut butter in the middle.  A new take on the peanut butter sandwich.  On the right side of the container, you have carrots, cheese cubes and a banana muffin.  Let me tell you about this muffin!  It is gluten-free, grain-free, dairy-free, and free of refined sugar.  Whoa baby! Now that is a muffin we can feel great eating.  The kids love them!!   Throw in a bottle of water and lunch is ready to go to school.

Here is my new favorite container I pack Sam's lunch in:

 It folds up compactly, keeps everything separate and fits nicely in her lunch box.

I am so proud of this.  If I was in school, I would love this lunch!  The first morning I put this together, Sam came into the kitchen to see what I was up to.  She took one look at the finished product and opened her mouth ready to complain about something.  Get this, she couldn't find one thing to complain about.  She ended up closing her mouth speechless.  Ha!

Since I've done this, Sam has asked me to stop putting so much peanut butter on the apples.  No problem, easy enough to fix.  I can mix up the sections with cucumber slices (another favorite of Sam's), grapes, whole wheat crackers, etc.  The possibilities are endless.

Here's another version I've packed for Sam:

The saltine crackers are organic and all natural ingredients.  Next to it is turkey for Sam to put on top of the crackers.  I've also included cucumber slices, grapes and a healthy version of a vanilla wafer.

Here is a link to this awesome new cookbook I've been using.  So far everything I've made has been a winner.

http://www.amazon.com/100-Days-Real-Food-Wholesome/dp/0062252550/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1411558698&sr=1-1&keywords=100+days+of+real+food

This author also has a wonderful website, facebook page and email newsletter under the same name.  She truly makes the overwhelming task of label reading much easier.  Brings it down to my level.  We are not anywhere near perfect, but we've made huge strides in the last 6 months.

A crazy shoe story

Sam has convinced Jeff that she needs more shoes.  Jeff bought Sam's argument hook, line and sinker.  Together, they tried to persuade me Sam needed to go shoe shopping.  Hey, here's an idea...why don't the both of you go shoe shopping together?   You can drive each other crazy.  Let's leave me out of it.

I armed Jeff with my Stride Rite coupon, loyalty rewards and sent them to the mall.  While Jeff and Sam were headed to Stride Rite, Ian and I went to the movies.  I received text messages from Jeff updating me on how it was going.  Stride Rite was a bust and JC Penny's children's shoe department at the mall was a bust.  The shoe shopping duo were stopping for lunch at Chutzpah and then trying DSW and Target.  With all those stores, they couldn't find one pair, let alone the two pairs they were hoping to score.  Jeff and Sam called it a day and came home.

The next day each child had a friend over the house for a playdate.  Sam's friend left first.  I suggested to Jeff he should take Sam and head to Potomac Mills for the Stride Rite Outlet.  Maybe they'd have better luck there.  Potomac Mills is a bit of a distance from our house, but I figured it would be good to try after having zero luck closer proximity to where we live. 

Success!!  Sam did find a pair of black dress shoes she wanted to replace, but still couldn't find a pair of back-up sneakers with laces.  The majority of shoes have velcro.  That is sooo 2013 in Sam's mind. 

Now here is the crazy ending to the story.  The shoes were originally $35.  But because it was outlet pricing, they were marked down to $25.99.   I had a coupon for Stride Rite that gave 20% off.  That brought the price down to $20.79.  Then I had two $10 off loyalty rewards which brought the cost down to $.79 !  With tax, the total cost of the shoes came to $.84  WOWEE!!  So Jeff has no cash on him...not even a dollar.  He whips out his credit card and the woman behind him in line is in shock that Jeff is going to charge .84 cents.  She refuses to let Jeff charge this small amount and insists he take her $1.00 to pay for the shoes.  After Jeff politely refuses and they go back and forth a few times, Jeff finally caves and takes her dollar.  The guy behind the counter asked who he should give the change to.  hehehehee.

At the end of the day, the shoes ended up costing us nothing!  And Jeff and Sam were very excited to finally have found a pair. 

Jeff's BIG day!

We are all shouting from the rooftop: Jeff  has gone back to work!  After being home 6 weeks his new job finally starts today.  Yahoo!!! 

I am admitting it; it is bittersweet.  While it is necessary for everyone's sanity that he has a purpose to his day and somewhere to go, it was very nice having him around.  If we didn't need money to live on, I'd actually be fine having him around all the time.  The Jeff we got to experience this past month and a half was relaxed, funny, helpful, and a joy to be around.  Fortunately he didn't freak out at all about being unemployed and having to find a new job.  The first interview he went on after being let go is the company he decided to work for.  Jeff took time and worked the process of checking out a bunch of other companies, going on interviews, speaking with recruiters and making sure this is who he wanted to say 'yes' to. Then it took a while to get the background check finalized and to hear the first official day would be September 22nd.

Each day Sam would look at Jeff and ask when he would finally be getting a job.  Then she'd comment how he should've never left Sapient, the company he was with 5 years before trying something new that didn't work out. Leave it to Sam to tell it like it is. 

Jeff had to dust off his alarm clock and set it once again this morning.  He is back among the working world.  I am no longer the sole breadwinner.  Ha! Ha!  If you knew what I make in a month, you would find this highly entertaining too!  We are extremely fortunate that between the 2 weeks notice, 2 weeks severance, and small amount of vacation time he had built up in only 3 months, we had a little more than 1 week without his paycheck.  But the 6 weeks he got to recover from the disaster that was his last job is priceless.  Believe me it was a nightmare to be around him for those 3 months he was working.  He was constantly stressed, freaking out, and working around the clock not sure he was doing anything right.  Now Jeff is heading to this new company relaxed, rested and ready to do great things!

We managed to keep life as close to normal as possible while the fate of when Jeff would be bringing home the 'bacon' was getting figured out.  Other than not signing Sam up for gymnastics or being able to follow through with all the donations I've verbally committed to, we did ok. Oh yeah, and now I can order my photo books I made from my trip to Israel and our week at the beach.  Kudos to Jeff for not being ultra-conservative and suggesting we stop the newspaper being delivered and/or get cable tv turned off.  Or G-d forbid, asking me not to go to the movies. 

We will go back to our regularly scheduled life with Jeff leaving the house bright and early each weekday morning.  And I am back to juggling the kids before and after school solo.  It will take some getting used to, but I think we will adjust just fine. 

Made by Ian

Ian asked if he cold make us dinner.  Oh yeah!  I asked Ian what he wanted to make.  Chicken meatballs, spaghetti and broccoli was his answer.  I reassured Ian if he needed any help I'd be nearby.  I gave Ian my recipe for meatballs and let him call the shots.  When all was said and done, I maybe assisted with 5% of the total preparation.  Ian did it on his own.  I am very proud of him. 

 

The cutest part was when Ian was heating the spaghetti sauce and decided to give it more flavor.  He cut up an onion, sprinkled in oregano, and then wanted to give it a "hint" (his words) of green bell pepper.   It was very yummy.

As Ian was cooking dinner and I was in the kitchen nearby to answer questions, Jeff tells me to turn the tv to channel to 232.  The broadway show turned movie "Rent" was on.  Without missing a beat, Ian starts signing along.  No, he hasn't seen the show or the movie.  But he certainly has heard the music enough in the car when I am behind the wheel.  I feel like my work here is done. :)

You can see Ian's 'hint' of green bell pepper.  :)

As we were eating I jokingly asked Ian what he plans to make next week.  He said he may do this again next month!  I think it was a bit overwhelming for him to be juggling the additions to the sauce he wanted to do, getting the pasta boiled and needing to take the meatballs out of the oven when it was time.  Ian did say he will try quesadillas next time.

Gosh, I love this kid.

Girls with their dolls - Take 4

Back to school means one thing.... a visit to the American Girl store in Tyson's Corner.  It's time for our annual lunch with our friends and the dolls.   This is our fourth year in a row.  Gosh, I love a good tradition.  And it is still as much fun for us as it was the first year. I am not sure who looks forward to this afternoon more; Sam or me. 

Each year we wonder out loud if our girls are ever going to stop wanting to do this.  At some point, they will outgrow the American Girl store, right?  And I am sure it will not be cool to be hanging with your mom. Or they will be too busy with other things and not have time for us.  When that time comes, my mommy friends and I plan to still come here for lunch.  We will just show up without them. :)

 

 

 

Caroline got to join us for lunch this year.

Sam and her signature shake. 

Magna-Tiles

When Ian was less than a year old, we bought a set of Magna-Tiles.  Over 8 years later, this is still the toy the kids play with the most.  We not only have the original set we bought Ian, but added another set to it about 3 years ago.  Both are in mint condition.  Magna-Tiles is the perfect toy.  They are incredibly durable, don't require batteries, doesn't make any kind of noise, and takes up very little space.  They are perfect for both girls and boys.  And here is the icing on the cake:  You have to use your imagination!

Magna-Tiles are a bit pricey, but believe me, they are worth every penny.  There are thousands upon thousands different designs you can do with them.  Sam plays with them daily.  Ian sees Sam playing with them and then he wants to play too.  It is hands-down a big two thumbs up from these parents.  With every toy we have bought over the years, this is probably the only one (other than a regular set of blocks) that has made the cut time and time again during each yearly clean-out we do.  Considering how many girl toys, boy toys, gender neutral toys we've had come and go for the past 9 years, that is really impressive.

If Sam becomes an architect, I can say it is because of this toy.  She has this amazing ability to make all her designs so unique and symmetrical.  It is really nice seeing her focus her energy and attention on something good.

Here are a few of Sam's designs:  I took these pictures randomly over the last year as I would walk by our family room and see what had been created.

 

 

 

 

Best. Toy. Ever.