Making Our Lives & Living Spaces More Organized
This week's project was supposed to be the garage, but between the constant thunder storms and my insatiable desire to use my new label maker, the pantry got shifted to the top. My love for all things OXO continues, with these at the top of my list.
Oh, OXO pop how I love you. The airtight seal... the seeing-how-much-of-an-ingredient I have on hand... the childlike delight of popping and un-popping those silly lids... Every time I open the pantry doors now, I smile. Which with two little kids means I'm smiling approximately 40 times a day :-)
Those little kids... They are getting less little by the day. No more quiet naps, no more snuggling contentedly up next to me like sleepy kittens while I work on a project. More running, more climbing, more fighting over which one gets to be the princess this afternoon and who has to take the hit and be the prince at the ball :-)
In a tri-pronged effort to create some quiet time, clear clutter from the playroom, anduse my label maker some more! continue on my resolutions, I decided to make some 'quiet time' bins.
For the three other moms I know who might be interested, here are the steps:
Making Healthy Foods & Products
For those who haven't heard, we have a new member of the family! This is the tale of sweet Stella.
She was born on the streets of Napoli, but a family took her in. They then abused her and she was rescued by another family. A family who abandoned her. From there she bounced from foster home to foster home, and was on the verge of being out on the streets again when we began fostering her.
Our landlords and Scott had a "no dog" policy, but said it was okay as long as it was only temporary. The longer she stayed with us though, the more in love we were. She patiently let Avalon crawl all over her... didn't growl when Kylie insisted 'sweet Stella needs to be beautiful!' and adorned her with mardi gras necklaces... even curled up with the girls at night and listened to bedtime stories with them.
Finally all of my overtly obvious loving gazes and "she sure is a great dog... some family is going to be sooo happy"s paid off, and Scott asked Enzo if we could keep Stella. Kind of like asking my dad for my hand in marriage, only slightly sweeter because Enzo didn't respond with, "at least you're not Joe"...
Thus it was that Stella became ours, and as a legitimate family member, deserved some healthy food.
Making Our Own Traditions as a Family
Taco Tuesdays have been upgraded. Thanks to the wonder that is Amazon, we now have fresh taco salad bowls once a week. We even upped the ante by using Lumpia wrappers, making a thin (but crisp, delicious, and workable) 20 calorie taco salad shell. *at this point I'm imagining you are gasping with wonder and awe and figuring out how soon you can come visit to try this delicacy*
We finally started a non-food tradition! I could have sworn I took pictures... but my 'pictures' folder swears otherwise. At any rate, we started the tradition of 'homeless goody bags'. A terrible, possibly offensive name? Probably. The sentiment is good, though. While I was getting bags and bags of items ready to donate to the thrift shop on base, it occurred to me that everyone on base had employment & health care, while the unemployment rate in Napoli "hovers around 30 percent".
With this in mind, the girls and I sorted all of our donations into categories of men/ women/ children. We divided those into as equal distributions as we could across many brown paper bags, then tied them with ribbons (red for ladies, green for men, white for kids). I now keep them in the car with me, so that whenever we come across beggars at stoplights, we have something ready to hand them. Next round I'd like to include some water & non-perishables, too- it's a work in progress.
Blogging Even When We Haven't Gone Anywhere
Yet another blog without a single exciting adventure :-)
Hope you're well and that all the people in the Northeast who are so dear to us are staying safe despite the crazy blizzard. (here's a tip if you aren't already snowed in: marshmallow vodka & hot chocolate make great friends)
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| Look at me, unwrapping my Christmas presents by early February... |
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| In real life they are easier to read and don't have weird depth perception, but va bene |
Oh, OXO pop how I love you. The airtight seal... the seeing-how-much-of-an-ingredient I have on hand... the childlike delight of popping and un-popping those silly lids... Every time I open the pantry doors now, I smile. Which with two little kids means I'm smiling approximately 40 times a day :-)
Those little kids... They are getting less little by the day. No more quiet naps, no more snuggling contentedly up next to me like sleepy kittens while I work on a project. More running, more climbing, more fighting over which one gets to be the princess this afternoon and who has to take the hit and be the prince at the ball :-)
In a tri-pronged effort to create some quiet time, clear clutter from the playroom, and
For the three other moms I know who might be interested, here are the steps:
- Gather up some under-appreciated toys
- Find some durable board books
- Put in labeled bins, 1 hour of quiet time each afternoon :-)
Making Healthy Foods & Products
For those who haven't heard, we have a new member of the family! This is the tale of sweet Stella.
She was born on the streets of Napoli, but a family took her in. They then abused her and she was rescued by another family. A family who abandoned her. From there she bounced from foster home to foster home, and was on the verge of being out on the streets again when we began fostering her.
Our landlords and Scott had a "no dog" policy, but said it was okay as long as it was only temporary. The longer she stayed with us though, the more in love we were. She patiently let Avalon crawl all over her... didn't growl when Kylie insisted 'sweet Stella needs to be beautiful!' and adorned her with mardi gras necklaces... even curled up with the girls at night and listened to bedtime stories with them.
Finally all of my overtly obvious loving gazes and "she sure is a great dog... some family is going to be sooo happy"s paid off, and Scott asked Enzo if we could keep Stella. Kind of like asking my dad for my hand in marriage, only slightly sweeter because Enzo didn't respond with, "at least you're not Joe"...
Thus it was that Stella became ours, and as a legitimate family member, deserved some healthy food.
 |
| Homemade dog food- carrots, rice, ground turkey, flax seed, and home grown rosemary |
Making Our Own Traditions as a Family
Taco Tuesdays have been upgraded. Thanks to the wonder that is Amazon, we now have fresh taco salad bowls once a week. We even upped the ante by using Lumpia wrappers, making a thin (but crisp, delicious, and workable) 20 calorie taco salad shell. *at this point I'm imagining you are gasping with wonder and awe and figuring out how soon you can come visit to try this delicacy*
 |
| The Original |
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| The high fiber (a yucky failure) |
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| The guilt-free Lumpia |
We finally started a non-food tradition! I could have sworn I took pictures... but my 'pictures' folder swears otherwise. At any rate, we started the tradition of 'homeless goody bags'. A terrible, possibly offensive name? Probably. The sentiment is good, though. While I was getting bags and bags of items ready to donate to the thrift shop on base, it occurred to me that everyone on base had employment & health care, while the unemployment rate in Napoli "hovers around 30 percent".
With this in mind, the girls and I sorted all of our donations into categories of men/ women/ children. We divided those into as equal distributions as we could across many brown paper bags, then tied them with ribbons (red for ladies, green for men, white for kids). I now keep them in the car with me, so that whenever we come across beggars at stoplights, we have something ready to hand them. Next round I'd like to include some water & non-perishables, too- it's a work in progress.
Blogging Even When We Haven't Gone Anywhere
Yet another blog without a single exciting adventure :-)
Hope you're well and that all the people in the Northeast who are so dear to us are staying safe despite the crazy blizzard. (here's a tip if you aren't already snowed in: marshmallow vodka & hot chocolate make great friends)
