What Is WEYW?

Michelle commented on this post and asked the following question:

Now fend for yourself sounds great. What do you have on hand that they can make? YOur kids are the same ages of some of mine but I just dont give them that freedom...though I think its a GREAT idea. I'm just nervous about them eating all the food I'm saving for another meal. So tell me more. Can you do a blog post on it and comment on my blog to let me know? LOL. Asking much of you these days????

Well Michelle, I try to keep basics on hand for these days, and I actually have two pantries. The first one is a normal pantry filled with all the food our family would use on a regular basis. The second pantry is just a small kitchen cabinet where I keep any food that I am keeping for a specific meal, and any extra food that I might buy and stock up on when I find a really good deal on something. The kids know not to eat anything out of the second pantry without asking. I also have an extra freezer in the garage and I keep anything that I am planning to use in a meal in that freezer.

As for what they make, the boys usually end up eating pb&j or a ham or turkey sandwich. Sometimes they'll have a bowl of cereal. Kristen will either make a sandwich (usually grilled cheese on homemade bread) make herself a salad, or make some mac & cheese or ramen noodles. She would also be the one to heat up leftovers. (The boys don't seem to want to cook as much as assemble a meal) I also always have fruit and yogurt in the house and they can help themselves to that.

I try not to have a WEYW night very often, but sometimes life gets hectic and I don't plan ahead as well as I should. Currently Spencer has soccer practice every Wednesday from 5:30 to 7:00 and unless I plan ahead and have something in the crock pot, it's either WEYW for the other kids, or we don't eat until 8:00. (we usually eat around 6:30, so eating at 5:00 is way to early!)

I hope this answers your questions Michelle!

Bible School

Tomorrow we are bringing Kristen down to Chicago to visit a Bible School. This is our first campus visit with her and I am feeling quite melancholy about it.

On the one hand, Kristen is going to have experiences and opportunities that I didn't have. On the other hand, my baby is going to be leaving home.

It doesn't seem possible that my little girl is preparing to go away to college.

Where did the time go?

Apples to Apples

With kids ranging in age from 18 (soon to be 19! Yikes!) to 9, it isn't always easy to come up with family activities that everyone will enjoy. One of the games that we love to play is Apples to Apples.

I won't try to describe the game to you because, quite frankly, Amazon does a much better job of explaining the game. But I can tell you that our whole family loves playing this game! (The box says it's for ages 12 to adult, but my 9yo plays it with no problem.)

So, if you are looking for a really fun game for your family, try playing Apples to Apples! For more great tips check out Works For Me Wednesday over at Rocks in my Dryer.

Mindy

Menu Plan Monday

Well, after an extended absence, I am back to blogging again. With the kids back in school I am settling into a regular schedule, including planning my menus So, without further ado... here's the menu for the week.

Monday -

Polish Sausage

Sauerkraut

Corn Casserole

Homemade Bread

Tuesday -

Carmen Chicken

Rice

Corn

Biscuits

Wednesday -

WEYW*

Thursday -

Broccoli Ham Ring

Salad

Friday -

Broccoli Cheese Soup

Sourdough Bread

Saturday -

Homemade Pizza

Sunday -

Roast Chicken

Oven Fries

Carrots

Homemade Bread

Head on over to I'm an Organizing Junkie for more great menus!

*WEYW stands for What Ever You Want. This is where the kids make their own dinner-as long as it's something they can make by themselves, and they won't burn the house down making it. (Does this make me a bad mom? I don't know, but my kids really like fending for themselves...maybe I'm not a bad mom, just a bad cook!)

I Could Get Used To This

If you read my post on Monday, you know that Kristen was preparing dinner on Thursday. Well, she made the entire meal from start to finish and did a wonderful job!

She planned the menu.

She did the shopping (with a budget of course).

She prepared the ingredients.
She stirred the ingredients together vigorously.

Here's the final product. Chili Grande served in a tortilla bowl! (She also made a salad, but I somehow lost that picture)

She even made Strawberry Shortcake!

And here she is enjoying the fruits of her labor. Andrew's enjoying it too.

The dinner turned out so well that we agreed that she will be making dinner next Thursday too!

Menu Plan Monday

Menu planning for me has been rather hit or miss of late. I usually end up staring into the freezer at 5:00 wondering why oh why didn't I think to take the chicken out that morning, then I'm left with either PB&J or take out pizza for dinner...again.

But no more! I have made a menu plan for the entire month of August. And I must say, it is wonderful to have the "what's for dinner" decision already made.

You will notice that Kristen will be cooking this Thursday. I have been meaning for some time to have her plan, shop for, and cook a meal for the family, and Thursday is the day! Kristen will be cooking dinner occasionally, and I hope to eventually have her cook dinner for an entire week.

Monday - WEYW (Whatever you want) I'm having dinner with friends, so the kids will fend for themselves.

Tuesday - Shredded French Dip
Carrots

Wednesday - Polish Sausage
Corn Casserole

Thursday - Kristen Cooks!

Friday - Spaghetti
Garlic Bread
Salad

Saturday - Homemade Pizza

Sunday - Breakfast - Cinnamon Rolls

Dinner - Greek Chicken Dinner
Salad
Homemade Bread

Head on over to I'm an Organizing Junkie for more Menu Plan Monday!

Spencer Joins The Rest Of The World In Loving Pizza

Spencer is by far my pickiest eater. That boy has about 5 foods that he likes and he hates everything else.

Tonight, after years and years of hating pizza, (without really having tried it) Spencer decided that he does like it after all. This happened at dinner when he was faced with eating only salad for dinner since pizza was on The List.

And who could blame him, he hates salad dressing. (What good is a salad if it isn't slathered in creamy salad dressing, I ask you?)

Anyway, pizza is off The List.

I wonder what he'll put on The List next? I hope it's good with salad... I don't know what I'll do if it actually is salad.

He's OK, But It Might Take Mom a Little Longer To Recover

Today started out as a typical day. I did some laundry, cleaned the kitchen, and went for a walk with Andrew and Spencer. Spencer didn't actually walk, he rode his new bike (a hand-me-down from Andrew.)

After our walk, Spencer still wanted to ride his bike so I let him ride up and down the street in front of our house, after giving him a stern warning to watch out for cars. Not five minutes later I hear Spencer crying and running into the house yelling "I didn't get hit by a car, I didn't get hit by a car!" I guess he felt that he needed to let me know that he had been watching out for cars. But it turns out he hadn't been watching out for the curb which he happened to have hit and somehow got a three inch gash in his leg.

Let me tell you, it was gross.

And, it was obvious to even my untrained eye that this would require stitches. And it did require stiches...nine stiches.

Spencer has handled it all quite well, and as he has to lay down with his leg elevated for the next day or two he is in seventh heaven with all the DVDs and video games that a 9yo boy could want.

So what started out as a typical day ended with quite a bit of drama.

I'm just thankful that he's OK.

Happy Anniversary!

Twenty years ago today, on an unbelievably hot Chicago morning, I married my true love.

Happy Anniversary Peter!

Why It's Important For Schedules To Be Flexible

My first day on my Summer Schedule was yesterday and all went well. I was able to get almost all of my chores done in the morning, the only thing I didn't get to was vacuuming the living room. BTW, the schedule I try to follow for housework is Motivated Moms.

Today I am rescheduling most of my chores to tomorrow as Spencer, John and I will be spending the day with my parents and my nephew.

Wait a minute, tomorrow is our anniversary and Peter will be home.

OK, I will be rescheduling most of today's and tomorrow's chores to Thursday.

I will have a free day on Thursday to catch up on housework, but in the meantime I will be spending today and tomorrow being with family. And isn't that more important than being too rigid with my schedule?

My Summer Schedule.

When the kids were in school I was very good about getting up at 5:00am, doing my devotions, and making the family breakfast. But since school has been out, I have been waking up when my husband gets up to go to work (around 6:30.) I go down to the kitchen to make Peter's breakfast, and watch the news with him. Then I check my email, update my pod casts, and end up reading a lot of blogs, and maybe writing a post on my own blog ;). By then Spencer is usually up so I feed him breakfast. By now it's after 9:00am and I haven't done my devotions, showered, or even eaten breakfast, and the kitchen is already a mess.

It's not the best start to my day. I end up feeling behind the whole rest of the day!

So, I am instituting a new Summer Schedule for myself. I am not planning on waking up at 5:00am this summer, (I'll start that again in September) but I am going to get up at 6:00am.

Here is what my new Summer Schedule looks like:

9:00pm - (the night before) Program coffee pot to start at 5:50am. VERY IMPORTANT!


6:00 - Wake up
Pour myself first cup of coffee
Spend time reading Bible and praying

6:45 - Make Peter and myself breakfast
Spend a few minutes with Peter before he leaves for work

7:00 - Put away dry dishes from the previous night
load dishwasher

7:15 - Exercise

7:45 - Shower and get dressed

8:15 - Do daily chores

9:00 - Computer time.

I am thinking that this will be a much better start to my day, and I will be much more productive. (Don't worry, Spencer will still be fed breakfast when he wakes up, the older kids usually make their own breakfast in the summer) I am leaving the rest of my day open because I don't want to over schedule myself when the kids are home.

Now it's your turn! Do you change your schedule for the summer? If so, leave me a comment and tell me what works for you! :)

It's Gonna Be Quiet At Our House!

I haven't been posting much lately, mostly because I haven't had much to say. I've really got to bet better at this whole blogging thing.

Anyway, tomorrow Andrew and Kristen are going away for nine days. Our local Campus Life group puts together a production each year where the kids sing and do skits and give a wonderful presentation of the Gospel. They then go on a tour of different churches.

It just hit me today that they're really going tomorrow and how much I'm going to miss them! It's going to be very quiet around here until they get back.

Please keep them in your prayers, that they will have a safe and fruitful trip.

Thank you!

Mindy

Happy Father's Day!

Happy Father's Day Peter! You are such a wonderful Father to our kids, and I am so proud to be your wife!

Our Family

OK. I'm just tired of using initials instead of names on this blog, and I'm sure it's confusing for all of you reading this blog too! I think I'm going to start using our first names.

First of all, my name is Mindy. Mindy is actually my nickname, but the only one who calls me by my given name is my mother when she is mad (hi mom!)

My husband's name is Peter. We have been married for twenty years this month!

My oldest son is John. He is 18 and just graduated from High School. He is going to a local 2 year college next year with plans to transfer to a 4 year university after that. He is quiet and shy and just a great kid.

My daughter is Kristen. She is 17 and will be a senior in HS next year. Kristen is bubbly and sweet. She is involved in Show Choir at school and you know when she's home because she is always singing!

Next is Andrew. Andrew is 14 and will be a freshman next year. He is outgoing and social and likes to be the center of attention. He will be in Show Choir next year too.

Last but not least is Spencer. Spencer is 9 and will be in 4th grade. Spencer is sweet and funny with a little bit of naughty thrown in for good measure. He's your typical youngest child.

I hope you enjoyed getting to know a little bit more about our family!

Summertime

It's our first real day of summer here at the Momala household. I am spending the day taking A to the orthodontist, and then K, A, and S to get haircuts. Sounds like fun, doesn't it?

Anyway, I am looking forward to having my kids home for three months. We don't have any major plans since we went on vacation in March.

My only concern is keeping the three teens occupied. K starts her first job on Thursday (JoAnn Fabrics, I wonder what kind of discount she gets?) A is wanting a job, and J really needs a job.

Do you have teens at home? How do you keep them busy over the summer?

Momala's Favorites

It's been a while since I posted a recipe. Today I made one of our favorite snacks, $100 Salsa, so I thought I'd share the recipe.

We got this salsa recipe many years ago when we lived in Illinois. We started calling it $100 Salsa after my husband won a salsa contest with it last year.

Enjoy!

$100 Salsa

1 large can of crushed tomato (I use Contadina)
1/2 large onion, chopped
1 green pepper, chopped
2 bunches green onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
3 Serrano peppers, minced
2 jalapeno peppers, minced
1 bunch cilantro, chopped
1 Tbsp. sugar
1/4 C vinegar
1/4 C water
1/8 C pickled jalapeno juice
1 tsp. cumin
hot sauce to taste( I use Cholula)
salt & pepper to taste

Mix everything together and serve with chips.

Let me know if you try it!

Walls and Glue

Words of wisdom written by S:


Walls are useful. You put your stuff on it. Without them, we would be squished by the ceiling.

Glue is sticky.

Glue + bricks = walls.

Rubber cement + orange juice = glue.

Walls + glue = 2 walls

The End.

Life Is Changing

Today is J's last day of High School.

Today is A's last day of Middle School.

Today is S's last day of Elementary School (in our district Elementary School is K-3, S is going to Intermediate School next year which is 4-6 grades.)

All three boys are moving on to new schools and new challenges.

Life is changing for us all.

Welcome Home!

My husband is coming home today! He has been on a business trip for the last week and we have missed him so much.

We are celebrating tonight with a trip to Texas Roadhouse.

My honey is coming home and I don't have to cook dinner. Life is good.

Dear Daughter To The Rescue

Yea! I have a cellphone again! My old phone is definitely dead, but I now have my daughter's old phone that happens to be a pink Razor! Yea!