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!

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

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!

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.

Happy Anniversary!

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

Happy Anniversary Peter!

The Best Gift Ever

I had a wonderful Mother's day, my husband and kids made the day so special!

I've been looking forward to this Mother's Day for a long time. That's because S is in third grade this year and third graders at S's school make a special gift for their moms each year. They make a book where they write all about mom from A to Z .

This year I received my book from S, thus completing my set of Mother's Day books from my four kids. Here's a few excerpts from S's book:

It is "X-tra Speacial" It's sad but true. I invent nothing.

You know I'm a good mom 'cause I never punch....

Or kick.

I do expect him after school... but only sometimes?

He did make note of the most important things:


I couldn't have asked for a better Mother's Day.

43 + 1 Day

Yesterday I (gulp) turned 43. I guess I should have blogged about it yesterday, but I just forgot. (I didn't forget that it was my birthday, no I milked that for all I could get, I just forgot to blog about it!)

I had a wonderful day with my family. My husband got me this, this, and this. Is he a great guy, or what! The kids ordered some books from my Amazon wish list but they haven't arrived yet, and they each made me a homemade card. Making cards for birthdays is one of the things the kids have been doing for years, and their cards are my favorite gifts every year.

My husband also showered me with all kinds of yummy treats like Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, Diet Coke, Cheddar Cheese Pretzel Pieces, and Girl Scout Cookies. Then, we all went out to my favorite restaurant for pizza and cheesecake!

It was a fattening, yet fabulous day!

Happy 14th Birthday!

Today is A's 14th birthday! We celebrated by eating out at Texas Roadhouse. Yum! We came home and sang Happy Birthday and had chocolate cupcakes and ice cream.

The kids then headed down to the basement to play Rock Band. It's so great seeing them all get along together!

I am so proud of A. He is a sweet and loving boy, and he is growing into such a nice, Christian young man.

Happy Birthday my son!

Our Family Traditions - The List

Our family has many traditions. Tree Day, Family Breakfast, and Celebrating The Teen Years are just some of our many fun (and a few downright silly) traditions.

One of the traditions we have is called The List. In our family we have had more than our share of picky eaters. (Thankfully my two older teens have grown out of this and have turned into great eaters) One of the things we did to get the kids to eat what I prepare for dinner was to let each child have their own list of two foods that they don't like. If I make something for dinner that is on one of the kids lists, that child doesn't have to eat that food. Now, the beauty of this system is that whenever the kids don't want to eat something, all I have to say is "is this food on your list?" and if it isn't, they have to eat it. If the food is on their list, they will usually eat either a piece of fruit or pb&j or, if I'm being a really bad and lazy mom, a bowl of cereal.

The kids lists are currently as follows:

• J - He has nothing on his list. He'll eat anything.
• K - Sausage Gravy and Polish Sausage. I guess the girl just doesn't like sausage.
• A - Swedish Pancakes and Enchiladas
• S - Carmen Chicken and Polish Sausage

The kids can change the foods on their list when we have our family meeting each month (I will be posting about our family meetings soon) We have been using The List for over ten years now, and our kids have really enjoyed having that little bit of control over what they eat. I enjoy the fact that they can't argue with me about eating something they don't like if it's not on their list!

Since we enjoy the traditions in our family so much, I will from time to time be sharing some of our favorite traditions with you! What are some of your family traditions? Leave a comment and share some of your favorite traditions!

WFMW: Celebrating The Teen Years

As the mother of three teenagers, I am often asked for advice about the "dreaded teen years." I personally don't think we as parents should be dreading these years, but we should welcome and yes, even celebrate them! It's an exciting time for the kids, and it can be an exciting (not to mention exhausting) time for us as parents too.

Our oldest turned 13 over five years ago. At the time, we were trying to decide on something to do for him that would make this birthday special. We settled on a surprise father-son weekend trip. My husband took him to the Football Hall of Fame in Canton Ohio. Sixteen months later, my daughter had her 13th birthday (by now the trip wasn't a surprise) She wanted to go to a beach and go shopping. So that's what we did. We took a mother-daughter trip to Florida and stayed on the beach and went shopping. Last year my 2nd son turned 13. My husband took him to Arizona to go to Cubs and Brewers spring training camps. We have really enjoyed this tradition, and the kids still talk about what great memories they have of their trip.

So that's one way our family celebrates the teen years, and it Works for Me. Head over to Rocks in My Dryer for more great WFMW tips!

Meal Idea For Busy Families

Like most families today, our family is busy. Between the four kids activities and my husbands work schedule, we are so busy that we don't always get to sit down together for dinner. I was really bothered by this because I know how important it is for us to have meals together. So, our solution was to sit down to breakfast together. It has been wonderful!

We have been doing this now for over a year and I love it! It's nice to sit down together first thing in the morning and touch base and talk about our plans for the day. And, I also know that they are starting the day with a healthy breakfast and not just cold cereal. At the end of the meal my husband will read from the bible and pray, and we work on scripture memorization.

So, this is what Works-For-Me! Hop on over to Rocks In My Dryer to find other great tips!

Tree Day

Over at Oh Amanda she's giving away two Christmas cd's, Charlie Brown and Harry Connick Jr.! Now I must say I do love Charlie Brown and all but I have a definite soft spot for Harry. So, Amanda wants to know what puts us in the Christmas spirit.

At our house, the day after Thanksgiving is known as Tree Day. (I'm starting to think we could've come up with a more creative name but I digress...) The day starts when I can finally get everyone up and ready to go (I have three teenagers. They like to sleep.) We head out of town to our favorite tree farm where the hunt for the perfect tree begins. It takes quite a while to all agree on a tree, but finally the decision is made.

Here is the family with our tree. There is A, 13, S is 8, K is 16, Dad holding Mugsy, and J is 18. I don't know why S had to wear the ski mask. After we cut the tree down we hop a ride back to the barn.

Now, after we get the tree wrapped up and loaded on the van, we have to stop and feed the reindeer. His name is Dasher.

Then we head home to pull out all the Christmas decorations and listen to our favorite Christmas tunes while we decorate.

Dad and A work on the outside lights.

Then we order in pizza. Lots and lots of pizza. Taco pizza, cheese pizza, pepperoni pizza. And cinnamon sticks. YUM!

And did you notice the Sunkist in the background? That is another big part of our day. We must drink Sunkist! It is the one and only day of the year that we drink Sunkist. I don't know why, it's just part of the tradition.

So there it is. This is what gets me into the Christmas Spirit. A whole day of trees and decorations, music and laughter, and lots and lots of pizza and orange pop! Hop on over to Amandas to check out other fun ideas for getting into the Christmas Spirit. I hope I win a CD ;)