I don’t know when exactly it happened, but my baby boy turned into a tween. He is independent, wants to tuck himself in at night (though I’m convinced it’s just so that I don’t see his messy room), and has his own ideas of what good fashion is. His ideas on fashion change daily. Case [...]
Apr 062012
We love holidays in this family. Of course the children love them because they’re treated to things that they don’t normally get like copious amounts of sugar and presents. Easter is no exception.
This year, we’re on quite the budget so I set a $15 limit for Madilyn’s basket, a $15 limit for Grady’s budget, and a $15 limit for Styles’ gift. Styles is one lucky boy and gets to go on vacation with my dad every Spring Break which almost always falls around Easter. This year is no exception so he won’t be with us, and rather than set up a basket, I’m going to send him off with a few special things for his camping trip like a Perry the Platypus water bottle that I scored last week.
Kyle and I had some running around to do on Tuesday so while we were out, I insisted that he escort me to Kmart. I figured that he could walk the kids up and down some fun toy aisles while I picked their Easter things out. Easy peasy, right? NOT!
When we first walked into Kmart, I saw an aisle FULL of Easter basket trimmings and trappings. They had Easter books, toys, candy, and pre-made Easter baskets. Madilyn found toy after toy after book after candy that she wanted and I was all:
“WORKAHOLIC! GO AWAY!”
Wasn’t going to happen. He wanted to be there to help me pick their stuff out. As endearing as it was, I really wanted 5 minutes alone to get Madilyn & Grady’s stuff without their ever-watching eyes seeing it.
Madilyn fell for a Wonder Pets coloring book but I did a Wonder Pets themed Easter Basket last year so I didn’t wait to do the same thing this year. After Kyle and I looked at Easter Books, Easter stuffies, Easter Candy and MORE, I decided to check the regular toy aisle too! I was really trying to squeeze some awesomeness out of these baskets. I am, however; going to have to run back to Kmart this week to get that coloring book because she hasn’t stopped talking about it since.
I love Kmart because the aisles are wide and uncluttered so I can do silly things like this:
Sidenote: I'm lookin' pretty good if I do say so myself! Thanks, Paleo!
Once we got to the toy aisle, there was a whole rack for toys that were an additional 50% off. YES. WAY. We picked out a Cinderella doll and then got her a Disney Princess bouncy ball (can you tell I like themes?) We found a Cookie Monster for Grady, and after checking out all of the SUGAR that we had in our cart, realized that we had probably nearly reached our limit. Grady’s basket just didn’t seem complete so we went to the baby aisle and I got him a sippy cup too. Now that we’re nursing less during the day, he’s drinking more water. Which means that it’s time to start losing, I mean buying, sippy cups!
Kyle still has the baskets that he used as a kid and we use those at Easter for our kids’ baskets. I love that his mom bought them some super baskets and allow us to use them. Tradition is a big thing to me and this is a wonderful thing that we can talk about from Easter to Easter. Plus, it saves us a few bucks each year.
Easter Basket from Kyle's Childhood
So we went to check out and SHO NUFF! We hit $40 but we had purchased a few extra things that wouldn’t go into the baskets. Once I subtracted those things, we hit $31.45 for Easter stuff for both babies. I think that we TOTALLY scored on our trip to Kmart.
What do you think?
This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias, however; all opinions, old timey Easter baskets, and adorable little muffins are my very own. #CBias
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Jan 112012
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I woke up this morning thinking that it was awfully light outside for 7:30.
See, I don’t use a traditional alarm clock. My alarm clocks are named Grady, Styles, & Madilyn. Styles uses an alarm clock and he gets me up at 7:30 if I’m not already awake thanks to Grady. I sniffed Grady’s neck for a few minutes and then climbed out of bed to check the time.
8:20.
CRAP.
My neighbors take Styles to school and he is supposed to be at their house at 8:20.
I went to wake him up to get him moving, knowing full well that I would have to load all 3 kids into the car to take Styles to school.
I went outside to check the temp so that I could dress my children appropriately, while Styles made himself breakfast. He doesn’t like eggs, and Madilyn called dibs on the rest of the milk so he couldn’t have any cereal. Tyson Mini Chicken Sandwiches for breakfast? HECK! WHY NOT? He popped them into the microwave, peeled himself a banana, and even took pictures of the stuff so that I could tell you all about it. Easy peasy. This might not be such a bad morning after all.
Whoops, I thought too fast. While I was making Grady’s egg, Madilyn and Grady somehow demolished the entire house. Tupperware all over the kitchen floor, the playroom mess had vomited itself into the living room. Clothes all over Madilyn’s room.
HOW DO THEY DO THIS CRAP SO QUICKLY?
Babies eat breakfast. Madilyn wants my egg. Fine. Eat my egg, I’ll grab something else later.
OK, babies are dressed, Styles is done with his Tyson Mini Chicken Nuggets and could only eat 1/2 of his banana. Whatever. Go brush your teeth.
I really need to get myself dressed. This white tank top sans bra is not appropriate to take Styles in to school. I look at myself in the mirror and realize that my naturally curly hair is naturally lookin’ like Buckwheat’s fro right now so I run some lotion through it as I hear screams from the other side of the house: “GRADY NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! MOOOOOOOOOM! GRADY GOT WHAT HE WANTED!”
I immediately knew what that meant so I ran through the house and by our front window wearing all of nothing but my white tank top and a pair of aqua panties. Cute.
When I get to the bathroom, I see Grady happily splashing in a puddle of Madilyn’s pee. He had taken the little bowl out of her potty chair, full of urine, drank some, and dumped the rest on the floor. That I just mopped yesterday.
I stand there, speechless, which my kids know means I’m pissed.
Pun not intended.
I contemplate getting the camera to take a picture of Grady frolicking in pee then think better of it and run the bath. I put Grady in the bath with the water running and stopper unplugged so that warm water is just flowing into the bathtub without pooling. I undress him as he’s laughing and salvage his dry diaper before using his clothing to wipe the puddle of pee up off of the floor.
As I’m running around the house, half naked, trying to get this mess cleaned up, I realize that it is almost 10. Styles is an hour late for school.
I mop the floor again while Grady splashes in the bathtub, having a wonderful time. I wonder how he can possibly stand the taste of pee in his mouth.
As I’m finally soaping Grady up, Madilyn strolls in with a cereal bar wrapper full of crumbs and proceeds to dump it all over the floor. I scream her name and she leaves the bathroom, only to return a few seconds later with her mop so that she can clean the crumbs up off of the wet floor. She begins pushing the crumbs all over the bathroom and I tell her to leave.
Once Grady is dry and redressed, I proceed to clean the crumbs up and shuffle the children out the door so that I can get Styles to school.
Can you see the mischief in his eyes? I should have known better....
School is 1.5 miles away and about .75 mile into our journey, it begins to rain. Hard.
Less than 3 months ago, this sort of morning would have resulted in a serious migraine. It would have crept up out of the anger in my chest, into my neck, and settled itself nicely into my left eye, temple, and neck. I would have driven my aching head to Chik-Fil-A and ordered a large Cookies & Cream milkshake then driven home without once taking my mouth off of the straw, and laid on the sofa all day, crying in pain.
I would have failed to change diapers, realized at 2pm that lunch had yet to be administered, and then sulked around staring into the fridge when dinner time rolled around.
There was no migraine today. There wasn’t even a headache today. Instead, there was a good 10 minute period where I went outside to breathe the fresh, cool, rainy air. I felt rejuvenated and willing to tackle the house and the children who constantly conspire to keep the place looking like a nursery school at 3pm.
I got lunch on the table at a reasonable hour, I put Madilyn to bed for her nap early, and I was able to change the sheets on my bed and fold some laundry.
Without Paleo, I would have been a worthless wreck today. Thankfully, I was able to take care of my children AND my house in the wake of a less-than-enviable start to my day.
Want to know where I get the Tyson Mini Chicken Sandwiches? Follow this link closely.
Disclosure: This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias. #CBias All crazy assertions that I have no more migraines, and all other opinions are my very own and were not influenced in any way.
Dec 232011
We eat a lot of fruit in this family, and I’m trying to get my kids to eat more vegetables. It’s not always their favorite so I look for new ways for them to get their nutrients.
She was saying, "Keeburger!!" which is what she calls the Mini Chicken Sandwiches
It’s no secret that my kids have fallen in LOVE with Tyson’s Mini Chicken Sandwiches. Madilyn can inhale a whole mini sandwich in minutes and Styles generally eats her extra sandwich as well as his own package of two.
They have actually become a great snack for Styles to eat while he’s doing his homework after school. It’s not messy and he can mindlessly grab one of the mini sandwiches between solving complicated math problems that I swear I didn’t start doing until I was in high school.
The problem is that there are no vegetables in them! Make him eat raw veggies?
So as I watched Grady shovel handful after handful after handful of chopped spinach into his mouth last week, I thought that perhaps I could saute some fresh spinach with some garlic, and put a few leaves on the Tyson Mini Chicken Sandwiches to add some extra nutrients into them.
STEPS 1 & 4: I wilted one handful of spinach with some minced garlic and olive oil over medium heat.
STEPS 2 & 3: I then cooked the sandwiches according to their package instructions.
And placed some spinach inside each one.
The verdict from my most picky eater?
He liked it! Thumbs up! SWEET! Madilyn ate hers too, and said “MMMMM das good, Mommy!”
It was a super easy and quick way to add loads of iron and nutrients to an after school snack.
So where can you get these little gems for yourself? Check Tyson’s store locator here! There’s bound to be a Walmart near you that sells them. I keep waiting for my Walmart to stock their shelves with them but in the meantime, I don’t mind traveling a few extra miles to pick them up.
And don’t forget that while supplies last, if you buy TWO boxes of Tyson Mini Chicken Sandwiches, you get a $5 gift card from Walmart. That’s like buying one and getting one free! I know you coupon lovers will like that!
Disclaimer: This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias. #CBias All bright ideas and awesome children are my very own and were not influenced in any way. Except maybe by the delicious #TysonGoodness on their plates.
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