Three Kings Day

New Year’s Interview for Kids

ALEX – age 7

Favorites:

•    cereal – Fruit Loops (because it got my first loose tooth out)

•    vegetable – peas….NO, it’s carrots.

•    drink – chocolate milk and fruit punch

•    toy – Roboraptor.

•    TV Show – Wipeout

•    game – Dragonology, the game

•    book – Alcatraz verses the Evil Librarians and Alcatraz verses the Scrivener’s Bones

•    restaurant – I don’t have a favorite.  I like each one as much as the others.

•    holiday – Christmas and my birthday.

•    animal – the dragon

If you could change your name, what would you choose?

Harry, because Harry Potter is the main character in one of my favorite book series.

What do you love about each person in our family?

I love Nova because he’s like my buddy that’s an animal.  I like my mom because she helps me sometimes.  I like my dad because he sometimes plays chess with me when he is not working.  I like Jackson because he plays with me.  And I love Izzy because she’s my sister.

Where would you like to go on vacation this year?

Definitely Walt Disney World.

What are some of your wishes for this year?

That I get a lot of presents for my birthday, that I do go to Walt Disney World for vacation this year, and that I have a new brother or sister.

JACKSON – age 4

Favorites:

•    cereal – Frosted Mini Wheats

•    vegetable – carrots

•    drink – smoothies

•    toy – the Roborator and these two cars here.

•    TV Show – PBS Kids

•    game – PBS Kids (on the computer)

•    book – Curious George

•    restaurant – Arby’s

•    holiday – Christmas

•    animal – Elephant

If you could change your name, what would you choose?

Jackson

What do you love about each person in our family?

I like to cut branches with Daddy.  I like that mommy makes me smoothies.  I like Alex’s Roboraptor.  I like to cuddle with Izzy.  I like to feed Nova.

Where would you like to go on vacation this year?

Children’s Museum

What are some of your wishes for this year?

Presents, games, going to Arby’s, and having lots of blankets – all the way to the top of my bed, a bigger backyard with a bigger fence, more playgrounds in our backyard even one with climbing bars for Alex, a black (not silver) doorknob for my door, wheels for my cars, a teapot with a close and open thing – like mama’s, and a new TV, and a TV in my bedroom that the only channel was PBS, and a ghost costume.

IZZY – age 1 (mom’s thoughts on her favorites anyway)

Favorites:

•    cereal – Trader Joe’s Os

•    vegetable – peas or corn

•    drink – chocolate milk

•    toy – baby

•    TV Show – N/A

•    game – Peek-a-boo

•    book – I love you as much as…

•    restaurant – Umm, mama?

•    holiday – Christmas

•    animal – birds

If you could change your name, what would you choose?

Baby

What do you love about each person in our family?

Mama because she almost always knows what I want.  Papa because he plays fun games and sings to me.  Jackson because he’s the coolest play buddy ever and includes me in almost everything he does.  Alex because he watches out for me and reads to me.  And Nova because he’s a dog and makes me laugh.

Where would you like to go on vacation this year?

Anywhere with mama.

What are some of your wishes for this year?

To eat more chocolate, to ride bikes with my brothers, to explore outside more, and to spend lots of time being pushed in the swing.

Thanks to Blissfully Domestic for this questionnaire.

Meal Planning 101

In an effort to be more organized this year, James and I came up with a rotating categories list to assist us in meal planning.  We’ve always done really well with this system in the past, only using 7 categories, but we wanted a bit more variety and expanded it to 13.

Here are the categories that we came up with:

Sunday:  Formal Sunday dinner night

Monday:  Soup & (salad/sandwiches/fresh bread)

Tuesday:  Asian

Wednesday:  Experimental new recipe night

Thursday:  Crockpot Night

Friday:  Pizza (& movie) night

Saturday:  Grill night

Sunday:  Formal Sunday dinner

Monday:  Bean/chili night

Tuesday:  Italian

Wednesday:  Family Favorites/one-dish wonders

Thursday:  Breakfast dinner

Friday:  Leftovers (& family game) night

Saturday:  Mexican

In the past we’ve done International Week and done recipes from all over the world and found new favorite recipes.  We’ve also done a fish & seafood night (but decided against adding it to our list this time since we no longer live next to an ocean)  and vegetarian night.

Are there categories that we’ve forgotten?  We’re hoping that this leaves enough wiggle room to make good use of our weekly produce share while introducing us to a few new dishes.

A Little Lace

I cast on my first project of the New Year – fishtail lace scarf – using alpaca yarn, a first for attempting lace and a first for every using alpaca.  Why not start off big!?

I also have plans to start a quilt this weekend, using precut pieces that I’ve had in storage for 5 years.

And my other crafty project has been using my herbal kit to make a salve and a tincture.  James got me this great starter kit from www.learningherbs.com What fun!!!

Happy New year!

I love new beginnings.  We celebrated the end of 2008 and the beginning of the new year with the kids last night by hanging out at the kitchen table playing card games.  We all had a bit of bubbly – carbonated fruit juice for the kids, which they loved and a bit of champagne for James and I.

We talked about making changes and setting goals for the New Year and I enjoyed hearing what everyone had to say.  Alex would like to share with his sister more and Jackson wants to watch shows.

A few of my resolutions:

To communicate more effectively and restrict yelling for extreme situations.  I love the idea of never yelling, but I don’t think that’s a realistic goal.

I need to take care of myself better by making better food choices, giving myself some down time, and asking for help.  I can’t do a good job taking care of those I love most without first taking care of myself.

Create a rhythm that respects all of us.  This is my big one that I’ll be putting a lot of energy into this year.   We need to improve our evening routine and institute an earlier bedtime for certain little people.  It’s not fair to anyone to wait until Jackson is exhausted to try to get him to sleep.  We need a consistent morning routine so the kids know what to expect with each new day.  I’d like to have more time to read with the kids and to be creative with the kids.  Alex is bored and is screaming for more intellectual stimulation so learning is a big priority.  I’m sure I’ll be blogging more about this in the future.

So what are some of your goals for the New Year?