OBAMALUNCH

Our Dear Leader's wife, Michelle Obama, in all her wisdom has become the "Lunch Czar."

She has made it her personal quest to show children throughout the nation that YES WE CAN make school lunches even less desirable than they previously were.

Think back to your school lunch experience as a child. Thought you could repress those moments, didn't'cha?  Fond memories of dish soap in brownies, stimulating games of Guess That "Cook's Choice" Origin, and trying to dodge the sturdy aide with the mole-whisker guarding the trash can.  "Go BACK and eat your beans, kid!"

Oh, for the good ole' days!


My kids came home complaining that their oranges had green fuzz growing on them, and the apples weren't ripe.  "But I ate them anyway, so I could get a token for the school store!"

WHAT!?!
They're paying my children to eat their sub-par lunch!  Unbelievable.

(I can just hear the discussion in the PTA meeting--"How can we get the kids to eat the required amount of fresh fruits and vegetables?  I know!  Let's give them a token for the school store!")

Hey, folks!  I know!  Ooh, ooh, choose me!  Why don't we actually give them FRESH fresh fruits and vegetables, and then teach good nutrition and model good behavior?

Now, at our house, the decision to eat school lunch or to brown-bag it is left up to each child.  I try to have healthy snack and all-you-can-eat peanut butter available 24-7.  We keep $ in their accounts.  If one of my kiddos is eating school lunch, it's either out of desire, or laziness.

Carol Brady, I am not.  I refuse to stand at the counter making individualized school lunches each morning.  My tender self-esteem can barely handle all of the negative feedback at dinnertime.  The last thing I want to hear as each cherub walks through the door from school is, "You made my lunch wrong!"  And I am NOT creating a token economy for lunch consumption. 

(Besides, in the mornings I'm rocking my baby 'cause babies don't keep.)

So...
      +  = 

New Math

After school is like a locust invasion, and I usually have a selection of  nutritious and also not-so-healthy snacks for them and their buddies when they arrive home.

So I say, "What the heck?" (That's Utahspeak) "You get a token if you eat your rotten fruit?"  Apparently so.

Don't eat the fruit!  (And for Heaven's sake, DON'T drink the Kool-Aid!)

Each of my Nellies has been instructed to tell the lunch lady, "I refuse to participate in your socialist agenda."

And the moral of this story is...My kids will do just about anything for tokens.

Procrastination

Little P, who is 6, wrote and illustrated a dramatic novel a couple of days ago.  It was about a girl (just happened to be named the same name as Little P) who loved a boy (neighbor kid's name) and the girl's mother didn't like the boy and wouldn't let them get married.  Pretty standard Romeo and Juliet kind of stuff. Then the girl turned 19 and moved out with the boy.  WHAT!?!  How did she get this from the Cat in the Hat and PBS?  Oh, they got married first.  Well, then, OK.  Still, though.  This little person has already given us quite the run for our money with tantrums.  Is she just trying to prepare us for fun things to come?  Part of me is just tickled that she has decided that she's a writer. I'm so confused.


OK.  Here are my new goals, and I'm posting them for accountability.
1. Stretch every day.
2.  Some kind of aerobic exercise every day.
3.  Organize 15 minutes every day.
4.  Deep clean somewhere every day (except Wed and Fri when we have preschool)
5.  Temple once a week.
6.  Pray each day.
7.  Positive time for each child alone each day.
8.  Something above and beyond for Handsome Prince each day.
9.  Anonymous love note in the mail to one person each week.
10.  Healthy snack on the counter every day after school.
11.  3 servings fruits and veggies at dinner table.
12.  Be nice to self when life happens and this plan doesn't

This week's menu:

Mon:  Fried chicken, pasta, beets, squash, peaches and cream cheese
Tues: Chili from freezer, bread, applesauce
Wed: Zucchini stir fry pasta, bread, fruit and a veggie
Thurs: Leftovers
Fri:  Pizza
Sat: Cafe Rio pork in crock pot with rice, refried beans, etc...
Sun:   Meatloaf, baked potato, etc...

Just tried this recipe yesterday and it was FABULOUS!!!

Kinda looks like this when done.

Squash Casserole
Mormon Cookbook by Julie Badger Jensen

3 lbs Butternut squash
1/4 c butter, melted
1/2 chopped onion
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
3 eggs slightly beaten
1/2 C sour cream
1/2 C brown sugar
1 TBSP lemon juice
1 C grated cheddar cheese (divided into two 1/2 cup amounts)

Cut squash into large chunks, cook in boiling water until tender (20 min), drain, peel and mash.
Microwave butter and onions for 2 min.  Mix together with remaining ingredients and squash.  Put in Pyrex. Sprinkle remaining 1/2 cheese on top.  Bake 350 for about 45 min

Handsome suggested adding bacon.  That seems like a no-brainer!!!  I'll try that next time.

My Mom said that if I have time to put recipes on my blog, then I'm not using my time wisely.  She's right.  But did you see the goals I posted?  Doesn't it make you tired just reading them?  (Sigh.)

This week is the Church Halloween party, and next week is the field trip with the littles to the pumpkin patch.

Preschool this week:  L is for lemon (we'll do the tongue, taste, and where the different taste buds are for sweet, sour, bitter and salt) I'll set up a taste-test and let them color a tongue and M is for Mom with some kind of craft.  Hopefully they'll be able to write MOM by the end of the week.  I also made a laminated cookie with each child's name on it and we've been playing, "Who Stole the Cookies From the Cookie Jar" so that they can learn to recognize their own names.  Some of them are reading all the names.

OK, Mom, I'm going to get my work done, now.  Sheesh!

Pow!!! Right in the Kisser!

Once upon a time, in the land of Nellie, the Hot Mama became seriously ticked off at and hurt by the Handsome Prince.(Gasp!)

She was really quite emotional.  This was not an exhaustion or hormone-related disturbance.  In her mind, it was a "Big D" kind of deal.

How to approach the situation?
1.  Get a good night's sleep.  

2.  Pray about it.  

3.  Try to be rational and pleasant.


4.  Another good night's sleep.

5.  Cry and growl and storm (In private.)

6.  Pray again.

7.  Go to temple where Satan can't add his two cents.  

8.  Pray some more.  

9.  Cry some more, for good measure (in private.) Pout discreetly (or not so much, but no one notices.) 

10.  Temple one more time.  (Added bonus) 

11.  Wait for relatively good time.  Alert said prince to need for a discussion with humor, "Hey, do you wanna talk about our relationship?"  (This is a trick question--I've never met a man who can answer that one honestly or with a straight face.)  "How about our relationship and our feelings?"


12.  Get him alone--NOT in front of the little people.  This one is more difficult than it seems.  


13.  Communications 101:   "When you_________,  I feel _____________."  Always try really hard not to hit below the belt, dredge up already resolved stuff, and never use absolutes like "always" and "never."  (OK, I dredged, but I apologized later.)  Also, I may have been a bit unreasonable.  BUT, I had some valid points, and I was festering.  Festering is not good.

14.  Accept apology.  Kiss and make up.


Then they all lived happily ever...Wait.

15.  One more night's sleep.  (Everything's relative, of course.)


16?  HP's well thought-out REBUTTAL  (um...)



Whoa, whoa WHOA, Nellie!  There are two ways to look at this!?!  Huh.

Being the prince that he is, HP played fair, and (sigh) even made some reasonable points.  (And he is just so dang golden to begin with.) I apologized.  We'll both work on giving each other the benefit of the doubt.

    or     Tee, hee!



Cue the sparkles, cue the music:

We cleared the air, shared our deepest feelings, and (mostly) resolved the conflict(s).

I love you, Handsome Prince! 

And they lived, married, ever after.

                

And we both know I was right.

Again, I apologize to all those whom I have stolen images and clip art from, I promise, I'm not benefiting financially from it.  Thanks for sharing your amazing talents on Google Images.  Everyone's welcome to whatever original material  I share.

I Hope They Call Me on a Mission!

This last weekend, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints announced that they have changed the age requirements for sister missionaries.  (Men 18 years, Women 19)

Nellie L is re-thinking her plans for next fall...