Our Daily Bread

K is such a picky eater. We have tried everything. We have cooked together. She LOVES to cook, but won't eat what she has made. We have bribed and begged her to eat things. She does, but hates it. Now the kids at least follow the 3 bites rule (you must eat three bites of everything on your plate), but getting her to like new foods is a constant battle.

To try and find something we could work on together that she would like, I bought a bread machine. But I have yet to take it out of the box. Instead, I bought "Artisan Breads in 5 Minutes a Day". K loves bread. So on Monday night we made the basic dough. Then, the following night, we took some out of the fridge (the basic dough makes 4 loaves) and baked it. YUMMY!!! It was so delicious. K loved it - the whole family loved it! We ate the whole (small) loaf! And I am returning the bread machine!!

This book is genius. I can't wait to try more recipes!!! I highly recommend it.

Lose Yourself

Sometimes it is good to let go of who you think you are. I am an overweight, out-of-shape middle-aged woman. But I don't always have to act that way!

Last year I blogged about going to ski for the first time. At the time I had just turned 42 and weighed about 180. I wasn't in great shape, but I was doing pretty good. I was excited to try skiing. I took a class, and got a few good runs on some green (easy) slopes. I was feeling great. Then I took a wrong turn, ended up on a harder slope and totally freaked myself out. I just couldn't get past my fear. I went up a few more times, but was pretty much petrified.

This January we went on a skiing weekend with some friends again. Now I am 43, have gained about 25lbs from last year, and not in shape at all! We had a great weekend. But I only skiied one day, and was still somewhat scared. I had fun - but was VERY stiff. I pretty much locked my legs in position and was thrilled when I made it down the mountain in one piece. I paid for it with very achy legs. But the girls had made some progress in skiing and we didn't want to let it go.

So on Sunday we went to a local mountain to ski. DH had hurt his leg playing softball, and didn't ski. Some great friends offered to help me with the girls (one of which had never been on the ski lift, and we weren't sure how she could ski). We had a BLAST! And I got my skiing mojo back. I decided to pretend I was in shape and could ski just as good as anyone else out there. And I had fun. I still only went on easy trails, but was not petrified. We even went on a very easy blue (medium) trail. And I had a good time. I never fell down. I felt like I could actually do it! We are actually trying to see if we can fit one more day in skiing this season!

It felt like a bit of an epiphany for me. Just because I am a middle-aged, fat, out of shape woman, doesn't mean I have to act like it! If I believe in myself, I can achieve - and have FUN doing it!

Couldn't have had a nicer weekend!

I am still here

I am still here. Work has been INSANE, and I am feeling overwhelmed. But I am still here. We are all good. Hope to be back soon!

Great Kid's Book Find

Of course we have read dozens of Dr. Seuss books over the years. But I had never before seen the "Cat in the Hat's Learning Library" series. These are rhyming books in Dr Seuss style that actually TEACH something. They are great!! They have them on LOTS of topics - space, insects, the human body, mammals, etc. The kids love them and I have actually learned some stuff too! I highly recommend. We bought about 8 so far, and will probably end up with the whole library. I may even buy some for my children's classrooms. Amazon has them for about $9 - a little pricey for a kids book, but ya gotta love learning with rhyming! lol!

These Work for Me! For more Work for Me tips, visit: www.wearethatfamily.com.

Happy New Year

Things I am so Thankful for:

• My Immediate Family ( my DH and my 3 amazing kids - as crazy as they make me, my life would not be as blessed without them!)
• My Family (my MIL - who we literally couldn't live without! my Dad, whom the kids adore, and we don't see nearly enough; and my brother and his family; whom we never see, but I want to interact with just the same)
• My friends (who are my rock and my village whom I could not live without)
• Our jobs (both me and DH, who have suffered NONE from the recession)
• Our health (we are lucky to have all around us healthy)
• Happiness (provided by amazing friends and family)

May 2011 provide you all this and more!

Food, Glorious Food

Recently overheard at my house:

"no, you must finish your french fries before you can have any more broccoli."

ok, seriously. The kids are making me so crazy with their food issues, that I am clearly losing it. We have a dinner system in our house. Every other night we try "new" foods. "New" foods are those the kids hate. They have either not had them before, or are on record hating them. These include anything not in the list of foods they like. On the non "hate" days, we have foods they like. These include (the very limited list of): pasta, tacos/nachos, steak sandwiches, pizza, chicken nuggets, and quesadillas. On the "new" food nights, the kids are given 3 bites of meat, 3 bites of veggie, and 3 bites of starch (i make a pretty traditional plate). They must eat these 3 bites in order to leave the table, and have anything else. And many nights result in at least one person crying (sometimes even the kids). Gotta love dinner in my house.

But there are weird anomalys. The 2 younger kids LOVE broccoli. Love it. B is the most flexible liking several other things (chili, chicken soup). K is the worst but does like tomato soup and quiche (in full disclosure, something I hate!). Big Man used to be great, but is now among the worst, except for his love of broccoli.

I started a new rule this week that nobody can talk badly about dinner. They have to eat it and shut up. I hope this passes soon. I can't handle it. I have tried having them help cook - they still won't eat it. I have tried having them help set the menu - no good.

But we will persevere. I can't go back to being a short-order cook and giving them only the crap they like. Sadly, we have had this plan going for about 9 months, and it is still a nightmare!

Quick and Easy Gift

Saw this awesome tutorial and thought I would try it. They are fast, easy and cheap.

1) buy a few 1/2 yards of fleece in different colors/patterns
2) cut them into 6" widths (the length of the fabric)
3) sew 2 of them together right down the middle (just eye-ball it)
4) cut fringe the whole length (making sure you don't cut through the middle)
ENJOY!

That's it. So easy. When fleece is on sale, you can make these for less than $1 each! The girls are making these for their friends. They have helped me sew them and are cutting all the fringe. Have fun and try lots of different patterns/colors together!

For more ideas, visit WORKS FOR ME WEDNESDAY!