Bad Blogger, Better Mom

So, I am still terrible at keeping up a blog, however I feel like I have greatly improved in my mothering aspects. The boys still don't get veggies and fruits for every meal, but more importantly, in my opinion, they get a lot more of my attention. I am *there* more. I don't spend every waking second on my iPad or phone. 

J continues to surprise me with his knowledge of words that we weren't seeing before. And he's also asking more for water than juice which is amazing since I couldn't get him to drink anything else for months. He still loves his trucks - of which he got a TON for Christmas - but he is moving on from them just being things with wheels that he can push around and now likes to take them apart and use them for other things, like hauling legos!

M is turning out to be a little math genius. He loves numbers and is counting by 2s without any instruction from me or his gramma. He even got some math Hot Dots for Christmas (a brand I highly recommend for reading, letter recognition etc and I will have to let you know later about the math ones). 

I got a really nice crock pot for Christmas and I'm looking for some new recipes or new ways to cook old recipes now! 

I hope everyone in blogland had a fantastic holiday!

I'm a terrible blogger

I don't understand how other moms can successfully post once a week, much less more, while still performing all of their mom-ly duties. I am not one of those super-moms, but I'm working on becoming a one-of-a-kind super mom of my own. 

I need to start advanced planning my meals for at least a week. My kids eat way too much, "oh crap it's dinner time" Mac n cheese. So, here's my attempt at this coming week.

Food, December 7-14

Snacks/other:

http://www.farmersalmanac.com/food/2011/06/06/make-your-own-ketchup-mustard-mayo/http://www.foodgal.com/2010/01/microwave-potato-chips-really/

http://www.mrshappyhomemaker.com/2013/03/homemade-coffee-creamer-over-20-flavor-varieties/

http://www.thetipgarden.com/2012/08/make-your-own-microwave-popcorn-packets.html

http://www.loveumadly.com/2012/04/100-pure-love-for-100-real-fruit-snacks/

http://www.mommyhatescooking.com/2013/07/baked-apple-chips-make-bake-create.html

Breakfast:

http://bbpaperandink.blogspot.ca/2011/02/crepes.html

http://www.pink-parsley.com/2012/02/heart-shaped-cherry-nutella-pop-tarts.html

http://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2011/10/slow-cooker-apple-butter-recipe.html?ref=search

Waffles

Cereal

Yogurt +granola

Lunch:

http://www.normalrecipe.com/2013/10/peanut-butter-banana-quesadillas.html?m=1

Sunbutter sandwiches

Dinner:

http://creatingthroughlife.blogspot.com/2011/10/crock-pot-lasagna.html

http://pearls-handcuffs-happyhour.blogspot.com/2011/04/two-timin-pasta.html

http://rachelschultz.com/2012/09/22/slow-cooker-apple-cinnamon-porkloin/

http://www.dashingdish.com/2011/04/pizza-rolls/comment-page-1/#comment-7734

Spaghetti ravioli 

Taco dip

Veggies:

http://justmebeingwifeandmom.blogspot.com/2010/05/ranch-dressing.html

Salad

Asperagus + bacon

Carrots

I'm sure there will be other snacks and leftovers for lunch. I may even have to stick Mac n cheese in there, but it won't be 3 nights a week. I'll try to take pictures of the (hopefully) deliciousness and post them too. I will have to make allergy adjustments to some of the recipes and I'll post those as well for anyone who's looking for one of these made free of certain ingredients. (Namely unbaked eggs and nuts)

In the mean time, here's M with our Christmas tree.

Third Time's the Charm

Hello, blog world! 

I have tried several times to be faithful enough to keep up with a blog. I think I need to stop trying to make it a big deal and try to make it a fun occasional thing with less commitment to posting. I know in the blogs I've followed that more frequent posts are more fun, but perhaps that will come with feeling reduced pressure to post. 

I am intending this blog to be a document of what I am learning in school (for cosmetology), and how I am learning to be a better mom. 

It has been a long time coming that I have learned how to relate with my oldest, M. When he was born, I had crazy ideas and most of them were so far off from what kids really need. I planned on telling him that Santa wasn't real and never having a tooth fairy. I didn't want to lie to him. I would never baby-talk to him (which I actually didn't, amazingly). And many other things. However, in my intention to treat him like a little man instead of a baby, I didn't connect with him as I should've. I expected things of him as a 2 year old that I wouldn't expect from him now as a 5 year old. 

I also have a 2 year old, J. He is so night and day different from M it's not even funny. As soon as he could crawl, he zipped right into the other room and didn't even look back to see if I was following him. He hasn't slowed down since. I connected a lot differently with J than I did his brother. I'd learned a few things and grown up a lot between having the two of them. 

I still struggle with a lot of things. I used to be an avid yeller. Now, it's very infrequent but I always feel awful after it happens. I don't feed them enough vegetables, and rely way too much on Mac n cheese for dinner. And I get sucked in by technology and ignore them while they suck up tv. I hope to maybe get some feedback and ideas as I post about how things go in my life, things I'm cooking, games we're playing, ways I'm helping them learn and how I'm dealing with the frustrations.