As Promised: Mickey Mouse Lunch

Today I made Keegan Mickey Mouse sandwiches as promised. I used both a bread "stamp" (which I always thought was just for toast but it shows up cute on regular bread too!) and a Mickey cutter. Both were purchased at Downtown Disney. The rest of his lunch and snacks were simple (note the FOUR sides hehe).

PS - The funny thing about the 4 sides is he almost always comes home with at least 2 of them.  But sometimes they use what I send in for his snack times and I don't ever want to send not enough.  Plus if we go somewhere right after I pick him up, usually there is a snack waiting for him.  And like I said in my previous post, I MUST send FOUR snacks for my SANITY.  Weird, I know.

On Our Way to Bento Baby

I have always (well for probably about 5 years now) envisioned preparing cute Bento lunches for the children and husband to send them off on their day - cute and appetizing lunches to cheer up their days. (See daydream of being the perfect housewife and mom - ha!) I love Bento.  I even have a Pinterest Board dedicated to Bento.

Somewhere along the line, I realized that I would never be able to do full-out Bento in crazy intricate designs and I wasn't so sure that's what I would really want to do anyways.  What I do know is I have a thing for cute lunch containers, cute lunch shapes, and fun lunches. I have a collection of lunch totes and containers and I try to think outside the box on traditional lunches.  This is really hard when your kid isn't quite yet two and your hubby works in the food industry (thus no lunches). 

Side note: Poor hubby, when he starts working in the office setting in the spring (prayers please for this!), he will have lunches with cute shaped food and heart shaped notes saying he is loved.  I wonder if he will eat in the car instead of with his co-workers out of sheer embarrassment?

Back to Keegan.  His meals of choice are PB&J, "fake" hot dogs, and lentil/bean loaf (think the vegetarian version of meatloaf).  For his teacher's benefit I try to send finger foods because, let's face it, he still is in the process of trying to master a fork and spoon.  He probably gets PB&J at least 3 times a week.  Sometimes even an Uncrustable because I am really bad with time management.  Otherwise I do send him in with whole wheat bread.  He used to eat the crust and all but I think I ruined him with the Uncrustables (bad mommy).  Now when I make his sandwiches with cutesy cutters, Daddy eats the scraps (mainly crusts) of PB&J for breakfast or, if feasible, I cut the bread first and save the scraps in my freezer bag of bread for  homemade stuffing (have I mentioned it is officially FALL!!!!! yay!).

This weekend I splurged on a new container - the Gerber Graduate Mealtime Organizer ($6.99 at Target and I believe the same price on Amazon but you won't know whether you are getting the red or blue)

The extent of my cutesy lunches of late are just shapes of sandwiches with cookie cutters or sandwich cutters.  His lunch and snacks today are dinosaur PB&J, with mandarin oranges, apple stix (chips), an applesauce pouch, and an unpictured yogurt pouch. Since I have an obsessive personality I have certain habits that I MUST do.  So everyday I MUST send Keegan with one "main dish" and FOUR snacks.  I MUST do this for MY SANITY.  Weird, I know.

There are three compartments in the main opening: one larger one that can hold a sandwich or other main item (please note that it is more shallow then the other two because of the compartment above it on the lid) and two smaller ones that are deeper and include one lid to seal off one of the compartments.

I put Keegan's applesauce pouch in the compartment on top of the lid that fits above the sandwich.  It's the perfect size for a pouch or granola bar/breakfast bar or fruit snacks etc.

Then there is a lid on top of that compartment that has a slot for a picture or note and a clear covering above that.  As much as I wanted to write something like "Mommy loves you dooka doo" I figured he wouldn't appreciate that since he can't read and that even when he can, well, I may need to figure out something else to write.  So for now, I have stuck some stickers of some of his favortie characters on an index card and called it a day.  I couldn't leave the space blank and I know Nemo and Minnie and Donald will make his day (sorry Daisy, he will be excited to see you too, just it probably won't make his day).

Here are some more stock photos that do a better job of showing the compartments:

Gerber Graduate Mealtime Organizer on Amazon

Tomorrow or Wednesday I think I will use our Mickey Shaped cookie cutter for sandwiches.  He loves those - Oh Toodles!

Keegan's "Not-So-Baby" Room

I've been working on Keegan's room and it is bittersweet.  It is still very toddler-esque but most of his sweet nursery bits are gone.  While there is still a crib and changing table, there are brighter colors and a whole heck of a lot more toys.  Slowly but surely it has been coming together and now all that is left is really just painting the rocker white and making navy slip covers for the cushions.

When I was pregnant I had registered for (and received) some fun animal baskets that fit in the cube spaces. The colors were lime green, aqua, and navy and I figured the lighter tones and navy nursery colors could evolve in to those bolder brighter colors.  Next up was all the baskets in similar colors from Dollar Tree.  You just have to love Dollar Tree for baskets and baskets for organizing.  Our baskets have books in some, cars in some, musical instruments in some.... it's a way to keep things clean and organized easily!

In addition, Keegan loves Buzz and Woody from Toy Story.   He has never seen Toy Story, but he loves them nonetheless.  The colors go perfect - I found the Toy Story table and cube chairs from Walmart on clearance for about $20.  And of course his tons and tons of toys actually are all bright and cheery too.

The final touches were pinterest inspired.  I bought certificate frames (from Dollar Tree) and painted them navy, aqua, and lime green with cheap acrylic paints and then printed up some printables (I found through my sister through pinterest) to frame.  You can write on the outsite with dry erase markers too.

Now to the pictures - which I apologize but my only working camera right now is my iPhone and I am no photographer.  I can't wait to have a really nice camera....one day....


Keegan's Nursery (before):


 (not quite finished/before his arrival)





(SO TINY!)

Keegan's Room

 

 

 

 

Note to self: The Glass is 1/2 Full

Turn that Frown Upside Down!

The Glass is 1/2 Full not 1/2 empty.

Be in a state of Thanksgiving.

I am blessed.

Focus on the positive.

TGIF!

And three little words my mom and I have an inside joke/understanding of:

Get Over It

Duck and Goose Find a Pumpkin

 

Keegan has a new book called Duck and Goose Find a Pumpkin.  He loves this book.  We read it every night and point out the yellow duck, white goose, and orange pumpkins.  I had the brilliant idea to get him a little pumpkin today.  He was SO EXCITED.  Which made me excited.  Until he started kicking it around like a soccer ball.  Thankfully there were no casualties.

Duck and Goose Find a Pumpkin (Amazon)

Duck and Goose Books by Tad Hills (Amazon)

The start of a new obsession: The Household Binder

*** As I come across additional sites with resources and printables I will edit this post and add the link at the bottom.***

I have become obsessed with a new project:  a household binder.

A binder with all your to-do's, what's where, menu planning, phone number at a finger tip, organization for your household.

I found a set you can order on etsy (the pdf files) that I love but it's $40 and in the spirit of my post on budgeting, I figured I better find a way to do it myself.  Actually making the documents myself, at this point, seemed too time consuming and stressful so I've been doing some "research" on the web.

Here is a great site with explanation and a ton of free printables:

http://organizedhome.com/household-notebook

Here is another site that if you subscribe to it you can get free printables (they're kinda cute too!):

http://getbuttonedup.com/tools/

The original site that got me hooked:

http://iheartorganizing.blogspot.com/


Her Etsy with her uber cute pages for sale:

http://www.etsy.com/shop/IHeartOrganizing?ref=seller_info

Today as I painstakingly (what?!?! It takes a long time to save and print all of these free printables!  Totally cutting in to my "I am going to nap when Keegan naps for real this time" time!) save and print the documents so that I can put my binder together (I must get a large binder from mom and see if she has page protectors or if I need to buy them) I have also decided, why not do the the Three P binder as well (see below), and a sewing binder, potentially other craft binders, and medical binder(s) for the kids as well???  A monster has been created.

Post on the Planning Ahead (3P: Parties, Presents, and Packing) binder:

http://iheartorganizing.blogspot.com/2012/09/uheart-organizing-planning-ahead-binder.html

*** Additional Resources***

More Free Printables!

http://frugalliving.about.com/od/householdsavings/tp/Household_Notebook.htm

http://www.bloominghomestead.com/search/label/printables

http://printables.yourway.net/home-management-notebook/
(free printables or for only $7 you can download them all at once - time saving!- for only $7)

http://www.thissimplehome.com/2012/02/household-binder-project-part-1.html
(links to printables)

Budgeting

Hoping my accountant husband decides to work on our budget soon.  I've put all the numbers down on paper and it does not look pretty.  My style of a budget is pretty archaic.  I listed out all of our monthly expenses (which add up quickly - especially with child support, daycare, debt, and outrageous charges for cable).  Then I put the average date of the month they are due.  The next thing I did is I listed out our income based on a 4 week month.  Then I put what gets paid each pay period (based off of the average date things are due and how much we are taking in on that week).  It leaves us with a grand total of $224 a month.  Yuck. (I estimated high end charges for everything - I want to be prepared)

There are some solutions thankfully.  As the debt gets paid off that will be more money left over.  Also I need to look in to our cell phone and cable bills to see if there are cheaper options.  Our water and electric are even higher now then they were when we lived in the exact same floor plan 1 block over.  Not sure what is up with that?  So bizarre.  The AC is as old as the house (15 years) so I am sure that's a huge electric expense.  We don't have sprinklers or anything weird so not sure why our average water bill jumped from around $80 to over $100.  Water in Lehigh is notoriously high cost low quality. 

The biggest fix would be to upgrade our poor AC.  But that will cost between $4000 and $6000.

And I don't even want to get in to the student loan debt I have.  Who goes to law school (which I loved) and gets in deep debt when your goal in life would really be to be a housewife?  This girl.

Although - what I need to do is get my butt in gear to get in to teaching classes at undergraduate college level.  That could be more flexible scheduling, income, and make use of my degrees. AND if we moved to Orlando someday I could try to teach there (or online - I think I'd like to teach online classes).  I have to look at the bright side of my schooling :-)

And I can't forget that said Brilliant Hubby graduates in December. I'm hoping he can get a good job pretty quickly.  I have no idea how that will go.  I also know there are way more opportunities for him in Orlando so I have to get my office here in tip top shape and a plan B for myelf ready in case the next few years bring a move for us. 

We also have some items I want to sell on E-Bay.  Little creative ways to both make and save money will be so helpful.  We bought Keegan awesome toys the other day at a second hand shop - it felt so good to get great quality toys at a fraction of the price.  I think I will bring old stuff there too to get some credit. 

So anyways, budgeting it is.  I think Hubby is going to put me on a cash budget.  I think this is a good idea ;-)  He wouldn't force it on me.  He knows I am stressed and we both know things are going to be fine (and we are so much better off than the majority of people in this world). We also both like to spend and need to rein it in.

And we need money to hopefully go to Disney soon ;-)

Ladies Guild

Tis the season for Ladies Guild to start back up again at church.   We take a couple of months off during the summer.  I decided to join Ladies Guild last year and am joined by a bunch of wonderful ladies and also two very special friends:

1) Megan (the pastor's wife) is in between Kara and I in age and has two little girls around Keegan's age and one little boy on the way :-)  She's such a sweetheart and a lot of fun to be around.  I am so blessed we've become friends over the last year and a half (wow time flies!).

2) And then there is Tiffany.  No words to describe Tiffany justly other than my partner in crime in this crazy adult/motherhood world we live in.  I heart her!   Her daughter Avery is 15 days older than Keegan.  We've been friends since high school and we were in Key Club together and played soccer together.  We've become super close these last few years though.  I feel like she is my mommyhood soulmate!  Our friendship is just effortless and I feel like we really get each other. Unfortunately our husbands both have odd work schedules but fortunately that means the two of us and the kiddos get to do a lot of fun things together!  Keegan loves his Avery too! (and they were baptised together! and if you ask us they are betrothed lol) We are so similar in many ways but also different in some ways so it just works. We've been on many adventures together and are also quite content to just sit at Starbucks and talk for hours.  She also introduced us to the Family Music Time music class - which starts back up on Saturday (super excited!).  You are sure to hear a lot more of Tiffany and Avery as I blog more and more.  I love this wacky roller coaster of life with Tiffany and her family right alongside us!

Disclaimer:  Megan is super AWESOME too and means so much and so do my many other super close friends - I can't think of anyone else who is as blessed as me in the friend department.  I work with one of my best friends (we call each other our other better halves!) and another best friend is Keegan's Godmother, I want to move near my best friend forever and ever in high school (friends since 1st grade) Alyssa in Orlando, I have my best friend practically sister Alissa nearby.... and on and on and on... AND my sister Kara is truly a best friend.  Whew.... see what I mean - blessed!

But I digress... back to Ladies Guild...

Our first meeting was tonight.  I truly do enjoy it.  Megan, Tiffany (I hope - she had to miss tonight), Peggy (my other other half's awesome mom!), and I will spearhead the church Christmas party again this year.  Megan and I will also be "hosting" next month which means providing food and beverage for the Ladies Guild and Men's Club members.  I plan to make beer bread, spinach herb dip, and Nana's Apple Cake (all Tastefully Simple).

We'll make cakes for the spaghetti dinner the Men's Club will have in October.  There will also be Trunk or Treat on Halloween (with a cupcake walk - another excuse for baking).  It's amazing how busy we keep.  I enjoy most if not all of it though.  I am not complaining that I will miss the yard sale though since that's the day of Keegan's birthday party.  I will donate stuff and make baked goods for the bake sale.

The tough part is whether I want to become an officer or not.  I think our current board is amazing and would prefer if they all stayed in office (Especially the president - she's triple amazing!).  But, alas, the vice president is moving soon.  So there's a vacancy no matter what.  The president said she thought it would be great if one of the younger ladies ran for office (for any position but I want the remaining 3 to stay!).  Well, there are only three of us younger ladies that are in the Ladies Guild.  I am not sure if Megan or Tiffany want to hold an office.  They'd be great.  If not, I am going to pray real hard if I want another commitment.  I feel like it is a possibility but I need to think about it.  I also need to look in to and think about being more active on our church's behalf in the Lutheran Women's Missionary League.  I feel like I need at least one of my fellow partners in crime to be active with me for that though.

So these are decisions I have to pray about.  God is good and he does good things in and through our church.  I just wish I knew exactly the best vocation for myself in it all.

PS - I always do the sign of the cross after praying and often times at the start too.  Not many of my fellow churchmates do.  Must totally be something left over from my days as a young Catholic.  It's a habit I don't see ending anytime soon though (And what a powerful statement when praying to oneself out in public!). Just an observation....

PPS - My original paragraph about Tiffany feels like it was much longer but when I posted the blog the symbol I had for "heart" had the whole paragraph screwed up.... sigh.....

Parenting - No One "Magic Formula"

I know there is no one "magic formula" for parenting.  Each family, each child, each parent, each neighborhood, each environment.... so many factors go in to each Family and each Familial Relationship and how it "works."  One thing is clear - the best for one situation may not be the best for another.

I doubt myself sometimes and I obsess over if what I am doing is the best thing(s) to do. I make more than my share of mistakes (and did I mention Keegan is not quite yet two?).

I just felt the need to put this out there.  As I post about the stress of a perfect birthday party or the best schooling for my son or how awesome I think he is (most of the time) I am in no way trying to set this standard I think each family should live by, but I also don't think it is very fair to be judged for the journey in parenting I am partaking in.

Guess what:
- My kid's a vegetarian like his momma (and his Aunt Kiki too).
- I enroll him in a weekly music class that, although an additional expense, provides a bonding time for me and my son and a fun learning experience for him.
- I work full time and my kid is in daycare from 9-6 five days a week.
- I don't feel bad about that.
- I also don't feel bad that he's usually one of the last to get picked up.
- I do feel bad that there are not even more hours in a day that I can spend with him though.
- I'd consider homeschooling or some other alternative schooling, if we could swing me being a stay-at-home-mom.
- I already have two public schools picked out that I think would be good for Keegan too.
- I am a licensed attorney.
- I wish I was a housewife.
- I am in debt up to my ears becoming said attorney which makes goal of being said housewife hardly obtainable.
- I have wanted more kids since the second Keegan was born.
- I plan on having (hopefully) two more kids.
- I would love to adopt children as well one day.
- I had a natural, drug-free, delivery and hope to be able to do the same again.
- I spoil my kid.
- I also have no problem discipling my kid.
- I started potty training Keegan around 18 months.
- I can't get him to sit on the potty at all right now.
- I breastfed Keegan until he was 10 1/2 months (9 1/2 months without any formula)
- I hope to breastfeed my future children longer.
- I made my own baby food most of the time.
- I let my kid eat cake.
- I like to plan extravagant kids parties.
- I do it as much (if not moreso) for me as for them.
- I don't like Keegan watching too much tv.
- I let Keegan watch hours and hours of tv yesterday so I could clean.

... and on and on and on.

A lot of what I just posted is "controversial".  Oh well.  Funny how more people comment on my Facebook status if it's a post about the trials of parenthood than about the joys.

I don't think people need to do what I do or not do what we don't do.  Figure out what works for your family.  But don't make other people feel bad about what they do.  And I don't mean by boasting about what you or your kid does.  I mean come on!  If someone's kid does something they are proud of, we should celebrate with them, not be annoyed by it.

So hopefully as I post about the awesome things Keegan does, people will celebrate with us, and when I post about his naughtiness, people will laugh with us, and when I post about the tough times, people will pray with us.

I know I am going to be trying to do those very same things for others.

Party Planning: Take Two

Starting to feel really good about the party planning so far!  We have all but decided to have a smaller party at Family Music Time and then a family dinner either later that day or a different night that week.

I love love love to host but would want to host the dinner at my house (which now I will do because it will not be 40-60 people) and then we can have a blast with (up to 12) kids and their parents at the Music Studio the Saturday before Keegan's birthday.  I just hope the availability is there!

Also thinking that because it would only be 12 kids I can do nicer party favors.  I'm tossing around the idea of making Mickey (and maybe Minnie for the girls) stockings to hold their favors and then a Mickey ornament to go inside.  I might even be able to get Mickey Christmas books at the dollar store or Target dollar section to go in it!  If not books, I am sure I can get a couple other little Mickey goodies.  This is so exciting to me!

And of course there will be food at the music class too.  I'm thinking of keeping it somewhat simple with just crackers, Mickey shaped cheese (you can buy pre-cut like Mickey from Walmart!), possibly fruit and/or veggie trays, and then desserts - fun Mickey themed desserts.

I'm starting to get in my party planning mode again!

Party Planning

I'm not sure why, but planning Keegan's 2nd birthday party is really stressing me out!

I think I would love to have it at my house but my dogs and the number of people I would invite have me a bit stressed out.  They are good dogs, but I would want them separated and if I had the party at our house I would want to use the backyard too (so not sure where I would put the dogs).

I could also have it at a park such as Lakes Regional Park but I have to book a pavilion ASAP if I do that.

Another idea is to have a party at Keegan's music class center - Family Music Time.  This would force me to narrow down the invite list (only 12 kids approx ages 1-6 should be there with their parents) and then I would do a dinner at my house for family and probably a few close friends.

I have a problem with committing to what to do. Once I commit it's like I go nuts.  I do think I will do Mickey Theme for sure though.  I'd love to do Toy Story next year as I think that would be a fun age for all the Toy Story goodness (and, even though he loves Buzz and Woody, he still hasn't seen the movies).  So many fun party themes for the future: Toy Story, dinosaurs, robots, Legos, Cars, trains and on and on and on....

Every time I lean towards an option, I start to double-guess and lean towards another option.

To reminisce - here is Keegan with Papa (as he now calls my dad) on his first birthday:

School

So I know it is really weird, but I have started obsessing over Keegan's schooling.  Those who know me, know I obsess.  A lot. Sometimes over trivial things.  A lot of times of far off things.

But alas, I am obsessing over my one year old's education as in four years from now.  I love his preschool but man I am going nuts over when he actually starts elementary school.

I heard of this (Christian based) private school model called University-Model School that I absolutely think is the coolest thing.  It's semi-homeschool.  They aren't really considered homeschooled, but your kids only go to school two days a week and you are their "coach" the remaining days to bridge the gap.  Hard to explain so here is an article on it:

http://www.home-school.com/Articles/university-model-schools.php

And here is the National Association of University-Model Schools webpage:

http://www.naums.net/

Problem is - the only one in Florida is in Largo/Pinellas Park area.  Bummer.  A lot can happen in 4 years though, right?

Then there is the Lee County Virtual School.  I have an awesome friend whose daughter is only 2 weeks older than Keegan and she was interested in homeschooling so we were talking about the option of having our kids go to the Virtual School and we can alternate teacher/coaching days this way we could work part-time if we wanted to.  (I'd like to think I'd have the option of working part time in 4 years but I know that's not a definite too).

Here's the "schools" website: http://lvip.leeschools.net/

And (as of right now) they use the Calvert Curriculum so I want to look in to that more: http://www.calvertschool.org/

I do like the idea of Keegan being in a regular classroom setting for social purposes down the road too and I know it's not a bad thing if he goes to public school - heck, his AWESOME Aunt Kiki teaches at a school he could go to and they just built a technology/science elementary school nearby.

Also another blogger I came across via pinterest has an awesome site where she has put together massive packets for "Mommy School" for toddlers.  I think that's great and plan on trying to do stuff with Keegan too.  I want to instill a love of learning in him.  His father and I like it so I think there's a fair shot he will too.

Mommy School: http://www.oopseydaisyblog.com/mommy-school

So I am not sure what is weirder - that I am obsessing over his schooling already or that I am liking it???

Keegan's Cardboard Car

Inspired by a post on Pinterest (here: http://pinterest.com/pin/17732992252271625/) I decided to make Keegan a cardboard car to play in. He's still at that age where playing in boxes is fun. But it's not that pretty and I wanted a project. So I used a heavy duty fruit cardboard box, painted it with acrylic paint (which is where I was originally going to stop), and then went a little overboard with embellishments. I added a mini bicycle license plate, mailbox reflectors as brake lights, and the budget buster of tap lights as the headlights. I didn't shop around for the tap lights so I paid more than I planned at $6.50 for the two. Originally I was going to do either clear/white or yellow reflectors but I could only find red that were big enough. I also purchased little sticky circle mirrors that are meant to be put on your side view mirrors to use as sideview mirrors but I haven't figured out the best way to add them on. The mirrors, reflectors, and license plate were all fairly inexpensive.

Keegan likes it :-)