From Ash Wednesday

Some kids-not-home stream of consciousness for you from Ash Wednesday: 

I'm sitting here stuck.  For once, I actually have time to write while the kids are at school.  My car is being fixed and I could technically walk somewhere if I wanted to get out, but a day all alone at home sounded really nice. I'm staying here and snuggling with little chicks all day.  

Working on my favorite 40 Bags in 40 Days.

I work and think about how much I fill up my days with distraction to avoid thinking too much.  

Think about all of the lists of blog post ideas that I have going and how they all feel like a distraction, too, and you can go to any of a million blogs are read about freezer meals and recipes and garden stuff and how I really don't think that's why you come to this space.

Clean out a kitchen junk drawer.  

Cook a batch of scones to freeze and throw on a pot of oatmeal to freeze while I'm cooking anyway.  

Snuggle the chicks more.  

Fold laundry and think about bills and the endless decisions families make about working and childcare and money.  

Make a pot of coffee.    

Will myself not to start reading blogs.  

Make a list of the freezer meals I made this weekend so I don't forget to add them to the meal planning list: Chicken in Phyllo, Chicken, Chile and Roasted Corn Soup, Chicken and Wild Rice Soup, Sausage and Cheese Pasta Bake, Cheesy Chicken and Rice Casserole, Chicken Fingers (can you tell that I found a good deal on chicken?) Pumpkin Muffins. Most are from Don't Panic, Dinner's in the Freezer or Don't Panic, More Dinner's in the Freezer because I just got them at the library to try them last week and I'm definitely going to buy them now, there's a ton more that I actually want to make. 

Listened to some Juvenile on Pandora, then change the station and follow it up with the Spa station, because I'm wild like that.

Say a prayer of thanks for neighbors and friends who I can text in the middle of the day and ask to pick up my kids at school. 

Make myself some good lunch.

Take some photos. 

Decide on a Lenten sacrifice of not shopping for anything but necessities, including (especially?) browsing online, even though I hadn't planned to give up anything for Lent. 

Close and walk away from the computer and try to stop my brain from spinning in a million directions. 

Some Links for Your Friday, Happy Weekend!:

Making Time for What Matters at The Art of Simple: 

"Sometimes I feel like there just isn’t enough space in my life. There isn’t enough room to see all my friends, finish all of my work, attend every significant event, volunteer at every charity, keep my house clean and functioning, to eat (something other than string cheese or rice krispies) and to still end up sane at the end of the week, month or year."

A 5-Step Plan to FINALLY Organize Your Photos (like a Professional Organizer!) from Modern Parents Messy Kids:

"Printed at the local drugstore some several years ago, these pictures were meant to bring joy, were intended for auspicious photo albums, for scrapbooking, or for framing… and then, instead, were abandoned in their paper envelopes (that’s hopeful) in favor of more pressing daily tasks.

Luckily, rescuing your precious family photos from a life of clutter is easier than you might think. Here’s how to whip your pictures into shape."

Dr. Seuss Coloring Pages Printables from The Country Chic Cottage:

"I took some wonderful quotes from Dr. Seuss and turned them into coloring pages for Read Across America Day or any day of the year."

Seven Tactics to Avoid Wasting Food from The Simple Dollar:

"If I assume that the average pound of food costs $2, then wasting a ton of food per year translates to a cost of $4,000 per year for my family."

Friday Bits and Pieces

This week started out rough. An awful ear infection and a stomach virus for her, puking all over the pharmacy at the grocery store, sadness over a dead chicken, driving people here there and everywhere, swirling questions of decisions to be made and hoping that they were right. We needed color and fresh air desperately. Stuck inside (again) we all painted and cut and ripped magazines and ran outside in the snow and rode scooters in circles inside. We watched way too much tv and I tried to carve out alone time where I could for each of us. 

Some Link Love for your Friday:

Gray on Gray from Tales from the Motherland

"I miss the nights when he would pull me into his arms for a kiss goodnight, and I could nuzzle his sweet neck and smell his yummy little boyness, as he kissed my cheek. The days when he would bring bouquets of flowers, pulled from my precious garden, are gone. To go back– I would reframe from chastising, and linger with my nose in those buds a few minutes longer. I would take in his pleased expression and bathe in that hopeful look that told me that I was the love of his life. Now he has other loves…while he is still, and will always be one of the great loves of my life."

In which the moments are now ours alone :: on (not) blogging about my tinies from Sarah Bessey

"I need my children to know that they aren’t blog fodder. I need them to know that they can grow up without an audience being privy to their sacred moments."

Alone Time from The Minimalists

"Then, as my twenties twilighted, I discovered I was more affable whenever I carved out time for myself. (After all, I’m an INTJ.) But don’t worry, this isn’t a platitudinal reminder to “make time for yourself.” Rather, it’s a reminder to embrace your individualism—your personality."

4 Time Saving Tips for Your Family from An Inviting Home

"I know right where to go when a child's pants start looking like capris (I think my three year old grew an inch overnight last week!) and since everything is already sorted by gender and sizes it makes finding things a breeze."

The "Can't Also" Crisis from Kelle Hampton

"I often pigeonhole myself into categories, as if a woman who wants to change the world can’t also love cute shoes. Or a mom who sings of the joys of holding a sleeping baby can’t also want to learn more about business. Or an advocate for a cause of great importance can’t also advocate for a cause of little importance like wearing lipstick or buying art or making crafts."

For the record: I can sing every word to Easy E's Gimme That Nutt and Wreckx-N-Effect's Rump Shaker. I don't suggest googling the lyrics to either at work! If you ask me to sing them, you'll probably get one of the biggest smiles out of me that you've ever seen and a good blush on my cheeks. Happy weekend everyone:)