Day 12 (Today!)

As I mentioned in my previous post, yesterday is poured here due to the remnents of Hermine. Kierstin, Roxy, and I were stuck in the house all day. Davy was at work at the volunteer fire station that he is on staff with and I was happy to be home with Kierstin and the new puppy but it was hard to stay on top of the puppy potty issues with it raining and being by myself! Our backyard is a bit of a mud pit due to the ever-digging of the lab so I didn't want to just push her outside to do her business. So I walked her in the rain in the front yard by the window so Kierstin could look out and see us. Mostly she yelled at me to go o'side, o'side. We survived and had no potty accidents until the teenager got home and was on puppy patrol. Why was she on duty?? B/c Kenna had homework, I needed to make a bento, and we had open house at her school that night. I survived open house largely due to the fact that Davy got someone to come in for a few hours so he could go to open house with us. Isn't he the best??? I know;) At our jr high open house, parents are required to visit each class with a change time of 5 minutes just like the kids. Not a big deal until you are trying to drag a toddler from one end of the school to the other with all the other families. Then imagine sitting for a presentation in each class with a noisy, fussy toddler. Yep, he saved me again! Husband of the year 3 years running:) Back to the teenager...Lauren has a rude awakening coming this year I think. She has never had to read or study to make good grades. But these 8th grade teachers seem tough. She is taking a high school credit health course and has a test today. Is it evil of me to hope she bombs it to prove my point that you might actually need to read the chapter??? I'll keep you posted.

Now to Mc's bento for today. It's a bird theme. Can you see it? She has pirate booty, leftover summer sausage and cojack chunks, raspberries, blackberries, an a mini cream cheese bagel with sugar eyes, havarti cheese, and raspberry details.

Day 11 bento

McKenna had (yes I am a day behind...but I was alone with Roxy and Kierstin in the torrential storm created by Hermine yesterday and it was hard!) a mishmash bento. Lauren didn't want one, we had just gotten home with Roxy who needed a bath desperately, and I had lots of other get ready for school stuff to do. Anyways, here it is: She has pirate booty, summer sausage and cojack skewers, blackberries, raspberries, a cut up clementine, and yogurt.

New Fur Baby!

The kids were our for Labor Day and Davy was home too. So we decided to go and get our newest family member. Meet Roxy aka Roxaboxen Memories. Roxaboxen is a book I always read to my class as an idea for writing about memories. It reminds me of my childhood and my grandparent's dairy farm. She is my early birthday present. I have had boxers in the past and love their personalities. They are so playful, loving, and protective (but not in a scary way). And yes she is white. White boxers are considered a defect and many are deaf. Roxy can definitely hear me on the stairs in the mornings so I am not worried about her hearing. She is 11 weeks old and was one of ten in her litter. The owners still have four left. Poor things was filthy and covered in fleas. She has settled into our family very well and is snoring on my leg as I type this. I am so excited about this addition!

Day 10

Hey that is today! I am caught up! No bento today b/c it's Friday. Mc did tell me that the pizza at her new school is not as good as her old school. I don't understand...it's all the same frozen stuff. Anyways she took some ravioli in a thermos for lunch today since the previous conversation took place at 9 last night:(

Kierstin and I took a road trip today out to my old school (the one with the McKenna approved pizza) to see a few friends. One friend needed bows for her kiddos for family pics and since I can't seem to catch up and get those posted to FB either, I just gathered up everything in her color scheme and took it to her so she could choose. She bought quite a bit and I picked up my form to be a vendor at the school's farmers market in October. I also was my BFF Cindy who teaches kindergarten there and took her a lemon-berry slush from Sonic. They are quite yummy! I thought I might be sad going up to the school but honestly I wasn't. I left without a sigh, tear, or frown. I was proud of myself. Yeah for today!

Day 9

I know I am not mentioning much about the SAHM part of my days but I can't remember what I did so I promise to do better and keep up with my blogging.

Mc had a bear-y good lunch inspired by the new picks I got in the mail. She had more tuna salad pitas, montery jack cheese cubes, a babybel, and pirate booty. She also had raspberries, blackberries, grapes, kiwi and lemon jello.

Lauren told me that Thomas who had been eating her scraps was moving and this was going to be his last day at school. We decided to make him his very own snack bento as a going away surprise. And yes...same old, same old lunch for her.

Day 8

First lunches...then I have to talk about the boyfriend. (Lauren's, not mine...LOL) I found mini pitas at the grocery store and thought Mc might like them so we tried them and SHE LOVES THEM! I stuffed them with tuna salad. I have never met a kid that loves tuna as much as Mc! Also in her bento she has raspberry jello, a babybel, montery jack cheese and a fruit salad with grapes, blackberries, raspberries, and a clementine. The containers are a Target dollar spot find. They are 2.50 each and come with a water bottle too! They have girl themed and boy themed so you might want to check it out:) Sorry the pic is so bad. I took it was an afterthought...

Now to my mommy rant for the day. Davy was at work so I ws just going to drop Lauren off at church b/c the teen service is on Wednesday. On the way there I told her that the little girls and I were going to Target and that I would pick her up after church. Then is happened. She shot me the biggest puppy dog eyes ever and asked if she could just go to Target too. This is going to cost me money, I thought. Then she told me that Jerahmy was at there with his mom and that would be a great time to meet her. Who is Jerahmy you might ask...her boyfriend who is in high school! UGH! Ok, well he's only a year older than her and they were on the tennis team together so it's not really that bad BUT he had facial hair over the summer! When did my little girl get old enough to have a boyfriend with the ability to grow stubble? Anyways, I met him and his mom. He is not anything like I imagined. I couldn't really remember him from tennis so all I had to go on was his FB pic with a skinny mustache. See the hair thing is really messing with me. It kinda makes me want to cry. Not sure why but it does. His stepmom was nice and seemed to be taking all this teen romance stuff in stride. We said goodbye and they gave each other a kinda side hug and walked away. Oh BTW they only talk on the phone and on FB. That's as far as this relationship has gotten. Although Lauren keeps mentioning that she would really like to go to a movie with him. I'm ok with it as long as a parent is there too. Maybe this is all bothering me that she is the same age I was when I met her father who I dated for 8 years, was married to for 8 years, and it all crashed and burned. Just don't want her to follow in my footsteps. I know that I am projecting myself into her situation and I need to stop. She's a beautiful girl and I am sure he is just one in a long line of boyfriends I have to endure. Did I mention having a teenager is tough?????

Day 7 bento

On day 7 she had a mini cream cheese bagel with a montery jack dolphin, a fish egg, goldfish, and some salami. She also had a grape, raspberry, and blackberry fruit salad. The yellow is a note from mom with 2 mini reeses hiding underneath! Lauren is a creature of habit and will eat the same thing everyday until she just can't stand it anymore. So here's her add-on bento

Day 6

Kenna's bento for Day 6 was just a mismatch of things I had around and ideas I had seen on the wonderful bento blogs that are out there. Check out the suggested blogs to the right for some inspiration:)

She had salami, a babybel, montery jack cheese, baby carrots, egg ladybugs, and a sliced Anjou pear. She also had some pirate booty, cherries, and a mini blueberry muffin.

Day 5

No bento for Day 5. Friday is pizza day. Mc didn't want to take her lunch. I did have a wonderful lunch with my hubby at a local Italian resturant. YUM! Then we took Kierstin to the park b/c the Texas humidity was giving us a break. I tell you this child has no fear. The toddler playground was not shaded and was scorching so we went over to the big playground. She did every slide and even hung on the monkey bars a bit! What happened to my baby? She is definately getting too big!

I fell off the wagon...

Well it happened...I forgot to blog. Well I didn't really forget...I avoided which is so much worse! So back to the bentos I had been making just not blogging about. DAY 4 bento was inspired by Melissa at Another Lunch. Here's the link to her Bunny Foo Foo muffin tin: http://www.anotherlunch.com/2010/07/mtm-hare-today-goon-tomorrow.html

My kids are big fans of the WeeSing videos. It all started with my mother buying them for Lauren when she was little and we of course had to buy the dvd's for Kierstin. The one with Little Bunny Foo Foo is The Big Rock Candy Mountain and instead of field mice they are called Meecy Mice. I had to remind Mc over and over that the other kids in her class most likely would not know what Meecy Mice are so she had to say field mice. I didn't have everything we needed to make Melissa's exaclty, so we imporvised a bit. She has strawberry mice with cherrio ears, sugar eyes, and fruit snack tails, a kiwi goon with sugar eyes and fruit snack mouth, a Bunny Foo Foo egg, a few kisses, raspberries, and a ham sandwich make with the fairy from the SandWishes collection from Lunch Punch. The Good Fairy has 2 cucumber and carrot wands and fruit snack and montery jack cheese star decorations.

Our Adoption Story

Well, ours is about as atypical as you can get, but in a wonderful way. I found out in Dec. 2006 that I had a heart condition my whole life and never knew it. I had gone in for foot surgery and found myself at a cardiologist within the week and still with a bum foot. I was not put on any medication but was told to monitor how I felt and call if I had any problems. I didn't think it sounded like a big deal. So in January I met the love of my life and we were married in June. Now when I had gotten my divorce from John I had made a pact with myself that IF I ever got married again, my new husband would have to be ok with my kids and if he had any, his kids, being the only ones. I just didn't think any more kids were in my future. I prayed for a man that would love my children as his own. Boy did God answer that one. David is the best step father I know. But this changed something in my heart. David did not have any biological children. I saw how much joy the girls gave him and knew he deserved the chance to have all the experiences he missed out on. So we started trying to conceive. That's when I started having more and more problems with my heart. After a very bad "episode" my cardiologist made the decision that he could not recommend another pregnancy because he could not promise that my heart would not be damaged. I had to think about the kids I did have. I was heart broken and went home and headed straight to bed where I cried for the rest of the night. I can't imagine the heartache my friends who have miscarried have faced but I know how it feels to grieve for the baby that could have been. I woke up the next morning determined. David and I had discussed adoption on the very first day we had met. We were both open to the process. I knew this was the path God had for us all along. Then my mom got sicker. She had been diagnosed with Multiple Myleoma and her kidneys had failed. My father had died of cancer and my grandmother had died from complications resulting from dialysis. And now my mother was battling both. It was hard on her. She had been independent her whole life and had raised us alone since I was 2. So she decided to stop her treatments and passed away 2 weeks later on August 4, 2008. Adoption was still on our minds but I needed some time to grieve for my mother. So in December 2008, we started filling out paperwork with an agency one of my best friends had used. We finished our home study on January 31, 2009. The next day I was driving to work listening to KSBJ like I always do and heard the song While I'm Waiting by Josh Wilson. I prayed a silent prayer that I would be patient and fully trust in Him while we waited for our baby. I knew He was in control. Well, 9 days later I got a call after school from David saying that I needed to come home immediately. Being me...I wouldn't leave until he told me what was going on. He asked how soon I wanted a baby. I was dumbfounded. He explained that the agency had just called and they had a drop-in placement. A baby girl was leaving the hospital the next day and she was ours if we were ready. I raced home after letting my principal know that I might not be back for 3 months:) The agency sent us a picture on my phone. We looked at her and knew she was the one we were supposed to have. So we made a mad dash to Target to get the basics because I had gotten rid of all my baby stuff! We filled up 2 shopping carts! The next morning we left at 6 am and got to Dallas about 11ish. Then we met our baby girl. She was beautiful. We met her birthmother who is also gorgeous and her grandmother (you know it...gorgeous!). When we told them our story, Grandma began to say, "Praise the Lord, Praise the Lord!" I knew this was right. She settled into our family and has provided so many laughs, so much love, and has strenghtened our trust in God. On January 7, 2010, she became officially ours. We love her and she lights up a room like no other:) I feel God leading me down the adoption road again. I pray I can hold on to the trust in Him Kierstin gave me. More updates on that later.

Day 3 bentos

Simple, fast bentos for today. Momma is getting exhuasted with all this getting up early:) McKenna has salami, colby jack or polka dot cheese as she calls it, and triscuits. In her other layer she has blackberries, raspberries, a mini chocolate chip muffin and pirate booty (which she still can't say without cracking up even though I have explained it over and over). Mc really wanted to use the girl pick so we decided to bury her in the sand!

Lauren has salami, pepperoni, summer sausage, and colby jack cheese in her lower layer. She has balckberries, raspberries, kiwi, a babybel, a crayon pretzel, and two blueberry cheesecake mini muffins. She also got triscuits in a baggie. I finished packing her lunch and she got out the picks, gave me a puppy dog face, and of course I added some to her bento. Funny how she thought I was nuts a week ago...

Day 2 bentos

McKenna got a sheep bento. I really didn't like how this one turned out but love the Lunchbots containers! Such a good size. In her bento she had a sheep-shaped (say that 5 times fast:P) ham sandwich with foodwriter and sugar eyes details. Bean sprouts, flower carrots, flower cucumbers, and cherry tomatoes make the background . In her duo, she has a fruit salad of kiwi, clementine, and cherries in one side and a babybel and crayon pretzels in the other. Lauren came home yesterday starving, starving, starving. She has D lunch so everything is gone except the regular school lunch so she asked for a bento. She got a Sherimiya inspired ninja. You can check out her blog at Happy Little Bento. So she got a fruit salad of a clementine, blackberries, raspberried, kiwi, and strawberry with a nori wrapped egg. She also got pepperoni, salami, montery jack cheese, and a baby bell. And to top it of 2 crayon pretzels and some cherries. She was happier today (only having a small snack before dinner) and is already planning her bento for tomorrow. McKenna was starving when she got home so she got a snack bento of pirate booty, cherries, and a mini chocolate chip muffin.

First Day of School

I know that it was yesterday and I should have posted then, but...ok there is no excuse. Anyways, McKenna loves her new school and her teacher. She looked ever so cute and I actually got to walk her to class! That's actually something I have never been able to do because I have always had my own parade of parents to convince to leave my classroom, mountains of supplies to conquer, and kids to wrangle. I was not one of those parents by the way:) I did tear up leaving though...guess I have always had my own beginning of school chaos to distract me from the fact my girls are getting so big. We even drove Lauren to school too after hooking her up with some Starbucks. Can't believe this is her last year before high school. When did I get old enough to have a teenager??? So then we got home and by we I mean my sweet baby girl, my DH and myself. Due to the fact that I am chopped liver when her Daddy is around...I was soooooooo bored! I know! I thought I would have more to do. I cleaned my living room and dining room, vaccummed and dusted. And worried...I said I was not a helicopter mom but I was not entirely sure where Mc's bus stop would be. I am a planner, so this freaked me out! And it should have. They dropped her off on the street behind our house and three houses down from ours! DH was out in the area waiting but the driver said she could not add a stop on our street. I called transportation and they said they would see what they could do. (It didn't change today. UGH!) So that's how I spent my first official day as a SAHM. Didn't think there would be a learning curve...but I sure hope there is one!

Back to School Bento

Backpacks are packed. Clothes, shoes, and hair accessories are laid out. McKenna's alarm is set for 6:30. And the lunch is packed. I started thinking about this bento weeks ago. McKenna will be starting at a new school tomorrow. And I will not be there with her all day. Not that I was one of those helicopter moms that teachers can be. I let her be independent and tried not to meddle in her business. I always have her a quick squeeze in the cafeteria last year because her class was already seated when my class came in. I am really going to miss catching a glimpse of her in the hallways or having her come to my classroom to deliver a message. So I tried to find a way to make her first day of school lunch special. Her new school mascot is a raccoon. I searched and searched for a raccoon bento I thought I could duplicate but never found one. So I cheated:) I found raccoon Littlest Pet Shop toys (which she loves at the moment) and incorporated them in her bento. She has no idea what is in store for her when she opens her lunch tomorrow! So here it is: She has grapes, raspberries, and blackberries, pretzel crayons, and a babybel in her small container. In her large container, she has carrots, cherry tomatoes, and green cauliflower with a container of green goddess for dipping and three heart sandwiches that say I *heart* U. And her newest Littlest Pet Shop critters. Oh and the directions for the crayons are available at the following blog: http://www.gourmetmomonthego.com/2008/08/runs-with-scissors-and-eats-crayons.html

Under the Sea Bento and a toddler bento

I got both of Susan Yuen's books from Amazon a week or so ago and McKenna scours them almost every night to choose her theme for the next day's bento. She has been begging for an ocean themed bento but frankly looking at samples on the internet and in my books kinda scared me. McKenna is a perfectionist and has high standards for her mother. But last night I gave in partly because I knew I had a molded egg in a fish shape in the fridge that needed to be used soon. So begins my day with her up at 7:30 and again giving me the quarter hourly updates on the time. I promised her I would start lunch at 11:30 hoping the updates would cease. So I got things rolling as soon as she marched in front of me a tapped her watch precisely at 11:30. I got everything prepared and started to put the bento together...except the fish egg was missing...Did my DH eat the fish and leave a plain boring egg in it's place. UGH! So I improvised. And here's the results. She has goldfish, cherry tomato skewers, potsickers and sauce, blue tinted egg noodles, improvised fish egg, and a few grapes.

Kierstin also got a bento toddler-style. She has shredded turkey, heart shaped grilled montery jack cheese sandwiches, goldfish and quartered grapes. BTW, she loves tzatziki! She ate most of mine from my lunch on crackers and all of her lunch too!

It hit me today!

OMG.... I am unemployed! Seeing the exhausted faces of the teachers at McKenna's meet the teacher tonight slapped me in the face. I don't have a job! I actually looked at the job openings for CISD. Crazy, yes. Was I seriously looking, no. Just curious. McKenna was so excited all day. I got the quarterly hour update all day, then in true Mc fashion clammed up as soon as we entered the school. But she looked super cute. (See below) Jaws dropped as Lauren walked up to former teachers. She was Mc's age when I left BB Rice. No one could believe it was her. We also picked up her pageant dress today but I forgot to take pics of her in it b/c my DH's dr. appt ran 2 hours behind this morning...don't get me started. She looks beyond beautiful in it:) No bentos today as we ate out on the dress errand and for dinner too after meet the teacher. I am getting the look from Mc. Guess that's all for today and we are off on our evening walk. It's too hot to walk until after 8 pm here in TX;)

I have been practicing

I have a new obession...BENTO! This summer I was searching online for ways to make McKenna's lunches more exciting and healthy. This will be her first year without me at school so I just wanted a way to make things more fun for her so maybe she would miss me less. (Sounds a bit delusional, huh?) Anyways I found the answer...BENTO! I love it! She has actually eaten her lunches since we started a few weeks ago. I think I am getting better with my execution and actually look forward to making lunch! *gasp* I KNOW! This was my latest bento designed from Hawaii's Bento BOX Cookbook 2nd course. I was already in the process of throwing together something for the whole family because my DH gave me the look when I suggested sandwiches again. I can't help the fact that I love the HEB fit and fresh lunchmeat I just bought! It's delicious! Anyways I dug through the freezer and found a HEB sesame chicken prep kit and some potstickers. So when Mc found the chick musubi, I adjusted it to fit what I had already started and here's the finished project.

Here we go!

I know I am running behind already. My dear friends have been officially working for 3 days now. They have been in meetings for the beginning of the year staff development. I thought about them a lot on Monday. I even got a few messages on FB that I was missed. Honestly, I missed my friends so much but not the meetings, rhetoric, and educationese. I can't believe that I am actually doing this. I mean...I am a very independent woman for the most part and I have given up a huge amount of control here. If you know me, you know I thrive on control. You also know that there are reasons that I need to be in control of everything, especially $$$$! Now I must depend on my wonderful husband, David, to take care of that part. I know he will and I trust him competely. He is a captain with HFD and his schedule allows him to easily pick up extra hours with his department and a local VFD. I am not scared, just a bit amazed at myself. I was always the teacher who said she could never be a SAHM. I am excited about what this year will bring for me and for my family. So now comes the time to introduce them. I already mentioned my DH, David. We have been married for 3 years and he truly *rescued* my heart. We met, were engaged, and married in the span of only 6 months! (Also very uncharacteristic of me!) He is the sweetest, kindest, most amazing husband, stepfather, and father! Lauren is my 13 year old daughter from my first marriage. She is gorgeous and I am not being biased. She has never taken a bad picture in her life. She is entering the 8th grade this year and is actually excited that I will be more available to her. I mean...what teenager wants her mother more involved in her life...*tear* McKenna is my 7 year old also from my first marriage. She is tiny, spunky, and keeps us in stitches around here. She is my pageant queen and my school junkie. She is also excited about my new job title but for different reasons...she thinks there will be fresh-baked cookies everyday when she gets off the bus. LOL! And finally (for now) there is Kierstin. She is 18 months old and is the adopted daughter of David and I. She has personality like no other. She is friendly, loves music of any kind, and is toally in LOVE with her daddy. With all of this said, I guess my adventure officially starts on Monday when my big girls go off to school for the first day. Please check back often as I am sure there will be humor, frustration, tears (happy and sad) , and lots of love to be shared.